Well, another year has come and gone, so I thought I'd better post a retrospective of sorts. Without further ado, I present to you...
My Top 10 Obsessions of 2008
1) Photography.
I fell in love with a cheap plastic 120 film camera from China in 2008: the Holga. The low quality of its magical plastic lens results in dreamy photographs with blurred and vignetted edges. I spent the year searching for the perfect Holga shots and enjoying my return to analog photography. To give you an example of the Holga look, here are a few of my favorite Holga Shots of 2008.
2) Barack Obama
 After obsessively following his every move for several months, the best moment of 2008 was definitely the instant that he was declared President Of The United States on the big screen in Grant Park. The roar of the crowd, the tears, the excitement, the relief – it was an amazing flood of emotions, standing in that diverse crowd. I'm still pissed off at him for selecting Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration, but keeping the big picture in mind – this country is going to start valuing science, competence, integrity, and intelligence again in 20 days, and that's something worth celebrating!
3) Urban Exploration
 I took several photographic excursions into abandoned buildings during the year and was finally able to fully experience the rush of exploration. My excursions included the former Brach's Candy Factory, Washburne Trade School, Michael Reese Hospital and Edgewater Medical Center. My next goal is to get to Gary, the abandoned building capital of Chicagoland.
4) Degrassi: The Next Generation
I always used to complain about shows about teenagers like Dawson's Creek where NOTHING EVER HAPPENS!!! Show after show after show of adolescent moping and indecision making… blah blah blah blah blah. If I were to create a show about teenagers, there would always be stuff happening: abortions, violence, death, injury, suicide, rage, revenge, sex, drugs, etc. Well, I found my perfect teen show this year (years after it originated): Degrassi: The Next Generation. This is the kind of show where one of the main characters is stabbed and he actually dies!!! It doesn't get much better than this. I've been obsessively watching re-runs for the last few weeks and can safely say that this is the best show about teenagers ever created.
5) The Stephanie Miller Show
 Nothing got me through the tension of the presidential campaign better than the always-hysterical Stephanie Miller and her best "mook" Jim Ward. Jim's take on Caribou Barbie fatally wounding Boo-Boo Bear ("I'm cold, Yogi. So cold.") still cracks me up whenever I think of it.
6) Premium Homemade Ice Cream
 This stuff is sinfully good. The best ice cream I've ever had out of a carton. Oh, I'm going to miss you so when I begin my New Year's Resolutions tomorrow (trying to go vegan and lose weight means no more ice cream). Sniffle.
7) Paddle Pool
 The funnest 60's game EVER – and a constant source of hysterical laughter at 2008 Donigan family get-togethers.
8) Robyn  Eclectic Swedish pop dynamo. There was rarely a day in March or April when I didn't play "With Every Heartbeat" or "Dream On" at least 5 times.
9) Laura Gibson
 I saw Laura Gibson open for Colin Meloy of the Decemberists and it was the start of a major obsession. Laura Gibson looks like she stepped out of the 1850's: long blond hair, a rugged face, a wholesome old-fashioned dress. She plays folksy acoustic guitar and sings in a halting, lovely, very quiet voice. Her songs could also have come from the 19th century, obsessed as they are with the universal themes of death, longing, and the changing seasons. She is the perfect fall/winter singer-songwriter. Obviously, I was entranced from the first syllable.
My favorite song of hers is "Come By Storm", which she described as follows: "My bedroom window looks out over a huge and beautiful cemetery that borders our yard, and I often stare out at the treeline and the gravestones. During the first few months of living in this house, I kept writing these poems and songs with themes of death and dying… I don't know if it was the influence of the autumn trees or the cemetery… This was the song that came out of those writings, most inspired by staring at trees and thinking of lives passing."
Come By Storm - Laura Gibson
10) Bubble Breaker

Just a stupid little game on my new cell phone where you try to get as many bubbles of the same color together, but man, did I get addicted! I still am, actually...
