When I get older, losing my hair...

Today, Father's Day, June 18th, 2006, is Paul McCartney's Birthday. Did I mention it's his 64th? Well, it is. Pretty impressive I'd say. Of course, we've all heard the song When I'm Sixty Four. And we all waited for this day when we could celebrate Paul's 64th, just because of that song. I'm listening to it as I type this up. I was hoping it would sound different, or more special for this occasion but somehow...it doesn't. Or does it? Then we come to this lovely little lyric, "Will you still need me, will you still feed me," It appears not. Apparently, Paul's latest wife is divorcing him. That's kind of funny. Anyways, happy birthday Paul! We could sing Birthday on this day as well, I suppose. Wowza.

Children of the Basement

You may not realize it, but there are many among us that I like to call Children of the Basement. They are unique in several ways. I never noticed them until I became a child of the basement myself. I'm here to inform those of you ground-level or attic people how to pick a child of the basement out of a crowd. The examples and stories shared are true.

1. Children of the basement aren't afraid of spiders, generally. That's because we live with them. I used to hate seeing spiders crawl across my floor or on my wall, but now it's so common that I don't even flinch. For example, the other day I was cleaning out my closet, and after I had removed all the stuff lying on the floor, I found four spiders. Two were dead, one was hiding in his web mansion located in a dark corner, and the other raced out of my shoe when I picked it up and proceeded to zoom across my hand. No big deal.*Squash...*Vacuum...problem solved.

2. Children of the basement don't adjust to warm weather clothing as quickly as others. We tend to wear long sleeved shirts and long pants a few weeks after most have pulled out their tank tops and shorts. The reason is that we wake up in a freezing basement! We can't help but satisfy the need for heat, forgetting that outside it's ninety degrees. The added layers cause us to perspire more then usual during the day, so some children of the basement end up being pretty smelly. We're very familiar with "sweat pits."

3. Continuing with the clothes, children of the basement usually look like they dress in the dark. That's because we do. Sure, most of our basements are lit with lightbulbs. But man-made light doesn't reveal all that sunlight can. The only sunlight that children in their basements will see is what few rays can shine through the tops of window wells. It's very common to see us wearing pants with grass stains, navy blue nylons with black shoes or pants, shirts with food on them, or clothes that we wore the day before...and the day before that. Sorry, but we can't tell until we get outside. And by then, it's generally too late to do anything about it. Last week, I had a friend who came to school, then realized that the blouse she was wearing was see-through! It was a dark brown shirt, so she hadn't noticed when she put it on at home. When I asked her if her bedroom was in the basement, she was surprised and told me it was. I wasn't surprised.

4. Mornings are hard for basement children. If you want to see something funny, turn on the light in our rooms while we're sleeping and wake us up. I've been told our faces contort and we get all squinty-eyed. We do that when we walk outside too. I'd imagine most people react to light that way, but apparently with us it's more amusing. Come to think of it, we are more comfortable in darker rooms. Also, we don't jump out of bed as fast as we should. The reason for this goes back to the temperature issue. It's much warmer under covers then outside them.

Having read this, can you think of someone you know who might be a child of the basement? Why don't you ask them...you might discover that they are. Or, better yet, are you child of the basement that relates to this?

My Top 5

There are a lot of good songs out there, it's true. I tend to like most types of music. Give me a sweet bass line, and I'll start to drool...or dance. Or both. Once upon awhile ago, I was asked to name my top ten Beatles, just for the fun of it. It was silly, because the list changes all the time. But it made me wonder if I had a top ten "any song" list. That's ridiculous was my first thought. I like too many songs. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I do. The following five (in no particular order) will always be listed on top of Brittany's Favorite Songs. You'll probably notice that there are no Beatles songs here. They don't count, for they are a category unto themselves.

Linus and Lucy
Yep, that's right. This is that catchy Charlie Brown tune that everyone should be familiar with. It's fun to listen to and play as well. I don't think I could ever get sick of this song. Too much fun.

Jerk It Out
I first heard this song last summer when Becky and Garrison took me home from chemistry. We all pretty much went crazy. Pretty much. Ever since, I've just really liked this song, probably more then I should. The lyrics make no sense, and it's the same little tune over and over. But it's catchy, and that's what counts.

Superstition
I'm not sure why I fell in love with this song. For some reason, it's found a place in my liking, and it's here to stay. Like the previous two songs, and the two to be listed, it's catchy. I can't listen to it when I'm trying to do something productive, like clean my room, because I start dancing.

Stayin' Alive
I heart disco music. This song is amazing. Many fond memories are tied to it. It's another that can always get me to dance.

The Sweetest Thing
The funny thing about this song is that it's not my favorite U2 song. Weird, eh? That's kind of strange that it passes up the others in the long stretch. This song never fails to cheer me up. It's also fun to tinker on the piano with.

And there you have it. All these links to wikipedia are kind of to really interesting. Please don't judge me or my musical interests by this list. I tend to be a classic rock, jazz, and classical chick, but most of these songs don't relate to those broad fields. These five are just random songs that have and will continue to stick with me. I guess that in order for a song to qualify (as these do) for my top five to ten list, it has to be catchy, have a fun bass line, make me want to dance, and I can't ever get sick of it. Without one of those factors, the tune will fall short.