I posted a blog a while back which you can read here: https://hebontheweb.blog/2021/02/27/albums-ive-listened-to-enjoyed-from-rolling-stones-top-500-albums-of-all-time-list/

This blog was basically a list of all of the albums I’ve listened to from Rolling Stone’s list of 500 greatest albums of all time (not the most recent list of theirs).

Today, I’m in my basement doing laundry and thought I’d catch up with my album listening! Since the last time I checked in with this blog, I have added the albums “Blood on the Tracks” by Bob Dylan and as I type, I’m listening to “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back” by Public Enemy.

Rather than just go through the list in order (how boring), I am cherry picking albums from the list that strike my mood or fancy at the time. When I listened to “Blood on the Tracks,” it was because I’d recently read an article about filmmaker Quentin Tarantino (of whom I’m a huge fan) that stated Blood on the Tracks was his favorite album of all time. So why not listen to it? I did, and I enjoyed it (though I can only take so much of Bob Dylan’s voice at a time)! He never disappoints as a story teller and melody maker, though! I can easily understand why my mother was a fangirl of his when she was a teenager! When she was dating my dad, she remembered my dad’s birthday because it was a day after Bob Dylan’s! Perhaps I took after my mom a bit in my ability to remember important dates well!

Speaking of dates, there are a couple of those relevant to the month of June. One, the entire month of June is “Pride Month,” so I’ll try to add at least a couple of albums by gay/lesbian artists to my listening for the day. So up next, I’ll give “Dusty in Memphis” by Dusty Springfield a listen.

Also during the month of June is “Juneteenth.” Wikipedia and numerous other sources can explain the significance of this day much, much better than I will even attempt to do, but it means quite a lot to African Americans and is a significant date (June 19, 1865, to be precise) in their culture. So my choice to listen to the Public Enemy album (which I’m enjoying) – can certainly be called a nod to Juneteenth if you like!

I may not be the best social media disciple in the world when it comes to things like Pride Month and other social consciousness things. I’m not even the most politically correct person in the world (oh HELL no)! I’m not going to wrap every status update I post in a rainbow pattern, I don’t want to watch any drag shows on purpose (unless it’s a John Waters film with Divine in it, LOL) and I’ll cringe if anyone tries to insinuate I’m lesser than they are because I’m not gay or lesbian (really – what purpose does THAT serve)? I appreciate and sympathize with the struggles all disenfranchised folks have had to endure throughout history. People in general can be assholes, and as history has proven way too many times, if we don’t try to stop people from being assholes to us, there can be no change. And sometimes that change requires bloodshed, fists, war, protests and lots of generally not nice things. Which is why we have Black History Month, Pride Month, Women’s History Month and other such things. Also why we have movies like Boys Don’t Cry, Schindler’s List and 12 Years a Slave in addition to countless others. Never forget those who have had to suffer for their freedoms. Always remember that not everyone has had it as easy as you have.