04.16.01 - 10:34 p.m.

Well, Joey Ramone is dead, and as a tribute I thought I'd share my first Ramones memory.

I was in eighth grade and my family was making one of our many weekend trips to New York City. We were staying at the Salisbury Hotel on West 57th St - it was a suite rather than a plain old hotel room, so there was a living room area with an old-fashioned crappy velvet brown couch.

Before I left for this trip, Robbie Chappell, who had been in love with me for the past two years, lent me his Ramones Mania tape. I�d never heard them before but since they were from NYC, I felt it was fitting to be listening to them on this trip. The tape was in horrible condition � it didn�t have a case, the tape itself was scratched and the music popped and crackled. But it was so wonderful. I lay on that ugly couch in that dark brown room all night, it seemed, listening to that tape. I can�t even remember anything else we did on that trip except for this experience. Later I stole someone else�s beat-up copy of Ramones Mania at a fraternity party, even though I owned the CD at this point, just to remind me of the first time I ever heard the album. God bless the Ramones.