Because I needed this today

From the files...

I have this album (as in record) somewhere:

I've got six things on my mind you're no longer one of them
(Desire as a sylph figured creature who changes her mind)
I've got six things on my mind you're no longer one of them
(Desire as a sylph figured creature who changes her mind)
...

They were the best times, the harvest years with jam to lace the bread
So goodness, goodness knows why I'd throw it to the birds
But there it is, and there we are
And all I ever want to be is far from the eyes that ask me

In whose bed you gonna be and is it true you only see
(Desire as a sylph figured creature who changes her mind)
(Desire as a sylph figured creature who changes her mind)
It's perfect as it stands so why then crush it in your perfect hands?
(Desire as a sylph figured creature who changes her mind)
I've got six things on my mind you're no longer one of them
I've got six things on my mind you're no longer one of them

So tell me you must have thought it all out in advance
Or goodness, goodness knows why you'd throw it to the birds
You mock the good things, you play the heart strings, play them one by one

But there it is, and there we are
And all I ever want to be is far from the eyes that ask me

In whose bed you gonna be and is it true you only see
(Desire as a sylph figured creature who changes her mind)
It's perfect as it stands so why then crush it in your perfect hands?
...

Prefab Sprout "Desire As"

These guys were so good. It's too bad they never made the big time and stayed a one-hit-wonder.

The cross stands empty

Christ is alive! No longer bound
to distant years in Palestine,
but saving, healing, here and now,
and touching every place and time.
Words by: Brian Wren
Arranged by: Jane Holstein

Motherly crowing

Mood: ok. tired
Hair: looked great when I left the house
Eyes: feh
Listening to: CT quietly wrangling with what sounds like her insurance company

We found out last night that Sparky has been placed in the county-wide honor band. They take the 'best' band students from each school and create a super-de-dooper band out of them for the state music teachers' conference kickoff in a couple of weeks. Not only did he make the band, but in spite of being the youngest player in his section, he auditioned into first chair on his instrument (ok, there are only three others in the section, but STILL!).

I am quite proud. It's shocking, really: he's only switched over to bass clarinet from 'regular' since September. And he beat out seniors and juniors? Wow.


/crowing

Bulleted

Mood: sleepy
Hair: probably a mess due to the two-hour nap in the recliner
Eyes: tried, dry and not fun
Listening to: Football (Eagles @ Vikings)

Since I have few coherent, lengthy thoughts, I'm throwing what I do have at the blog. Cuz I can. Y'know?

• Beast ran the sound and light at church today, so he had to be present at both services. He called after he arrived for first service to warn us (me) that the roads were dangerously icy, especially in our subdivision. They were insanely bad, but we all made it there and back safe and sound. About half an hour ago--5 p.m. or thereabouts--the road crew came around and salted our streets for the first time today. Nice. Thanks, guys, for being right on top of that.



• Worship this morning was the first time I've been 'at church' on Sunday since...uh...Thanksgiving? And I would manage to pick today: the first week of every month is Communion Sunday, so that lengthens the service, plus today was a baptism, which means more time. I don't begrudge the time usually, but I was awfully antsy today. And then, suddenly, as the pastor held the baby and swept water onto her head, I couldn't stop crying. I didn't leave, but I really wanted to for a minute or two. Nathanael would be two now. (And no, the mom did not breastfeed in public this morning: the baby slept through the entire service.)



• None of the teams I want to see in the Super Bowl are winning this year. Our big three main teams--Packers, Browns, Broncos--are out of the running already because they didn't make the playoffs. (Denver fired Mike Shanahan--WTF?) This weekend's games were either two teams we cared nothing about or the 'wrong' team won, not that we care that much. The one that is going on now isn't boding well for the team we sort of want to win. Next week doesn't look a lot better. The Super Bowl could be a giant Who Cares? on February 1. I may end up cheering like a girl: for the best-looking team/quarterback/coach. Oh, well, thank God for the ads!!



• I haven't decided what my 2009 Word of the Year should be. That's why it hasn't been changed in the sidebar. Maybe I'll pick one tomorrow, once the holidays are really over and school has restarted. Stay tuned.



• BIG HUGE THANKS to Betsy for passing the word on Jango!!!! I frickin' LOVE it!! And it's free. Why was I spending money on Launchcast?? 'Course, now that LC is going, Jango will probably start charging too.



