I don't know how many of you will remember this, but back in the 80s, in magazines like Teen Beat, there was always a page of ads with people listing their favorite bands and such looking for pen pals. (Yes, pen pals. Where you actually had to HAND WRITE a letter and put it in the mail and wait for a reply weeks later). I noticed one day that a girl had posted who was from Australia. I thought it would be cool to have a pen pal in Australia, which I loved, so I sent her a note. She responded to say she had received such a huge response that she couldn't possibly write to everyone, but suggested I post my own ad in Australia's version of Teen Beat, which I actually did. Apparently, they published it, because a couple of months later, I started to receive letter upon letter from Down Under.

I was 17-years-old and had nothing better to do, so I wrote back to everyone I could. I started up a correspondence with quite a few Aussies from all over that country. Little by little, as the months and years passed, they dropped off one by one, until by my early 20s, I had only one pen pal left in Australia. His name was Jim and he lived in Melbourne, and other than having a fascination with each other's countries, we really didn't have that much in common. But we wrote back and forth religiously about what music we were listening to (me: rock; him: dance), argued about why Madonna did or didn't suck, talked about school and movies and all the things young people talk about, and became pretty good friends.

Amazingly, Jim and I have managed to keep in touch over the years. (It's been sort of easy, since Jim's address has never changed). With the advent of the internet, it's gotten easier. We exchange e-mails regularly, chat online when the planets align and we're both on at the same time, and every year, I get a birthday card in the mail from my old friend, Jim. It's been nearly 20 years since we exchanged those first letters, and finally, I'm going to Australia this summer and we'll be able to meet face to face. Jim is giddy with excitement. He can't believe we're finally going to meet. And though I keep waffling on whether or not I'll actually be able to go due to many complicated circumstances, every time I chat with him and hear how excited he is, I tell myself that one way or the other, even if I can't do the tour around Oz that I want to do, at the very least, I must make it to Melbourne. Finally.

In honor of Australia, the song for the day is "Don't Change" by INXS off their 1982 release Shabooh Shoobah. Sure, I liked INXS later in the decade when they got popular and had a lot of hits, but I REALLY liked them early on when they had a much more distinct sound. This is one of my favorite songs from the 80s and it's still on heavy rotation on my iPod. I've had friends who have seen them with their new lead singer who have been very impressed by him. I'm sure it's an enjoyable show. But I wish I had taken the time to see them perform back in the day when Michael Hutchence was still around. Here's the video for your entertainment: