Best Songs -- Wild Card Weekend

1st round of "Best o' the Nineties Playoffs" losers include Take #52/John Doe, Don't Rock the Jukebox/Alam Jackson, Crying Game/Boy George, Daughter/Pearl Jam, All I Wanna Do/Sheryl Crow, Man in the Mirror/MJ, Last Goodbye/Jeff Buckley...

bounced in 2nd round:  Cool Like That/Digable Planets, Plush/STP, Only Wanna Be With You/Hootie etc, Bittersweet Symphony/Verve, Velvet Glove/RHChili Pepps...

R.I.P. Gumby & Pokey

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/01/art-clokey-the-creator-of-the-whimsical-clay-figure-gumby-died-in-his-sleep-friday-at-his-home-in-los-osos-calif-after-b.html

includes a few cool Gumby videos too

Best of the Decade(s) -- the Nineties

research for my Best of 90's list led me to this awesome post -- I was never that into videos, much rather be doing something else while listening to music, certainly not staring at the TV, but these are cool visuals to go with some great songs.

Locks for the 90's top 10 off the top of my head? Hmmm... Achy Breaky Heart, Mmmbop, Still I Rise, Interstate Love Song, Bittersweet Symphony, U can't Touch This ???

Even Flow, Nearly Lost You, The Humpty Dance, Black Velvet, Banned in the USA ???

1980's Top 10

1st round of cuts: Missing You, John Waite; Breakup Song, Greg Kihn; Sunglasses At Night, Corey Heart; Still of the Night, Whitesnake; Everyday Is Like Sunday, Morrisey...

2nd round: I Still haven't Found What I'm Looking For, U2; Love My Way, Psychedelic Furs; In Your Eyes, Peter Gabriel; Everybody Wants To Rule The World, Tears For Fears...

Final Results:

1. Back In Black -- AC/DC
2. I Melt With You -- Modern English
3. Radio Free Europe -- R.E.M.
4. Purple Rain -- Prince
5. Rock You Like A Hurricane -- Scorpions
6. Bad -- U2
7. Guitars, Cadillacs -- Dwight Yoakam
8. Higher Love -- Steve Winwood
9. Can't Hardly Wait -- The Replacements
10. Where The Streets Have No Name -- U2

ok, on to the 90's! Any suggestions?

Call me "Len" in 2010!

(Hmmm... weak. First Resolution is to come up with a better rhyme for "ten" and a catchier, more affirming motto.)

Starting the new year just like the old year began (and ended) -- not much more than a trip to Vons in the bank account and looking for work.  Dishes in the sink, newspaper tossed under the neighbor's car, family sleeping in, Emmylou Harris in my headphones, devising ways to knock off 10 lbs... and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Well, except for the job part, I'd really like one.

Happy NewYear!

Taking a break from the 80's with a few new discs: Paul Weller's As Is Now, Neil Young's Prairie Wind, Elvis & Crew strumming and goofing on The Complete Million Dollar Quartet; some new books: World War Z, Dave Eggers' 2009 NonRequired Reading; and some hot buttered rum...

Best of the Dec80s (get it? " Decade" + "1980's " ?)

Ok, on to the 80's! My "expansion" decade, ages 14 - 23, of not only music but life in general -- girls, paychecks, cars, alcohol, even a touch of higher education. Heck, I think I even got married at some point during the decade...

New Wave/Alternative, New Traditionalist, Christian Rock, Live Aid and Do They Know It's Christmas?, mix tapes and The Monsters of Rock tour...

U2, The Replacements, Elvis Costello, Hoodoo Gurus, Tom Petty, Van Morrison, Police, Waterboys, BoDeans, X, Prince, R.E.M., R.E.M., R.E.M. !

Charlie Peacock, Keith Green, Petra (no, not Stryper), 77s, Altar Boys...


Dwight Yoakam,  George Strait, Randy Travis, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett, Keith Whitley, Willie & Waylon...

day 2 of 80's quest: I'm noticing songs from my All-Time Album list don't always make the Song of the Decade list, and not all my favorite can't-live-without songs from just 11+ months ago have been included either... the 80's of course begot the compact disc and my first sound system, a 4 ft high stacked Panasonic system in a lovely faux-wood cabinet; cost me $1100 (which I always remember since my first truck a few months later was $11,000)... seriously debated for days what the inaugural disc would be -- Beatles or U2? Joshua Tree won the battle... fed up with commercials after every couple of songs leads to country stations that play "12 in row!" and a crush on Wynonna Judd... a crush on a blonde leads to roadtrips to the Coliseum for U2 and the Monsters of Rock tour... not sure exactly when I "discovered" Van Morrison but must have been towards the end of the decade...


Albums listened to the most in the 1980's:

• Tunnel of Love, Springsteen
• Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum, U2
  
• Pleased to Meet Me, Replacements
• Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. and Buenos Noches From a Lonely Room, Dwight Yoakam
  
• Reckoning and Document, R.E.M.
• Purple Rain, Prince & The Revolution
  
• So, Peter Gabriel
• 1984, Van Halen
• Back in Black, AC/DC (daily in 1980 on cassette+boombox)
• The Lexicon of Love, ABC
• Rain on the Scarecrow, J C Mellencamp
• Introducing the Hardline..., Terence Trent D'Arby
• The Best Of..., Elvis Costello & The Attractions
  
• In My Tribe, 10,000 Maniacs
• Pontiac, Lyle Lovett
• Songs From The Big Chair, Tears For Fears
• Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty
• Graceland, Paul Simon
• See How Are We Are, X
• Storms of Life, Randy Travis
• Why Not Me, The Judds
  

did I miss anything?

Best of the Decade(s) -- 1970's

The 70's -- reggae, rock, disco, Captain & Tennille; Elton, Led Zep, Boston, Barry White and Al Green; "Grease" "Saturday Night Fever" and "Thank God It's Friday"; Clapton is God, Springsteen's The Boss, and introducing The Clash and Elvis Costello...

Update: This is a decidedly more mellow (and quieter) list than I would have made at age 13, which has now depressed me since doing the math reveals 30 years have gone by since I began listening to music.  Dang, I'm gettin' old. Fortunately my dad was the station manager for American Forces Radio in Europe, so I was able to escape his Barry Manilow LPs by exploring the world of 70's Top 40 radio, although I do confess one of the first albums my friend had that we played repeatedly was Shaun Cassidy's debut with the classic "Da Doo Run Run" (I couldn't even hum it now if I tried), and the Star Wars soundtrack.  The DJs used to make mix tapes for me, or I would sit right up close to the radio, fingers on the Play and Record buttons to record the song the second they stopped talking or before it faded into the next tune.

While I'm dialing down memory lane... first cassettes, received for 10th birthday with the tape player -- ABBA, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; first album purchased with my allowance -- either Earth Wind & Fire's Greatest Hits or The Commodores Greatest; introduction to both the Beatles (was it KPRI that did the "Beatles A to Z" weekends? I taped those too)  and Bee Gees -- Uncle Fred's scene-by-scene reenactment of the Sgt. Pepper's movie; the funky phase -- one of very few white boys trying to make the football team and introduced to Bootsy's Parliament, LTD, Con Funk Shun; finding 91X and KGB and the record collections of friends' older siblings (Hendrix! Zeppelin! Joplin, CSN&Y, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd!); the end of the 70's era (musically just temporarily, smoking out more or less permanently) for me comes in 1983 as a girlfriend sends me U2's War...

Which means it's time to put this edition of Best of The Decade to rest:

• What's Going On, Marvin Gaye
• Rocket Man, Elton John
• Papa Was A  Rolling Stone, Temptations
• Knockin' On Heaven's Door, Dylan/Clapton
• Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison
• Born To Run, Springsteen
• Night Moves, Bob Seger
• Play That Funky Music, Wild Cherry
• Miss You, Stones
• Here Comes My Girl, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  

1960's Top 10

• Love Me Do, The Beatles (62)
  
• Ticket To Ride, The Beatles (64)
  
• Subterranean Homesick Blues, Dylan (65)
  
• Tired Of Waiting For You, The Kinks (65)
  
• Good Vibrations, Beach Boys (66)
  
• Monday, Monday, The Mamas & The Papas (66)
  
• Respect, Aretha Franklin (67)
  
• Son Of A Preacher Man, Dusty Springfield (68)
  
• (Sittin' On The) Dock Of The Bay, Otis Redding (68)
  
• You Can't Always Get..., Rolling Stones (69)

I think even a "top 100" list would mean chopping off some great songs...

Best of the Decade(s) -- the 60's

Hmmm... the 1960's are turning out to be much tougher than the 50's.  A few that didn't make the cut: "It's Not Unusual", "Stop in the name of love", "My Generation" "Hard to handle" and "Good Vibrations"...

2 days under the headphones later... Narrowed it down to about 24 songs, hard to not let Beatles/Dylan/Stones dominate. And which "Respect" -- Aretha or Otis?

Best of the Decade(s)

In order to warm up before deciding on the best songs and albums of 2009, and to give "shuffle" time to cycle through the 2000s playlist, I went back a few decades:

The 1950s

1. "Bo Diddley" by Bo Diddley
2. "Fever" by Peggy Lee
3. "(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66" Nat King Cole
4. "Great Balls of Fire" Jerry Lee Lewis
5. "Johnny B. Goode" Chuck Berry
6. "Lonely Teardrops" Jackie Wilson
7. "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock" Bill Haley & His Comets
8. "That's All Right"* Elvis Presley
9. "What's I Say" Ray Charles
10. "You Send Me" Sam Cooke
    

*or is it "Alright"?

Songs are listed by year; no complicated formulas, sales figures, or critical/historical evaluation other than do i like it and will I continue to play the song?  Lists are in no way set in concrete, so if I forgot a tune that must be considered, let me know!

Ok, on to the '60s...

hello? hello? Is this thing on?

Daaaang... haven't done any blogging in a long time. Football season, as in coaching 2 sons' teams, substitute teaching, and general laziness -- surprised it hasn't gone to "inactive" status.

Anyway, had to stop by to change comment settings, looks like I'm a leading advertiser for Dr. Hu's marital aids.

Ok, now back to research and debate on 2009's top albums and songs -- any suggestions?

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, A Shopping List

I love playlists.  I spend hours (yes "spend" not "waste") creating playlists on iTunes, Napster, or my latest toy last.fm: 1960's soul ballads, disco cover tunes, songs by people named Doug, albums that mention birds... whatever ties at least 2 tunes together gets a catchy sometimes cryptic title and becomes -- voila! -- a playlist.  I may never listen to the playlist again, but that's not the point.

So working on a Rock n Roll Museum inductee playlist, and realizing there are gaps in my collection: so far, no Animals, Booker T & the MGs, Doors, or Everly Brothers...

no Woody Guthrie, no Buddy Guy...

one song from Hot Buttered "Chef"? No Herb Alpert (and his Tijuana Brass Band, of course)...

not a single Joni Mitchell? No Moonglows? Ok, I didn't really expect to have any Moonglows.

Isley Bros? Ink Spots? Robert Johnson? Brenda Lee?

Nuggets

No, not of the pressed chicken variety.  The garage band, 60's psychedelic, hint of surf guitar, touch of New Wave (but not slick and sissy), bit of punk (with more melody) songs that make you go "Hey! I remember that tune!"-- that type of nugget...

Worth the price of admission just for the band names: The Spongetones, The Unclaimed, Laika and the Cosmonauts, The Dukes of Stratosphear, Vibrasonic, The Droogs, The Hoodoo Gurus, The Optic Nerve, The Aardvarks, and of course The Cramps -- it goes on and on!

10 minutes later...  

Ever notice certain music and books do not go well together?  Sat down to listen and catch up on some reading, but starting with Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues (Blues or Civil War marches) my words and tunes were clashing.  Tried Griffin & Sabine but that needs something softer, maybe jazz maybe French? then attempted John Wooden's On Leadership but that definitely clashed with The Fuzztones and The Creeps...

Monsters of Arctic Avett Rockets

I constantly rip out and save album review pages from magazines and newspapers in a feeble attempt to keep musically current; while most of my 1st - 5th grade students haven't progressed beyond cartoon theme ditties or radio pop, my 15 yr old son and the players on my football team constantly refer to acts and tunes I can't even fake my way to knowing.  Of course I never look at the "What's Next" and "Who's Hot" articles until it's too late and they're hopelessly outdated, but once in awhile, such as a while like tonight, I plug all the names into Napster and give it all a listen...

• Arctic Monkeys: tracks from Crying Lightning and Humbug... (on a scale of 1 to 10 as to whether I would listen to them again*)  7
• Monsters of Folk: Monsters of Folk -- 8
• The Bravery: "Slow Poison" ...wow, very 80's -- 6
• Three Days Grace: Life Starts Now... only allowed 30 second snippits, but heard the word "vampire" multiple times -- 4
• Freddy Fender: The Legend of Freddy Fender ...not usually a fan of live albums, but love the Fender -- 6
• Mason Jennings: Blood of Man  ...a bit Warren Zevon-ish, eh? -- 8.5 (and gaining points every time a song comes up in the rotation)
• Alicia Keys: "Doesn't Mean Anything" all pop, sweet but no sass, no funk -- 5
• Karen O. and The Kids: "All Is Love" from the Where The Wild Things Are soundtrack ...quirky, cool, the anti-bland Disney pop -- 7
• Avett Brothers:
• Boys Like Girls:
• The Bottle Rockets:
• Brandi Carlile:

* 1 being "Dang, can't even listen to 20 seconds of that" up to "Who needs coffee, hit the button and buy that song immediately!"

Lazy Sunday afternoon, working on the resume while the fam is out at the pool...

today's 1st 10 on shuffle:

The Ballad of Jenny Rae, The BoDeans
What'd I Say, Elvis Presley
Got To Get You Into My Life, The Beatles
Stone And Steel, King Wilkie
Different When It Comes To You, Bruce Cockburn
Passion's Killing Floor, HIM
Rocky Mountain Way, Joe Walsh
Georgia On My Mind, Ray Charles
Breakout, Foo Fighters
Jack And Diane, John Mellencamp

Hmmm, sounds a bit old school today...

Summer Reading, part deux

Okay, obviously this whole "balanced layout" thing escapes me...

The top photo is a Library's parking garage in some city I have forgotten; the rest are books I've gotten through in the past month in addition to some children's books and a (thankfully) short novel called Art Kills that was so awful I don't want to talk about it.

• Hemingway, it goes without saying but I will anyway, is the epitome of Classic
• LT & Me is the usual sports-mom rise through adversity to superstar success, but still a wonderful portrait of how a son can be brought up in this rough world to be an outstanding young man; he had the right role model (Walter Payton) and even without his prodigy-like attachment/determination to play football it seems he would turn out okay no matter what he chose to do with his life.
• Geek Love -- weird, bizarre, a tad disturbing... and a quality, original read, for the most part. "Created" circus freaks developed as deep, whole people, although the parents disappointingly stagnate and fade from the story and the ending is weak, as in what, that's it?
• Arsonist's Guide... was picked off the shelf due to its title; strange, funny, sad, shallow, full of too many rhetorical questions (paragraphs full of 'em!), but an entertaining beach read...
• Pirates! Ah, the Pirate Captain and his luxuriant beard, plus Napoleon -- doesn't get much better than that. Hilarious, witty, historically inaccurate, and I highly recommend the entire series (this is the 4th or one of hundreds, depending on which jacket blurb you read)...

Les Paul (1915-2009) : Rolling Stone

Les Paul (1915-2009) : Rolling Stone

1000 Important Things To Teach My Sons

1000 Important Things To Teach My Sons Before They...*

I saw this idea in the past week, just glanced at it quickly on the back page of a magazine or somewhere, but it's been surfacing quite often in my brain, probably every time I've talked to my boys. I am in the fatherly habit of imparting words of wisdom, nuggets of good sense that I know they are treasuring in their hearts and minds. In the odd occasion that they might forget or misinterpret my sage advice after I toss them out into the wide world to fend for themselves, I plan to give them each several copies of the following list, framed or on t-shirts, of the top one thousand adages, quotes, helpful hints, admonitions, suggestions, and just plain good ol' common sense that will help them find the path to a rewarding, productive, and relatively hassle and stress-free life (such as don't write convoluted, run-on sentences).

I am, as always, open to suggestions. Which conveniently is also a good suggestion (see #4 below). What tenets do you live your life by? Mottos, slogans, rules? What did you learn while growing up that has served you well? What are you teaching your children? I know it's not good to copy other's work (#5!) but it is good to learn from others' experience and knowledge (#6).

*= ...Before They Turn 18? ...Grow Up and Move Out? ...Have Children of Their Own?

I don't really have anything for the list yet. I have slightly less than 3 years before Son #1 turns 18, so I figure that gives me plenty of time to compile, organize, and laminate. My big 3 now, the answers to 99.9% of any situation or issue I've run across in my years as a Dad are as follows:

1. Go to the bathroom.
2. Save your money.
3. Look it up.

try 'em. guaranteed applicable and effective.

4. Be open to suggestions.

5. Keep your eyes on your own paper.

6. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

7. "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." John F. Kennedy (1961)

8. Go to college.

9. Learn how to cook. *

10. Respect, respect, respect: the person you are with, how others want to be treated, and yourself (shouldn't this count as 3 Things?)

11. Know how to clean the bathroom. *

12. Put the toilet seat down. *

13. Stay active.

14. this is a long one, but worth it:

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." Robert A. Heinlein

15. Bring her flowers without her having to ask.*

16. Say "I love you" before he/she/they do.

17. Open doors for others.* Physically and metaphorically.

18. Read the Declaration of Independence.

19. Do not go shopping on major holidays. Salespeople should have the day off too.

20. Listen to Jim Croce: Never tug on Superman's cape...

21. Dance.

22. Wear sunscreen.

23. Never choose a girl/woman over your friends.

24. Learn how to do it right. And if you can't do it right, pay someone who knows how to do it right.

25. Do it right the first time.

26. Don't smoke. Except quality cigars on special occasions.

27. Do as I say, not as I do.

28. Lead by example.

29. Lead, Follow, or get the hell out of the way.

30. Turn on the water on a public sink verrrrrry carefully!

31. Shake well.

32. Save your money.

33. Then again, you can't take it with you.

34. Don't finish bad books.

* denotes came with some variation of "because chicks dig it"

Summer = Books

Well, summer is supposed to equal studying and job searching, but all that just makes Jack a dull boy, right? And I do believe it is an official crime in SoCal to be indoors wasting these beautiful days, so it's essentially my civic duty to soak in the sun and read...


Updated a lot lately on TeacherDad's Books, although my "reviews" are getting more sparse and tepid each time... nonetheless, over here are a few (adult) recommendations for eyes and ears:


Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

by Jane Austin and Seth Grahame-Smith

A literary "mash-up," a tale of manners and of flesh-eaters. Just started this one, but I'm already horrified, laughing out loud, and wanting to read Ms. Austin's original classic and Mr. G-S's next book Abe Lincoln, Vampire Slayer. Oh my.




Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years

by Sue Townsend

Keeping with an all-England theme, I suppose... read the first of the series a few weeks ago, when poor befuddled and beleaguered Adrian was an awkward teen. Now he's in his 30s, married, employed, a father; I shouldn't have read this without reading the books covering ages 15-29, but once started just couldn't stop. Still confusingly British, and dated (Princess Diana/Teletubbies), but hilarious and a quick, easy, between dips in the pool read...

Blue Box2 Finest Jazz Vocalists

4 CDs

From Ella to Cassandra, Chet Baker to Lou Rawls -- this set has some true classic gems, and is worth listening to in its entirety.





Where the Light Is
John Mayer Live in Los Angeles


I'm not a die-hard live music fan, would prefer to not have the yelling fans, witty banter, and muddled sound -- I like my tunes produced. But this one is awesome, both as live talent/skill (that guitar!) and as quality crafted songs...

And finally, this goofy thing came from CoverBrowser.com -- a great way to spend several hours, or to replace those stupid album cover choices iTunes sometimes puts in. The only link I've found so far to the music albums section is just putting "album" into the search, but there's a ton of comic and book stuff to keep one occupied...

1000 Important Things...

Only 980 to go!

Posted this idea up on our Facebook page too, got some good suggestions... noticing that a lot of Important Things, from both male and female contributors, end with some variation of "... 'cause chicks like that."

post Two-oh-One

Hey, pop the champagne! Just noticed the last post was a big round number: 200.
Too bad it wasn't anything dramatic or even remotely entertaining...

Began my Master's degree courses last week in Digital Learning/Teaching, and as research opened up Skype, Twitter, and a place called unhub.com that is supposed to help tie everything Internet together in one neat connectible package; what it got me to realize is that I have way too many different email accounts and user names and don't visit/use 80% of the sites I sign up with. I need to start eliminating the aliases and cryptic code names (except for on those sites where secrecy and anonymity is essential -- what if a potential employer found out I was a Padre fan?!?!?) and simplify my online life...

For example, do I need 6 blogs? One for student/substitute teaching stuff, 1 for book reviews, 1 for unreadable general ramblings (obviously this one). One for existential angst, queries and rants regarding my immortal soul, and one for motivational and thought-provoking quotes... get the point?

Skater Angel

Mourning Michael

seems like I only post here when someone famous passes away... maybe time to change the blog title? "Inspired? Or just creeped out by death?" maybe "...Or outta body experiences?" any suggestions?

anyway, Michael Jackson has been a thorn in my ears for a long time now -- listening now to the few songs I've allowed on my iTunes reveals the amazing talent, but it's hard to reconcile with the (are they still alleged?) criminal/creepiness charges. Not that Elvis was a saint, and Willie openly partakes in the finest of smoking products, but somehow it was different, and I had a hard time listening to his music.

For today though, an abbreviated playlist, set on repeat and cranked so I know it won't be long until the neighbors start throwing rocks. Or start up a block party/memorial soul train dance...

I Want You Back The Jackson 5

ABC The Jackson 5

The Love You Save The Jackson 5

I'll Be There The Jackson 5

Never Can Say Goodbye The Jackson 5

Santa Claus Is Coming to Town The Jackson 5

Off the Wall Michael Jackson

Rock With You Michael Jackson

Thriller Michael Jackson

Beat It Michael Jackson

Black or White Michael Jackson

Man In the Mirror Michael Jackson

P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) Michael Jackson

The Way You Make Me Feel Michael Jackson

Bad Michael Jackson

Remember the Time Michael Jackson

so this is what relaxed feels like...

It's been too long, but having finished my last credential assignments this morning and the ginormous sigh of relief that followed just exhausted me for the entire day -- if I coulda convinced The Wife to bring my meals to the porch and feed me, I wouldn't have left the lounge chair all day.


As it is, despite having to get up and put my own food in my mouth, I managed to finish one good book and start on another --




The Adrian Mole Diaries -- poor confused Adrian, from age 13 3/4 to 15 and all the family, puberty, school, pimple issues he must face and survive. It's English, and I didn't find the glossary of British terms until the end of the book (the glossary, of course, being at the end of the book), but still quite hilarious. Thanks, Sis.






Catfish and Mandala -- a Vietnamese-American bicycles his way back to Viet Nam and his family's history. so far, so good.





also listening to a Sufjan Stevens (no, not the "Peace Train" guy) CD Come On Feel the Illinoise, which my sons thought was the strangest title ever. That and the paragraph-long song titles/sub-titles...

So what's a "GrooGrux" anyway???

Having a hard time hearing the details over the Sunday morning cacophony of children and wife, but listening to the new Dave Matthews Band ...liking what I can hear of it, so far. I wasn't a big DMB fan in the beginning, I tend to avoid the "everybody's listening to this!" hype and see if the next big thing is still around a few albums later -- they are, and now I'm listening.

btw, Pandora or Slacker -- any preferences?

instant karma's gonna get ya...

ya think?!?!?

Super Bowl Star Rejects White House Visit: Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison has turned down the invitation to the White House, but not for political reasons. He thinks President Obama only invited the Steelers because they won the game. "This is how I feel -- if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl," Harrison told a local TV station. "As far as I'm concerned, he would've invited Arizona if they had won."

this just cracked me up...

Yes, I realize no matter how great literature-based it is this is still a time-waster and I should be doing my lesson plans (haiku, anyone?) and the tons of homework left in the mere 5, count 'em 5!, weeks before I earn my credential, but as you can see by the length of this opening salvo I am all about the time wasting at this very moment which is why I'm listing inspirational quotes and thinking about whether The Giving Tree confuses or depresses me. *whew!*

But I digress; here are the questions and a few rough draft answers. Thanks to teacherninja and his always interesting blog.

1. What piece of literature has stayed with you, even though you haven't read it recently?

For some reason maybe only therapy can reveal, but more likely because they are instances of incredibly intense, powerful writing in equally wonderful books, 3 pieces of Lit that have stayed with me over the years all involve deaths:

• John Updike's Rabbit, Run and the scene where the wife is drunk and drowns the baby... tears every time, I don't think I could finish when I tried reading it after having children.
• Joseph Heller's Catch 22 has a few deaths, it is about war y'know, but when the guys are swimming and the pilot flies too low....
• Toni Morrison in Beloved builds up the horror so much I knew what was coming and didn't want to read it but had to and was literally stunned. Just got goosebumps thinking about it.
• Man, that's all I can do tonight. I want to go grab those books and thank them for the art they've given us...

2. What character or story has influenced something you've done?

3. What character or piece of literature seemed to relate to a recent news story or personal experience?

4. What character has made you wonder why he or she said/did something?

5. Name something from a work of literature that you (such as a character, setting or quotation) that you find beautiful or vivid.

R.I.P. Ernie Barnes