New Songwriting Challenge Up

Thoughts on SOTU

So, I mostly liked the speech a lot. And I thought the follow-up speech also made some good points, despite being delivered in a rather condescending way. Here are some thoughts I have an hour or so later as it's starting to sink in:

1. Obama's speech writer(s) is/are still awesome.
2. Rep. Ryan's forehead is insane.
I honestly started to just watch his forehead I was so mesmerized.
3. I agree with Obama that at this point we should focus on reforming the health care bill, not repealing it (and definitely not unless they have a viable replacement--that would be completely asinine).
4. I agree with Ryan that the deficit/debt is the most important issue and that Obama may be trying to do too much.
5. That said, Obama's ideas for investment are spot-on if and when we can afford them.
6. I do not fully trust either of these dudes, but Ryan's smugness turned me off more than Obama's wild-eyed dreaming. I really don't like smugness in others, probably because it reminds me of my least favorite thing about myself.
7. I don't quite understand the phrase "spending freeze" in the case of the federal government.
8. I also don't understand how lower taxes and lower national debt are compatible.
9. All things considered, I actually feel slightly more confident that our elected officials are not going to let the country completely go to hell than I was before tonight, so I guess that's a win for everybody.
10. My biggest hell yes moment was this, from Obama's speech: "Every day, families sacrifice to live within their means. They deserve a government that does the same." Seconded by this a minute later: "I'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without. But let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens."

I have more reactions/ideas, but this is as good a stopping place as any.

New to my rekkid collection

I've been slowly but surely adding to our record collection. I recently found this used record store and my awesome husband got me a bunch of LPs for Christmas. Then, right after Christmas we went to the store to try and get rid of some of the random records we had inherited from the same coworker of LCD's (all hail her name--except I can't remember it) that gave us the record player. So, little a and I have varied our listening to include other pop/rock albums than just Thriller. In case you didn't read my post of like a million years ago, we do still have a random collection of world music.

One of the records I picked up in our most recent jaunt:



I honestly was not sure why I had ever heard of this band, but I knew I had. Plus, little a needs more exposure to lady rockers and at least their lead singer is a woman. It turns out they sing a really annoying song from the eighties that you may have heard called "I Know What Boys Like." However, there is more to them than just that song. Not a lot more, I'll admit-- but more. I am still undecided as to whether I like them on the whole, but they are kind of fun new wavey punky and this song (embedding was disabled on YouTube, so I guess you have to really want it to go all out and click) I personally find to be completely charming.

It reminds me of some more recent indie female vocalists that have the cutesy talky little girlish thing going on, but with a dash of Joan Jett attitude.

Oh, fun fact I just found out googling these guys. The album I have was never released on CD. My vinyl copy would be a collector's edition . . . except that it got released on itunes a couple years ago.

OK, so it was worth it...

Six seasons of LOST in about six months, that is. LCD and I bonded trying to understand what the heck was going on. And, even though there were lots of little annoyances along the way, there were also lots of things that were brilliant, funny, touching, heartwrenching and just plain cool. The ending was about 99% satisfying to me, though I did wonder if it would be less satisfying to others depending on . . . well some stuff (I don't want to give anything away to people like me that did not see the show during it's TV run). I loved the vast majority of the final episode and did in fact bawl like a baby through sections of it. Ah, sweet catharsis. I'm trying to get LCD to read The Brothers Karamazov with me next for our joint enlightenment project. I already know what happens in that book but it HAS been a long time and it is a candidate (he he) for my favorite book ever.

What to do with nine six-year-olds

My new "calling" (aka job) in church this year is to teach the six-year-olds. They really are awesome kids, but there are NINE of them and not a one of them is the quiet type. So far the class goes:

chaos
order
chaos
order
chaos
order
brilliant insight! who are these kids?
chaos
order
chaos
order
chaos
order
what is this child yammering about?
uh...
wait, is she still talking or did I just pass out?
chaos
order
chaos
order
wow, they get it!
order still!
and . . . chaos
order
chaos
or- no wait, more chaos
phew, their parents are here to get them!

When I get to the end I am left wondering "did I do that right?" But, hey, I figure they're still alive. How bad could it be?

Five Years Ago Today...

It was an unseasonably warm Friday, the 13th of January, and I had plans to hang out with a friend I had known for a few years who I didn't normally spend that much time with. Still, he was the kind of guy I could call up every few months and ask if I could borrow his PA equipment, or if he wanted to go to an open mic with me, or to come over for game night, and he would almost certainly oblige unless he was genuinely busy. He was also the type of guy that would never come empty-handed to a party. In short, he was "good people."

When he got to the house to pick me up we stood around outside for a while, basking in the surprise gift of summer in January, and talking about how perfectly the weather matched with the eeriness that is Friday the 13th. In the car, he had cheesy 80's music playing out of a tape deck and I think I made some crack about how eerie it was that we had been transported back in time. We had fun that night just being normal. We ate donuts, which he paid for and I wondered for a brief second if we were on a date, but, seriously? Donuts? That cost a dollar? Not a date.

Then we went to the pool hall/club/joint his friend's band was playing at, where he also paid for a table. Hmm. I beat him at pool on a technicality and soon the band was playing. They played danceable tunes and I like to dance so I was kind of movin' in my seat when random dude comes up and asks me to dance. I looked at my friend as if to say, "Are we on a date or what?" and received a shrug, so I got up to dance with the guy. And, yes it was awkward, but I made it work and soon my friend joined us on the dance floor and it got back to normal again. And we had fun. Everything was shiny and happy and NOT nervous.

I remember chatting constantly on the way back in the car and the feeling coming over me that this is definitely a date and I started to feel excited. I told him about Antony and the Johnson's and how he had to come inside and listen to this one song when we got back. And he did. And we talked about doing this whole thing again sometime. It was the most comfortable sort of happiness.

Come to think of it, I've still got that comfortable happiness. Dang, I'm lucky.

Shame me all the way to the clearance rack

I know new year's resolutions are so eleven days ago, but I have one that's been sort of percolating under the surface (picture a bog here with a little hiccupy bubble) that I keep squashing back down (with a rubber mallet, maybe?) because--well--I'm a little embarrassed. It's not as important as my goals to write more fiction/music or get in shape or focus more on spirituality or even to have more fun, but it might help a bit in the confidence-to-make-things-happen department.

You see, I want to be more stylish. Yet, I still want to maintain a very reasonable budget. I'll be honest: I want to spend very, very little but get away with it by making good, classic choices and using interesting but versatile accessories.

There, I said it. The shame. Anyway, pointers are much appreciated if anyone stylish happens to be reading this. I'm not above garage sales, thrift stores, and the like. I've just had a hard time finding much in my size in the past.

Back to Livin'

This year's theme. Not exactly brilliant, but that's exactly why it's so necessary. I feel like the bulk of 2010 was a throwback to my first year in grad school: ten. years. ago. Yeah, I'm old. But to be fair to myself, I was a 22-year-old grad student.

How was it like grad school? I learned a lot, failed a lot, grew a lot, felt like giving up a lot, and survived, ready to kick some serious ass in year two. And, as it turns out, I rocked year two of grad school, so I expect to do the same with year two of parenting, in which I branch out and start livin' again. That means more creativity, better health, more playtime, and more confidence of course. Also, Little A is going to be cake this year.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

OK, gotta go.