Tag: rock

Monday’s Theme Music

Yeah, so Monday. Yawn, scratch, sniff. The waning days of September — it’s the 26th, you know — has a waning morning sun. Yellow light seeping through sketchy gray clouds make us all wonder, why am I up again? It’s only seven in the morning.

‘We’ was me as I was alone, forcing myself up out of bed to carve out writing time. Yesterday was a hectic day, socializing with sisters visiting Mom, and Mom’s PN visited to establish appointments and create the official record, incidents and worries by Mom over Mom. Writing time? Hah. What’s that? So, there I was, counting time down to sunrise as I typed, warmed coffee in hand to give my blood some life.

Sunrise came at 7:23 and left me pining for summer’s sharper, more brilliant light, but wishes like that don’t slow the Earth’s turning as it whizzes through space around the sun. It’s 55 F, a chilly, slightly moist morning. Contours and cloud shapes suggest rain is not far away in time and space, and will temper the sun’s influence all day. The great weather ‘they’ say that we’ll be limited to a high of 19 C before established planetary routines give us sunset at 7:23 this evening.

It’s Monday, so you know The Neurons plied me with songs about Monday. A few exist. But it’s also September, so they brought out a plate of those as well. Finally, though, that sky is a hazy shade of winter in this early light, weak coffee view. So here comes The Bangles covering Simon & Garfunkel’s “Hazy Shade of Winter”. I’ve used it here before but it’s all I can come up with without more and stronger coffee. Yeah, there’s no snow on the ground — although I haven’t looked in twenty minutes, so some may have fallen — and yes, I know it would need to get colder first and it’s just September in Western PA and not really probable at this time of year but indulge me.

Stay positive, test negative, use precautions, get the latest vax, and here we go. Coffee? Yes, please, please, PLEASE! Hope you enjoy this tune. Make it a glorious Monday. I’m gonna try, if my blood ever starts circulating.

Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

Sunrise at 7:10 AM barely seemed to break the slumbering land’s mood. Clouds own some responsibility, as do the season, and a general sense that rest is welcomed, so let’s keep doing it. At least, that’s how it felt in this household. Others may have been scenes of mayhem or orderly transitions to daytime routines.

Today is Sunday, September 25, 2022. 54 F outside under a thin gray veil, the air temp will hike up to 69 F before the sun bows out at 7:13 PM.

Mom continues displaying evidence that she’s doing much better. Yesterday was pill organization day one. Today will be day two of the monthly event, where she sits and doles out the pills into pill planning boxes for morning, breakfast, afternoon, evening, and bedtime. She is organized with it, with abundant notes about what and when to take them and what symptom or problem each addresses.

Meanwhile, her BF went shopping together. They’ve lived together for seventeen years. Neither wanted to marry, though they love each other. So, he is officially her fiancée. I usually refer to him as her partner. He’s a good guy and I’m pleased they’re together. He is 92 years old but energetic and earnest.

He went shopping. He does all their shopping. Guess I should mention that he has a sweet tooth. LOVES donuts. Works out at the gym a few times a week to keep fat off. The stuff he brings home, though. I’m, like, gosh, I can’t eat that caramel pie. No, Sock It To Me Cake. I’ll pass, coffee rolls, cinnamon rolls, donuts, and cookies. But it be hard. I tell my wife about this food and she wonders, “OMG, how do they stay fit and alive?” How, indeed.

Hence, today’s song is, almost naturally, “U Can’t Touch This”. Didn’t even need The Neurons to tell me this. MC Hammer, in his colorful parachute pants and fascinating dance moves, had a hit with it in 1989. It won awards and was played without mercy for a while, as radio and television is wont to do when something catches big. My mind grabbed the lyrics and music when I saw all those goodies and few days ago and my stomach told my brain, “Give me some pie.” When I said no, the stomach pleaded for at least a donut. “Uh, huh,” the brain answered. “Can’t touch it.” And there we were.

Stay positive, test negative, and so forth. Now, it’s coffee time. Get down.

Here’s the tune. Cheers

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Saturday’s Theme Music

6:40 AM. I was outside looking for the sunrise. Cold and dark, no sign of sunshine stood out in the east. Sunrise was due at 7:20 but the impending event was being kept on the downlow.

Saturday, September 24, 2022, has been tagged. Less than a week of the year’s ninth month remains before 2022’s final quarter begins, the dreaded and dreamed upon fourth quarter. Dominated by the holiday season in the U.S., it’s a period heavy with sales, parties, and consumption. Yes, I don’t embrace the season with high spirits and open arms. But it’s the world we’ve created.

