Music Monday: Almost time for Nano again...almost.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, I have no idea what I'm working on come Thursday of this week. Truth be told, I may not start until the weekend because I get my first Fauci Ouchie on Tuesday and officially join House Moderna (may the Sainted Mother Dolly's name always be praised). So enjoy this tune that I came across on TikTok that may play into Tairn's story...but also may not. It's anything can happen Monday! 

Pierre, by Ryn Weaver

I danced in the desert, in the pouring rain

Drank with the devil and forgot my name

Woke with somebody when the morning came

No one there to shame me for my youth

'Cause I wouldn't be with you

And then I found me a lover who could play the bass

He's kinda quiet, but his body ain't

Spend the days dreaming and the nights awake

Doin' things we know we shouldn't do

'Cause I wouldn't be with you

Says he can't believe he found me

Wraps his arms around me

Yeah-eah, eah-eah-eah-yeah

I can't let him in

You call me up and ask me how I've been

I'll call your bluff and

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

No, I can't let him in

You play me rough, but I won't let you in

So, call my bluff, I'll

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

Oh, count down to the day they may come true

And I fell for a vagabond, a month at tops

Lied and said his bike was in the "motor shop

Drove my car once and made the tire pop

Still we had some fun, till I came to

'Cause I wouldn't be with you

On the Fourth of July, I met a man, Pierre

Lied about his age, but I didn't care

Spoke in broken English but the heart was there

In those eyes of sky and ocean blue

'Cause I wouldn't be with you

Says he can't believe he found me

Wraps his arms around me

Yeah-eah, eah-eah-eah-yeah

I can't let him in

You call me up and ask me how I've been

I'll call your bluff and

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

No, I can't let them in

You play me rough, but I won't let you in

So, call my bluff, I'll

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

Keep on telling, telling, telling you lies

Oh, count down to the day they may come true

I'm counting dow-ow-ow-ow-own

I'm still so dow-ow-ow-ow-own

I'll come around

Music Monday: That Pirate Thing

 Yeah, I'm on Tiktok and yeah, I'm loving the whole sea shanty trend. But I'm also loving other trends, like the #birates trend that involves the intersection of LGBTQ+ folx and pirate cosplay. Whew. The pirate cosplay game is strong, and I came across today's Music Monday through a few cosplayers who are acting out bits from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean...I guess? (I've only seen two of them, don't come at me!) 

The video is of the Tiktok creator Colum McGuiness's version and it is haunting. The original is by Hans Zimmer, one of the RULERS of movie soundtracks, and it's got me thinking about "thieves and beggars" that "never shall we die" in terms of the Wraiths of Appalachia WIP. I just need to get all that out of my system before April, right? Enjoy.

Hoist the Colors

by Hans Zimmer

The King and his men
stole the Queen from her bed
and bound her in her bones
the seas be ours and beyond the powers
where we will we'll roam

Yo ho, all hands
Hoist the colors high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die

Yo ho, haul together

Hoist the colours high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die

Yo ho, haul together

Hoist the colors high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die

Yo ho, haul together
Hoist the colors high
Heave ho, thieves and beggars
Never shall we die

Notes from Exile: On Choices and Vaccines

Before I go any further, I want to say that I am not anti-vaccine. I completely agree with the science, I'm a big fan of Dr. Fauci, and I know that this is the best way to get this beast under control so that we can all have a life again. It feels like we finally have some direction here in the US, and that is an amazing relief.

But there is one thing you should know about me. I have, as I have explained recently on social media, a near consciousness-losing fear of needles. I have been watching all the news reports about the vaccine and forcing myself to watch the actual injections and it is getting better, but not anywhere near resolved. 

Fun Fact the First: I once went on vacation with Starter Husband and his family and he got very dehydrated and ended up in the emergency room. Since that was in the Before Times, I went in with him and was there the whole time until they had to run an IV for hydration. I had to leave the room. 

Fun Fact the Second: I was interpreting once for a mammogram to pinpoint (ha, that was an interesting choice of words) the place for a biopsy, and when they gave the deaf client a shot to NUMB the area I got swimmy headed. When they inserted the needle for the biopsy the nurse came and asked me if I needed to sit down or have some water because apparently "that shade of greenish-gray comes on you right before you faint, sugar."

That, mind you, was in response to someone else having a needle inserted into their skin, not me.

So, I have been preparing myself for months for this two-step vaccine, understanding that it will require me to go ON PURPOSE and REQUEST two injections. (I can feel all of you rolling your eyes, it must be nice not to be afraid of anything, moving on...) Then I heard the best thing I've heard since "we have a vaccine," and that was "the Janssen/J&J vaccine is only one injection." One and done, y'all. ONE.

Apparently here in SC, this particular vaccine is available via CVS, so I've been camping out on their website. Right now when the unicorn of an open appointment time appears it is still reading as a Moderna injection, which is two-step, and not the fun Texas kind. So I wait.

And I wait. And I watch. And...I am ridiculed and teased. For making an adult choice (getting the vaccine) and having patience (staying in relative isolation) for my turn to come. I don't have to go to a workplace any time soon. I don't have parents that I miss hugging. I can wait - and I am being responsible about it, and those folks that want to tease me about my fear or guilt me into doing something other than what feels right to me...well, I don't know what to tell you other than you aren't going to change my mind.

I am not paranoid. I am not a hermit. I am not anti-social (well, no more than I was). I am not unfriendly, cold, or childish. I am not most of the hurtful things that I've heard about myself over the last year. So please be kind to those of us planning vacations and visits and generally time AWAY from our homes who are choosing to do what we feel is right and not running headlong into two injections - it is okay for us to wait, at home, isolated and safe.

