Jenna's House of Idiosyncrasies Version 10.0 [Focus.]

I had a crazy dream last night where I went to see Bob Dylan play in a high school gymnasium. The bleachers had been pulled in and stairs with ascending platforms had been build right in front of the stage, and plastic chairs lined up on the platforms. I sat in the very last row, my head almost touching the ceiling. Everybody except me, including the person I had come with, were dressed as goths. But in the dream it seemed perfectly normal that Bob Dylan had a large goth following.

For some reason there were like 17 opening acts. I never got to see Bob Dylan. I walked out when a guy wearing mustard on his shirt, singing about mustard, started handing out packets of mustard as if they were exciting party favors. All the goth kids seemed very excited about the mustard.

When I walked out I went over to concessions and Chris from Barcode was working. In fact, concessions was colored and lit just like Barcode. He pointed to me, said, “Jack and Diet?” and then went to work getting it for me. When he came back with the drink, I asked him what he was doing here. He looked at me like I was crazy, that it was the most normal thing in the would for him to be serving alcohol in a high school where Bob Dylan is putting on a show for goth kids. He told me then that he was cutting me off, that I clearly had consumed too much. I protested that I hadn't had a drink yet, that this was my first one, but then I started to get really dizzy. As I fell, Zach appeared from nowhere and caught me, and laid me gently on the ground. He felt my forehead and told me everything was gonna be okay.

Then I blacked out. Then I woke up. It took me a whole 10 minutes of being awake to sort out that it had been a dream and not a memory of last night.

Today, I practiced my right to vote. I am part of the system now, as flawed as it is.

In celebration, I made an election day mix.

1. Hey Mr. President (Anyone But You) - Will Hoge
2. Young America - Jump
3. Bleed American - Jimmy Eat World
4. If 6 Was 9 - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
5. Know Your Enemy - Rage Against the Machine
6. MOSH - Eminem
7. Politik - Coldplay
8. Oppression - Ben Harper
9. Bible Vs. Gun - Will Hoge
10. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 - Bob Dylan
11. Bombs Over Baghdad - Outkast
12. Who's To Blame - Ozomatli
13. Let It Be - The Beatles
14. The Times They Are A-Changin' (Bob Dylan Cover) - Will Hoge
15. Mercedes Benz - Janis Joplin

So today we are discussing Bob Dylan's Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (from Blonde on Blonde), which, in case you don't know, goes something like "Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good, / They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would. / They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to go home. / Then they'll stone ya when you're there all alone. / But I would not feel so all alone, / Everybody must get stoned."

Someone asks what the 12 and 35 mean, and our prof says something like Dylan has always been very ambiguous about the title and no one really knows. Then one of the TA's chimes in, "Well you know what 12 multiplied by 35 is don't you?

"420."

Some chuckles from the crowd, but then the prof goes, "What does that mean?"

"Nevermind we'll talk about it later."

"It's sexual isn't it. I'm just missing it."

Students answer in unison "No." and begin laughing. He walks over to the TA and leans down so he can whisper it.

He takes the mic off, but we still can all hear perfectly when he exclaims,

"What? But I smoke pot all the time."

HAHAHAHAHHaHaHaHahahahahahahahaha

"There are no hours in which to smoke pot. Is that like tea time?"

***

Later, I go to the library to do my listening assignment, and I'm approaching the counter, and the guy says, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, I need to third CD for—"

"—History of Rock & Roll."

"Yeah...how did you know?"

"You just look like a Rock & Roller." he replied matter-of-factly.

Now, the real reason he guessed could be that I was probably the 10th kid to come in that day asking for that CD. But the sincerity and authority with which he made that statement actually made me think that maybe I do look like a Rock & Roller.

Rock.

I go to turn the CD back in, and he asks me, "Did you finish rocking out?"

"Yeah."

"Did you rock all the way out and come back?"

I smile. "Yeah, I think so."

"Excellent."

I wish everyone could be so positive.

I know I'm working on it.