Sunday, July 31, 2005

Don't just stand there, bust a move!

JP once said to me, "I try to understand everything in life as if it were a Young MC song."

To which I replied, "Did Young MC have more than one song?"

To which JP responded, "Not really, but it was a whole universe inside that song!"

So on that note, I give you the universe of Young MC, "Bust a Move":
Bust it...

This here's a jam for all the fellas,
Try to do what those ladies tell us.
Get shot down cuz you're over zealous.
Play hard to get, females get jealous.

Ok, smarty, go to a party.
Girls are scantilly clad and showin' body,
A chick walks by, ya wish ya could sex her,
But she's in another world like you was Poindexter.
Next day's function, high class luncheon.
Food is served, and you're stone cold munchin'.
Music comes on, people start to dance,
but then you ate so much you nearly split your pants.
A girl starts walkin', guys start gawkin',
sits down next to you and starts talkin'.
Says she wanna dance cuz she likes to groove,
so come on, fatso, and just bust a move.

You're on a mission,
and you're wishin'
someone could cure your lonely condition.
Lookin' for love in all the wrong places.
No fine girls, just ugly faces.
From frustration, first inclination,
is to become a monk and leave the situation.
But every dark tunnel has a light of hope,
so don't hang yourself with a celibate rope.
New movie's showin', so you're goin',
could care less about the five you're blowin'.
Theater gets dark just to start the show,
then you spot a fine woman sittin' in your row.
She's dressed in yellow, she says hello,
come sit next to me ya fine fellow.
You run over there without a second to lose,
and what comes next, hey, bust a move.

In the city, ladies look pretty,
guys tell jokes so they can seem witty.
Tell a funny joke just to get some play,
then you try to make a move and she says no way.
Girls are fakin', goodness sakin',
they want a man who brings home the bacon.
Got no money and got no car,
then you got no woman and there you are.
Some girls are sophistic, materialistic,
lookin' for a man makes them opportunistic.
They're lyin' on the beach,
perpetratin' a tan so that a
brother with the money can be their man.
So, on the beach start strollin', real high rollin',
everything you have is yours and not stolen.
A girl runs up with something to prove,
so don't just stand there, bust a move.

Just bust a move.
Break it down for me fellas...

Your best friend, Harry, has a brother Larry,
in five days from now he's gonna marry.
He's hopin' you can make it there, if you can,
cuz in the ceremony you'll be the best man.
You say neato, check your libido,
and roll to the church in your new tuxedo.
The bride walks down, just to start the wedding...
and there's one more girl you won't be getting.
So you start thinkin', then ya start blinkin',
a bride maid looks and thinks that you're winkin'.
She thinks you're kinda cute so she winks back,
and now you're feeling really fine cuz the girl is stacked.
Perception's jumpin', bass is pumpin',
look at the girl and your heart starts thumpin'.
Says she wanna dance to a different groove,
Now you know what to do, G, bust a move.

Just bust a move.
Move it boy.

Friday, July 29, 2005

Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

Watching the days slip by so fast
Knowing our fate has long been cast
Working our fingers to the bone
Cause nobody loves you when you’re gone
    -- Garbage, "Nobody Loves You"

Thursday, July 28, 2005

Scourged, gruntled, and racinated.

Self-doubt is good. Makes you stronger.
    -- a scribbling on a post-it from a few weeks ago that I just re-discovered

Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Looking forward to looking back.

Don't let the days go by
Could have been easier on you
I couldn't change though I wanted to
Should have been easier by three
Our old friend fear and you and me
     -- Bush, "Glycerine"
You thought you were so smart
Don't try to stop me when
You told me to start
     -- Elvis Costello, "Inch by Inch"

Sunday, July 24, 2005

A little frisson is no doddle.

The person without a purpose, or a pattern, is the true mystery, no matter how much he talks.
    -- JP quoting Thomas Boswell, the baseball writer

Thursday, July 21, 2005

A simple mistake starts the hardest time.

This could be the very minute
I'm aware I'm alive
All these places feel like home

With a name I'd never chosen
I can make my first steps
As a child of 25

This is the straw, final straw in the
Roof of my mouth as I lie to you
Just because I'm sorry doesn't mean
I didn't enjoy it at the time

You're the only thing that I love
It scares me more every day
On my knees I think clearer

Goodness knows I saw it coming
Or at least I'll claim I did
But in truth I'm lost for words

What have I done it's too late for that
What have I become truth is nothing yet
A simple mistake starts the hardest time
I promise I'll do anything you ask... this time

    -- Snow Patrol, "Chocolate"

Friday, July 15, 2005

The struggle against evil happens every moment.

Henry David Thoreau in 1854 said,
For a thousand hackings at the branches of evil,
it is worth nothing to one strike at the root.
JP has made me increasingly aware that, for the most part, evil is not an active menace embodied in some individuals; it's what happens in moments of weakness, and can happen within any individual at just about any time.

A single evil act can invalidate a lifetime of good, and no contrition can ever change the simple fact that evil happened. Furthermore, intentions don't matter, because evil acts committed with good intentions are evil.

So, the struggle against evil within a person happens moment by moment, every day that person is alive. Eternal vigilance is the price of goodness. And though goodness may be a painful struggle, it is the most worthwhile of all struggles I know.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Quintessential sitzfleisch is tenacity beyond reason.

To whom much is given, much is expected.
    -- Robert F. Kennedy

Sunday, July 10, 2005

The essence of tragedy is peripeteia.

My god, Rifkin, what a deracinated world you live in.
    -- another day closer

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Sacred cows make the tastiest hamburgers.

Look, Rifkin, the Harvard Business Review says we prefer the lovable fool to the competent jerk.
    -- hey now

Monday, July 04, 2005

I put a dollar in a change machine............ Nothing changed.

I can't get my shit together, because my whole job is about not being together.
    -- paraphrasing Irina paraphrasing another

Friday, July 01, 2005

Also Sprach Forellemädchen!!

All painful experiences are good for you.
    -- Forellemädchen as Übermensch, 7/1/2005

In general, people don't know what's good for them.
    -- Kevin Murphy in response to her Übermensching