I’ve always had a vivid imagination. I can’t really say where it came from. One of the earliest memories I can recall was when I was about seven years old and still living in Downsview. I was a big “Happy Days” fan and owned the record “Fonzie’s Favorites”. The B side featured romantic doo-wop songs and I remember listening late at night with a single lamp on, suffusing the room with dim, red light. I recall taking in every lyric on that record, every word coming to life as I pictured the guy looking up at his girlfriend’s window, seeing her with another guy only to realize he’s on the wrong street. Guys wishing in the starry night and girls wondering what it’ll take to get their boys back. Thing is it was so vivid. Reality was gone and imagination took over.

As I grew older, there came to be so many more similar examples of me ‘connecting’ with an album or a TV show, book or movie. Even when I knew a particular film was lousy, if I ‘got something’ from it, if it ‘took me somewhere’, then I liked it.

Then it began to spread to many different things and I soon discovered the downside. Now, some people with little or no imagination simply don’t know any better. They’re not fascinated by the furniture in the room in a film from the 1940’s or golf being played in the Swiss Alps or the way that song goes up a key and actually sounds like late afternoon sunshine feels. They don’t think they can actually smell the coffee and beans at a campfire in a Western or the cigarette smoke in a Harlem jazz club in the early ’50’s when they listen to John Coltrane. These people are, of course, normal. They go to work five, sometimes six or seven days a week. On days off, they drink beer in their basements or backyards. They watch hockey, UFC, WWE, gridiron football. Their only dream, really, is not having to work anymore. If they had a vivid imagination, they would know what an array of kicks are available cheap to the average Joe.

Then there’s me. My imagination has opened up interests for me in a number of different areas. The downside? There’s simply not enough time. Trying to ‘keep track’ of all the things I’m into is hard work. I could easily spend ALL my time doing any number of things. SO MANY things fascinate me.

I could be “Travel Guy”: subscribe to National Geographic, save every dime I could for travel, get a map of the world tattooed on my back. I could EASILY devote all my time to learning new languages, cook food from around the world and just be a nomad; either travelling somewhere or planning to.

I could be “Classic Movie Guy”: connecting with my Twitter friends with #TCMParty has shown me that there are many people who devote their lives to classic film. I could EASILY watch nothing but Turner Classic Movies or movies on DVD, collecting even more obsessively than I do now. Join and follow sites/blogs/groups on the internet and basically just live in black and white. I love this world. I could live there 24/7. No sweat.

I could be “Sailor Guy”: I could immerse myself in all the classic literature of the sea. Watch only pirate and nautical-themed movies. Study ships of the past, eat fish, smoke a pipe. Learn how to tie all the knots. Move to Alcona, buy a boat, fish all the time. I could EASILY spend all my time. learning about life lived by the sea. I really feel like this guy every year when we go to Ponce Inlet, FLA.

I could be “Oldies Guy”: nothing but the music of the ’50’s and early ’60’s. Pile my hair high in a pompadour (as I used to), wear blue jeans and motorcycle boots (as I used to). Go to car shows and Fifties dances. Again, the internet – upload songs to YouTube, talk about them with others, join discussion groups and get newsletters. Collect rare 45s. I could just doo-wop myself to death.

I could be “Car Guy”: I watch the guys at the car shows. Talking about 325’s and positraction. Their hands are always dirty. I could tinker with some heap in the backyard. Buy a ’59 Impala and wipe it all the time. Wear coveralls with black, hi-cut, canvas Converse and a red bandanna hanging out of the back pocket. EASILY.

I could be “Surfer Guy”: Hawaiian shirts, t-shirts, shorts, slaps, bare feet. Move to the water and spend all my time in it. Ukulele and campfires. ‘Surfer’ Magazine, surf music, coconut water. There’s days worth of surfing footage/films to watch on YouTube. Follow nothing but World Surf League and watch all the events online. Grow dreadlocks and call everyone ‘brah’. A life of NOTHING but sun and water.

I could be a “Jazzbo”: grow a goatee, speak ‘hip’, take up smoking again. Listen to nothing but Miles, Trane and Dizzy. Listen to and support Jazz FM91. Dress in Kangol hats and dark clothes. There is such a cool, unpretentious detachment to the jazz world that has always appealed to me.  In high school, for a co-op, I was host of “Jazz International” on a community radio station in Waterloo. Particularly in the autumn, this world is very appealing.

