Pickle Juice

Father Daughter Bonding

gypsyfirechicklet — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:59:52 +0000

here is a song that just popped into my head. the radio can be a wonderful thing…it’s one i remember both me and my dad singing in the car around town laughing all the way. well, we only knew the chorus but…good times good times.

Shaddap You Face

(verse:)
When I was a boy, just about-a eighth-a grade,
mama used to say, don’t-a stay out late,
with the bad-a boys, always shoot-a pool,
gonna flunk-a school.

Boy, it make-a me sick, all the things I gotta do.
can’t-a getta no kicks, always gotta follow rules,
boy, it make-a me sick, just-a make a lousy bucks,
I gotta feel like a fool. (and mama used to say:)

(chorus:)
What’sa matta you, hey,
Gotta no respect, whatta you think you do,
Why you looka so sad?
It’s-a not so bad, it’s-a nice-a place,
Ah, Shaddap You Face.

(verse:)
Soon-a come-a day, gonna be-a big-a star,
Gonna make a movies, buy a nice-a car,
but still-a be myself, I’m-a never change a thing,
always dance and sing. (’cause I remember mama used to say:)

(chorus:)
What’sa matta you, hey,
Gotta no respect, whatta you think you do,
Why you looka so sad?
It’s-a not so bad, it’s-a nice-a place,
Ah, Shaddap You Face.

(talking section)
“Hello, everybody, that’s out there in radio and television land.
Did you know I had a bit hit song in Italy with this: ‘Shaddap You Face’?
I sing this song and all my fans applaud, they clap their hands, that make me feel so good.
You ought to learn this song, It’s really simple -
I sing: ‘Whatsa Matta You?” You sing: ‘Hey!”
, you sing the rest and at the end, we can all sing ‘Ah, shaddap You Face!’
Ok Let’s try it, really big -
Uno, Duo, Tre, Quatro:”

(chorus:)
What’sa matta you, hey,
Gotta no respect, whatta you think you do,
Why you looka so sad?
It’s-a not so bad, it’s-a nice-a place,
Ah, Shaddap You Face.

Birthday Suit

gypsyfirechicklet — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:35:15 +0000

it’s time for a bit of a rambling….it is officially 5 days after my 35th birthday. yup, i have hit my mid 30′s. and while i can’t decide whether i am feeling older or not – although after just tweaking my knee doing nothing but walking to the computer i am limping towards the old part of me. i joke to my parents that i’ve hit middle age. they tell me i’m crazy. and explain that i can’t be middle aged cause then that would make them senior citizens and they have only just become retarded – i mean retired. their words not mine. my friends tell me to welcome the “dirty thirties”. hmmm. chips, dips, chains whips, a little candle wax on the nips? maybe Weird Science was right. just DRINK IT. life i mean, with a beerback, of course. yes i’m creaking and cracking more than yesterday but truth be told i’m laughing a hell of a lot more and itching for the next adventure. i mean, really this was my first birthday suit birthday party ever. so 35 can’t be all that bad…i’m gonna give it the old college try. this getting older business…and i have a message for you , ahem, whippersnappers, get off my lawn!

Waking and Sleeping

gypsyfirechicklet — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:05:28 +0000

late last night i read this passage….

“if Zen were to talk about sin(it doesn’t much), it might isolate boredom as the cardinal sin in life. There is so much in the created order, in the nature of things, to make you become vibrantly and radiantly alive – and your’re bored?”

…so many thoughts concerning this simple statement, especially after feeling that my bouts of boredom have helped “awaken” me, if you will, with a creative spark long since in remission. I have been reading much on religion and philosophy lately. just because. i wonder.

this weekend, while tucked cozily away on retreat at Breitenbush, i will pose this question to myself numerous times and see where the “nature of things” leads me. just because. i wonder.

“May i never find myself yawning at life.” – prayer by Toyohiko Kagawa

It’s Simple….It’s Beef

gypsyfirechicklet — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 04:02:31 +0000

Actually Feeling Inspired

gypsyfirechicklet — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:46:07 +0000