• Speaking of technology, Meebo--the IM consolidator I use--recently added Facebook to the IM sites it supports. MySpace, too, if anyone cares. I can now log in to Meebo and chat with anyone who is logged into Yahoo!, Gmail, or Facebook, or looking at any of my blogs. It's not perfect, but when it works, Meebo is one of my favorite things evah.



• We had Greek burgers last night, courtesy of DinnerByDesign. They were excellent. I need to start eating better, and less, and get back on a regular scheduled meal schedule instead of snacking on junk all day every day. Then there is the whole exercise thing. Ugh. I can't tell you how much I hate pointless tasks with no immediate payoff.... Apparently, there are no WiiFit games to be had, so I'm stuck with Sports for now.



• Anybody got a good lead on a job for Sparky? Yeah, this is the perfect time of year to be looking, right? And the perfect time in the economic cycle, too.



• Speaking of which, I'm already 100% ready to eliminate the word "economy" from the language. I'm tired of hearing it, saying it, discussing it, blaming it, worrying about it, prognosticating about it. It's only going to become more omnipresent, I know, so it's not a good sign that I'm so fed up with the subject.



• We were going to take the tree down today and put away all of our Christmas stuff...but changed our (my) mind when we remembered that it's still 'officially' Christmas until January 6, Warren's birthday. So I'm not sure when we'll pack it up. Sometime this week, I guess, maybe in pieces.



• Everyone gets back to our regular schedules tomorrow: it's a full work and school week for all of us. Yuck.

I think that's enough. I should probably get myself sorted out for dinner and maybe work on the Christmas card filing.

---

Urban Word:

Presponse: To respond to a question before it is finished, often confusing the asker.

The whole concept of presponses confuses Beast. He'd rather finish one thought and spoken sentence before moving on to the next thought and speaker.

Music news

Mood: Good
Hair: Keeping my neck very warm tonight
Eyes: Sore
Listening to: Wisconsin getting annihilated by FSU...sigh

I got an email about a week ago informing me that Yahoo! is selling Launchcast to CBS--or has sold already--and my subscription access will be cancelled in January. I use Launchcast virtually everyday at work, and I've rated over 10,000 songs, not to mention the albums (hundreds) and artists (thousands) I've rated. And they're taking it all away.

This should not be unexpected, really, but it means that I need to find a backup plan. I use Pandora on occasion when Yahoo! is acting up. However, I'm hoping to use this as a springboard for Beast and me to start using our MP3s. A lot of the stuff I've rated in Launchcast we own, but I will have to have access to Napster or something too. We don't have iPods--I am in permanent boycott stance there, for some reason--but I've had a Zen for two years, and Beast got one from me on his birthday. Time to join the 21st century.

I write that dripping with irony as all three members of my family are currently sitting with laptops on their laps, watching TV and surfing the net. When we get tired of that, we'll Wii.

Downloading songs onto our MP3s shouldn't really be that much of a challenge, right?

---

Urban Word:

The Spousal We: The opposite of the royal we, meaning "you". Used by your significant other to get you to do something.

I've suggested to Beast that The Spousal We will be using a downloading service when Launchcast goes away.

We Are One

(Love this song)
As you go through life you'll see
There is so much that we
Don't understand

And the only thing we know
Is things don't always go
The way we planned

[But you'll see every day]
[That we'll never turn away]
When it seems all your dreams come undone

[We will stand by your side]
[Filled with hope and filled with pride]
We are more than we are
We are one

If there's so much I must be
Can I still just be me
The way I am?

Can I trust in my own heart
Or am I just one part
Of some big plan?

[Even those who are gone]
[Are with us as we go on]
Your journey has only begun

[Tears of pain, tears of joy]
[One thing nothing can destroy]
Is our pride, deep inside
We are one

[We are one, you and I]
[We are like the earth and sky]
One family under the sun

[All the wisdom to lead]
[All the courage that you need]
You will find when you see
We are one

--Angelique Kidjo

YouTubed here:

Joss Stone has an awesome voice

The first two lines:
I've got a right to be wrong
My mistakes will make me strong

Released

They say everything can be replaced.
That every distance is not near.
So I remember every face
of every man who put me here.

