The "Half Way There" Friday Random Ten

Had my final for the semester in my nursing class on Wednesday. I got a 91%, which gave me a B for the class, which I'm thrilled about. On Wednesday next week-- the day after my 49th birthday-- I take a mid-curricular test called the "HESI" which determines whether or not I'm where I need to be at the end of the first year (and whether i'll be required to go to summer school). I'll go through my notes on Monday and Tuesday, but I'm not going to knock myself out with it all; as my old friend Martin, who is in my class this semester, said, "If you haven't learned it by now, you're not going to learn it the night before the test."

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy a couple of days of not hitting the books. I might even hop in my car at some point and go visit my long-lost and recently found friend Jamie who just had a knee replacement. He's going to come up my way to go to "Atwoodfest," the annual party we hold to commemorate my late friend Mark's life. Looking forward to hanging out with Jamie.

1. Her Majesty- The Beatles
2. Driving My Life Away- Eddie Rabbit
3. Sweet Caroline- Neil Diamond
4. Back In the USSR- The Beatles
5. Born To Lose- The Heartbreakers
6. Deuce- Lenny Kravitz
7. Mexican Radio- Wall of Voodoo
8. Arms Aloft- Joe Strummer and the Mescaleroes
9. My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys- Willie Nelson
10. Run It- The Replacements


Notes:
1. The whimsical last song on "Abbey Road." "Gotta tell her that I love her a lot/But I gotta get a belly full of wine.."
2. Loved Eddie Rabbit for years, and loved him even more when I discovered, in reading his obit a while back, that he co-wrote my favorite Elvis song, "Kentucky Rain."
3. Mr. Diamond revealed a couple of years ago that this song is about Caroline Kennedy, who charmed the socks off of everybody as a little girl in her father's White House.
4. From the "White Album," which is probably my favorite Beatles record. The song was originally supposed to be "Back In The USA" but the syllables didn't work out. They changed it to "USSR" and the John Birch Society got it's nose out of joint.
5. This was former New York Doll Johnny Thunders' punk Heartbreakers, not Tom Petty's (who I'm also a fan of). Mr. Thunders was apparently born to lose struggle with drugs and eventually his life, in 1991.
6. From the great "Kiss My Ass" Kiss cover album. Stevie Wonder played harmonica on this cut.
7. Has one of the great rock and roll lines ever: "I wish I were in Tijuana/Eating barbecued iguana..."
8. Some fine post-Clash Joe Strummer.
9. "...old worn-out saddles and old worn-out memories, but no one and no place to stay..." God I wish I'd written that line!
10. Saw the Replacements twice-- at the fabled Cabaret Metro in 1986 and at their last show in Grant Park on July 4, 1991.