Meanwhile, it’s 45 F today, high of 18 C projected, sunset at 7:23 PM, providing us with twelve hours and three minutes of daylight.

Our family’s big news is Mom’s return home yesterday. First day went very well. She looks and sounds so much better, and ate well. Fingers crossed, knock wood, that it continues like this. Her foray through her inventory of daily medications stunned me. Morning, evening, night, sometimes taken multiple times a day, pills for everything were prescribed. Charts and pill cases keep it straight but it’s a mind-numbing collection.

I’ve tested negative for COVID now, but mild coughing and congestion continues. Did resort to two Tylenols last night, but no tissues were used last night, no cough drops consumed, only one glass of water down. Slow progress but progress counts. Other family members continue to test positive but everyone is feeling and doing much better.

Novel writing in this environment has been a challenge. I fight to eke out a page each day around the swirl of activity. Frustrating, yes, as thinking, attention, and continuity take hits.

“Chains of Love” by Erasure, a 1988 hit for them, occupies the morning mental music stream. The Neurons brought it up from the memory banks as I reflected on when to return home. Chains of responsibility, duty, concern, and love keep me staying with Mom in her home, but I have all of those out west with my wife and cats, who I miss. My wife and I exchange emails and speak on the phone. She’s doing well — they’re doing well. She says, stay as long as you want, as long as you’re needed. I’d like to go back to my beloved and to my routines, but these chains keep me here. It’s all metaphorical, of course. Leaving is my choice at any time. It’s another aspect of my fortunate life.

Stay positive, test negative, and so on. Take care of yourselves and your loved ones and community. Coffee? Not yet. The household is still asleep. Here comes the sun. Here’s the tune.

Cheers

5

Friday’s Theme Music

Autumn has turned down the temperature here. Nights are cooler. So are days, despite a sunshine filled sky that chased out darkness at 7:20 AM. Speculating about others around the world watching sunrise and sunset is an intriguing engagement. Someplace is always experiencing a sunrise or sunset. It’s a never-ending mechanism and inspires and instructs us in multitudes of manners, as it’s been such we first realized as creatures that a sun is in the sky.

The sun’s tenure for my area will end at 7:25 PM. Temperatures will float up from its current 46 F t0 62 and back down to 45 tonight. This is Friday, September 23, 2022.

I was thinking about the toss of the dice this morning, a stretch out of a previous conversation with others about rolling the dice and how arbitrary results seem on the surface. And while we were speaking, I thought of chaos theory, but didn’t speak to that group about it. Anyway, The Neurons, observant as an NFL ref, picked up the thinking and pitched “What It Takes” by Aerosmith from 1990 into the morning mental music stream.

Stay positive, test negy, and so on. Now, I must hunt down a cup of coffee. Hope your Friday rolls up the way you need it. Here’s the beats. Cheers

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Thursday’s Theme Music

Gods opened the spigots on the area last night. Not unexpected, with the humidity soaking us yesterday. Feeling that air brought the prayer thought, let it rain. So it did, with a little thunder, in the night’s apex. Listening, I thought of how we could use this rain out west.

We’ve hooked up with Thursday, September 22, 2022. Gonna be twenty degrees cooler as a high today, 64 degrees F. It’s just three degrees short of that now. It has me pondering, should I put on long pants?

Full cloud coverage denied us sunrise’s splendor. Sunrise took place at 0707 and sunset will be at 1918.

The Neurons sensed my optimism about things today and kicked “Gonna Be A Good Day” by Rayelle into the morning mental music stream. You know, “I got no reasons to complain. Washed all my troubles down the drain. Today’s gonna be great, gonna be a good day.” I think I heard this song on a television show or movie and then looked it up. It’s a mover. Hard, fast pulse.

Stay positive and test negative. Hope you have a great day. Hark! I hear coffee whispering sweet promises to my ears. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Wednesday’s Theme Music

Sunshine slanted across the flat valley at 7:17 AM in Pittsburgh before clouds bullied it into disappearing.

Hi, fellow sentients. Today is Wednesday, September 21, 2022. September is going apace. Seems like another day comes up about every twenty-four hours. Viewing hours for daylight will end today at 7:30 in the PM. 63 F is the moment’s temperature under serious clouds. Drumroll as we open the envelope and read the omniscient they’s projected high: 28 C.

