Rambling Dissertations

Take A Look At Me Now.

Recently I've taken to reading Carrie Brownstein's blog.  Carrie is/was a member of Sleater-Kinney, one of my favorite bands of all time.  I went to Lollapalooza 2006 in order to see what was to be their last show, only to find out that they decided to perform one last show in their home town. 

Anyway, Carrie's blog is really well written, and often very funny.  Yesterday she had a discussion of bands where you hate their very existence.  Now most of the acts listed are acts that no self-respecting indie rock hipster is going to admit to liking:  The Doors, The Eagles, The Grateful Dead, and Dave Matthews Band.  Some of those listed I agree with, some I disagree with. 

For me, if I never had to listen to another Led Zeppelin song, I would be OK with that.

Anyway, ever since my Mom died, I have found myself finding solace in cheesy songs that I had previously disliked.  Some almost intensly.  For example, I denigrate Phil Collins entire catalog.  I feel that his music is vacuous.  However, I've recently really fallen in love with Mariah Carey's version of "Against All Odds"

This song is not very punk rock, but her performance is very beautiful and captures the sentiment.   

Likewise, normally I find Pink Floyd to be overproduced, overhyped and overrated.  But the other night I spent 2 hours listening to and searching for different versions of "Wish You Were Here"

One song that I used to really hate was "I Will Always Love You", but this song does not squarely fall into the catagory of songs that I started liking recently.  First of all, once you discover the fact the Dolly Parton's original was the best, and that Lorelia Gilmore's was even more touching, you realize it is a pretty good song.

I don't think that it takes a genius to get why I've been into these songs recently.  This is a song my mom used to sing to me when I was a kid, but not the sad second verse.  She just stuck to the happy first verse and the chorus.

Mary Louise Nikolai
Nikolai, Mary Louise age 75, of Apple Valley, passed away on 2/5/08. Preceded in death by parents, John & Helen Geisenhoff; sisters, Helen O'Brien & Margaret Khedry; brothers, Francis & James Geisenhoff. Survived by husband, Thomas; children, James (Beth), John (Lolita) Robert (Kimberly), Thomas Jr. (Valerie) & Peter (Margaret) Nikolai; 17 grandchildren; also by other loving relatives & friends. Mass of Christian Burial 11 AM Friday, Church of the Risen Savior, 1501 County Road 42, Burnsville. Visitation 5-8 PM Thursday (TODAY) White Funeral Home, 14560 Pennock Ave and also one hour prior to Mass at church. Interment, Resurrection Cemetery, Mendota Heights, MN. Memorial preferred to Mpls Heart Institute or Catholic Charities. White Funeral Home Apple Valley 952-432-2001

Elastic Heart

Last night, while I was at the caucuses, my Dad called with some awful news.  My Mom passed away sometime late last afternoon.  He and my brother Jim each talked with her on the phone at around 4:30, and my Dad arrived home from work at 6:30, and she was gone.

She was sitting in her easy chair watching tv.

We left the Caucuses and went straight to my parents house.  My brother Jim and others were already there.  Obviously there was a lot of crying.  (To be honest I am getting a little chocked up as I write this.  Which is problematic because I am sitting inside Cosmos on Snelling waiting for my tire to get fixed.  The cherry on top of my sundae yesterday was I got a flat tire on the way home.)

My Mom was a super lady.  If you like me, you can pretty much thank my Mom.  I have adopted a lot of her mannerisms and personality.  A lot of people say that I am funny.  I get that from my Mom.  She loved to laugh and loved to call me up on the phone and listen to whatever nonsense I wanted to spew forth.  Usually I would just make up stories about Jim acting totally out of character at work.  She liked that. 

She was also very proud of her sons, and with good reason.  My brother Jim is a successful, well-regarded attorney.  He was elected to be on the West St. Paul School Board.  My brother John is some kind of executive at Lockheed and is also very successful.  My brother Bob runs Arctic Glacier (formally North Star Ice).  Tom has a lucrative career as a salesman.

I don't think that anyone was more proud of my being named a "Rising Star" by Minnesota Law & Politics than my Mom.  She really encouraged me to become a lawyer.  She would always tell me "law school would be right up your ally."  I resisted for a while, but eventually realized that Mother knows best.

Meg once said that my Mom had an elastic heart.  I thought that was a beautiful turn of a phrase to describe my Mom.  Her heart kept growing as the family grew.  As new members married in, and as new members were born, she managed to love each us all the more, welcoming each new entrant. 

That's what makes this so hard.  She was looking forward to meeting Danny.  She called me every day at work to check up on how her new grandson was coming along.  This Saturday we had a date to go furniture shopping for his nursery. 

I love you Mom.

Universal Mother

This is just stupefying:

Advisers to Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton Friday complained vehemently about an Obama campaign mailer that criticizes Clinton's health plan, with one adviser likening the mailer to "Nazis marching through Skokie, Illinois."

What the hell?