The song the spurred the E.R.A.

I was listening to an oldies station on the drive hom today. It always amazes me so of the great songs that still can get you moving and grooving. Fun. One song they played just before I pulled into the driveway has to be the song most responsible for the Equal Rights Amendment. It's by the Okaysions and never ceases to get my attention and laughs asI listen to the lyrics:

Girl Watcher
The O'Kaysions
(Buck Trail/Wayne Pittman)

Chorus:

I'm a girl watcher, 
I'm a girl watcher...
Watchin' girls go by,     
hey, my my
I'm a girl watcher, 
I'm a girl watcher...
Here comes one now

I was just a boy when I threw away my toys
And found a new pastime to dwell on
Whenever I detects them there of the other sex
I play the game I do so well on

[repeat chorus]

Mumble something tell my my, but you do look swell
Could you please walk a little slower
Wonder if you know that you're putting on a show
Could you please walk a little closer

Can you believe those lyrics???? They always make me laugh. It brings back memories of walking the streets of Oceanside as a young girl (13-14) and having jarheads drive by asking if we were looking for fun. What???? was always our response. Get lost! We could never believe they would be asking us to join them. We pitied them. Those crazy haircuts were a dead giveaway, and no girl wanted to even talk to them back then.

Then came high school. Several of my friends started dating guys from the ANA in Carlsbad and several others of us were floored! The separation of camps was inevitable. Those who would date guys in uniform and those of us who wouldn't. Me? Well, I was too shy to even think of dating any guy. I had several surfer friends and was willing to keep it at that. I still have a note from one of them that he wrote to me in spanish . I didn't know what it said as I was too cool for spanish, I was the french speaker of the group. Once I asked a spanish teacher to translate it for me. He read it, asked if it was from a guy, and then refused to tell me what it said. He told me I should really get back in contact with the guy who wrote it and see if he wanted to translate it for me. Well, he had moved (his dad was in the service) and I had no way of finding him. So I will probably never know what that note said. Wait! I have two sons-in-law that speak spanish! Maybe one of them will translate it. Ugh, what if it's creepy? Maybe it's better to leave it alone. Sigh, I'll always remember him as being the sweetest guy around. James Hollingsworth. Super guy. He looked a lot like John Lennon.

Incredible what memories a song will trigger. Still, I loved being a teenager. I loved music as my foundation, and all the great memories I have sunk into the music with me.

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Most Embarassing Moments

Do we really need to share most embarassing moments? OF course we do! That's what life is all about! S'mee recently shared one of hers so I thought I'd follow suit.

Let it be known however, that a most embarassing moment for me will not be the same unless you have witnessed it in person. I do not have the wit that s'mee has and nothing is ever better repeated than enjoying it in full living drama! (Know this - I am her straight man - and we are an entertaining team!) Every pratfall is choreographed on the spot, with little or know pre-planning. I like the improv spontanaety it brings. You know, one can always tell when something has been rehearsed!

We were attending BYU. It was the dead of winter 1984. When I say dead, I mean it. There was nothing alive that winter. It was so cold that walking to campus your earlobes frozen solid (which of course explains the limit on ear piercings from the Prophet several years later), ice covered the ground better than at Rockefellar Center for the Rockettes on ice. My husband would joke about sitting in the Family Life building with classmates watching people slide across the great terrain the was the sidewalk leading to the building. "It was hilarious" he'd say with milk spruting from his nose! Keep in mind, this is a group of caring professionals in training!

It was also a commandment, at the time, that BYU would never have a floor on campus that did not resemble your grandmother's kitchen floor after a good scrub and 10 coats of wax. (I know some of you remember her crys as someone walked on the not nearly dry floor) They had a team of maintenance workers (also known as freshmen) assigned to watch the floor for the slightest mar and quickly buff it out with the precision of a merry maid on crack. It was a program designed by PFR guys all over the nation to get back at us for scuffing the cultural hall's floors with black scuffs during a weekly game of b-ball. They laid in wait for you on campus. I know, I know, this is getting long.

Well one day I was entering the dreaded long hallway walk to Biology. Please remember, it is the farthest point on campus from North Wymount. You've traversed the frozen tundra, you becoming one with with it. Then up the steps and enter with trepidation and fear. Cool, the door's open, it's ten minutes before class. Simply walk the 30 feet and get to class unscathed!
Not to be, today. As I approach the door I hit an exquisitely polished section, so much so that i could actually see myself falling prior to the event! I began the slide, twist, and begin to fall. Wait! There's something there! I can grab it and save myself! No one will know I came this close! Grabbing for support I nearly pull him down with me. Him? Yes, the object that I saw out of the corner of my eye was an actual person. When I came to a full and complete stop, books flailing everywhere, I also suddenly realized what I had attached myself to was his belt buckle. Ugh! I am on my knees, my face an inch from no man's land, and looking up I see his horrified and surprised face. What to say? The only thing that into my mind at the time was "I've been dying to meet you and was just too shy". He helped me up and left politely leaving me with what little dignity I had left.

Needless to say, I never wore that outfit again.