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Last night, I was one of the 250,000 or so revelers in Grant Park in Chicago. I was there with Abby, her friend Melissa, and our friend Kathy. The crowd was an amazing mixture of races, ages, and gender. Everyone was wearing Barack gear and even on the train down to the park a group of about six black guys were walking from one train car to another doing an exuberant, "Obama! Obama! Obama!" chant and dance. The atmosphere was so positive, so joyful, so empowering. We realized that we were the center of the world on this night, and that the world was waiting to celebrate with us.
We were far back in the crowd and couldn’t see the stage at all over the heads of the people in front of us, but we could see a huge screen that was showing the CNN election results as they came in. All night, as states were projected for Obama we would cheer loudly and as they were projected for McCain we would boo and put our thumbs down. There were a few moments when we felt butterflies in our stomachs as results came in that were unfavorable but I kept reminding myself, "We expected to lose that state - don't worry..." I couldn’t help but feel a little sick when the showed early returns from Wisconsin with Obama behind - but as victories for Pennsylvania and Virginia came in, we knew that things were looking excellent. (Obama actually won Wisconsin handily as well when all the votes were counted.)
For me, the most amazing moment of the night wasn't Obama's acceptance speech - it was the moment they announced Obama had won. The screen began counting down to the closing of the west coast polls and all of us started counting down with it: "6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1". Then the screen went to another "Projection" slide before it abruptly cut to a "Breaking News" slide. We all anticipated the news - but could still scarcely believe it when the headline appeared: "Barack Obama Elected President". Immediately, a roar came up from the crowd. I started jumping up and down, screaming at the top of my lungs, and waving my fists above my head. Everyone around me was dancing and laughing and crying and screaming and waving flags. I hugged my friends and screamed, "Our national nightmare is OVER!!!!!!!!! We DID IT!!!!" The crowd began chanting, "Yes, We DID! Yes, We DID!!" and I joined in happily. The screen showed Jesse Jackson with tears streaming down his cheeks and people around me began crying even harder. Kathy was a blubbering mess, but I held it together pretty well. My happiness was overriding my emotions - and all I could do is smile and cheer. What an amazing moment to be an American - that a multi-racial, multi-cultural man with a Middle Eastern name - a middle name of HUSSEIN, at THAT! - could actually be elected president. That Martin Luther King Jr's clarion call to judge people not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character had finally come to pass. I will never forget that moment.
They showed McCain's concession speech and that really hit it home that this time they weren't going to steal it. Despite all the voting irregularities, the switched votes on electronic voting machines, the voter suppression efforts by the GOP - THIS time, they couldn't take it away from us. The crowd listened to McCain closely and clapped respectfully, despite the fact that the McCain crowd booed at every mention of Obama. I clapped and accepted his speech, but I will never forgive him for inspiring gullible people to feel racist hatred (including death threats) and jingoistic fear towards an honest and good man. Somehow I think that McCain will never forgive himself for it as well.
They broadcast scenes of people celebrating all over the world but the biggest cheers (and not a few tears) were saved for the scenes from Kenya. You couldn't help but smile to realize the impact that this man has had on the world and the pride and hope that he has instilled on the people of his father's homeland. Indeed, as Obama has said in previous speeches, one voice CAN change the world.
Obama's acceptance speech was the icing on the cake: another beautiful piece of oration that will be repeated in history books. My favorite part was when he revisited the "Yes We Can" speech and we all chanted, "Yes We Can" after each line. When the family joined him onstage after his speech, I was amazed that such a happy, healthy, normal, wonderful family would be inhabiting the White House. What have we done to deserve this?
Now, of course, the hard part comes and we'll have to push Barack to be the great president that we know he can be, and to keep his promises for a brighter tomorrow. But for now, I'm smiling and basking in the glow from last night. Yes, We Did!
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Massachusetts is #1 on my Must See list.

create your own personalized map of the USA or check out ourCalifornia travel guide
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Which is the right religion for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com |
| You scored as Atheism You scored as atheism. You are... an atheist, though you probably already knew this. Also, you probably have several people praying daily for your soul.
Instead of simply being "nonreligious," atheists strongly believe in the lack of existence of a higher being, or God.