The groundhog has emerged for breakfast in the backyard. I enjoy watching him traverse and search, imagining his personality and voice from his waddle, pauses, and gazes. Really looks like he might be a retired British major. He likes a peaceful, easy way, and prefers the solitude of his own voice.

Mom is doing better, thanks. Was moved last night from hospital a nursing home to begin rehab therapy. Voice, spirit, attitude have all improved. She’s cleared of COVID, fluid gone from lungs and heart, pacemaker and heart are both stronger, her appendix healed, and infections are vanquished. She remains on anti-biotics while she gains mass back, but she’s off the blood thinner. Thanks for your support, it is appreciated. Going up to see her in a while.

On my end, I removed my Ziopatch from my chest this morning and I’m mailing that back today. Good to have it off my chest.

The Neurons are wild with music this morning. Huey Lewis and the News, Metallica, Bush, Tony! Toni! Toné!, The Climax Blues Band, and others. I finally settled on “She’s Just My Style” from 1965. I couldn’t recall who had it as a hit and did the google thing to bring back Gary Lewis & the Playboys. I always like this song’s vocals, and that brief guitar solo. I was nine when it came out but its words were easily heard and understood. I always enjoyed the small vocal flourishes it incorporated. It’s another one of those songs from basement adventures where we pretended to be famous performers.

Got some Peet’s Major Dickason on deck. Stay positive and test negative. The alternative sucks. I speak from my own experience; yours will be different. Here’s the music. Cheers

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Monday’s Theme Music

Monday’s dawn struggled to win over night. Reinforced by a packed sky of stern clouds, light was minimized. I looked at my watch. What time is it? Where is the sunshine?

It’s September 19, 2022. A downpour soon drowned out the day. Thunder’s drum line punctuated the mood. Traffic snarls complicated by wet roads inundated the radio news.

I went onto a covered porch and consumed several lungfuls of rain-enriched air, savoring scents of wet dirt, leaves, and trees, which sounds a little disgusting as I write it, but if you’ve had it, you know it. Our temperature? 19 C, so t’aint bad. Their suggested high of 78 F raises my eyebrows.

In other news, I hear that Queen Elizabeth II died. Little facetious. It’s a matter of history and it’s being given sprawling coverage. She was Queen my entire life to this point, an American’s anchor in Europe. I enjoyed many of the stories about her. I understand, a little, the pro and con arguments of having royalty in a country. It’s their nation, their decision, although I understand some disagree with that in Australia. As with many matters when you’re outside of a situation and seeking understanding, it’s complicated.

The Neurons have again selected a weird song for the morning mental music stream. Ozzy — need I give a last name — I’ll clarify that Harriet wasn’t present — is singing “Shot in the Dark” from 1986. For a long period, I believed Ozzy wrote it, only to discover as legal issues about the song arose that this was written and performed by others first. “Why this song?” I query The Neurons. “Are you trying to tell me something?” My cats are more forthcoming than The Neurons. I hear only snickers in reply.

Stay positive, and test negative. Having gone through a mild case of COVID, I don’t believe you want to enjoy it for yourself. Just made fresh coffee. Care to partake? Mind if I do?

Here’s the music. Cheers

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Sunday’s Theme Music

You ever leaped out of bed and remember that you’re not at home and this isn’t your bed, so there’s a piece of furniture blocking your landing, remembering all of this midway through what was planned to be a burst of energy to start the day?

Yeah, me, neither.

But did you ever get out of bed full of spirit and rushed outside to check the weather and took a deep breath and asked, “Hello, world, what is that smell?”

The smell reminds me of a giant being cremated. To my knowledge of the area, there aren’t any crematoriums around but there could be, because I haven’t been here in a while. Maybe someone saw an available vacant lot and realized their dream of building their own crematorium. I don’t believe there are any giants in the area. Could be that there are and I missed the news. We’re living in strange times, as many people have said before me. I’ll conduct a net search for giants of Pittsburgh later, if I remember.

Birds are lustily giving voice in Mom’s yard on this Sunday morning. One keeps singing, jewka, jewka, jewka, chew. (Kind of reminds me of a Steppenwolf song, “Sookie, Sookie” from 1969.) I don’t know what kind of bird it is. I’ll google it later, if I remember. There are sparrows urgently flying around. All of this could have to do with the giant being cremated, I guess.

It is September 18, 2022, and the sun rose over three hours ago. That means about another nine hours of daylight are available. Leaves are falling like they do in some places that mutter, “Oh, time for autumn. Let the leafing begin.” Then a button is pressed and the trees start with a little surprise at being goosed because they’ve just been sunning themselves and enjoying life. Once they understand the goosing, they get with the situation, drop leaves and start changing their colors.

