= Such Stupid Things =

A man must be firm in his convictions and there is no conviction I hold more strongly and dearly than this: I hate the Rolling Stones. I think Mic Jagger's voice is obnoxious and the music does little to compensate. And that's how it is. When I mention this at parties I'm usually met with various degrees of indignation. None, however, have been more indignant than Marie's labmate, Pat, who seems to regard my view as a personal insult. He responds with a look of absolute dejection, as though I had just told him for the first time that he was adopted. Most of our conversations these days begin with him saying, "I know you hate the Rolling Stones, but...".

Several times now Pat's promised to create a mix CD that will turn me around on this hotbed issue. After one listen, he assures, I'll be happily willing to shell out the one-hundred-whatever dollars with him and his 70-year-old boss to see the Stones in concert. I'm not sure from what magical ether he will conjure these "good songs", but I'm anxious to see what he has in store.

I thought these were just idle promises until last night, when I bumped into Pat on the BART back from the city and he proceeded (rather loudly) to walk me through each track that he had in mind, explaining their significance within the complete Stones discography. The art of the mixtape is not something to be entered into lightly, so I'm flattered he's putting so much thought into this. But I fully expect the mix to only reafirm my stance, rather than reverse it. Because seriously... the Rolling Stones kind of... you know... suck.