Random Music Answers - Finally!

Thanks for waiting, everyone!

I am so glad that so many of you visited and left comments – Welcome! I do believe that this was my most responded to post EVER. I’ve highlighted the ones that were guessed correctly in bold.

As I said earlier, I have a lot of cover versions so if you guessed Fred Astaire for “Cheek to Cheek,” I think that’s close enough . . .

Before I go on, I just want to highlight my favorite local folks:

• Eddie From Ohio is a local band that’s been together and touring for more than 16 years. They got their start doing regular gigs at the long-gone-but-much-missed dive bar in Arlington, Bad Habits. I’ve seen them live several times at venues as large as Wolf Trap and as cozy as the Birchmere. They are a very fun, folky group that deserves to have a wider audience. An archive of some of their shows can be found here: http://www.archive.org/details/EddieFromOhio. Robbie Schaefer is part of that band, and has a solo career doing children’s music (and other music too) and a weekly kid’s radio show on XM.

• I am also a huge Mary Chapin Carpenter fan. I’ve seen her at Wolf Trap a number of times, mostly from the lawn. She’s from around here too.

So without further ado . . . the answers!

1. I got the heebies, I got the heebie jeebies – Hebbie Jeebies, The Puppini Sisters
2. River full of stones when there is no rain – River, Mary Chapin Carpenter
3. I can’t forget the night I met you - You Call it Madness, Diana Krall
4. Papa come quick, Jody’s gone to the city - Papa Come Quick, (Jody and Chico), Bonnie Raitt
5. Looking out on the morning rain – Feel Like a Natural Woman, Carole King
6. I went out walking through streets paved with gold – The Wanderer, Johnny Cash and U2
7. Heaven . . . I’m in heaven – Cheek to Cheek, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
8. Whatcha gonna do with all that junk? – My Humps, Fergie/Black Eyed Peas
9. No, I would not give you false hope – Mother and Child Reunion, Paul Simon
10. The charter bus ride is getting to me – Porter’s Tale, Eddie From Ohio
11. T’was just a garden in the rain – Garden in the Rain, Diana Krall
12. I’m undecided about you again – O’ Sailor, Fiona Apple
13. Call out the instigators because there’s something in the air – Something in the Air, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
14. Oh yeah I tell you something I think you’ll understand – I Want to Hold Your Hand, The Beatles
15. You’re older than you’ve ever been and now you’re even older – Older, They Might Be Giants
16. When we were young we pledged allegiance every morning of our lives – Stones in the Road, Mary Chapin Carpenter
17. Same old place, same old city – Oh, Atlanta, Allison Krauss
18. My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue – Tapestry, Carole King
19. This old house has been boarded up – This Old House, Robbie Schaefer
20. I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick on the cigarettes here in the ashtray – Good Year for the Roses, Elvis Costello and the Attractions
21. This shirt is old and faded, all the colors washed away – This Shirt, Mary Chapin Carpenter
22. I don’t want you, but I hate to lose you – Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Ella Fitzgerald
23. How glad the many millions of Jonathans and Williams would be . . . to capture me – I’ve Got a Crush on You, Sarah Vaughn
24. Nothing’s impossible, I have found – Pick Yourself Up, Anita O’Day
25. Got my work clothes on for love, sweat and dirt – Grand Central Station, Mary Chapin Carpenter

This was fun! I'll have to do this again sometime soon.

Name Those Random Lyrics!

This is a fun meme that’s making the rounds and I just felt like trying it. It was that kind of day. The rules are:

Step 1: Put your MP3 player or whatever on random.
Step 2: Post the first line from the first 25 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing the song.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song and artist the lines come from.
Step 4: Strike through when someone gets them right
Step 5: Looking them up on Google or any other search engine is CHEATING.

This is going to be interesting, since some songs I listen to have been covered a billion times, and some songs are fairly obscure. Also, I was working off the lyrics as I actually heard them, so there might be some slight discrepancies, but nothing too bad. Do try to guess! In fact, you don't have to guess them all at once, just ones you recognize will suffice.

I’ll post the answers in a couple of days . . .

1. I got the heebies, I got the heebie jeebies
2. River full of stones when there is no rain
3. I can’t forget the night I met you
4. Papa come quick, Jody’s gone to the city
5. Looking out on the morning rain
6. I went out walking through streets paved with gold
7. Heaven . . . I’m in heaven
8. Whatcha gonna do with all that junk?
9. No, I would not give you false hope
10. The charter bus ride is getting to me
11. T’was just a garden in the rain
12. I’m undecided about you again
13. Call out the instigators because there’s something in the air
14. Oh yeah I tell you something I think you’ll understand
15. You’re older than you’ve ever been and now you’re even older
16. When we were young we pledged allegiance every morning of our lives
17. Same old place, same old city
18. My life has been a tapestry of rich and royal hue
19. This old house has been boarded up
20. I can hardly bear the sight of lipstick on the cigarettes here in the ashtray
21. This shirt is old and faded, all the colors washed away
22. I don’t want you, but I hate to lose you
23. How glad the many millions of Jonathans and Williams would be . . . to capture me
24. Nothing’s impossible, I have found
25. Got my work clothes on for love, sweat and dirt

Sunrise, Sunset: Another Odd Week

It’s another one of those weeks, when all I touch seems to go awry – even the simplest tasks have monkey wrenches thrown into them, making everything twenty times more aggravating than need be.

Ugh.

Last week, my dad took my mom to the emergency room in the middle of the night. Long story short: my mom had her gallbladder taken out and is home resting and walking around gingerly and having to cope with a new, low-fat diet that is mandatory for her now. It was a very rocky 24 hours in trying to figure out what was wrong with her and seeing if she got through the surgery OK. I was just a nervous, hysterical mess in waiting to hear from my dad . . .

Also last week, a co-worker’s brother died and Mr. Random and I went to visit her while she was sitting Shiva at her home. We were there in time for the evening prayers and tried to follow along as best we could in the prayer books but we don’t know Hebrew so it was a little difficult. There were a few other non-Jews there too, so we didn’t feel too out of place. My co-worker really appreciated the company, the hugs, and the concern of all her friends. It is a shame that most Christian religions don’t have the same ritual – I can see how the week of structured activities can be very helpful and comforting. You allow yourself time and space to fully grieve, and you always have people around you to help support you and take care of things during the big hump of the first week. The rabbi (or assistant rabbi) comes by every night to start the prayers and offer comfort. The whole community is there for you for an extended period. I just thought, wow. That’s cool.

So it’s been a little rough the past few weeks . . .

There IS light at the end of the tunnel. After next Friday, my classes are over for the summer. Whether I’ll be able to take a class in the Fall is up in the air (grumble, grumble) but hey, after I write my 30 page Econ paper, things should get easier.

I look forward to reading more for pleasure and having evenings free, except for the nights I teach ESL.

The weather is beautiful these days. The tons of rain we’ve had, now yields lots of gorgeous green. (Unless you have major allergies, to which I saw – hang in, the blooming season ends soon!)

I send my best wishes out to everyone! I am waving and thinking of you all, even if I'm not writing and visiting much!

A Fun Moment From My Childhood

Just to liven things up a bit, let's turn back the clock and revisit one of my fave Sesame Street characters: Roosevelt Franklin.



Bonus: The outdoor shot of the school looks a lot like my alma mater, Doogie Howser MS/HS.

Wile E. Coyote, Looking Up, Holding a Small Umbrella

I see that COTW is taking some time away after having a few life events happen. She does so much and is such an awesome person that it’s good to see her take some time to step back and rest and deal with all of the change around her.

Like I said earlier, I was sick last week, but it wasn’t really the flu – although that’s what I say because getting into what’s actually wrong with me would take too much time to get into normally.

The bottom line is that I woke up on Wednesday morning and had a huge panic attack. And then I couldn’t stop crying. Because it gets SO overwhelming sometimes – the whole grandma thing, the whole school thing, the whole work thing, the whole soon-we-are-going-to-owe-a-ton-in-student-loans thing – it all hangs over my head like an anvil being suspended by piano wire. There are a few other things going on that I haven’t had the nerve to talk about yet, but they weigh on me too.

