ESL a/s/l?
a WIP multimedia project—
LEANING TOWERS
A MEMOIR EXCERPTI fondly remember Dad driving me to the Sun Prairie Public Library throughout my childhood and early teens, dropping me off for hours as I roamed the periodicals section. The waterfall display racks comprised Cat Fancy, Dog Fancy, YM, Teen Beat, Bop, and Sassy magazines. Eventually, I’d work my way over to the music section and go through the neverending bins of CDs, hearing the sound of jewel cases gently clacking against each other, and feeling puffs of wind on my face as I flipped through the albums.
You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but I was judging a CD by its cover. I’d bring a stack of probably 25 to 30 selections — an impressive and precarious tower — to the checkout desk. Among the pile were the Cocteau Twins’ Heaven or Las Vegas, Portishead’s Dummy, Liz Phair’s Exile in Guyville, and hometown hero Elizabeth Schaefer's This Theater Was Razed albums. I loved having access to so much music for FREE! I’d do this on every library visit to expand my music lexicon. There was a thrill in the tactile discovery and the all-you-can-eat buffet aspect of it. I would later make mixed tapes for my Internet friends with these Leaning Towers of Pisa, unaware I would build a new community with the knowledge I was steadily amassing. My dad doesn’t recall taking me to the library, but it remains one of my most precious memories of his quiet acts of kindness. I was enthralled and creatively sparked. I forgot about loneliness.
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MEMOIR EXCERPTS
preface
LEANING TOWERS (currently viewing)
justify my L0v3 <3