Hear
1. I like to fall asleep to the sound of the dishwasher running.
2. I used to hate the sound of snoring. My ex often snored, and I'd be like that whiny guy in the old Nyquil commercial, elbowing his wife in the ribs: "Honey, honey -- wake uuup." Now one of my favorite sounds is my dog P. snoring in bed. The bizarre part? I even enjoy it in humans now.
3. Motorcycles make me want to scream.
4. Have you noticed that certain trucks, when they're backing up, sound like the opening notes to "Tainted Love"?
5. One of my favorite songs is Emmylou Harris's "Boulder to Birmingham," just about the most beautiful musical expression of grief I know. She cowrote it after the death of her mentor (and lover? I assume so; I've never been quite able to get to the bottom of that) Gram Parsons. My favorite line: "And the hardest part is knowing I'll survive." *
6. Both of my ears are pierced, but I wear an earring only in my right. I had it repierced three years ago after both holes closed up following an extended period when I wore no earrings.
7. You know you've reached a new stage in life when the barber finishes up by running the clippers over your ears.**
8. One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my father's lap in a rocking chair while he sang the German song "Muss I Denn" to me.*** I don't remember him singing to me any other time.
9. I do a better job of making myself heard through writing than through speaking.
10. It's hard for me to hear people when they tell me I'm capable of accomplishing something that scares me. ****
___________
* I just read a good novel, Case Histories, whose protagonist is also an Emmylou fan. There are several references to this song in the book, but it's repeatedly referred to as "From Boulder to Birmingham," which really bugged me.
** I will never be subjected to this humiliation again, as I started shaving my hair at home several months ago, my expat friend Francis S. will be happy to hear.
*** A Marlene Dietrich album containing this song was on fairly regular rotation on our hi-fi throughout my childhood. (Elvis Presley sang an English version called "Wooden Heart.")
**** I had lunch with my MacArthur genius former boss today. This man has never been anything but kind to, respectful of, and interested in me since the day I met him almost ten years ago. I worked for him for only a little more than a year; being treated like a king was, unfortunately, not enough to mitigate the fact that I was utterly unsuited to and bored by the job. Years have gone by when we haven't seen each other, though we've been in more regular touch in the last year or so. Anyway, today I told him about my biography project. Yes, I know I haven't blogged about that in months. That's because I haven't worked on it in months; my main excuse is that the condo hunt has distracted me. You've all been very polite not to bug me about how it's going (or even what it's about, which I still don't think I want to reveal in this public forum; nice how I want to have it both ways, huh? -- support and secrecy!) But some of you -- cough cough, Beth -- were in fact supposed to be bugging me about it! Anyway, my former boss was very, very encouraging today. I felt sheepish, almost foolish, telling him about it -- at the same time that I was dying to tell him about it -- because he is an award-winning former investigative reporter and producer about ten years my senior, and as kind and respectful as he is, I always feel a little . . . well, not worthy. But like I said, he was hugely encouraging and offered some good advice. I thanked him and told him that I felt lucky to know him, and he said, "I feel the same about you." Did I hear him? Did I believe him?
2. I used to hate the sound of snoring. My ex often snored, and I'd be like that whiny guy in the old Nyquil commercial, elbowing his wife in the ribs: "Honey, honey -- wake uuup." Now one of my favorite sounds is my dog P. snoring in bed. The bizarre part? I even enjoy it in humans now.
3. Motorcycles make me want to scream.
4. Have you noticed that certain trucks, when they're backing up, sound like the opening notes to "Tainted Love"?
5. One of my favorite songs is Emmylou Harris's "Boulder to Birmingham," just about the most beautiful musical expression of grief I know. She cowrote it after the death of her mentor (and lover? I assume so; I've never been quite able to get to the bottom of that) Gram Parsons. My favorite line: "And the hardest part is knowing I'll survive." *
6. Both of my ears are pierced, but I wear an earring only in my right. I had it repierced three years ago after both holes closed up following an extended period when I wore no earrings.
7. You know you've reached a new stage in life when the barber finishes up by running the clippers over your ears.**
8. One of my earliest memories is of sitting on my father's lap in a rocking chair while he sang the German song "Muss I Denn" to me.*** I don't remember him singing to me any other time.
9. I do a better job of making myself heard through writing than through speaking.
10. It's hard for me to hear people when they tell me I'm capable of accomplishing something that scares me. ****
___________
* I just read a good novel, Case Histories, whose protagonist is also an Emmylou fan. There are several references to this song in the book, but it's repeatedly referred to as "From Boulder to Birmingham," which really bugged me.
** I will never be subjected to this humiliation again, as I started shaving my hair at home several months ago, my expat friend Francis S. will be happy to hear.
*** A Marlene Dietrich album containing this song was on fairly regular rotation on our hi-fi throughout my childhood. (Elvis Presley sang an English version called "Wooden Heart.")
**** I had lunch with my MacArthur genius former boss today. This man has never been anything but kind to, respectful of, and interested in me since the day I met him almost ten years ago. I worked for him for only a little more than a year; being treated like a king was, unfortunately, not enough to mitigate the fact that I was utterly unsuited to and bored by the job. Years have gone by when we haven't seen each other, though we've been in more regular touch in the last year or so. Anyway, today I told him about my biography project. Yes, I know I haven't blogged about that in months. That's because I haven't worked on it in months; my main excuse is that the condo hunt has distracted me. You've all been very polite not to bug me about how it's going (or even what it's about, which I still don't think I want to reveal in this public forum; nice how I want to have it both ways, huh? -- support and secrecy!) But some of you -- cough cough, Beth -- were in fact supposed to be bugging me about it! Anyway, my former boss was very, very encouraging today. I felt sheepish, almost foolish, telling him about it -- at the same time that I was dying to tell him about it -- because he is an award-winning former investigative reporter and producer about ten years my senior, and as kind and respectful as he is, I always feel a little . . . well, not worthy. But like I said, he was hugely encouraging and offered some good advice. I thanked him and told him that I felt lucky to know him, and he said, "I feel the same about you." Did I hear him? Did I believe him?
posted by Billy at 12:05 AM
2 Comments:
when boy was born, his cry was nearly identical to a honda motorcycle. no other baby in the nursery sounded like that.
i have tons of problems hearing that i'm competent or even good at something. the best i've been able to do is bite down on my cheeks and hope i don't draw blood.
who is that dragqueen in the photo?
Post a Comment
<< Home