Update!

I'm quite pleased with that MacDre CD I found last week! Turns out I was right to give it its first listen in the car. It's a blend of old-school grooves and some new beats and tweets that make it perfect for cruising through town (or Parking Lot 5). Only a few songs were scratched; unfortunately "Thizzle Dance" was among them. I'd been wanting to hear that since my second second year at SPSV.

"California Livin" is really good because he spells out V-A-L-L-E-J-O and comments on typical traffic conditions, explaining that they're "never on time, always late, on the Bay Bridge or on the Golden Gate." and the song about Hyphy is supremely catchy!

The strongest track, though is the first one, "Chevs and Fords", a duet with another artist, L'il Bruce. A bit disappointing to learn that MacDre was the "Chevy man", but the classic polemic as discussed here gives both models fair representation and it's good to know that car songs are still being made. "Chevs and Fords" is head-noddable and would probably sound cool at a stop light streaming out the window of something other than my Toyota.

Bulb out…escucho. Posted by Valerie | Under autoblographical Monday Apr 27, 2009

As if I needed any more ...

What are you doing?

140

Latest: Still thinking, ¡Lavender Honey gelato! ¿How can that even be? about 11 hours ago from web

1. ValerieHechtStill thinking, ¡Lavender Honey gelato! ¿How can that even be?about 11 hours ago from web
   
   
   


2. ValerieHecht¡Lavender Honey gelato! ¿How can that even be?10:13 PM Apr 24th from web
   
   
   


3. ValerieHechtdoesn't usually comment on the weather, but today is captivated by its dramatic, almost tempestuous shift in behavior.9:23 AM Apr 23rd from web
   
   
   


4. ValerieHechtLas tontas no van al cielo y sin senos no hay paraiso, ¿o sea...?9:27 PM Apr 22nd from txt
   
   
   


5. ValerieHecht+15 points for wearing greens and browns on Earth Day -25 for the green imitation crocodile skin shoes (I hope they're imitation...)6:11 PM Apr 22nd from web
   
   
   


6. ValerieHechtBeing home more often gives me a view of the life of my dogs, who hold court at the gate daily, receiving more visitors than I do in a week.8:46 AM Apr 21st from web
   
   
   


7. ValerieHechtNot suprised by a Haraway moment during the run today, summitting Mariposa Ave. (elev. 52) as the iPod Shuffle cued up the theme from Rocky.7:40 PM Apr 20th from web
   
   
   


8. ValerieHechtDe un extranjero lo menos que puede esperarse es que conozca su literatura. Un compatriota tiene siempre otras calificativas. -Salvador Novo10:22 PM Apr 18th from web
   
   
   


9. ValerieHechtTrying to summon my inner Dorothy Parker in order to come up with a sufficiently twitty remark for my Twitter debut.7:27 PM Apr 16th from web
   
   
   

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Valerie Hecht

ValerieHecht
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I made the colossal mistake of stepping on the scale this morning.

The resulting number occasioned the lamenting protest, "¡Noooo! ¡Ni meeeeerga!"

Heaving my girth off the scale, I gave it a slight kick. "Chinga tu madre, güey..."

I could almost hear it thinking, "Huevona tú. Back off, gordita, I'm not the one who went to all-you-can-eat Oriental Buffet last night and loaded up exclusively on dessert shrimp..."

"I'm just wondering..." she began.

"What would happen if, instead of pouring yourself a glass of wine to relax when you get home, you made yourself a cup of herbal tea?" A few beats of silence. "Well?" she gestured, prompting me to answer.

"Oh!" I finally reacted. "That wasn't a hypothetical question!"

I so much want every part of my life to have an esthetic, an appeal to one or more of the senses...

...that I was tempted to just leave this morning's beautiful and fragrant spill of the entire container of lavender oil & sea salt body scrub where it lay on the travertine floor.

Ran 42, Vallejo-style

I had thought about going to the water front, but decided not to; it would be too crowded at that time and I didn't really want to drive. Besides, if I ran in the neighborhood, I wouldn't have to carry anything in my hands and could maybe start working on something approximating a stride. Almost immediately, I started to get a sideache, so I used Jack's cure; I picked up a rock that fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. The sideache either disappeared or the heat distracted me from it.

