High Inspiration

I was watching High Fidelity on Netflix today. Good movie, good book.

I first saw the movie in 2000 and read the book in 2003. Don't worry, this is heading somewhere.

In Rob, author Nick Hornby created a character that thought about things, at least some things, the same way I did. Rob owns a vinyl record store. He and his staff are as obnoxious about music as one would imagine a vinyl record store employee to be. This resonated with me on a few levels.

First I'm a metal head and that is important to me as Rob's esoteric indie music is to him. I had a roommate like Rob in collage. My first roommate actually. He was really into Henry Rollins and Minor Threat and Shutter to Think and a lot of other Indie-punk stuff I still know nothing about. He was just horrified that I liked - gasp - Def Leppard.

So I got the whole vinyl thing in High Fidelity.

When I read the book I was just turning 30, Rob is 32, and he thought about his past girlfriends and loves the same way I did. That is, his first breakup at 14 was as important to him as the breakup that begins the book. Rob spends a lot of time- like a music fanatic who ranks albums, bands, genres, etc- ranking his girlfriends and breakups.

I was in the same boat. I met my wife when I was 20, so the girl I dated at 14, just six year before, was as important in my romantic history. Six years seemed like a century back then, didn't it. Now? Ha! Kirsten, Amy, Jane, Jen...they all occupied a similar place.

So I got the whole girlfriend ranking thing.

One Sunday morning in March 2003 I was at my local coffee shop finishing High Fidelity. When I finished the book I put it down, opened my computer and began writing A Line through the Desert.

I've been writing ever since.