Music Monday: Sometimes you just need a good drum

 So this song has just turned up in my Shazam, and if I had to guess I would say it's from one of the myriad of programs that we've been binge-watching during the pandemic. No idea which one. It could also be from Tiktok, considering the overabundance of sea shanties and the like over there lately. 

The lyrics spoke to me about my MC, Scarlet, and I could imagine her Mamó singing this song to her on the front porch of the cabin up in the mountains. But the drums...sometimes you just need a good drum. Enjoy.

Little Margaret by Rhiannon Giddens

Little Margaret, sitting in her high hall chair
Combing back her long, yellow hair
Saw sweet William and his new-made bride
Riding up the road so near

She threw down her ivory comb
Threw back her long yellow hair
Said, "I'll go down and I'll bid him farewell
And I'll nevermore go there"

It was late in the night
They were fast asleep
Little Margaret appeared all dressed in white
Standing at their bed-feet

Saying, "How do you like your snow-white pillow?"
"How do you like your sheet?"
Saying, "How do you like that pretty fair maid
Who lays in your arms asleep?"

Very well do I like my snow-white pillow
Well do I like my sheet
Much better do I like that pretty fair maid
Who stands at my bed-feet

He called his serving man to go
And saddled the dappled roan
And he rode for her father's house that night
Knocked on the door alone

Saying, "Is Little Margaret in her room
Or is she in the hall?"
"Little Margaret's in her coal-black coffin
With her face turned toward the wall"

Unfold, unfold those snow-white robes
Be they ever so fine
For I want to kiss those cold, cold lips
For I know they'll never kiss mine

Three times he kissed her cold, cold hand
Twice he kissed her cheek
But once he kissed her cold cold lips
Then he fell in her arms asleep

Music Monday: Still alive, mostly

So I'm still working on Tairn's novel and still enjoying getting to know the different parts of her that made her who she was in the Nature Walker Trilogy as well as seeing how those parts fit together to make her who she is becoming in her own story. This song has so much of Tairn in it - her full name, Tairneanach, means thunderous in Scots Gaelic after all.

Alive

by Daughtry

I was born in a thunderstorm
I grew up overnight
I played alone
I played on my own
But I survived

Hey
I wanted everything I never had
Like the love that comes with light
I wore envy and I hated that
But I survived

I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you're taught to cry into your pillow
But I survived

I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive

I found solace in the strangest place
Way in the back of my mind
I saw my life in a stranger's face
And it was mine

I had a one-way ticket to a place where all the demons go
Where the wind don't change
And nothing in the ground can ever grow
No hope, just lies
And you're taught to cry into your pillow
But I survived

But I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive

You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing
You took it all, but I'm still breathing

I have made every single mistake
That you could ever possibly make
I took and I took and I took what you gave
But you never noticed that I was in pain
I knew what I wanted, I went out and got it
I did all the things that you said that I wouldn't
I told you that I would never be forgotten
And all in spite of you

And I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm still breathing, I'm still breathing
I'm alive (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm alive (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
I'm alive (You took it all, but I'm still breathing)
(You took it all, but I'm still breathing)

I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive
I'm alive

Music Monday: No Rest for the Wicked

 I'm starting to plan my projects for the next few months (because let's be honest, I've been coasting since the holidays), specifically for Camp Nanowrimo next month, and I'm thinking of a second draft for Tairn's story in Red and possibly a new Arcstone. As always, I'm working with any inspiration I can find, and this oldie from my days of walking the many hills in Athens, GA working freelance gigs popped up in my playlist - and it works for either of those stories. Tairn thinks she is wicked and Val CERTAINLY is, so I'm still left with a decision. Anyone got a quarter I can flip?

Ain't No Rest for the Wickedby Cage the Elephant
(He was a)(You know it)(He was a)
I was walkin' down the streetWhen out the corner of my eyeI saw a pretty little thing approaching meShe said, "I never seen a manWho looked so all aloneOh, could you use a little company?
And if you pay the right priceYour evening will be niceAnd you can go and send me on my way"I said, "You're such a sweet young thingWhy you do this to yourself?"She looked at me and this is what she said
"Oh, there ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesI got bills to payI got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeOh no, I can't slow downI can't hold backThough you know I wish I couldOh, no, there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good"
Not even 15 minutes laterI'm still walkin' down the streetWhen I saw the shadow of a man creep out of sightAnd then he swept up from behindHe put a gun up to my headHe made it clear he wasn't lookin' for a fight
He said, "Give me all you gotI want your money not your lifeBut if you try to make a move I won't think twice"I told him, "You can have my cashBut first you know I gotta askWhat made you wanna live this kind of life?"He said
"There ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesI got bills to payI got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeNo, I can't slow downI can't hold backThough you know I wish I couldOh, no, there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good"
Well, now a couple hours passedAnd I was sitting in my houseThe day was winding down and coming to an endSo I turned to the TVAnd flipped it over to the newsAnd what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend
I saw a preacher man in cuffsHe'd taken money from the churchHe'd stuffed his bank account with righteous dollar billsBut even still I can't say muchBecause I know we're all the sameOh, yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills
You know there ain't no rest for the wickedMoney don't grow on treesWe got bills to payWe got mouths to feedAnd ain't nothing in this world for freeNo we can't slow downWe can't hold backThough you know we wish we couldNo there ain't no rest for the wickedUntil we close our eyes for good