Kill Your Girlfriend

So when I was 19, I had this girlfriend. She moved away and we were broken hearted. I called her when I could, but in reality it was inevitable that we both would move on. Still, it stung a little when I called her and her mom said, "She's not here. Is this Roger?" No. I wasn't Roger. I didn't know anyone named Roger. I hung up the phone and never called that girl again. To take out my frustration, I wrote an angry, wanna-be punk song called Kill Your Girlfriend.

I had recently read a book called, And I Don't Want to Live this Life by Deborah Spungeon. Deborah's daughter, Nancy was the girlfriend of Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols. Sid killed Nancy after a night of drug abuse.

I took that story as inspiration for my broken heart and wrote my song. To ease your mind, I didn't really want to kill my (ex) girlfriend. I was just blowing off steam. I actually recorded the song that night with overdubbed backwards guitars and a wannabe Johnny Rotten singing style and forgot about it for a while.

Fast forward a few years and I was in a band called Audrey Smilley and we needed to have three hours of original music for a gig at a local club called, Broderick's. We had one week to learn it all. We played anything and everything we had ever written or thought about writing. It was only natural that Kill Your Girlfriend was resurrected (ha!). It quickly became a very popular part of our live set. Even the girls liked it, because everyone has relationship frustrations. The girls would sing, "Kill your boyfriend!" instead of girlfriend.

Anyway, my former bandmate Dale Garrard recently posted a video performance on YouTube of us doing Kill Your Girlfriend at a club called The Backstage Cafe in Provo, Utah. Enjoy!

Dog Strategies

We have two English Springer Spaniels: Odin and Daisy. They are siblings, but from different litters. Odin has been with us for two years and Daisy just since August. The other day, Odin brought me a tennis ball. He does that sometimes when he wants to play. I dutifully took it from him and threw it down the hall. He didn't even look at where I threw it or move a muscle. Instead, he stared at his sister who immediately jumped up and chased after the ball. Odin, then walked over to where she had been and confiscated the bone she had left behind. I never knew that dogs strategized until that moment. But clearly, he understood that (a) if he brought me a ball I'd probably throw it and (b) if I threw it, Daisy would probably chase it.

I know people who don't have that much foresight.