On safe returns and a belated almost-Random Ten

Okay, so I was going to post something about my long absence, until I realized that considering my usual low post count, most people probably didn't realize I was gone. I was, though. I actually spent the past week gloriously disconnected from technology, waaaay out in the country where DSL doesn't go and old people don't have cable modems, or even computers at all, because "what the hell kind of stupid contraption is that" when the new electric can opener is just a bit of a challenge? The glorious disconnect extended, in fact, to Saturday evening, when a bizarre windstorm cut off all power to the 56-year-old farmhouse, graciously sparing us the disappointment of my darling Redskins' loss to the Seahawks. We also got to miss the Patriots losing to the Broncos, and while I didn't really have a dog in that fight, I know that Tom Brady probably needs some sweet comfort right now. He should know that I'm free.

A week spent in a farmhouse in the country with 91-year-old grandfather, none-of-your-business-how-old mother and none-of-your-business-plus-two aunt, and nothing more informative or technological than the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star might sound absolutely miserable, but it was actually really, really pleasant. I know it's kind of trite, but getting away from the computer and the cell phone and work (especially work) can be almost refreshing. The real pleasure I got from slinging hay bales and feeding cows and slogging through crap-filled pastures kind of makes me wonder what the hell I'm doing tied to a computer writing about gaucho pants every damn day. Of course, then I remember that my workday generally doesn't include slogging through crap-filled pastures, and that kind of raises it at least a notch or two in my estimation. The Simple Life is really hard on the wardrobe.

Of course, a three-day absence of work adds up to a whole lot of firefighting when you get back, and bless her heart but my editor needs supervision. So while I work on that, and bone up on all the news that wasn't fit to print in the Fredericksburg paper, behold a quasi-random Ten, pulled from the road trip playlist that my mother and I enjoyed on the twenty-hour round trip to Virginia and back.

1. Green Day, "Good Riddance"
2. Jack Johnson, "Sitting, Waiting, Wishing"
3. Howie Day, "Brace Yourself"
4. Johnny Cash, "Folsom Prison Blues"
5. Fountains of Wayne, "The Girl I Can't Forget"
6. Richard Cheese, "Creep"
7. Ben Folds Five, "Selfless, Cold and Composed"
8. Diana Ross & The Supremes, "Love Child"
9.. The Rolling Stones, "Sympathy for the Devil"
10. U2, "All I Want Is You"

For the record, my mom is cooler than all of y'all's moms.