Posts….

Delightfully Cynical

I’ve been having fun lately listening to some old Styx….Such delightfully cynical songs! And really? It’s pretty hard to tell these songs are closing in on being released 30 or more years ago! (Well, stylistically maybe it is apparent…but lyrically??)

Hmm, what else is out there (or on my Ipod) that has such fabulous, sarcastic lyrics? Some Billy Joel, for sure, a bit of Bruce Springsteen, Queen, Talking Heads, The Police, Don Henley

But Styx, (Paradise Theater in particular)…almost an art form in itself…

———So whatcha doin’ tonight?
Have you heard that the world’s gone crazy?
Young Americans listen when I say there’s people puttin’ us down
I know they’re sayin’ that we’ve gone lazy
To tell you the truth we’ve all seen better days
Don’t need no fast buck lame duck profits for fun
Quick trick plans, take the money and run
We need long term, slow burn, getting it done
And some straight talking, hard working son of a gun.
Whatcha doin’ tonight, I got faith in our generation
Let’s stick together and futurize our attitudes
I ain’t lookin’ to fight, but I know with determination
We can challenge the schemers who cheat all the rules

……………You get up every morning and you go to work each day
(You go to work, you go to work, you go to work)
Been doing the same damn job for ten long years this may
(You’ve got to work, you’ve got to work, you’ve got to work)
You’ve been working and saving for your Jamaican dream
Paradise is waiting across the sea
But when your plane lands Montego turns to monsoon
You’ve got the island blues
’cause, nothing ever goes as planned
It’s a hell of a notion
Even pharaohs turn to sand
Like a drop in the ocean
You’re so together and you act so civilized
But every time that things go wrong you’re still surprised
You’ve done your duty, you’ve paid a fortune in dues
Still got those mother nature’s blues

————–Sitting on this barstool talking like a damn fool
Got the twelve o’clock news blues
And I’ve given up hope on the afternoon soaps
And a bottle of cold brew
Is it any wonder I’m not crazy? Is it any wonder I’m sane at all
Well I’m so tired of losing- I got nothing to do and all day to do it
I go out cruisin’ but I’ve no place to go and all night to get there
Is it any wonder I’m not a criminal
Is it any wonder I’m not in jail
Is it any wonder I’ve got
Too much time on my hands, it’s ticking away with my sanity
Well, I’m a jet fuel genius – I solve all the world’s problems
Without even trying
I have dozens of friends and the fun never ends
That is, as long as I’m buying
Is it any wonder I’m not the president
(He’s not the president)
Is it any wonder I’m null and void Is it any wonder I’ve got
Too much time on my hands, it’s ticking away at my sanity

—————–I know you feel these are the worst of times
I do believe it’s true. When people lock their doors and hide inside Rumor has it it’s the end of Paradise.
But I know if the world just passed us by
The headlines read:
These are the worst of times
I do believe it’s true.
I feel so helpless like a boat against the tide
I wish the summer wind could bring back Paradise
But I know If the world turned upside down

———-You see the world through your cynical eyes
You’re a troubled young man I can tell
You’ve got it all in the palm of your hand
But your hand’s wet with sweat and your head needs a rest
And you’re fooling yourself if you don’t believe it
You’re kidding yourself if you don’t believe it
Why must you be such an angry young man
When your future looks quite bright to me
How can there be such a sinister plan
That could hide such a lamb, such a caring young man

——Don’t look now, but here come the eighties!
I was so cool back in sixty-five
I had it made ’cause I understood what to do to survive
I had my car, and I made the scene
Didn’t give a damn about no gasoline
They can go to hell
My friend we never thought about the world
And its realities
The promised land was ours
We were the Great Society
I’m so confused by the things I read, I need the truth
But the truth is, I don’t know who to believe
The left say yes, and the right says no
I’m in between and the more I learn
Well, the less that I know
I got to make a show

————Half penny, two penny, gold Krugerrand
He was exceedingly rich for such a young man
Sad story, old story
Bring out the band
Another divorce just a few hundred grand
Half penny, two penny, back of the queue
Yes mister poor man this means you
Justice for money what can you say
We all know it’s the American Way
“Come here – hey Angelo… what’s happenin’?”
“Hey, Stosh, good to see ya”
“What the hell you doin’?”
“We’re tearing this old building down here”
“Oh you’re kiddin’ me. Remember when we were kids, and we used to come here every Saturday afternoon to see a cartoon?”
“Yeah, I remember”
“Well what’s she lost to?”
“Who knows- politicians, taxes…it’s a disgrace”
“I’m not surprised, they make me sick. They don’t make theaters like this any more.”
Half penny, two penny, ashes to dust
The almighty dollar says “In God we trust”
Justice for money how much more can I pay
We all know it’s the American Way

