As Heard By My Wild Young Heart

OK... I should be really working.

But I've been listening to a single song by the Gaslight Anthem, over and over.

[yeah, I know... the obsession is just that... but JUST LISTEN]

"I'da Called You Woody, Joe"

I've referenced the song before on facebook: "Bill never got to tell him so he just wrote it down, wrapped a couple chords around it and let it come out..."

But now... I just gotta take a while and explore this song (I had originally thought to give "Miles Davis and the Cool" the treatment, but Joe trumps Miles in my book, so...

This is a song about discovering a new sound. Of letting it take you over. To the point that everything else in your life points now to this new discovery (c'mon... you've felt it before... Brian Fallon, the lead singer and songwriter of the Gaslight Anthem obviously felt it, too...)

This is a song about songs and singers and the power and glory of The Song that is in your head, in your soul, in your throat, and how that song can bring to mind more songs... and thoughts of something deeper...

I was crawling around in my head in the haze of a trance.
Rico said, "I'ma turn you onto a sound, cool out your head.
This is the sound from Camden town"

And then I heard it like a shot through my skull to my brain,
I felt my fingertips tingle, and it started to rain,

[THAT is what it's like to discover that new sound... that SONG]

When the walls of my bedroom were tremblin' around me,
This ramshackle voice over attack of a bluesbeat,
Tellin' me, he's only looking for fun.
And this was the sound, of the very last gang in town.

As heard by my wild young heart,
Like directions on a cold, dark night,
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And I heard it in his chain gang soul.
It wasn't just the same sad song.
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And I'm doing all right,
Are you doing all right?

[and I've thought about these lines for a long time... on rides (which I need to start up again), let it out, let it out, you're doing all right... I'm doing all right. Tears dry fast in the face of wind, even behind the sunglasses]

And I carried these songs as a comfort wherever I'd go.

[see what I mean???]

They was there when my summers was high,
There when she left me alone.
Saying, "The soul is hard to find."

[Like Fallon, I never got to see the band live...]

And I never got to tell him, so I just wrote it down.
I wrapped a couple chords around it and I let it come out,

[I have NEVER heard a better description of the songwriting process]

When the walls of my bedroom were tremblin' around me,
This ramshackle voice over attack of a bluesbeat,
And a girl, on the excitement gang.
And this was the sound, of the very last gang in town.

As heard by my wild young heart,
Like directions on a cold, dark night,
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And I heard it in his chain gang soul.
It wasn't just the same sad song.
Sayin', "Let it out, let it out, let it out, you're doing all right."
And are you doing all right?
Are you doing all right?

And that was the sound,
I hear the sound,

[I hear it every day]

Do you hear the sound?
I hear the sound,

[I hear it whereever I go]

Of the very last gang in town.

So, yeah, the song is about Joe Strummer. Woody would be Woody Guthrie, a singer who so influenced Strummer, that he took to calling himself Woody for a part of his life. Woody, an influence on another Gaslight influence, Bruce.

How many punks could so seamlessly put that many references into their tributes?

How many writers, period?

And this isn't the only song so well crafted (check out "Great Expectations", and... and... there's just a freaking slew of them...).

Now, I don't want to go all Dave Marsh on ya, but I've seen rock'n'roll future and it's name is The Gaslight Anthem. [and I'm not alone in my feelings]

You should see it too:

Here's the video for the song...

And a live performance of the song

And a solo live acoustic performance of the song

And check out this full concert (from the live performance above):

No excuses... your essay is due next Wednesday (yeah, you know why... it would make a really nice present).

Class dismissed.

Parental

A couple of quick hits:

Spoke with the parent speaker from the other night. He hasn't given any thought for a run, but he said he might. He's meeting with the Supernintendo later this afternoon, and asked if I would join in. If I can break free from a conf call at two pm, I may just mosey on over.

Kyle's still in the mix for Hungary (despite what he considers to be poor play)... we have paperwork to fill out, so that when the coaching staff makes its decision from the three remaining goalies, Kyle can move forward with the trip. He still has hope... I'm not so sure (especially since he's having problems tracking the ball on incoming shots... the coaches are helping him work on it, but I figure the staff is going to see that as one more strike against).

...

Not much to report... but I'll write something later

Not Hamlet... but something

or not

Another Board Meeting

Lisa took me to last night's Board meeting, crowded with teachers and other employees who had come in support.

