Between clanging gongs at the beginning of Beat It my fellow six-year-old cousins and I would strike star poses, fling our hats, and blast fist-pumps to the sky. As the bass kicked in and the songs cranked up, we’d grab our crotches and form sweaty circles around each other for blazing solo dances, rocking out to Thriller and Billie Jean under flickering fluorescent lights in the hot basement. Energy buzzed through our veins as we closed our eyes, spun in circles, and danced loud and long into the night.

We’ll miss you, Michael. Thank you for showing us the power of passion. Thank you for being

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

Sniff up some fumes and get ready for a brain cell party.

Yes, those sleeping memories from long ago will wake up and bounce and crash around your head as you close your eyes and let that salty-sweetness take you back to Kindergarten.

Fade to black and remember slightly greasy hands with bits in the fingernails, remember mixing all the colors together until they turned purple-brown, remember rolling out lots of cold lopsided worms, and remember the taste-test incident that resulted in a mouth full of salty chalk.

People, now there’s even a cologne to capture that smell for the ladies, so feel free to get your nostalgia on strong and spray down, my friends.

Yes, that smell of Play Doh takes us way back to the old school. If you’re sniffing up what we’re putting down, then you’re an old fool, who’s so cool. If you wanna get back, let us show you the way.

Whoomp, there it is.

Lemme hear you say.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here , here, and here

It’s late, it’s quiet, and you’re stuck at a red light.

Casually, you glance to your left and notice a muted explosion of furious head bopping, furrowed eyebrows, and silent wailing inside, as the driver rocks out alone and in the zone.

And there’s just something worth smiling about when you observe that passionate display of pure private pleasure only a few feet away. Suddenly you’re the producer in the booth watching your struggling artist hit the high notes in their tight sound chamber on wheels. Yes, they’ve struggled for years to get clean and make it in from the streets, but now you’re smelling a hit …

… and a future.

So maybe you bop along for a few beats, catch the same song on your radio, or lock eyes with them for a second and share a warm and heartfelt laugh. Maybe you feel a tiny flip in your heart as you connect with a total stranger for a few fleeting seconds. And maybe it makes you a tiny bit happier and maybe you smile a tiny bit more.

I say today we salute all the highways rockers of the world. Thanks for brightening our day and making us laugh at the reds. Rock on and keeping belting them out, because you make the world shine brighter and make our long drives home a lot more

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, and here

Sometimes there isn’t much time for the Lunchtime Scoot.

Whether it’s during lunch period in senior year, between double shifts at the hospital, or wedged amongst meetings at the office, you’ve really got to get your move on and get your groove on if you’re going to fill that belly while the clock’s clicking.

And let’s be honest, there’s a lot of ground to cover. Rounding up the troops, picking a destination, getting to the car and driving somewhere, and then ordering, eating, and paying for the meal, before scooping up the troops again and  zipping back in time. I don’t know about you, but in the office where I work some people are pros at pulling off the Lunchtime Scoot and others are in way over their head.

Of course, the pros got their reputation by following a few basic rules.

First of all, they leave early. “Gotta beat the rush, gotta beat the rush,” they’ll chant, before cramming a carload over to the diner for 11:35 while the grill is still warming up. But hey, no lines, no traffic, and some extra TLC for your pastrami sandwich.

Secondly, they’re big believers in the Pee On Your Own Time (POYOT) Principle. Remember when you were five and your parents made you go to the bathroom before leaving the house? The pros expect you to take care of your bathroom break on your own time, so you don’t delay the Lunchtime Scoot in any way. Observe POYOT to score a repeat invite.

Thirdly, watch what you order. If everybody is getting the buffet, don’t order a baked ziti off the menu that takes forever to arrive. By the time your meal comes, everybody else will be finished and shaking their heads while tapping their watches. No bakes!

And finally, the pros generally take command when it’s time for the bill. They assume the part of Math Guy without hesitation, and sharply point and issue commands at the end of the meal. “Sandy, you had a drink so thirteen dollars, Raj, you upgraded to sweet potato fries so twelve, and everyone else owes ten bucks.” And don’t even try to go to an ATM or pay with a credit card unless you happen to enjoy receiving Extreme Stinkeye.

But the best part about dining with the pros is the classic post-lunch finishing move. Yes, I’m talking about scoring a much sweeter parking spot when you get back. While everybody else is still chowing down, you’re pulling through that puppy and getting ready to sit pretty all afternoon.

Congratulations on scoring The 12 O’Clock Upgrade.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here,and here

Crisp breezes chip at your cheeks as you shiver and slide to school. Blades of grass are stiff with frosted dew on their tips, your breath puffs in cold clouds in front of you, and little puddles on the sidewalk get that thin film of ice across the tops, just waiting for you to do what you gotta do.

Yes, when you’re slip-shuffling half asleep, buried under your backpack, there’s just something sweet about stomping those frozen puddles and filling the still and quiet walk with a nice crisp CRACK.

After you do the deed, you trudge on against the biting wind with an extra spring in your step and twinkle in your eye, because came across the frozen puddle first and you busted it up good.

Let’s face it: that crack is so permanent, so satisfying, and so completely

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

Thick and muggy, hot and humid, the sweltering summer sun beats down on your lazy day.