Atheism | | 100% | Agnosticism | | 70% | Satanism | | 70% | Paganism | | 65% | Buddhism | | 40% | Confucianism | | 25% | Haruhism | | 15% | Hinduism | | 15% | Christianity | | 5% | Islam | | 0% | Judaism | | 0% |
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... and tell me that Barack Obama isn't an incredible leader. This shows him addressing his campaign headquarter staff last Friday. I've been a supporter of his since 2004, but he never fails to amaze me with his abilities. He is that rare beast: a leader who inspires. And it's so good to hear him talk about how hard they need to fight to beat the GOP attack machine. Gobama!
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I'm loving these high gas prices. It's finally forcing the changes that we have needed for a long, long time!
http://money.cnn.com/2008/06/03/news/companies/gm_announcement/index.htm
What with this announcement and Obama sewing up the nomination, it's a damned good day.
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| Date: | 2008-04-21 12:19 |
| Subject: | Mansfield Reformatory |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | accomplished | | Music: | "The Never-Played Symphonies" - Morrissey |
So, the weekend before last Abby and I went on a ghost hunt at Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio. This is an old abandoned prison (built between 1886 and 1910) that is famous as the prison where the Shawshank Redemption was filmed. It was an active prison until 1990 and a few years later, a preservation society took it over. The prison is absolutely AMAZING - it has the largest free standing cell block in the world - six tiers tall!!! I kept saying, as we were led around in the tour before the ghost hunt, "This is the greatest place on earth!" They had the lights on when they did the tour, but they turned them off for the ghost hunt, so I wasn't able to get any good pictures of the immensity of the building (since the flash wouldn't carry even a tenth of the height of the cell block) so I'll have to go back some other time to get better pics with the lights on.
The ghost hunt was great - they basically give you free reign of the entire building from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. We ended up staying until 4:30 a.m. Abby and I picked up a third member of our group - a woman named Jackie who was there alone. The building is so huge that even with 70+ people on the premises, you don't run into other people very often. You use flashlights to navigate. I took my Holga with an attached flash and the pictures came out looking really Blair Witch-like. Really creepy.
So, did we see any ghosts? Not really. Abby saw a "shadow figure" that passed through an area where nobody could have been (it was a debris field) and we were unable to recreate the shadow using our flashlights. (She can tell you more about that.) When I first entered the Tuberculosis Ward of the prison during the tour, I felt really dizzy and I thought that might have been something paranormal, but when we went back during our ghost hunt, I didn't feel anything strange at all. The only "cold spots" we encountered were due to broken windows and the fact that it was in the 30's outside.
The one strange thing that we really couldn't explain away was a female voice that all three of us heard that sounded like it was coming from right beside us - but there was nobody else around and none of us said anything. That was pretty odd. One of the warden's wives had died on the site when a gun accidentally discharged (so they say), and there were at one time women held in the prison, so a female ghost could exist on the premises. But that was the only thing that happened to us that was odd.
Anyway, without further ado, here are the best of the pictures I took. Hope you like them. There are additional stories on some of the pictures as well.
http://flickr.com/photos/comtessedespair/sets/72157604534387857/
Oh, I don't think I've ever announced it here on LiveJournal, but I've been a photographing fool for the last few months and my pictures can be found on Flickr. If you're into that sort of thing, have a look!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/comtessedespair/
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| Date: | 2008-03-20 12:33 |
| Subject: | Busy, Busy, Busy! |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | Bemused | | Music: | "Dying Slowly" by Tindersticks |
It's so rare that I actually go to concerts anymore that I am amazed at the number of shows that I'm planning to go to in the next few months. Along with several other items, I'll be quite busy - thought I'd share my good fortune.
April 12 - Ghost Hunting @ the Mansfield Reformatory in Ohio with Abby. April 21 - Colin Meloy @ Park West May 24 - Rilo Kiley @ Riviera May 29 - Kids In The Hall @ Chicago Theatre May 31 - The Breeders @ Metro June 8 - Mark Kozelek @ Old Town School of Folk Music June 14 - Billy Bragg @ Park West
Wow, I think that's the fullest my calendar has been in EONS!! All it needs is a Belle & Sebastian or Morrissey show to top it off in fine style. Alas, this is an off-year for them...
