stuck in my head

This song is stuck in my head from the drive up here (to Dallas). If you want to know the truth, I listened to it over and over and balled like a baby. But I'm hoping that if I write it out here, then it will get stuck in your head instead of mine. I'm listening to classic rock with the windows rolled down on the way home! Anyone ever seen this white girl car dance?

Long Ride Home
by Patty Griffin

Long black limousine
Shiniest car I've ever seen
The back seat is nice and clean
She rides as quiet as a dream

Someone dug a hole six long feet in the ground
I said goodbye to you and I threw my roses down
Ain't nothing left at all in the end of being proud
With me riding in this car, and you flying through the clouds

I've had some time to think about you
And watch the sun set like a stone
I've had some time to think about you
On the long ride home

One day I took your tiny hand
Put your finger in the wedding band
Your daddy gave a piece of land
We laid ourselves the best of plans

Forty years go by with someone laying in your bed
Forty years of things you say you wish you'd never said
How hard would it have been to say some kinder words instead
I wonder as I stare up at the sky turning red

I've had some time to think about you
And watch the sun set like a stone
I've had some time to think about you
On the long ride home

Headlights staring at the driveway
The house is dark as it can be
I go inside and all is silent
It seems as empty as the inside of me

I've had some time to think about you
And watch the sun set like a stone
I've had some time to think about you
On the long ride home

listen to a sample of it here

happy new car day to me!

I am now the proud owner of a new 2006 Ford Fusion SE. She is Dune Pearl Metallic, V6, 6-Speed Automatic, 221 hp, has a million and 1 bells and whistles, and we're in love. She's got incredible gas mileage and isn't scheduled for her first tune-up until 150, 000 miles. I see a great future ahead of us. She's my graduation gift (a little early) from Gran and Poppy, and Mom and Dad. I didn't see this one coming... for real.

I mean, I did kinda try to make a deal with my dad before I started college. I was in the middle of applying for 20+ scholarships, when I thought that a fun incentive for fully-funding college might be a new car when I graduated. Dad said "sure," with a laugh. Mom wouldn't shake on it. The deal was dead, or so I thought.

I promise to get pictures up of my new baby as soon as I get home from Dallas. I'm up here thanking Gran and Poppy in person. Give me a call when I get back, and I'll take you for a drive!

for writing's sake

My best friend Bart is one of the most annoying people on the planet. Every time I see him he asks the same annoying question, knowing full-well he's going to receive the same answer though clenched teeth, "No, Bart! I haven't written anything new lately!" Then, to top it all off, he has the nerve to ask for a new piece of writing from me as his Christmas present! Geez!

My best friend Bart is one of the most incredible friends a person could ever ask for. I am so blessed to have him in my life. Yes, he annoys the hell out of me-- but that's because he knows me so well. The reason this blog has been so bare, the reason I haven't written lately in journals or on napkins or on anything, the reason I submitted old pieces instead of new ones to last semester's writing contests is that I received a hard blow, and I crumbled. So, in perfect Bart fashion, he listened patiently, nudged lovingly, then kicked my sorry ass up off the ground.

I am no longer going to receive special honors at graduation. I removed myself from the program. This is a completely separate matter from me not writing anymore, for the most part. But somewhere in the battle I fought for the last month with the English Honors department, I got it stuck in my head that I sucked and shouldn't even try to write. So I didn't. But I didn't even realize that this is why I wasn't writing. I told myself (and everyone else, for that matter) that I had nothing to write about and that I'd write later. Bart saw through the act, asked the hard questions, figured it all out, and then he kicked me.

Thanks, Bart. Keep it coming.