Ron Asheton, The Letter O

Happy New Year, one and all! Which now officially sucks. I just got the really bad news that Ron Asheton, lead guitarist of The Stooges, was found dead this morning on his couch in Ann Arbor. His personal assistant contacted police last night after not being able to get a hold of him for several days. No definitive cause of death yet, but they're thinking heart attack. I'm really bummed. I took the iPod of shuffle mode and I'm now listening to The Stooges first album The Stooges.

Holy crap! Somebody's already updated Wikipedia with his death. I don't know why, but some reason that just strikes me as a little sick. As if someone is much too anxious to share bad news….wants to be first.

I had a whole bunch of stuff to post about, too…November and December Books & Movies (I know how you all look forward to that so much). And I signed up for a Letter O doohickey from Urs way back before Christmas. But right now I'm just too depressed (sitting at the office dabbing at tears).

I'm so thankful that I took every opportunity that was available to me over the past 5 years to see The Stooges perform live. And that I bought the DVD of their first Detroit concert in 30 years – 2003 at Pine Knob – postponed due to the big blackout. I confess that when Iggy came out on stage that night, I cried. It was such a rush. And it was the same both times I saw them last year (was it just last year – or was it 2007?). I think it was 2007…damn, time really does fly when you get old. I wore my Iggy Pop is from Ypsilanti t-shirt on Christmas Day. Mine's red, so it was appropriate.

I was a complete slacker during my time off and barely got on-line at all. I'd get on the computer to check e-mail and then would go right back to knitting. Much to do and not enough time to do it. Oy vey.

The Letter O Doohickey is actually called “Brought to you by the letter…” game. Here’s how it works…

You leave a comment on this post, and I’ll assign you a letter. You write about ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter, and post it at your place. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on.

Without further adieu, here’s my list, all starting with the letter O, as bequeathed to me. (Note: Everything written after "The Letter O Doohickey is actually called" is a direct quote from Urs.)

Organ – A number of years ago (ten or more) a good friend headed off to Duke to study graduate level Economics. This was when I was still working at the Univ and we had a professor there who was not the brightest bulb ever. In fact, she wasn't even close – we all questioned her getting a Ph.D. Anyway, when she found out that RE was going to Duke, she went on and on and on about its "big organ." It was all we could do to stifle our laughter – childish? Perhaps, but this was a person who wrote the exact same letter for every student attempting to get into law or grad school and used the words "good oral skills." Should I have fixed it for "verbal skills?" Possibly, but she had the Ph.D., not me…and I don't think she would have appreciated it anyway. So, I let it go and we still roll our eyes and laugh about it to this day. It might technically be correct, but really…

Oleo - Back when I was a tyke, this was the word we used in place of margarine. I have no clue where it came from or why it fell out of use, but I think only people over the age of 70 still use it. I don't actually love oleo, but I like it as a word. Okay, I looked it up…turns out the full term used to be oleomargarine and had to do with the combination of oils or something like that. Like good Americans, we shortened it to save time, apparently.

Orion - Quite literally, Orion is the only constellation I can find on a regular basis with no trouble. Sure I know the Big and Little Dippers are up there, but they're much more difficult to spot. I think that Belt of Orion's is way cool – mostly because that's how I spot it. I'm such an astronomer. Not.

Oriol - My favorite race car driver of the past 8 or so years. Sadly, last year he finally signed a contract for a full-time (he was the Super Sub – brilliant – for a good number of years) ride and then everything went to hell in a handbasket – hence that ugly red, white and blue logo in the corner of his website. Okay, I'm amused – I google-imaged Oriol and the first picture that showed up was obviously from the current year (i.e., ugly uniform, ugly car, etc.), but I saw one that showed my Oriol in a firesuit that was very familiar…and it turns out that it's from my good friend Row's website. I wonder if he knows! If you're good, you might even be able to look through Row's pics and find me at my happiest – at a Champ Car race with good friends. Damn, going through those pics made me melancholy.

On-line - Which of us doesn't love "on-line"-ness? It gives me access to people, knowledge, shopping, etc. It's almost all good.

Oh crap, when I started this I thought I only had to come up with FIVE O words…hmmm. Time to get out the dictionary.

Obelisk - I equate obelisks with ancient Egypt which I find utterly fascinating and I look forward to the day I get to return to Egypt and see more of it, as I really only got to see Cairo and Saqqara when I was there back in the mid-90s.

Oboe - If you have never listened to Vivaldi's Oboe Concertos you are missing out. They are incredible.

Occasion - I love special occasions, especially if they require one to dress up. I do not feel people dress up enough anymore. Hell, when I see people at the symphony and opera in jeans or cargo shorts and flip-flops and t-shirts, it's obvious that nothing is an "occasion" anymore. And it makes me sad.

Opal - Opals are my all time favorite gemstone – particularly, black opals. A while back I had made it a goal to have an opal ring for every finger. I succeeded (with a couple extra) and now I rarely wear them.

Oscar - Specifically, Oscar Wilde. I have two favorite plays – Cyrano de Bergerac and The Importance of Being Earnest. He wrote the latter. I have a whole book of his writings and find him quite an interesting person. I can read or watch "Importance" at any day or time. Love, love, love it!