A great parent speaker led off... he said he was proud of the title "Community Activist"... and I believe him. Impassioned. Strong. Afterword, I tracked him down to shake his hand. As one of a throng, I didn't get a chance to see if he was interested in a run.

Some other speakers followed but none hit the mark. About midway through, I started scribbling some notes for a possible statement if and when they called for additional comments (as they had done a week and a half ago)...

A week and a half ago, I spoke for the need of transparency in the process of planning to meet our budget constraints. Like Mr. Barito, our first speaker tonight, I spoke only from the perspective of a parent.

Tonight, I come to speak from another perspective. I am a former teacher. I taught high school English and drama for 10 years at Oxnard and Hueneme High. Twelve years ago, I took a one-year leave of absence to "recharge my batteries." Within six months, I was making more than I did after ten years of teaching.

I missed the kids. I missed the classroom. But I was also a parent with fiscal responsibilities. I was seduced by the almighty dollar. And I have not taught since.

I look out at this crowd tonight and I see many young faces. Faces of young and dynamic and qualified teachers who will be out of a job as early as June.

My fear is that even if we get budget funds back in the future, that we will lose these teachers forever. The average career of a new teacher is between five and seven years. If we lose these young teachers, it will be effectively losing out on an entire generation of educators. To lose these teachers would be to lose an irreplaceable resource.

We must all work together to solve this problem. Administrators, teachers, support staff, and yes PARENTS... we must all work together, or together we will most certainly fail.

I was scribbling fast those last words when the clerk called out that the final speaker had finished. I waited for what I assumed was the inevitable, given the last meeting... the call for additional speakers.

Either the Board had learned its lesson from the last meeting, or in a regular meeting the agenda is followed to the letter. Whichever, the president of the board made a quick statement that she felt for everyone involved, and that they didn't want to cut anyone, and that the real issue was with the state, and

blah

blah

blah

I shook my head in wonder at the cluelessness here. At the complete and utter lack of LEADERSHIP (oh, we have management, but no true leaders). At that fact that even after last week, these guys (and gals)

just

don't

get

it.

I'm going to try to track down that first speaker. See if he wants to make a run at the Board. If I read the County Clerk's Elections website correctly, the next election will be sometime this calendar year. I remember one of the teachers who congratulated me after the last meeting said that two of the five spots were opening up in the next vote. Maybe we could form a slate of sorts.

Maybe.

Something most definitely to mull over.

Oscars

Did I miss something? I LIKED last night's show... but the reviews have ranged from lackluster to awful....

Jackman was engaging (though, yes, very "Broadway" and less "cineplex" [like Jon Stewart is that]). The introduction of the acting award nominees was, in my opinion, the best change they made and the best thing about the show... did it run a little longer than name-clip-name-clip-award goes to? Sure, but each nominee got his due, and it was touching.

The song and dance routine with Beyonce was incredible... I loved they way the "mash-up"'ed the songs... no surprise is was a Luhrman production... very cool (and Beyonce.... how do you type a purring roll of the tongue... that woman is a modern Helen of Troy... men could go to war over her.

The mashups continued through the Best Picture nominee clip sequence... nice intercutting between Frost/Nixon and Apocalypse Now and All the President's Men... I thought this was very, very cool.

The only bad moments were "comedic" ones... the comedy clip routine with Franco and Rogen doing their Pineapple Express-stoner schtick MAY have been funny if I was a stoner... and stoned... but it was just stupid (the only part of the show I fast-forwarded through)... and then when Rogen laughed at the title of the winning Live Action Short (seemingly because it was German)... well, THAT's a class act. What a moron. Probably stoned. Ass.

Ben Stiller as Joaquin Phoenix... funny, for about 5 seconds... then his upstaging of the Cinematography nominees was just as classless as Rogen. Sad.

But... boys... Tina. Fey. [insert purring tongue roll here] In the words of Liz Lemon: "I. Want. To. Go. To. There."

And Marissa Tomei and Diane Lane (classy AND hot... and more age appropriate for this old guy).

Yeah, I liked the show... I must have watched something different that the critics.

Sixteen

Reading everyone else's 15 albums lists... man, so many memories... so many cases of mini-amnesia...

THIS is why Facebook is such a time killer...

