As I said in Part One, some things you really cannot talk about in detail online. No, seriously, you really can’t. Or more possibly, you can–people often do–but you cannot do it well, so you shouldn’t. We are still catching up to this text and technology thing. It’s marvelous, miraculous. I remember AOL Instant Messenger (I think it might still exist–does anybody use it?) I don’t know how I would have survived as a single father without cell phones and tech. What a soul-saving thing it was to be at work back then and see the AIM message pop up on my computer from my son Josiah, after he got home from school: “Hi, Dad!” Instant joy.  Immediate connection.

But as much as I love the intimacy and open-book style that many of us, myself included, try to take to online writing, there are still things that you just can’t say, or you shouldn’t say them, not just yet. Millions of Facebook posts and tweets should just never have been made. We are not wired to communicate intimately with 2000 friends.  Neither are we adept as a whole, at learning so much about some people on our  “friend” lists.  Sweet Aunt Loraine is a rabid political conservative? Can you handle that knowledge? She posts sweet pictures of the kids though, doesn’t she?

So on this Music Monday, as I attempt to say more with music than I can say in prose, I bring you two more songs by Eels. Yes, Eels. Did you miss Part One? I don’t think Ogden Nash was thinking of this band when he penned the poem:

I don't mind eels
Except as meals.
And the way they feels.

In any case the first song is about how I am working to not repeat old mistakes, to learn from the past. Last night I had a discussion, if you can call it that, with a dear friend who is hurting. We’ve known each other for nearly 20 years now, and perhaps he is close enough to me, trusts me enough, to just lay bare his feelings at his worst. I had hurt him inadvertently, and when I explained the misunderstanding, it seemed to help.

But really, there is so much more he is battling. And he was, I think, mostly latching on to some tangible reason to be angry. Not that there might not be other justified reasons to lash out at me, but he has been physically ill, and often in pain for some time, and that takes its toll on the mind and the spirit. I am trying to not take it personally, but I do want to learn and make sure that I take actions to prevent such a misunderstanding from happening again.

The final song is a cover of an old Elvis Presley tune. I first shared it here sometime last year in post with singer-storyteller Arlo Guthrie. It’s a song that my sons and I have sung together. The first time that a friend heard the mini-concert is when they were quite young. He and the four of us were crammed in one vehicle. When the we finished singing there was silence before my buddy let out his breath and said, “Wow.” It’s one of those tunes that can mean so much more than what it says, simply because you of sing it with someone else.

You might remember from previous music posts that I have a deep affection for bands with multiple traditional instruments. There is magic here. Have a good Monday, or at least don’t let it get to you. You are loved, and you are worth it.

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