my first car was a gold 1989 volvo 240 sedan that melissa named tiger, as in "whoa, tiger," which was something she said a lot when i was learning how to merge onto the freeway. i brought it to berkeley in my senior year, by which time i was pretty interested in jazz. one thing led to another, and i began to name and label parts of the car after jazz musicians. here's the complete list:

thelonious trunk

miles per hour davis (the odometer)

lena horne (though i now realize it could have just as easily been hornette coleman)

bill heavens (the ceiling)

charlie parker (parking brake)

dave brubacker (reverse light)

john coltransmission

chet baker (heater)

digby fairweather (i admit this one was a stretch--windshield wipers)

(i love this memory for its silliness and creativity. i want to try to be that person for the rest of my life.)