The Story of the $3.00 bracelet, White Stripes and a beardless Jimmy Holliday at Borders
Most nights I have trouble sleeping. My sleep pattern has been messed up for a while now. My sleep deprivation stems from many many nights spent sitting up all night, every night, waiting for a husband to come home that didn’t come home anymore. Since then… sleep eludes me. On one of these particular sleepless nights not too long ago, I was writing on my laptop and watching country music videos. Yes, sometimes I like country music. Besides, late at night there are no music videos on MTV and VH1 for some reason. I wish someone would explain to me why there are never any videos on those channels when I’m in the mood to watch music videos.
So, I was watching country music videos one sleepless night not too long ago and I saw/heard a video with Jack White and
Loretta Lynn called
Portland Oregon and I loved the way Jack White sang and played the guitar. I knew that Jack White was in a band called
White Stripes because I read my celebrity gossip and knew that he was the ex of Renee Zellwegger before she surprised everyone and married Kenny Chesney. I had no idea what White Stripes sounded like, I had never heard them before. I asked JR of
Illpressed.com about White Stripes and he said they were good but hard. Hard… hard wasn’t anything like the Jack White Loretta Lynn song or really what I was looking for musically at the moment. So, I thought I would go to Borders and listen to White Stripes on their headphones before buying one of their cds.
The following Saturday afternoon I had lunch with my girlfriend ‘Babe’ at
my favorite Mexican restaurant, Santiago’s. I was sitting there eating and listening to her recent tales of drama, but my mind was wandering. I was thinking about music. About Jack White, Loretta Lynn, White Stripes... I was in the mood to buy new music.
After lunch I went to run a few errands. I stopped at the Beauty Supply store and picked up a few hair products, lipstick and an antique looking chain bracelet with clear blue beads that cost $3.00 (impulse purchase). Now the significance of the $3.00 bracelet is that I don’t usually wear cheap jewelry. But there was something about the way this bracelet looked that I just had to have it. I put the bracelet on and off I went to Borders to listen to and buy new music.
In Borders I found White Stripes and listened to one of their cds on the headphones and JR was right, they were hard. Their music wasn’t bad it just wasn’t anything like the way I had heard Jack White sing with Loretta Lynn. I was disappointed and didn’t buy the cd. I almost bought a Wallflowers cd that sounded pretty good, but my disappointment over the White Stripes cd overpowered my impulse purchase instincts. I left Borders empty handed. Halfway to my car I noticed that my new $3.00 bracelet was gone! It had fallen off my wrist. I turned around and headed back into Borders and retraced my steps looking for the $3.00 bracelet. I found the $3.00 bracelet in the cd rack next to the White Stripes cd, picked it up, put it in my hand and started to walk out of Borders… and ran right into a beardless
Jimmy Holliday-- local folk rock star.
I’ve worn the $3.00 bracelet a couple times since that day at Borders. I’m not really sure how long this
wonder of frugality will last. Every time I’ve worn it people have noticed it and commented on it, it’s very unique looking. But the darn thing keeps coming undone and falling off my wrist! I have to really keep an eye on it. It’s fallen off twice at work. I’ve lost it once in the car. Once at the store. And last night it fell off at the movie theater. I crawled under the seat in the movie theater to find it. I’ve managed to find the $3.00 bracelet every time it’s fallen off so far. I have nightmares of it falling off in the toilet and having to go fishing for it in order to prevent some horrible plumbing disaster. I’m afraid that this $3.00 bracelet might be more trouble then its worth. One of these times I’m not going to notice it falling off my wrist and it will be gone forever.
I wrote Jimmy Holliday an email and explained about how I had heard Jack White, Loretta Lynn and my disappointment over White Stripes. He responded with:
“I am not familiar with the Loretta Lynn album, I heard a little of it when it came out and I really enjoyed it, but it always slipped my mind to buy it. I will tell you that White Stripes’ new album ‘Get Behind Me Satan’ is a lot softer and more experimental than their other albums. It has some really down-home folk songs on it like ‘Little Ghost’ and ‘Women, Listen to Your Mothers’, and I would more compare it to the Velvet Underground more than, say, the Black Keys. It is a very beautiful album, and I haven’t been able to stop playing it since I got it.”
To which I responded:
“I looked the Loretta Lynn album up on the computer and listened to some clips of the songs. I liked it. The way you describe that White Stripes album makes me want to give it a try too.”
A week or so later I read in the celebrity gossip that Renee Zellwegger and Kenny Chesney were calling it quits and I thought about her ex Jack White and White Stripes again. So tonight I made my way back to Borders where Jimmy Holliday, who looked like he was growing back his signature beard, was working the music section. I bought Loretta Lynn’s album
Van Lear Rose produced by Jack White and the White Stripes album
Get Behind Me Satan, along with a couple other selections Jimmy Holliday recommended. The White Stripes album is very different, and musically interesting, which is exactly what I was looking for. And the Loretta Lynn album is beautiful and full of rock and roll subtle influences that Jack White impressed on it. I’m loving my new music! Which only goes to show you... when you’re in the mood for new music, ask a musician.
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