As I've no iPod, here goes

my semi-weekly list of songs that I've listened to more than a million times. This week.

1. Mardy Bum- Arctic Monkeys
2. Juicebox- The Strokes
3. Ooh La La- Goldfrapp
4. Fly- The Jam
5. Teenage Kicks- The Undertones
6. This Is the One- The Stone Roses
7. Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me- The Smiths
8. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree- KT Tunstall
9. Cigarettes and Alcohol (live)- Oasis
10. Wings of Speed- Paul Weller

Bonus-
Bonzo Goes to Bitburg- The Ramones

Roses for Helen

This is so awesome. Helen Thomas (little tiny veteran reporter in the middle) deserves a dozen roses a day.

Let alone 100! dozen roses. Yay DU!

And, I have to say, that's a hell of a lot of roses. Glad I didn't have to condition them -strip thorns, leaves, etc....

Well, this is just depressing

To the band formerly known as The Smiths,

Guys, I know your respective artistic integrities and all that are at stake, but think of the fans! Especially those of us who weren't cool enough/didn't have access to college radio during The Smiths heyday. Those of us who liked Def Leppard. Or Journey. Not me, of course. Ahem.

And it must be said, Johnny Marr (far left in piccie) is so, so cute to me. Now (2006), too. Morrissey was/is pretty and everything, but Johnny- mmmmmm...... Lovely.

Yes, I am aware I have a serious tendency to fancy guitar players of Irish descent from Manchester, but oh well.

Everybody has their thing.
(With apologies to the writers of "Can't Hardly Wait.")

Hee. Pasty is pretty.

Went to one of those "spa" parties tonight. You know, one of those Pampered Chef/Mary Kay parties. I live in rural Iowa, believe me, this is quite exciting for a Thursday.

Well, let me tell you what happened. The Spa Lady in charge did that thing where they hold a black light up to your face to show sun damage. And guess what? She made me stand there while all 20 women got the black light treatment, 'cos my face was so without sun damage-type issues.

My 'flawless' self even looked better than the 17 year-old at the party. (Ages at the party ranged from early 50's to said teenager. Including a girl from my grade in school). Okay, so the Spa Lady pointed out that both my nose and chin were quite oily (tell me something I don't know), but hell, I'll take oily over wrinkly any day!

See, Joy, being chalkish is good!

The Kids Are Alright

I now have hope for the youth of this country. A reminder, they (the awesome students protesting) did not make the choice to come here, for the quasi-xenophobes out there, who are apparently saddled with the surnames of Fire Thunder, Lighthorse or similar. Because, you know, they have NEVER been immigrants. Snark.

I personally came from the fertile IA soil, unencumbered by ethnicity, despite the fact that I emerged from the loins of folks named Ertz, Nielsen, Schmidt, Janssen, MacDonald, Yohe, Stumph and Reif:) I'm American, dammit.

I'm so kidding. I hate that knee-jerk patriotism. Of course my future is informed by my past. To claim otherwise is just moronic. There are lots of both good and bad things about this country. I think that the students demonstrating in LA and around the country exemplify one of the finest characteristics of (some) Americans, the willingness to take to the streets when things are going wrong.

Yay Jimmy!

"Stairway to Heaven" voted the best guitar solo of all time? Sounds like a great excuse to get out the 'dragon pants' picture, which gets my vote for one of the best stage costumes of all rock time.... With added bow action!

Fav Zep song? Oh, there are so many.

1. Celebration Day
2. Misty Mountain Hop
3. How Many More Times
4. Bring It On Home
5. Sick Again
6. Traveling Riverside Blues

I know they're somewhat derivative, but as I've explained before, I Do Not Care. Led Zep, oh God, rocks. Sorry, Jimmy, Bob, John Paul and Bonzo, I cannot do you justice.

I still love you, John!

As a woman of a certain age, ahem, 30-ish, I adored Duran Duran. Loved them. John Taylor with lipstick and eyeliner? Yummers!

Caveat: I was 7 when 'Rio' was released, and I also had crushes on Barney and Hooky from New Order at approximately the same time. So they balance each other out, or so I'd like to think.

It all went straight down the crapper into the neu-country wasteland that was my adolescence, though with occasional Stone Roses/Brit pop forays out of the wilderness. But I digress.

Q Magazine released its list of the worst albums ever, with the Duranies's "Thank You" coming in at #1. I originally thought, "Well, that's a bit harsh;" then I read the tracklisting.

Must look at John Taylor in eyeliner to gain strength to carry on....Okay, I'm back, but help me out here, John. What grade of pharmaceuticals were y'all under the influence of when you thought, "Hell, let's cover Public Enemy!" Or, sweet Lord, Lou Reed? LOU REED, man! I'm not thinking it was Coke Classic. At least in liquid form, ahem.

John, where are you? Are you dancing on the sand? Were there wolves? Tell me they were hungry! They'd damn well better be, 'cos that's one hellacious-not-in-a-good-way album.

Okay, this is ridiculous

From August of 2001 until June of 2005, I was a teacher in a school district-which-shall-not be-named in Houston, Texas. My school was very diverse, and largely impoverished, and about 70% Hispanic, though those items are not automatically related, mind.

This new law that amoral f*&# Sensenbrenner- who, in my mind, is way overcompensating for being heir to the Kotex fortune- is proposing is completely without moral value. Anyone who helped someone who turned out to be illegally in this country, would be charged with a felony. In other words, you could let someone critically injured in a car accident bleed out, without being charged, because they were an illegal alien. Maybe I missed something, but that seems both awful and wrong to me. Not to mention, tempting Karma just a little too much for my comfort.

And, I would be a felon. Last year, one of my students, who came from an absolutely involved and totally supportive family, came to me to ask if I'd write a letter to INS to help her family not be deported. I did, they didn't get sent back, and now her parents are in the process of becoming citizens. I knew they were here illegally, and I didn't care. I consider my student asking me, trusting me, to help her family, one of the greatest honors of my life. So much that, 9 months on, I still cry when I think about that absolute trust.

In conclusion, this law wouldn't be considered if the perception (conventional wisdom and all that) of an illegal immigrant included the word "Caucasian." That is all.

Ronnie and Keef

I cannot even imagine Ronnie Spector and Keith Richards showing up at my house for tea. Totally surreal.