FIRST LOVES BLOGFEST

Monday, May 14, 2012

Brought to you by way of Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh, the First Loves blogfest is not as romantic as the title suggests.  There are four love categories to be posted on : first film, first song/band, first book, first person.

 - First book love.  My family tells me, and I remember myself, that I've always had a love of reading.  I quickly devoured every book on my reading list for school, and couldn't wait for my parents to order/check out more books for me to read.  I was a sophomore in high school however, before I read a book that was recommended to me by a classmate, and not assigned or otherwise picked out by anyone else.  It was handed to me, with a glowing review by the friend, and was absolutely my choice to read or not.  To my surprise, I loved The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey as much as the good friend that recommended to novel to me, and it sparked my lifelong love of the fantasy genre.

 - The same person also turned me on to the first band I remember looking for specifically.  Like books, I listened to music because it was on.  I enjoyed gospel, country, rock and disco, and had favorites in every category; but not for a specific love of the music itself.  It was what my family/friends listened to, and I love music in general.  (I'm partial to drums and piano, if you must know.)
   My introduction to Pink Floyd was different.  My friend loved the group, and sought me out specifically to share a new release.  The album was Off the Wall, renamed vol I later, and I can't honestly say I liked the group or the album at the time.  I have collected the four volume set over the years, and I still rarely listen to vol I.  But, the group became my favorite because of the enthusiasm my friend showed,  and I looked for other, prior publications to purchase, and they were the first group I purchased with my own earned income.  (BTW: Pulse 1 and 2 is my favorite Pink Floyd albums, but my favorite song of theirs is Learning to Fly.)

 - You can guess that my "first person" is the same that introduced me to both my first book and music/band love.  His name is Glen Swinney; and no, he is not my first romantic love.  But he is the first person I loved outside of my family, as a true friend.  Glen was the first person in my life to want nothing more from me than friendship; someone to talk to, to listen to him, to share life experiences.  He was the first boy I ever initiated a kiss, for no other reason than to taste him.  He was the only person who ever loved me because I existed, and not because of what I could do for/or give to him.  I hold his picture in my mind beside the dictionary definition of "life".

   -  My first movie love has nothing to do with my childhood; and if you know me at all from the blogs, you'll be rather surprised that it is a romance.  Not that it is the first movie I ever loved; but for some reason, whenever I'm in a mood, I watch Last of the Mohicans.  I tell myself its cuz of the music - yep, I bought the soundtrack - but I have to admit I just adore the movie.  Who can resist Daniel Dey; especially when he stands at the cave opening and has his "I will find you, no matter what occurs" monologue.  (No seriously, its not Enya's evocative singing, which is not a part of the original sound track.)
  No matter what is happening when I hear any reference to this movie, or the soundtrack, I have to stop everything to either watch the movie, or play the CD (which is, luckily, on my MP3 player.)  Especially the End Scene music.  This is the musical definition of "poignant" for me in any dictionary.

There it is, my submission for Alex's First Loves Blogfest.  See the linky here to visit other participants or to link your own post to the list.  Remember, its never too late to join - unless the list is closed :)