Please make it stop
Someone at the market was having a fit of nostalgia this morning – Toto, Supertramp, Styxx, Little River Band and Chris Cross all came across the speakers as I shopped for lunchies, and now I can't get that awful tune out of my head: "... So lady, I think it only fair I should say to you, 'Don't be thinking that I don't want you, 'cause maybe I do.'"
These old songs also seeped into my reptile brain and floated out a memory I hadn't thought about in years. A smell, really – the smell of a little rectangular tin of strawberry lip gloss I had in about seventh grade. I bought it at the co-op, one of the first "crunchy granola girl" kinds of purchases I can remember ever making, and in my memory at least it took decades or even centuries of careful rationing before I'd finally used it all up. But what came up with that Lady song was a memory of using the empty tin as a container for my own homemade lip gloss, consisting of vaseline, beeswax (gnawed off a little votive candle I had lying around for some reason) and peachy pink lipstick shaved off the edges of one of those little tiny pale green plastic Avon sample tubes. I put the ingredients into the tin, and melted them under the bulb of a little red metal goose-necked desk lamp, stirring gently with a toothpick or paperclip (I made several different batches, over the years).
I had that tin for a really, really, really long time, and it always smelled like strawberry lipgloss.
In other news, I read this very good advice in one of my favorite magazines today about dealing with the toxic people in our lives. I like what he has to say about dualistic thinking, too: "If you think in terms of black and white, good and evil, you are not working well with yourself; you are closing something off in yourself." This tradition offers such compassionate, insightful and practical ideas about how to live – as compared with so many threatening lists of rules and "thou shalt nots" – I come away feeling positive, hopeful, refreshed and excited to get out there and engage. Two other resources I get a lot out of are the Shambhala Sun and the Turning Wheel. I don't really think of myself as a Buddhist, but like I said – there's good stuff here for anybody.
Finally, I was going to try to post some links to ukelele music today, but don't have any in my iTunes that I'm allowed to share – so instead I offer this, which features the kazoo and banjo. Plus, it's kind of about dogs! And anything is better than that "Lady" song.
Bow Wow Blues
These old songs also seeped into my reptile brain and floated out a memory I hadn't thought about in years. A smell, really – the smell of a little rectangular tin of strawberry lip gloss I had in about seventh grade. I bought it at the co-op, one of the first "crunchy granola girl" kinds of purchases I can remember ever making, and in my memory at least it took decades or even centuries of careful rationing before I'd finally used it all up. But what came up with that Lady song was a memory of using the empty tin as a container for my own homemade lip gloss, consisting of vaseline, beeswax (gnawed off a little votive candle I had lying around for some reason) and peachy pink lipstick shaved off the edges of one of those little tiny pale green plastic Avon sample tubes. I put the ingredients into the tin, and melted them under the bulb of a little red metal goose-necked desk lamp, stirring gently with a toothpick or paperclip (I made several different batches, over the years).
I had that tin for a really, really, really long time, and it always smelled like strawberry lipgloss.
In other news, I read this very good advice in one of my favorite magazines today about dealing with the toxic people in our lives. I like what he has to say about dualistic thinking, too: "If you think in terms of black and white, good and evil, you are not working well with yourself; you are closing something off in yourself." This tradition offers such compassionate, insightful and practical ideas about how to live – as compared with so many threatening lists of rules and "thou shalt nots" – I come away feeling positive, hopeful, refreshed and excited to get out there and engage. Two other resources I get a lot out of are the Shambhala Sun and the Turning Wheel. I don't really think of myself as a Buddhist, but like I said – there's good stuff here for anybody.
Finally, I was going to try to post some links to ukelele music today, but don't have any in my iTunes that I'm allowed to share – so instead I offer this, which features the kazoo and banjo. Plus, it's kind of about dogs! And anything is better than that "Lady" song.
Bow Wow Blues
2 Comments:
Toto, Supertramp, Styx!? I love all those bands. You forgot REO Speedwagon. When I was trying out for the high school choral performing group, the song was "Happy Anniversary, BAby, got you on my Mi-ind!" by the Little River Band. I can even still do the required choreography.
Excellent post!
Thanks to you, I have my very own copy of "Bow Wow Blues" and all the other fantastic tunes on that CD.
I love it.
A couple of those bands that conjured up the smell of the strawberry lip gloss had those castrati (OK, countertenor) lead singers. What was up with that? There were a lot of them. That guy from Rush has a super high voice, too.
Here's what that era makes me think of smellwise: Love's Baby Soft and Love's Fresh Lemon, both of which came in very phallic bottles.
Hmmm. The late '70s. A weird time.
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