Beth's Music Moment: The Joy of Discovery (Blown Away)

Hey, so don't that make you feel a whole lot better?
Huh?
I say, don't that make you feel a whole lot better?
What you say?
Well, I'm just askin'

"Dance This Mess Around" by The B-52s

Cousin Shane recently posted a great article that was a guide to getting into The B-52s. While neither of us needed a guide because we've loved them since forever, it was still a really fun read. 

It took me way back to the first time Shane and I were introduced to them. They appeared on "Saturday Night Live" and we were immediately hooked! They did two songs, "Dance This Mess Around" and "Rock Lobster" (unfortunately, those videos are hard to find, so you get a later performance of the former song), and we'd never seen anything like it. It was crazy, it was fun, and it was danceable. We've seen them live several times and they are always a blast! 

It made me think about how much fun it is to discover new music. Not just something new but something that blows you away. You fall in love immediately. For many years, SNL was the vanguard in that respect. It's also where we discovered Devo. SNL isn't quite as good as they used to be in that regard, but they got back to it when they had Greta Van Fleet on a few weeks ago. I was blown away. More often than not, I get new music from sites like Noisetrade or Bandcamp. Shane and Matt and I recommend new music to each other a lot, and we go out to hear local bands as often as possible. A local place, Ignition Garage, was hosting a Nashville band a while back and Shane thought they sounded fun. We were blown away by *repeat repeat and go see them now every chance we get. 

I will never tire of that feeling of hearing something that immediately grabs you and makes you go, "Wow! I love this!" I get that feeling with books and movies and other things, too, but nothing is quite as powerful as hearing new music (or even new-to-you music) and feeling blown away. I get frustrated and even angry at people who say that "nothing out there is any good these days." Well, why don't you just shuffle off to the home, Grandpa, because some of us are still getting blown away by new music! That attitude is lazy. You aren't going to hear anything good on commercial radio, okay? Do a little work and seek out new stuff. It ain't gonna fall in your lap! 

Even at my age, I love hearing something new and exciting. Happy hunting, enjoy the journey, and as the Talosians on "Star Trek" say, "May you find your way as pleasant."

Broccoli People

I know too much
Yet I know nothing at all
We can stand on higher ground
Watching all them crawl
Lead me to the garden
Need another sin
I know too much
Can I please be plugged back in? 

~~ "Plugged In" by *repeat repeat

I read a really good article on Slate today called "How to survive Trump's Presidency without losing your mind."

You can imagine how that title caught my eye. I've been wondering how to do that! 

The article was written from the point of view of a journalist; by necessity, journalists must stay plugged in and pay attention to what is happening in the news. They don't have the luxury of disengaging and hiding from things. (I would argue that none of us have that luxury.) It says that the constant onslaught of news is almost mind-numbing and that it makes a lot of people just want to switch it all off and go about their normal lives. 

Where the article really hits the nail on the head is that while we have to carry on with our lives and do the things we need to do, whether it's going to work, shopping for groceries (like broccoli), or you know...bathing (that wasn't in the article—that's my addition), it doesn't mean that we can or should disengage from what is happening. There is nothing about what is happening in our country that is normal. 

This administration is harming many of our citizens (pretty much anyone who isn't a rich white Christian dude), is damaging our reputation around the world, and is chipping away at our law enforcement institutions. If you aren't able to see the long-term damage that will do, I honestly don't know what to tell you. 

We disengage at our own peril, our fellow citizens' peril, and even at our country's peril. The news can be overwhelming at times and it's important to recognize when we need to step away for a breather. Now that nice weather is here, I find that sitting outside for a couple of hours and enjoying the peace and quiet of our backyard is very renewing. Some might find relief in working out, getting lost in a good book, or listening to music. Whatever works for you! Know when you need to unplug for a bit. 

But don't do it permanently. Stay engaged, stay informed, stay involved, and stay pissed off! This isn't normal, this isn't right, this isn't okay. When people say things to you that are false, push back. You don't have to get into an argument with everyone every single day but that doesn't mean you have to put up with nonsense. I've never had a tolerance for bullshit so it's easy for me to push back. I've also been known to be more than a little outspoken. Find a level that works for you, but don't just completely disengage, because this shit is important. 

We also need to help and encourage others. Shortly after the election, we met up with Shane and Matt at a little party Mayor Pete Buttigieg gave for his supporters. I remember telling Shane and Matt that I feel like we have to stick together. We have to prop people up when they're feeling down about things and we have to encourage them. I had a chance to ask Mayor Pete what his advice was on how to deal with this and he said to stay involved. If we want to change things, we have to work, and we have to stay engaged with what is going on. Good advice!

I've lost friends because I'm so vocal about politics. I've seen sentiments like "Facebook isn't for politics." (Now THAT is funny!) I'm sure I piss people off. You know what? I don't give a fuck. I'm ready to make a fucking omelet and I'm prepared to break some fucking eggs. (Incidentally, a couple of my coping skills are drinking and cussing a lot.)