Killer headache yesterday, but at least I slept last night (of course, the two Tylenol PM generics plus the vic for headache pain MIGHT have had something to do with the uninterrupted sleep)... very groggy at 6, but better now as I get down to the workday...

Hoping to feel well enough to see Coraline in 3D with the fam tonight... and tomorrow looks to be busy... three water polo games, the high school girls team's CIF playoff quarterfinals (if nearby), and a chance to catch the Wazzu game on tv...

Thanks goodness there's nothing on the docket for Sunday except for the Oscars: Go Slumdog!!!

Really

Too funny

The 15

So, it's nearly 3am and I can't sleep. Third night in a row. It's weird. During the worst part of the depression, I'd get insomnia. But not like this... this feels more the stuff I had before productions would hit the stage when I was teaching drama "in the day."

Whatever.

I'm up. And thinking about yesterday's 15. The albums are supposed to be touchstones, to help remember times, people, whatever. So what do my 15 represent?


1. Born to Run -- Bruce Springsteen
[junior and senior year of high school... discovered Bruce in the sophomore year, just missed Darkness... but a friend turned me on to BtoR and it didn't HIT me until junior year when I really started thinking about leaving home... it's one of only two albums I wore out...]

2. Men Without Women -- Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
[this is the other one... it came out at the beginning of my sophomore year at UCLA... saw Little Steven at the Roxy, pressed up against the stage... Lisa and I were broken up at the time, and while one song that year used to make me think of someone else, the album as a whole has always made me think of Lisa... especially during our long (relationship) breaks when "Men Without Women" seemed pretty damn fitting... of course, her favorite is "Princess of Little Italy" and she's right, it should have been used SOMEWHERE in the Sopranos]

----------------------
UPDATE... just checked out what Steve had to say himself about that record (Freaking Fascinating)... and this is what he said about "Princess"

I had to have one Italian-American song on an introduction album didn't I?

It's spoken from the point of view of an old school, old values, immigrant grandfather watching his favorite granddaughter hit her teenage years and rebel. He doesn't mind the rebellion so much but is she protected?

Don't worry. He's got guys following her.

----------------------

3. London Calling -- The Clash
[senior year of high school... rebellion... wearing wraparound shades in my yellow pinto... my one concert regret is never seeing them]

4. Double Nickels on the Dime -- The Minutemen
[junior year at UCLA... I had become a fan after "Buzz or Howl under the Influence of Heat" and checked out a show in Hollywood... damn, what was the name of that punk club... you had to descend down the stairs to get to the performance area... the stage was about eight inches off the ground and MAYBE 8x10 feet... THAT was an experience... but then this album (double album, natch) and it stayed on the turntable for weeks at a time (it come off only for Born in the USA and Voice of America (Little Steven's second album, NOT Sammy Hagar's)... "History Lesson, Part II" still brings tears to my eyes and their cover of Van Halen's "Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love"? fuckin' fuggetaboutit... DBoon's death was the first celebrity that really affected me]

5. Damn the Torpedoes -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
[junior year of high school... that opening riff of "Refugee", in the words of the next band, "I heard it like a shot through my skull to my brain//I felt my fingertips tingle and it started to rain"... it was one of the first rock albums that was MINE, I bought it without influence of friends, I got tix to the show (the fabulous poodles... name still sticks in my head... opened... they sucked)... in my senior year I'm sure "Here Comes My Girl" and "Shadow of a Doubt (Complex Kid)" were sealed to major crush I had... but now? "Here Comes My Girl" is all Lisa... "watch her walk.... that's right"]

6. The '59 Sound -- The Gaslight Anthem
[the newest piece on the list... and the only one from the past 10 years, I think... this band (I know you're tired of hearing about them but suck it up), they're the real deal... I'm even THINKING about Coachella for the first time since they'll be there on Sunday]

7. Talking with the Taxman about Poetry -- Billy Bragg
[my graduate year at UCLA... the one-man Clash... very liberal, bordering on the communistic... what every education grad student needs... "Help Save the Youth of America" indeed!]

