Understanding the non-country music lover: can it be done?

2002-10-14 - 1:31 p.m.

I've recently gotton on to a blues/bluegrass kick. I saw that John Mayer is doing a show with Nickel Creek. Oh man, wouldn't that be fun? Unfortunately that's in New York in November. I just don't think I can swing it. I am also somewhat disappointed to discover that the Sean Watkins' (of Nickel Creek) song, "Let it Fall" is not actually sung by Sean. He's playing all the awesome background music, but it's actually Glen Phillips (formally of Toad the Wet Sprocket) singing. I love music where they play *real* instruments. The world could do with a few less electric guitars. And synthesizers? Woah, glad I didn't really listen to music in the 80's, those things should definitely be used sparingly. Of course I'm not totally against these things. There are exceptions to almost every rule.

I've been trying to think of country songs for beginners. I think I'm not very good at judging what music people will and will not like. For example, I know several people who claim not to like country music but enjoy Alan Jackson's "Little Bitty." I would never guess that. I don't really like that song. Oh well. So wanna hear the list I've come up with so far? Well, for Steve who enjoys George Strait's "Cross my Heart," I might also recommend, "I Get Carried Away." I'm also going to go out on a limb and recommend Garth Brooks' "The Storm" and "Mr. Midnight." "Mr. Midnight" actually has quite a bit of slide guitar in it, which I've often heard people refer to as "that whiney thing" in a non-complimentary manner. Also maybe "Tell Me I Was Dreaming" by Travis Tritt and "Look at You Girl" by Chris Ledoux. Ah well, it's so hard to figure. I mean, how can you really understand a person who doesn't enjoy country music? Maybe it's because people don't realize that country singers have a sense of humor. I'm currently enjoying "These Days" by Rascal Flatts, "Til Nothing Comes Between Us" by John Michael Montgomery, and "Beautiful Mess" by Diamond Rio.

Owie, my hand hurts. I managed to shave off a good portion of skin yesterday while I was at work. All so some poor kid wouldn't have a fever. The nurse called me looking for some APAP for this kid and I noticed it had been ordered quite a bit earlier and she said this was the third time she called (and this was a nurse I like, not one of those bitchy ones who will say it is the third time even though it's the first time and they haven't even *looked* for the med yet...) so I decided to take care of this personally instead of asking one of the techs to do it as is usual. So I pulled the pills off the shelf, and stuck them in a baggie. We have a pneumatic tube system to send stuff all over the hospital, so I put the baggie into one of those tubes. But then I had a problem. I couldn't get one of the latches to latch. So I pushed harder and harder until eventually *WHAM* it flipped shut and my hand slid across it and off came a chunk of my thumb. It was disgusting. There was a whole tissue sample stuck in the latch. Anyway, I happen to work in a place with plenty of medical supplies so I slathered it in antibiotic ointment (who knows where the heck that tube has been, I'll probably end up with some multi-resistant organism in there) and stuck a band-aid on it. Owie!

You know, I've had this dermatology condition for ever and ever. It's not a big deal at all. It's just there. Once, when I was probably in 6th grade, my bro had to go to the doctor for something and so I went along. While I was there, my mom asked the doc about my skin. The doc looked and diagnosed it as "nothing." Well, today I discovered what it is! Self-diagnosed, of course, but I'm totally certain. This is not me being a hypochondriac. Yes, I have keratosis pilaris. (By the way, mine is not nearly as bad as the case shown in the picture there.) So now that I know what it is, I can actually treat it! I just have to find out if these things are OTC or if I'd have to get Dr. Bertakis to prescribe something. You'd think as a pharmacist, I'd know. But I'm really weak on my dermatologicals. *Sigh*

I had some really strange dreams last night, wanna hear about 'em? I don't remember much of them. In the first one I was on an airplane with my mom and brother. The plane hadn't taken off yet. We were just taxiing out to the runway, getting ready to take off. Then as we started speeding up for take off, the engine on the left wing fell off and exploded. I was sitting by the window so I saw all this. I said, "Woah, did you see that??" I wasn't actually in the next two dreams. I was just watching, like a movie. The main character in my dream was a boy who looked a lot like Harry Potter. He was swimming in the ocean with his mom and little sister. All of a sudden a big shark came up and grabbed his sister in its mouth. The boy swam out and started beating on the shark with his fist to get it to let her go. In the third dream, the Harry Potter boy was the main character again. He was in a museum or a zoo or something and there was this display with lots of little cages stacked on top of each other. Inside the cages were little people and little horses about two inches tall. Harry was feeding them little chunks of tofu.