EXAMPLES OF HOW MY CRACKED BRAIN WORKS: The Exquisite Tweet of Ranking Roger

The problem with being a person whose main purpose is to create things is that it’s hard to explain how you go about your business.  It’s easy to understand how a construction worker or a chef works because there’s concrete steps you can observe...but you can’t really observe what a writer does because it’s almost all in his or her head.

Which brings us to something that happened last month.  You see, Ranking Roger passed away on March 26th.  Roger Charlery was an essential figure in ‘2nd Wave’ Ska as a vocalist for The English Beat.  I love ska music (somewhere, if you look really hard, you can probably find a videotape of a New Year’s Eve ‘Tribute to Ska’ episode of USA Up All Night featuring Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda Shear where I was a background dancer in the widest shouldered black jacket ever...and was caught on camera zipping up my pants), so I was sitting at the senior center I spend two days a week doing presentations for listening to The Beat...

...and then one Angie Bulkney, writer/photographer/ska aficianado posted a tweet where she quoted one of the English Beat’s iconic songs, ‘Mirror In The Bathroom.’

...and I decided for some reason to answer back with a quote on my own...

....which resulted in us doing this weird writing experiment where we tried to write a dialogue between two characters using only lines from English Beat songs.  It made a strange sort of logic as it seemed our two characters were going through some sort of break-up as some form of revolution loomed over them.

The thing about this is that it spun out of us spontaneously.  There was nothing calculated about what we were doing.  While we’ve talked about doing it again, I realize it will never develop in the natural way it developed on this particular day.

So here’s what developed when two people start quoting stuff.  Enjoy!

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"Can I take you to a restaurant that's got glass
tables? You can watch yourself while you are
eating."
1:33pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client
angiebulkeley

Stop talking to your Mirror in the
Bathroom.....
1:42pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

Can't stop won't stop!
1:42pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
Exquisite Tweets from @angiebulkeley, @NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

Oh, why don't you just Save It For Later before
this town loses its Tenderness.....
1:53pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

...I like it best in the freezing winter, boy - Ilike to sneer as I sail past your bus stop!
1:59pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley


Hey, if you have your brush, you can avoid therush....come whether you whine or grind....

(Does anybody understand our conversation
right now?)
2:05pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

Right? I mean, how can you stand there, and
not wonder why?
2:06pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

Ahhh, there are two dozen other stupid
reasons why we should suffer for this. Don't
bother trying to explain them.
3/29/2019 Exquisite Tweets from @angiebulkeley, @NocturneTomDeja
NocturneTomDeja

I could have phoned, I could have spoke...but
how to break the news without breaking their
heart?
2:09pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

You know what your problem is? You're just
too nice to talk to.
Do it now, you know there's never a next time.
2:14pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

Don't let my glad expression give you the
wrong impression!
2:18pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

Every time it happens, seem to act a little
touched...In this at least, you're just like me

(are we writing a story composed only of
#EnglishBeat lyrics?)
2:20pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

Are we angry, are we looking for peace, or just
tryin' to win the war by killing all the enemy
off?

(And damn right we are!)
2:21pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

Ahhh, War....alright...because it's strictly love
and unity.
(Does it have a plot yet?)
2:25pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

You're stuck, like dragging your feet through
the mud, always talking 'bout things that you
just can't do then...

(Like winter, it's coming)
2:27pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

True. Each time I try to speak, it does sound
like sorry....
It usually comes mixed up with fear.
2:28pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

And if I confess, if it's all the same to you I'll
stay indifferent.
2:30pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

Aren't you forgetting yourself?
Merely let your mouth stand.

(Is somebody going to archive this to see if it
makes any sense?)
2:36pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

Two dozen other stupid reasons why we
should suffer for this. Don't bother trying to
explain them.

(It will be analyzed in future grad courses)
@TheEnglishBeat
2:40pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

Hey, two swords slashing at each other only
sharpen one another.
Are we angry? Are we looking for peace?
(Are you and I going to do this every time an
alternative music icon dies?)
#AStoryInEnglishBeatLyrics
2:43pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley TheEnglishBeat
NocturneTomDeja

Every story has to be about something, Isuppose. This one says I lose my head as the
feeling starts to grow, you know?

(only those as iconic as Ranking Roger)
2:45pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja TheEnglishBeat
angiebulkeley

Now hold on down there. Take it easy, yeah?
You hear my song and you gotta come around!
2:48pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley TheEnglishBeat
NocturneTomDeja

Walk away, before I say it's getting too much.
Walk away, walk away before one of us cracks up.
2:49pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja TheEnglishBeat
angiebulkeley

Through the owners of this fun fair, you won't
find a ride you like....
You could make a profit more than anyone
deserves.
2:52pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley TheEnglishBeat
NocturneTomDeja

You're scared you might slip when you're
holding a knife...lose your fingers or more...
2:55pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja
angiebulkeley

(Sadly I have to leave for a while to spend time
with the seniors I teach writing and stuff to
every Thursday and Friday--I will be playing
them some @EnglishBeat today...we can take
this up later! :))
2:58pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley
NocturneTomDeja

Save if for later! ❤
2:59pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja EnglishBeat
angiebulkeley

Just as long as your legs don't give way and
you hit the ground....
3:00pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to angiebulkeley EnglishBeat
NocturneTomDeja

I won't run away and let you down.
3:01pm Mar 28th 2019 via Twitter Web Client in reply to NocturneTomDeja EnglishBeat
angiebulkeley
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Be sure to keep an eye out for Angie's horror novel Malcolm!

As for me, I'm gearing up for the 31 Characters 31 Days Challenge to benefit RAINN...keep your eyes on updates!