8. Lone Justice -- Lone Justice
[aaahhhhh, Maria McKee... the only woman who I might have stalked if I was THAT kinda guy... loved this band... the first album (which I got autographed at Tower Records, THANKYOUVERYMUCH) came out in 85, but I was into them from late 83... there's some contention to this... Lisa says she turned me onto them after seeing them open for Willie Nelson (whom she took her father to see), but I think I discovered them concurrently based on some articles in the Daily Bruin... regardless, great live band... and damnit she was so damn cute (oh yeah, and that song was written by Little Steven)]

9. Run-DMC -- Run-DMC
[my first rap record... ok, not the first... I had the twelve-inch single of Rapper's Delight by the Sugerhill Gamg my junior year of high school (ah, football)... but the most important rap record I bought... dug the beats, the style, the WORDS... so cool]

10. Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash -- The Pogues
[ok, came to the Pogues in a roundabout way... T-Bone Burnett produced Elvis Costello's King of America... which to me is still one of the best sounding Elvis records (if you take away the lush sounds of Imperial Bedroom... I know, I hate the lushness of Working on a Dream, but whatever), and I saw him play with Elvis on his solo tour... then I noticed he produced the Beat Farmers' first record and I loved that, so when I saw his name on the production of Peter Case's first album, I bought it and loved it... it had a song called "Pair of Brown Eyes" on it... when I told a girl I was trying to impress (er, bed) during my grad year at UCLA, she flippantly told me the original was better... she was right (and obviously too smart for me)... and this album is awesome... I used to teach "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" as part of my WWI unit in sophomore English]

11. Armed Forces -- Elvis Costello
[senior year of high school again... this with London Calling... except I couldn't always understand what the Clash was saying... but Elvis? crystal clear and biting and angry... loved it... I think I was bummed for a week when I learned that "(What's So Funny About) Peace Love and Understanding" was written by Nick Lowe]

12. Love, Hope, Sex, Dreams -- The BoDeans
[another T-Bone Burnett production... reminds me of my post grad year cross country train trip... must have listened to that album a hundred times... imagined that if my friend Kevin and I would ever form a band it'd sound like this and I'd be Sammy (Kurt was the good looking one, and Bruce to Sammy's Steve)]

13. Devil without a Cause -- Kid Rock
[out of the classroom and into the workforce... and a long commute during which this album played relentlessly... "Cowboy" was my favorite, never really dug "badiwa" or whatever it's called... but "Wastin' Time" and "Fist of Rage" always merited repeated listens on the CD on the freeway]

14. Reach Up and Touch the Sky (live) -- Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
[senior year of high school, skipping sixth period to go driving with Lisa to the harbor, this one and Elvis Costello's "My Aim is True"... but this one... "I Don't Wanna Go Home" ... "Hearts of Stone"... "Having a Party"... I still hear those Jersey boys in my head... bought their records because of the Bruce connection... played them forever (I still have the first album on MP3 on the desktop computer [and not on the external hard drive like the rest of my collection, either]) 'cuz they're so damn good]

15. 1999 -- Prince
[college, pre-Purple Rain... post-Rolling Stone concert debacle (Lisa and I were there for that... uh, experience)... another double LP and just awesome... the fact he played most of the instruments on that record blew me away then and now... long freaking songs... but what songs "Little Red Corvette", "Lady Cab Driver", "Delirious"... aw, man... gotta love it]

Now nearly 4... let's see if I can get some sleep...

Facebook

Damn you, Samantha, and your baby pictures (like she even reads this).

Samantha was a UCLA Alumni Association liaison with whom I worked extensively in the first half of this decade. She moved to North Carolina two and a half years ago, and had a baby a year and a half ago... and the only way to see pics was to get a Facebook account.

So I did. Just to get pictures.

And it grew from there.

I'm trapped.

Anyway, yesterday a former student sent out one of those notes (not THAT note, though I HAVE already done the 25 things about me)... this one on 15 albums. It took an hour of crafting and editing, but here's my response:

These are in no particular order (except, of course, for number one)... and many have been left off (uh, that would include Rockpile, the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack, Peter Case and about four other albums by Bruce)

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world. When you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you're it!