Mom was in great spirits last night. I visited her telephonically in the evening, because my COVID. (Much better, thanks.) They’re moving her to another place this week so she can rehab for a return to the outside world. She and I talked about her wishes should she go on. You know, pass. Die. She wants cremated. We talked about what music to play at her celebration and she said we should start with “Amazing Grace”, which she believes is a beautiful song. I agree with her. Neither of us think she’s going anywhere soon. We could be wrong. She scared me two weeks ago, and we often don’t have death tell us, “Heads up” before the final breath is taken.

Because it’s September and leaves are falling through the sixtyish weather under a charcoal-sketched sky, The Neurons have brought up, “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day wrote the song. The band released it in 2005.

Stay posi and test negy. Have coffee or whatever works for you, within reasonable parameters. Don’t want to get into the mess of defining that. What’s reasonable to one —

Well, anyway. I’m pouring coffee now. Enjoy your Sunday. Here’s the video. Go Steelers.

Cheers

2

Saturday’s Theme Music

Sunrise in Pittsburgh on Saturday, September 17, 2022, brought diffused yellow light to the steel city. 7:02 AM, it would take time to heat the chilly air. Summer was heading south for the winter. Fall was making its move.

Now at ten AM, heat has stirred the thermometer to 16 C. 81 F is where the air temp is expected to go before the sun’s impact shuts down at 7:28 PM.

Staying in Mom’s home, where she’s resided for over thirty years, I’m struck by both change and stasis, again. Some things about the house are so familiar and have been as they always were. That’s not in the architecture or layout but in the details of décor and organization. Mom’s authority and control is seen in every niche and nook. She decides all. This allows me to visit as if I’ve always been here. Just remember her habits and how she organizes, and everything can be found. Probably true for most people, especially when they’ve inhabited a space for so long, but I feel it more deeply with this place of Mom’s. Of course, it’s absolutely clean – cleaning is her therapy as writing is mine – she has told me that she loves to clean, because I thought it something imposed on her, but no, she says, no – and also inside that organized structure is bizarre chaos. Wild how the two co-exist.

Thought of change prods The Neurons to resurrect a favorite song in the morning mental music stream. “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke came out in 1964, when I was eight. It’s been part of existence’s fabric for almost my entire life, and it has always spoken to me. I’m not alone in this; Sam plugged into something special when he created this song. For today, though, I’m going with a Beth Hart version. She infuses it with that same strength of belief and sincerity that I hear in Sam’s voice. Hope you hear it, too. In some ways, she reminds me of Janis Joplin with this song.

Stay positive and test negative. Here’s the music. I’m off for a second cup of coffee. I’ll go out on the porch into the sunshine-warmed breeze to enjoy it. Enjoy the world in the best way you can. Cheers

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Friday’s Theme Music

I was surprised to discover today is Friday. It’s also September 16, 2022. The month is storming through. It’ll soon be another memory, haphazardly stacked alongside my other memories. “Do you remember…?” The question begins the conversation. I hear it reverberating from the future. “Do you remember?” A little mental scratching follows. Pieces are put together and then answer comes, “Yes, I remember.” Then each contributes details. Whether it’s all accurate or real, well, that’s for another philosopher to address.

Sunrise’s stealthy crawl began at 7:01 AM. Temperatures continue along a short spectrum of low sixties to mid-seventies. Pittsburgh’s sunset will be at 7:31. The daily slice of sunshine gets shaved a little more every day.

I spent thirty minutes outside today, on the porch in sunshine, drinking coffee. Wonderful to have a full and warm sun as a companion. My body drank in that vitamin D. While out there, I reflected that my mental image of myself remains as a man thirty years younger, or more. I wondered, do our self-images get created and captured when we first visit a place? Is that how we’ll always see ourselves in conjunction with a specific place?

I remember once when I was sixteen, with Dad, shoe shopping. Dad was flirting with a young female sales assistant. It seemed clear to me the woman was embarrassed. I found it all cringeworthy. But Dad didn’t see and hear himself as we saw him that day. Reality is such a tasty and beautiful variable, isn’t it?

For music, “A Horse With No Name” by Americ in the morning mental music stream. I started singing it to myself, shifting lyrics to, “It felt good to be out in the sun.” I took it past there but you don’t need those deets. Make up your own.

Stay positive and test negative, and do what you can with the day. As the floofs say, carpe diem. Lunch is calling, I think. Here’s the music. Cheers

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