Asthma, Motown and the Community of the Awake

I know I share insomnia with many of my fellow-bloggers ... and what a treat it is to be so tired but so overstimulated that you fall asleep right after dinner, drag yourself to bed only to find yourself staring at the black ceiling three hours later ... with a bout of asthma and Motown songs doing the cancan in your head.

I went to high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, some miles west of the Motor City. It was the sixties, right before the riots and white kids still went Woodwarding, cruising down that main drag into the city, trying to sneak into a club called The Chessmate. Memories of the radio blaring the Supremes, the Four Tops, the Spinners ... so much great music.

That music in my head -- and not enough oxygen -- keeps me awake this early morning. So, fellow insomniacs, here's a blast from the past, one of my favorite songs -- not from the best of Motown, but from (little known fact:) Lesley Gore, who had one album for Motown and whose early records were produced by Quincy Jones. An earworm, from me to you (this one goes out to you, Keeter):

You don't own me, I'm not just one of your many toys
You don't own me, don't say I can't go with other boys

And don't tell me what to do
And don't tell me what to say
And please, when I go out with you
Don't put me on display, 'cause

You don't own me, don't try to change me in any way
You don't own me, don't tie me down 'cause I'd never stay

Oh, I don't tell you what to say
I don't tell you what to do
So just let me be myself
That's all I ask of you

The angst, the angst!

It's Morning Now ... and today's fragrance: Agent Provocateur with notes of Morroccan rose, Indian saffron, Egyptian jasmin, and French magnolia oil, base notes of vetivert, amber, and musk. You begin to see a pattern with me, don't you? A mix of roses and jasmine with something like saffron and/or vetiver to cut the sweetness. I like that asymmetry, that off-balancedness of it all. Unexpected counterpoints.