My first date with Elsie I was still at my parent's house. Zelda and I had not found our house though we were looking everyday for freedom. Elsie came and picked me up looking like he was going to sing a few verses of "Free Bird". My mother looked afraid. This bushy haired man with the gorgeous eyes did not make her happy. Elsie and I got in his car, well, car is an exaggeration, it was more like a stereo that rolled. The vehicle had the body of a Chevy Vega, the world's ugliest green, and the interior was speakers. He started driving and hit the "on" button and suddenly Steven Tyler was screaming at full volume about Dreamin' On. My ears bled slightly. I know Elsie talked to me because I could see his lips moving but all I could hear was Aerosmith and my silent prayer that my teeth wouldn't rattle out of my head. This was our date, driving, ear bleeding and smoking a pipe between us. At one point he stopped the car and turned it off, got out of the driver's side, opened my door, took me by the hand, leaned me up against his car and kissed me like I hadn't been kissed since that cold January night on my parent's front porch. I think I melted, he poured me back in the car and suddenly I was part of the Elsie parade.
There was no hoping to be Elsie's "girlfriend", you could only try to be one of his favorites. Lots of us tried, I almost want to poke myself in the eye when I think of things I did for this man. Cook him dinner, buy him gifts, (I couldn't afford to eat), be one of his "beck and call girls". I had something many of the parade did not. All those liner notes and album covers that I devoured were right up his alley. He managed a record store for heaven's sake. One morning he called and asked if I wanted to go to Dallas with him to a very cool music store. Of course I did. Duh. We drove to Dallas, we laughed and sang all the way there. We talked obscure musicians and album cover artists. We played in the music store and had a ball. On the way back to my side of town we stopped at his place and engaged in what some would call a late "nooner". I was lying there thinking about pizza when Elsie said, "shit, you gotta go, I have a date." Excuse me??? "I have to pick up Spring at 6:30 I am taking her to see Joni Mitchell". Oh I wish he would have just shot me. He was taking this skank, (personal opinion), to see JONI? MY JONI? Man, I was never so humiliated having to search for all my clothes. I just dressed and left, in tears. Of course I didn't let him see that, he might not call again. Yeah, he should have shot me.
Other than the perils of being in the Elsie parade I was loving my life. I loved being at the print shop, it had ambiance. I know that sounds stupid but it had been in business since 1907. We had three presses that had been converted to electric power from steam. These German presses, Kluge's, were amazing just to watch. Cogs and wheels and rods and mechanical arms performed what appeared to be impossible tasks. We had two modern presses, once for small jobs, one for full four color process printing. The shop was packed with antique cabinets full of cold type and blocks with logos, clip art in block form. The shop was run by Bill and his mother and her four maiden sisters. This place was like the Twilight Zone, very odd and very cool. Bill taught me everything, how to set cold type, how to set type using the electric typesetter, how to layout copy, how to edit, how to strip negatives and how to run the smaller presses. In the process of all of this I learned the practical application of math. Without anyone screaming at me or whipping out a slide rule I was surviving.
Zelda and I found our house. It was perfect! In the "arts district", built in the 1920s. It had one fuse in the fuse box. It also had no air conditioning. Not a problem, I knew that somewhere on my mother's list of things that will kill you must be living without AC. I went humbly and asked my parents to buy me three window units as a gift. New house for me and Zelda seemed like a gift occasion. My mother, Nervous Nellie, said to me, "sometimes we just have to make do". WHAT? "Mom, we have NO air conditioning the landlord does not provide that and we are going to die from the heat." "Your father and I lived without air conditioning for a long time. What does not kill you makes you stronger. Be thankful for your fan." Great, mother had become Pollyanna. After sufficient histrionics I "borrowed" the money for the window units. My father noted the amount of money in a small ledger.
Every weekend our "family" of friends all gathered at one house or another and had dinner, happy hour, hang out time, music time and just great fun. We all leaned on each other, we took care of each other we would have been a commune had we all lived in one spot. I loved this, a group of people loving their fellow man.
Two couples rented a house on a "farm" outside of town. This became a weekend hang out from time to time. These gatherings would be 30 or 40 people, all guitars players came armed and ready. I was one of the few girls who played and sang. The girls loved hearing the Joni heartbreak stuff, most of the guys liked my laying over harmony with whatever they were singing. We be jammin'. There was one dude, guitar player, great voice, rich and thick and great timbre, who didn't enjoy my participation in these events much. I could tell by the eye rolls. One Saturday afternoon I arrived in time to hear him and two other guys "rehearsing". They were singing something by Poco as I recall. I heard something off. My brain said "shut up", my mouth said, "I hear something off". Eye Roller looked and me and reminded me that my opinion had not been requested. "Sorry, but there is something off. It isn't the vocal, it's that chord, you're playing a minor and singing something that clashes". One of the other player/singers who looked familiar but I didn't know said, "she's right, I thought something was wrong. Let's try it as a minor 7th". Sounded awesome. Guitar player looked at me and said, "join us, you obviously know what your doing, I'm Oops". I knew he looked familiar. I hadn't seen him since I was a teenager and followed his bands around. Wow, Oops, THE OOPS asked me to sing with them. Move over, Eye Roller, I think I just stole your lead guitarist.
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