Music – Waiting on a Word

Beatlemania? I got it!

A little over a year ago, I was procrastinating with my writing (shocker, I know, haha). It was the middle of the night and I was sitting at my dining room table, laptop open, searching for anything to do other than write, when lo and behold, I found a Procrastinator’s Paradise: Carpool Karaoke, a segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

YouTube and I have a love/hate relationship. By that, I mean that *I love it*, but *it hates my writing career*. I fell into that Carpool Karaoke hole so fast that I got whiplash. But in the bottom of the YouTube black hole in the Carpool Karaoke realm, I came across the episode where James spends time with Paul McCartney, published on June 21, 2018.

The segment was perfect. Twenty-three minutes of pure joy. Even watching parts of it to write this post, I’m smiling from ear to ear. At the end, Paul “surprises” a group of locals at a bar with a live performance (I’m not sure if it was truly a surprise, but the patrons of the pub seemed happy enough). It’s amazing that the people at the venue, young and old, are so absolutely thrilled to see him up there on the stage. During the other parts of the Carpool Karaoke segment, Paul seemed so… regular–talking about his past, giving James a tour of Liverpool, and telling stories. But he’s so not regular. For one thing, he was knighted. But moreso, to me, I couldn’t believe that this man (along with the rest of the quartet), had affected so many lives and touched so many people across generations, around the world.

It gave me feelings and I cried, sitting there alone, past midnight, at my dining room table. What can I say? The whole thing felt beautiful to me.

Then, about six months ago, I got a new car. Along with the car came complimentary SiriusXM radio, and The Beatles channel. Of course, it’s my first preset channel (yes, even outranking Pearl Jam).

Every time I sing along with a Beatles song, it makes me think. I’m a child of the 80’s, but I know so many Beatles songs by heart. I mean, I know a lot of songs from my childhood, but I also remember hearing those songs over and over. Fangirling over the bands. Listening to them on the radio.

But the Beatles are different. With the exception of “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” which I was assigned to learn during my short stint as an organ player in my early teens (yes, I took organ lessons and had an organ in my house, and I played the Beatles on it… crazy, I know), I never fangirled over the Beatles. Neither did my parents. In fact, if my parents owned a Beatles album, I never saw it in their collection.

Why do I know so many Beatles songs? Are they so engrained in our culture that we grow up with them and don’t even realize? When my son was a baby, my husband used to sing “Yellow Submarine” to him and dance him around his lap. “Magical Mystery Tour” reminds me of a purple sequined costume from a dance recital. “Strawberry Fields Forever” conjures up images of a neighborhood girl named Darcie, maybe around age 12, who claimed that as her favorite song and constantly drew pictures of strawberries. “Can’t Buy Me Love” is also an 80’s movie starring Patrick Dempsey.

(Funny aside: When I’d hear “Hey Bulldog,” I always thought they were singing “Egg Foo Young” and even today I still sing it that way. See? Engrained, even with wrong lyrics.)

Songs by The Beatles are everywhere, like a go-to comfort food for the musical soul. I don’t know much about the technical aspects of the arrangements, but to me, it’s sort of like they’re simple but meaningful. Catchy, but different somehow.

I just purchased this book: SHOUT! The Beatles and their Generation, by Philip Norman, and I’m going to read up on the group. Granted, I know I’m about sixty years late to this party, but I think I’ve finally caught Beatlemania myself!

Don’t get me wrong, I understand there are critics. I respect that. But love them or hate them, there’s no denying the impact that The Beatles had on our world. “Sir James Paul McCartney” is 77 years old (thank you, Wikipedia), and he can still bring a crowd to its feet, as evidenced in the Carpool Karaoke segment (which I hope you all watch… come on, I even embedded it for you with my fancy WordPress skillz!). The fact that my 15-year-old is okay with me leaving the Beatles channel on when he’s in the car is further evidence of their magic, because my 15-year-old basically hates everything I listen to.

I’m looking forward to getting my new book tomorrow and reading about the Fab Four and their musical history. I may come back here and share more. I know you won’t mind because BEATLEMANIA is EVERYWHERE, even in 2019, even on WOAW.

I leave you with these sweet, simple lyrics from “I’ll Follow the Sun” from the Beatles for Sale album, 1964. According to the interwebs this is one of the earliest songs, which Paul wrote in 1959 at age 16.

One day, you’ll look
To see I’ve gone
For tomorrow may rain, so
I’ll follow the sun.

Someday, you’ll know
I was the one
But tomorrow may rain, so
I’ll follow the sun.

And now the time has come
And so, my love, I must go,
And though I lose a friend
In the end you will know.
Oh-oh-oh

One day, you’ll find
That I have gone
But tomorrow may rain, so
I’ll follow the sun.

Yeah, tomorrow may rain, so
I’ll follow the sun.

As always, thanks for reading.

Pour Some Sugar

On the way to work today, Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar on Me” played on the radio. That song always jets me back to high school at warp speed.

I sang along in the van. “Love is like a bomb, baby, c’mon get it on. Living like a lover with a red owwf on.”

Wait. What exactly is a “red owwf”? I never knew that line. Not in 1989 and still not in 2014.

In fact, I distinctly remember a late-eighties conversation with a girl named Leanne. Leanne was a classmate and fellow Def Leppard fan (we’d been to numerous DL concerts), who (hide your eyes, Mom) cut school with me one day to go to the beach. We sat on the beach, tanning, talking, and discussing that line for a nice chunk of time.

“Maybe it’s ‘red outfit on’?”
“But there aren’t enough syllables. Maybe it’s not red at all?”
“Like ‘real loaf on'”
“Yeah!”
(Break into fit of giggles)

Every time I hear the song, I think of Leanne. Eventually, we accepted that a “red owwf” was either something British or we just didn’t have the ears to hear it right.

