Halloween 2006

"Halloween, strange things seen, ghosts may walk, skeletons talk...on Halloween"

I remember that line from a song back in grade school. Can't remember any more than that much, though.

This year Halloween is, again, quiet. That's fine. Back in my other life up north I used to host a huge Halloween party for adults. Funny how people eventually got into it. It sort of brought out the kid in everyone. I miss being that big dorky host!

So tomorrow is November 1, or as we Catholics know it, "All Saints Day", followed on Nov. 2 by "All Souls Day". It's also the time for the Mexican Day of the Dead, to celebrate the memory of loved ones who have died. Actually, although some see this as sort of morbid, it's a nice way to commemorate those we love and have lost in the past year. May our memory of them endure.

It's a nice day for a white wedding, it's a nice day to start again! (with apologies to Billy Idol)

Lyrics of the moment...Night Drive

I don't exactly know why this song resonates. It's from 2004 and I came across it as a "rediscovery" I guess. Hmmmm. "...You pierce my heart like a willing arm..."

"Night Drive"
By Jimmy Eat World
From the album Futures
(note: it plays on their main web page)

Lay back baby and we'll do this right
There's blankets in back we can use
I'll start the car, but we'll stay in park
The cold can kill us before fumes

Now's the right time for a good song
Got something to say what I can't
Do you feel bad, like I feel bad?
We'll pour us a road, we'll both drink and drive

Kiss me with your cherry lipstick
Never wash you off my face
Hit me I can take your cheap shots
Leave you with the love we made

Come alive on the driver's side
So close I taste your breath
Your lips go dry, but they're sweet inside
Wine must go right to your head
It'd be easy if you get mad
But three fingers point back to you
We could stay here
Stay out all night
No one will know, us and the moonlight

Kiss me with your cherry lipstick
Never wash you off my face
Hit me, I can take your cheap shots
Leave you with the love we made
I set my watch by a street-side clock
A needle in echo groove
You pierce my heart like a willing arm
Your ticking makes my blood move
There's no way out this fade out
Be happy to get what you do
Make him notice with both fists
Cause quitting alone will never get you dry

Never get you dry

Give me everything you've got now
I don't feel a single thing
Drag me out into the cold rain
Let it hover over me

Kiss me with your cherry lipstick
Never wash you off my face
Hit me, I can take your cheap shots
Leave you with the love we made

Hit me, I can take your cheap shot
Leave you with the love we made

Hit me, I can take your cheap shot
Leave you with the love we made

...yep, still here...

So, according to my mother, I arrived into this world at about 10 minutes to 9 a.m. 40 years ago on October 25, 1966. Now, 40 years later on the eve of this milestone (having trouble typing this without smirking), I am still here. Okay, whatever. They say these decade birthdays are full of retrospection, introspection and any other kind of -ospection you can name. Probably true, but I do that all the time anyway. I have absolutely nothing profound rolling around in my head at the moment, but that's also not particularly earth-shattering to hear...

..yep, I'm still here...

Lyrics of the Moment...

I wonder who the leader is with the gun and "a bible in one hand" and who says "everything is safe"...

God is Going to Get Sick of Me
by Aberdeen City

Caught, caught in the way
In the way of a bus
The lease is up. The lease is up.
They break our legs to prove a point
The lease is up. The lease is over

A bible in one hand, he makes decisions
The lease is up
Ordered his gun and its done and its done and done
An Hysteric at the top
Saying everything is safe
Ordered his gun and its done and its done
Ordered his gun and its done and

God is Going to get sick of me
And the accident
That takes the beat from my heart
Will look like it was my fault

Spend one more day backed into a corner
The lease is up
Impossible to lose support gets stronger
Each time something frightens them
You'll set it right
I know I know

God is Going to get sick of me
And the accident
That takes the beat from my heart
Will look like his
You said I get it, i get it, i get it all right
And that nothing can be taken and that nothing can be taken from me
After I've stopped waiting for an ambulance to come and get me

God is Going to get sick of me
And the accident
That takes the beat from my heart
Will look like it was my fault

Countdown to 40...

T-minus 9 days and counting and yours truly will turn the big 4-0. I can't say I'll be able to make an entry each day before then, so I'll offer this as the first installment in a series of personal revelations.

I am only days away from being a forty-year-old man and...
...I still read super hero comic books and watch cartoons.
...the kind of car I drive means nothing to me, as long as it works.
...I don't have a bald spot on the top of my head yet.
...$50 is a lot of money to me.
...one of my favorite foods is still pizza.
...opening a new CD and listenting to it is important.
...I'm not sad that I don't have any children.
...life for the next 10-20 years will be considered "middle age".
...I'm in better physical condition than when I was 25 thanks to lifting weights (but I could still stand to lose 10-20 pounds).
...my brother and sisters are all in their mid-50s.
...1982's "Tainted Love" is still my all-time favorite song.
...I'm glad I'm not a high schooler in today's world.
...even though I believe in God, I believe there should be a VERY STRICT separation between church and state.
...I still haven't found what I'm looking for (okay, U2 said it better).
...my expectation is that I will never be able to afford to retire.
...I'm still waiting for that special someone.

More to come (maybe).

Lyrics of the moment..

I attended the funeral of my Aunt Marianne today. It was sad. She was a very giving person. Sadder, still, was seeing all the sadness of her children and grandchildren, family and friends. Fortunately, she left a very positive legacy.

These lyrics seem appropriate for the moment.

Do You Realize?
by the Flaming Lips

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize - we're floating in space
Do You Realize - that happiness makes you cry
Do You Realize - that everyone you know someday will die

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - Oh - Oh - Oh
Do You Realize - that everyone you know
Someday will die...

And instead of saying all of your goodbyes - let them know
You realize that life goes fast
It's hard to make the good things last
You realize the sun doesn't go down
It's just an illusion caused by the world spinning round

Do You Realize - that you have the most beautiful face
Do You Realize?

A new hero

Yep, it's official: Keith Olbermann is my new hero, joining Jon Stewart in that hallowed pantheon. What an eloquent journalistic commentary (along with a second by Stewart, an able satirist)! Follow this link http://www.bushflash.com/ and find the Oct. 6 entry, "Two Wonderful Moments in American Television". Both segments are awesomely timed and capture my feelings better than I can myself. How can any sane person disagree with what both Olbermann and Stewart pesent here?