Welp...McCain pulled through, and Hillary came back in New Hampshire tonight. Meh... Too bad for Obama, as that momentum he had going seemed like it'd carry through in NH. Oh well...the reckoning day will really come out on Super Tuesday. So long as Huckabee (who admittedly plays the "nice guy" role quite well) doesn't pull another win I'm cool.
Swim season started again for me tonight and boy fucking howdy what nearly a month will do to my abilities. I felt like I couldn't move water at all. It was sad really. I suppose I can attribute some of this to the fact I am suffering through the one cold I get all winter (so I talk all nasally...go figure I had to teach a couple classes today to n00bs too...love those 1st impressions!) The good news is that all the lifting does seem to pay off as I felt like I had more horsepower. Once I get my technique and stroke back in order, we'll see how that plays out. Some duel meets in February and then the Winter state meet are all I have going on race-wise.
Other than that, pretty uneventful day. I bought out Target's supply of men's crew socks after swimming. One of my biggest problems in life is that I wear the fuck out of my socks (quickly)...and my supply was in critical mass. This oughta keep me in order at least until summer.
It is good to be swimming again though...we didnt' have a very hard workout today...just more of a "get ready to get rid of all the fat you put on over the holidays" preamble sorta thing. So I'm not going to bed totally KO'd yet...but I feel it coming.
The song The Living Bubba has been stuck in my head all night (instead of any number of Tom Waits songs I bombarded Jo with last night and/or Filth Pig stuff). For the non Drive-By Truckers fans who don't know the lore behind that song (I'm guessing that's all of you), Patterson wrote it about a guy he knew back in the late 80's that was dying from AIDs but continued playing shows all the way up until a couple days before he died. Some shows they'd have to prop him up and stuff because he got so frail. Nevertheless, the imagery in this song reminds me of my days playin shows in places like The Reverb and some of the people who were still kicking in local bands well after their prime just for the sake of keepin' the rock alive. Patterson still thinks its one of the best songs he's ever written...I'd say it's at least top 3. If you wanna check it out, it's on the Gangstabilly album. This song is by far the best on it (they were pretty green back then), and you can always just buy the song on itunes (for that matter, I noticed itunes now has one of those "itunes compilations" things for DBT and it is an awesome selection...get it...run don't walk)
THE LIVING BUBBA
I wake up tired and I wake up pissed
wonder how I ended up like this
I wonder why things happen like they do
but I don't wonder long cuz I got a show to do
I'm sick at my stomach from the A.Z.T.
Broke at my bank cuz that shit ain't free
but I'm here to stay (at least another week or two)
I can't die now cuz I got another show to do
Don't give me no pity don't give me no grief
Wit till I die for sympathy
Just help me with this amp and a guitar or two
I can't die now cuz I got another show to do
Don't give me no preachin' no self servin'
I ain't no angel but nobody's deserving
I can dance on my own grave, Thank You!
but I can't die now cuz I got another show...
Some people keep saying I can't last long
but I got my bands I got my songs,
liquor, beer, and nicotine to help me along
and I'm drunk and stubborn as they come
chain smoking, guitar picking, til I'm gone
I ain't got no political agenda
Ain't got no message for the youth of America
'cept "Wear a rubber and be careful who you screw"
and come see me next Friday cuz I got another show...
Some people stop living long before they die
Work a dead end job just to scrape on by
but I keep living just to bend that note in two
and I can't die now cuz I got another show...
lyrics by Patterson Hood
music by Drive-by Truckers (Cooley, Hood, Howell, Lane, Neff)
©1998 Soul Dump Music
Live version from San Fran this year