They say every woman needs protection,
then they turn around and tell you
every woman's got to fall.
I swear I see my own reflection
somewhere far beyond this wall.

I see my light come shining
from the west down to the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.

Now yonder stands
there in that lonely crowd,
a man who swears he is not to blame, no, no.
And if you ask him has he ever
seen this lonely woman,
he'll tell you, "No, no, no."
What's more, he does not know my name!

But I see my light come shining,
shining, shining, shining from the west
straight on down to the east.
Ah-anyday now, any, any old day now,
I am going to, I am going to be released, yeah!

...

"I Shall Be Released" -- Bette Midler in full-on diva mode : Listen

Lyrics

Just lay it all down.
Put your face into my neck and let it fall out.
I know, I know, I know. I knew before you got home.
This world you're in now,
it doesn't have to be alone,
I'll get there somehow, 'cos
I know I know I know
when, even springtime feels cold.

But I will learn to breathe this ugliness you see
so we can both be there and we can both share the dark.
And in our honesty, together we will rise,
out of our nightminds, and into the light
at the end of the fight...

You were blessed by
a different kind of inner view: it's all magnified.
The highs will make you fly,
but the lows make you want to die.
And I was once there,
hanging from that very ledge where you are standing.
So I know, I know, I know,
it's easier to let go.

But I will learn to breathe this ugliness you see,
so we can both be there and we can both share the dark.
And in our honesty, together we will rise out of our nightminds
and into the light at the end of the fight.

...and in our honesty, together we will rise out of our nightminds
and into the light... at the end of their fight...

Missy Higgins, "Nightmind"

Lovely song. Perfect timing.

Watch what you type!

So I unintentionally send a slightly risque text message to Beast the other day in which I meant to ask if someone had contacted him. Except what I actually sent was "Any balls from home health?"

Today, I'm adding contents notes to a book on college football here at work. In a rare move, I glanced back at my typing before I saved it. There's a new college in South Bend, IN: Notre Damne.

OMG--Touchdown Jesus is pissed at me now!! Heyulp.

---

Urban Word:

Word vomit: A point in a conversation where you say something that you really didn't mean to.

I think these samples qualify as word vomit, unless we need a term specifically for typed errors.

---

Also: Nick Cave doing "Red Right Hand" = AWESOME cool!

Weird

I'm cataloging a book called Feasting on Asphalt : The River Run by Alton Brown.

The song Launchcast just started playing is "Chasing Pavements" by Adele (sample play here).

WTF--is there a camera over my shoulder that feeds directly into Launchcast?? This stuff happens often enough to freak me OUT!

James Joyce is my hero*

Mood: Good
Hair: A mess
Eyes: Dry and tired
Listening to: NASCAR is on the tube(sigh)

Well, we have scrounged one extra kid for the mission trip (thanks, AN!). We're still looking for two more. Things are coming together for this trip, though. I took paperwork to the mom of today's addition and we had a great chat.

Then I came home and watched a Gene Kelly movie on DVD (That's Dancing!), followed by about half of a newer version of Little House on the Prairie (Disney). I caught up my book blog (though I've just realized that I didn't enter ...Big Woods), did a bunch of Friday memes, finished and put away a load of laundry, went to the store, downloaded about 6 CDs onto my Zen (and how--HOW!--does one delete shit from one's MP3 player, eh?!), read the church newsletter while on hold waiting for the phone to be taken to my mom's room, talked to Mom (more time on hold than talking), and obsessed over the weather. Which sucked.

Sparky had a fun post-school: for the second time this school year, he got detoured after school due to tornado activity. He and his friend were walking to the library--I wasn't working today, but there is Wii, I think, today--when the tornado siren went off. So they took off running, were waved into the building and directly into the basement with the staff and the sensible people in the building. Apparently, this is an every-six-months thing this school year. Weird. The worst of the storm today hit only slightly east of when it centered last time. Not really that close to town, as it turns out.

Meanwhile...nothing but wind and sideways rain here at the house. No sirens. No warnings. Spring is weird.

Tonight, Beast finished building the shelves in the basement that goofed up his back last week. Meanwhile Sparky and I played Apples to Apples--our own made-up rules, since it's designed for at least 4 players. He beat me. That sucked. ;-)

Generally, the best part of the day was the fact that I finished the list I made today. That rarely happens. Maybe I'm getting better at making lists....