Today as I sipped my morning coffee at my desk, I googled the line. According to azlyrics, the lyric is “Living like a lover with a radar phone.”

Of course, this begs the question: What on God’s green earth is a “radar phone” AND WHERE CAN I GET ONE?

Back in the old days, I’d get so mad when albums didn’t include lyrics. I’d camp on the floor with my ear to the speaker and hit rewind, stop, play, rewind, stop, play over and over on my cassette tape deck to figure out one measly word from a song. Sounds silly, but sometimes one word can make or break a song, especially to an emotional teenager. (Ready for your irrelevantly relevant factoid of the day? Case in point: Modern English’s “I’ll Stop the World and Melt With You” (1983-ish). My friend and I insisted that somewhere in the song the chorus changed to “I’ll Stop the World and Melt For You,” which totally changes the entire song. Melting “with” someone is different than melting “for” someone, right? A quick azlyrics search doesn’t reveal any secret switchover from the nice-I-want-to-date-you-and-love-you “with” to the wow-he-wants-to-like-MELT-for her “for.”)

When I got my hands on Journey’s Escape album, circa 1981, I was thrilled to find the lyrics inside. I copied the lyrics to every song, by hand, onto looseleaf for a friend. He was so happy when I gave it to him, even though Journey’s songs were relatively clear and easy to decipher. After all, I’d saved him hours of strenuous listening to figure out the words. Now he could read along without lyrics stress.

Remember when Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was a topic of conversation? “But the chair is not my size.” “NO! It’s but the kid is not my son!”

Or The Police? “We are Cheerios, in a cereal bowl.” “Duh! It’s SPIRITS. We are SPIRITS in the MATERIAL WORLD.” “But what does that mean?” “Who cares? It has a good beat and you can dance to it!”

During that “Billie Jean” era, a girl named Kathy lived a few houses down the street from me. Kathy knew everything. EVERYTHING about Adam Ant (Perhaps you remember “Goody Two Shoes”? “Don’t drink don’t smoke. What do you do?”). She loved him more than life itself, which even back in the 80’s was ridiculously weird. Whenever we had a question about anything Ant-related, someone would say, “Let’s go ask Kathy.” We’d trek to her house on our bikes and bang on her door, ask our question, maybe debate a little. Kathy was our Adam Ant Wiki. The best part would be when debating turned into either, “You’re a reject!” with stomping and yelling and riding away, or “Let’s play Payday,” and we’d move on to something else.

But rounding the corner to my point (it’s here somewhere), the mystery of the lyric is now over. I wonder if I’ll still automatically sing “red owwf on” when I hear the Def Leppard song or if I’ll convert to “radar phone.” (I really NEED one of those, people!)

I miss wondering about lyrics, and miss wondering in general. Something positive must have developed from all that wondering we did with our friends on the street. Today, all debatable questions are answered in light speed with a Google search. What do kids even talk about these days?

All these memories from a Def Leppard song on the way to work! Who knew it would turn into a writing prompt!?

Have a nice night. Thanks for reading. I’m going to go Google “radar phone” now.

Academy Awards Movie Madness- Dallas Buyers Club

It’s that time of year again– awards season! Each year I try to see each of the Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees. Last year I managed to see six out of nine of the nominees and blogged about them. Feel free to check out last year’s posts if you are procrastinating or bored. They are in my archives. This year, the nine films nominated are: Dallas Buyers Club, American Hustle, The Wolf of Wall Street, Philomena, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, and 12 Years a Slave. I have about a month to see them. I picked Dallas Buyers Club to watch first, since I was going solo and DBC was one of the few films nominated which did not interest my husband.

Before I focus, bear with me a second . . . My son M. loves trains. He’s particularly obsessed with a series of train videos called “I Love Toy Trains.” I kind of love the videos too, I must admit. Each video starts with an adorable kid named “Jeff” (who is probably 30 by now) saying: “As always, we open with a song.” I wish Jeff could narrate the beginning of each of my posts saying: “As always, we open with something irrelevantly relevant.”

That being the first, here is this post’s second irrelevantly relevant factoid: On the way to the movie theater, I’m listening to the radio in the minivan and Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus comes on. I know what you are thinking. Something along the lines of Oh my God I haven’t heard that song in DECADES. Or That’s SUCH a GREAT TUNE. Am I right? Well, maybe not. But that’s what I was thinking.

For those of you who aren’t familiar, Rock Me Amadeus exemplifies 80’s music, in my mind at least. Here are the scintillating lyrics: “Amadeus Amadeus. A-ma-de-us. Amadeus Amadeus. A-ma-de-us. Amadeus Amadeus. A-ma-de-us Amadeus. Uh uh uh rock me Amadeus.” Pure genius. I know. Anyhow, during the radio version that I heard on the way to the theater (apparently there are many versions), the singer (presumably “Falco”) narrates a short biography of Amadeus Mozart’s life, ending with a line similar to this: “And in 1985, Austrian rock group Falco records Rock Me Amadeus.” Since I’m driving I can’t immediately download on iTunes, so I rock out thankful that I lived through the 80’s and mustering memories from 1985 (I started high school in 1985).

Well, lo and behold, I get to the theater to see Dallas Buyers Club and what’s the first shot in the film? A newspaper from . . . wait for it . . . NINETEEN EIGHTY FIVE. Kid you not! Is that a sign or what? I immediately opened iTunes and downloaded Falco to please the Universe.

Thanks for playing along– now to the movie.