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| Date: | 2008-01-17 09:41 |
| Subject: | Ghost Hunting |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | cynical |
So, as Abby said, we're going ghost hunting this weekend at the "Haunted" Lincoln Theater in Decatur. This excursion is being led by Troy Taylor of Ghosts of the Prairie. So, I'm assuming this is going to be another of those excursions where they turn off all the lights during the hunt. I think I'm going to have to ask Troy the obvious question: Why do you turn out all the lights when you're ghost hunting? I mean, there are just as many reports of ghost sightings in the light as in the dark, and you can see and document things so much better in the light. What reason could there possibly be to turn out the lights... other than making you more "scared" and more likely to think that you see something scurrying about in the darkness? (ie. let your imagination run away with you) This is one of those things that makes me suspicious of "ghost hunters". Among many, many other things - like how they see dust or bugs illuminated by flash and call them "orbs". I hope I don't get thrown out of the hunt for being too cynical...
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I Get Around! Not lately, but still...

create your own visited states map.
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| Date: | 2007-12-21 07:21 |
| Subject: | Nerd Type |
| Security: | Public |
| What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Literature Nerd Does sitting by a nice cozy fire, with a cup of hot tea/chocolate, and a book you can read for hours even when your eyes grow red and dry and you look sort of scary sitting there with your insomniac appearance? Then you fit this category perfectly! You love the power of the written word and it's eloquence; and you may like to read/write poetry or novels. You contribute to the smart people of today's society, however you can probably be overly-critical of works.
It's okay. I understand. | | Musician | | | Science/Math Nerd | | | Social Nerd | | | Drama Nerd | | | Artistic Nerd | | | Gamer/Computer Nerd | | | Anime Nerd | | What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace |
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| Date: | 2007-08-09 10:48 |
| Subject: | Trauma!!! |
| Security: | Public |
( A Sad Day )
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... but the lyrics have a definite appeal!
Keep Your Jesus Off My Penis
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... Because it's true!!
Why Idiots Prevail
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Another reason the military disgusts me:
Military Hides Cause Of Women Soldiers' Death
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I was just listening to "Apology For An Accident" by American Music Club, and that song (like many Mark Eitzel compositions) never fails to send chills down my spine. Here is my nominee for the most emotionally harrowing lyric ever:
Well, I'm an expert in all things that nature abhors Your look of disgust when I touched your skin And I try to figure out what the world needs me for So I replay that scene again and again
Haven't we all been there before??? OUCH!
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| Date: | 2007-02-18 11:12 |
| Subject: | 7 Things |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | blah | | Music: | Hefner - "The King Of Summer" |
7 Things you plan to do before you die:
1. Buy a house with a yard. 2. Write and publish a book. 3. Write and publish a morbid fact du jour calendar. 4. Visit Europe. 5. See a glacier before they've all melted. 6. Pay off my debts. 7. Get thin. (If I don't do it before I die, I'll definitely do it after I die!)
7 Things you can't do:
1. Rollerblade. 2. Dunk a basketball. 3. Math without a calculator. 4. Go underwater without plugging my nose. 5. Dance. 6. Read without my glasses. 7. Get high. (I am immune to THC.)
7 Things you say most:
1. Cute (as in, "Voodoo, you're so cute! Oh my god - she's sooooo cute!") 2. Roosters (ie. Bella's nickname) 3. Voodoo 4. Pean (as in "Peanut" - Little Bear's nickname) 5. What? (Too many loud concerts...) 6. I'll start the diet/exercise tomorrow. 7. EDS, this is Angela.