Twelve minutes in I encountered another distraction in a little round piece of local history. I was on a different route, part of it being Mariposa Ave. from where it tapers to a footpath on the North side downhill to Tennessee. Off to the right, in the weeds, I spotted a shiny purple CD with the label, "Mac Dre" written neatly in black Sharpie. I ran past it, appreciating the Vallejo moment. A few seconds later, I had pang of regret, so I turned back and picked it up. It wasn't very scratched. I plan to listen to it in the car on the way to work tomorrow. It's about time I actually heard some MacDre after several years of hearing about him.

At minute 17 I saw the most beautiful wheel cover I've ever seen. I think it was chrome and had a botanical design. I picked it up. It was light as a feather and looked like it might fit the Toyota. I realized how excellent it would be to have one wheel cover different the other three.* I really wanted to take it home. But I didn't have room in my hands and I didn't want to carry it for the remainder of my supposed-to-be hands-free run and besides, I felt bad, knowing that someone might really miss it. So I propped it up on the tree on the corner and finished the run, feeling like a good citizen, which was a better feeling than figuring out a stride would have been.

But now I kind of miss that wheel cover...I bet it's still there.



*Actually, the ideal would be to have all four hubcaps different. From each other.

"If a child lives with..., it learns..."

That poem (?) just popped into my head today during the second part when I was lying face down. I couldn't remember any of the words, specifically, I just remember the contexts, ranging from hate to love and their consequences, ranging from negative to positive traits. I am disappointed that I'm not one of those people, like Profe Sam or Carlos Monsiváis, who can still recite poems learned in childhood. But its image certainly came clearly to mind, the red and blue ink, the font, the cartoon children. I read it over and over while waiting in a doctor's office for check-ups. Also, it must have been everywhere in the 70's. Someone had given my parents a poster of it, and it hung in my room for a while. I also remember seeing it the house of Donna Snodgrass, nurse practioner and much more sage than most of the M.D.'s she worked with during her many years at IHS. I forgot to tense up against the massage the muscles that most needed it as I recalled that small bird-like woman and her daughters. I wondered what had become of them, if Donna is still here...

As the massage advanced, the names and faces of other wise women I knew as a child came to mind. I want to try to write their portraits in later blogs; it's important to remember them and the examples they set. I don't think I'll ever be one of those wise women... (among many reasons) I am, by nature, too urban, or at least have become that way and I think that the cities can sometimes distance and distract us from nature of all sorts. Certainly, I don't mean to imply that there are no city-dwelling wise women. There are. Their wisdom is just...different. But it seemed to me that the wisest seem to have some connection to the earth, to healing, or they work with children, like the women I knew on the rez and thought about today. I hope that I have learned and accepted from them some of the knowledge and other good qualities they transmitted, consciously or not.

I know I haven't left the country.

Tiffany Diner

Tiffany Diner Exterior

But New Jersey just feels like a whole different land. This place embodies the music from the 50s and 80s. It's a place where people seem so orderly, as though they pack away Winter clothing, storing it properly when Spring gets here and replacing it with more seasonal apparel. Hair is just trimmed or styled more neatly here. The pizza is the shit and I'd say there's a diner culture.

Oh, and yes, every fifth person I see does look a character from The Sopranos.

"You have a big day coming up. Make sure you eat a good breakfast," they said.

So I made coffee and put it in my Free Heel and Wheel mug and made my first stop the coffee shop so I could get a ham, egg and cheese sandwich and eat said good breakfast in the car. I was happy entering the coffee shop because the line was short and I got to order from my favorite cashier. She says "hon" and "sweetie" and is even shorter than I am. And I like going to a coffee shop in the morning when I'm wearing business formal. I feel all competent and urban and professional clacking up to the counter in my high heels.

Cashier: Wait a few minutes. I'll heat it up for you. So, I haven't seen you in here in a while...

Me: Yeah, I've been better about making stuff at home. But I don't every day, so I'll still be coming in sometimes.

Cashier: Good. Sorry, but I have to ask - what's with that outfit?

Me: (smiling) Oh, I have a job interview later this morning!

Cashier: As...what?

