Housework...

is evil. It must be stopped. So says this refrigerator magnet.

The October SAT was on the 11th; tomorrow is the October ACT. I had a slow week and I figured it would be a good time to...clean. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to link to this song.

I'm not good at housework. I'm slow and I get easily distracted.The frustrating thing about housework is that it never ends. I like the look and feeling of a clean place, but it doesn't last for long. I don't mind dusting, maybe because it gives me an opportunity to re-arrange things. But otherwise, housework is either boring or tiring.

But housework is one of those things that has to be done, and if I have the time, it's on me.

I still love that magnet. I think I bought it at the same time I got this one:

"I'm lazy and disorganized."

The title of this post is one of the few quotes I remember from the 1986 movie, The Fly. The other quote, "Be afraid. Be very afraid," became the film's tagline.

Geena Davis as Veronica Quaife said both lines. Veronica said the first when she found her ex showering in her home. He had let himself in with an old key she had given him. He claimed she must not mind because she hadn't changed her locks. She hadn't change the locks because she was lazy and disorganized.

Damn, if that doesn't describe how I deal with housework.

I'm a smart person; I'm a flexible person. I can juggle multiple projects and switch gears when necessary. So why does it take me so long to clean the kitchen?

I am an inefficient cleaner. I know I'm not alone. I remember a conversation with a friend. Her ex could clean their whole house in two hours. He said it was because he stayed in the room until he was done. My friend and I would start in one room and then find ourselves doing something else, etc.

If nothing else, this post gives me a chance to play this.

Summer Songs

I've written about winter songs before here and here inexplicably leaving out "A Hazy Shade of Winter" by Paul Simon. I've also mentioned one spring and some summer songs here.

I've been thinking about some summer songs myself and then goggled summer songs--and reviewed lists.

I guess my favorite is Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun in the Summertime."

"Summer in the City" by the Lovin' Spoonful brings back memories of my father. When he heard the bridge with traffic and street noises, he thought something was wrong with the car.

Speaking of my father--he used to have an album of Roger Miller's greatest hits--I can't forget Roger's "In the Summertime." How can you resist this version with the Muppets.  Then there's Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind." That song also reminds me of my father.

I won't list all the summer songs here. Or even all the summer songs that I like. I would be constantly updating this list. Think of: "Summer of Love" by the B-52's, "A Summer Song" by Chad & Jeremy, "Suddenly Last Summer" by the Motels, "Those Lazy, Hazy Crazy Days of Summer" by Nat King Cole.

This post offers just a taste of summer.

Concerts

The other day I started thinking about musicians I've seen in concert and decided to make a list.

In roughly chronological order:
Wayne Newton - with Jack Benny at some summer music fair

The Association --Century Theater Audubon, New Jersey
Dave Clark 5 - NJ
Vanilla Fudge - NYC - Merv Griffin Show
Fifth Dimension - Cherry Hill NJ
Chicago - Philadelphia Spectrum, PA
Rare Earth - Cherry Hill NJ Arena
Janis Ian - University of Delaware
Led Zeppelin - Madison Square Garden
Who - Madison Square Garden
Leo Kotke - New York City
Rachel Sweet - Bottom Line New York City
Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Doobie Brothers, John Hall, etc. No Nukes Concert, Madison Square Garden
Who - NJ Meadowlands
Billy Joel - New Haven CT
Howard Jones - New York City
Joe Jackson - New York City
Cyndi Lauper and Eddie Money - New York City
Ramones - Port Chester NY
The Band - Stamford CT
Platters, Drifters, Coasters (licensed bands) Foxwoods Casino CT
Joni Mitchell - Madison Square Garden
Eve 6 - Stamford CT
B-52's - Stamford, CT
Joe Jackson 2 -  Stamford, CT

That's all I can think of right now. I may add to the list later.

ETA: Howard Jones

Second ETA: Joe Jackson

Third ETA: Cyndi Lauper and Eddie Money

Fourth ETA: B-52's

Fifth ETA: Joe Jackson 2

Sixth ETA: Vanilla Fudge (how did I forget)

Seventh ETA: I forgot the Association

Housework, Houseguests and Deadlines

I am doing my housework
Got no time to fool 'round
I am doing my housework
Cleanin' up and I'm gettin' down

From Housework, The B-52's, Bouncing off the Satelites http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsBBz353UGU

For the next few days, my mother is staying with us for the first time in the 22 years we've lived here. For most of those years, she lived only 20 minutes away so there was no need for her to stay overnight. After she moved to Hilton Head, she'd stay with relatives who have more spacious homes when she'd visit.

Having her stay here meant that I had to clean and organize the guest room, which recently has been functioning more like a storage area.

I'm not big on housework--I tend to let it slide. Plus I'm an inefficient cleaner. I get easily distracted and can take all day to do a simple task. Cleaning is frustrating because I know I'm going to have to do it all over again--it's never really finished.

Having a deadline was crucial for me to finish this job. Otherwise, I would still be saying to myself, I've got to clean and organize the guest room. The whole deadline thing reminds me about the idea behind nanowrimo: if you don't give yourself an artificial deadline, you'll never write a novel.

Thinking about nanowrimo leads me back to something that I've been saying and not doing for months. I need to put myself on a schedule. That sounds boring and pedestrian. Maybe I should say I'll design a vision or a mission for my life and then decide on goals based on them. At least it sounds loftier.

Maybe next week.