1. Born to Run -- Bruce Springsteen (though I could easily have added Wild and Innocent, Darkness, The River, and The Rising as well)
2. Men Without Women -- Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul
3. London Calling -- The Clash
4. Double Nickels on the Dime -- The Minutemen
5. Damn the Torpedoes -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
6. The '59 Sound -- The Gaslight Anthem
7. Talking with the Taxman about Poetry -- Billy Bragg
8. Lone Justice -- Lone Justice
9. Run-DMC -- Run-DMC
10. Rum, Sodomy, and the Lash -- The Pogues
11. Armed Forces -- Elvis Costello
12. Love, Hope, Sex, Dreams -- The BoDeans
13. Devil without a Cause -- Kid Rock
14. Reach Up and Touch the Sky (live) -- Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
15. 1999 -- Prince

So far, the most interesting response was this from an old HS friend (and the daughter of both my AND Kyle's kindergarten teacher):

15 albums is too few for people as OLD as we are. I had 27 on my first cut. After some hard choices, I have 15 ready, but want to sleep on it.

I am old... but damn, my music's good.

Just keep me out of Twitter....

The Big Bang Theory

Love this show.

Looks like Slate loves it too.

A Presidents' Day Rant

Everyone made a big deal about Obama using a Lincoln method for building bipartisanship...

Team of Rivals... and all that

He tried. And it looks like he's failed (or at least failing). But here's the deal. Gregg was not the right guy... And I'm beginning to wonder if Obama is, as well.

If O is really serious about bipartisanship, he's got to take Pelosi and Reid aside (privately) and slap them around (metaphorically) and demand (relentlessly) that they publicly make REAL concessions so that any reluctance by the GOP to make like concessions will be seen for what it really is: Obstructionism.

But I don't think O will do that... and the GOP will get a free pass... and Congress will swing back to the Repubs in '10... and who knows in '12

Can we get some folks to grow big enough sacks to SACrifice?

Please?

Change is Impossible

With apologies to Obama (who, by the way, is having about as good a first one hundred days as my Bruins are having on the hardcourt... get some rhythm started and the train runs off the tracks, play well, get beat [I know, mixed metaphors, but hey, what do you expect at six in the morning]), it is my contention after attending last night's meeting at Jack's school district (and the one in which Lisa works) that change is impossible.

The place was packed. The Supe gave a quick reading of his PPT on how bad the state budget crisis is and a gloss over what cuts he was planning. Then it was time for speakers. All speakers filled out request forms, and I figured with this big a crowd, we were in for a slew of speeches. I was first up (and I'll post my remarks at the end), followed by a couple of teachers (one the union chief), a couple of classified workers (one the union chief), another parent, and two nurses. End of speeches.

WTF?

All deplored the teacher cuts. None were (if I do say so myself) as targeted (and yeah, maybe, angry) as mine. And that was it.

So I thought.

They then called for anyone else, and that opened the floodgates. A total of 23 parents spoke, more than half in Spanish. And I gotta tell ya, folks, if it's time for generalities... then the Latino parents GET IT and the white parents quite frankly descended into platitudes and "hope" and "faith" nonsense. The Latino parents urged that we work together to find a solution. Rock on.

And the end of the meeting, I was complimented by some folks and urged to run for Board by more than a handful. It was very flattering. But I don't know if I can do it, trying to work with those sanctimonious bastards would be frustrating as hell.

But we'll see...

Anyway, here's what I said last night:

As an alumnus of the Hueneme School District, and the parent of a recent graduate of EO Green and a current third-grader at Bard, my viewpoint is one of a guardian of both my alma mater and the welfare of my sons.

And what do I see? [at this point, I raised up a paper NOT handed out at the meeting] According to this internal memo from Dr. Dannenberg dated February 6, I see...

The loss of 42 teaching positions, over 12% of the total number of classroom teachers in the district.

The loss of over 11% of the district's site-based psychologists.

The loss-on average-of one custodian per school, at a time when custodians can dedicate only 10 minutes per classroom per day.

The loss of more than 20% of site-based counselors.

The loss of 1/3 of our nurses, which will raise our student-to-nurse ratio from an already laughable 2500:1 to 4000:1. Four thousand students per nurse.
These cuts have immediate, tangible, and negative impact on our children, who will have facilities less well maintained, fewer support personnel, and more crowded classrooms.

Meanwhile, the only administrative cuts I see in this plan are the loss of the 1/2-time APs at the Junior Highs, but these positions, too, have day-to-day, face-to-face contact with students.

Today, on the first anniversary of the King shooting, do we want our schools with fewer teachers, APs, psychologists, nurses, and counselors? Do we really want to remove the day-to-day personal contact with students that might be able to prevent future tragedies?

