Four songs for you to track down, assuming they still have them up on YouTube:

THE NAUGHTY LADY OF SHADY LANE
                                       Ames Brothers (1954/55) and Archie Bleyer (1954/55)
                                                
                                                                         and

MY GIRL BILL
                                      Jim Stafford (1974)
                                                                         and
BEAUTIFUL WORLD
                                      Devo (1981)
                                                                         and
WHITE ON WHITE
                                      Danny Williams (1964)


Pay attention to the lyrics now as you listen to each of these four songs.


Don't you appreciate the way some crafty songwriters play upon our penchant for assuming and for jumping to conclusions prematurely?

Now play each song again.
Notice there's nothing inaccurate about the way the main subject matter is described.
But that nothing is explicitly expressed until the very last verse, the deliberately ambiguous nature of the early verses "entrapping" us into revealing certain deep-down inner prejudices we harbor within ourselves.

                                      A Final Solution?

Amidst all the controversy surrounding the North Carolina law requiring people to use the restrooms correlating with the gender they were born as I offer a make-shift solution of my own:
                                                                  Unisex Bathrooms

Whatever happened to unisex bathrooms?  You know, those closet-size single-toilet type restrooms with a lock on the door that were labeled not either MEN or WOMEN but UNISEX, along with a cartoon depiction of both a man and a woman figure.   I remember them being quite common in the 80s and 90s.

All one had to do was use whichever bathroom was available.
No fears of officiously sanctimonious employees or managers trying to accuse you of some kind of attempted metaphorical "excretory rape" simply for sneaking into the women's restroom out of desperation.

                               I.Q.  ...Fact or Myth?

There's no such thing as "intelligence".
Everyone's a savant.  They're exceptionally knowledgeable in one or two areas.  And often at the expense of being able and adept at all other areas of their lives.

The English major probably couldn't figure out how to change a flat tire to save his own life.

Someone illiterate but with considerable mechanical aptitude is "the one to call" when the plumbing fixtures go on the fritz and there's water leaking everywhere.

Some of the most prejudice people I've run into are college educated types who have all this immense clinical knowledge but, emotionally, are "still in grade school and high school" and can be really petty and myopic.

Coin Laundries

It never fails.  Every time I go to the coin laundry ...

I should mention I always do just one load per trip since I'm always on foot.

And every time I'm in there, even if it's not busy, I'll sometimes not even be halfway done with my load when somebody will stroll on in with huge basketfuls of clothes---enough threads to practically open up a used clothing store with.
And I'm left wondering:  Is all that actually their own personal stuff?

And it's not always couples or families either.  Sometimes it's just one person doing it all (of course I'm figuring them to either be married, or at least have kids.  Or, maybe, they're caretakers).

Either way, I don't think there'd even be enough room in my apartment for the amount of clothes some of these other laundry patrons freely truck on in to wash. 

What I always dread is the place already being busy when I stroll on in to do my own stuff.  Then I'd be paranoid about whether or not there'll be enough machines for me to use.




                                      Another site to check out:  www.newyorker.com/cartoons
                                                                                    And another one: www.in2worlds.net

                             Change of Address

Moving from one place of residence to another entails a "change of address" for the obvious reason that each location has its own street address.

Conceptually speaking that's simple enough a notion.
The problem is in passing such information on to others.

Now the advertisers, who are always stalking you as a "potential customer", never seem to have trouble tracking you down.  You'll get their flyers at your new address, in your name, even before you've informed the Postal Service of your change of address.

The important parties, not so much.  The IRS, the bank that has your checking account, social services and government agencies, the medical and dental clinics.   You practically have to show up in person at each place with proper I.D. and proper documentation in order for them to know you're "living in a different place now and are no longer at your previous address".
And even then you have to emphasize the importance of them disavowing your previous address (as in "delete it from your computer system").

The advertisers, on the other hand:  They're already on top of the game, apparently seeing "how disposed you are to" desiring a dozen cars, SUVs and pick-up trucks (even if you don't drive), enough beds, sofas, chairs and tables to fill an entire warehouse, all the latest electronic high-tech gadgets you can get ahold of, and a constant need for home repair/remodeling services
...even as you reside in a one-bedroom apartment unit.

                            Con Artists and Reformers

Most people one runs into are either con artists or reformers.

Either they're intent upon messing with you or misleading you in some way.
Or they're convinced there's something "wrong with" you and feel a need to "enlighten" or "discipline" you.  That can be irritating, especially when one doesn't have a problem with how they live or with their beliefs.  Nothing is "broken" and one doesn't need to be "fixed" in any way.

For instance:  These philosophical "know-it-alls" who'll tell you that "you make your own fate".
Stuff like:  If you project a negative attitude into the world that's what you'll get back.  But if you're cheerful and upbeat everything will go hunky-dory and those around you will be ever-so-friendly.
If only reality was as simple and cut-and-dried as their simplistic metaphysically-based myopia makes it out to be.

What I don't like about that way of thinking is that it puts all the responsibility for "the condition of the world" on you, one person.
If someone's angry or cranky you're to be upbeat and cheerful towards them and they'll miraculously change their frame-of-mind and become more friendly and peaceful.
But if you're the one stressed-out and cynical, and everyone else follows suit, it's because you caused the whole social climate to become dark and wicked by your negativism.

If only I could ever believe myself capable of having that level of power-and-control.

George Zimmerman is back in the news again.  (God, the red herring subjects the media keeps throwing at us.)

It's ironic that a guy who's a biracial Anglo-Hispanic with a Jewish surname would be "made an example of" in the still-ongoing universal "black verses white" cultural conflict when there are so many "pure-bred" Anglos who are far more racist.

We'll never know what really happened in that incident where Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, mainly due to the polarized hysteria surrounding that case.
Was it self-defense?  Did Zimmerman simply overreact?
Or is Zimmerman, in fact, a "domineering asshole" type who'd probably shoot you in the face or beat you to a pulp just for "looking at him wrong"?


           The above is my Musing For Today