The "Back To School" Friday Random Ten

My long break is just about done. I go back to school on Tuesday-- it's delayed one day because Monday is Martin Luther King Day.

I feel very ready to go back. I realize how much I had to decompress-- what a year 2009 was. Just as I started nursing school-- and spending money hand over fist on tuition and books, Kim got laid off of her job. She went back to work in November, but we're still scrambling to get caught up.

In May, I was in an auto accident. I walked away from it, but looking back, I realize how shook up I was, particularly since my son was in the car. And though the other guy's insurance company issued a check for most of the value of my car, all the other little costs bled me just when we couldn't afford it.

And finally, I sat through some of the trial last summer of the guy who murdered my friend Mark "Atwood" Evans. He was actually being tried for killing one of his accomplices in the robbery in which Mark was killed, but it felt like justice when he was sentenced to 75 years without parole. It was cathartic to see this guy told he was going to spend the rest of his life in prison, and it gave me some closure.

In the meantime, I'm eager to get back to school. I wasn't able to get my teacher from last semester, I was, though, able to get another teacher who I keep hearing raves about. And even better, I finally found out where my clinicals are this semester: the University of Chicago Hospital, one of the best in the country. I'll have a new teacher, a new clinical location and a new set of classmates to get to know and adjust to, but I'm excited about it.

1. Hong Kong Garden- Souxsie and the Banshees
2. The Wall- Johnny Cash
3. Everybody Knows- Leonard Cohen
4. I Don't Know Why- The Rolling Stones
5. Too Many Bad Habits- Asleep At The Wheel
6. Summer Days- Bob Dylan
7. Little Honey- The Blasters
8. Beyond the Horizon- Bob Dylan
9. Nothing Is Wrong- Gomez
10. Sugar and Spice- The Cryan' Shames


Notes:
1. From the fabulous "No Thanks!" collection of seventies punk.
2. A prison tale from Johnny Cash.
3. One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite artists.
4. I've been discovering a bunch of old Stones songs that were off the beaten path thanks to Little Steven's Underground Garage, including this one. Pretty funny that this one came on in the shuffle right after the Cohen song. Everybody knows, except me.
5. A funny song from a great live album, "Served Live" that these guys did in the late seventies.
6. From the great "Love and Theft" album.
7. Written by Dave Alvin and John Doe (from X). Originally on the "Hard Line" album, now available on "Testament," a collection of everything the Blasters did for Slash Records.
8. Another more recent Dylan song, from "Modern Times."
9. These guys had a great record and a song that got a lot of airplay (this one)-- and their record company dropped them. And the record industry wonders why it's in trouble.
10. A hit from a group that hailed from Hinsdale, Illinois, a suburb southwest of Chicago.