Believe it or not, I was just reading something that was not about the U.S. presidential elections. It was much more profound. I happened upon an article about the new 90210 spin-off. The original Beverly Hills, 90210 came out during my first few months of college back in 1990. That was also the year of “Hammer Time“, “The Groove is in the Heart”, Godfather III and Rocky V.
When I really press my memory and think back hard enough, I can bring back a couple of different images and sensations from that first semester of college: the Washington fall — dark nights and crisp cool air. My small gang of friends talking crap, thinking we were smart, taking the day off for the Star Wars Trilogy. There was my roommate, Dave; Fred who was accused of being a pseudo-existentialist yet complimented for being so ethnic. There was Julio, next!; Mo’, “that’s cool” (may he rest in peace), and Kevin who today is the father of my goddaughter. And if I let my memory bleed into the beginning of 1991, I see myself sitting in bed one January evening watching CNN televise the first Gulf War, being called to the floor’s lounge to panic about a possible draft, and I can also smell the scent of tear gas from riots in Mount Pleasant that found there way across town.
Nevertheless, when reading about 90210, I was thinking about something else from those days. There was a short lived TV show from the same time period about a young band; the show had a cheesie theme song. I couldn’t remember the name of the song for the life of me, but I could remember that Dave and I used to make fun of its ridiculous lyrics, something absurd about an angel. I did every google search possible, and finally after various word combinations, I found the name of the show and song: The Heights and “How Do You Talk to an Angel“. According to wikipedia, the show ran from August 1992 to November of the same year, but I don’t think those dates are correct. All of my recollections of trying to figure out how communicating with an angel was also like catching a fallen star took place in the dorms which I had lived in until May of 1992.
In any event, while thinking about talking to an angel in my first year of college, there was another song in my last year that also gave Dave and I a good laugh. It was the tragic story of “Jessie” by Joshua Kadison. The singer “paints a picture” of how he would save his estranged lover by reuniting her with their cat, Moses, who also misses her. It’s all almost as random as this post. I guess you had to be there.
Grave Error 