When
you have six kids in ten years you tend to miss the nuances,
the fine points of what's going on. For instance, you're busy
doing nothing sitting in the gas crunch and because you had
a personalized plate (vanity) you could only get in the long
lines at seven a.m. with a screaming infant or two, on odd
days only. I followed Patty Hearst as little as possible,
and Watergate was hard to miss. Boring. So have a nice day
and I'd like to punch out that little round yellow face. You
can tell who's stuck way back there when they still say that
to you.
Forget the lava lamps
and mood rings I didn't need a ring to figure out
what state I was in. Beanbag chairs were tacky so was avocado
anything, especially shag. Down vests and trail mix were
okay, I guess, but if I see another macramé plant
hanger interspersed with wooden beads it'll be too soon.
No, I was of aqua
fondue pots and terrariums in a cool green Almaden gallon
jug. And Hang Ten and decoupage and Bury
My Heart at Wounded Knee not Rod McKuen
and his ridiculous dog.
Love
Story was
never having to see bad acting again and who cares about
streaking because I saw plenty of little bare bottoms everyday.
Bicentennial and an
ice skater's coif satin jackets Bare Trap sandals that's
what I saw along with five million in paperback sales: bodice
rippers.
Vietnam then was whacked
out Vets committing suicide it was more interesting to see
all those Italians killing each other on the screen after
they cooked the best spaghetti to die for. Throwing up Campbell's
pea green soup I'd rather watch kid Spielberg's two
million dollar nuts and bolts come after you in the steel
tank at Universal.
Tonsils and tonsils
and stepping over zonked-out freaks on Telegraph, dragging
a five year old to the throat doctor and loud discos in
convention hotels filled with mid-life plaid polyester.
Irishmen don't look good in all white and besides they don't
like gold chains.
Parochial plaid and
Sister Said cupcake sale and lipsmackers whoever dreamt
that up was a genius just add strawberry (red dye #5) to
Vaseline and hang it from a cord for the pre-menstrual set.
Going from one disaster
at home to another give me a dime for every time the milk
hit the fan and I'll show you an operation to rival Dreyer's.
The upside down leviathan and flames in the Big Guinea and
the psycho with the life insurance out of a machine was
nothing.
Take back the Italian
horn I get enough virility thanks and leave your puka shells
behind with the tooled leather belt embossed colored flowers
and cannabis bronze buckle.
Keep on truckin' away
from me because I'm waiting for the carpenters it's only
just begun between the pet rocks and pop rocks and it's
all over with the flaming Pintos. Burn your bellbottoms
and chuck the turquoise and silver squash blossom 'cause
the baby just signed his ass over to Uncle Sam, the same
ass that was pampered once upon a time.
Say goodnight Mary
Ellen, stay high yellow brick road gotta do-run-run.