Your plan for cuts raises these questions, but one more as well, and this one really bothers me: Why was there such a lack of communication in regard to this meeting?

The agenda for this meeting could be found on your website earlier in the week…but only if you clicked through two pages to find it. Why did it and the new PowerPoint appear on the homepage only after 1:30 this afternoon? An agenda that uses terms like "crisis" and "dramatic" would merit more visibility, you would think. And this agenda also says that "public input will be welcomed."

But yesterday the Star carried a notice of this meeting, and input was downplayed as Dr. Dannenberg was quoted saying, "We have made plans for what we have to do."

I also received an automated phone call for this meeting, but it was last night, a mere 22 hours before this meeting began. I was asked to "attend" but not for my input.

So why this lack of transparency?

The only reasonable conclusion that you want a rush to action.

Teachers need to be notified of layoffs before March 15, and those layoffs need to be approved. Quickly. While cuts at the District Office in this plan are almost non-existent: one Program Specialist.

There is a lack of transparency because you don't want input. Not really. You want approval of site-based cuts, without losing positions at the D.O.. District cuts that we can afford as Hueneme has the second highest management-to-teacher ratio of the elementary-only districts in the county. Front-office cuts that districts like Conejo are making.

This sort of one-sided planning is short-sighted and doomed to failure. Unless you bring all the stakeholders together into the decision-making process-ensuring shared sacrifice and compromises-mistakes will be made. And then every stakeholder will be hurt: students will suffer, parents will become unhappy, test scores will plummet, the reputation of district leadership will be called into question, and the Board will have to face an electorate who will remember the next time we cast our votes.
So, please, reconsider this plan and replace it with one created of organized input from ALL stakeholders, so that our children can be protected from these poorly planned cuts.

Through most of the speech, the Board looked like they were waiting for the second shot of Novocaine... change? Doubt it.

Not 'tard, not 'terd, but...

I could write today about the first anniversary of the King shooting and all my scattered feelings and recollections about it.

Or I could write about tonight's Hueneme School District board meeting re: budget cuts (for which, I've prepared a statement).

Or not.

I'd rather talk about Quentin Tarantino. I'm a fan. Not a rabid, OMG everything he does is gold fan, but a fan. Loved Pulp Ficton, liked Jackie Brown a lot, was quite frankly bored through much of Reservoir Dogs (sacrilege, I know) and his half of Grindhouse, and Kill Bill was a huge split decision for me (liked the first half [possibly because I spent some of my early childhood watching samurai flix in Japanese in Little Tokyo with Ma and Pa (those were the only kinds of movies Ma could get Pa to travel the hour it took to get there to see)], and was kinda bored by the second half [except for that killer Batman/Superman speech by Bill at the end]).

ANYWAY...

He has a new film... a WWII flck... his sort of homage to The Dirty Dozen...

[Uh, Quentin... enough with the homages already... Grindhouse, Kill Bill, even Jackie Brown to a certain extent... if you don't stop with these, people are going to begin to think you're a one trick pony, my man]

Inglorious Basterds

Nope. Not a typo. Not a misspelling. Get it? They're so tuff, they don't need no stinkin spellin, mon.

No, Quentin... it's not that funny. It's not cool enough, by half.

In fact, looking at this trailer, it IS a misspelling, because this looks like a

TURD

a big fiery pile of steaming excrement you're flinging onto the screens of my multiplex... sigh

Another Crazy Day

My neck still hurts, which makes riding a no-go... I should go out for a walk, but...

Maybe I will, when I take Kyle to practice tonight. Craziness there, too. HS swim afternoon practice begins today, but he also has club polo practice at 5... HS coaches say school comes first, so Kyle's going to be late (which he's disappointed about since he thinks it might have negative repercussions on his attempt to scratch his way up from the lower B team to the A team [I've told him that he may want to think of this year as his "paying dues" year... all the other goalies ahead of him are returning players... Kyle is currently been broken of some bad technique... which is the result of not having a goalie coach until now. I think he understands in his head, but wants desperately to get on the A team and to Hungary. I love to see the fire in him, and I hope he can turn it into results...]).

Titus Andronicus

Not much to say or write today.

Except found a new band:

Titus Andronicus out of Jersey

harsh hard literate punk rock...

