The album Purple Rain by Prince and the Revolution. It was 1984, I was 13 and I was a fan. I remember "borrowing" my brother's walkman – only at times when he wasn't aware of it - and the joy of being able to "let's go crazy" at a near deafening level without anyone being bothered by it. I had glued purple serpentines to the wooden walls of my room.

It was the age of the Commodore 64, a computer with an amount of memory "no one would ever be able to fill with text during his or her entire life" as my IT teacher used to claim. Although back then, I'm sure he wouldn't be called an IT teacher.It was that very year when my dentist told me I would probably need corrective surgery after a period of wearing braces. All I had to do was say the word. And I did…4 hours ago.

I have my own walkman now, only now it's called an iPod. And I'm writing this blog entry on a computer with more memory than IT people had words for back then. I'm nearly 38 and I'm about to plug Prince into my ears and go crazy at a near deafening level. I'm sure my kids won't mind.

The serpentines have gone, although not really. Because I'm symbolically picking up where I left off as far as my teeth are concerned. I'm wearing braces with purple rubber bands as of today. (Read "Overcome anything" and "Fear #1")And although the corrective surgery isn't planned until next summer, I've started the actual healing today.Me and my big mouth are palls again.

Take care,
Karl

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