Grab a chair and a couple of root beers...

Ear worms... man, I hate ear worms!!!

Just finished my morning walkabout of the neighborhood (gotta keep Auntie fit), even though what I really wanted to do was crawl back in bed and sleep for the next sixteen hours.

Why?

Because, I only got about one... or was it two? hours of sleep last night. Partly because of a nagging headache that wouldn't go away, partly because the Husbandly One was restless and thus sleepless, and thus keeping me awake, and partly because of... an ear worm.

The nagging headache is mostly sinus pressure, and a little too much chocolate from Valentine's Day. The Husbandly One was restless because he had a sinus headache, and was worrying and fretting on top of that. And the ear worm?

Okay, so I was laying there, dozing, had a bit of a really bizarre nightmare where thanfiction and I were trying to trace a friend's whereabouts by going back through all the phone calls he had last made on his cell phone, which was the only thing we could find that belonged to him. I kept saying, "You know, this could really, really backfire on us," and he said, "This is all we have to work with," and I said, "I dunno, I've got this really bad feeling about doing this," and we were on our fourth phone call, and the phone was picked up and we heard a woman scream, then shriek, "I... AM IN... A CAGE!!!"

We sort of boggled and thanfiction said, "Okay, that is not our friend. Our friend... does not sound like a woman."

And I said, "Well... no..."

Then the woman shrieked, "I... AM BEING... TORTURED!!!"

And I said, "Well... we can't have that." So I said into the phone, "Who is trying to torture you? Where are you? Can we help you? Is ... is our friend there, too?" Because I can't remember the guy's name at all.

The woman was quiet for a moment, then she shrieked, "He knows who you are! He knows where you are!! YOU...ARE... A CORPSE!!!"

And thanfiction said, "Well, that's not very friendly." And I said, "Who cares, we have to get out of here now!!" and I grabbed him and used my Sooper Sekrit Amazing Powers and tried to get us out of there. Except someone whacked me with something hard and I sat up in the bed with my heart pounding, and my head pounding, thinking, "What the hell was that about???"

Well, I was still hearing the creepy woman shrieking in my head, so I immediately starting filling my head with music, planning to use Mozart to drive the heebie jeebies away, but... instead, I got Arcade Fire wailing, "Maaaaah body is a caaaaayeeeege... " until I wanted to bang my head into the wall.

It was a total ear worm.

Now, normally when I get an ear worm, my solution is to either find the music and listen to the song in its entirety, which banishes it from my head, or to sing it to myself. Couldn't do that last night. Not with THO restless and tossing. I could just see it. Auntie gets up and turns on iTunes to play the Ear Worm of Doom, and THO sits up and says, "Are you crazy?? Can't you see I'm failing to sleep here???"

So, I tried a counter dissonance and ended up with something even worse.

The Chieftains.

"Here's a Health to the Company."

I love the Chieftains.

I LOATHE that song.

I would rather crawl over broken glass naked than listen to that song. Really. I would.

It took me two hours, and a lot of forcing my brain down avenues I do not normally use to get that particular Ear Worm From Hell out of my head. Beethovan (I'm not big on Beethovan), Metallica, Dir En Grey, Buck Owens (usually "Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass" does the job, but... no dice), I was starting to roam in territory I can't stand. I mean, when I start dredging up George Jones songs, you know I'm desperate.

Sorry, but I'm not into moaning, wailing, pathetically depressing country music. My dad loved it, which is probably why I hate it.

ANYWAY, it took Audioslave to get the Chieftains out of my head. Thank goodness. And I finally passed out around 4:30 or so. Too bad I had to get up at 6!!!

Oh well.

Think I'll put on something obnoxious, bouncy, and LOUD while I clean the living room. Like... oh, I dunno... the Fratellis?? The Sex Pistols? Hmmmm, too loud and obnoxious. Oh, fraggitall, I'll just put on some Jack Johnson to soothe my frazzled, freaked out nerves and get busy!!

And Than, dear, if you could explain why you were dressed like you were going on an expedition to darkest, deepest Africa?? Oh... never mind, it was just one of those stupid dreams!!

Okay, so the Impossible Son and I are working our way through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and as I'm reading out loud to him, I came across a line a few weeks ago that I have been meaning to ask about.

Okay, so here it is. In Chapter 12, which is entitled "Professor Umbridge," on page 248 of the U. S. edition, I came across this line...

"There had been a previous occasion when Harry, expecting to be caned by Professor McGonagall, had instead been appointed by her to the Gryffindor Quidditch Team."

O_O!!!

Caned???

So I went back and checked Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (man, I hate that title, it pisses me off every time I see it), and I found this little snippet...

"Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.

'Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?'

Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him?"

