On Compact Discs — John Znidarsic

Can I borrow your CD player, Cheech?

Cheech is my 9-year old. She put Beast on the left sleeve of her soccer sweatshirt. But her real name is Hattie Quinn. Cheech came from her older sister. Not sure why— but that’s how most good nicknames stick. It fits her like a finely tailored suit though. Good or bad — whenever she does something, all you can do is shake your head and say That’s the Cheech…

Anyway, she’s also the only one I know in this house with a CD player.

Yeah, it’s over there.

She was reading a book on the floor.

Wait, why do you need it?

Because I want to listen to some old CDs. She looked skeptical. But, she always looks skeptical. To play a CD. Like a physical CD. I opened the CD player and held up a disc that was in there. See, Cheech, we used to just have CDs and these don’t sync with the music we can dial up on our phones. She was tracking. Anyway, I had a bunch of great shows on CD…like concerts that people taped so it’s not stuff you can just find on Apple…

Like who?

The Cardinals. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals. They were on an absolute heater in 2006 and 2007. Really good stuff.

Cool.

Hattie went through an abbreviated series of her usual bedtime stall techniques while I stood in the doorway and held her CD player in my hand. We tucked her in and I retreated to the basement to plug this thing in and listen to some Ryan Adams.

I have to admit that I was borderline obscenely late for work this morning because I was searching for CDs. But, I would counter with A) if your Creative Director shows up on time, he’s probably no good and B) it turns out I have a CD player in my car so it worked out beautifully. I listened to the first set from 11/14/07 on the way in. Finishing the second set now.

Finding old music is like jumping into a time capsule. I’m immediately back into the Jade Green manual Kia Sportage I drove. Classic late 20s guy trying to find myself and love and hopefully do it in the right order.

But, I’m also here. A dozen years later. With a wife and two girls. Watching all those memories pass by through a different prescription.

Some of the angst is gone. Love lost is no longer a chief concern. And, it’s honestly hard to listen without at least thinking a little bit about how Ryan Adams was at his best as member of the Cardinals and at his worst as a posterchild for the #MeToo movement.

The point is we have nearly infinite music at our fingertips. But, it’s tough to beat washing the coffee stains off a CD, blowing the dust off the player and taking a trip back in time.