The "How Did I Get This Old" Friday Random Ten

Had a hell of a week at school. I'm waiting for the whole cardiac thing to fall in place in my head. SA nodes, V-Tach, Atrial Flutter, etc. I expect it to happen sometime Monday afternoon or so.

I'm enjoying this clinical rotation, despite the fact that it's causing me to be even more sleep-deprived than usual because of the combination of work and clinical schedule-- close the restaurant late, then up at 5:30 am. Have Ms. B., one of the best teachers I've ever had (I had her last semester, and was fortunate to be able to choose my schedule to get her again.) Yesterday was annoying; had to work with the most annoying classmate ever in history, and a nurse who was high-strung beyond belief. Still, it's all good. Thanks, Ms. B, and thanks to the other classmates.

In the meantime, my son's turning 17 on Monday. Trying to get my head around that, and also the fact that I'm done with nursing school in 9 weeks.

We celebrated my son's birthday by going down to a favorite restaurant down in Chinatown, then coming home and watching "Napoleon Dynamite." I was reminded of the day, nearly 17 years ago, that the most terrified guy in the world drove his girlfriend's car home from the hospital with a girlfriend he hardly knew, and a day old baby in a car seat in the back. And I'm reminded of Bill Murray's line Lost In Translation, as the character "Bob Harris," who says

"The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born...Your life, as you know it... is gone. Never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk... and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life."

And they have.

1. Stratford-On-Guy-- Liz Phair
2. Mean Mr. Mustard- The Beatles
3. Wild Horses- The Rolling Stones
4. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds- The Beatles
5. The Mansion On The Hill- Bruce Springsteen
6. The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns- Phil Ochs
7. Born In Chicago- The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
8. The Stripper- David Rose
9. No Feelings- The Sex Pistols
10. That's Entertainment- The Jam

Notes:
1. From "Exile On Guyville." Liz must have been in my social circle, from everything I've read about this record, but I don't remember meeting her, let alone dating her. So I can't be one of the asshole ex-boyfriends she's singing about on this album. Not that I wasn't an asshole then.
2. From the great second side of the "Abbey Road" album. Back when there were second sides, or records, for that matter.
3. One of my favorite songs to play on guitar. The Sundays, who are best known for "Where The Story Ends" did a lovely version of this one.
4. Love the story of this song; everybody thought it was about drugs because of the initials. It was just about a picture John Lennon's son drew of his friend Lucy at school.
5. From Mr. Springsteen's "Nebraska" album. If there was a more beautiful song than this one ever written, I have yet to hear it.
6. Ochs was best known for his political songs, but wrote some power songs about tragedies that moved him. This one was written from the point of view of a sailor on the Scorpion, a US nuclear sub that was lost in the Atlantic in 1968.
7. My parents used to go see the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the mid-sixties at Big John's, in the Old Town neighborhood, where we lived. Love this song and album.
8. Anybody around my age remember the shaving cream commercial this one was used in?
9. The Sex Pistols only recorded one album. But why record another when you got the first one right?
10. Rumor has it that The Jam were who the Clash were making fun of in "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" ("They've got new suits and Burton suits....")