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone page 130

The first, fifth, and seventh books are the only ones I don't have Bloomsbury editions for, so I'm asking those of you who have them... is it the same? The Impossible One said, "Caned? What's 'caned' mean? She would hit him with a candy cane? Or an old lady walking cane?"

Well, that took some thinking! You know, "Must... not... give... BDSM explanations... to child...ERK!" Though, you know, the mental image of Professor McGonagall whacking Harry Potter over the head with a candy cane (the Impossible Son's explanation when I asked him what he thought it meant) nearly made me inhale my iced tea! Especially the way Mr. Manzie verbally illustrated it, by whacking his Chimchar over the head with a pencil (imaginary candy cane) and saying, "BAD Harry Potter! BAD Harry Potter!! No more flying for you!"

Oh dear!

As y'all can see, my equilibrium is somewhat re-established, and when I told my family how close I came to Giving Up Writing Forever, their individual expressions of horror were something to behold, and for some odd reason, reminded me disturbingly of when I was a kid and my parents were trying to quit smoking. My sisters and I would put up with it for about a week, and then we'd beg them to start smoking again.

THO said, "I may not always understand what you're going through, but I'll always support you in this. Just... what can I do to cheer you up when you get so... grumpy?" He was being diplomatic and tactful. Believe me.

"Um... stop trying to cheer me up?" I said with a smile. "Really, when I'm grumpy because I'm having a hard time working through a plot, because my characters won't cooperate, or because I've written myself into a corner, or for whatever reason, I don't need to be cheered up. I need to be distracted or just plain left alone. If I'm unhappy because of anything else, by all means, cheer me up, but if it's my writing... it's better to leave me alone. Make sure I have water, or tea, and then tiptoe out quietly and let me get on with it."

Really, someone needs to write a manual entitled, "The Care and Feeding of Writers: A Manual for Spouses, Partners, and Those That Love Them in Spite of Themselves." I'm sure THO would be first in line to buy one!

Speaking of which, I've been sitting here trying to think of extremely annoying songs. I'm working on my NaNo fic, and my character has a hangover. I'm trying to think of the last song you'd ever want to have blasting out of your phone as a ringtone if you've got the Hangover from Hell. So far, I've got the Dropkick Murphys and "I'm Shipping Up to Boston," which gives me fond, fond memories. Ah, the joys of retaliating against neighbors listening to THEIR obnoxiously loud ethnic music with MY obnoxiously loud ethnic music. Anyway, beyond that, I'm stuck. I mean, I guess I could make it something by Megadeth, or some equivalent, but... hmmmm... I must continue to ponder.

I'm up to 3, 735 words so far. Wanna know what the hardest part of doing the NaNoWriMo is? NOT going back to edit. Usually, I edit as I go along, then run back and fix awkward phrasing, or re-write something that doesn't fit... and we're not supposed to do that.

It's driving me nuts.

Okay, I'm rambling now, so, I need to toddle off to bed. But I did want to ask my question while I could!

My son's latest Dance of Joy is to a song by the Japanese group, GreeeeN.  It's called "Unity" and I have to say, it's a good thing I like that song, too, or I would seriously lose my mind.

He loves dancing to it.  He literally flails around in ecstasies of joy, arms flying, mouth open in a big ol' snaggle-toothed grin, until he falls, exhausted and panting, onto the floor or the nearest piece of furniture.  The moment he can breathe again, he shouts, "AGAIN!!"

It's hilarious.  And sometimes, he gets me in on the action, too, though I have to admit, my flailing isn't quite as abandoned or enthusiastic.  It's exhausting, but fun!

He even got me to send it to a friend, saying, "I think he'll really like it.  It'll make him happy, and want to dance every time he hears it!  He'll put it on and think, 'yay, dance party' and he'll jump around, just like we are, right, Mama?"

Hear that, Alex?  You have to put it on, think "Yay, dance party!" and jump around your kitchen/bedroom/living room, whatever, and wave your arms over your head (just think, "what kind of dancing will embarrass me most and make me feel like a complete idiot if anyone sees me?" and you've got it down) and just be generally silly, while chanting, "Oh, oh, oh, o-o-oh, OH!!" with the chorus.  There will be a test on Friday.

I had to listen to it four times on the way to school this morning.  Not that I mind.  I'm just glad I don't have to listen to, say... Britney Spears.  Or gansta rap (oh, my pounding head!).  We listen to a lot of different stuff on the way to school, thanks to our rather eclectic musical tastes.  Miss Priss has taken to listening to a J-Pop boy group called "Arashi" and also conditionally likes the Jonas Brothers.  I say conditionally, because she (1) doesn't want to admit to it, and (2) says she can only listen to them if she doesn't have to look at them, or think about what they look like.  

*merry laughter*

Looks like my kids are going to have as wide a musical taste range as their parents do.