Let's pick up in 1978..
P:
We didn't date, although I still have tickets I bought for us to go see
George Benson (Google him with "Breezin'" & "On Boardway") on a chance we might go out.
She was a
bartender and I was the DJ at a disco. P was really sweet and very
attractive about 5'6". It was a dead cold and snowy Monday night. The
manager said if you want to take off I could put on the reel-to-reel
tape for the next few hours, no worries. We had like 5 people come in
the past 3 hours (it was now midnight). Our club was one of the hottest
in town on the weekends with lines lasting upwards of an hour to get in,
max was 200 people at a time. P and I left and went to Orpheus, another
disco. It was a bi-sexual bar with gays and straights. Small, max was
around 50-75 people. Music was a heavier disco, less funk, (more like
NYC style) than what my disco was known for. The variety for me was
good.
The dance floor was sunk into the floor a good 7'-8'. The floor
was stainless steel, the walls were mirrored and the JBL speakers (I'm
more of a Klipsch person however JBLs bang it out just fine) were powered
by McIntosh amps. We danced and had a good time. Had a few beers and
just connected so well. Orpheus was pretty empty too, maybe 15 people
max. The DJ spun-up Kool and The Gang's "Summer Madness" slow dance.
(Google it or look it up on iTunes.) "Summer Madness" was released in
1974. It is one of the most sampled (Google it) recordings in history
over past 45 years. It was magical. I remember it over 40 years later.
We held each other tight & closely, kissed passionately, I had solid wood pressed up to her thigh and bikini area and she just loved it, well just
wow. We never dated, we just had that evening in time I'll never forget.
To this day "Summer Madness" is still
one of my all time favorites and just a quality recording. If you try
it, make it LOUD, just get the original, the remixes are OK but the
original was perfection. Kool and the Gang was one of the best R&B bands from the 1970s whose music is still relevant
and works today. "Open Sesame", "Ladies Night", "Summer Madness",
"Jungle Boogie", "Celebration", "Hollywood Swinging", "Get Down On It",
"Fresh" are some of their best.
LH: Now I'm almost
done with college, 3 classes to go. She worked as a cocktail waitress, I
was the DJ. We met over a very odd incident, call it serendipity; I was
stand-up about an incident involving my car I loaned to a really weird
waitress (OK, I was a moron, never should have and the absolute last
time I EVER loaned my car to ANYONE) at the club and she rear-ended LH
at another club. I found her tail light lens in my car's grill and I knew what happened. I was mad and told LH it was my car.
LH had always wanted to live by the ocean so after 5
months of serious dating, we decided to move to Miami together in June
1979. I decided to finish my classes in Miami (yes, I was an idiot; I did
finish college at SU when I moved back, got a dual BS and did masters
classes in computer science and engineering). LH's roommate said to
beware of LH and her true motives - I should have listened.
I was in Miami for 18 months. It was
OK for the first 4-5 months then it went sour. I thought this would be
The One. Well, it wasn't. We lived in 3 different apartments. We got two
puppies (what HUGE mistake that was). LH insisted and I capitulated. I
knew better. They were well taken care of only in your early 20s most
people aren't ready to take on the responsibilities of a dog.
By late
1985, I was ready for a dog, and he was a big dog (29" at the withers
and 120 lbs.) More on my dog as an adult at another time (I mentioned
Mogul in my first post...)
Moving
in with LH taught me a lot like how to live on my own as I had lived at
home during my college years. Hey, say what you want, living at home
during college years, attending a 2-year community college first then
going to Syracuse University for the last 2 years and working the
entire time kept me from student debt that college-bound kids today
think of as free money to spend as they want, then whine when they have to pay it back from a job that doesn't pay crap for a philosophy degree or Medieval French Lit. My loans were allocated by
the bank directly to books and tuition and since I didn't live in a
dorm, I was good. I think I had like $2,500 to pay off in 1981 and I was
starting a career at GE in military electronics that paid well.
When I finally left LH, it took a good 6
months to get her out of my head. She was beautiful like Victoria
Principal (Google her and look back to see what she looked like in the
mid-1970s, that is what LH looked like). LU even had the same rack as Victoria Principal - weird, eh? I thought we'd get back
together, yet again I proved myself to be an idiot. I finally did move on.
I
easily connected with P and LH. I just felt very comfortable. My
personality? Theirs? A combination of pheromones that mixed well when we
met? It just happened.
Well,
this takes me to late 1980 when I get back from Miami and head back
to SU. In early 1982 things get more serious with my few relationships
for the next 4-5 years. 1982 to early 1986 were interesting and not my "Boy Scout" years.
Hope this isn't getting boring. I just need a place to talk my life out. Your time is most appreciated. Comments are welcome, just keep it civil.
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