Further Musings on Ye Olden Days

First, put this song on.

I just went for a run and listened to this on the way back, and it made me feel all earth mothery in a sexy way. I used to listen to Sarah Mclachlan CONSTANTLY in high school, mainly Fumbling Towards Ecstasy but also this remix (the song is off her first album, Touch), which is my favorite song maybe ever. I also read a lot of Tom Robbins; my favorite novel of his was Another Roadside Attraction because the protagonist is named Amanda. Second favorite: Still Life With Woodpecker. The protagonist has red hair and smokes Camels. p.s. guess why I smoked Camels? Guess why I'm a redhead?

His books, as well as Sarah McLachlan's music, which always sounded all mystical and British Columbia-ish to me (which is to say full of magical, lush forests, not unlike Washington State, where Another Roadside Attraction is set), appealed to the hippie in me -- I think, unless you were like a goth or an emo kid, you were probably kind of a hippie in high school. Or at least, like me, thought you were. A hippie who frequented shopping malls and wore deodorant. But hey, I had a lot of incense and these cotton summertime frocks that just screamed Haight Ashbury.

If I remember correctly, Amanda of Another Roadside Attraction was this kind of earthy goddess type, with intuition that bordered on psychic abilities and a kind of calm, unruffled demeanor. She was enigmatic and rolled with the punches. This was, obviously, the kind of woman I would become. Someone people loved but did not tend to understand. A magical, wondrous lady, really. Most likely, many men would love me and I'd break many hearts. They'd remember me fondly, though, and I'd be that old paramour they met for drinks years later, when they had kids and I was running around Europe or something, and they'd secretly still want me.

This did not happen. I am not this person and doubt I ever will be. But really this post is a shout-out to Samantha and Rachel (actually began as a Facebook message to them), because we spend a lot of time bitching about certain things (men) but I swear, when I listen to this song, I feel like I am at least a little bit the Amanda of Another Roadside Attraction. And I know she met her true love in that book, but I can't remember a goddamn thing about him.