The Christmas Break Friday Random Ten

I went today to Wrigley Field to pay my respects to Ron Santo, who was my favorite Cubs player when I was a kid. I'll post about that soon.

I finished my semester. I was a bit pissed that I missed a B-- the last rotation was brutal. But when I discovered that more friends had dropped out, and that a few more were only barely able to stay in the program, barely squeaking out a C, because of the final and the standardized test we took, I stopped my bitching. I'm sad for the ones who dropped out, and glad for the ones who stayed in. And I'm glad that I'm heading into my last semester.

On the good side-- my folks called today and offered me the money to finish school. They discovered that they needed to start drawing from their 401k, since my dad turned 72 this year, or they would start paying penalties. I agreed to accept the money as a loan.


I had a wonderful evening with my kids, who have been troopers about the time they've missed with me for the last two years. My wife didn't seem to quite understand why it's important to do the annual gingerbread house with them. But we did it, and the Christmas tree as well. I've come to realize that for a guy who was dead set on not having kids as a young guy, I've thoroughly enjoyed being a parent.

So I have five weeks off of school. I need to start hitting the books to get ready for the NCLEX, the nursing boards. I need to spend some time with some old friends who I've missed time with. I need to spend some time with my kids. And I need to blog. To that end, I've started using a little present I got from my med-surg clinical instructor, Ms. B. (the crazy French lady who is a great teacher, and who I was able to get again for this semester's med-surg rotation)-- she handed out little presents like these for good critical thinking, getting good scores on quizzes, etc. I carry this little notebook around with me all the time and now write down topics for blog posts when they pop in my head. And god willing and the creek don't rise, I'll make time to post, because I've sure missed it.


1. He Can't Love You- The Michael Stanley Band
2. Madame George- Van Morrison
3. You'll Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)- Bob Dylan
4. My Conviction- The Soundtrack From Hair
5. Simple Twist of Fate- Bob Dylan
6. Both Sides Now- Judy Collins
7. Hail! Hail!- Ike Reilly
8. Use Me- Bill Withers
9. A Pirate Looks At Forty- Jimmy Buffett
10. New Gun In Town- The dB's

Notes:
1. I never noticed this one-hit wonder back in the eighties, but heard it on satellite radio a couple of months ago and loved it.
2. There's a story about Phil Ochs drunkenly tearing a sink out of the wall of the Troubador in LA when Van Morrison didn't play this song, a favorite of his.
3. In the Dylan "Biograph" box set, Dylan is quoted about this song something along the lines of "About a relationship where you're lucky to come out without a broken nose."
4. I finally treated myself to the cd of the Broadway soundtrack to Hair, an album I grew up listening to (my dad's copy) on vinyl. I love this song, rationalizing the gaudy stylings of male hippies, pointing out that the males of most species are more flamboyant than the females.
5. A haunting song from Dylan's post-marriage-breakup album, "Blood On the Tracks."
6. This one repeated from last week-- not that it's a bad thing. One of my favorites.
7. A great song from some hometown guys who namecheck some other hometown heroes.
8. One of those songs that reminds me of an old lover.
9. Jimmy Buffett gets written off as a party guy, but this song is bittersweet and introspective. And as this pirate looks at fifty (the same week as I finish nursing school), I think about this song a lot.
10. From "Like This," one of the great albums of the eighties.