Now I'm going to bed, because I slept very poorly last night, mostly because I went to bed late and Beast had literally taken over the entire bed. This is only notable because I'm normally the one who does that sort of thing.

Tomorrow: work. Waste of time, really, since I checked the schedule before I left yesterday and I will be on desks for over half my scheduled hours. No cataloging. Again. I'm up to three carts of backlog now. Last fall I had a shelf of backlog. Oh, well. The further behind I get, the more obvious it is that Schedule Nazi is fucking me over in spades; and the more she does that in obvious ways, the longer my CYA document gets. {{shrug}} No more Ms. Nice Cat.

---

Urban Word:

Viagrate: To imbue with lasting vigor

I seem to be finding a few ways to Viagrate my life again.

---

*Stream of consciousness writing....

Because, well, it's amusing

Beast forwarded this headbangin' cockatiel to me and I just had to share. Be sure to stay till the very end of the video. I especially liked the comment posted by boobopaboo yesterday; it made me bark with laughter.

Urban Word:

craxy: The X is for extra crazy.

Snowball is totally craxy.

No. This isn't aimed at anyone specific. Relax.

I just like the lyrics:

Go away
Give me a chance to miss you
Say goodbye
It'll make me want to kiss you
I love you so
Much more when you're not here
Watchin all the bad shows
Drinking all of my beer

I don't believe Adam and Eve
Spent every goddamn day together
If you give me some room there will be room enough for two

Tonight
Leave me alone I'm lonely
Alone I'm lonely
I'm tired
Leave me alone I'm lonely
Alone I'm lonely tonight

I don't wanna wake up with another
But I don't wanna always wake up with you either
No you can't hop into my shower
All I ask for is one fuckin' hour
You taste so sweet
But I can't eat the same thing every day
Cuttin off the phone
Leave me the fuck alone
Tomorrow I'll be beggin' you to come home

(Pink--Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely))

Weekend Update

Mood: Good
Hair: Just washed, partially dry (i.e. stringy)
Eyes: Good again, though still reddish
Listening to: The furnace, and Sparky in the shower

I met with the girl I'm mentoring for confirmation yesterday. We have about two months to finish the 'program' because we've been really lax about meeting since Christmas. I already feel like we're ignoring some of the major parts of the curriculum because neither of us wants to do the art projects, and I'm not thrilled about the parts like "visit a saint of the church" and "attend a funeral together." It seems really fake.

Anyway. We had a good time. It's nice to see a different perspective on what I sort of take for granted in terms of church.

Then I came home to pick up Sparky so he could help me shop for groceries--on Saturday afternoon; I'm clearly insane. We returned home and put our purchases away. Beast had been doing laundry and had swept out the garage (throwing away two shovels full of accumulated dirt, salt, and ice-melt in the process). He had also been watching golf and paying bills online. I sat down to wait my turn for the laptop...and promptly fell asleep. For two hours.

I heard from a friend last night that she has gone and done it: there is now ink under her skin. That will be interesting to see, next time we get together.

Today we have church in the morning. We are taking all the teenagers and heading to a concert tonight: Newsboys, Rush of Fools, Newworldson, and Article One. Should be fun. In between, I dunno. I'm working on updating some blog stuff, so maybe I'll keep working on that. Sparky will be cleaning his bathroom and bedroom. He was supposed to do that yesterday. Beast will be changing the oil in my truck.

Our lives = boring. That's fine.

Grammys

Mood: kay
Hair: clean
Listening to: end of the Pro Bowl

• Yay, Alicia Keys (wow! sez Beast upon his first full viewing of her dress).



• Wow, do NOT piss off Carrie Underwood.



• Yay, Prince. And yay Alicia yet again for winning.



• Jimmy Jam is the Chairman of the Board?? Damn. OMG--The Time!!! Crack me the fuck up. Time to embarrass the boy.... Check! "Oo-wee-oo-wee-ooh"



• The Band is not playing? Bummer.



• Yay Beatles. But Cirque de Soleil on the Grammys?--that's kinda weird. Wait, Cirque is weird regardless of where they perform. But "Let It Be" as a gospel song. Yay.



