Billy Squier, “In The Dark” off Don’t Say No (1981)

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I was born in San Jose’s O’ Connor Hospital in 1981 but I spent some of my early years in Juan Jose Rios, Sinaloa, Mexico.  From ages 4 to 7, I lived in an incomplete brick house on the same lot that my maternal grandmother’s house rested on.  In the summer of 1988, my immediate family, which consisted of my parents, myself, and two older brothers, made the 3-day trek back up to San Jose, California in a 1979 Chevrolet Caprice Classic Wagon.  When we arrived, we stayed at my dad’s friend’s place about half a block from the 2-bedroom apartment we would share for the next 14 years.

A few weeks after we moved into the apartment that holds many of my memories, my mother, middle brother, and I headed to the Capitol Flea Market at closing time.  This was a great time to go because sellers would leave all the stuff they didn’t sell and latecomers would have free reign over the leftover items.  During this particular Summer night in 1988, my brother and I managed to grab a forgotten and beat-up tape recorder from the pavement and a worn cassette by some guy named, “Billy Skier.”  That’s how we pronounced his name, at least.  The album was called, “Don’t Say No.”  For months on end, we listened to this tape and the first song, “In The Dark” became permanently tattooed in my brain.

By October 1989, we had saved up enough money to buy an NES and my brothers and I would spend the weekend evenings eating cheap Little Caesar’s Pizza, listening to “Billy Skier”, and playing video games.  We were dirt poor but I’d be hard pressed to remember another time I felt safer than I did at that point.

Almost 20 years later, I cannot listen to this song without being overwhelmed with emotion.  I’ve always believed in the power of song, but no other song takes me back to when I was a kid like this song does.

Suddenly, I want to eat some cheap pizza and play some Super Mario Bros. 2.  Who’s with me?

Crossfit Sunnyvale at Planet Granite is offering free CrossFit classes this month and I attended the first one this evening.  After some mechanics and form lessons followed by some warmups, we did 20 rounds (1 round per minute) of 3 pushups, 6 crunches, and 9 squats without weights. It sounds simple but at round 13 or so I was burning.   My quads feel very weak right now, but they felt great throughout the entire workout.  My abs, on the other hand, felt tired very early on.  I managed to finish all 20 rounds, though.

My next class is on Thursday night and I’m looking forward to being tired and achy that evening.  At least I know I’ll sleep well.

In the meanwhile, take a listen to “Lincoln Highway Dub” off Sublime’s Robbin’ The Hood.  This song was the basis for their most widely-known song, “Santeria.”

I just signed up for a music service called Lala and was intrigued by their “Embed this artist’s music” widget.  This is a great way to quickly share an artist’s music on your blog or social network profile.  Check out some Band of Horses tunes: