+I got up at 5:30 on a SUNDAY (5:30 on any day is early for me, to be honest) to go on an 8k walk with Blondie, who has been hassling me forever to do one of these events with her. I'm so glad I did, even though my ass is sore now! (it was all downhill) It started early, but it is fun to walk down the middle of city streets and stop in the intersection to take pictures. like this one from the vista bridge!
+the sugar skull skirt is almost finished -- all that remains to be done is hand stitching the waistband. It makes me laugh just looking at it, which is generally a good sign. Although laughing maniacally to myself while wearing this skirt is probably not going to further my sanity campaign. but it cracks me up!
+dude is a gender neutral term. Accept it, embrace it -- it just is. Oh, all right! I just looked at the Wikipedia Dude Entry, and it would appear that it is increasingly becoming gender neutral, but may not, in fact, be there yet. "dudette" is just so lame.
+Closer by Nine inch Nails and Help! by the Beatles are thematically similar. This makes me wonder about explicit vs. implicit lyrics and the effectiveness of both. (this deep thought brought to you by ipod randomosity, and my brain currently overheating due to the outside temperature of 100000 degrees. 101 degrees, whatever. the result is liquid brains either way.)
+Library Thing is a site that caught my eye recently. It's sort of like flickr for your home library. I haven't joined up yet (talk about another way to use up HOURS of time!), but it looks pretty interesting...
+sounds I always associate with summer (a selection):
lawnmower
air conditioner
bees
+ saw a preview on Wednesday of the movie Wordplay, which was fun but not, I think, absolutely necessary to see on the big screen. My favorite part was probably Jon Stewart trash talkling Will Shortz, the editor of the NYT crossword puzzle. Smart and funny -- is there is a better combination? I learned that some of the best competitve crossword puzzle players (doers? people?) are musicians or mathematicians since they are adept at instantly translating information from one form to another, AND that the black spaces in a puzzle are the same right side up as upside down.
+ the neighbors are sitting out on their back patio with all the lights on and the radio playing. I don't mind at 11:30, but if they're still at it at 2AM, I will Not Be Pleased. Of course the light shines right in my bedroom window and the radio is audible throughout the house. Is it wrong that I miss the former owner of the house who was SO QUIET and sort of strange (I actually thought he had bond-villain tendancies for a while)? his DOG was even quiet. Unlike the cujo-style dog that this family has. Have I mentioned that the boys (aged EVIL) like to climb up on top of their shed thing and shoot tiny plastic balls over the fence at the cats? So, while I appreciate that it is hot and most certainly cooler outside than in, I do not appreciate the radio, the lights, and the tiny plastic balls. It is possible the heat is making me slightly cranky, or it is possible that they are kind of assholish. I'm going to go stand in some cold water in the bathtub and think about this and other important matters.
If they are torturing those sweet babies they are definitely assholish! And it's only 79 degrees in my house!
ReplyDeleteCongrats for doing the walk!! I'm glad you had fun!
I hope you're not still in the bathtub. This last para is like the opening of a Steven King story.
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Trying to hear Help and Closer in my head (not having your iPod shuffle on hand) and what I'm remembering so far is that Closer is about somebody finding what they need, while Help is about looking for it...?
leslita: it's so much worse since school is out! I may have to get a high-powered water gun and start fighting back. I don't know if I have the stamina to wage a summer-long war with three 8-13 year old boys, though. (I'm thinking I don't)
ReplyDeletethe walk was fun (butt pain later notwithstanding) and now Blondie's trying to talk me into doing the bridge stride in August. We'll see...
mernitman: Since it cooled down, I'm not still standing in the bathtub. But if I have to do it again, I've rigged up a laptop harness Macgyver-style (it is made from twine, number 2 pencils and non-conductive paperclips). If the Children of the Corn next door storm the bathroom with their effing radio-controlled cars I will push a button made from a cork and a spring to set off the booby traps.
As for Closer/Help I was going to capitulate and say that my brains were fried and the only thing the two songs have in common is the constant plea for HELP, but then I got to thinking about it and I still think there's more!
here's what the diagram in my brain looks like: Trent Reznor and John Lennon (stick people, since I am not much for figurative drawing) were taking individual walks through the same wood. They are each involved in their own thoughts ("how long will it take for this piercing to heal?" "I've got to remember to take those trousers in to be pegged." ETC) and neither one of them notice the poorly disguised PIT OF EXISTENTIAL DREAD AND DESPAIR right in front of them. Trent falls in first but lucky for him, some of the 8000 buckles on his leather pants eventually catch on an outcropping of rock. So he's not still falling, but he's still in the pit! John fell in and he knows it's not good and that he needs assistance, but he's still close enough to the top that somebody "but not just anybody" might hear him and be able to pull him out/throw him a rope. So, similarities = desperation, acknowledgement that assistance is required. differences = trent's got some help (but is it enough? he's pretty far down there), john's still asking for help, although I think he's also talking to someone specific, "won't you please, please help me?"
I'm probably not even close to right, but that's what it made me think of when I heard them almost side by side.
(Dolly Parton does a nice version of Help! believe it or not. it's banjoriffic)
Have you heard the Richard Cheese version of Closer? If not, you should just download it from iTunes - it's hilarious!
ReplyDeleteI have heard it, and it is hilarious! It drains away the almost claustrophobic intensity of the original and ... heh. well, I'll stop now or I will be describing another diagram!!
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