• Yay, Amy W. for winning.



• The less said about the Jason Bateman bit...the better. Moving on.



• Kanye is weird...can't help liking the guy, but I'm definitely a bit old.
  On the other hand, there ain't too many rappers can make me cry.



• I made a comment yesterday about sticking with the type of music your voice can handle. Fergie didn't listen. People who sing through their noses shouldn't sing songs like she just sang. And, girl, comb your hair outta your face! (Yes, I'm biased--I can't stand Fergie.)



• George Martin looks great!



• So does Cher, though she's wearing a lot more clothes than normal. And, damn: TINA!! DAMN damn damn!!



• Andy Williams is still alive? OK.



• Not a Foo Fighters fan. Now is a good time for playing Oregon Trail on Facebook, or something. I'll be back. However, Sparky is shocked that someone from Nirvana is "that old" and why isn't Kurt Cobain's brother still doing music. Uh...brother?



• K I can stand watching Brad Paisley. He's not ugly. The song...remarkably retarded. Ticks = not sexy.



• Amen! AMEN! Go 'Retha!!!



• Did he just say "Dirk Smedly"?? Who better to introduce Earl Scruggs, however.



• I like this song by Feist, but she's really nervous. And that dress...gaaah.



• And whose idea was the Kid Rock/Keely Smith/sax thing? Quite surreal. I have not had nearly enough illegal substances today for that.



• Here come the elderly (according to my child) members of Foo Fighters to collect their award. Dave seems a little...loose. Upstairs. Is he usually?



• I'm tired of hearing about Amy Winehouse. Can she just please do her song so she can get back to the clinic, please?



• I LOVE the Thriller Lizards!!!



• Stevie! The man does not age! Weird. He can sing anything though.



• Beast is bummed about Alicia Keys' new dress. And I think those earrings look fuckin' painful.



• Ringo, stop talking. It's a case of proving what an idiot you are.



• Oh, Dirks BENTLEY. {shrug} Whatever.



• "I just got an award from a Beatle. Have you had that happen to you yet, Kanye?" AWESOME! Vince Gill is looking pretty middle-aged, but what a great quote!



• Joe Mantegna sings? Why is he on the Grammys? Shaddup. Play the Gershwin, stop TALKING about it!! Sheesh



• Nice that Gershwin got so much airtime. Awesome.



• I can't stand 'ella, ella, ella." Just thought I'd mention that.



• The McDonald's rapper kid is adorable. I love that ad.



• Damn, finally: Amy. More of the surreality.

I'm toast. Time for bed. I just can't make it through the rest of the show. My apologies.

Awesome

Music

Today was one of those "zone" days for me at work as far as Launchcast goes. The music was nearly perfect. Here's the list, with ratings (or other comments):