Yes, you lay sprawled on your sweaty couch, pleading with your open windows to blow a breeze across the room. Instead, the dusty air hangs heavy and every breath you take feels like sucking wind from a bathroom hand dryer. It’s burning, it’s suffocating, it’s too hot to handle.

But guess what: there is a solution. That’s right, Drippy Drew, just toss a Coke in the freezer, let it chill right up, and enjoy a superfrosty slurp when it comes out.

That’s right, if you time it right, then when you yank the can out of the freezer it should immediately get wet with slippery cold condensation. Then it chills your hand and cools you right down, too. And hey, if you’re feeling bold at this point, feel free to treat it like an ice pack and rub it all over your forehead and neck for good measure. And then, when you’re ready, pull back that tab and listen for that sweet sound of cool relief.

Pshhhhhhh.

As you take that first freezing cold sip be sure to notice the tiny little ice crystals swimming in the sea of cola, melting like frozen pebbles from heaven in your disgustingly humid mouth.

Yes, for those who reach this level of Carbonated Nirvana, there is really only one thing to say: you have truly lived. With your T-shirt sweatglued to your back and and your sticky hair matted to your forehead, those freeze-crystals just swim around your mouth and slap your senses. Suddenly you’re enjoying a sugar high, feeling those fizzy vibes, and enjoying that crystal cool sensation of ice bits melting all over the place inside of your face.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, and here

Sure, it’s a little bit extremely disgusting, but the gross out factor pales in comparison to the massive release you feel when a waxy boulder comes tumbling out of a cave on the side of Head Mountain. Remember: there’s nothing to be embarrassed about because this is just The Magic of the Human Body. Yes, like a loyal employee punching out after a hard day on the line, your earwax heads home with its lunchbox in hand after drowning dust and dirt on a double shift in your ear canal. The gig’s not easy and it doesn’t pay well, so when Waxy Brown’s finished his business, you know it’s because he’s done as much as he can.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here and here

Walk into an old hardware store and take a big whiff. Come on now, just tip that head, sniff those fumes, and bring back a big brainful of love and memories with these gems:

• Hot, rubbery tires. Chinese chemical plants, hot vials of liquid rubber, and the musty stench of ocean liner storage bays combine to form this mind-altering buzz. And when you cruise on by, don’t forget to grab a free massage by rubbing your hand across all those tiny plastic hairy bits sticking off the tires in all directions. A classic.

• Those tightly packed piles of soil. Flopped sideways and drooping in all directions, don’t these bags always look like they’re about to burst at the seams? Well, I guess the problem is that some of them do, leaking their sweet smelling brown-with-white-flecks dirtload all over the floor.

• The key-cutting machine. If your hardware store is lucky enough to have a kid working away on a screaming key-cutting machine, then you’re probably sniffing in some hot, oily machine parts and a few metal scraps flying in all directions. Yes, that high-pitched piercing will wake up your baby and those smoky-metal fumes will wake up your childhood memories. Not a bad trade.

• Stacks of lumber. Decades of sun, water, and carbon dioxide help build tiny seedlings in the sod into majestic giants of the forest. Now even though they’re diced up into bits, they’re still breathing out those deep woody, sappy-fresh scents.

• Assorted old spills. Somebody kicked a can of paint thinner under Aisle 3 back in 1987 and now its faintly toxic aroma is just hanging limply in the air along with metal nail dust, shiny tools, and plastic snow shovels.

Yes, as you walk those old hardware aisles it’s hard not to soak in the memories. So when you leave the store on the creaking wooden floor, through the dusty, sunbeam rays shining lazily over the dirty black floormat, let that jingle-jangly door clang shut on your great Saturday morning sniff down memory lane.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here and here

Give yourself a break and peel them off a bit early.

AWESOME!

Photo from: here

Picture a loud, clanging factory with assembly lines zig-zagging all over the place, steam bursting out of pipes, and slick oil spills laying on cold, concrete floors. Then add blaring sirens, honking forklifts, and scraggly guys in cargo shorts and workboots trudging by with brooms now and then.

That chaotic jungle of a factory is sort of like the inside of my mouth. Yeah, it’s sad to admit folks, but I’ve got one messy mouthhole.

See, I’ve got a gap between my two front teeth. I had it filled it with white plastic so it’s invisible, but I still know it’s there. I remember sucking milkshakes and soup in through that Tooth Canal when I grew up and the memories haunt me still. Add to that a handful of black and white fillings dotting my molars like a checkerboard and a dangerous crossbite that wears down my pointy teeth, requiring pleasant maintenance fillings every couple of years. And let’s not forget that my bottom teeth are jumbled and cracked together like a rickety picket fence after a big blustery wind storm.

Most of my friends did the braces thing when they were younger and today they walk around town with confidence, sass, and perfectly straight teeth. After putting up with twisted-tight wires for a few years, they finally got them peeled off and joined the Perfect Pearls club with a punch.

And though I’ve never experienced it first hand, they tell me that slimy-smooth, new mouth feeling they got when the clamps came off can only be described with one big, all-caps word.

I’m just going to have to trust them on this one.

AWESOME!

Photos from: here, here, and here