Karaoke in the Cantina

Meredith and I went out to get Mexican food at our local Mexican restaurant (by local, I mean we drove 'bout 25 miles). The place was packed (note to self: never go there on a Friday evening). A mariachi band was making the rounds going from booth to booth playing hits like the macarena (shudder). After we had sat down, they stopped playing because it was now karaoke hour.

The first woman wasn't so bad. She did a rendition of Journey's "Faithfully." Then some dude sang "Runaround Sue." And then some awful singer sang something I didn't recognize.

This lead me to think about some awful choices for karaoke songs:

1. "Ziggy Stardust" by David Bowie.

2. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" by Donovan.

3. "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zepplin (can you imagine how long you'd have to be up there to perform this?)

***

Years back, when I returned to my hometown from college, a group of former high school classmates and myself went to the local watering hole, Rusty's Pancake and Steak. Rusty's had a karaoke night on Fridays. If you know anything about my home town, you'd know that Rusty's was the place where all the cowboys from the outskirts of town descended for drinks and talk. The air was quite thick with testosterone and steer smells. Anyway, cowboy after cowboy got up to sing country songs. I had a crush on one of my classmates who was quite crazy. She wanted to go up and sing Abba's "Dancing Queen." I, of course consented because 1) I was stupid and 2) I was buzzed. So we got up on stage and the words to the song are flashing on the monitor. The cowboys in the audience are glaring at us, like we've ruined their evening, and I'm thinking to myself, "There's a beer bottle over there on the ledge. If I can get to it and crack it open, I'll have a ready-made shiv if I need to fight my way out of the bar." None of that was necessary, of course. The cowboys were quite civil and after the song things went back to normal. I got the hell out of the bar as soon as I could. As for the girl, she went home with a cowboy.

***

Bathroom remodeling update: We painted our last coat yesterday. We start on the flooring some time this week. I returned a bunch of piping because our contractor neighbor devised a short-cut for our plumbing. I don't know what the hell I'm doing as far as plumbing goes. To me, it's even more frightening than electrical work. Anyway, once we get the flooring done, the sink and the toilet will follow. We're almost done and the bathroom looks so much better. No more carpeted bathroom floors!

***

I have no poems. They're all out. I suppose I could write some, but I'm not exactly in the mood.

I have some news

. . . which I wish I could share. I'll say this much: the news is good.

I suck. Believe me, you'll be happy when you hear about it.

***

We have completely gutted the master bathroom. I've learned a few new things 'bout plumbing, too. I've learned lots of things about wax toilet rings, toilet flanges, couplings, and L joints.

Meredith took great pleasure in tearing down the box for the flourescent light. She also rejoiced as she peeled back the nasty orange carpet. Like I said, we had carpet in our master bathroom. That issue has been remedied.

Now we've got to figure out why the shower's still leaking before we sand blast the shell. Sorry to be boring you with homeowner crap. It's been on my mind lately.

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There's something about getting a manuscript picked up that stimulates new creativity. It's almost like you try to fill the void vacated by that previous obsession. This past year after hearing about my 2nd manuscript, I got fired up about a new project and wrote lots of newer pieces. I'm only talking 'bout this now 'cause I just did some paper work for a grant I'm applying for. Anyway, all told, this new project has 'bout twelve poems so far. More will come. I can feel them churning in the back of my brain.

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I can't wait for AWP!