The Straggler
The other day I needed to look at something on the Mercury’s website, and noticed the login feature. Hmm… that’s right! I have an account in the personals section. I had to look.
New Sheriff in Town
It’s been interesting times at work. The stores have been going through changes. The boss has been remodeling and upgrading, and trying to put a stop to a recent rash of thefts and issues involving a rough crowd of customers. Since I seem to have a flair for choosing who is a customer and who is a problem, I’ve been put on rotation. I work the same hours, just at different places.
Little To Do About Not Much
Another weekend has come and gone. While it wasn’t boring, it’d probably be boring to read about in detail, so I’ll throw out a quick overview while waiting for the bus. Read the rest of this entry »
Tumbleweeds and Crickets
Hello? Is there anybody in there?
Miss me much? I don’t think I’ve gone a week without posting here since this blog’s inception. I haven’t lost the spark, the thrill isn’t gone, it’s just been an interesting time.
All my favorite subjects are currently in a state of flux. While my source material is as potent as ever, a lot of it is in delicate stages right now. Things too personal for me to be airing in public or poking gentle fun at. Soon the dust will settle, and my smart ass will be skewering things with typical gusto. The soup’s gotta cook before I can dish it up.
A happy note about something weighing heavily on me; a certain special little person in my life just got out of open heart surgery, and things went very well. Her mother called with the good news. She had a small hole in her heart, which was repaired. I guess if it’s taken care of early enough, it’s a fairly simple procedure, kinda like circumcision. (My comparison, not theirs. I just like the smirky reaction when I say it.) Little One will be hospitalized for about a week, but a full recovery is expected.
Even though it’s overcast and a little rainy, it’s a sunglasses day for me. I predict a little rain happening inside on the bus ride to work today.
It’ll be a rain filtered through sunshine.
A Partner-in-Crime Reunion
At work, I try to skip lunch. Well, not exactly. I gobble my health food between customers and work through the hour-long break, facilitating easier paying of the bills down the line. (I’m making money instead of spending money.) Once in a while though, I insist on taking lunch.
Sorry Children, No More Love Gravy
Stan: “Ow, wow. I guess Chef is really dead.”
Soul music icon Isaac Hayes passed away yesterday at age 65. He was found by family members in a bedroom, collapsed at the base of a treadmill. While I fully expected him to die in a bedroom, (of lead poisoning, shot full of it by a jealous husband) I did not foresee the exercise angle. Horizontal exercises, Ike.
I’ve been a fan since 1972 or so, when the Theme from Shaft populated the airwaves. Even though there was cussin’ in it, (“You’re damn right…”) Mom gave this one a pass. Not content with the 45 rpm single, I wanted the whole freaking double album. Mother Hubbard’s Records? Nope. Longhair Music? Nada. For What It’s Worth? Nuh-uh. I wouldn’t stumble across Music Millenium for another couple of years. Where would I find it? Everyone in the know said it was out of print. This was before eBay, or the internet even. The hunt went on for about a year.
Then one day, as Mom & Dad were shopping at Sears in northeast Portland where the Convention Center now resides, I flicked through the stacks of wax. Rock, soul, soundtracks. WHAT IS THIS!? The complete shebang, double album still factory sealed. $6.99. Pricey, but I’d wanted it for so long…
Of course M & D wouldn’t fork over $7 for a record that I already had the 45 to. I didn’t expect them to buy it for me, but either to loan me the money or let me work it off. (I didn’t get an allowance. Working it off meant either stacking or chopping wood, or shoveling gravel on the various driveways.) I didn’t care. I wanted that record. They wouldn’t finance me this particular occasion, so I took the album and moved it to the back of a stack of Easy Listening records for safe-keeping. I’m betting it’s the only time Isaac Hayes cozied up to the backside of Perry Como.
I returned by bus as soon as possible, probably the next day. I was crushed to find the album missing from its hiding spot, but it was back in the soundtrack section where it belonged. Since others were aware if its existence, I must buy it today!
I still have that album. It’s one of the few I have kept for almost four decades.
He put out another album, Hot Buttered Soul, that I can’t listen to anymore. It carried me through the worst relationship breakup ever, and even thinking about it makes my heart hurt and my eyes well up. Maybe if I need a really hard cry I will bust it out…
Of course, along came South Park. I loved the show from its inception, but the icing on the chocolate-salty cake was Isaac Hayes voicing the character of Chef. Having the resident love machine as the bastion of common sense and reasoning seemed odd at first, but like so many things in South Park, it mirrored real life. Get your advice from someone who’s been there/done that. Certainly Chef (and Isaac Hayes) qualified.
Mr. Hayes recently played Portland at the Waterfront Blues Festival. Now I wish I’d taken the night off, fought the crowds and went. So what if he was 40 minutes late, and sounded a bit off his game? He was 65 years old, a stroke survivor, and playing to a crowd that was probably conceived to his music. I REALLY should have been there.
It seems I’ve been writing a lot of ‘celebrity obituaries’ lately. Guess it comes with the territory. My cousin recently mused that you buy a suit that gets used for weddings the first half of your life, then funerals during the second half. Things like this help us prepare for when those close to us go. I have relatives who are getting closer to that time, and have friends with loved ones who are sickly. I stop for a minute and send some positive energy their way, because I know they are going to need it. I hate dreading the inevitable, so it’s best to enjoy them while they are here.
And I certainly enjoyed you, Mister Hayes. From your music to your cartoony humor to your badass appearance as Truck Turner, I have always been a fan.
Maybe tonight, after work, I will bust out Hot Buttered Soul and have a good hard cry. Sometimes it’s best to get these things out of your system.
Cartman: “Maybe he’s not dead yet? Because I hear the last thing you do before you die is crap your pants-…” Pflaaaffft! “-Never mind…”
R.I.P. Isaac Hayes, 1942-2008
He Gave Me Head
What do they call the words that hold a sentence together? A, an, and, the, etc…? I just googled ‘a’, and guess how many I got? Results 1 – 10 of about 21,760,000,000 for a.
Because the title of this post really could use an ‘a’…
I dated an English major for a couple of years, and could probably ask her, but pride is not letting me do that. I must show that I retained some of my seventh-grade education. Synonym? No, that’s two different words that mean the same thing. Homonym? That would be here/hear, e.g. Antonym? Nope, negatory.
I’m not using Wikipedia, because I already looked there this morning, and got distracted for half an hour. Why? Well, let me tell you.
Disposable Tissue
I believe it was in 1969. I had ear, nose and throat problems growing up, so it was just a matter of time. I escaped third grade for a week or so to have the procedure done. The operation was performed by the family doctor, an osteopath who respected my mother’s religious beliefs regarding blood transfusions. It took place at Eastmoreland Hospital, where I was born. My friend’s fifteen-year-old son had his tonsils out yesterday. I heard about this and flashed back to when mine came out…
