Who'd Have Known

The first eight songs of "It's Not Me, It's You" are filled with shallow lyrics and biting sarcasm made humorous and entertaining through Lily Allen's adorable British vocals. And then suddenly she gives us "Who'd Have Known," a sweet little song about two people beginning a love relationship.

Placement is everything. Throughout the entire song, I held onto every word saying to myself, "keep it going, don't let it become a joke ... keep it lovely." And she let it happen ... giving the song "just the right amount of awkward" through my pause and uncertainty ... partial lyrics follow:

Are you mine?
Are you mine?
Cause I stay here all the time
Watching telly, drinking wine
Who'da known, who'da known
When you flash up on my phone
I'd no longer feel alone
No longer feel alone

I haven't left here for days now
And I'm becoming amazed how
You're quite affectionate in public
In fact, your friend said it made her feel sick
And even though it's moving forward
There's just the right amount of awkward
And today you accidentally
Called me baby

Are you mine?
Are you mine?
Cause I stay here all the time
Watching telly, drinking wine
Who'da known, who'da known
When you flash up on my phone
I'd no longer feel alone

Let's just stay
Let's just stay
I wanna lie in bed all day
We'll be laughing all the way
Told your friends
They all know
We exist but we're taking it slow
Now let's just see how we go
Now let's see how we go

Somewhere Else

The Perils of Penelope Pitstop

The Ruined Cottage (Fredericksburg)

The rain-soaked books on the front porch and scattered children's toys throughout the house reminded me of William Wordsworth's poem "The Ruined Cottage" written in 1797. Excerpt below:

... her house
Bespake a sleepy hand of negligence;
The floor was neither dry nor neat, the hearth
Was comfortless, and her small lot of books,
Which, in the cottage-window, heretofore
Had been piled up against the corner panes
In seemly order, now, with straggling leaves
Lay scattered here and there, open or shut,
As they had chanced to fall. Her infant Babe
Had from his Mother caught the trick of grief,
And sighed among its playthings.

Jaime Jorge Jose

They called him George. He was from Barcelona and was a Catholic.

Bernice, a nice Jewish girl, married my grandfather when she was a young woman and her family disowned her for the next ten years. They didn't reconcile until my father was born in 1937.

That's my dad standing next to the tank in the pic on the wall and also my dad in the pics on the desk. Kids have a way of making things right.

Bernice

My Eastern European grandmother whose family came to America at the turn of the last century.

Bernice grew up in New York City and always wore beautiful well-made clothes. If you click on the pic large you can see the framed fashion prints behind her.

When Bernice was a child, her mother took her to watch the suffragettes march for the vote. She was told to remember those women because they would change her life. They definitely made a difference in mine.

Zexy (Lorton)