The point is that if you care about what is happening—and I know many people who do—you can't just disengage and let all this pass you by. We are living history right here, right now. In 30 years, if someone asks you what you thought about what is happening now, are you really going to say, "Oh, I didn't pay attention to all of that." I mean, come on. That's just lame. 

You don't have to stay pissed off 24 hours a day. I don't know anyone who can maintain that and live a happy life. I have my moments of complete and utter outrage, but I also have my moments of peace and tranquility, and I still love to laugh a lot. I still love music and books and movies and certain TV shows and I still love it when our cat climbs on me in the wee hours and purrs and licks my forehead. There is still much joy in this world and we have to embrace it. 

But don't lose your anger about the wrongs that you see. Call it out. Stay vocal about it and push back when you hear something that you know is wrong (even if you get an "I don't believe you" in response...at least you stood up for the truth). Most importantly, take your anger to the voting booth this fall! 

Remember the wise words of John Lydon: "Anger is an energy." 

More coping

You came along and you made things right

You are my song and you are my melody

~~ “Melody” by *repeat repeat

Well, it’s been quite a week, hasn’t it?

The Mueller investigation is bearing fruit, so that was a positive thing. I’m grateful for that.

I was happy to be at the Notre Dame-Wake Forest game on Saturday and see a win. It was crummy weather and we got rained on a lot, but we got the win. And it didn’t snow!

But things took an ugly turn.

I’m still trying to find the positives in things. I’m trying really hard.

Another gratuitous James Comey photo (Jaaaaaames)

At the game on Saturday, I got to experience some of the right-wing’s hatred of Hillary and I attempted to use an approach that James Comey (Jaaaaaames) recommended to me. Reach out, keep your cool, have a conversation. Ask questions in a reasonable way. I tried, I really did. And it didn’t make one bit of a difference, at least not that I could tell. Unless maybe, just maybe, they’ll think about the comments they made and think about my reaction, and think about why they felt the need to tell me they loved me. Perhaps a bit of a crisis of conscience there? I don’t know. But I found it really disturbing and upsetting.

Today, we found out that there are more Russian connections in the Yaministration, ones that the individuals lied about in their confirmation hearings. This is not normal, it will never be normal, and we cannot let it become normal.

Finally, we had another mass shooting, this time at a church in Texas. As of this writing, there are 26 confirmed dead. The usual platitudes from congresscritters were uttered: “Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

I cannot begin to tell you how completely and utterly sick I am of hearing about “thoughts and prayers” with every goddamn mass shooting we have in this country. Those seem to be happening on an almost daily basis. They just keep on offering up those “thoughts and prayers” and people just keep getting their goddamn heads blown off, including kids.

Fuck the NRA. They are a cancer upon our society and they are active participants in the murder of innocent people. How long is it going to take to have legislators who will stand up to this awful, awful group and say, “I don’t want your blood money.” How long? Who will have the balls to do it?

I watched the coverage for a while and then I had to stop. I keep writing about this bullshit, this bullshit keeps happening, and I don’t see an end to the bullshit anytime soon. Let me say it again: Fuck the NRA. And while I’m at it, fuck you, too, Wayne LaPierre, you horrid wankstain upon humanity.

So! What did I do to try to cope with this latest round of disgust and anger? I went with music, as I almost always do. A current favorite is *repeat repeat out of Nashville and something about their music makes me feel good about things. Their music can rock most righteously, but there are also moments of sweetness and light, especially in the vocals of Jared and Kristyn.

I needed some sweetness and light this afternoon. I think we all could use some sweetness and light.

Put this in your earholes. It might not change things (that’s up to us, isn’t it?), but it might lift your spirits for a moment. And sometimes that’s what we need to keep on keepin’ on.

Fangirl Rising

My heart goes tap tap tap

Like tapping on a beaker

~~ “Chemical Reaction” by *repeat repeat

The Handsome String Bean of Justice

Fangirl is on Cloud Nine.

I won’t go into how I was able to send an email to James Comey (Jaaaaaames) because I don’t want to disclose my methods. Fangirls have a code and I will not violate it. (We don’t really have a code. It’s more like my personal code.) I also won’t share his email on social media, which is also a personal code. And no, I am not a hacker. I wouldn’t even know how to go about that.

But I was able to send an email and it went through because I got a response today. When I saw that he had responded, I broke out into a sweat and I had this crazy rush of adrenaline. “What have I done?? Is he going to tell me to leave him alone and don’t ever write to him again?”

No. He was very kind and thanked me for my comments and wrote that he was happy to hear from South Bend because he has a connection with someone at Notre Dame (also not mentioning that here), so he tries to follow what is going on with ND. In my original email, I said that so many conversations are difficult in the current political atmosphere (or words to that effect) and that I like his thoughts on communication. He suggested a recent column by David Brooks about dealing with those who have different views and I checked it out. It was very thought-provoking.

I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I was! I know plenty of people still have issues with him. I get it. But if you spend any time listening to what he has to say (I have...just a wee bit), you start to understand where he was and is coming from. So I admire him a lot. I truly feel that he is one of the Good Guys. I am still stunned that he responded but he does seem to be a lot more open to some limited social media interaction since he has a book coming out. Lucky me!

So that pretty much made my weekend.