Pages of My Mind

Photo courtesy of My Vintage Vogue

I have an addiction. I’m not proud of it, but they say confessing is the first step towards wellness so here it is: I, Wendy Lane Bailey, have a serious Jones for reference books. It’s sad but true. Dictionaries, thesauruses, glossaries of obscure musical terms, and The New York Public Library Desk Reference make my mouth water and my knees weak. I once spent an evening with two friends and an Oxford English Dictionary looking up bizarre words and using them in inane sentences. It was one of the best evenings ever! I am aware that this is not how cool show biz types are supposed to spend their time, but I just can’t help myself.

Recently, I decided that I could no longer afford to keep stuffing my house with books; they have their own room, and are threatening to take over the rest of the house. So I trotted off to my local public library, paid my massive overdue fine (my inability to return anything on time is why I started buying books in the first place), and plunged into exploring the shelves. Imagine my delight when strolling through the music section my eyes beheld a large green book titled The Green Book of Songs By Subject. Angels sang and the skies opened for I had discovered a whole new way to spend countless hours mindlessly amusing myself by looking for songs about things like Crime, Love on the Ropes or Standing (I’ve never heard the song Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in My Hand, but with a title like that do I really need to?). Who knew there was such a thing? If I wanted to do a set of songs about Social Outcasts there’s a category for that. Freak on a Leash may not be the ideal song for me, but it’s there if I need it. I will say it’s not a comprehensive list of songs, for example, In These Shoes is left out of the Shoe section, which is a travesty, but then again one can’t have everything. There is even an on-line version that is continually updated, and yes, need you even ask? I am now a proud subscriber.

Now I must be off. I have a long evening ahead of me looking up songs about insects and anatomy. Don’t envy my glamorous life….

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