Bits and Pieces

Here are some thoughts and phrases that have been rattling around in my head recently. It'll be good to get these out of my head and onto a page of some kind. Someone else might actually enjoy thinking about them as well. Or not.

No one thought would be enough to build a whole entry on, but there are thoughts here that are big thoughts. Song lyrics, a line from a poem, initials, things that have happened. Some are perhaps cruelly humorous, depending on your viewpoint, or just inane. So far, there aren't many.

Lyrics from a Phil Ochs song, "The Flower Lady."
"...they complain about the present using memories..."
Wow, just a few words to describe an incredible number of people through generation after generation.

Lyrics from "Frankie and Johnny," sung by Pete Seeger
Before getting specific I have to add that I learned to play this on the accordion when I was maybe 10, or 11. I may have read the lyrics and thought nothing of them. I had enough trouble realizing Frankie was a woman. How can Frankie be a woman when the boy across the street is named Frankie? I was confused, but learned the piece anyway.

"...second time she shot him, there's a new man's face in Hell..."
If you're familiar with the song, it's about the revenge Frankie gets for Johnny's stepping out on her. She fires three shots through the hotel room door with her .44; the second shot, according to the lyrics, proved to be the fatal one that sends Johnny down below because of his misdeeds.

Great female revenge song, but there are laws, and Frankie gets the electric chair. The song basically claims all men are alike. Perhaps true, but the side effects can vary greatly.

Bookmarks
Where do they go? Over the years I'm sure I've bought more bookmarks than I currently have. I remember some of them, and know I no longer have them. They go missing with the regularity of half a pair of socks.

LGBT
Came across these initials when reading a Twitter tweet about a "Stride for Pride" event at Golden Gate Fields. Golden Gate Fields is a short meet thoroughbred track near San Francisco.

I figured it had something to do with the gay community, but what did it mean? It certainly wasn't one of the abbreviations
E-Z Pass uses on their statements to designate where you incurred the nation-building toll.

A friend of mine was handier than Google at the moment, and he quickly told me it stands for "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender." Completely fit the "Stride for Price" theme. What it might have to do with thoroughbreds is another thought, but maybe the track is just a place to hold the event.

The same friend of mine explained what "tramp stamp" meant when I wondered out loud on hearing it. He quickly explained it was generally a tattoo on the small of the back favored by strippers and female porn stars. It can be a wide tattoo that goes from the left pelvic bone to right pelvic bone. I got the idea, but was left wondering if hookers also had "tramp stamps." My friend said he didn't know, but thought the named professions rendered the question moot.

He's a good guy to have around to explain things.

Poem
To me, one of the great lines of all time. From 'Sequel,' the first line of a poem by Alice Fulton.
"The universe's ignorance of me is privacy."
Just think about that when you hear of someone describing their lunch on Facebook. Or anything on Facebook.

And right now, that's it.

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