God at Work

Wow. I was starting to brush my teeth and thinking about the post I had just written. I came back to my computer because I wanted to add how heaven-sent and supportive so many friends, family and others have been of my mom and our family. That was too important not to mention. As I was about to post a second time I was amazed to see that my inital post had already been commented on by a wonderful "passer-by." Thank you Jeanette. I tried to find a way to reply to you, but couldn't. But if you come back and read again, thank you so very much. What a blessing you are.

Update

If there is still anyone out there that still bothers to check this, I apologize for the dearth of posts. I found out in late March that my mom has cancer, and things just got intensely horrific for a while (I lost seven pounds in one week if that helps to illustrate.) I was also moving to a new house and closing on the old one right at the time we were all trying to deal with my mom's diagnosis, so I was in kind of a black hole/fog of non-communication that I am slowly digging myself out of. In any case, being in the new place (which is actually my parent's old place) is incredibly wonderful.

I am not being melodramatic when I quote this (if you notice the book that it's from, it's been on my mind lately, but this is very inspiring):

But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him. He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. - Job 5:8-9

One Year Old

Oh my gosh, I have had this blog for exactly one year! Happy Anniversary!

Marge Piercy

I had forgotten how good Marge Piercy was - read some of her stuff and did reports on her in English 101 class - 10 YEARS AGO - good grief, impossible. I am now reading Small Changes. She is very Crazy Salad 70s feminist - I love it!

Hang the DJ

I don't like to mix post themes, even if I am writing them in the same block of time. So, after getting the KFC/Sweet Home Alabama question out of the way (maybe Neil Young has the answer, since Canada and chickens from the US are somewhat acquainted), on to the next thought.

Why are 80s request hours on the radio so incredibly devoid of any good music? If you don't know me at all, I do want to say immediately that I am not a music snob in the least. Truly. I can't explain the difference between goth and industrial. I really don't know why vinyl is better than CD. Whatever.

However, when it's the Friday Eighties Free for All on my local radio station, the next time some bozo who just wants to hear himself on the radio asks the DJ to play Heart of Rock and Roll, or maybe the Tarzan song (as my friend Abby spot-on named it), I want to rip the radio out of of my car and chuck it straight at the billboard advertising the radio station. Why request Heart of Rock and Roll or the Tarzan song when you hear it every day at 12:35pm as you're eating your pudding snack and furtively updating your MySpace profile at work?

Guys, there was some absolutely incredible music from the 80s that was by no means esoteric and does not take someone wearing a tight ironic t-shirt and an emo haircut to name. Bands like the The Smiths, New Order and The Cure were bona-fide stars and had commerical success on both sides of the Atlantic (still do). All I wish for is a little more variety and a little less monopoly from the likes of Huey Lewis, John Cougar Mellencamp and Kenny Loggins. Those guys are great, don't get me wrong (The Pretenders, another excellent choice!) but let's branch out a little!

If your heart has been moved by reading this and you repent of your boring music request ways, I say BE HEALED! Below is a (very small) suggested list of alternative artists and songs, just in case you get up one 80s Friday and feel like mixing it up a little. By no means are these "out there" songs. And, as I said before, I am no snob when it comes to music, I welcome debate, suggestions, and comments. Save the music!

1. The Killing Moon - Echo and the Bunnymen
2. Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
3. Regret - New Order
4. Love My Way - The Psychedlic Furs
5. Just Like Heaven - The Cure
6. Holiday in Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
7. Ana Ng - They Might Be Giants
8. Wrapped around Your Finger - The Police
9. Mary, Mary - Run DMC

And, just in case you feel like sticking it to the man on the air in a passive-agressive fashion...

10. Panic - The Smiths

Thank you. It feels good to get that off my chest.

Also, just found a great link to Rolling Stone magazine's article on a compliation called Left of the Dial - tracks of 80s underground music. Looks likes lots of new stuff there for me too! http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/blackflag/articles/story/6297750/janes_rem_on_80s_box

Stupid

Ha ha - I just made it! ONE January post!

This is a really stupid observation, but it keeps popping up in my thoughts. Why do they play Sweet Home Alabama on the Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial?

Elightenment in the comments area is welcome.

It'll Be a Red Red Christmas with You (and Cousin Eddy too)

Oh my, getting into the Christmas spirit means less blogging! I've been having too much fun running to the mailbox to see who sent me a Christmas card, and watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Well, nothing earth-shattering going on here - just enjoying a couple of days off from work. I went with a great friend of mine today to see the Linda McCartney 60's photos exhibit - wow.

