Old Man

NOTES:

Old Man:

This is my attempt to illustrate the context of my own lyrics.  The scariest part of writing is when you realize that part of you is in ALL of the characters. I am watching the old man and I am the old man.


Broken Ladder:

This is the oldest song on the record. I wrote it at a time when I was just starting to realize that urban geography had such a strong effect on one’s social position.  I think this is the first song I wrote that wasn’t from the first person point of view, and yet it’s still about me… I borrowed the name Fred Jones from two of Ben Folds’ songs.

And On The Sixth Day...

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Notes:

My parents remember where they were when Kennedy was shot.  I remember where I was when the Challenger exploded.  These kids will remember where they were on 9/11.  I wish I’d handled it differently.

Here’s some more context for the year 2001:

•  Only the richest kids had iPods, which were released that October.
•  Facebook didn’t exist; kids wasted their time on AOL’s Instant Messenger.
•  YouTube didn’t exist.
• “Google” was not a household word.  People used search engines like AltaVista, MetaCrawler, or Dogpile.
• You could still find a payphone, but it was getting harder.
• We bought our first DVD player and named it David.  
• Our TV was named Stevie.
• Most TVs were not flat.
• Scrubs was my favorite new show.

The First Day of School, 6 a.m.

Recurring Dream

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Notes:

I really do have a variation of this dream quite often.  It is completely awesome, though the dreams are usually accompanied by some sense of frustration because no one else in the dream recognizes how great I am for being able to do this. Hmm. Typical.

Recurring Nightmare

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Notes:

This is true.  I have had dreams of broken teeth for a long time.  When I was in grad school I came across a poem called "The Lesson of the Teeth" in Judith Ortiz Cofer’s The Latin Deli.  I love when reading relates directly to your life.  I have always wondered what these dreams of mine meant, and this poem helped me figure it out.

Flying

The Races

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Notes:

I ordered a print of Jack Yeats’ Galway Races from Ireland but had no place to put it in the apartment, so I brought it to school and put it above my desk. Perhaps I should clarify that Jim and Greg were dating other people and not each other.

Apologies to Jack Yeats.

False Starts

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Notes:

This poem is my haiku version of the first few lines of Dante's Inferno. I know it's lame to explain your jokes or allusions, but I'm excited to use hypertext.  Sorry.

This Is Where We Lived