7 Books (or series) you love:
1. Anything by Edward Gorey, especially "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" and "The Beastly Baby" 2. Wisconsin Death Trip 3. Party Monster (aka Disco Bloodbath) 4. Anything by Mary Roach 5. The Catcher in the Rye 6. Anything by Augusten Burroughs 7. Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook
7 Movies you can watch over and over:
1. Napoleon Dynamite 2. Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion 3. Fargo 4. Office Space 5. A Christmas Story 6. Any Austin Powers movie 7. Annie Hall
7 TV Shows you never get tired of:
1. The Office (American) 2. Absolutely Fabulous 3. Strangers With Candy 4. South Park 5. All In The Family 6. Seinfeld 7. Reno 911
7 Albums you can listen to over and over:
1. Red House Painters (the Rollercoaster cover) 2. Vauxhall and I - Morrissey 3. The Stone Roses 4. Talking With The Taxman About Poetry - Billy Bragg 5. If You're Feeling Sinister - Belle and Sebastian 6. Captain My Captain - Team Dresch 7. The Execution Of All Things - Rilo Kiley
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| Date: | 2006-12-01 13:15 |
| Subject: | It's All About Me! |
| Security: | Public |
| Mood: | bored | | Music: | Songs For Drella by John Cale & Lou Reed |
1. What color is the bra you have on right now? White. Well, it was white at one time - it's old. I hate buying bras so I just wear them until they literally disintegrate.
2. Do you ever lie about your age? No, I emphasize my antiquity whenever possible. There's no use trying to avoid the truth, after all.
3. Do you prefer "sensitive boys" or "tough guys"? Sensitive boys. Obviously!
4. Do you prefer blonde or brunette guy? Brunette girl, actually. (Presumptuous little survey!)
5. Are you currently single? No.
6. How many things in your past do you regret? "Regrets, I've had a few... but then again, too many to mention." - Morrissey
7. Did you answer number six truthfully? Are you accusing me of being a liar???? How rude!
8. Do you have a best friend? Yep.
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? A critically-acclaimed, incredibly good looking, highly intelligent singer-songwriter with a substantial cult following. In other words, I want to be a female Morrissey. Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want!
10. Have you ever kissed two guys in one night? Yeah, actually... exactly two. And two girls as well in the same night. This was the only night I've ever kissed more than one person, incidentally.
11. Where do you shop to buy most of your clothes. Old Navy for the jeans. The internet for the shirts.
12. Whos the last person you hugged? Voodoo. If that doesn't count, it would be Abigail.
13. Have you ever had your heart broken? Shattered.
14. Have you ever thought about suicide? I spent over a decade thinking of nothing but.
15. Have you ever wanted someone but you knew you couldn't have them? Oh, so many times. "I want the one I can't have and it's driving me mad" - Morrissey
16. Have you ever felt like killing somebody? It's my favorite fantasy. Some people count sheep when they are having trouble falling asleep; I count potential victims. And you think I'm kidding!
17. If you could change anything about your past, what would you change? I would be less of a neurotic recluse during my college years. If I could have gotten some medication and therapy during that time, maybe I might have actually made some friends or gotten more out of my education.
18. Do you like your life? Yes, I do. I've never been happier.
19. Do you shop at Hollister? What's Hollister?
20. Has one of your friends ever stolen a boyfriend from you? My friends get to hear me complain about my boyfriend/girlfriends for the length of the relationship, so why on earth would they ever want to steal them? They know better!
21. Has one of your friends ever stabbed you in the back? I've had friends turn on me before, but I wouldn't exactly call it stabbing me in the back. More like "getting sick of my shit and finally exploding". I understand, really.
22. Did you forgive them? Yes, eventually we made up. Now it seems inconceivable that we ever fought.
23. Who was your first best friend? Holly - a little girl whose grandma lived across the street. We were toddlers.
24. Do you have more friends that are girls or boys? More girls, but two of my best friends are boys.
25. How long have you had myspace? A few months.
26. Have you ever skipped school? I spent most of high school skipping school. I just did it the "legal" way - by manipulating my Mom into writing notes for me. Them was rotten days.
27. Has anyone ever cheated on you? Oh yes. My first three girlfriends cheated on me.
28. Have you ever slapped a boy in the face? No, but I've punched a boy, and I've thrown a basketball at a boy's face so hard that it gave him a bloody nose. (I was 11 when both situations occurred.)
