Jon Dawson: Scissors, Tax Deductions, and Neil Peart
Geddy Lee, Neil Peart and Alex Lifeson of Rush. / Photo from YouTube
A few days ago I was having fun with (okay, annoying) my oldest Tax Deduction. Much like one of her parents, she's easily annoyed.
We were watching Jeopardy (I refuse to add the exclamation point), and there was a question about scissors. This prompted The Wife to look up the history of scissors on her phone, which for some reason annoyed our 15-year-old daughter to no end.
"I can't say anything without starting an investigation!" she said
I felt the need to extinguish her feigned outrage, so I pelted her with a plethora of puns.
"That attitude is not going to cut it," I said.
(With her hands over her ears) "Oh please no!" she said.
"Curiosity is a good thing...it keeps you sharp," I said.
(With a pillow over her head) "I'll be nice! Please stop!!"
"Now cut that out!" I said.
(In agony) "I'll do the dishes if you'll stop!!"
"You're going to do that anyway," I said. "By the way, do you know how the Roman Empire was cut in half? With a pair of Caesars."
Even I'll admit that last one was so bad it set off the smoke detectors.
Once the beeping subsided I realized the kiddo on our couch suffering from pun burn would be grown and gone in no time at all. It brought to mind a song by Rush called "Time Stand Still", with lyrics written by their drummer Neil Peart:
Freeze this moment
A little bit longer
Make each sensation
A little bit stronger
Summer's going fast
Nights growing colder
Children growing up
Old friends growing older
That song reminded me of the time Charles Andersen and I went to a Rush concert. I was a Table Maintenance Coordinator (busboy) at the Beef Barn restaurant and Charles was the manager. We were both huge Rush fans and had the good fortune to see the band on their 1993 tour. That song also reminded me that I haven't seen Charles in a while and should correct that soon.
It also brought to mind the first time Michael Gagliano and I exchanged a bag of CDs and cassettes in high school. I'd heard a few Rush songs on the radio, but Mike was my rock and roll Mr. Miyagi.
"The best way to get into Rush is to listen to their live albums," Mike said. And he was right.
I still talk to Mike periodically on the phone and through social media, but we haven't hung out in person for a while. Yet another thing I need to correct soon.
With all the Rush references spinning around the incredibly limited space in my brain, I decided to listen to their last album "Clockwork Angels" while going for a walk later that night. The next day, the band's drummer and lyricist Neal Peart died after a three-year ordeal with brain cancer.
Music for me has always been a constant, and by that I mean I've never been drawn to it for nostalgic reasons. People don't flock to Van Gogh exhibits because the paintings remind them of their youth; they want to see the paintings because they're stimulating and beautiful. I view songs in the same manner.
It's a bit of a trap to only like music that was created when you were a teenager. Good music is happening all the time, and there's no way I was going to allow my teenage years to shackle me to Wang Chung or whatever else was popular when my acne was at its topographic peak.
Rush wrote a song about acne-riddled teens dealing with the intricacies of high school called “Subdivisions”. Music videos were big at the time and seeing the geeky kid left behind while the cool kids loaded into a car and headed to some mythically epic party was an eye-opener for me. To this day I’d rather stay home and listen to Rush than go to a party.
Usually, I just enjoy a piece of music at face value with no strings attached. But for some reason, the scissor pun marathon with my daughter followed by Neil Peart's passing pulled the memory ripcord and projected my thoughts the future as well.
"When you get grown you better not move too far away from us," I said as I hugged TD#1 goodnight later in the week. "It's easier to annoy you in person."
Jon Dawson’s columns are published weekly by Neuse News. Contact Jon at jon@neusenews.com and www.jondawson.com.
