Note of the Living Deb

"Those kids these days, ..." We are so lucky to have them. I bet they have protest songs, but I haven't kept up with the times. Here are some ancient ones that I like. Just move along if you don't want to cry.


"American Woman" - Guess Who
(I can't find a better recording of this short version, which is the version I like.)

Disillusionment with the US that's so strong they are leaving the country.

I don't need your war machine.
I don't need your ghetto scene.
Colored lights can hypnotize:
Sparkle someone else's eyes.


"Ohio" - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

The incident at Kent State University where the National Guard shot at student protesters.

What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?


"Indian Reservation" (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian) - Paul Revere and the Raiders

Against colonization.

They took the whole Cherokee Nation,
Put us on this reservation.
Took away our ways of life,
The tomahawk and the bow and knife.
Took away our native tongue,
Taught their English to our young.


For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield

We need to listen to each other.

Young people speaking their mind
Are getting so much resistance from behind.
It's time we stop. Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look what's going down.


Johnny Half-Breed - Peter La Farge

On racism and diversity.

Johnny started searching until he tracked the child.
Carried her in his half-breed arms out of the forest wild.
He was a hero for a day. They asked him to remain.
They said they learned their lesson, that all people are the same.
(Missing the whole point--people aren't the same, and that's a good thing.)


"Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" - Pete Seeger (Richard Shindell's version)

When powerful people ignore facts right in front of them even when making decisions that affect many.

The Sergeant said, "Sir, are you sure
This is the way back to the base?"
"Sergeant, I once crossed this river
Not a mile above this place.
It'll be a little bit soggy but we'll keep on slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were waist-deep in the Big Muddy
And the damn fool kept yelling, "Push on."


"Everybody's Crying Mercy" - Bonnie Raitt

About crazy hypocrisy. Things are even worse now; I never hear the word mercy anymore.

I don't believe the things I'm seeing.
I've been wondering about some things I've heard.
Everybody's crying mercy
When they don't know the meaning of the word.

Peace Train - Cat Stevens

And on an optimistic note: peace is possible.

Oh, I've been smiling lately,
Dreaming about the world as one.
And I believe it could be
Someday it's going to come.

Do you have any favorite protest songs you would like to share during these trying times?

I'm a little jealous--I mean admiring--of my friend P_J_Cleary who updates here daily. So what's up with me?

I recently received my county's notice of appraised value. It's 10% higher than last year's. That's actually very good news because Zillow thinks my house is worth 44% more than last year. And that's even good news because last month's Zillow estimate was 48% more.

Actually, I'm just now noticing that the appraisal isn't for now but for January 1 (when Zillow's estimate was--oh--still 33% higher).

**

This year I've decided to do this thing I've heard about where you only itemize your deductions every other you, and you clump those deductions into every other year. For me this means that this year I will hold off on making my charitable contributions and paying my property taxes until after January 1 and I will take the standard deduction. That will be just a little lower than my usual deduction.

Next year I will make my charitable contributions and and pay my property taxes before the end of the year. That should lead to a much higher itemized deduction than usual.

**

UT System has challenged us to walk 10,000 steps per day or the equivalent for five days per week (by which they really mean 50K steps per week) for the six weeks starting on May 1. The UT System branch that does the best will get to possess the coveted traveling trophy for one year. Heh. So motivating. But we also get free pedometers. I'll say more when I have my 1-week update, but so far I'm meeting my goals.

Also, I found out one of my chickadees is also participating. Today I did that quick-draw thing that Indigo Rose and I like to do where we compare the numbers on our pedometers, but she wasn't wearing hers because it made a big lump in her outfit. (I'm too sexy for my pedometer.) So she's submitting an estimate today.

**

I tried the Trader Joe's canned chili. It's too sugary for Robin, plus it has beans. And it tastes too much like vegetables to me and is too spicy. Bell peppers and jalapenos. Bleh.

**

I'm on my third try for party-grade double chocolate banana bread. The first time I followed the recipe exactly. Which turns out to mean I changed almost every ingredient, but they were all small changes which I feel sure don't matter. It came out delicious but too crumbly to be party grade.

So then I tried just adding cocoa and reducing the flour in my own banana bread recipe. Not as yummy.

Then I tried reducing the baking soda in the original recipe because supposedly when you use regular cocoa instead of dutch processed cocoa, the bread rises too much and then falls. The bread was still delicious. And still crumbly.

Then searching for "crumbly" in the hundreds of comments for the recipe, I found someone who recommended subbing oil for half the butter. But when I told Robin, he recommended adding an extra egg instead. Eggs are called binders, after all--and that certainly sounds like a cure for the crumbles. So I have two more possible experiments lined up.

**

We started watching two new (to us) TV shows. One is "Community," about a bunch of people in a study group at a community college. After two episodes, we like most, but not all of the characters. We'll watch more. The other one, I forget what it's called, is about a gal who discovers a group of women who all look like her and are trying to find out why--but who are also getting killed off. Also, she's switched places with one of the dead ones. Stressful. But gripping.

**

Speaking of stress, my computer got replaced at work and has all updated software so I have to re-learn how to use things again. At least I got rid of the surfing wave backdrop which at first seemed pretty, but quickly began to feel like impending doom.

**

I have collected all of the mushrooms in Plants versus Zombies without having to buy any. I still need many of the land plants and two of the three water plants.

Song of the Day - "You Are My Sunshine" by "Jenny and Lottie." They can't help smiling too much during this rendition that shows you how creepy it is (just like the Civil War's version does), but they sound really good.

Did I really used to post every day? Do people like that?

Today's goals: apply for the half-time job and do one other yucky thing on my list. Well, I applied for the job. That's good. But I felt extremely lazy today.

Still I did accomplish another important task on my list: I watched a movie my sister had recommended and which I need to get back to the library. I wasn't too crazy about "Mamma Mia!" though I did enjoy seeing the guys made up to show how they had looked 20 years earlier.

But that movie did teach me that I really like quite a bit of the song "The Winner Takes It All" by ABBA and even by Meryl Streep. Of course I've heard it many times, but I've never really paid attention to it. Most break-up songs are pretty over-the-top about how life is over without another person or about how another person is really horrible. But this one is just about how every new relationship is a risk. How will it turn out? (And of course every time until the time it works out is another time that it doesn't work out.)

The game is on again:
A lover or a friend?
A big thing or a small?
The winner takes it all.

I especially like this part:

I don't want to talk
If it makes you feel sad,
And I understand,
You've come to shake my hand.

That's how it really is. Switching into handshake mode is hardly a tragedy. But it sure doesn't feel good sometimes.