DBC follows the path of Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey), a sort of prick-ish rodeo dude in Texas who contracts HIV and AIDS in 1985, when the disease is still new to America and in particular, heterosexuals. After illegally obtaining AZT, the drug being tested at the time, Ron learns that there are other options to treatment, like vitamins and proteins and stuff, which he obtains from Mexico since they weren’t FDA approved. He starts the Dallas Buyers Club, charging AIDS patients $400 per month to obtain the unapproved drugs. It’s made apparent in the movie that these “Buyers Clubs” were popping up around the country. Ron, previously a homophobe, also becomes friends with Rayon (Jared Leto), a transgender woman during the film and develops a platonic relationship with a doctor (Jennifer Garner).

My three word review: McConaughey. Is. AMAZING.

Other than that . . . Meh.

In my opinion, Dallas Buyers Club (Hey, punctuation people! Shouldn’t there be an apostrophe after “Buyers?” Like “Dallas Buyers’ Club”? Maybe not. Just a thought . . .) portrayed the emergence of the AIDS epidemic in a powerful but understated manner, expressing the panic and fear of both those who contracted the disease and the general public unfamiliar with the disease. I appreciate the 80’s feel of the movie, which reminded me of the portrayal of the 70’s in Argo. Watching DBC, I felt I was transported back to 1985 (although Falco was not playing in the Texas bars).

I just thought it was long. And kind of boring. I’m sorry.

But Matthew McConaughey was super. Seriously. I actually couldn’t believe that I was watching Matt. Matt, who I loved in The Wedding Planner with J.Lo and thought it was a stretch for him to play a doctor. Matt, who shook his admirable 40-year old buns of steel in Magic Mike. Would you ever believe that he could play a dying man and be nominated for an Oscar for it? He’s barely recognizable, especially if the last movie you saw him in was Magic Mike. He looks emaciated. Drawn. Weak. He looks like an AIDS patient in the 80’s. McConaughey won the Golden Globe for Best Actor. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took the Oscar too.

Jared Leto, up for Best Supporting Actor, amazed me too. Physically, he looked and sounded like a woman. His performance really turned me around, especially when he spent a couple of minutes dressed as a man and I thought he looked strange. He won the Globe in the supporting category.

I suggest that you see Dallas Buyers Club if you appreciate good acting or study the craft, or have a particular interest in the history surrounding AIDS. It’s well worth your time and money. The performances are outstanding and the accolades and nominations are well-deserved. If you’re not really into that, you should probably skip it. You aren’t going to leave the theater happy or excited or in the midst of an adrenaline rush, that’s for sure.

Have a nice night!

NaNo Update and The Daily Prompt

Hi Everyone!

Well, I’m still chugging along with my word count for National Novel Writing Month but wanted to take some time out to post an update. My problem now seems to be that my NaNo story is going in a totally different direction than I’d planned. If “characters drive plot” then my characters are driving around the racetrack in circles. But slowly under a caution flag. Maybe a better way to describe it is this: You know how when you’re on the bumper cars and you seem stuck, lodged between two equally clueless drivers, and you have to hit the gas and turn the steering wheel a hundred times to get the car to go forward? That’s sort of how my characters are driving my plot. Spinning the wheel but getting nowhere.

My nine-year-old, JC, loves to talk and have an audience. Once he has adult’s attention, he’ll keep going … and going … and going. After nine years, I know exactly where to place my “uh-huh’s,” “oh really?’s” and “wow!’s” without having to listen all the time (Mom of the Year contender, I know!), and I’ve perfected my ability to deflect when I’m not paying attention and he asks a question (JC: Do you think that it’s possible? Me: What do you think?).

Sometimes though, he’ll go on forever and I need to do something or talk to someone else in the household. He gets angry: “I’m telling you a story,” he’ll whine. The other day in response to this I told him, “But your stories have no endings. It’s all just middle. A story is supposed to have a beginning, a middle, and an ending.”

Ahhh, I thought. My NaNo story is all middle right now. I need to progress so that I’m not writing a JC/bumper car/NaNo story that keeps spinning and spinning in one place until JC passes out/the carnival worker shuts the power and the spark on the grated metal ceiling dies/November 30th.

Tonight when I go back to the story, I’m going to set a theme in my head: Progression. I must progress my plot and characters. Wish me luck. Any NaNo’rs out there stuck spinning in the middle with me? (Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am . . . Sorry, fried brain).

All this being said, the NaNo philosophy is to simply get the words down. The phrase “embrace the suck” is often used to keep the writers writing. No Editing Allowed! Like my friend, David, says, next month will be “NaNoEdMo,” National Novel Editing Month. For me that may end up being NaNoEdYear, but I’m already looking forward to, and at the same time dreading, the editing phase. Theme two for the remainder of the month: Embrace the Suck.

Before I embrace my suck, today’s Daily Prompt is to answer the questions asked by James Lipton on the Inside the Actor’s Studio. You can see the Prompt and other responses here. These are the questions and my answers:

What is your favorite word? I like the word “resolving.” Especially in this lyric from Pearl Jam’s “Force of Nature”:

Somewhere there’s a siren singing
A song only he hears
All the strength that you might think
Would disappear, resolving.

I like the way Eddie sounds when he’s singing it. Also, it’s a great word. Its two definitions are equally awesome: “to settle or find a solution to” and “decide firmly on a course of action.”

What is your least favorite word?

If “MommyIcan’tfindmy…” doesn’t count, I guess I’ll have to go with the “c” word. It’s the only thing I can think of at this time of night.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Love. Creatively I enjoy a love story, whether watching a movie, reading a book, or writing. Spiritually I’m turned on by acts of love. Emotionally, love gives me the warm and fuzzies.

What turns you off?

I hate being cold. Creatively cold, spiritually cold, and emotionally cold. Also physically. I hate actually being cold.

What is your favorite curse word?

I enjoy the “f” word. One of JC’s first phrases was “for fuck’s sake.” (Mom of the Year, remember?)

