New Topic, Week of April 19 - April 25

Well, as tempting as it is to use this week to discuss something related to 4/20, I don't think there's all that much to say about marijuana, and I've heard it all before.

Watch. At least one person is going to post about marijuana this week.

No, I think this week's topic should be in honor of Demitri. And his vocabulary sheet. And the song that he got stuck in my head for two days. (By the way: no, it isn't stuck in my head any more. But now that I'm thinking about it again, it might be soon.)

We all have those thoughts, images, tunes, memories, that get stuck on a loop in our minds and play, over and over and over again, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for days. Perhaps they turn into obsessions and stay in our heads for -- who knows? Maybe for life.

Here are a few of mine, from the last few weeks and months.


1. The song "My Girl" by Nirvana, from the Unplugged album -- "My girl, my girl, don't lie to me, tell me where did you sleep last night." That's the one Demitri wrote on his vocabulary sheet, a line to a box all the way across. I like the song a lot, so it got stuck in my head. Along with

2. The song "Gives You Hell" by All-American Rejects (When you see my face, hope it gives you hell, hope it gives you hell . . . ) It's a catchy song -- somehow those songs that have crowds singing, as if a whole bar full of drunks joined in, always seem more catchy to me. Plus it was recited as a poem by one of my Senior English students, and it made a connection the next time I heard the song.

3. The line "Behind this mask is an idea, Mr. Creevy. And ideas are bulletproof." from V for Vendetta. One of my favorite movies, one of my favorite lines, one of my favorite sentiments. I wish I could whisper it all menacingly to some oppressive government swine.

4. The number 42. Several former students and I started a mock church several years ago, and it was based around the number 42, from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Now I notice whenever I see 42, on a quiz score, on a Top 100 list, whatever.

5. Pirates. I actually think about them a lot. Combination of Talk Like a Pirate Day, and the Pirates of the Caribbean, three movies (and a ride) I love, and the whole pirates vs. ninjas thing, which I wrote an essay about. And then there are the Somali pirates that are all over the news now. I think it's fascinating that our world has broken down far enough that we have pirates once more on the high seas.

6. The game. Which I just lost, and so did you. I think that's actually a very clever idea, and it amuses me endlessly when it crosses my mind -- so it does it a lot.


So for me, it is music -- most often songs I only know a few lines of -- and things that make me laugh that stay in my head. Oh, and imagined conversations with people that tick me off -- I can go round and round with those for days. Like that one parent from parent conferences . . . yeah, that one.

Tell us what has been stuck in your head. Maybe it's a song, maybe it's an image from a movie or a TV show or something you saw on YouTube -- like this one, (WARNING! Don't click on that link unless you want that in your head! I mean it!) which gets stuck in my head a lot. Maybe it is something you worry about, or a sad or happy memory. When you find yourself spacing out or getting distracted -- what are you thinking about?