Only a nerd would write lovingly about his twelve-year-old Alice in Chains mousepad.
The word "geek" has also become associated with the computer world, but I am no geek, dammit. To me a "geek" is a wiry, rabid-looking man clad in only a burlap sack or maybe a garbage bag, biting the heads off chickens at some small town carnival. "Nerd" sounds more genteel and slighty less repulsive, and anybody who has used the same mouse pad since 1995 has some nerd blood in him.
In 1995 I went to a great party that AIC held at a Belltown club, and maybe my mouse pad fetish has something to do with an attempt to hold on to those memories. I don't recall much from that night, except that for every rock star in the room there were ten drug dealers.
My circa 1995 Alice in Chains mouse pad is so worn that for several years I have been placing 
it over my Leisure Suit Larry (circa 1991) mouse pad. True nerds will know that Larry, who debuted in the '80s, is now appearing in the seventh version of the series: "Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!," which is playable on cell phones.
In 1995 AIC had just released their last studio album (Alice in Chains), and thanks probably to their savvy manager Susan Silver they also had one of the first professional-looking band websites. The URL listed on the pad now goes to an error page at Sony, but Alice in Chains still exists. They're touring late this summer with supergroup Velvet Revolver. William Duvall will fill in for deceased lead singer Layne Staley on the tour.
The sixth annual Layne Staley tribute concert takes place August 25th at Pioneer Square nightclub Fenix, and will feature Chris Daughtry, the bald rocker of American Idol fame.