Me: An adjunct instructor. At the university in Sacramento.

Cashier: (gaping, mouth open slightly) Uh...?

Me: You know, like a professor, except that I'm not really one since I won't have finished the PhD by the Fall. And it's only a part-time, temporary position.

Cashier: (long pause as she contemplates me) Look, I know I don't know you well enough to tell you this, but...you can't wear that to an interview.

Me: (wtf?) Why not?

Cashier: Even if you're not a professor - yet- and even if it's a part-time temporary job you need to wear something more...something less...Hon, if you go in like that, they're just not going to take you seriously.

Me: What could be more serious than pinstripes?

Cashier: (wtf?) The skirt's great, but -

Me: Oh, the jacket to this suit is in the car.

Cashier: Well, still. I'm pretty sure a t-shirt isn't appropriate for an interview at a university. Even with a jacket over it. And besides, it's April 9, for God's sake!

No, I didn't wear the St. Patrick's Day theme t-shirt to the interview. In a fit of misguided foresight I put it on to protect the light blue shirt with the lace-trimmed neck in case I spilled coffee on myself. But in hindsight, I'm not sure wearing that t-shirt with the skirt, even with the cowboy boots I'm wearing with said shirt and skirt combination right now could have possibly made it worse...

"I haven't felt this good since the last time I felt this miserable,"

I thought, barely into the first run after a 3-day hiatus.

6 de abril

I always read the introduction, sometimes twice. I read it before starting the text and again at the end, but sometimes in the middle. Today, (April 6) I wanted to look something up, so I flipped backwards through the pages of El Zarco by Ignacio Manuel Altamirano and found this cite by the scholar who'd done extensive research on Altamirano and his short novel:

"El Zarco La nota que aparece al final del manuscrito de la novela El Zarco, que hemos tenido oportunidad gracias a la amabilidad del ingeniero Marte R. Gómez, que nos ha facilitado el valioso ejemplar de su biblioteca, dice: 'He concluido esta novela a las once y veinte minutos de la noche del 6 de abril de 1888.'"

So, at 11:20, this little novel will be 121 years old!

I don't usually like to start with "I don't usually like..."

But sometimes I do things I don't usually like to do.

I don't usually like to blog about blogging, especially about why I didn't blog for the past howevermanydays because I know my reader is not hanging on every word. But I realized after several days away from it due to constricts of time and mood that I miss it if I don't.

I don't usually like to cry at weddings, but I didn't mind it this time because I could cover my eyes with a camera.


I don't usually like to speak before the internal editor, monitor and affective filter have done their jobs. But sometimes I interrupt because I want to show how interested I am in someone and what she or he is saying. And other times, I must be defensive. And others, I must be testing the waters...will I be pushed overboard if I say what I think? And others times they must simply be tired from working so much overtime.


I don't usually like to throw around terms like "monitor" and "affective filter" outside of discussions of language learning and/or acquisition, but they seem to work so well in referring to the interpersonal when I think of the way I try to relate to others. However, my monitor and affective filter don't work exactly the same way those of language learners do. I usually use them to protect my listeners' affects, not mine.

I don't usually like a sweet coffee drink firstfirst thing for breakfast, but sometimes I do and besides, I reallyreallyreally like having coffee drinks with my friend who bought me one this morning! Somehow the special coffee drink was more festive.

I don't usually like to use other people's sophisticated electronic equipment. Actually, I don't usually like sophisticated electronic equipment in general. But I am now seriously crushing on the Nikon D70 and the Canon D40 (or is that the other way around or did I just pull those numbers out of the side of my head despite having been told them less than 24 hours ago?). And Garmin is just charmin'.

I don't usually like to get pulled into work "drama". Oh, wait. I don't like it this time, either.

I don't usually like to "shush" anyone other than my students, and even then, only during class. But if groups persist in talking after being asked for their attention by someone I care about, I will not hesitate to use my teacher voice anywhere with anyone.

I don't usually like to dance with a partner. But sometimes I need others and others need me.


I don't usually like to light the strings of lights or candles that I have in every room of the house because I feel that the occasion has to merit it, that I have to deserve it...and, of course, sometimes deep down I don't think I'll ever deserve it. But now, I put on both a candle and a string of lights in the upstairs bathroom just to have them on as I showered for the second time today. ( Yes, I expect a crack or two about my showering being an occasion that "merits it!")