What sound or noise do you love?

The ticking of my fingers pushing the letter keys on my laptop. I’m hearing it right now. Tick tick tick.

What sound or noise do you hate?

Slamming doors scare me. The slam is often attached to emotions and I always assume that I’m the cause of the slamming. Not sure if that makes sense.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

In a fantasy world, Princess. In the real world, a writer (hello?) or maybe a therapist (Ask my friends. They’ll tell you I missed that calling).

What profession would you not like to do?

I would not enjoy being an airline stewardess. Porn is out of the question too.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

“You’re too early! Get back down there and go rock the living!”

Well, that was fun. Now it’s back to “NaNo-ing” for me (I’d like to make that an official verb, like “googling”). Thanks for reading and have a nice night 🙂

Pearl Jam: Hartford, Connecticut

I wanted to tell you all about my AWESOME weekend but I have to disclose that it’s 10:42 p.m. exactly as I type this first sentence– which is late for an old lady like me, so we’ll see how it goes. You may run into typos and terrible grammar, but I’m just going to barf this out for now and hope for the best. Due to pressure at work (which totally blows), I haven’t been able to write. I may have to give up my idea of doing NaNoWriMo. It all just sucks. But that’s a post for another day…

Tonight, it’s happy post time!

This past weekend, Joe and I went to Hartford, CT to see Pearl Jam perform at the XL Center. My one word review:

UH-MAZING.

Let me start from the beginning.

Actually, I won’t start from the very beginning because that means I’d have to disclose how I almost filed divorce papers after the first time Joe and I went to see PJ in Philly. Let’s just say that he owed me, so the Hartford trip was his way to repay me.

The concert was on Friday night. Of course, I put in for a vacation day about a month earlier, but guess what? My twenty plus bosses decided that Friday the 25th would be a great day to do their annual rompings (did I say “rompings”? I meant “reviews”) of my department. So I had to go to work in the morning. Thanks to changing my name to my husband’s after marriage, the alphabetical order of the reviews put me first, at 10 a.m. (had I kept my maiden name I’d be fourth- Thanks, Joe!).

After a stressful review (that started about forty minutes late without apology), I was home by noon and ready to change from my suit into my Doc Martens. We packed everything up, instructed the grandparents on all things kid and dog related, and headed north around 2 p.m. for our two hour and fifty-two minute car ride (according to Google Maps).

We thought our traffic trouble spot would be the George Washington Bridge, but we flew over that without even stopping, courtesy of our EZ Pass. The Cross Bronx Expressway was its usual congested but moving self.

Then we hit Connecticut.

Ugh. When you are sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, the last thing you want to see is the digital road sign that says, “DELAYS- 26 MILES.” NOOOOOOO…..

About an hour later, we reached the rest area for the Connecticut Welcome Center. Joe went to the help desk for an alternate route (where the lady behind the desk guessed he was going to Hartford for the PJ concert- yeah, we looked the part) and I went to Dunkin Donuts for coffee. Luckily, I had the foresight to buy a couple of donuts. Unbeknownst to us, our grand plan of hitting Hartford by 5:30 and eating dinner prior to the concert would be foiled.

We didn’t get to Hartford until 7:30– the time printed on the concert ticket. We quickly checked into the hotel. I had the bright idea to get a room near the concert venue so that we could drink prior to and during the show and walk to and from the hotel.

Well, there’d be no eating or drinking prior, as we high-tailed it to the XL Center. We knew that there was no opening band, so we wanted to get there, get some drinks at the arena, maybe a tee-shirt. You know, do pre-concert stuff. (For those of you who follow along, I was abandoning my gluten free lifestyle for the night).

We decided to find our seats first. Although our ticket was “obstructed view” I think we had some of the best seats in the house. We were about eleven rows up on the side of the stage, closer to the back than the front, but still– we were so close and had a great view of the band. We overlooked the roadie area where all the computers and sound boards (?) were set up, we were over the staircase where the band entered the stage. Luckily the stage was open, so the only obstructions were some wires and technical stuff.

As a side note, this was our second obstructed view concert. We also saw U2 with obstructed view tickets and had a great time. Go figure. My advice for the night: Don’t necessarily shy away from obstructed view tickets. But I digress and now it’s 11:02 p.m. …

Once settled in our seats, Joe set off to find us some beer and food, and I sat around people watching and texting. I felt instantly transported to 1993. Angela had sent me this article comparing Pearl Jam’s longevity to the Grateful Dead’s, saying that PJ was my generation’s GD. Looking around, I could see the truth in that. Us fans were mostly older- I’d say I was probably the average age (early 40’s) and people broke out the flannel, the jeans, and yes, like me, the Docs.

As I sat and looked at the stage, my first thoughts were: I’m a (I’m going to curse here, beware) fucking asshole for working in my job. I thought that because (a) I may have been stressed out from my review still, (b) I really have burn out from my job, and (c) there were about 20 people doing cool things on the stage that I thought were better jobs than mine. I mean, following Pearl Jam around and setting up guitars and testing the drumsticks and hooking up speakers and crap? Sounds like a dream job to me. I wondered if they were “union” and then would have to stick around for Drake (who was scheduled to perform the next night- talk about demographic change), and then Phish (scheduled for Sunday).

As I pondered how I’d drag the kids around in my new career as a roadie and when I’d find time to fit in electrician school, Joe returned empty handed.

Me: *looks at Joe with questioning wtf look*

Joe: They only take cash.

Me: Huh?

Joe: I waited on this long line and finally got to the front and they only take cash.

Cash? It’s 2013! Who carries cash? And beer was $10 per can! Who carries THAT much cash? Joe said the man behind him on line offered to buy him stuff which I thought was incredibly nice (related to the niceness of the Hartford crowd, one concertgoer tweeted that she’d left her iPhone on the roof of her car during the whole show and it was there when she got back to her car afterward. Go Hartford!).

