The dream is over

I learned on Saturday that Oasis, one of my favorite bands, had broken up. More properly, Noel Gallagher, guitarist, occasional vocalist, and principal songwriter, left the band on Friday. Apparently, he found himself at a point where he was no longer willing to deal with his brother, Liam, the band's lead singer. Being somewhat familiar with Liam's past and present antics, I can sympathize, but that doesn't diminish the sadness that I felt when I heard the news.

There have been times when either Noel or Liam wouldn't show up for a gig or left the band temporarily, but this really seems final. I'm very glad that I was able to see them live last year before all this happened. Now, I guess, Noel's finally going to put out that solo album, and Liam's probably going to try keep Oasis going without him. For me though, it's over, and that's a terribly tragic thing.

An Inside Smile

At Starbucks, there were two men sitting next to each other in the comfortable chairs, enjoying a drink. They didn’t know each other. After a while, one of them got up to leave and stood in line to get another drink or some food or something. Out of the blue, the other guy goes up to him and hands him the cell phone that the he'd accidentally left on his seat. The first guy was, understandably, very grateful and thanked him. Then, right before he walked out the door, he walked back over to the other guy and handed him a Starbucks giftcard in appreciation for his help. I guess chivalry and doing the right thing aren’t dead after all. Yesterday, I felt a small measure of grace.