I don't usually like to blog so personally about myself. But it does happen...

Guest Blogger #7, or "It's my blog and I'll use nepotism if I want to."

Lucky reader, I'm even lower on ideas than usual. So I'm pleased to post some thoughts by Eric. And yes, we're related - by the "Power of the Great State of Montana...", but he is much more "brother" than "in-law". I asked Eric to write something about music because it's something we discuss often and he has a lot to say about it!

Thanks for writing for String of Lights, Eric!

1.I’ve been interested lately in how people balance work and other life activities. As a nurse you care for lives all day/night at work. What kinds of activities to you like to do when you’re not at work?

My balance between work and life are a bit different from others, in that I work 12 hour shifts, 3 a week to be precise 0700-19:30+, plus the occasional meeting and training/educational hours. They can be any day of the week, but fortunately after 21+ years, it doesn't involve nights anymore. This means the days i work are pretty much shot for anything else, however, I will occasionally go to the gym afterward for 45 min. of weights. Unfortunately, I have had an ever-worsening perception of work as a disgusting, yet effective way of making money, therefore I concentrate on the days I don't work.
Which segues into my non-workdays. Since I live 20+ miles outside of Billings I usually try to stay at home. These last 2 days I have been rather worthless, dinking on the computer and watching TV shows I recorded for the last 2 weeks. The stupid satellite dish has been a real mixed blessing; I never used to turn on the TV before 5 p.m. before. When the weather is more pleasant I like to go out for walks with the dogs, jogs and biking around here, and if I want to get real alone I go SE of here a few miles and may never see another soul for hours while exercising. Sadly, with a foot problem I have had since June, it has curtailed my activities a lot.
Otherwise, much of my life is wrapped up in my kid’s school activities; in small town Montana the schools are the heart of the community. Sadly, my youngest is a senior this year and a huge part of our life will be changing. It has been something that Laurie and I have been really wondering and sometimes worrying about, with this fall coming up.
Photography is one of my other interests, passions, and sometimes frustrations. I enjoy photographing about anything, except people and portraits in particular. Fortunately, most people I know hate having their picture taken anyway. I love photographing animals, drag racing, air shows, but those things are not that available most times, however, sunsets here are and I love them also.
I also enjoy listening to music, got Pandora on right now in fact, but more on that later. Needless to say, my ipod is my best friend; car, home, gym it is always with me.

2. It’s my belief that you are someone who should start a blog (perhaps about music!). When? And if not, why?

I saw a t-shirt that said, "More people have read this t-shirt, than have ever read your blog" So, I kinda of doubt anytime soon. I do love your blog Val, but I hate typing and rarely feel witty or cleaver or relevant and my writing style and maturity is about on the level of a junior high kid.
Also, a blog for me personally, has a lot of mixed feelings. Part of me believes in the t-shirt slogan, yet there is something compelling about doing one. Laurie had noted that there has been a disconnect with people and families over the last 100 years, both due to technology and the perception that the home is a refuge, not a neighborhood meeting place. People still want to talk and express their thoughts and feelings, but modern society and peoples own paradigms have kept them from doing it more personally. In essence, I really want to tell people what I think and believe they really care and will be enlightened, but the pessimist in me knows, most really don't give a rat's ass and there is really nothing new under the sun. Narcissism vs. real psychological need?
Yet, another reason, I once posted on Facebook a political position summary of my beliefs, while being sick of all the election BS. My first observation was not many people read it, fine with me. Then I noticed that most of the people agreed with me. However, I wound up shocking a few family members and kind of upsetting them. That is when I leaned perhaps it is best to keep my opinions to myself. Or to quote Karl, "Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, and they all stink".

3. Music has always been a part of your life. You play an instrument and you listen extensively to a variety of genres. Your post is about music, so I’ll limit my questions about it in order to avoid repetition. But I can’t resist asking this one: If you could pick your “theme song” for this moment, what would it be?

