Wednesday 14 March 2012

Hotel Yorba

"I been thinking of a little place down by the lake
They got a dirty little road leading up to the house
I wonder how long it will take
Til we're alone  
Sitting on the front porch of that home
Stomping our feet on the wooden boards  
Never gonna worry about locking the door" 
Hotel Yorba - The White Stripes

Anyone who knows me knows that I love The White Stripes whole-heartedly. We moved house a few weeks ago and this song comes into my head almost every time I step out the back door. We have gone from a small-ish 3 bedroom house in suburbia to a large 5 bedroom home on acreage...with trees, birds, kangaroos and a little creek! I am IN LOVE with this place and may never leave. This place inspires you to open all the windows and doors and sit outside under the trees. It's beautiful! We can play loud music whenever we choose and don't have to worry about pissing off the neighbours. In fact, our neighbours are pretty cool. The first thing they said when we moved in was, "use our pool whenever you want". They didn't need to tell me twice! So we like to imagine that their massive, deep, gorgeous pool is ours too. Life is pretty good right now.

The pins and needles in my hands cleared up as soon as I got a higher pillow, so that is a major win. I was starting to fret about that a bit. I have recently started the blood tests to check my B Cell levels for the next chemo round, which will hopefully not be for a few months yet. I had a couple of worrying days when my vision went a bit weird and not long after calling the hospital everything returned to normal. Murphy's Law. I'm fine with Murphy's Law as long as it works in my favour! Even though my chemo is one year down with 2 more to go, I admit I still struggle with the concept daily. It's a weird mix of feelings - grateful that I can access the treatment but sad and worried about the long term implications. I've rattled on about this before on my blog but it's one thing I have a hard time dealing with. I frequently ask my loved ones if I should do it for 3 years, or take the risk of stopping to conceive a baby. We always come to the same conclusion: just finish the chemo and worry about babies when I am well. Boring! But probably the safest option. It doesn't help that almost every woman I know seems to be pregnant, like, ALL the time. In the meantime I will continue to shower my step kids and niece and nephew with all the maternal love I have to share.

So... back to the song! Hotel Yorba reminds me of a really different time in my life, when I was younger, carefree and a total party fiend. I listened to a lot of White Stripes, The Hives, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, BRMC, Magic Dirt, and had a brief love affair with the music of Bob Log III (my friends and I played starring roles in his Brisbane gig at the Zoo). I love the sheer rock'n'roll noise the White Stripes manage to produce, but I agree with most critics that Meg is not a great drummer, or singer. At the Big Day Out (maybe 2005?) Meg sang a couple of ditties and it was embarrassingly bad. But then there's Jack. He can do no wrong in my eyes. Together they make it work. Hotel Yorba reminds me of the grass roots and blues I grew up listening to and makes me want to slap my thigh and stomp my feet. I dig it...

Until next time...see you round like a record!