Tripping the light fantastic..

Before I got this killer job that I'm in now, I used to put together as many jobs as I possibly could to help make ends meet.

At one point, I was a contractor, accountant, on-call computer repair person, and a DJ for music and Karaoke!

That's right. 4 jobs.

You know what that meant?

Yup.

No sleep.

None.

Whatsoever.


There really were times when I'd kind of wake up while at a job, and wonder how the hell I'd gotten there, and where the heck I'd parked my car so that I could run off to my next job.

Those were some FREAKY times, let me tell you.

This last job, as a DJ for music and Karaoke, also scarred me for life.

I don't mind singing. I've even been told that I'm pretty good at it.

But when you add a dimly lit bar, alcohol, and a song that everyone must sing along to?

It's NOT pretty.

Granted, most Karaoke singers aren't bad. Some do well, other try really hard and are passible.

There are those select few, though, that really make the hairs on the backs of my neck and arms just stand out and try to find the atmosphere.

Take this example:

There was a bar that I had to run from 6pm Friday evening until 2:30am. Saturday morning. Happy hour was at 7, and then the full bar really got going around 9. Now, as a DJ, playing music isn't bad. At least they can sing, the music's decent, and you can control the volume.

When it gets to Karaoke?

Newp. No real control at all.

Get some drunk guy up there demanding to sing Garth Brooks' "Friends in Low Places" or Hank Jr.'s "Country Boy Can Survive", and you just hope and pray for that gopher hole to crawl into and hide your face and ears.

I honestly think there were times that I left that bar with bleeding ears. I kid you not.

But my all-time hated song?

It's a fairly new one, and isn't really a bad tune, as far as music goes. I just can't stand it anymore.

It's Kid Rock and Cheryl Crow's "Picture".

Yup. Can't STAND it anymore.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too many drunk guys and gals trying to sing that song.

The best part? When the guy can't tell which line is his, and which is hers!

So you get the girl singing both parts, and the guy just butting in wherever, because since he's got a microphone, he might as well make some use out of it!

Anyway, it was quite the interesting time.

As a DJ, you make some pretty good tips just playing a song someone asks for. I should've just installed a jukebox in the place, and stood by it to play the different songs, to be honest.

The most requested song to hear?

"Sweet Home Alabama"

I don't know why, since I did all of my musical stuff in Washington State, and I'm pretty sure not many of the folks that asked for the tune had ever left the sity limits, much less the state!

Anyway, one night I was playing around, and I asked folks for some music ideas. Not only was I going to do requests, but I wanted them to be "girl tunes".

Yup. Girl Tunes.

I did "Man, I Feel Like a Woman", "I'm Just a Girl", "The Woman In Me", "I Am Woman", etc..

You get the picture.

That got such a great response, that I started making Friday nights my "Theme" nights.

I'd offer up a $50 cash prize to whomever could guess the theme that I'd come up with.

I think I only paid out three times. Most of the time, the obscure stuff would get them, but they'd keep coming back each and every time!

Anyway, I still go out every once in a while with the wife to play and sing, and there's the occasional time that I'll try some contest just to see how I stack up against everyone in the local area.

How about you?

Letters From War.

I had the chance to listen to this song after posting my last experience from being in the service, and I have to be honest, it got me a bit misty-eyed.

The artist is Mark Schultz, and it's off his album Stories and Songs. I don't have any way to embed the song on my page just yet, but once I get the chance, I'm going to do it.

But, since I can't let you hear the song, I can still write down the lyrics, and hope that you get a chance to listen to it at some point.

Here's the song:

She ran to the mailbox on that bright summer's day.
Found a letter from her son in a war far away.
He spoke of the weather, and of friends he had made
Said "I've been thinkin' 'bout Dad and the life he had and that's why I'm here today"
Then at the end he said "You know what I'm fighting for"
It was the first of his Letters From War

She started writing:
You are good, and you're brave
What a father that you'll be someday
Make it home, make it safe
She wrote every night as she prayed..

Late in December, a day she'll not forget
Oh, her tears stained the paper with every word that she read
It said "I was up on a hill, I was out there alone
When the shots all rang out, the bombs were exploding
That's when I saw him, he came back for me
And though he was captured, the man set me free
And that man was your son..
He asked me to write you, I told him I would, oh I swore."
It was the last of his Letters From War

And she prayed he was living, she kept on believing
And she wrote every night just to say

You are good, and you're brave
What a father that you'l be someday
Make it home, make it safe
And still she kept writing each day..

And then two years later, Autumn leaves all around
A car pulled in the driveway, and she fell to the ground
And out stepped a Captain where her boy used to stand
He said "Mom, I'm following orders
I got all your letters, and I've come home again"

He ran in to hold her
He dropped all his bags on the floor
Holding all of her Letters From War


I hope this touches you all as much as it hit home to me.

Hopefully one day they'll all come home!