No cash. Then I wondered if I really HAD been transported to 1993 and this was all some weird time warp! Needless to say, we remained thirsty, and suddenly my decision to buy us the donuts earlier at the rest stop at DD was pure genius since the donuts would be the only thing we’d eat for the next 12 hours.

Look at that, over a thousand words and it’s 11:14 and I haven’t even gotten to the concert yet.

The concert.

If you’ve ever had occasion to see Eddie and the Boys in concert, you’ll know that it’s maybe the best show you’ll ever see. They came on at 8:30 or so and played until almost midnight. Two very short breaks. I mean, three hours? They’re Pearl Jam. They could have played for an hour and a half and we’d all be happy, but three hours is, I’ll say the word again– Amazing.

The set list (courtesy of @PearlJam on Twitter) (I’ll type this really fast for you fans): Pendulum, Long Road, Sometimes, Corduroy, Lightning Bolt, Mind Your Manners, Last Exit, Immortality, Johnny Guitar, Even Flow, Sirens, Alone, Records Play, Unknown Thought, Save You, Evolution, Better Man (break), Yellow Moon, Future Days, Chloe Crown of Thorns (MLB), Eruption, Ain’t Talkin’, Given to Fly, Got Some, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Porch (break), Elderly Lady .. Small Town, Crazy Mary, Don’t Go, Alive, Fuckin’ Up (Neil Young), Indifference.

Eddie’s voice is amazing live and his energy is mind-boggling. Besides the songs that featured certain instruments (if that makes sense, it’s almost midnight), he really is the show. I have to tell you this: First, he’s a nut. He’s running around the stage doing his crazy moves, literally swinging on the lanterns that hung over the stage, swigging from whole bottles of wine. He loved to reach out into the audience and pour the wine into their cups (I guess they remembered cash). After almost every song, he threw his guitar pic into the crowd. He seemed so genuine and happy and grateful. Maybe you’d think it was an act, but to me he seemed legit.

The lights were on in the audience for a lot of the songs, like he wanted to see us. It was sort of uncomfortable for us, in that we had to actually see each other and the antics happening, but it felt kind of neat, like we were part of the scene, as opposed to when just the stage is lit and we are only spectators.

Joe thought maybe there was honey water in the wine bottles, not wine, because we couldn’t understand how his voice could hold up. He was sharing though, which made me think it was really alcohol, and by the end of the night, he was jumping onto speakers and body surfing the crowd (in an almost 50 year old way- nothing crazy- security interfered and carried him back to the stage promptly).

There was a minor verbal interlude about the Second Amendment and gun control, and the band recognized the losses at Newport and certain charities. Mostly though it was just pure enjoyment.

Great music, great fun, an awesome night. I can’t wait to see them again on their next tour.

Here are some pics. I have to go to bed before I turn into a pumpkin. I didn’t edit this post, so again, apologies!

Have a great night!

What’s Up, Blogtropolis??!!!

HI EVERYONE!

I’ve missed being here on WordPress! In fact, I feel like everything has changed here– there must have been some sort of update because my “Add New Post” screen that I’m looking at as I type this looks so faaannnncy schmancy! Different font, updated look. It’s so pretty and easy on the eyes. Kudos, WordPress!

Can you tell I’m excited? I thought I’d wow you all with some deep thoughts here today, but frankly, I don’t have a deep thought in my head right now. But I do have some shallow thoughts that I am willing to share.

How’s your summer going? Mine is chugging along at a steady pace. M. attends school in the summer (which he’s happy about), JC spends his days at camp. My husband is busy training Kiri Kai Kai Princess Baby (formerly Kiri Madonna), reading one of my favorite books, The Passage, by Justin Cronin, and crushing candy (he’s on level 100 but is stuck on some “quests.” I have no idea what that means, but it keeps him busy while I blog so I neither ask nor complain).

Me? I’m stuck at work, freezing my butt off in July and wrapping myself in my Woobie. Other than that, here’s what’s on my mind:

This dog, Kiri– Gosh she’s cute! But she’s a puppy which isn’t easy. Now that she’s been around for a couple weeks we are finding that she has two major spurts of energy where we seriously wonder if she’s nuts– once in the morning (when we are busy getting everyone ready and out the door), and once at night (when we are trying to calm the kids to go to bed)– so THAT’S really convenient. Although she weighs in around 11 pounds, she thinks she’s about 30 pounds the way she harasses the other neighborhood dogs. She’s dominated “George” and “Winston.” Admittedly, “Sonny” kicked her butt. At Puppy Kindergarten she’s CLEARLY the smartest and cutest puppy. She deserves her own post someday, so I’ll just put some pics here and move on (it’s difficult for an amateur photographer to take a good iPhone picture of a black puppy, by the way) . .

This blogger, Megan– If you may recall, through blogging I made a friend, Megan (The Underground Writer). Well guess what? She was Freshly Pressed this week! You can see her FP’d post titled “For a Good Time Call” here. Unlike here at WOAW where I’m all “blah blah blah” and “yadda yadda yadda,” barfing out whatever is on my mind as I think it, Megan is a real writer. An excellent writer. She would never write “blah blah blah” in her post like I just did. She plans her posts and relays stories from her life beautifully and humorously and I’m so happy that WordPress found and acknowledged her. She could change her site name to The Awesomely Wonderful Classy Writer and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

This fortune, wtf– I think I may be dumb. I don’t get it. I even tried adding the “in bed” to the end of the sentence and got nothing. Any philosophers out there who can explain this to me? Maybe I’m too old or cynical or closed-minded for fortune cookies? Maybe I really am shallow– too shallow to figure this one out? Maybe I have brain freeze from overexposure to air conditioning? Maybe I should have ordered the Chicken and Broccoli, or opted for Mexican instead?

