Beautifully Twisted

That is perhaps the best way to describe Johnny Cash's cover of the NIN song "Hurt". Yes, I'd heard enough about the Man In Black's cover ... and having been a secret country music fan (the old stuff, thank you) since childhood, I had to indulge. :)

Besides that, I have a CD by a group called Bowling For Soup. It almost reminds me of my initial reaction to BNL's Gordon - Interesting band name, quirky song titles ("Surfing In Colorado", "The Girl All The Bad Guys Want", etc.), it's all there. Never heard of them before tonight, when their CD caught my attention in Target. So, yeah, I had to pounce. From what I've heard, I'm glad I did.


And today is my dad's birthday. :) He's 39 (and holding). Today, I realized that despite my past history with him, I'm glad that I inherited my sense of humor and sense of direction from him. He can take back the allergies and sinus problems, though. Even though he doesn't read this ... Happy Birthday Dad!

It's A Sad Day In The Neighborhood

Some things you don't want to wake up hearing on the news. Mr. Rogers dying is definitely on the list.

To anyone not familiar with Mr. Rogers (yes, there are some people that didn't have the fortune of knowing of him), I'll try to explain him the best that I can.

Mr. Rogers was, to many children, a parental figure of sorts as well as a friend. He came onto the television and welcomed you into his neighborhood with open arms, regardless of who you were or where you lived. He never talked over your head, never talked down to you either. Even though there were millions of children watching, you always felt special and important. He had such a gift with children and their parents. Also, he had a good sense of humor. If you ever saw Eddie Murphy on Saturday Night Live, doing "Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood" (basically, Mr. Rogers in the ghetto), well rest assured that Mr. Rogers was right alongside you in enjoying the parody, calling it "funny and affectionate". :)

While Sesame Street went over the basics to get you through the first year or so of grade school, Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood was there to reassure you that if the bathtub plug came out, you *weren't* going to go down the drain with the water. You know, the truly important things in life.

As someone on the bn.net board had put it: Mr. Rogers was the only truly constant man in my life.

For those of us whose dads were there physically - but not otherwise, or even those whose dads weren't around, Mr. Rogers truly was a constant man in our lives. He was there at least 5 days a week, and when he'd wish us a "Very Happy Tomorrow", he truly meant it, because he was there for many tomorrows in our childhoods.

Thank you for the many years you've been in our lives. You will surely be missed.