GETTING MORE TALE #586.5: More Adventures with Aaron
Guest shot by Aaron Lebold BMR

 

My old friend Aaron Lebold has been writing fast and furious!  He has now hit the point in his own story when we met in 1994.  I’d like to share with you a few of his stories that I featured in.  1994 was an interesting period in both our lives.  I had just started at the Record Store, which was the beginning of something incredible.  At the same time, I was very lonely.  I was in my last year of school but I didn’t know anybody in any of my classes.  Meanwhile Aaron’s dad left.  We became good friends.  He was like a little brother to me, and I never had a brother.  Both of us were in some kind of pain, but I really enjoyed having someone around who was into music, and eager to listen to my stories.

As Aaron will explain, he called me Geddy.  Here are some excerpts and links to the full stories.  They brought back of lot of memories, musical and otherwise!  I hope you’ll give them a read.

Thanks Aaron for friendship and writing these stories!

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AARON LEBOLD BMR – “Geddy (part one)”

It was the summer of my Grade Eight year, and my sister and I were both discovering a new world on the computer. In a fashion similar to the internet, we were both going on the computer, and starting to interact with people in a new way, with new identities.

After spending some time in this reality, it didn’t take long to establish who was popular, who was considered “cool” and who was also frequenting each individual site. Geddy was a name I was familiar with, he showed a lot of confidence, and seemed to really know what he was talking about. One of the things that really stood out to me was his love, and knowledge of music.

At this time in my life music was turning into a bit of a fascination for me, I had a few bands I really liked, but didn’t really have much in the way of knowledge. Back then, it still cost upwards of thirty dollars if you were to purchase a new CD, I didn’t have a radio, and there was no music available to listen to online like there is today.

I spoke with Geddy about music fairly often, I felt a sense of excitement knowing that I was talking to one of the popular people from this new environment. I’m pretty sure I pretended like I knew more than I did about music to try to relate, but I was definitely listening to what Geddy had to say.

Finish reading here:  medium.com/@aaronleboldbmr/geddy-part-one

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AARON LEBOLD BMR – “Geddy (part two)”

Mike was a product of the 80’s, so a lot of what he listened to was in that genre, but he also kept up to date with new music. Mike showed me Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, and of course his favorite band Rush. The first time we hung out he let me tape some of his CD’s, and showed me how to make photocopies of the album art to make it seem more authentic.

Over the course of that summer Mike and I began hanging out fairly often, sometimes with other people we had met on the computer. Mike lived in the city, about twenty minutes from the small town I had grown up in. I didn’t get to the city much as a kid because my mother refused to drive there, and my father was never home.

Mike and I would basically just go out and have fun. I remember I had always wanted to steal a pylon from the side of the road and put it in my room, and one night Mike helped me turn that into a reality. I still had that pylon up until a few years ago.

Finish reading here:  medium.com/@aaronleboldbmr/geddy-part-two

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AARON LEBOLD BMR – “Socializing”

My world with Mike began to expand, the people on the computer would periodically have get together’s where we would all meet in person. Mike and I would frequent these together as much as we could. Mike and I were at the point that we were both popular in this community, and people would look forward to our presence. I felt that Mike was the reason I was in this position, so I was always weary of jeopardizing this relationship by exposing the side of me that felt like a twisted mess.

During this process I began to get to know some of the girls my age that were also involved in the computer world. I began to set my sights on trying to get to know a girl named Kim, even though she lived in a city that was long distance from my town. Initially I hadn’t told Mike about my interest in Kim, as I wasn’t sure I had any kind of chance.

Mike and I were at a pretty large gathering at a restaurant called “Zeke’s” in his hometown. The night went well, I began getting comfortable expressing myself, and Mike and I developed a reputation for being somewhat of the life of the party. I fed a lot off Mike’s confidence, and in doing so really started to feel better about myself.

Finish reading here:  medium.com/@aaronleboldbmr/socializing

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One thing that surprised me about these stories was that Aaron found me “confident” in a social way.  I remember feeling anything but confident.  But Aaron was my wingman, and maybe he’s the one who helped boost my confidence.

Food for thought.  Rock and roll!  Thanks Aaron for writing these stories.