————You’re wondering who I am
(Secret secret, I’ve got a secret)
Machine or mannequin
(Secret secret, I’ve got a secret)
With parts made in Japan
(Secret secret, I’ve got a secret)
I am the Modren Man
I’ve got a secret
I’ve been hiding
Under my skin
My heart is human
My blood is boiling
My brain IBM
So if you see me
Acting strangely
Don’t be surprised
I’m just a man who
Needed someone
And somewhere to hide
To keep me alive
Just keep me alive

——————-I guess we used to be the lucky ones
Good fortune smiled on everyone
Stop
A voice said you best beware
Stop
Bad luck is everywhere
And sure enough the voice was right
My luck changed overnight
Stop
Please tell me what went wrong
Stop
I can’t take these ups and downs
Hard times come, hard times go
And in between you hope and pray
The scars don’t show
‘Cause life is strange and so unsure
The days you hardly make it through
You swear that there’s a curse on you
‘Cause nothing seems to fit
And things won’t go your way
You know you’ve had enough
You’ve got the right to say
Why me, why me

(all the above lyrics belong to STYX)

….there are many other fantastic songs (I just came up with 8 hours of such gems for a playlist).

… and THAT is all I have to say politically for the moment, because lately my head spins from the level of vitriol one American pitches against the other, who for whatever reason is having a tough time of it…be it that they didn’t try hard enough earlier in life, got screwed through no fault of their own, or had the bad luck to be born to poor, ignorant parents.

…it boggles my mind that we as a society are so devoted to OURSELVES (the TREE) that we don’t care about the overall effect on SOCIETY (the FOREST)

And now, for something COMPLETELY different…

…a short story about a car, or three.
Taking a break from editing my Florida vacation photos (* you can see them if you go to the post below, and look for the word PHOTO)….

While on vacation, the three car switcheroo began. My stepson Josh’s car died …this was a distressing moment for my husband, as it had once been HIS car (and was involved in another three-car switcheroo years back, but I digress)….

Timmy momentarily, in a fit of insanity brought on by grief, suggested maybe selling his current car, the Grand Prix to Josh.

I however, knew this to be a bad idea. Timmy LOVES his car, as can be seen by the attention he lavishes on it. And Josh, no offense, wasn’t the best steward of the last car Timmy loved.

I, on the other hand, view a car as an appliance. It runs, gets me where I am going reliably (and has a good sound system) and I am good.

So we sold Josh my Montana. This opened up the opportunity for Timmy to go car shopping (one of his most favorite-ist things in the whole universe!!!)

He has had a little crush on the Pontiac Aztek for YEARS, despite the fact many think the car is ugly. And, as I don’t really CARE, that is what he located and chose for me to drive. Here, to the right, are some photos of it, now that it’s been all detailed…clean and shiny.

Part three of the switcheroo, where-in he trades his PT CRUISER convertible (his other part time mistress, who has done him wrong, apparently) needs to wait, as the value of the car versus the value of the car he’d like to replace it with (a Sebring convertible or a Bonneville, in case you care) don’t line up….

In other news, you’ll possibly note I have relegated the snow pictures to Flickr and now have some bright and shiny flowers up. Well, maybe not shiny, I’ve done some aging to them. These photos are available for sale, to you, my reader!!! Just go to my ETSY site, and ask me to sell them to you. I’d be more than happy to oblige!

Florida…10 days, 1000 photos?

Florida…10 days, 1000 photos…does that seem excessive? No? Good!

Now, the hard part. For ME, uploading, eliminating, and post-processing.

For YOU? Waiting to see all my fun vacation shots (and guess what, we are even IN some of them this year!!  PHOTOS )

We had 10 days of fun in the sun. We went to…

Wait, no. How about I post about the kind of things we did, by photo folder? I was able, for instance, to pre-edit down to ONLY 49 sunrise/sunset pictures. Those are the ones I am going to run through Photoshop Elements and process. (That means I DUMPED an equal amount. I need you to understand how many I have sacrificed in order to keep my computer from crashing, and to keep me from going blind sitting here, or getting fired for forgetting to go to work while I play with my pictures, lol!)

Nah, maybe not. it would be a very inefficient process, considering I am not nearly that organized. I barely feel capable of saying I have a routine for processing (that I actually STICK to).

This is what we did, where we went, and what we saw. I will link photos as I get them finished, (for the moment, by folder) which means you will need to keep coming back to see things. It also means you need to encourage me to keep posting by commenting!!! (SUBTLE harrassement may get the photos up sooner, you never know)

We left Virginia on Friday afternoon.

Saturday, April 25th Jacksonsville—quilt shopping at The Olde Green Cupboard (getting the important things out of the way first), lunch with Timmy’s online friends at Mojo’s, then GUANA RIVER STATE PARK BEACH.

