LaurieWrites

I'd hate to see the ones who didn't care...

The Rules may have been advisable.

And this is the expert: "I worked with wacks," she said. "I have been stalked and attacked and my windshield shot out and my brakes cut - and that was by clients who cared about me."

I thought I'd do better than this!

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Rosa Goes to the Capitol

I think this is great. I may even go. I if anyone deserves this kind of recognition, it's Rosa Parks. I hope that people will use this as an opportunity to see how far we have come, in some ways, even if dignity and honor isn't afforded to many people of EVERY race, gender, cultural background, physical condition, etc. I don't think people even give up their seats for pregnant women or old people anymore, on this Planet Me we live on.

I need someone to read me stories...

I always have wanted that, come to think of it...maybe not needed, but definitely wanted it.

Patty Larkin's "The Book I'm Not Reading" is one of my recently rediscovered favorite songs. The entire "Perishable Fruit" cd is great, actually, and anyone interested in way good songwriting and a chick who can shred on the guitar should own it. Still..."The book I'm not reading." Yeah. It's riveting.

"Heart" is my second favorite off of the cd this week, strictly for these lyrics ,a sentiment I'd have written in different words, if I had more time and space right now for poetry:

"Turn off that constant noise baby
You're gonna hurt someone
You aim your mouth at me like you're
Pointing a gun."

Rosa Parks

"I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die -- the dream of freedom and peace." ~ Rosa Parks

I just read that she died today. And the first thing that crossed my mind was whether or not we still have enough people on this planet, and in the national consciousness, to look up to - people who stand for and achieve powerful things.

Are you ready?

The Monday Night Football song makes me want to saw my head off. Okay. This is one of the worst attempts at musical interpretation that I have ever heard in my life. This was the season that I finally decided to start understanding the game, because, just why not? One of my friends is a huge fan, and feeds me well enough to make showing up for the games worthwhile. And it turns out that I really should have checked it out all along. Sure, there's a game, but there is also cheesy dip, seriously...It's a purely social event, on many levels. The NFL opener was a cavalcade of cheesier-than-the-dip entertainment wonderfulness, the Superbowl is all about the commercials and EVEN CHEESIER DIP, and what with the replays, the players introducing themselves all dramatically, the snazzy graphicsc, cutaways and commentary, it's sort of like a reality show that happens to feature lots of men in tight pants.

I knew I might be catching on when  I heard myself yelling "SANTANA WAS ROBBED" after a particularly dicey play during last week's Redskins game. "WHO ARE YOU?" I asked myself, immediately, mouth full of cheese and chips. "Apparently, I am multi-faceted," I responded. "Shut it."

And this, of course, opens up a whole new world for me to form opinions and make pronouncements about. Hello - this is why I live. And there is still the matter of this dreadful "SONG". This 2002 U.S. Today article reports: "That year the Los Angeles Times ranked the "Bottom Ten" lowlights from two decades of Monday Night Football. The "grating theme song ... howled by Hank Williams Jr." was No. 10 — in its rookie year."

Seriously. First of all, he looks like he's been sitting in that truck from the introduction for the last 30 years, mainlining Bud bottles and smoking unfiltered Camels. This is possible, of course. His song has been used by the NFL for SIXTEEN years, during which time Hank hasn't had to live solely off of the royalties for his original "Bocephus" work, and he's even won like four or five Emmy awards. Please! I guess it pays to make and play music that makes people want to rip their ears off. It's genius advertising really - a basic question: are these people ready for some football? Of COURSE they are. Football fans are ALWAYS ready for some FOOTBALL. And they also, typically, like to scream, so Hank's voice doesn't sound much different.

There are reasons to love Hank, however...just ask him. And I guess I can't have much of a beef with the guy who sang "Family Tradition" - the song for many a drunken college singalong - even if this football song totally sucks.

Negotiating

"My psychic powers are not for sale. And by that I mean they totally are for sale."

~Eric Cartman

What Season?

What I don't need to see in the grocery store on OCTOBER 15TH! This is more than ONE/SIXTH of a year before Christmas day. I am still basking in the amber glow of pumpkins and candy corn, thanks, even though I DO listen to holiday music on occasion, which I still can't explain. But for the aggressive advertising and giant plastic snowglobes, we can at least wait until November...Competing with the turkeys and pilgrim hats makes a little more sense.

Guys, I learned something today...

WHAT DID YOU LEARN?

Well...

1. I can still run in heels.

2. But not well. And not downhill.

3. Fame bored Ricky Martin. Poor Ricky. However, this did not stop him from releasing a new album and promoting the hell out of it, so...

4. for some people, boredom is a good thing, because it allows them to make money, so they can take five years off to travel and soul-search, before returning to make more money.

5.  Men who look like Tony Gambino look way out of place in southern Virginia.

6. On a beautiful fall day, crossing the Potomac and then the Shenandoah River is an awe-inspiring experience.

7. Taking motion photos is very difficult.

8. "Fear the Turtle" is nice as a basketball reference, but when we start going past that I get a little worried.

9. Not all gas caps come off.

10. French Confection strawberry doughnuts kick Dunkin Donuts' butt.

11. I was really happy because he was happy, and that was refreshing.

50-cent words

No - not "Fitty cent". FIFTY. As in really big words, either in size or weight. Words like "hegemony". I tend to love 'em, but dilute them by using them along with other choice words like "y'all" and "uh-uh", and of course a liberal dose of profanity.

One of the reasons that I love Dar Williams is because she's so ridiculously smart, in addition to being a great folk-pop vocalist, an above-average guitarist, and an engaging live performer. Dar is one of the only people I listen to who can get the phrases "ingenuously churlish" and "hail to your vast hegemony" into songs in a way that doesn't make you want to slap her, and still has you tapping your feet.

SOTD: "Beautiful Enemy".   "Oh my enemy, beautiful enemy/ my stride is slowed by memory". These lyrics rock, topped off with a couple of choice fitty cent words.

(PS: Hegemony:  The predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others.)