Tag: links

Were I in England right now…

…I’d go to the free Paul McCartney: The Lyrics exhibition in London at the entrance hall to the British Library on Euston Road. It’ll be there until March 13 and features photographs, archive material including handwritten lyrics, and previously unpublished comments from Sir Paul about the songwriting process. The exhibit spans his career from 1956 to the present.

I am not in England, or London, or the British Library. I am in Houston, as I was on December 4, Dennis Wilson’s birthday, when Tom and I went to Brazos Bookstore for a few gift ideas. It was there I sent him an apologetic look and said, “I don’t know what you’ve gotten me yet, and I know this is pricey, but I think I must have it.” He had already bought some gifts (at least one of which Debby later generously paid for and took from him to give me), and what I wanted was indeed pricey (but certainly nowhere near the amount many, many times it that the autographed copy sold for in their store, so there’s that).

I’ve barely begun to explore it yet, because I’m going to savor it for a long time, delving into it, and feeling grateful that I’ve been alive in the world at the same time as the Beatles and Wings and Paul McCartney. I’ll try not to write too much when I share the following photos, but I’m so grateful for this muse, this artist, this man, this musician, who is a constant source of inspiration and to whom one of my own characters frequently pays homage.

I am not so far away in time, after all, from the little girl who once put a ball under her shirt, embraced the bulge with her hands, and announced to the world she was having Paul McCartney’s baby.


Only yesterday, I wrote a scene in which my musician plays “Maybe I’m Amazed” on piano for the woman he loves. It was so unexpected that this was the song, among so many, that made me start crying when I saw Paul McCartney perform in 2019. It’s just… everything it should be, in his writing, his history, and in the things I imagine.


My first husband (SDG) gave me this little dog, who I named “First,” on the first anniversary of our “going steady” in high school. Often when we’d drive between Tuscaloosa and our hometown when we were in college, First would ride along, and when we listened to the 8-track of Band on the Run in SDG’s little orange Volkswagen, every time “Let Me Roll It” played, I’d pick up First and make him play air guitar. I don’t know if SDG laughed because of First or because I laughed so hard at First when I made him play, but this is a memory that never fails to make me happy. Some things are right for their time, and then we change and go somewhere else in our lives. That doesn’t take a single thing away from what we cherished.

I suppose that’s also one lesson of the Beatles.

Riley, I never forget that you left on January 16 in 2008. I thank you again for all the times you played and sang Paul McCartney songs for me on your guitar and piano, even though you reminded me that John was your Beatle and George was mine, and could I just please request them now and then? I didn’t have to. You always knew who I needed to hear from among them, as well as when my spirit required Bob Dylan or any of the other music that lit up my world. I will love you and miss you forever, my friend.

Button Sunday

I’ve listened to the music of Hank Williams Sr. since I was a little kid. My whole family liked him, and I can still remember words to songs I haven’t heard in years, though I do own at least his greatest hits on CD.

One song I don’t remember hearing as a kid is “Move It On Over,” which is a favorite. I well remember the first time I heard it. I was sitting at the Red Rooster Pub in Jacksonville, Alabama. I was probably twenty-four years old, drinking a beer and playing backgammon, and the song was on their stereo system. When I tried to find out later who was singing it, I first came up with George Thorogood, who did a cover, but his version didn’t have the repeated lines, so I think I was hearing Hank Sr. himself at the Pub.

The reason I thought of the song this past week was because of that raglan sleeve shirt I made for my musician that was too small. I did a second attempt that went better, then I modified the first attempt a bit (I still need to remake the pattern in both sizes and change the collar) and put it on a smaller doll.

Doll One represents a musician in the first series I’m working on. Doll Two represents another musician in the second series. Their stories will cross at some point, and when I was looking at them, all I could think was, “Move over old dog ’cause a new dog’s movin’ in.”

Enjoy a bit of country, if you are so inclined.

Button Sunday

This button makes me think of an Elvis Costello song from 1977, “Alison.” I liked this song so much that when I was working on a novel in ’78/’79, I named a character after it. I spelled her name Allison, and I don’t think she’s like the girl in the song, but still, it’s my homage to a favorite artist. In updated versions of the book, she still exists and is still named Allison.

Marika, if you’re reading, this is one of my strong candidates for the Ghost Girl List.

Button Sunday

Happy Halloween! We won’t be giving candy for the second year because of the pandemic, but I’ve had a hell- raising good time through October on Instagram with the Eleventh Earl of Houndstooth Hall, Lord Cuttlebone.

Here’s a spooky Texas-style reminder from a cow skull and some gnomes that if you partake in the eating of the Devil’s Teeth, as I call candy corn, tonight is your free pass to do so.

This is my favorite photo of Lord Cuttlebone from the month. I won’t post all of the photos from October, but I’ll put the music-related ones behind a cut for fun if you want to see them.

Continue reading “Button Sunday”

What a week

This week was a little crazy. I’m not even sure why. I did have to get a new phone after I launched my previous one on the river to ruin, and that was the same day I also had my car in for its regular maintenance.

Let’s see. We voted. We went over to RubinSmo Manor for an hour or so for a photo shoot and got to meet Honey the foster kitty, see Pepper, and hug Lindsey and Rhonda for the first time in SO LONG–especially Lindsey, because we have been able to see Rhonda two or three times since we last saw Lindsey.

ETA: I forgot the tornado warnings and the power outage. That sucked up some of the time I’d normally be productive.

I’ve been out of the house running errands more frequently than usual this week. But none of this seems like a lot, and I don’t watch TV unless Tom and I watch something while we eat dinner. So other than cooking, housecleaning, and spending time outside (the weather is so nice) with dogs, I guess most of my time has gone to this art project I’ve embarked on and writing. I sure don’t get more than six hours of sleep a night, so who knows where all the hours go.

Today while I was working on stuff I had an overwhelming urge to listen to Peter Gabriel’s album Us. There used to be a record store next to the bookstore where I was an assistant manager, and I was in there browsing one day when they played a song. It sounded so much like Dennis Wilson or a song he’d have written or sung that I remember walking to the cash wrap in a daze and asking, “WHAT OR WHO IS THAT YOU’RE PLAYING?” It was Peter Gabriel, and the song was “Washing of the Water,” which I’ll include below. A moving song, and I can understand why it caught my attention and still gets to me.

Another noteworthy thing about the album is the song “Fourteen Black Paintings,” which he wrote about Mark Rothko’s paintings installed in Houston’s Rothko Chapel. They are among my favorite works of art, and Mark Rothko is one of my favorite painters in the world. Just some Becky trivia there. =)