Music Monday: As Real As You Need Me To Be

After ConGregate, I started really thinking about my World of Arcstone series...and I may have come up with a third book. I mean, I already have a third book idea but it's starting to take up space in my mind on the daily. This song jumped into the middle of that and while it was made for a movie that I've used as a comp title for Rift and Storm before, it was just one of those moments...like the time that I almost had to pull over to write a scene for Red because of a song that came up on the playlist. Anyway...enjoy. I mean, it's NIN after all.

Music Monday: I try to think about...well, not Elvis.

ConGregate 2025 is in the books and I'm knackered. But before I go sleep, let me leave you with one of the best songs to sing along to in the car on I-85 in SO MUCH TRAFFIC... (lyrics below)




I try to think about Elvisby Patty Loveless
Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot where I was
One, two, three, fourI try to think about Elvis, MemphisOprah in the afternoonI try to think about palm trees, fig leavesThe creature from the Black LagoonI try to think about high heels and good dealsAnything to get me throughI just can't concentrateYou're all I think about these days
I try to contemplate the cosmosAnd what goes 'round and 'round the sky at nightI try to think about the champagne, freight trainsSlowly rolling out of sightI try to focus on the headlines, the street crimesEvery time I think I mightI just can't concentrateYou're all I think about these days
My mind wanders where it willAnd when it settles right on youI forget what I should sayI forget what I should do
My mind wanders where it willAnd when it settles right on youI forget what I should sayI forget what I should do
Come on, Patty, get it together
I try to think about Shakespeare, leap yearThe Beatles or the Rolling StonesI try to think about hair-do's, tattoosSushi bars and saxophonesI try to think about the talk shows, new clothesBut I guess I should have knownI just can't concentrateYou're all I think about these daysYou're all I think about these days

Music Monday: My Friend...

For today's Music Monday, I'm doing something a little different. The disastrous flooding in Texas that caused campers, counselors, and staff at Camp Mystic to lose their lives has hit close to home for me, and this blog post will be a bit more personal than most of my Music Mondays.
One thing about me that probably seems strange to those that only know me as an adult is that I was a camper from the time I was a rising third grader (8 years old) until I was a rising senior in high school (17) and then worked at the same summer camp for five years after that. Camp was my life, and as a child of a clergy family (Preacher's Kid or PK), it was even more so. We moved about every four years until I was in 8th grade (13) and then after seven years so that I could graduate from high school. They then moved again with my sister having only one year in my high school and three at the school from which she graduated. I went to work at camp that summer, leaving from one home and returning at the end of the season to another one. 

Me and a camper, summer of 1992 (?)

For these girls and the staff, Camp Mystic was home just like Camp Glisson in North Georgia was for me, and while I can't begin to fathom the horror, the fear, and the loss felt by families involved, one quote stands out. Parents of a camper lost in the flooding said that for them, their child would be forever living her best life at the camp she loved. May all kids have such a safe place where they are covered up with love like Mystic and, in my experience, Glisson. The song for today is one I sang all those years on Fridays when, as a camper, I had to go back home with my parents or, as a counselor/section leader, I watched these precious campers that I'd folded into my heart leave for their homes. It's a lot more upbeat in the video below than it was when I was a camper, and I like that change. 
Please, if you are able, find ways to help and support the Camp Mystic families. At the time of this writing there are still 10 campers unaccounted for--and loads of ways to help them in this horrible time. From my camp home, via Facebook: "To offer support beyond prayer, consider contributing to the United Methodist response coordinated through the Rio Texas Conference: Advance #2050 Guadalupe River Flood."
To my Glisson family, I'll see you in the sky, if not before... (lyrics below)

My Friendsung by Camp Glisson Staff, summer of 2012
My friend, I think of you dailyBecause I care, and it's trueThat though we've shared a lot togetherIt's very rare that I see you
And I want you to know that God loves youAnd that I love you tooAnd that even if we're hardly ever nearI'm talking to him about you
And I'll be praying for you every morningAs I start of the day with the LordAnd I'll be praying that you're walking with JesusAnd abiding in His word
For you see, this Jesus of NazarethHe means everything to meFor He has taken my life and He has freed my soulAnd He's calmed an angry sea
And I want you to know that God loves youAnd that I love you tooAnd that even if we're hardly ever nearI'm talking to him about you
And I'll be praying for you every morningAs I start of the day with the LordAnd I'll be praying that you're walking with JesusAnd abiding in His word
Well, I don't know when I'll see you againA month, a year, or maybe moreBut if your heart belongs to the SaviorI'll see you in the sky if not before
And I want you to know that God loves youAnd that I love you tooAnd that even if we're hardly ever nearI'm talking to him about you
And I'll be praying for you every morningAs I start of the day with the LordAnd I'll be praying that you're walking with JesusAnd abiding in His word