Speaking Of Memorial Days

Laura Ellen....7 years since you left us...feels like 77....

We miss your musical wisdom!

Ralphie 

A Cosmopolitan a Manhattan
Call me one
Pour a round for me and my friends
Cape Cod Sea Breeze Long Island Ice Teas
I won't go there or drink it if you paid me

When they come to waylay me
When they close in for the capture
I did it all
I did it all
For the love and the laughter
I did it all
I did it all
I did it all

Slept in late
Stayed up for days
Partied hard
Lived my twenties in haze
Smoked second-hand in crowded bars
With the A-list of B-list movie stars

When they come to arrest me
Pat me down and undress me
I'll confess without miranda
Strike a pose for the tabloid cameras
I did it all
I did it all
I did it all

I did it all
I didn't ask permission
I did it all
What kind of life
Is not an exhibition
I did it all
Crash and burn
And then you know you're living
I did it all
Some pain a few tears after
I did it all
To the last line of the final chapter
I did it all
I did it all

My heart is a wound that festers
Seduced my share in silk and polyester
Oh my great loves
And my few losses
I'll tell it all
When my little black book is published

When they come to interview me
For my made for TV movie
Say I'm the bitch who was a bastard
Who did it all for the love and laughter
I did it all
I did it all
I did it all

Tracy Chapman - I Did It All

Memorial Day

My nephew's band...Requiem For The Dead

In Memorium

I Hope! I Hope!

Sometimes I wonder
How I made it this far
I've won some trophies
And I wear some ugly scars
Before I go to bed
I kneel and pray every night
I wonder if God's proud of me
I hope I'm doing this right
 
I know a lot of people
They appear to have it made
I battle with jealousy
Why can't I live that way?
Maybe they're just better than me
At playing the game of life
Maybe I need to change some things
I hope I'm doing this right
 
The more I learn the less I know
The more I change the more I grow
I pray the road I'm traveling on
Will lead me to the light
God I hope I'm doing this right
 
Most of my friends are from the wrong side of the track
Here's why I do not have a problem with that
Hank Williams was in the darkness
When he sang I saw the light
I believe there's good in everyone
I hope I'm doing this right
 
The more I learn the less I know
The more I change the more I grow
I pray the road I'm traveling on
Will lead me to the light
God I hope I'm doing this right
Oh I hope I'm doing this right

Paul Thorn - I Hope I'm Doing This Right

You Just Have To Laugh

Ain’t it funny how life is put together?

Ain’t it strange how it always falls apart?

Every minute there’s a million things that happen

Things that make you smile, some that break your heart

But you just have to laugh, or you’ll go crazy

You just have to laugh, in between the tears,

You just have to laugh, when it ain’t easy

To open up your eyes and say hello to another day

Ain’t it funny, how nothing ever changes

And ain’t it true that nothing stays the same

Don’t you wonder, how this boat just keeps on floating

Not knowing where it’s going or from where the hell it came

But you just have to laugh, or you’ll go crazy

You just have to laugh, in between the tears,

You just have to laugh, when it ain’t easy

To open up your eyes and say hello to another day

Bring it on,

Serve it up,

‘cause I don’t like the sound it makes

I feel like giving up,

Take it in,

Let it go,

If I get it figured out, you’ll be the first to know

Just a minute, did I tell you that I love you?

Did I tell you that no one can take you place

Make a promise, that if I should go before you,

You won’t let me slow you down, or drop out of the race

Cause you just have to laugh, or you’ll go crazy

You just have to laugh, in between the tears,

You just have to laugh, when it ain’t easy

To open up your eyes and say hello to another day

John Salz - You Just Have To Laugh

On The Porch

It's finally a quiet morning on the porch. Lots of tree work going on down the street this week, lots of chain saws and trucks and yelling....

Right now, no chain saws going, no leaf blowers blowing, no one yelling, no kids screaming or dogs barking...it's totally cool and calm and the only sound I hear is the chorus of birds singing in the new morning!

I feel good right now, and right now is all the life I've got!

Ralphie

God Loves Irony

I'm Gonna Be A Happy Idiot

I'm going to rent myself a house
In the shade of the freeway
I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning
And go to work each day
And when the evening rolls around
I'll go on home and lay my body down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I'll get up and do it again
Amen
Say it again
Amen
 
I want to know what became of the changes
We waited for love to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening
I've been aware of the time going by
They say in the end it's the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
You'll get up and do it again
Amen
 
Caught between the longing for love
And the struggle for the legal tender
Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring
And the junk man pounds his fender
Where the veterans dream of the fight
Fast asleep at the traffic light
And the children solemnly wait
For the ice cream vendor
Out into the cool of the evening
Strolls the Pretender
He knows that all his hopes and dreams
Begin and end there
 
Ah the laughter of the lovers
As they run through the night
Leaving nothing for the others
But to choose off and fight
And tear at the world with all their might
While the ships bearing their dreams
Sail out of sight
 
I'm going to find myself a girl
Who can show me what laughter means
And we'll fill in the missing colors
In each other's paint-by-number dreams
And then we'll put out dark glasses on
And we'll make love until our strength is gone
And when the morning light comes streaming in
We'll get up and do it again
Get it up again
 
I'm going to be a happy idiot
And struggle for the legal tender
Where the ads take aim and lay their claim
To the heart and the soul of the spender
And believe in whatever may lie
In those things that money can buy
Thought true love could have been a contender
Are you there?
Say a prayer for the Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender 

The Pretender - Jackson Browne