29. If so why? Because they pissed me off! I punched the boy in the face because he was acting like an idiot. Literally, he was talking in gibberish just to piss me off. I was in no mood! I chased him through the canyon before finally cornering him for the punch. And I threw the basketball because my friend kept passing the ball at me half-heartedly over his head and behind his back, and I was trying to play a serious game. I gave him a bit of his own medicine - only 10 times faster and harder than he did. Oh yeah, I just remembered another incident where the same friend tackled me playing football and hurt me, and I retaliated by punching and kicking him. I left screaming at him in rage, as he lay sobbing in the mud. Hmmmm... I guess I had a wee bit of an anger problem as a youth.
30. What is one of your biggest fears of your life? That I will end up old and completely alone, living on the streets, abandoned by society. It seems like a very real possibility to me. I'll keep the cyanide capsule close at hand, just in case.
31. Have you ever skipped class? Of course - see #26. I especially liked to skip gym when we were doing gymnastics or square dancing. I would also skip any class on the days when they required you to do an oral presentation. Nothing terrified me more.
32. Has anyone close to you ever passed away? Yes, my mother.
33. Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? Yes. I used to do it frequently, but now it's quite infrequent.
34. Have you ever not been able to get someone out of your head? Obsession is my middle name.
35. Do you believe in the saying "once a cheater, always a cheater"? No, absolutely not. It is possible for people to make mistakes and learn from them, and never repeat them. It's rare, but it's not impossible.
36. Are you a player? Yes. I love to play football and tennis and basketball and softball and soccer and badminton and racquetball. I love to play with the dogs. I play Bejeweled frequently when I should be working. I like to play darts but Bella won't let me. (She gets psychotic and lunges at me when I bring the darts out.) I used to play Nintendo and PlayStation and some PC games, but who has the time these days? I play guitar. In fact, I need to bring the guitar out again (it's a winter-time activity for me). I used to play dead to try to lure the vultures down to visit with me, but they never did. I like playing Break Out on my cell phone when I'm bored. I spent my youth cloistered in my room playing records.
37. What kind of cell phone do you have? It's a Samsung. I know that because of how many times it auto-reboots itself, and I see "Samsung" on the boot screen. It's a sucky phone, as usual. Guess there's something to be said about not settling for the cheapest phone.
38.What is your screen name? Depends on the site. Everything from comtesse to despair to comtessedespair to sullengrrl to decidedlygrim to morbidlyinclined to sullenday to nz0mgw.
39. So far, do you like this survey? It did a good job wasting away some time when I should be working, and that's always welcome.
40. Have you ever had a good feeling about something and it turned out you were right? Yes. Isn't that just the law of averages?
41. Do you ever wish you were famous? Not really famous - just well-respected. I'd hate the whole paparazzi aspect of "fame", but I'd love the acclaim. I'd like giving interviews, but I'd hate photo sessions.
42. Do you ever wish you were a man? I used to desperately wish I was a boy when I was a little girl (in fact, I used to pretend I was a boy most of the time), but now, as the old song goes, I Enjoy Being A Girl.
43. Do you think any men will open this just because it has the female survey? What a sexist thing to say! I don't think I like you anymore, survey. I'm leaving now.
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Here's my nominee for the "Thunderbolts And Lightning, Very Very Frightening" Worst Lyrics Ever Award:
"Two Hearts Beat As One" - U2
I don't know, I don't know which side I'm on. I don't know my right from left, Or my right from wrong. Say I'm a fool, Say I'm not for you. But if I'm a fool for you, That's something. Two hearts beat as one. Two hearts beat as one.
Can't stop the dance, This is not our chance. I can't stop the dance, Maybe this is not our chance. Two hearts beat as one. Two hearts beat as one.
Beat on black, Beat on white, Beat on anything, Go get it right. Beat on you or beat on me. Oh I don't know, How to say what has got to be said. I don't know if it's black or white. There's other's who see it red. I don't give the answers right. I'll leave that to you. Is this love out of fashion? Or is it the time of year? I have these words to sections. Too late to one of you. Two hearts beat as one. Two hearts beat as one.
I'll shine my spirit aloud. Try to explain. What I feel. Two hearts. I can't stop the dance. Baby, this is my last chance. I said don't stop the dance. Baby this is not our last chance. I said, can't stop the dance.
(Bono is also my nominee for "Worst Lyricist Ever".)
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