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Damn you, Samantha, and your baby pictures (like she even reads this).

Samantha was a UCLA Alumni Association liaison with whom I worked extensively in the first half of this decade. She moved to North Carolina two and a half years ago, and had a baby a year and a half ago... and the only way to see pics was to get a Facebook account.

So I did. Just to get pictures.

And it grew from there.

I'm trapped.

Anyway, yesterday a former student sent out one of those notes (not THAT note, though I HAVE already done the 25 things about me)... this one on 15 albums. It took an hour of crafting and editing, but here's my response:

These are in no particular order (except, of course, for number one)... and many have been left off (uh, that would include Rockpile, the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, Peter Case and about four other albums by Bruce)

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!

1. Born to Run -- Bruce Springsteen (though I could easily have added Wild and Innocent, Darkness, The River, and The Rising as well)
2. Men Without Women -- Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
3. London Calling -- The Clash
4. Double Nickels on the Dime -- The Minutemen
5. Damn the Torpedoes -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
6. The '59 Sound -- The Gaslight Anthem
7. Talking with the Taxman about Poetry -- Billy Bragg
8. Lone Justice -- Lone Justice
9. Run-DMC -- Run-DMC
10. Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash -- The Pogues
11. Armed Forces -- Elvis Costello
12. Love, Hope, Sex, Dreams -- The BoDeans
13. Devil without a Cause -- Kid Rock
14. Reach Up and Touch the Sky (live) -- Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
15. 1999 -- Prince

So far, the most interesting response was this from an old HS friend (and the daughter of both my AND Kyle's kindergarten teacher):

15 albums is too few for people as OLD as we are. I had 27 on my first cut. After some hard choices, I have 15 ready, but want to sleep on it.

I am old... but damn, my music's good.

Just keep me out of Twitter....