While I was looking at another collection within the museum, a guy went strolling by chatting on his cellphone. I frankly, wholeheartedly admit that I am an eavesdropper. I don't care if you know it - I think it is totally disingenous for most of us to pretend like we don't listen to conversations - and of course, if it's in a public space, that is fair game, friend. Anyway, I gathered quickly enough that this guy had never been to Huntsville and actually, probably not ever to a latitude lower than North Carolina, because he was going on to his phone friend about how "this museum has an exhbit on 60's photography from Linda McCartney!" From the tone of the conversation, I gathered that he was somewhat surprised with Huntsville itself.

This guy probably was not too much of a snob, but I can't stand people who just assume stuff about places they have never been to, especially where the South is concerned. What irks me particularly are those who portray themselves as hip, progressive, and open-minded. Third-world, pollution-belching banana republic? Just hand them the Lonely Planet guide, they're right behind Angelina and Brad. Black Belt Alabama? Hell no! Oh, but I will buy that Gee's Bend quilt from Macy's that I heard about on NPR. How folksy! Blecch.

Vanity Fair had a particularly banal and ill-informed "humor" series running in the culture section a couple of months ago. The REAL America: A Red-State Appeasement Guide purported to know how we bumpkins amuse ourselves down here. I actually wrote a letter to the editor about it, but didn't get published. Thank goodness for the age of vanity publishing - you'll be delighted to know you can read it here!

Before I launch into my tirade (because we red-staters are such hot-headed folks, aren’t we?), I do want to say that I have loved Vanity Fair since I was a teenager for the captivating photography, fashion, cultural notes, and dishy high society pieces. I’ve held my tongue and kept my subscription through the many stupid-Southerner-backwards- Midwesterner-what-the-red-states-are-really-like articles. However, I just have to say bravo on the latest tongue-in-cheek delicacy you printed entitled “The REAL America: Our Red-State Appeasement Section.” You’ve now completely rounded out your well-informed collection of cultural and travel guides for those readers in New York and California who will never deign to visit the red-state wasteland anyway.

I am now a proud resident of Alabama, but I have lived in many other places during my life – even overseas! I also lived in New York City for one year. It was beautiful and lots of fun; everything you would expect. But I have to say, some of the New Yorkers I met were as provincial a people as I have ever run across. Their lack of interest in where others were from and the proud ignorance of other places in the US was astonishing.

Oh, and to Jamie Malanowski – why highlight only the TV shows and Christian themes that captivate red-staters? The last religious cultural event this bama attended was a down-home Diwali festival. My city has a thriving cultural and international community, – why don’t you visit sometime? We’ll speak extra-slow, just for you.

The Lowest of the Low to Infinity

CREDIT CARD AND IDENTITY THEIVES ARE SCUM SUCKING LOW LIFE mfING BASTARDS!!!!!!!!!

DROP KICK ONE WHERE IT HURTS FOR ME TODAY PLEASE!!!

ALP's Proust Questionnaire

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? My imagination.
Where would you like to live? A place with no fear and no hatred. Heaven then.
What is your idea of earthly happiness? Right now, with healthy and happy family and friends. Also, summers spent at #1 Bedford Avenue in Rehoboth Beach as a child.
To what faults do you feel most indulgent? My own.
Who are your favorite heroes of fiction? Mr. Darcy and Walter Mitty
Who are your favorite characters in history? Richard III, Queen Elizabeth I
Who are your favorite heroines in real life? Condoleeza Rice
Who are your favorite heroines of fiction? Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy (and Marmee)
Who is your favorite painter? Giorgio di Chirico
Who is your favorite musician? Beau Watkins
The quality you most admire in a man? Humor, decisiveness, and a sense of responsibility
The quality you most admire in a woman? Independence and a sense of responsibility
Your favorite virtue? A kind heart.
Your favorite occupation? Reading
Who would you have liked to be? Dorothy Parker for a week in the 1920s.
Your most marked characteristic? Sensitivity (for better and for worse)
What do you most value in your friends? Kindness and quirkiness
What is your principal defect? Being too hard on myself
What historical figure do you most despise? The obvious ones. As a Christian, I wish I could say I didn't despise anyone.
What natural gift would you most like to possess? Literary genius
How would you like to die? Knowing that I helped make someone's life better. Hopefully many lives.
What is your present state of mind? Introspective
What is your motto? Leave the party while you're still having fun. There is nothing wrong with enjoying your own company.