what a lovely day to out some catholics.
so, i guess today is ash wednesday, a fact i discovered after trying to clean the forehead of bernie, our maintenance guy, with my own spit-covered thumb (shut up, it's instinct). to me, this means that it's the day of the year when i get to find out who among my colleagues is one of "them". in a community where, in some circles, catholicism is at least as widely reviled as judaism (ok, maybe not quite, but you know what i mean) , it feels a little dirty to me (pun completely intended) to require that particular 26% subgroup to mark themselves in such a conspicuous way. on the upside, i guess, now i know enough to cross bernie off my "people to talk to about how cool abortion is" list.
and, finally, this is a great excuse to post a sample from one of my all-time favorite nields songs about teen pregnancy, ash wednesday:
so, i guess today is ash wednesday, a fact i discovered after trying to clean the forehead of bernie, our maintenance guy, with my own spit-covered thumb (shut up, it's instinct). to me, this means that it's the day of the year when i get to find out who among my colleagues is one of "them". in a community where, in some circles, catholicism is at least as widely reviled as judaism (ok, maybe not quite, but you know what i mean) , it feels a little dirty to me (pun completely intended) to require that particular 26% subgroup to mark themselves in such a conspicuous way. on the upside, i guess, now i know enough to cross bernie off my "people to talk to about how cool abortion is" list.
and, finally, this is a great excuse to post a sample from one of my all-time favorite nields songs about teen pregnancy, ash wednesday:
Daddy's on the back porch playing with a blowtorch
Standing by the front door, Avon Ladies for the Poor
Meanwhile Mama smiles, "Get your lover down the aisle
Before he's gone"
Lisa says, "Don't cry, I'll bring you flowers when you die
I'll go to school in only black or maybe in a gunny sack
I'll get your friends to stand around and dance upon buried ground
On our front lawn
But don't you worry, I'm sure she's sorry
And doesn't mean that stuff about the aisle"
Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posy
Ashes ashes, we all fall down
The test came back on Tuesday last just before our pseudo-fast
Lisa says, "It's heaven-sent, you can't give ice cream up for Lent"
Mama said I wouldn't last forty days
But maybe two
So I spent the day avoiding Mother, reading Dr. Joyce Brothers
Reading Where The Wild Things Are and some of Plath's Bell Jar
Reading Daddy's tax forms to see if it would be born
On Christmas Day
And I am not weeping, I think I'm keeping
A baby who will soon be half my age
Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posy
Ashes ashes, we all fall down
Quitting smoking is a must, ashes ashes dust to dust
Try to turn a new leaf, giving up pork and beef
Lisa says she'll buy me bras and maybe I should join a spa
Or take Lamaze
It's funny how you never know exactly when you're asked to grow
Exactly when you take the load or head up on your own road
Exactly which the day will be, maybe Ash Wednesday
Or Mardi Gras
So I will change 'cause I have changed
It's time to put these combat boots away
Ring around the rosy, a pocket full of posy
Ashes ashes, we all fall down
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