My Time Outside The Womb

The first thing you see is the light.
Then, you focus on a man in a mask with a knife
as he cuts you away from everything you thought you knew about life.
Now you're in your mother's arms, wrinkled and wet.
You'll spend the rest of your life trying to hard to forget
that you met the world naked and screaming
and that's how you'll leave it.

In Riverside Hospital, on a July morning,
with a push and a pull - this is how I found out
I wasn't quite so invulnerable.
It put the fear of God in me when I heard my daddy say, "one mistake is all that it takes."

I ended up at Central School, 1993,
and met a certain kid named Sarim at the library.
He said, "they're ain't nothing about this place that's elementary."
I learned to play the guitar in the seventh grade
in order to convince everyone I was a renegade.
That's when I learned, in Glen Rock,
everybody calls a spade a spade.
I couldn't fool anyone.
I couldn't even fool myself.
I was just another book on the shelf, nothing else.

Great stuff... check it out

Tears

Last week, there were moments where I felt that I had missed my meds (the Wellbutrin)... but I hadn't missed them. it was just weird.

That was a few days after the mother of a friend of Lisa and mine passed away.

Today, I learned that a co-worker's mom passed over the weekend.

I don't feel depressed... but...

I just cried at the end of a Bones episode (damn you again, Hulu).

WTF.

Back to work...

Long freaking weekend. Water polo was hit/miss (Sat a hit, Sun a miss).

Shoulder still achy (and downright painful on Sat, as predicted by the chiro, post-adjustment).

No Boss tix for the second show.

Point-watching for food intake has gone by the wayside in recent days... and exercise has been a no-show since last Tuesday. Afraid to get back on the scale.

It's all kinda depressing... will try to write more later.

[at least the Bruins CRUSHED the domers...]

Neck still killing me

and a full weekend of water polo coming up (Kyle's tagged to play with the lowest B team, so he's a little disappointed... but given his performance in the pool the last couple of games/practices, I'm not surprised [not too bummed, either: he's starting off the new semester in the hole again, grade-wise]).

Neck hurts (chiro later today).

Crankier than shit.

It may be time to bust out some rum tonight (promise I won't mix it with the vic)...

Easing the Pain in my Neck

The shoulder/neck had gotten so bad that I could barely sleep Tue night and had Pa take me to the ER early yesterday morning. Still hurts like hell, maybe too much to see the chiro quite yet.

But easing the pain:

watching UCLA grind the trojies to pulp-less OJ in basketball last night (yeah, I only saw it on tv as the neck was too painful to drive, but it was a thing of wonder to watch our boys outplay the crosstown thugs [yeah, I'm calling you out HACKett] and Coach Howland completely outclass and outcoach Timmah [whose appearance is scarily growing in resemblance to ousted ILL gov Blagojevich])

and waking up to see the results of yesterday's football recruiting from Scout.com ... yeah, that our Bruins AHEAD of the trojies

All that helped the pain... that and Vicodin (manna from the doctor gods)

[fill the blank], Here I Come...

Shoulder's tweaked from hauling around a big-ass cooler with 48 bottles of G and agua during Saturday's water polo-fest (chiro, here I come).

Didn't get tix to the Aprl 15 Springsteen show (StubHub, here I come).

Didn't find The Pluto Files last night @ Borders (Amazon, here I come).

[But I did find Romeo and Juliet (Kyle will begin working on that in the coming weeks in his English Honors class). I'll get my Shakespeare fix soon; so at least I have that working for me. (Verona, here I come)]

New month

New beginning of effort on the weight-loss program (the last two days were a little brutal on the waistline and the scale).

Hopefully, the wind won't be too bad for tomorrow and the rain won't be too hard this week for rides (not going to get a chance this weekend to ride, as Kyle has a two-day tourney in Los Alamitos).

Halftime

Now, THAT is a halftime show.

Tenth FREAKING Avenue Freeze-Out

noone picked that one!

Solid Born to Run

A stronger Working on a Dream than I foresaw

And a FUN Glory Days (not one of my faves) ... that was too damn cool.

Gotta love Steve!

22

22 miles today... mostly in the big chainring, so 16mph... 83 minutes... legs are rubber, and after one month, I'm down 8 pounds... I'm good with that...

So the ride's done, the ribs are braising, the shower's next, and then the Super Bowl and Bruce at halftime!