Help me see the light.

photo-55 — “Freed from desire, then you can see the hidden mystery.”

This website, Thought Catalog– Speaking of getting old and cynical, anyone follow Thought Catalog? It’s this excellent website/blog/Facebook thing, clearly targeting twenty-somethings, that always provides interesting posts. You can link over here if you want to check it out.

Now I’ve been a follower of Thought Catalog for quite some time. After months of perusing my Reader and getting lost in Thought Catalog posts, I decided to edit my Reader so that I would receive instant notifications of new posts to my email.

This is the result:

Now don’t get me wrong- I’ve learned a ton of stuff about nothing relevant to my life: sex and the 20-something single girl, transvestites, how to navigate online dating, how to tell if your boyfriend is cheating, etc. etc. But I find the site HIGHLY addictive and since the people who run the site post about a gazillion posts a day, let’s just say I’m distracted.*

See how the view of the titles in the inbox entice you enough to want to click and read more? On the iPhone 4 view, I see this: “12 Things Every Wo . . .” Of COURSE I’m going to have to click on that. Twelve things, what? That Every Woman Wants? TELL ME. What about: “6 Reasons Why Hollywoo . . .” What ARE the Reasons for Holly-woo doing anything? I NEED to know.

Thought Catalog is killing me. Damn them for being so great! After I publish this post, I’m changing them back to “NEVER notify me of new posts by email” status. Hopefully then I’ll be able to get some work done :).

*In Thought Catalog’s defense, I’m easily distracted. If it weren’t TC, it would be some other website, food, Pandora, the lost person wandering the hallway, whatever.

This cupcake, Gluten Free– the picture speaks a thousand words (and signifies a thousand calories) . . . no need to elaborate except to say it was totally worth it . . .

photo-56 — Gluten Free Cupcake from SadieCakes

This show, House of Cards– I am LOVING House of Cards. A Netflix Original Series, House of Cards follows the life of Francis Underwood, the Majority Whip of Congress, played by the amazing Kevin Spacey. He’s horrible and awesome at the same time. Robin Wright as his wife, Claire, is PERFECT. One of my favorite episodes is when Francis has to deal with his hometown in South Carolina while at the same time argue about a major bill in Washington. The contrast between the small town issue and the big national issue is fun and entertaining and interesting. You’ll LOVE this show and fly through the 13-episode series. You’ll also love Robin Wright’s super cool haircut . . .

The Underwoods- Screwing with Washington in style.

This song, Get Lucky– by Daft Punk Feat. Pharrell Williams. It’s so catchy and fun and I can’t sit still through it . . . This song makes me wish I could go clubbing and drink sea breezes and get tipsy and dance to it.

photo-5 — Do y’all use Shazam? Bought this one the first time I tagged it.

This blog, How I missed it! So that’s what I’ve been doing this summer– kids, working, puppies, cupcakes, Netflix, music. I’ve also been writing, but that’s for another post. This one is already over a thousand words and I know you have other things to do.

I hope your summer is going great! Thanks for reading.

Have a nice night!

(Photo of House of Cards: http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/01/29/hoc-ph-22120r-babd299b44de4b096fc2d563c31bb2398737e5d5-s6-c30.jpg)

80’s Lyrics Reveal

Hi Everyone!

On Friday I attempted a lyrics trivia post and learned something about all of you. You’re just not that into it. You liked the movie trivia post. Maybe this one was too difficult? I forget how easy things are when I know the answers, haha. Or can it be that I’m the only one still interested in music from thirty years ago? Live and learn. That’s what it’s all about.

Anyway, here are the answers to the music trivia post:

1. How long has it been since you took your love away? Answer: “It’s been seven hours and fifteen days/Since you took your love away.” Remember now? Sinead O’Connor and the face video? I heard this song recently and it inspired this entire post. It has been stuck in my head ever since (actually, for about seven hours and fifteen days . . . ). Song: Nothing Compares 2 U.

2. How tall was the muscled man who you asked if he speak-a your language? Answer: 6′ 4″. “He was six foot four, and full of muscles.” Then the song goes on: “I said, ‘Do you speak-a my language?’/He just smiled a gave me a Vegemite sandwich.” Which I have to admit I thought was “a bite of my sandwich,” but according to azlyrics dot com (I’m scared to provide the link), ’tis not. Men At Work. Song: Down Under.

3. Who has a cherry ice cream smile? Answer: Rio. Duran Duran. “Cherry ice cream smile/I suppose it’s very nice.” Remember she knows she’s something special and she looks like, she’s the best? Duran Duran songs always put me in a good mood.

4. What is ALL I want to say to you? Answer: De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da. The Police. “De do do do, De da da da/Is all I want to say to you.” Dancing around to songs by The Police also puts me in a good mood.

5. Who is always Mister Right? Answer: the Boy with the Cold Hard Cash. Just ask Madonna. “Because the boy with the cold hard cash is always Mr. Right . . .” Song: Material Girl. I coveted the pink, strapless satin dress she wore in the video.

6. What do you do if you wanna make the world a better place? Answer: “If you wanna make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself and make a change.” Michael Jackson. Song: Man in the Mirror. I watched Michael in concert (the Bad tour) from about the 10th row and I must say it was incredible. He sang this song as an encore and he was all emotional and sweaty and crying and it was amazing. So glad I had that experience.

7. What’s the long history of that real tough cookie? Answer: Breaking Little Hearts. “You’re a real tough cookie with a long history/Of breaking little hearts like the one in me.” Pat Benatar. Song: Hit Me With Your Best Shot. Did you know she started her singing career as a mezzo-soprano “coloratura?” That’s a classical vocalist and I think has something to do with opera.

