I decided tonight to turn the progression that I've been using to practice my chord transitions into a song. And I made a little progress. But I came up against what feels like a pretty serious challenge. Figuring out what the song'll be about.

Probably won't be about Old Tom Moore. He already has a song:

Days of 49 is track 4 on Self Portrait.

Married to the Sea. Again. Thank you, Lauren, for sending me this one too.

I can't think of anything for myself at the moment, but if that grizzly bear was my sister, I'd play Isis (track 2 on Desire). Something about the rhymes she just can't handle...

She said, where ya been?
I said, no place special.
She said, you look different.
I said, well, I guess.
She said, you gonna stay?
I said, if you want me to, yes.

Pretty sure this is my second favorite one line song.

Guesses on my favorite favorite?  Your favorite favorites?

All the Tired Horses is track 1 on Self Portrait.

I love the way Bob Dylan packs big stories into little spaces.  Verses like chapters.  Songs like novels.

Like Hemingway?  Hmmm.

Visions of Johanna is track 3 on Blonde on Blonde.

Something about the cast of characters in this song...

Hungry women.  Saint Annie.  My best friend the doctor.  Sweet Melinda, the goddess of gloom.  The peasants.  The cops.  The boasting authorities.  The sergeant at arms.  My brother Carl, who left looking like a ghost.  No one to bluff.  Tom Thumb.

And, of course, since it's a cover of his song, Bob Dylan.

The song below is Nina Simone's version of Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.  Originally, it's track 8 on Highway 61 Revisited.  In my opinion, Nina took a cool little poem and turned it into a fully bad ass song.

The Carrot Project has me too excited to sleep much at night, and I'm starting to feel that ominous scratchy in the back of my throat, so I decided I needed a nap.

As I was settling into the couch, I remembered a Facebook status message from a couple of weeks ago:

Martha Blake is taking a loud music nap.

I took those at boarding school all the time. In CT's reclining dentist chair.

Bob Dylan Desire.
Beck Odelay.
The Temptations.
Let It Be.
Rusted Root.
Phish Billy Breathes.
Tupac.

Damn. Those were some great naps.

But I decided for low volume today, and, in honor of Martha, I fell asleep to Langhorne Slim.

Then I dreamt like crazy, stirred after every little episode, told myself to remember, forgot everything, and woke up 30 minutes later to Lauryn Hill philosophy.

Interlude 3 and I Find It Hard to Say (Rebel) are tracks 8 and 9 on disc 1 Lauryn's MTV Unplugged Set.