"Millennium Theater" by Ani DiFranco

millennium theater
get out there and buy that water and gas
ramadan, orange alert
everybody put on your gas mask

first, leak it out about the president
then stand up and shout, "IMPEACHMENT!"
pull the coattails out from under their little VP
before he has a chance to get in the driver's seat

millennium spectacle
everybody put on a show
slip the little prince in the back door
21st century here we go
digital whiplash
so many formats, so little time
while out in TV nation
under darkening skies
the resistance is just waiting to be organized...

halliburton, enron
chief justices for sale
yucca mountain goddesses
their tears they form a trail
trickle-down pollution
patriarchies realigned
while the ice caps melt down
new orleans bides her time
new orleans bides her time

ladies and gentlemen, welcome to tonight's show
the millennium theater asks that you not smoke
please turn off your cell phones
and forget what you think you know...

I Am Happy When I...

Clean up my cubicle. Cook a good meal. Receive compliments on a meal. Drink good coffee. Make a new friend. Pet a cat. See penguins. Organize a calendar. Listen to Ani DiFranco. Listen to the Ditty Bops. Feel like I've accomplished another tick under the "good mom" tally I constantly run on myself. Think about something serious without getting upset. See the Daughter completely spellbound by Yellow Submarine. Listen to vinyl records. Paint my nails without smudging them. Put a decent outfit together. Get a lot of work done. See the artwork the Daughter makes at school. Take a good picture. Make a stranger happy. See baby pictures of the Man. Fall into bed after a long day. Pluck my eyebrows. Eat a bowl of cereal. Use big words properly. Finish a book that doesn't make me cry at the end. Get praise from my parents. Play the piano. Listen to NPR. See that Dubya's approval ratings continue to fall. Take a vitamin. Read a "family" magazine and get good ideas. Go to the tanning bed. Go to the gym. Make a list. Have a well-stocked pantry. Reminisce. Buy new clothes. Pull weeds in my garden. Find stray shopping lists at the grocery. Get told that I don't sound like I'm from the Midwest. Change the month on the calendar. Make resolutions. Read the blogs of other moms. Spend time with my friends who are in healthy, functioning relationships and have kids, because it makes me feel more normal. Feel normal. Can let go and be spontaneous. Find good pieces of the past. Get invited out to lunch. Buy new ink pens or sharpie markers. Start a new notebook. Work on my Target online wedding registry. Blog. Can go outside and not sweat. Listen to the Postal Service. Wear sparkly eyeshadow. Leave the house in the morning without feeling like the sky is going to just come crashing down around me. Get mail. Get email. Buy perfume. Receive attention from my younger, prettier, more hip little sister. Am told that the Man and I make a lovely couple. Remember my grandmother. Wake up in the morning not feeling like a zombie. Ride a bicycle. Find a good buy at a thrift store. Clean up clutter and junk. Listen to Dave Brubeck. Manage to finagle my bank account so that I don't go into the negative before I get paid. Switch purses. Clean out my car. Feel like I'm accomplishing something in my life.