It was great getting back to school. I wasn't able to get the instructor I had last semester, so I took my old friend Marty's recommendation and signed up for the instructor he had. It was a good recommendation; I can tell that she and I are going to get along fine. She's got a great combination of rigor and humor.
It's fun being in class with Marty. He was one of my good drinking buddies back in the day-- 20 years ago we used to hang out at the Gingerman Tavern, just down the street from Wrigley Field. These days, we're settled down-- both married, both changing careers. And it was good to see my old classmates. There's nothing like the camaraderie of school to bond people.
All last semester, the school kept trying to figure out the schedule of a series of computerized practice nursing board tests. We were all getting a little nervous about it all. On Wednesday, we finally had the first of them, on Critical Thinking. It was 30 questions, about prioritizing care, ethical questions and problem-solving. We had one hour and fifteen minutes to take it. I was done in 15 minutes. The guy who runs the computer lab allowed me to print up a PDF with the report on how I did and put it on my USB memory stick. I'd brought my laptop, so I went into the hall to open up the file and look at it. We needed to get at least 800 of a possible 1000. I got a 940. I guess I'm doing something right.
Tonight I'll take a break from the books. I'll run and pick up my son at 5 and then Bubs and Mz. Bubs are dropping by for cocktails tonight. We might have to break out the Rock Band and show them how it's done.
1. Only Wanna Be With You- Hootie and the Blowfish
2. Tulsa Time- Don Williams
3. Eugene- Crazy Joe and the Variable Speed Band
4. Sundown- Gordon Lightfoot
5. Ballad of the Little Man- World Party
6. Here Comes A Regular- The Replacements
7. God Save The Queen- The Sex Pistols
8. I Want You- Bob Dylan
9. Memories Can't Wait- The Talking Heads
10. Just Another Sunday- The Blasters
1. I know they're fluffy pop, but I love this song. I'm always amused by the two Dylan references in this song, both songs from "Blood On The Tracks;" "Idiot Wind" and "Tangled Up In Blue."
2. Eric Clapton had a hit with this song. I prefer this version, by the guy who wrote it.
3. This one got a lot of airplay here in Chicago in 1981-- it's a hilarious song about an idiotic oaf trying to pick up girls with the worst lines ever. I don't think it ever made it into digitized media. A few years ago, I pulled it off of the lp, which I still have, and digitized it myself.
4. This song is about Cathy Smith, the woman John Belushi was partying with the night he died. Lightfoot had had a relationship with her.
5. From "Private Revolution," one of my "desert island" albums.
6. The normally raucous Replacements getting reflective.
7. Ah, to be young, loud and snotty...
8. From "Blonde On Blonde," another one of my "desert island" albums.
9. "There's a party in my mind/And I hope it never stops..."
10. Funny-- "Little Honey," which was also a John Doe/Dave Alvin collaboration was on the shuffle last week. They played this one when I saw their reunion show in 2002, the night I became Dave Alvin's favorite Blasters fan
5 comments:
No Johnny Cash?
While in college, two of my good friends were in nursing school, and they can some wild stories about instructors and patients. They were also walking zombies from sleep deprivation by graduation.
Congrats on school and all.
Funny, Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" may be the one I like best of these at this moment. But it's all good'
Is it telling that I can't remember what "Memories Can't Wait" sounds like, even with your lyrics help? Time to break out the Talking Heads and remember what I can't.
Say hey to the Bubses!
I've heard a lot of criticisms about Hootie and the Blowfish but he has a couple really nice ballads that I love like Time and Goodbye.
I've been on a Talking Heads binge lately. I love their lyrics.
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