what's that movie, high fidelity?  i never saw the whole thing (for shame!) but i recall john cusack's character organizing records "autobiographically."  music sort of timestamps things, i suppose.

so: i recall picking up this album (along with ok computer, another seminal album) on a brief trip to san francisco, to attend a kiiko matsumoto (acupuncturist) conference.  the conference was at some wharf, and next door was some import car convention.  i recall seeing these "slick" people in their neon cars, and, compounded with other impressions of the city (open green spaces with people reading, ultimate frisbee), wondering what life would be like in such a place, and with someone.

i WAS accompanying someone, who was a close friend, and also my ticket for a place to stay...  i recall that, during that trip, she disclosed a secret to me, and from the moment of that disclosure, i remember feeling simultaneously very protective of her, and at the same time, incredibly distant from her.  this was the album that played in the long car ride back to l.a., to this awkward and pregnant silence.

middle of nowhere