go figure. not to write of course but i am hoping to change that. i am feeling creative. to make art. to dance. aaah, art. the elusive creative juices are flowing once again. and i don’t mean that in a dirty way. although normally my mind would wander down that path first – aw hell who am i kidding - my mind has a summer home there and it likes to kick up it’s heels have a cold one on the stoop and wait for the passing double entendres. but wait, i am rambling. i have been photographing again. i love it. i always wonder why i put my camera down in the first place but then i realize that i am lazy. and so the cycle repeats. but not right now. i am planning on grabbing this wave and riding it in to shore and then kicking back out to catch the next one. i have convinced a few muses to hang out with me. it’s true. i wonder if i have this renewed sense of creativity because of spring and all that “rebirth” jazz or if it is because i have imposed upon myself the wonderful rehabilitative properties of boredom. yup, plain old mind echoing/ thumb twiddling boredom. weeks upon weeks of believing that if i actually leave the house it’s a successful day. i accomplished something. now it’s not to say i haven’t been doing things….just not things that in my ”working” life or in any normal adult or teen or preteen or, hell, even todays 5 year olds would have time to schedule into a typical day. dare i say – refreshing? yup like a giant pitcher of fresh brewed ice tea or an ice filled glass of cold water on a hot day or that first sip of a fountain coca~cola. aaaah. indeed, i do believe i needed to drink of that simple recipe. doing nothing has inspired me to do something and just to be sure that this isn’t a flimflam or some cheap restorative tonic i’m gonna test my theory for a couple more months…i’ll get back to you….no really, i will. after i check out that cloud floating overhead.

2995.83 miles away

gypsyfirechicklet — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 07:04:51 +0000

every so often it hits me. i miss my family. dreadfully. i just read an email from my mom – a “forward” about greek easter written by rita wilson (tom hanks’ wife). it describes some of the traditions that accompany holy week. i cried. i reminisced. i miss my family. while i am comforted by the family of friends that i have surrounded myself with since moving away from home…i still think of my parents as being home. this year, sadly, i won’t be celebrating greek easter in the traditional way. yet, i will be celebrating that weekend with a different sort of family – my dance family – at breitenbush. but…

at 34 years old…there is still no place like home….there is no place like home…there is no place like home.

new music to my ears

gypsyfirechicklet — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 05:18:10 +0000

along with my current obsession with books. like how many can i stack on my kitchen and living room tables before they collapse. i have been acquiring music at an energetic rate. i love listening to music but a connoisseur i am not. so here are my latests additions to the ipod. if you haven’t given these a listen, maybe you should.

Thicker Than Water Soundtrack

Louis XIV – The Best Little Secrets Are Kept

Sigor Ros – ()

Edith Piaf – Love and Passion Box Set

Celso Fonesca – Natural

Pavement – Slanted and Enchanted / Crooked Rain Crooked Rain

Pretty Sneaky Sis!

gypsyfirechicklet — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 04:08:53 +0000

if you share the same generational DNA as me this is what you would have said, first in your head and then out loud, for your friend to giggle at after noticing a couple fellow tea drinkers playing Connect Four at the table next to us.

books aloud

gypsyfirechicklet — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:53:19 +0000

now while i haven’t had the pleasure of having someone read out loud to me in a very long time…i am currently enjoying my books on cd. i have often “rented” from the library audio books for long trips or just cause i am sick of listening to the radio but they always tend to be humorous and light. my faves for travel : any recordings from the NPR “this american life” series. hilarious. a bit ago i decided to try my hand (or is it ear) at an unabridged novel. my first choice? harry potter and the sorcerer’s stone. brilliant. sometimes i actually sit in the driveway waiting for a chapter to end before turning off the car and going inside the house. i’ve read all the books and have been wanting to refresh my memory and let me tell you….i absolutely LOVE listening to them being read to me. it adds a whole other dimension. jim dale, who performs all of the books in the series is fantastic. like i was when i read the books for the first time….i can’t wait to hear books 2-7.

hobbies

gypsyfirechicklet — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 03:33:34 +0000

i realized the other day that my parents don’t really have any hobbies. at least none that i know of. they have a couple friends (next door neighbors) that they do things with and that makes me feel better but ,seriously, i don’t know what they do in their free time, other than drop not so subtle hints about me moving back home to mass. they are hoping to retire soon. they are selling the family business. no i am not taking it over. it was offered, not exactly expected, but definately hoped upon. i know that it has been a real unspoken difficulty between us. so my mind wanders to what they will do when they don’t work anymore? i know i surprisingly don’t have anything really cool to fill my time with. not like i thought, anyways but that’s my own hang up. maybe they have grand plans. grand plans to do all of the things they never could do while working and raising a family. i know they are planning to spend alot of time in greece. they recently bought a house on the island of samos, where my father is from. but while the cool factor of splitting your time in another country is high – still – what do you do when you have no hobbies? they don’t fish, or garden. they don’t paint or take pictures. they don’t collect anything. they don’t throw house parties. they don’t run or bike. they don’t do much of anything like that. they are just my parents. i wonder what they do. when i ask what they’ll do they always say “we’ll see.” perhaps that is the best answer ever. it works in most situations. i find myself answering that way whenever anyone asks what my plans are for work when i can’t afford to not work anymore. yup, what they said….”we’ll see.”