8. If your colors were like my dream, what colors would they be? Answer: Red, gold and green. “Lovin’ would be easy if your colors were like my dream/Red, gold and green/Red, gold and green.” Culture Club. Song: Karma Chameleon. Go ahead, sing it! It will be stuck in your head for days: “Karma, karma, karma, karma, karma cha-mel-e-on, you come and go, you come and gooooooo” (heh heh, you’re welcome).

9. You could take me to hell and back just as long as . . . what? Answer: We’re together. “Baby you can take me to hell and back just as long as we’re together/And you do.” Wham! Song: Freedom. Recently I heard this song at Pizzeria Uno and tagged it on my Shazam app (Do you all have the Shazam app? If not, you must get it.) and later decided I’d just have to buy it. Then I listened to the song about a hundred times and bought “Careless Whisper.” Then I pondered if I am a spendthrift and decided to control my Wham! purchases for awhile.

10. Where does Gina work all day? Answer: The Diner. “Gina works the diner all day/Working for her man she brings home her pay for love/For love.” Bon Jovi. Song: Livin’ on a Prayer. We all know about Gina and Tommy, yes? Tommy used to work on the docks… the union’s been on strike… he’s down on his luck…. it’s tough. So tough.

Thanks for playing along! Tomorrow I’m going to try the Daily Post Weekly Writing Challenge. It’s a good one this week. You can see it here, if you want to give it a try with me. Have a nice night.

Friday Fun with 80’s Lyrics Trivia!

Hi All!

After a stressful blogging week and loooong work week, I thought we could celebrate Friday by having some fun with 80’s lyrics trivia. Can you figure out these songs without the “hints”? Enjoy!

1. How long has it been since you took your love away? (Note: This song, while recorded in the eighties actually hit the charts in 1990).

2. How tall was the muscled man who you asked if he speak-a your language?

3. Who has a cherry ice cream smile?

4. What is ALL I want to say to you?

5. Who is always Mister Right?

6. What do you do if you wanna make the world a better place?

7. What’s the long history of that real tough cookie?

8. If your colors were like my dream, what colors would they be?

9. You could take me to hell and back just as long as . . . what?

10. Where does Gina work all day?

How’d you do? Was that too difficult? If not, congrats! Pat yourself on the back. You know your 80’s music. If you are stuck, try again with these hints (corresponding to the numbers above):

Hints:
1. Since you’ve been gone I can do whatever I want . . .

2. Can you hear the thunder?

3. . . . I suppose it’s very nice.

4. Their innocence will pull me through.

5. Some boys beg . . .

6. No message could have been any clearer.

7. Notch in my lipstick case.

8. You come and go.

9. Part-time love just brings me down.

10. Tommy whispers, “Baby it’s okay…. Someday.”

Did that help? Let me know which of the songs stays stuck in your head all weekend, MWAH-HAHAHAHA (that’s my evil laugh). Have a nice night.

Day 2- for those still stumped see comments for more clues!

Roller Boogie

Back in the early 1980’s roller skating was huge, in my part of the world at least. I think it started with Roller Boogie, a 1979 film starring Linda Blair (of The Exorcist).

Best.

Movie.

Ever.

Okay, maybe not “ever,” but pretty freakin’ awesome.

Roller Boogie was the tale of Terry Barkley (Blair) and Bobby James (played by real-life competitive roller skater Jim Bray). She was a rich girl on her way to Juilliard to study classical flute, and he wanted to be an Olympic Roller Skater (I kid you not). She’s bitchy and he’s cute (albeit, a terrible actor). After shenanigans, this unlikely duo ended up having to save their beloved Venice Beach roller rink from mobsters by competing in a “Roller Boogie” contest. Of course he has to train her to roller skate because she’s god awful and guess what happens?

They hook up. Shocking I know. But in true 70’s form, they go their separate ways at the end, her to Juilliard, and him to Olympic Roller Skating training (is there a camp for that?). Pics:

If you’re having a hard time imagining, think Dirty Dancing but unwatchable (unless you were an eight-year-old girl from New Jersey, because I loved this movie and wanted to alternate between being Terry Barkley and Sandy from Grease at that point ). Do you see the parallels between the two movies? Snarky Handsome Man meets Uptight Bitchy Woman. Man has skill. Woman must learn skill. Man and Woman fall in love. Man and Woman master skill and good will ensues. Man and Woman part with memories, changed people. (How many movies fit that pattern?)

Back to roller skating. After Roller Boogie, my parents bought me a pair of metal skates– the kind with no shoe attached. The skate was basically a metal frame that fit around your sneaker, with four clanky metal wheels (lined up in pairs, young’uns, not rows like you may remember). I loved to tie those skates on and skate up and down our driveway, back and forth on Blue Hill Road, attempting spins and one-legged maneuvers like Terry Barkley.

Eventually, my metal frame skates were replaced with super cool sneaker skates. They were actual sneakers with rubber wheels attached.

Sneaker skates (I think this may be the actual pair I had!)

Then, Utopia. The United Skates of America came to be in Wayne, New Jersey. Heaven. Every Saturday Mom would drop us off for open skate. The roller rink. A place of fun, glory, exercise, and potential lawsuits.

Pre-teens and teens from surrounding towns that seemed like foreign countries gathered for their skating sessions. The dark rink had spinning disco lights and giant speakers, a carpeted area in the center for resting and doing “tricks,” a “penalty box” for the troublemakers, and super cute highly skilled “refs” who wore black and white striped shirts and had whistles to keep everyone in line.

