Who knew? I probably would have, if I’d listened, but…  Back in 1994, Nine Inch Nails wrote and recorded the song, Hurt. I guess I was too busy raising kidlets, working, and all the stuff associated with such, to even know who the Nine Inch Nails were, let alone heard their song. Hmmm, maybe I listened to the wrong station? As I recall, it was KVI in Seattle, if they still played music then.

In the meantime, one of my all-time favorite singers was Johnny Cash. I still like him a whole lot. The only thing, as I recall, I didn’t like about him was June Carter. Oh, she was okay, I guess. At least he seemed to think so, but, dammit, oh, well, at least they knew each other, he and I never met. sigh. Besides, I’ve heard she was deadly jealous 😉

After June Carter Cash died, I saw a video of Johnny Cash, singing Hurt. Naturally, I thought he wrote it after his beloved died. I believed that for years (yeah, I’m also a believer in some conspiracies, too. As well as Santa Clause and the egg-laying Easter Bunny—what can I say? I admit it.) So, today, I was horizontal on the bed, snuggling with the Brave Dog, called Mr. Dog by the receptionist at the vet’s yesterday, and scrolling through YouTube, when I came upon The Greatest Cover Song of All Time? Sammy didn’t think much of it, but I found it quite interesting. it’s about 15 minutes long, give or take.

Nothing against the Nine Inch Nails, but Johnny’s recording brought tears the first time I heard it, and every time since. Aaaah, unrequited love. /snort/

If it helps my credibility at all, I did know who Queen was. Oh, yeah. And I love watching them on YouTube! Oooooooh, yeah!!

Do you remember the Black Panthers? I sort of remember them. I was in the military when they formed, had been raised by a racist family (Daddy told me a few months before he died that one of the reasons he left mother was he couldn’t tolerate the racism of her and her family), and I was married to a guy from the deepest part of the South. You can probably guess with a fair amount of accuracy what I thought of the radical Panthers. And, in all honesty, if I knew then what I know now, I probably would have tried to join them.

It’s amazing what one can learn when one leaves home, when one lives with people from different cultures, different beliefs. When one listens. Admittedly, that took me a few years, learning to shut my mouth and open my ears and listen. Actually, I’m still working on that. But it seems to be the only way I can learn anything 😉 That and reading. 

So, what brought all this reflection you probably don’t give a rip about to the fore? I tumbled to a channel on YouTube, A Former Black Panther Speaks: Can America Be Saved? The gentleman running the channel, is calm, measured, and well-spoken. He puts forth a call for a calm, lawful, civic movement. “This channel is about calm action, human contact, and preventing escalation — not outrage.” If, like me, you’re in a position where demonstrating in person is not being kind to your body, but you still want to do something, give a listen to my bro. He has some good ideas about using the tools we have, that won’t put us in a wheelchair for a few weeks recouping from an in-person demonstration. Admittedly, the in-person demonstrations are more fun…../snort/ (If our demonstrations were marches, and not standing on the street, I might do more—it’s easier to march than to stand for any length of time. Another thing I learned in the military)

So, yeah, you can learn all sorts of fun things on the internet.

This guy/gal isn’t interested in YouTube, he’s got the whole outdoors!