Random Neuron Firings

Truly random today, my fiends.

1. I guess I just wasn’t born to understand the attraction.
2. Eventually, the truth always emerges.
3. Sometimes, I tire of fighting the good fight. Ya know?
4. This kid brings me incredible joy.
5. In two weeks, I will be tested in part on material I haven’t studied enough in a subject on which I never took a single class.
6. Wasn’t it just a matter of time?
7. I wonder how Bando is doing…I must call her.
8. Stein and four of my students are plotting against me. Must purchase body armor. And this.
9. Charlie Manson is 74. Man…tempus fugit.
10. This month’s pet peeve: people who habitually pass the buck.
11. I hate everyone and everything (except, well, you know…you).

Fink out.

Photo credit: California Department of Corrections

You don’t dare do too many of those.

I pulled one last night, then went to rehearsal all morning. Then I came home and had dinner with Jakey, Hannah and #1 Son. That was fun.

Looking forward to next week…every night until 9. Studying? What is this studying of which you speak?

Fink out (*yawn*)

No, I’m not talking about unsolicited email or the fabulous Python skit. Rather, check it out — I’d totally forgotten that there is actually a museum devoted to Spam:

Is that not just awesome? For those of us old enough to remember, Spam (taken from “spiced ham”) was big back in our parents’ and grandparents’ days, namely, WWII and through the seventies. My mom loved to cook it with eggs and hash browns.

I never really adored it, although I loved (and still love) corned beef — Spam’s bovine cousin. Funny how it’s called corned beef but there’s no corn in it. Anyway.

Did anyone else grow up with Spam? Nowadays, few would admit they still eat it. Probably nobody should eat it. Pinkish mystery meat. Hey, doesn’t that also describe hot dogs, which Americans pound down like it’s their job??

Ew.

All right, that’s enough. Off to the showers. Have a Finky day.

…heh, I only *wish* I had a T-bird. Do they even make them anymore? [Well well, it appears that they do. Let it be known that for my __th birthday in August, I want a new car. Milestone age deserves milestone wheels.]

But I plan on having some fun at rehearsals this week — maybe not as much fun as balancing on my head while juggling on a swing, as pictured at left — but fun nevertheless. The show has now passed the “dear-God-what-have-I-done” stage, which is always nice. Granted, it passed it *just* a bit later than I would have liked, but it’s getting there. Lots of loose ends to tie up, though. Lots.

Today’s RNF is a bit of a self-flagellation. Come on, you know I deserve it. I harangue and rant all over this space, and you shew forth all longsuffering as a shining example to me. Therefore, I admit that there is reason for me to back off, chill out, relax, breathe, and not kill people.

Behold: some perspective.

Things That Are OK After All

1. Delayed gratification. You can’t always get what you want (but if you try sometimes…). I want to pass these tests the first time around. I want Kay to be here. I want all my students — not just some — to step up to the plate in choir. I want a new car. I want to write articles and books for a living, and compose and arrange and teach on the side — not the other way around. I want mo’ money and no stress. And the list goes on…but it’s all good, because I have a job I love, a great family, and spectacular friends. Too many folks in this world don’t have those things. I am fortunate, so I concede.
2. Unkind people. They’re everywhere, let’s face it. And in order for them to upset you, you have to give them permission. I think they were put on the earth to test our ability to resist doing that. That’s a good thing. Builds character. They get a pass.
3. Stupid, ridiculous, unfair, asinine rules that favor the few and flog the rest. But hey, I’m not bitter. Makes life interesting.
4. Hideously moronic laws. Like, say, putting a new tax on cigarettes and not on booze and junk food. The CDC lists alcohol as the third-highest cause of preventable death in the US — behind smoking and poor diet, which run almost neck and neck. So, only smoking gets smoked? Why not Twinkies and Tanqueray as well? It’s obvious by now that the only way to keep Americans from killing themselves voluntarily is to tax their vices so sky high that they can’t afford them anymore. It’s OK, though. Life balances out. Moronic laws that make no sense: pass.
5. General snarkiness. Have you noticed that sometimes you feel better after a snark attack? I do. I’m also noticing that this nice list is leaning ever-so-slightly to the right on the SnarkMeter, so I think I’ll quit.

All right. Time to continue working on yesterday’s list. I’m still on #3, but I’m determined!

Happy Sunday.

Fink out.

OK, no joke. I made a list this morning.

As my exams get closer every day, I am sliding ever-so-slightly higher on the freakout scale. I know I won’t pass them this time around, so why get all ate up with the, well, you know…

Still, it’s in my DNA to rail against possible (and, in this case, probable) failure. So I made a list to get me through the day. It reads:

1. Return emails
2. Write blog post
3. Finish rhythm section parts
4. Write out philosophy question outline
5. Call Lisa re Schubert analysis
6. Start chili

As you can see, I’m on #2. Progress!

But the real question is…how long can I keep this up? I have, on the rare occasion, written down a list or two in the past. They always get pushed aside, thrown away, or just ignored. Why am I so disciplined in my rehearsals and where my career is concerned, but I can’t follow a simple list to its completion? That is a question for people with intelligence far above my pay grade, I’m afraid.

So now that #2 is done, it’s time to finish those rhythm section parts, or my bass player (a student) is going to stage a walkout. Regarding my guitar player and drummer (Lars and #1 Son)…they couldn’t care less. They’d sight-read the gig. HA

Fink (crossing) out (list item #2).