My computer has finally released by the Information Technology people, who have pronounced clean after a massive virus attack this week. And it really is clean--of not just viruses, but also of cookies, passwords, my address book, and half my software, all of which I need to reconstruct. So there's my afternoon, right there.
My wife just called, frazzled and tired. The girls this week have had sleep-overs, crafts, library trips, birthday parties, trips to the park, swimming lessons, and they're bored. Any ideas?, she asked. Throw them in the back yard and tell them to entertain themselves, maybe?
It's the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. Sometimes, even nice summer days can be too long.
In honor of the day (and the hope that it'll end soon), let's remember one of the earliest and best songs of summertime frustration. Eddie Cochran's short and sweet rock-and-roll masterpiece appeared as a B-side way back in 1958, and given the career of the song over the past 50 years, no doubt it'll eventually be convered by everyone.
I'm gonna raise a fuss I'm gonna raise a holler,
about a workin' all summer just to try to earn a dollar.
Every time I call my baby and try to get a date
my boss says "No dice son, you gotta work late."
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do,
but there ain't no cure for the summertime blues.
Well my mom and pop told me, "Son you gotta make some money,
if you want to use the car to go ridin' next Sunday."
Well I didn't go to work, told the boss I was sick--
"Well you can't use the car 'cause you didn't work a lick."
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do,
but there ain't no cure for the summertime blues.
I'm gonna take two weeks, gonna have a fine vacation.
I'm gonna take my problem to the United Nations.
Well, I called my congressman and he said, quote:
"I'd like to help you son but you're too young to vote."
Sometimes I wonder what I'm a gonna do,
but there ain't no cure for the summertime blues.
I suppose I could embed an old grainy clip of Eddie himself here, but why? Here's the Who, from the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967. Enjoy.
Throw them in the backyard. Tell them, "entertain yourselves. The water from the spigot is potable, so there's only one reason to come inside!
ReplyDelete"And keep the screen door *closed*! Augh!"
;-)
But what do I know? I promised my oldest a brand new Nintendo DS game system if she pulled out a 4.0 GPA for her year. Which she did. Now I'm out $130 and all five of them are clustered around a pair of 2 inch screens watching her puppeteer Link around the land of Hyrule.
Even so, my kids are at their most inventive in an *empty* backyard. Go figure.