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Duh duh duh nana,

Those famous four notes. Begins the most famous heavy metal song known to the listening world, Ironman. Tony Iommi's riffs became the influence of a genre. "If it weren't for Black Sabbath, we wouldn't be here." says Lars Ulrich at tonight's Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

I began listening to Black Sabbath in my senior year of high school. Of course they'd been around for a few years prior to that, but I was still listening to Cream and the Animals, Deep Purple and the last trailing songs of the Beatles. Then I met a new kind of guy and his music. Black Sabbath was his music. That and a few others, Uriah Heep, King Crimson and the like. Sabbath was fun. There were catchy tunes, not "pop"y tunes but songs you could feel and sing along to while driving. One of my favorite songs is on BS IV. Changes It's a melodic lament of a song of lost love.

I feel unhappy
I feel so sad
I lost the best friend
That I ever had

She was my woman
I loved her so
But it's too late now
I've let her go

I'm going through changes
I'm going through changes

We shared the eve's
We shared each day
In love together
We found a way
But soon the world
Had its evil way
My heart was blinded
Love went astray

I'm going through changes
I'm going through changes

It took so long
To realize
That I can still hear
Her last goodbyes

Now all my days
Are filled with tears
Wish I could go back
And change these years

I'm going through changes
I'm going through changes

Black Sabbath though did what others didn't. Lead. With Ozzy's antics and that unique vocal sound, Tony Iommi's guitar riffs, Geezer Butler's underlying bass strength, and the magic of Bill Ward's drums they became the leaders of a new kind of music. In fact, their song Hand of Doom, spawned a new type of metal music: Doom.

Sabbath has sustained their stronghold of the genre. Rarely does someone hear a riff from Ironman or Paranoid and not recognize the song. And wonderfully, we haven't had to endure the selling of wares with a behind track of Sabbath.

If you're not familiar with them, go to iTunes and download a few songs. Familairize yourself with a different kind of music. Some of us were and still are metal heads. It makes people laugh when I say I love heavy metal music. They're surprised that little old me would even know who Black Sabbath are. I say actually I'm well rounded. But there is just something about the power behind the music that fills a void when things are just a bit out of control. It gives meaning to some of the craziness going on around us. And keep in mind, it's just music. No one really bit the head off a bat for fun.

Welcome to the Hall of Fame guys. It's been a long hard rock filled road. Welcome, you deserve it.

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What a day to go to LA

Today we decided to take a trip into LA. Actually, go to Santa Monica. We have received an invite to attend the Pre-Fab conference taking place, as we had recently inquired about Glide Homes. We are trying to go as simple as possible when building a home and for the least expense also. The Glide home seems like it could be an alternative, or at least provide som insights for an architect.

So....we decide to go. Well little did we know, mostly because we don't watch Telemundo, is that 500,000 mexican people were also going to LA. There was a HUGE, and I mean HUGE crowd of cars on the freeway. The mexicans were in the area for a political demonstration. They were asking people not to support a bill going before the state senate regarding immigration laws. It was good to see so many people working together in a common cause.

Going and coming to LA was terrible. It seemed odd that there were so many people on the road for a Saturday. We were glad to get first hand info from the conference. So many companies were exhibiting, it was great to gather all kinds of info at one time. Next time, however, I'd like to see it hosted in Palm Springs. Please. either that or not on a day that coinsides with a huge political rally.

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Blogger AAAAaack!

For those of you who who also read Food Chronicles, blogger has locked me out of my own site. Ugh. It may be time to move to blogsome. I set up an account months ago, but haven't moved over due to various reasons. Maybe they've helped me along.

I am getting a "403 forbidden" message, which a lot of people, have gotten in the past couple of weeks. Other people can see it but not me. I have sent an email to them and hopefully someone will get this fixed soon. If not, I'll definitely begin at blogsome and migrate it when I can.

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First Grade

This is a picture of the shoes that I wore throughout elementary school. Boring old saddle shoes. What I really wanted were these:


A few months ago I told you about how shoes were a big deal to me when I was in elementary school. Well, Friday as I was driving home from work I heard about a charity I want to be involved with. I have downloaded the forms and will see if I can get something going here in my town. Who are they?

In 1992 Elodie McGuirk founded Shoes That Fit. Their goal is stated this way on their website: "At Shoes That Fit, we provide new shoes and/or clothes to children in need so that they can attend school in comfort and with dignity. We do this by matching a sponsoring group—a business, school, church, civic organization or even a group of friends—with schools near them that have children in need."

What a great way to help kids. It can make a huge difference just having the right shoes to wear. Shoes can make the difference between being able to learn and feel safe at school. Until you've experienced not having them, it is hard to understand how this can affect a child in different ways. What a great thing to be a part of and to help in small ways. I am glad I was listening to the radio and look forward to working with them. Maybe they have a school in your neighborhood that they work with. Find out how you can help from their website, you may make all the difference to a child in school.

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Wakka, wakka!

I got an email from iTunes this morning. They wanted to clue me in. bviously they've been reading my blog and know I've turned into a lame-o. They just wanted to give me a kick in the pants and let me know there's world out there and it's turning!

Look what the world has brought: Yes, you read that right. David Gilmour! He has a new album and I am going to go looking for it! I saw him recently on a documentary and it was great. He was singing and talking and writing new music. The reveiws at iTunes are mixed. You can tell by some of the reviews that some fans are fans from the "money" generation. One guy even had the nerve to say this was the worst album since Umaguma. Aaaaack! He obviously is a new fan. My husband just said he downloaded it from his favorite place. Yay!

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