St. Augustine, roaming through the streets of America’s oldest city, then Daytona Beach by dinner time. Ate at Buca Di Beppo’s, which turns out not to be an overgrown crazy Guido Italian family thing but a wildly outrageous, gaudy Italian delight…

Then The Daytona 500 Speedway, then DAYTONA BEACH , where we took the PT Cruiser out onto the sand for a photo-shoot (his shoot, not mine, I only modeled).

By now, it’s Sunday night. Drove to Cocoa Beach and had a lovely romantic anniversary-eve dinner at The Mango Tree, and then enjoyed a dip in the pool and spa. Up early Monday for sunrise on COCOA BEACH photos.

We spent our anniversary at the Kennedy Space Center, (my camera set on JPEG this one day only PHOTOS )…. It was an amazing place, I will admit!

Monday night, since we were running late, we delayed plans for dinner with an online friend of mine and headed to Homestead, so we would be at the beginning of the Keys Tuesday morning.

Tuesday, lunch at 7-Mile Grill on Marathon Key, and managed a mid-afternoon arrival at Key West. This means we only stopped occasionally for photo ops. We found our wonderful accommodations at the West Wind on Eaton St. We picked up our trikes and meandered our way down to Mallory Square to get an overview of the place before sunset.

We misunderstood the depth of fervor over watching the sun set, as we had scoped out a few choice locations for viewing at 4 pm, and then abandoned them to ride around town before sunset, at 8pm. We witnessed a possibly career ending injury, one of the hands on the docks where the cruise ships leave, got his fingers caught between the ropes and a pole as they were leaving….he was incredibly stoic and quiet while stuck, and walked away, but the next night, our sailing crew said it sounded as if it may be an unfixable injury… gives you pause, to think how things can change in an instant, as we had sat there, watching them casually wait out the cruise ship, enjoying the sun and the weather along with everyone else. (don’t think I’ll share THOSE photos)

Sunset in Key West is viewed as something between a carnival and a religious experience, with an equal number of people simply mesmerized by the setting sun as those who were partying and enjoying the joie de vivre that is Mallory Square. I was conscious of this fact before arriving, but it is truly an experience not to be missed. To think, the sun does this EVERY day, everywhere, and how few of us stop to consider it….A perfect sunset Tuesday, applauded at it’s conclusion, so that all could find their way to Duval Street for further festivities and celebration!

But still, amazing sunset pictures.

Wednesday, more of the same, (which, while reading a simple line, may come off as ho-hum, but don’t believe it….we had more of the SAME….sun, fun, water, people –and rooster– watching) and despite a low cloud that cut short the display of the golden orb as it touched the horizon’s edge late that afternoon, we were out on a sunset cruise on a Sailing Catamaran. You can’t beat that! Timmy reveled in the experience.

Thursday found us saying goodbye to the Keys, (after Key Lime Pie on a Stick for breakfast and a quick stop into The Seam Shoppe ) and heading to Miami. We had dinner at Scorch with an online friend of mine…. A delicious dinner, wonderful high energy atmosphere, and fabulous company!

Friday we drove out to SOUTH BEACH for a bit, (the beach-y bits, it was 11am) took in the skyline of Miami, and then along the northern edges of the Everglades, got some wonderful photos, and even caught an alligator trying to cross the road. Sanibel Island for sunset this day, and again, it didn’t disappoint….

Saturday, we had plans to take in Caladesi State Park, in Clearwater, but decided to take a brief detour. We found ourselves spending the entire day in Tarpon Springs, and out on a cruise to the Gulf of Mexico, where we watched dolphins enjoy the wake of our boat.

Sunday Honeymoon Island was the final beach destination, instead of Caladesi (so close of course, but time…..) and the de facto end of our 7th annual honeymoon vacation to somewhere. We swung back across the state that night in time to get into the world’s largest Harley-Davidson shop so Timmy could gawk.

Monday was a travel back home day, trying to avoid the rain (which we did surprisingly well, considering the number of times we looked overhead during the week to see our little black rain cloud, which we take on vacation with us EVERYWHERE, hovering, waiting to rain on us…)

Monday, home.

Tuesday? Rain.

Wednesday? Rain.

Today? Rain.

Thank goodness I have all these sunny beach day photos (and some peeling skin) to prove I ever left!

(—-WHERE, you ask, are the photos??? A THOUSAND, I said… it’s gonna take time… look back on occasion for the word—PHOTO—to be hyperlinked….I’ll get them up, I promise [not all 1000…who would want to look at 1000 vacation pictures that belong to someone ELSE?? Didn’t that all go out when Slide projectors died??]—)