The Proclaimers - I'm Gone 8
The Kooks - She Moves In Her Own Way (Radio Version) 7
Tim Myers - Beautiful World 7
Aiden - One Love (no rating)
Ozzy Osbourne - Black Rain 8
The Arcade Fire - No Cars Go 8
Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend 9
Morrissey - Irish Blood, English Heart 8
Johnny Clegg - Great Heart 9
Alexi Murdoch - 12 (skipped)
Blinddog Smokin' - Ain't From Mississippi 7
General Public - In Conversation 6
Trilok Gurtu - Have We Lost Our Dream? 8
Andrew Bird - Imitosis 9
Gogol Bordello - Harem In Tuscany (Taranta) 9 (these guys are odd: "gypsy"-esque punk, sorta)
Perrey & Kingsley - The Little Man From Mars 8 (this album--The In Sound from Way Out--was the first album I ever owned)
Jet - Are You Gonna Be My Girl 8
Tom Petty - Yer So Bad (skipped)
Africanism Allstars - Samuraï Theme 10
Solas - Sliabh Geal Gcua Na Feile 7
Ricky Dillard - In His Name (skipped)
Susan Tedeschi - You Got The Silver 7
Angela Correa - Let's Duet 9 (this is from the Dewey Cox movie soundtrack)
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - Green Fields (unrated)
Patton Oswalt - The Dukes Of Hazzard 9 (comedy: GWB and Dick as the Duke Boys) Christina Aguilera - Beautiful 8
Enuff Z'Nuff - Fly High Michelle (skipped)
Circus Diablo - Loaded (Radio Edit) (skipped)
Mika - Grace Kelly 10
Neil Diamond - I'm Alive (unrated)
Los Lonely Boys - My Loneliness 8
Tina Turner - River Deep Mountain High (Live) 4
The Hold Steady - First Night 6
Nena - Just A Dream (skipped and blocked, which I don't do very often!)
U2 - Bullet The Blue Sky 7
Kenny Chesney - Demons 6
Sting - The Soul Cages 4
Amadou & Mariam - Mouna 8
Eels - Things The Grandchildren Should Know 9 (this song sounds so much like Bruce Springsteen; I had to keep checking)
Jolie Holland Springtime Can Kill You... Get Out Of Your House (unrated)
Erasure - Boy 9
Everything But The Girl - Mirrorball 6
Kate Bush - King Of The Mountain 6
Paul Young - Come Back And Stay 9
Keane - Is It Any Wonder? (skipped)
Thalía - ¿A Quien Le Importa? 8
The Jam - Absolute Beginners 8
Eagles - Take It Easy 8
Rise Against - Worth Dying For 5
Gorillaz - Feel Good, Inc. 6
Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody 9 (Live at Wembley)
Wham! - Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go 10
PJ Harvey Grow Grow Grow (unrated)
Bill Engvall - Bar Scene In California 9 (comedy)
Pearl Jam - Unemployable 8 (but I skipped it)
Pat Monahan - Raise Your Hands (skipped)
The Sadies - Eastern Winds 5
Luna Halo - Big Escape (skipped)
Ben Lee - Catch My Disease 10
Amadou & Mariam - Walide (unrated) (big day for these guys)
Missy Higgins - Scar 9
Bill Hicks - Me & Saddam 8 (comedy)
Switchfoot - Monday Comes Around 8
Transglobal Underground - 7-5 9
John Denver - Perhaps Love 10 (with Pavorotti? Placido?)
Miriam Makeba - Pata Pata 10
Cheech & Chong - Dave Continued 10 (comedy--and this is SHORT)
The Everly Brothers - All I Have To Do Is Dream 9
Ingrid Michaelson - Glass (unrated)
Thursday - Ladies And Gentleman: My Brother, The Failure 4
Kenny Chesney - Better As A Memory 9 (big day for Kenny, too)
Concrete Blonde - Tomorrow, Wendy 8
The Clash - Train In Vain 9
Salif Keita - Tolon Willie (unrated)
Gustavo Laureano - Enamorado 7
Mark Schultz - Walking Her Home 9 (I really love this song; it never fails to make me tear up)
Broadway A Chorus Line Cast - One (Reprise) / Finale 9
Young Love - Find A New Way (unrated)
Bobby Womack - Walkin On The Wild Side 6
Derrick Harriott - Monkey Ska 9 (How can you not love that title???)
Vince Gill - Workin' On A Big Chill 8
Angelique Kidjo - We We 10 (pronounced "weh weh" or "way way")
Annie Lennox - Why 10 (I. LOVE. THIS. SONG.)
Miranda Lambert - Gunpowder & Lead 10
Alicia Keys - No One 9
Pat Monahan - Girlfriend 6
Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby (unrated)
Eddie Izzard - 2nd World War 9 (comedy)
George Carlin - Baseball-Football 9 (comedy, one of my favorite 'clean Carlins')

I'm glad tomorrow is Tuesday

I hope I feel better so I can go to work. My stomach et al. seems to be in a state of rebellion today, and my eyes are all screwed up again.

Tonight was Sparky's band concert. The fall one was better musically, but this one was fun if only because the music was more recognizable.

Sparky has returned to being a ridiculously moronic teenager. That's not a lot of fun, for any of us. We understand, to a degree, that he can't help it (not all of it anyway), but it's really frustrating to hear "I can't remember" over and over and over.

I was going to do a long post about my day yesterday, but it tires me out to think about it. Suffice to say I left the house at 8:50 a.m. and returned home about 7 p.m. In between I was at church for about 4 hours (in two chunks), at work for 4 hours, and eating for an hour. Not sure where the rest of the time went...travel time? I dunno.

I'm going to bed. Maybe I'll find the right side of the bed to get out of tomorrow.