I was so upset, Mr. Random thought that I should probably stay home. After much hemming and hawing, I agreed. I felt bad though, because my being so upset was making Mr. Random way late for work. Even when I’m not happy, I still feel worse because I’m ruining stuff for other people too. If it was just me, then I could just call in sick and be done, but when you factor other people who need me to do my part so they can do theirs, it feels such like a burden. My decisions affect others and that can make even simple decisions take forever for me.

I get tired of thinking sometimes. I want to step back and stop the show for a while and just not do anything for a while, except those things I like to do.

So Wednesday I just stayed home and slept a lot. I felt really run down and drained, so it seemed like my body was telling me that that’s what I needed. Towards the end of the day I started getting this huge headache coming on and by Thursday morning it hadn’t let up, and added some nausea in for good measure. However, I had a ton of things that needed to get done at work, so Mr. Random dropped me off as usual. Once at work, I holed up in my office, wrote the things I absolutely needed to write and then had someone take me home at noon. Then I slept some more. It’s a good thing that I went home, because between my head and my stomach, not much else was going to happen. (I know, TMI!) Friday, I made it to class and was able to send out a few work e-mails, but mostly I stayed low and didn’t do much.

Saturday was a bit of a reprieve, and my friend J and I were out and about, finding a new barbecue place for lunch and hanging out in a coffee shop afterwards, reading and working on random stuff. Then when Mr. Random got home we had dinner and walked around a bit (because I ate SO much that day!) My headache started coming back in full force that evening, and Sunday was spent just reading the paper and nodding off. Now here we are today . . . still having a low level headache and feeling blah, but at least I can somewhat function . . .

I am happy that I did well on my Econ exam, but am stressed out about this 30 page final paper that is due first week of May. I am stressed out about work because I am not really sure that I even want to be there anymore. More people are resigning, new people are coming in and I don’t know how I fit in the big picture anymore, or even if I want to fit in. I am stressed about Mr. Random’s mom coming in a couple of weeks. I am stressed out about what my future holds and other decisions that I have to make that will affect other people.

It is spring! The sun is shining and the weather is getting warmer. The summer lies before me – if all goes well my sister will be home from Iraq then – and I should be thrilled, but I’m not. I just see more . . . stuff going on, more stuff to navigate through and deal with.

I want a vacation from thinking about stuff for a little while – maybe just a month? What’s a month out of a lifetime of stuff to deal with, really? Why is this so hard to do?

I guess the whole “needing to earn a paycheck thing” has something to do with it. The whole “have to pay the mortgage” thing. I hate being responsible. Trying to be a grown-up sucks sometimes, really . . .

Sorry, guys, I just had to get this off of my chest. More cheerful posts will be forthcoming, I promise . . .

Coming Up on the Ides of April

This week I was wicked sick and home a few days with a massive headache and flu. I'm doing better now, but it wasn't pretty for a while.

On the happy news front, I got an A- minus on my last Econ exam. Yay! Still don't know much Micro econ, but hey, at least I'll have a decent grade in the class . . .

I'm going to be teaching ESL for the Spring/Summer semester and won't take another College class until the Fall because I need a bit of a break. It will be nice to read books for fun again . . .

Mr. Random is still on track to graduate next month - he's just finished his comps and now just has a few more weeks of class to go. His mom is coming out for the graduation, which means that I have to get hopping on making party plans and cleaning up the condo - at least the guest room.

I hope you all are doing well . . . hope to be able to write more soon . . .

On the Broad Street Line

This morning on the Today Show, there was a feature segment on a kid who started riding on the NYC subway by himself when he was 9 years old. (I think he’s 10 or 11 now – I didn’t have the sound on for the first part.)

