...and I can't walk out

Last night, Manfriend brought out his guitar and together, we learned how to play Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds." It sounds very Von Trapp Family Singers, but it was definitely the best evening I've had in weeks. Manfriend strumming, me singing, both of us no doubt annoying the shit out of our neighbors. I never really listen to music closely, but later, we sat and really paid attention to a disc of Elvis's early recordings and I was stunned. You hear the first few bars of "Jailhouse Rock" and all the cheap parodies you've seen flash across your mind--how can you even think of listening to this seriously?--but then you realize how good, how amazingly good, this song really is. A lot of these Elvis songs were like that. It'll wipe those commercials where "Are you lonesome tonight?" is used to sell cough syrup, or whatever, right out of your head.

Oh, let our love survive,
I'll wipe the tears from your eyes,
Let's don't let a good thing die, when honey
You know I've never lied to you...mmmmm...yeah...yeah

Truer words were never sung. Except maybe, "Innagaddadavida baby, can't you see that I want you, baby?"

Anyway, tonight I saw Talladega Nights with Gurl, an old college friend currently in the depths of unemployment. She seems in good spirits, though, which is no easy feat when those empty days are weighing you down. As for the movie, it was actually pretty funny, in the tradition of stoopid movies like Anchorman and Zoolander, both of which I own.

I applied for another job at my agency last week, and I've got my fingers crossed hard. I'd appreciate any crossed appendages you can spare. Thanks.