Funny The Way It Is So, here I am sitting at my computer with many thoughts about tornadoes, earthquakes, poverty, disease, and the more immediate crises of my dogs’ desire for treats and my bird squawking for peanuts. Okay, so I’m a whiner.

I really love the Dave Matthews’, “Funny the Way It Is.” If you haven’t heard it, it’s an eloquent dissertation on the inherent inequities in this crazy world. He says in a song what I’ve wished to put in a play…but now that he’s got it covered I can go back to obsessing about what to write in my next blog, thereby avoiding the hard work of writing anything else.

To be honest, I have a wonderful life. I have everything I need, most everything I want, and I could be as free as my silly bird that never leaves his cage, even though his cage door is open. He surely wishes for freedom, but knows not where to go, what to do. To be more honest, I struggle with freedom, just like Pee Jay. I call it Freedom’s a Bitch Syndrome.

I should complain? Though I’ve never actually gone hungry, I know first hand about scraping by. I also know about comfort and security. I am lucky to have friends from all walks of life, but also painfully aware of my responsibility to those at both ends of the spectrum.

Some were born to use their gifts, Some were born to struggle, I was born to witness both From my precious bubble. nm

Next time you hear me complain about the plight of the artist, you might start singing to yourself. Tuneful art can serve as a reminder of the inherent inequities in this crazy world and the responsibility of the artist to spread the word…

“Funny the way it is, if you think about it One kid walks 10 miles to school, another’s dropping out Funny the way it is, not right or wrong On a soldier’s last breath his baby’s being born” Dave Matthews