153/365 Taxman

I opened a letter from the IRS this morning. They think I owe them $5K.

I don’t. I have til August 1 to prove it. I have a call into my accountant, but he’s a part-time resident here, and I’m leaving town tomorrow for 9 days.

This is so annoying.

Here’s the Beatles’ ode to the taxman.

152/365 Blackbird

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise

It was 50 years ago today that Lennon and McCartney met, according to Deloney and other celebratory sources.

Here’s a not-quite-polished take of bird song.

151/365 That’s All Right (Mama)

Mama she done told me,
Papa done told me too
“Son, that gal your foolin’ with,
She ain’t no good for you”
But that’s all right, that’s all right
That’s all right now mama, any way you do

According to Writer’s Almanac, Elvis Presley recorded this Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup song 53 years ago today.

150/365 Stream

Yesterday Sioux and Aidan kidnapped me. We went to a kid’s play at the Weston Playhouse with Jerry and Roger, then back to their cabin to spend the night.

Their cabin is mere feet from the Utley Brook. Roger built a screened-in porch, and there’s a futon couch on it. Guess who went to sleep last night, under at least five blankets, to the sound of the stream?

This is not something I got to do in my childhood. It’s part of the childhood I wish I’d had.

And I finally got to see about a quarter of Roger’s 365 portraits. Yum.

149/365 Movin’ On Up

I like reggae. I do. But it turns out I like it in small doses.

I went ice skating yesterday. It was great. There was hardly anyone there. But—as had happened on a previous occasion—the satellite radio was set to some reggae station, so I had to listen to it for a full hour.

Reggae’s just a little too slow (and dare I say monotonous, in the true single-tone sense of the word?) for skating, although every now and again a more lively tune would appear in the queue. An interesting one was a reggae version of “Movin’ On Up,” the theme song from the 1970s (and ’80s) sitcom, The Jeffersons.

I tried to find out who did the cover I heard yesterday, but I still don’t know for sure. Marley’s son Ky-mani has a song by that title, but it’s rappy—not it. It’s possible it was by Beenie Man, but I can’t find a sample. It was interesting, though, kind of fun.

Still, I would have skated a lot faster to the gospel choir version.

148/365 Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day

Well, do you ever get the feeling that the story’s
too damn real and in the present tense?
Or that everybody’s on the stage, and it seems like
you’re the only person sitting in the audience?

Today the ice rink opens for 6 weeks. With any luck at all, I’ll be there this afternoon for the first public skate. Not in the audience.

But I could be an audience for this Jethro Tull song.

So as you push off from the shore,
won’t you turn your head once more
and make your peace with everyone?

147/365 Waiting in Vain

I don’t wanna wait in vain for your love
’Cause if summer is here
I’m still waiting there
Winter is here
And I’m still waiting there.

This Bob Marley song has been in my head this afternoon for no apparent reason. Maybe I felt I was waiting in vain for a song to post.