I'm entering a summer of my discontent - for a number of reasons.

1. I'm no longer camp counseloring. I really didn't think I'd miss it all that much, and deep down, I don't. My son is kind of bewildered that I'm not working there, and I hope he doesn't decide to freak out this summer as a result. I think he'll be fine overall - if he doesn't mind the two and a half weeks we'll be taking out of that camp time to visit family, attend a friend's wedding, and just generally do the National Lampoon's Vacation-type road trip thing that only we can do.
2. I'm freaked out at the prospect of getting my blood taken. Really. It's a routine thing to have done so that I can get my antidepressant prescription refilled regularly, but it gets me into a coma when I see it being done to me - or to anyone else, as was evidenced by my struggle to keep myself from keeling when the little guy's blood had to be taken once. I discussed this with the doc and the prescription for that was: Xanax before I go in to be poked, and the presence of a friend to help distract me while the deed is being done. Oy vey iz mir.
3. I'm saddened that this went through the state Senate with the help of our state senator: Sen. Ann Duplessis, D-New Orleans, called that a great victory for 1,500 children who she said are more important than doctrinaire allegiance to public schools. "If I can help just one child, that child could be the one who goes on to change the system we're debating here today," said Duplessis, who carried Badon's bill in the upper chamber. ...but I guess that's par for the course these days. I'm also kicking myself a tad for cluing in to the prescient words of this woman a little late in the game. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of a publication of hers - but this is pretty sobering as well. Speaking of the private schools, hasn't anyone told the folks at McGehee that their slogan: "McGehee girls go everywhere", is as old as the hills and may not have the connotations they think it should? To get my meaning more fully, put the phrase "Good girls go to heaven" in front of their slogan...and you'll see what I mean.
4. I'm feeling the lack of music in my life. This one is pretty serious, folks. Sure, I listen to the radio in the car. About 20 percent of what comes on the stations I listen to is stuff I really love, 50 percent of it I can live with, and the remaining 30 percent has me turning it off. I'm driving the car that has a tape player, and I was using an adapter to help play CDs in the car, but I think what is now needed is a tape head cleaner for the car's player - and that is a piece of obsolete technology in this day and age of MP3s, iPods, and satellite radio. It's true - I've looked around. If anybody's got a tape head cleaner, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just suffer through the radio and dream of being able to play some of the following while I'm being chauffeur mom:

Keller Williams, Laugh: I'm listening to it right now in the kitchen and taking in some "One-Hit Wonder". I'm also anticipating listening to my personal fave of his on the same album, "Kidney In A Cooler". It contains that classic refrain of "Perpendicular teeth/in little America/Deliver the kidney/in my double-decker double-wide". You just...have to listen to it, that's all. I heard that song on the radio just outside of my parents' teeny Pennsylvania town when Dan and I were driving up there for a visit and thought I was hallucinating from fatigue when I heard the lyrics. I then wondered if we were indeed approaching the right town, because I'd heard nothing like it on the radio my last two high-school years in the same town. Wish I had.

Feist, The Reminder: I like the chanteuse vibe she gets - and, unlike her last album, it isn't a total snooze the whole way through, with just one really good one ("Mushaboom") that stands out. I keep coming back to this one again and again, coming away with a different song in my head each time. Lately it's been "I Feel It All", or "Brandy Alexander", or, on occasion, "My Moon, My Man".

Bill Hicks, Rant in E-Minor and Flying Saucer Tour, Vol. 1: Cannot...resist...this...man's...comedic..PULL! And yeah, I oughn't to be playing this one while the little guy is in the car, and I don't. Still and all, I think having pro-lifers put their money where their mouths are and block the cemeteries is a hoot, as is the concept that we all need to squeegee our third eye from time to time through ingesting the stuff that grows on the meadow muffins. Great words and thoughts from a Houston boy who died waaaay too young.

Nellie McKay, Get Away From Me: Look at you you're young/Havin' so much fun/gonna be a star/blah blah blah/and click there goes the phone/I don't wanna know/what my horoscope's predicting/Just pour me a drink/'cause I need a kick/I don't wanna think/I just wanna sip... And it gets better from there.

Big Star, Third/Sister Lovers: Thank yoooou friiiiiieeeeeeends, wouldn't be here if it wasn't for yeeeew... The whole thing grows on me every time I listen to it. "Kizza Me" and "Stroke It Noel" are particular favorites of mine.

Ray Davies, Working Man's Cafe: Yeah, his latest. I love "Imaginary Man", and I haven't listened to this one enough. Must remedy that this summer.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights: To longtime readers of this blog, this comes as no surprise. Since I ordered my album early, it came with a compilation Daptone Records' WDAP Ghetto Funk Power Hour CD that I also love, as it also includes a version of this song. And, this Jewish girl cain't get enough of Miss Sharon rockin' the gospel on "Answer Me": "Answer me, sweet Jee-sus, can't you hear me callin' you, Ah-I need you Loord". My mother-in-law thought I'd lost my head when I dragged her into the Gospel Tent at JazzFest one year - and "Answer Me" brings back that feeling we had in there, when she saw the light and I basked in its glow a little.

Bettye LaVette, The Scene Of The Crime: Haven't listened to this one enough, either, which is a complete and utter crime. I loved her I've Got My Own Hell To Raise so much that when Madame Dangerblond mentioned the powers that hold sway over these things were thinking of bringing Ms LaVette to JazzFest this past year, I was torn between lending her the album to pass on and tip the scales towards getting her to New Orleans or hoarding it and keeping it for me, me, and only me to listen to it. The other part of my crime relating to this woman: I had to miss her performance at JazzFest. Yeah, just drag me off to the clink right now, folks. I deserve it.

Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense: Special New Edition: Some guys I knew, who learned somehow that they were staying in the same room David Byrne stayed in when he attended college for a short period of time before he met up with Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz and got the Heads started, managed to figure out which side of the room he'd slept on and they rearranged their beds to get some sort of talent vibes they imagined were emanating from that wall while they slept. They should have listened to the albums instead, like I did all through high school and college. This particular edition of Stop Making Sense is especially good, mainly because it includes a number of songs that weren't on the original album release. I've fallen in love with "This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)" all over again, as well as "Heaven". Great live album. Period.

Bonerama, Bringing It Home; Ingrid Lucia & the Flying Neutrinos, Don't Stop: Mea culpas all around to these musicians. Haven't listened to these enough, either. Special favorites: "Mr. Go" and Ingrid doing "Mind Your Own Business" and "There'll Be Some Changes Made".

And, last but not least:

Just listen to it. And go see the man live when you get a chance. I am proud to offer my cowbell-holding services to him anytime.

Since I'm in a weird mood, if anyone can guess which of the folks in this series is one of my favorite actors/actresses, I'll pass on a mix of songs from the abovementioned albums, complete with a few surprise songs, to the lucky stiff who guesses correctly. You have until next Tuesday, 6-17, at noon to figure it out.

Hopefully, I'll be a little less discontented by then...