today: 70s power ballads

Every Sunday, a group of Mexican men gather outside a parked van, open a door, play the radio, and converse in Spanish from early afternoon through the evening--all beneath my apartment window. This drives me insane. Why? Because it is distracting as hell. It's pretty loud, and Sunday is usually the day I make my final push to get whatever work done I've been putting off for the week. (And yes, I'm in the process of grading midterm exams.) I have trouble concentrating when there is sustained noise like conversation or music in the background--even of my own choosing. It wasn't such a big deal last week when, at this time, Allie and I were knee-deep in (new) piles we made to clean my disaster of an apartment and building IKEA furniture. (Correction: Allie did most of these things; I supervised.) This also put to rest her suspicion that I exaggerated the decibel and duration of these Sunday visits.

But today I am compelled to write about this, because there's a break in the pattern. Instead of their typical music choice, which is certainly no favorite of mine (let's just say it includes a lot of accordion), they are playing a 70s power ballad station. We've had ELO, Billy Joel, Elton John, and their buddies. It is also louder than usual, but maybe that's just because I actually recognize the music. And dammit, I like a lot of it.

Damn. And I was hoping they'd be doing whatever people do when they celebrate Easter. It's also nearly 90 degrees, but that's not breaking up this party.

"All by myself / Don't want to be / All by myself anymore / All by myself..."