When I first saw the topic on the screen, my first thought was “so what?” However, I guess I am one of the few people who thought that because both Ann Curry and some psychologist lady seemed to be berating the kid’s mom for, GASP, letting little precious travel by himself. That kids that age don’t have the developmental skills to handle something like that by themselves. His mom, who was handling this thing so much more calmly than I would have, was trying to make the rational arguments that, um, he seems to be doing fine and how is he supposed to learn how to get along in the world unless he actually gets along in the world. (I think – I was getting ready for work at the time and half-paying attention.)

As you all may or may not remember, I started going to Doogie Howser MS/HS in Philadelphia (the same illustrious alma mater of Justrose) when I was 9 going on 10 and I took the subway AND the bus back and forth to school every day by myself. It was not a random unusual thing – lot of other kids did it and I do believe that the world of the 1980s wasn’t vastly safer than the world of today. I’d even argue that today is safer in a lot of ways. But what once was considered somewhat normal when I grew up is now almost grounds for child endangerment, and I don’t know how I feel about that. It kind of upsets me on a basic level.

See, this is why I’m semi-wary of having kids because the rules seems to always change about what kids should be allowed to do at what age. OK, now it’s fine that little kids are supposed to be able to start writing paragraphs in Kindergarten, but it’s not OK for the same kids to ride their bikes around the block by themselves when they’re eight. I’m so confused.

I remember how competent and independent I felt to be able to go to school by myself. Yes, the Philadelphia subway transportation system was not the most hygienic and there were some weirdoes along the way, but my parents didn’t raise any fools (although the jury may still be out on me . . .) and the majority of people in the world are good and decent and just going on about their business. If we make things uber-scary, then guess what? Kids will grow up thinking relatively normal, harmless things are uber-scary.

I don’t think this has a point. I’m just rambling. But that segment ticked me off and I’m trying to pinpoint why. Maybe because it sort of invalidates and devalues my own childhood experiences? Negates the brief feelings of control and mastery I felt as a child? (Other than in academics, I sure as heck didn’t feel that way anywhere else . . . and I still have problems with it now.)

Anyway . . . as you were . . .

Another Shot at the Scottish Play

I’ve been very quiet this week. I’ve been feeling kind of down and overwhelmed, so I haven’t had much to say that wouldn’t have depressed the heck out of everyone. I HAVE wanted to write, and I would start and stop, but thought better of it once I actually read what I wrote. It helped me improve my mood a bit to actually “pretend write” though, since putting words on electronic paper does help me reason things out sometimes.

Last night, Mr. Random, J, and I went to see Macbeth at the Folger, the one co-directed by Teller. It was a very entertaining, riveting performance, not very stogy at all – maybe even a bit of what the original Globe performances of Macbeth were like, with lots of blood and gore and humor and just plain “life” in it. I am so glad that we bought our tickets so early which allowed us to have such awesome seats. The magic in the play flowed naturally and didn’t seem obviously staged. I gave this Macbeth two thumbs up!

I have an Econ exam on Friday, the class of which I am very weary. I want the semester to be over so badly. I’m going to try to sign up to take Statistics in the summer semester, which means I’ll have class three nights a week for 6 weeks. That sounds pretty intense, but it will keep me on track for the fall.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do for Mr. Random’s graduation, since we don’t have a home big enough (or with enough parking) for the type of celebration that I’d like to have. We are thinking of having it at a local restaurant the Saturday before, but it still isn’t the optimum choice and makes me feel very disappointed and frustrated. I want everyone to come and not feel stressed, and I want families to be able to come and go, and I want to not have to worry about tallying up a bill at the end and playing the “money game” – you know, where you try to get everyone’s portion of the check and some people end up underpaying and leaving which means other people have to contribute more than they should to leave the correct amount. I HATE that with a passion. . . .

I am looking forward to the weekend, even though that will be busy as well. It’s the weekend to visit my grandma and I also have to finish out an outside project that I am working on. Mr. Random has his comprehensive exams one day then will play in a soccer game the next. Monday night, there is a church meeting that has to do with the project I’m working on this weekend. Next Thursday, Mr. Random has free tickets to a Nationals game at the new ballpark. And then another weekend comes . . .

So I’m muddling through . . . I hope you all are doing well and enjoying good weather wherever you are!