Btw, Joe, I've been loading up on Tom Waits stories and his tales of his childhood are just...they'd be very appealing to you, I think.
Even if you never listened to one note of his music, you'd dig his stories.
Like....
KS: What was Whittier like [when you were growing up?]
TW: "Lot of orange groves. A lot of vacant lots. Open space, vacant lots."
KS: What was your house like?
TW: "My dad built the house. He used to stop at a vacant lot and he'd take a shovel out and dig up a tree or a plant and bring it home and plant it in our yard. We had errant, illegal foliage at our house. I was a tree guy. I was always into trees, growing up. If your cat was trapped in a tree, you'd go get Tom. Tom would get in the tree and get the cat out."
KS: Really!
TW: [shifty] "Yeah. It was just a way of showing off for me. And I ate spinach so I could get stronger, so I could beat up the bullies. Ate a whole can of spinach once and got in a big fight. I was really surprised that spinach wouldn't actually pop out of the can. I was really embarrassed that I had to open it with a can opener."
KS: You brought it with you to the fight?
TW: "No, I kind of hid the can opener and opened it very slowly, and then when the top was off I threw it in my mouth. I had this big wad of spinach flying toward my mouth. And then I crushed the can together. I was concerned with image from a very young age."