2004-03-18

On Tuesday, Avril Lavigne's AOL-sponsored mall tour stopped at the Prudential -- three blocks from where I work. We copped out of work at 4:30 for "whipping snow," so I walked over. It was in the eating area. Several hundred kids and parents were waiting. There were two mics and two stools and a large supply of promotional AOL-man beanbags. At 5:00 everyone started screaming. Avril and an anime-haired boy ascended the food court stage. The audience began to vibrate. The woman beside me remarked to her friend that Avril had a cute nose [in addition to parents and children, there were some "hip aunt"-type women who came either in pairs, or with expensive cameras]. Attendants handed the performers acoustic guitars, Avril said a few words, they started to strum. Five or six songs were played; I don't know what any of them are called but I recognized two -- the one where the friend tries to act and dress cool, which disappoints Avril; and the one where boys think all girls are good for is being pawed. Avril sang in her springy metallic voice, and the boy countered it with a nice woodwindy one. No guitar solos or anything. No percussion or breakdowns, no wrong notes, no nothing. Nothing memorable. Nothing memorable except the two chubby sixteen-year-olds in t-shirts and ratty ponytails, side by side in the front row, mouthing every word.

���� I was hoping that by waiting, I would miss rush hour in the snow and then have an easier drive home. The show was only a half hour though, so afterwards I went to Barnes and Noble and looked at maps of ancient Greece. It wasn't long before I was bored so I just got on the subway. I reached my car around 7:00, and the driving situation was still horrible. There's a Best Buy off the first exit, so I went there to buy my mom some rechargeable AAAs. I spent a while browsing around -- trying out the laptops, playing videogames, looking at photos on the backs of 80's Van Halen CDs. I was bored again after about 45 minutes. I bought the batteries and Smashing Pumpkins' Gish, which I thought might liven up the ride.
���� Boy was I right. I'd forgotten how good that record is. It works really well for driving 40 miles of unplowed highway at 20 mph with 30 ft visibility. Between Braintree and Plymouth I passed five cars that needed winching out of snowy woods.

���� I had a day off yesterday. I slept a little late, read a little, was shocked at how badly a letter I wrote stands up to six days' editing perspective, and listened to the "Kill Uncle" tape that's been floating round my closet [kind of crappy]. Later I went out, seeking stimulus. (I aimed for the library but, fearing boredom, hit Starsky and Hutch in Kingston [also kind of crappy].) I've had a really short attention span this last week or so, although maybe it's just actual, actual, boredom.


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