Well, we all made it to the weekend. LOTS to do. The next month or so will be insanely busy and wildly fun. Much music to be enjoyed and the summer concert season hasn't even begun.
Going to tell another story today. This weeks 100 Word Song Challenge has Lance and Rene picking an old classic song by Steely Dan. For newbies, the challenge is to use the song as a prompt... either the title, lyrics or imagery, and write a story, poem or laundry list in exactly 100 words.
The pick this week is "Dirty Work"
"At nine years old Emmie hated her life.
She could smell her mother’s perfume and knew why she was
wearing it. She also knew it would be another night of watching her five year
old brother. Which bar would it be this time and which man?
Emmie followed her once, to see where she worked. At first, her
mother’s job seemed exciting. Drinks and cigarettes and men being attentive. Much too attentive. Horrible men were touching her, kissing her... still, she smiled. But
her smile lied as much as her tongue. She was not a hostess. She was a whore."
Unless you are both extremely talented and extremely lucky, the perks of being a writer are generally not the ones that buy you a new house, or a winter vacation in a wonderful tropical climate. Nope. For most of us it's a few comments from readers who like your stuff, and an occasional pat on the back from fellow writers. Some of those compliments mean more than others.
Then once in a while someone asks you to do something fun. This week Lance from myblogcanbeatupyourblog asked me, yes me, to pick out the 100 Word Song Challenge. Now crazy music people like Lance and me have thousands of songs bouncing around in the empty space where those brain cells we've killed off, used to reside.
There is a lot of pressue in making this decision. I write a music blog, my choice could have major ramifications. lmao. Choosing a song to just listen to is a lot different than choosing one to use as a writing prompt. So after much thought and consideration, I came up with an old favorite of mine, and apparently an old favorite of Lance too. Go figure, the classic rock queen and the prince of punk actually agree.
From the 1992 album Rites of Passage, the song is "Galileo" from Indigo Girls. While the song is about reincarnation, verse by verse it can go in a hundred different directions. Usually for these challenges I try to take the road less traveled, but this time I'm going with the obvious.
In 100 words, Galileo
“It’s just déjà vu all over again. Something your mind makes
up, it’s not real.”
Misty stared at Franco, “How can you be so sure?”
“Because, it’s an illusion.”
Misty shook her head. “What if it’s like that movie, you
know Groundhog Day? What if you keep doing it, over and over, and when you get
to where you screwed up, bang… that’s when you remember, that’s your déjà vu.”
“Honey, ya got one shot at life, then you’re worm food.”
“Yes, worm food to a worm to…”
“A stripper on a pole. So what were you last time around?”
Starting to catch up on my blog writing and hopefully you've been enjoying some of the musical choices. None of us has the same taste in music, so I never expect everyone to like everything I feature. But it's still a good thing to listen and hear different styles and genres. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not good. And even though it might be good doesn't mean you should like it. Baby, that's what musical taste is all about.
So being I was a busy girl this week, I thought I'd jump into the 100 Word Song Challenge again. This week Lance and t, two of my favorite writers of the moment (trust me they could be on my shit list in a heartbeat) got together to choose a band so universally adored, I don't know anyone who doesn't like at least some of their music. The band is The Clash and the song chosen is "Car Jamming," an interesting choice to say the least.
100 Words with the song used as inspiration.
"Car Jamming"
Nothing could beat turning 360’s in the Torino
while Jimi wailed out “Crosstown Traffic.” Lying in his sweat-soaked bed,
Danny cried at the memory. It was the last good day of his life. The day before
his draft notice took his future and later his legs.
Now it had taken his mind.
Through the drug haze he saw the old movie on TV while
checking the cylinder. What was her name… she was married to Bogie. She had that line “Just put your lips together
and blow.” Danny smiled at the irony as he put his mouth around the barrel.
For those who haven't read Kat's Theory of Life, a quick catch up. Family matters have crept into my brain, my sanity and my time. Spending a lot of time with a family member in the hospital has left we with not a lot of writing time. My apologies for not posting some new or old fascinating music, along with some information about it. Hopefully next week I can get back to a little more normalcy. But just to throw out a little something, and it is definitely something new, I give you another installment of Lance's 100-Word Song Challenge. 100 Words is about my energy limit today.
Today we have a selection from Deana, wife of Sir Lance. He said she wanted to pick the song and because she's a good kisser, he let her have her way. I think there might have been a little more of having their way with each other...but that's a story for another day.