I could be a “Cowboy”: there is such a significant history inherent in Western living. There is such a hearty, honest, hard-working quality to the Cowboy Way. The camaraderie that can exist between a person and a horse, the campfire, the stars at night, the rope and leather. I’d love to grow a big, ol’ Sam Elliott mustache and listen to nothing but classic country. Even new country music adds to the aura with it’s songs of difficult relationships, hard-working good, ol’ boys, God and the Bible still a part of life, memories of mama and daddy and how they raised their children. Poking around a TSC Store always makes me feel that I could EASILY live as ‘rural guy’.

I could be “Elvis Guy”: ‘Elvis World’ is so diverse it’s easy to spend all your time there. A lot of people that do, though, can become a little creepy. My man appeals to me in such a way and there is so much to his story that I can totally see how people can focus on him to the exclusion of all others. This makes me think of the times I’ve visited various forums or chat groups devoted to one artist. You see people that are so dialed in to the one group or singer/actor that they love that the spend ALL their time and effort reading about, learning about and talking about just one thing. I can’t do that but I often think I could with Presley. Just listen, watch, read, collect, share, learn, study nothing but EP.

I could be “Sports Guy”: this is a post in itself. When my sons were little I decided we should follow hockey. I had a strong dislike, though, for all the hating that went on between the fans of rival teams. I told my boys ‘we’re going to follow hockey but we’re not going to hate – or love, for that matter – any specific team’. I carried the same mentality over into English Football when I started watching. A friend of mine – a hardcore footy fan from way back – became enraged with me and told me it was not allowed to like ALL the teams. You’ve got to pick one, love it and despise their rivals! So, now I can say I love my teams and hate their rivals. Particularly when we are in the middle of a season, I love to focus all my attention on my teams: read articles on how they’re doing, listen to podcasts, collect jerseys, learn about their history and basically just live and die with their fortunes. I feel like I can’t be ‘all in’ in this though mainly because I hate to debate. I can’t stand it when I hear someone disparaging another team. I always think if you love your team then you love your team even if they are the worst in the league. That is even the essence of loving a team – you love them not based on their performance but on where you live or simply because they’re your team. I could EASILY abandon everything else and just follow my teams. In this day and age there is no shortage of info, stories, interviews and highlights to watch. It can be a full-time job, one I think sometimes I could do.

I could even be “MCM Guy”: in the last year or so, my interest in all things ‘Mid-Century Modern’ has peaked. This world is one of everything that was popular or cool in the 1950’s and ’60’s. The term actually applies to architecture and home furnishings but all areas of media and culture could be included. As far back as my pre-teens, I’ve always said I could wear some variation of a suit every day. When I got a job at McDonalds, my mom said ‘at least now you can wear a tie to work!’. It was a green polyester clip-on and always had food on it. I still lament the fact that you can’t go out in ties or cardigans without getting looked at strangely. I love the era when if a man was going to dig a ditch he’d ‘dress down’ to a pair of casual slacks and a sports shirt. I’ve had times in my life when every day I dressed like Ward Cleaver. When my oldest son was born I vowed he’d never wear a pair of jeans – “What is he? A Hobo!?”. There are many places online you can go to immerse yourself in the ‘cocktail nation’, the tiki and lounge scene. When I’m listening to Les Baxter and watching “Mad Men” this role seems the one I’m best suited to. But then of course that clashes with the guy that wants to wear an eye patch or flip flops or cowboy boots. See what I’m getting at?

So, you see? It’s problem. But it’s a great problem to have. It’s a problem because, for example, I won’t listen to oldies for a long time and then I’ll overhear one somewhere and I’ll say to myself ‘oh, I love that song. I must listen to oldies again. What’s wrong with me!? I love oldies! Why have I not listened to them in so long?!’. Well, buddy, it’s because you’ve been listening to jazz, or Elvis or cowboy music and it’s then that I’ll get frustrated and wish I didn’t love so many different things. There’s so much cool stuff  that grabs my attention that it’s hard to devote much time to any one thing. What ends up happening actually is I’ll listen to certain types of music and watch certain movies or certain types of books at certain times of year. Some things I seem to enjoy more at specific times of year. But it’s great, too. I’ve never been one to worry or feel stress and one of the main reasons is that I’m constantly off in some land. I simply don’t worry about many things in life because I’m too busy listening to Koop Kooper and “The Cocktail Nation” or watching “Emergency!”. In the end it’s like the Temptations said: “I’m doing fine up here on cloud 9”.