"Rockin' Fred", and a July 9, 1987 greeting card

I tried to begin most of the cassettes that I made my pen pals with a song. I had what I would now regard as one of the world's biggest collections of awful hair bands. History has proven that they were also quite forgettable. Groups like Cinderella, LA Guns, Riot, etc. saw much more airplay than they deserved thanks to my talk tape habits.

Playing these groups for friends was about showcasing my "coolness" to them. I liked the kind of music that I should like in order to fit in with a bunch of KISS fans. Long before it became common to talk about one's "tribe," I belonged to this one.

Since Tito wasn't a KISS fan, I was not obliged to play only my "tribal music" to him. I was free to be a "me" which would could alienate me from the other heavy metal and hard rock members who I tended to correspond with. One day, I played an unusual record and wrote on the label "Rockin' Fred." It was something I never played for anyone else.

Tito got my tape and, before listening to it, he talked about the label for a brief time. He then paused in his recording and popped the tape in to listen. When he came back, he said, "Shari, you're weird!"

Tito had told me that he was one of those people who struggled in the mornings to reach consciousness. This was, no doubt, due to his late-night habits messing up his circadian rhythms. I didn't tell him that though because I wasn't judging. I did send him a song that I hoped would "assist" him though. It was Mr. Rogers singing a "wake up" song. "Come on and wake up! Come on and wake up, now."

The weirdness didn't end there. It cropped up from time to time in cards and letters. This was one of the earliest examples.