Deana picked a country song... not usually my strong suit, but it is actually a band I have heard about. A brothers/sister trio from Tennessee, originally from Mississippi. They have won Grammys and have been nominated or won virtually every country music award.
The song is a wicked song of everlasting love...or obsession. The name is "Better Dig Two."
My 100 Word interpretation...
Four men waited beneath the surface while the thirty above
pondered their options.
Only a partial collapse, but the extent of damage was
unknown. Henry had seen worse in terms of volume, but the wild card was always
the air. Was it breathable, was there enough to sustain the three workmen and
the OSHA inspector who picked a real bad day to visit.
“Henry, the cave-in’s midline, they could be at either end
of the tunnel. What do we do?”
The engineer knew time was the enemy. “Can’t chance it.
Bring in the second drill. Tonight, we better dig two.”
Because the artist picked in this week's 100 Word Song Challenge is an artist I've had on the list to showcase here on Kat's Theory of Music, and because word on the street is that he blew the doors off of Madison Square Garden the other night at a benefit for fighting teen cancer, it seemed as good a reason as any to enter the challenge again.
The artist for the day is Elvis Costello. It's been far too long to not have one of his songs featured here. The song for the challenge is "Brilliant Mistake."
For today's story, I thought I might combine a little history lesson as well. And even though it didn't happen quite like this, there is some fact behind this fiction.
I take you all to the wine making region of France, sometime in the late 1600's.
Today alone, nineteen bottles burst. The monk worried. With
another shortened growing season the fermentation problems had continued. They
could not stop the bubbles from forming.
The friar from the nearby Abbey burst through the door,
barely containing his joy. “Dom Perignon, word comes from England. What
we believed to be bad vintage is now the toast of London nobility. More, more, they cry.”
Hardly believing his ears, the monk rubbed his chin and spoke
to his friend “We still have much work. The bottles, the wood stoppers… they
must be changed. Perhaps these bubbles are not nature’s mistake. ”
Well, well, it has been a busy week hasn't it? It's a new year, still filled with all the same crap, but wide open in the possibility department.
Because he is busy getting his novel ready for publication (aren't we all), Lance has asked his lovely wife Deana to handle the duties this week for the 100 Word Song Challenge. Apparently, Deana with three kids, a job, a household and her own writing, is still able to take up the slack left by her husband's absence. Imagine that.
Deana has chosen a song that I can never listen to without tears filling my eyes. The song is by the late Dan Fogelberg, and there are several of his songs which have that effect on me. He was one great songwriter. A perfect choice to end off the holiday season, this weeks challenge is "Same Old Lang Syne."
A bittersweet song, remembering an old love, the what ifs and the road traveled. Beautiful phrasing, haunting melody and the feeling we have all gone through these emotions. You can't tell a story in a song much better than this.
For those unfamiliar with the challenge, we take the song as a prompt and write a poem, story, conversation, anything, but it must be in 100 words exactly.
Same Old Lang Syne
"BFF’s. Always.
For almost thirty years, they had spent the
last night of the year together.
Jules knew this New Year’s Eve would be
different, had anticipated what it would be like,
and was sure it wouldn’t be a
big deal.
She was wrong.
She was his best man. He was her everything.
She was happy
for his new life; it was hers she mourned.
Sooner or later she would become…insignificant.
David’s wife was already glowing,
three more months and a child would further
redefine their friendship.
Shivering, she walked alone as the snowflakes met the tears
on her face."
Just like most of you, this was a very busy week for me. Lots of work, writing, errands, shopping and even a little partying. But there's still time to get in a 100 Word Song Challenge. This week Kathryn picked the tune for Lance. A new song by an indie band called Hey Rosetta, the song is called "Carry Me Home." As always, we use the song as a prompt to write a little something in exactly 100 words. This post also fits into the Studio30plus prompt for Headache.
Read the words then listen to the song, or listen to the song then read the words.
Sonny picked his aching head up for the third time with the same
result. The room was still spinning, maybe worse than before. What the hell had
happened? Sure drinks were flowing, but booze never hit him like this.
It was Christmas Eve and he shouldn’t be here. He was
already skating on thin ice with Celia, and if he didn’t help put the toys
together, he might be swimming in cold water come the New Year.
He saw that Charlie and Pete were still standing. “Hey you
guys. I gotta get home, even if you have to carry me.”