Karl often thinks it should be "Imagine" done by A Perfect Circle as a funeral dirge, not John Lennon's song of hope and there is truth to that, however, this week I think I would pick, "Time", by Pink Floyd. When Jacinta was here last week showing photo albums to a friend of when the girls where young, it dawned on me (again) how little I remember of those days.
"You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today. And then one day you find, 10 years have gone behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun".
Just to make Karl happy, here is my other favorite line, "Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way". And sometimes "my way".

4. Anything else you’d like our reader to know?
I absolutely love music and have much in my life. And while, it is quite boastful, I do in fact have the most eclectic and coolest music collection of anyone known. Ha.

Thanks for answering my questions! Um...blogs are supposed to be witty, clever, relevant and/or express opinions? Crap. String of Lights must have been absent the day they taught that in Blogging 101. OK, then, on to your post!

O.K., time for a music blog. I had a lot of different Ideas on this over the past few weeks and came upon a great idea last week. Why not write up on every five star song in my itunes collection? Mind you only about 40 songs out of over 5600 songs earned a coveted 5 star rating. Alright, I can tell you why, it would take me days, it would ultimately only be entertaining to me and bore the hell out of the readers and Val would have to seriously rethink the whole guest blogger concept. And really, such a manifesto should be done on my own blog, that no one with a life would read, but it would without a doubt, amuse me to no end.

So, how about this, two songs that have fascinated me this week. First, from the soundtrack to "Grand Canyon", the ending song. Up front, I must say, the movie sucked and I hardly remember a thing from it. Let me take you back to somewhere in the mid 90's shortly after getting a 4 head stereo VCR and pumping it through my big ass stereo was a great pastime of mine. I discovered that not only did jets and cannons make for cool noises, but that there were a number of great music scores at the that time. "Robin Hood", "Hunt for Red October" and many little know ones, such as "The Year of the Comet" and Elmer Bernstein's "Slipstream". Anyway, I would often record these mini masterpieces from the VCR to my cassette recorder and listen to them in the car or at home. Well, I finally found one of those cassettes recently and converted it with a neat machine I got for Laurie a few years ago. So here is how it goes, VCR to cassette to c.d. to computer and then to my ipod. Ain't technology great? Anyway, back to the song, it is only about 2:12, but has the most kick ass brass since the Rocky soundtrack. And unlike the crappy itunes remake I had to do with for years, it has a real choir and trumpets that are not pushed beyond their capabilities. The song has an almost roman fanfare feel to it, but I will quit trying to describe it with my limited vocabulary and just say, it is awesome.

Last night I was watching some shows (pre) honoring Metallica being inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. First thoughts, what took them so long, if you have seen a list of losers and nobodies inducted before them and it really makes you wonder who is behind all this? Next I should admit, that while I do like Metallica quite a bit, they wouldn't even make my top 10 list. However, I got to see the video for "One" for the first time in many years and it brought back memories of when I first saw it back in the end of the 80's. Honestly, I didn't like it much, it kind of scared me actually, yet, I would watch it every time it came on MTV, (remember when music television actually played music)? Their sound was so harsh and buzzy, and very mean spirited. Lars the drummer would crack me up with the fierce facial gestures he had through the whole thing, why was he so angry? A few years later, during my music dark ages, (the 90's), I bought "And Justice For All" and started understanding the appeal of this nasty head banging stuff. "One" has such a sad, yet strangely melodic beginning, which fully realizes the frightening concept of James's growling lyrics to follow, basically being a self aware corpse, that a war has used and abandoned. Then come the slowly escalating and ascending guitars with inpatient drums just dying with anticipation to do their machine gun bass pedals. The guitars then join in, without mercy, assaulting everything that is right and holy with powerful blasting chords, forcing even the meekest of people to start slowly bobbing their heads, turning into full out banging. Just when you think you get a rest, Kirk then goes into one his most blazing guitar solos ever and then it is back to the head banging that changes it's cadence and key unpredictably and suddenly, just ends.......... that is when you remember to breath with a relieved, but stuttered inspiration.

Wow, that was fun, I wrote all that while listening to the song (and then did a lot of editing and cleaning up). Alright, this took hours for me to write and type, but it was worth it, at least this time. Thank you Val, for letting me blab, and making this quite possibly one of your longest blogs.

Respectfully,

erc