Skaters circled the rink, counterclockwise, except for the dreaded clockwise “reverse skate,” which caused my cross-over turning method to feel awkward and just wrong. “Reverse skate” was not to be confused with “backwards skate,” which entailed going counterclockwise, but back first. It took me a while to master that skill. Despite my vast experience, I was never fully comfortable on the skates. I held my own and kept all bones intact, content staying on my feet and people watching. My brother, however, was a maniac, lapping around the rink like a crazy person.

The roller rink was a tweeny girl’s paradise. My friends and I loved watching the boys. The better the skater, the dreamier the crush. We all loved the refs and anyone else who could skate backwards and do spins. They had celebrity status in our minds and we obsessed like the paparazzi. Since we attended our session every week, we’d get to “know” the regulars– the crushes, the refs, the couples. If a couple we liked to stalk wasn’t skating the “couples’ skate” together (usually an Air Supply song played for the “couples’ skate”) there’d be a lot of talk as to why.

The disco lights would flash and spin to the beats of the best music of the day. A favorite was Hall and Oates “Private Eyes.” As you skated to this song, whenever you heard a clap you were supposed to jump. “Private eyes,” (jump), “they’re watching you” (jump/jump), etc. Even today when I hear that song, I think of the word “jump” during each chorus. Queen was popular too.

USA’s popularity soared in the early 80’s. I even hosted a birthday party there (it was my 11th birthday and I wore a pink shiny sweats ensemble and forced my mom to do my hair in Princess Leia buns). By that point, my parents had bought me white boot skates with red wheels. They were laced up with rainbow glitter shoelaces and sported giant red pom poms on the toes. It was a good look. I loved those skates. Still, it didn’t stop me from visiting the USA Skate Shop in the carpeted part of the building (industrial carpet so you could still skate on it) when I needed a break from the craziness of the rink. Breaks could also be had at the skate-up snack bar. Always a challenge to skate with a tray full of hot dogs and soda!

At some point in the mid-80’s our USA closed. I don’t recall if I outgrew it before then, or if the closing came as a surprise. I still have a lot of nice memories from those days though. I don’t know if there’s anything like that for kids today. A place where parents can drop off the kids and know they’ll be (relatively) safe. A place where friends can hang out and socialize and eat and drink and listen to music. Even get some exercise. The closest I can come up with in today’s world is the mall. Boring!

Let’s bring the roller rink back to its popularity of the late 70’s! Maybe a Roller Boogie remake is the answer! It certainly wouldn’t hurt. Wonder if Jim Bray is still skating these days and available . . . . hmmm . . . .

Thanks for reading and have a nice night.

[Sources: Movie Poster pic: http://www.impawards.com/1979/posters/roller_boogie.jpg; Movie pics: http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/roller-boogie/w448/roller-boogie.jpeg?1320051665 and http://blog.artdivastudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/1325875103-film_roller_boogie_screen_shot_cap_shirt_1970.jpeg; Vintage Roller Skates pic: http://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5773142/il_fullxfull.126998965.jpg; Sneaker skates pic: http://img2.etsystatic.com/000/0/5513500/il_fullxfull.154217638.jpg; Boot roller skate pic: http://crashtestmommy.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/rollerskate1.jpg]

Opera Night

Last night, my husband and I put on our fancy pants and headed to the Opera. The Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center, New York City to be exact. I know–first Foxwoods, now this. Smoke-filled casinos in Connecticut, to dinner and the opera at Lincoln Center. That’s how we roll. [I haven’t previously mentioned this, but our March outings are in celebration of my husband’s 40th birthday, which takes place officially tomorrow.]

Our date last night was our 4th Annual Opera Outing, this time to see Otello. In years past, we’ve seen Rigoletto, Romeo and Juliet, and La Traviata. We like to go in March around his birthday or in April, as the weather gets nicer and opera season is underway. We drive into Manhattan and have a nice dinner, then go to the performance. Usually we go on a weekend, but this year we decided on a mid-week trip (Translation: I waited too long to get our tickets and Wednesday night turned out to be our best option. Husband is a teacher on spring break this week, so the timing worked out. Phew!).

The mid-week opera excursion was quite pleasant. The restaurants around Lincoln Center were busy but not crazy, and the crowd seemed more of the after-work local crowd than the tourist crowd. Also, security at Lincoln Center was lax, and I mean this in a good way. Last year on a Saturday night, a security guard scolded me for taking pictures in the Opera House with my phone; however, this year people were snapping photos left and right without consequence. I assume this was permitted because it was mid-week– maybe less security guards milling around. Feeling a bit criminal, I joined in and attach my pictures below.

Have you been to the opera? Any opera fans out there? It seems people either love it or hate it, but if you get the opportunity, I highly recommend shelling out the cash and experiencing Lincoln Center and The Met at least once in your life.

Practically, it’s super easy. You can park underneath the building (I think we paid about $30 to park), and the Met’s Website is fairly user-friendly. Our favorite feature on the website is the ability to pick your seat from a seating chart of the theater. We make sure to pick aisle seats for husband’s long legs, and so we can dart out at the end during the applause in order to beat traffic out of the lot (classy, right?).

Also, in front of every seat is a tiny screen which can be seen only by you, which they call “Met Titles” where you can read the text of the opera during the performance. It’s subtle and not distracting. I tried to take a picture for you, but it’s hard to see. I’ll attach it anyway.

Besides those practical aspects of an opera outing, creatively, of course, it’s amazing. I don’t know much about music or voice or opera, but I love hearing a soprano voice that is so beautiful and perfect that it sounds like it must be from an instrument instead of a person. The tenors and baritones are strong and powerful. Obviously the music is lovely, and watching the orchestra is also interesting. Whether experienced in opera and music or not, you’ll see, and feel in your gut that you are listening and watching something special. The best in the world perform at The Met. If you get the opportunity, it’s worth the trip.

Here are some pics from our NY date: