The group Nightmare of You is touring in Britain in April. They are a local Long Island band and they are very good but they haven’t had any luck with getting their songs on the charts. For my British friends, if they are in your area, please go out and give them your support. Their tour in 2007 was a big hit. Obviously you Brits have good taste in music. Thanks.
It’s now been a couple of weeks since I had a seizure. The increased medication level seems to have done the trick… or maybe not. It’s not like I was having seizures constantly so it’s hard to tell if the medicine is working. But anyway, I haven’t had any strange side effects from the medicine so if I do need a higher dose that shouldn’t be a problem.
The hardest part of this has been on poor Michel. It’s not enough that she had to give up her life’s dream of being a nurse practitioner (and she would have been a great one) but because the doctor doesn’t want me driving for awhile, Michel is being torn to shreds with responsibilities for everyone. She has to drive me to and from work, drive Beth to and from school, drive to the grocery store if we need a half gallon of milk, drive my mother around, drive Beth wherever she and her friends need to go, etc. She has become the house chauffeur. But she was already stressed taking care of everything around the house that needs taking care of and her illness drains her of all her energy. She has to take pills to get rid of pain, wakey-wakey pills to keep the pain pills from putting her to sleep, pills to sleep because of the wakey-wakey pills. Her brain is worn down and half the time she is seeing double and can’t think of the word she is looking for while talking. Sometimes we act as if we are taking her for granted and that just makes things worse. And needless to say she gets angry and takes it out on everyone around her.
Meanwhile Mikey has been very aggressive with hitting and pushing. We want to try him on another medication but the doctors keep saying lets run this test or that test first. Arghhh. Let them come here and get punched. Although the neurologist got punched by Mikey yesterday so you would think he would have learned something. The neurologist decided that he wants an MRI on Mikey before he changes any medication. Why not change the medication first? Who knows. Anyway, he told Michel that he wants to rule out a brain tumor. Brain tumor! Yes, that would be wonderful. We saw the Endocrinologist the other day and he reminded us that Mikey is one of only eight or so with his genetic makeup (T21 and mosaic XYY). He said that aggression is common in boys with XYY so we should be looking at a medication to calm him down. But he wanted to look at Mikey’s blood test results first. Maybe if Mikey broke his HDD TV he would feel differently.
Meanwhile in Texas, a history teacher was fired for being a suspected atheist. Richard Mullens a school teacher in the Brookeland, Texas public school system was fired because a parent complained that Mullens was an atheist. The school board was made up of members of the local Baptist Church who had promised to get all non-Christians out of their school system. Good thing Mullens wasn’t accused of being a witch or the school board would have burned him at the stake. Sometimes I really think that we should let the south form it’s own country.
Shivaree is an American band formed in 1999. Their music has been described as cabaret pop. The members are Ambrosia Parsley (vocals), Danny McGough (keyboard), and Duke McVinnie (guitar). Ambrosia was in her late twenties when the group formed and Danny and Duke were in their forties. Even though you may not have heard of them, if you are a Quentin Tarantino fan you have no doubt heard their music. Ambrosia (and Ambrosia Parsley is her real name) worked with Air America Radio for a short time where she wrote one minute songs to sum up the week’s news.
The name of the group comes from the American term, “shivaree”, which is borrowed from the French “charivari” and means, roughly, a noisy mock serenade for newlyweds. Ambrosia had found the word while reading a biography of Jesse James. The term is most commonly used along the Mississippi River, and to the west of it, and in parts of Canada. In shivaree, people of the local community gather around to “celebrate” a marriage, usually one they regard as questionable, gathering outside the window of the couple. They bang metal implements or use other items to create noise in order to keep the couple awake all night.
The band has been moderately successful selling about half a million albums in total. Their most popular song, “Goodnight, Moon” is from their album, I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump but also is found on the soundtrack of the Quentin Tarantino film, Kill Bill: Volume 2 where it was used in the closing credits. Their most recent album came out in July 2007.
Goodnight, Moon
There’s a nail in the door
And there’s glass on the lawn
Tacks on the floor
And the TV is on
And I always sleep with my guns when you’re gone
There’s a blade by the bed
And a phone in my hand
A dog on the floor
And some cash on the nightstand
When I’m all alone the dreaming stops
And I just can’t stand
What should I do I’m just a little baby
What if the lights go out
And maybe and then the wind just starts to moan
Outside the door he followed me home
Now goodnight moon
I want the sun
If it’s not here soon
I might be done
No it won’t be too soon ’til I say goodnight moon
There’s a shark in the pool
And a witch in the tree
A crazy old neighbor and he’s been watching me
And there’s footsteps loud and strong coming down the hall
Something’s under the bed
Now it’s out in the hedge
There’s a big black crow sitting on my window ledge
And I hear something scratching through the wall
Oh what should I do I’m just a little baby
What if the lights go out
And maybe and then the wind just starts to moan
I just hate to be all alone
Outside the door he followed me home
So goodnight moon
I want the sun
If it’s not here soon
I might be done
No it won’t be too soon ’til I say goodnight moon
Well you’re up so high
How can you save me?
When the dark comes here
Tonight to take me up
The mouth from woke
And into bed where it kisses my face
And eats my hand
Oh what should I do I’m just a little baby
What if the lights go out and maybe
And then the wind just starts to moan
Outside the door he followed me home
Now goodnight moon
I want the sun
If its not here soon
I might be done
No it wont be too soon ’til I say goodnight moon
No it wont be too soon ’til I say goodnight moon
Ambrosia wearing her favorite t-shirt reminding us of the motto of our favorite web site:
How do we develop relationships with people? What does our memory mean in these relationships? Is it possible to form a relationship with someone who can not remember that he ever met you even though you see him every day? Yoko Ogawa has written a perfect, poetic story that tries to explore these questions.
The book is written from the point of view of a woman hired to be a housekeeper for a retired math professor. The professor was in a car accident that damaged his brain, destroying his short term memory. Every day she arrives to do her job and the professor has no memory of her ever being there before. When the professor finds out that the housekeeper is a single mom with a young son, he insists that the boy come to his house every day and even though he has no memory of the invitation, the professor is thrilled to see him each day. What brings the three together is the professor’s love of mathematics and his ability to share that love along with the love of baseball that they all share.
The result is a simple, beautiful story and at 180 pages, it is long enough to make you think without dragging out the story beyond its need. The author even creates poetry from discussions of prime numbers and Euler’s identity. I can strongly recommend this book.
