Friday’s Theme Music Re-do

This song, “Lawyers in Love,” by Jackson Browne, popped into my head while I was showering, so I’m pushing it out to you.

The song came out in nineteen eighty-three. Stationed at Shaw AFB in South Carolina, I’d gone to Myrtle Beach AFB for thirty days to fill a manning assistance request, turned around and went to Korea for forty-five days on the annual Team Spirit exercise, and then went to Tyndall AFB in Florida for the Command NCO Academy. That covered January through April.

This song came out during my first days at the NCO Academy. The lyrics stuck to me. I walked around singing them, driving others crazy.

But what fun, satirical lyrics:

I can’t keep up with what’s been going on
I think my heart must just be slowing down
Among the human beings in their designer jeans
Am I the only one who hears the screams
And the strangled cries of lawyers in love

God sends his spaceships to America, the beautiful
They land at six o’clock and there we are, the dutiful
Eating from TV trays, tuned into to Happy Days
Waiting for World War III while Jesus slaves
To the mating calls of lawyers in love

Last night I watched the news from Washington, the capitol
The Russians escaped while we weren’t watching them, like Russians will
Now we’ve got all this room, we’ve even got the moon
And I hear the U.S.S.R. will be open soon
As vacation land for lawyers in love

h/t to azlyrics.com

Listen for yourself.

October 13, 2017 0

Be Patient

…while trying to understand

…when asking for help

…waiting for food

…brushing your teeth

…while traveling

…when writing.

October 13, 2017 0

Vessel

When it comes down to it, I’m just another empty vessel, trying to find the source.

October 12, 2017 0

The Accumulation

Words and emotions.

Pain and disease.

Actions and memories.

They build up, and tear you down.

October 11, 2017 0

Six Word Saturday

More of Ron’s enjoyable introspections about self, truth, and life.

SCRAMBLED, NOT FRIED

Home Alone (Lonely). Ankle-Deep In Pizza.

Oh, sure; he enjoys his “alone time” at home amid the fading green hills while His Beloved is away, being all beachy and sisterly, watching the gulls instead of the crows, hearing the tides instead of the rustle of dead leaves.

But it doesn’t take him long to realize that, these days, he already spends too much time alone and only a total nidiot would pass up the chance to be with her every weekend, even if it’s at Sisterly Beach, listening to the surfy static and the screamy seagulls.

And, yes, it’s true that she went out of her way to make sure he had a fridgeful of healthy food before she left but, well, even a nidiot knows there’s no solo food like a large special Village Pizza pizza, and that a large special Village Pizza pizza will provide at least 3…

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October 7, 2017 1

Guys and Gals

I entered the cafe. The two female baristas called out greetings to me. I responded, “Hi, guys.”

Then I thought about it. When I retired from the U.S.A.F. in nineteen ninety-five, I didn’t call females guys. But I discovered the young females in my new civilian office were calling each other guys.

I asked one of them about it. She shrugged. “It’s not gender specific to me. Everyone is a guy.”

“A guy is a male,” I said.

She didn’t agree. I thought, is this going the way of many other words, like decimate and literally, losing their definitions and developing into something more generalized? Over the years, I slowly tested it, calling women guys. Some responded, “Excuse me, I’m not a guy.” It was a rarity that I did, though.

I asked the two baristas their thoughts about it. They’re the same age, in their early twenties, college students who work in the coffee shop. One said, “I don’t care. Anyone is a guy. It not about gender.”

The other said, “I’m very sensitive to it.” She also works at a group with a large elderly population. They’re acutely aware, and have made the point to her, “Would you call a group of people that include men, ladies?” I didn’t view that as a parallel; there’s not a general trend to call groups of people ladies. I’ve only encountered that as a derogatory expression to groups of men, essentially implying that the men are effeminate, which is then offensive to them. That was particularly true in the military, as you can imagine.

Out to you, writers. I’m curious about others’ experiences and responses to this issue. Does anyone have some they’d like to share?

October 3, 2017 0

Mixkers

Mixkers (catfinition): Whiskers of several different colors on a cat, usually black and white, but sometimes with a white whisker that starts black. It’s pretty cool, especially when they’ll crazy-curvy. Quinn doesn’t have such curvy whiskers, but he does have mixkers. I would share of photo of them, but he started rolling around on the carpet when I tried photographing his face. Maybe I’ll try again.

After my coffee.