LIFE

Life by Keith Richards - I loved reading Keith's stories. Keith Richards is one of the original Rolling Stones, and in this memoir, he tells all as he remembers it. It's got everything a Rock and Roll memoir needs to have....sex, drugs and rock and roll! This guy marches to his own guitar, and he is engaging and endearing. I liked it even better than Just Kids. He was born in London during World War II, and has had a fascinating and wild life. He's a bright and thoughtful writer, and his voice comes through loud and clear. His love of music, guitars, his family and friends have shaped his life more than anything. When I was half way through the book last week, Peter's track coach and I happened to exchange a couple of emails, and he mentioned that as long as I was in Keith mode, (his words) I might enjoy a tongue in cheek interview written for Slate by one of his friends. The interview is with Mick Jagger, and supposedly gives Mick's reaction to Keith's book. So I recommend reading half the book, then reading the mock interview, then finishing the book. Now, if you're squeamish, don't like the Rolling Stones, blues, guitar, rock memoirs, drugs, alcohol, wild behavior, people who follow their own beat, then this might not be the read for you. But if all of that is intriguing, and you can't wait to get to youtube to listen to Keith playing and singing his songs, then here you are....Enjoy.

On another note, I subbed yesterday, then my friend Sheila came over for a long overdue visit, chat, and catch up. It's really nice to have friends who knew you when. We always laugh, and we sometimes tell the same stories, and it's always cathartic and very relaxing. We're indulgent of each other and nurture our friendship in our own way, which means sometimes a couple of years go by between visits. We live in the same metropolitan area, only an hour apart, but we each keep busy, and we each maintain busy schedules and busy amounts of personal downtime. So that's how the years go by. We read different books, but we're both avid readers, we have varied interests, but we throw ourselves into our interests. We have sometimes nutty families, but we love our families and keep them in our lives. There's nothing more dear than a precious friend.