Halfway Hip

Numbers

125 dollars per hour I will make giving two 75 minute poetry workshops on Thursday
75 dollars I have spent on materials for the workshops
10 emails to establish that I, indeed, need an overhead projector for my workshops
50% amount that Matt's salary may be cut in moving from the AF to a civilian job
6 parties we were invited to this past weekend
3 parties actually attended
27, 364 salary I earned my last full year of teaching (part of which was spent at what is apparently now a "dropout factory"
0 salary I earned in 2003,2004,2005,2006 (just got the old SS statement yesterday)
7 days on/7 days off is a typical flying schedule in the civilian aviation industry
half of the year Matt would miss with us if he took one of those jobs
400 dollars I put on the credit card to enroll our kids in Little Gym for next semester
400+ dollars Matt spent on his "business casual" outfit for an aviation job fair last week (also on credit card)
many dollars we need to cut from our monthly budget to pay off our credit card and save up for what lies ahead. Time to stop living high on the hog,folks.

Love for Ian (but not for James)

As much as I'm loving my newer Itunes purchases, like the Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines, I'm still so in love with my old favorites like Echo and The Bunnymen. I first heard "Bring on the Dancing Horses" via the Pretty in Pink soundtrack I bought right after seeing the movie in 6th grade. That tape(!) proved to be very influential, as it also introduced me to The Smiths, New Order, INXS, and Beloius Some. I had Echo's self-titled album on tape (can't remember if I had the original or a dub from Kristen), and then I bought Songs to Learn and Sing sometime in the 90s. I realize now that I really need all the back catalog, in addition to all of Ian McCulloch's solo stuff. Just look at these lyrics, will ya? Sublime.

The Game (from Echo and The Bunnymen)

A sense of duty
was my one intention
and an ugly beauty
was my own invention
Pride a proud refusal
and I refuse
to need your approval
Too many seekers
Too few beacons
But through the fog
we'll keep on beaming

Through the crying hours
of your glitter years
all the living out
of your tinsel tears
and the midnight trains
I never made
'cos I'd already
played...the game

Everybody's
got their own good reason
why their favorite season
is their favorite season
Winter winners
and those summers sons
aren't good for everyone
aren't good for everyone
Spring has sprung
and autumns well done
so well done

And it's a better thing
that we do now
forgetting everything
the whys and hows
While you reminisce
about the things you miss
you won't be ready
to kiss...goodbye

The earth is a world
The world is a ball
A ball in a game
with no rules at all
And just as I wonder
at the beauty of it all
you go and drop it
and it breaks and falls

I'll never understand
why you thought I would
need to be reassured
and be understood
When I always knew
that your bad's my good
and I was ready
ready...to be loved

Born under Mars
With Jupiter rising
Fallen from stars
That lit my horizon

I'll never understand
why you thought I would
need to be reassured
and be understood
When I always knew
that your bad's my good
and I was ready
ready...to be

Through the crying hours
of your glitter years
all the living out
of your tinsel tears
and the midnight trains
I never made
'cos I'd already
played

it's a better thing
that we do now
forgetting everything
the whys and hows
While you reminisce
about the things you miss
you won't be ready
to kiss...goodbye

Although I don't associate him with Echo's music, I "went with" a guy in jr. high named James who looked a lot like Ian did in the late 80s. Tasty. Ian, not James. He carved my name in his arm and then broke up with me for no reason. He was in my Southern Baptist youth group and started a campaign against me with some other guys. Their big schtick was to call me prima nase, which they said was German for "the big nose." I just looked it up and couldn't find proof, but I did find something I wish I could have called him back..eine grobe Scheibe..."a big fuck-up." Heh. I hear he now lives in Houston now and is a Budweiser deliveryman. Oh, and he had a big nose, too.

So, back to Echo. They are back together again, and touring! Shit...that was last year. Hopefully, they'll swing this way again. Kristen said that we need to go see as many of these bands as possible, before they're all gone for good. I agree. The last concert I saw, though, was New Order at Moby's Area 1 Festival in California, 2001.