i drove from Minneapolis to Chicago to get coffee at 7-11 - i remember passing a water park called Wisconsin Dells. i lost my virginity to a guy from Tennessee who played the Bo deans and he said to me "now you'll never forget this song" - he was right - it was "Still the Night." in Columbus, Ohio i raided the aisles of a Krogers - stuffed Mad Dog 20/20 into the pouch of my sweatshirt - took full cartons of Camel Lights - got caught one night by a security guard - he snuck up behind me wrapped his arms around me and pulled out the goods - i was banned from the store "for life". - i knew a guy who i didn't know at all - we met in a bowling alley - sticking fingers in different sized holes - in and out, in and out of balls - I wanted the pink one but my fingers were too long and i refused to wear bowling shoes left foot brown lace, right foot white -so i went to the bar and the guy came too, sat on a stool beside me. he had no patience for a game that required waiting - we smoked and smoked - his arm dropped and his hand crept up my leg - i froze and held my breath, my stomach was churning - i went back to 7th grade- getting stoned while the Violent Femmes played - stealing my parents' car WBAI no static radio station, Gideon and me taken empty tennis jackets into Gristedees and filling them up with St.Paulie's Girl - D.J. after D.J. sleep away camp, a red sleeping bag, the importance of flashlights, the counselor in tie-dye with an acoustic guitar singing Ticket To Ride - i wanted my braces off - i wanted to be grown up. but in the bar of the bowling alley i complied like a little girl - my legs layered in palm prints. the street outside stunk like gasoline - the bowling alley blasted Life's Been Good - which is short if you're pouting and have locked yourself in a car, but when you are in an ashcan of a town stuck next to a stranger kinda tipsy - well, then, that song is really long