saturday morning music. actually, this is better suited for a lonely friday night.
all you need is a loose-stringed guitar and a kick drum. and that voice.
Mercy sakes. That woman scares me. She sure don’t smile much. Not that she should be smiling at her brother’s funeral, but she can hardly muster even a polite smile.
She got a little bit of her daddy in her. At least what I seen of him when I first got locked up at Estelle. He was always kind of quiet and respectful, but George had a side to him, mainly if the guards tried to give him any grief. They was bought and paid for and he let them know. Sometimes with just a look. I can see that in her.
Didn’t even know he had a daughter. It’s a curious thing he never mentioned her to me. Course, looking back, I can see that he only talked about his boy cause he came to visit now and then. But she was her daddy’s girl. I can see that, in spite of how she feels about him now. Reckon I can understand her feelings.
There’s a little something that’s not quite right. She’s ailing in some way. I can see it in her eyes. And she’s a little twitchy. But that ain’t the worst of it.
She got that dark speck growing in her. It’s the way she talked to me. I’m a aggravation to her. She’s bitter at George and I’m part of that. Fair enough. But I can tell she’s lonely, too. Been lonely for a while, if I’m guessing right. No man with her, not even at her brother’s funeral. That’ll put you in a bad way. Not that she couldn’t have a man if she wanted. Maybe she don’t want it. Maybe she had enough of men. Bad husband, maybe. Bad father. Don’t know much about the brother, but I’m guessing there was something there, too.
It ain’t too late, though. Maybe she’ll soften on George. Maybe soften on life a little. I can tell she was a looker in her day. Still got enough to attract a man. The right kind of man. I been without for a long time now and I know that cloud of lonely. But that woman’s not for me. She scares me. I need a woman that can give me some gentleness. A woman that I can sit with on a porch swing and listen to the crickets. A woman that can take hold of today, live in the moment and not be ate up with the past or fretting about the future.
That Heather, I’ll pray for her. Pray that she finds some relief from her demons. Maybe she can forgive old George. Maybe she can find her smile again.
from the novel Heather Girl
Darnell, also known as Booger, has just met Heather
copyright 2020, joseph e bird
my latest obsession. where da beat go?
speaking of twenty one pilots, i love this song and video.
twenty one pilots’ Tyler Joseph playing the old Elvis song on the uke. It’s cool and it’s sweet.
I just bought a ukulele. What kind of music do you think of?
Hawaiian music? Tiny Tim?
How about Eddie Vedder?
Kind of looks like Hawaii, but it’s definitely not Don Ho.
Or this.
Yeah, the ukulele is cool.
I ran today for the first time in a couple of months. Last November I started having some soreness in my right knee. I cut back, but the soreness persisted. So I tried some cross-training. Went out on my bike. But then winter came, so I joined the local gym to continue my rehab. Hours on the bike, some leg extensions and curls, and every now and then, a few minutes on the treadmill. Leading up to today.
It’s a cool 50 degree day. A little bit of sunshine. Perfect for running. I only did two or three miles and my knee was getting a little sore by the time I finished, so I know I’m not finished with rehab. Still, it was good to get out there again.
I hate the gym.
I hate the Precor bike. I’d hate the Peloton bike. Not that they’re not effective. I get a really good workout and I like that I can program different courses to ride.
But even with that, it’s so boring.
I play music on my phone when I’m riding indoors and I need music with energy. I’m a big Foo Fighters fan so that’s what I started out with. And you know how Pandora is. Those darned algorithms. Next thing you know I’m listening to Nirvana, the great grunge band of the 90s. I was never a big fan, but I’ve come to dig their music. I’ve even learned the opening guitar riff to Smells Like Teen Spirit. Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters founder and front-man, was the drummer for Nirvana, so that’s the connection.
Then I’m hearing Weezer. Pandora’s nudged me into the new century. Then Jimmy Eats World. Fun, high-energy music. Then I guess Pandora figured I need a cool down. So it’s The Reason. Nice song. By a band called Hoobastank.
That’s got to be one of the best names for a band.
So I went around the next day asking people if they remembered Hoobastank. I got a lot of laughs, but nobody knew what I was talking about. When I played the song, they usually remembered.
I asked Lexi at Coal River Coffee. She knew right away. A song was playing on their sound system. Who’s this, I asked. The Fray she said without hesitation. I like Lexi. She knows her music.
Go buy some coffee from her. And get out on the road and put in a couple of miles.
If that Nirvana video was a little too much for you, watch this Weird Al parody.
“Get busy living or get busy dying.”
— Andy Dufresne, from The Shawshank Redemption, screenwriter Frank Darabont. Based on the short story, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, by Stephen King.
Joseph E Bird 