Allelujah! I Want to Thank the Academy...

A while back I mentioned that I'm one of those annoying people who, when she hears a word or phrase which echoes the title or lyrics of a song, ends up hearing that song in her head ad nauseum (and usually singing / whistling bits as well).
Today is no exception.

Yesterday I got word that the new job I've been alluding to for the past month is going to be mine. This bit of information might barely raise the blood-pressure of the average Blogger, but to me it's news worthy of a Blue Angel fly over. I've waited nearly 6 years (3 years longer than I anticipated) for an opportunity like this, and my heart is thumping like a hummingbird on speed. It's much like the first time you fall in love... all of the feared unknowns, the shuddering thrills and the un-speakable possibilities that seem to be dangling in front of me, tantalizing.. I've started and left enough jobs through the last 20 years to know that NO job is a perfect fit-- that rarely can the prosaic truth come anywhere near the pipe-dream. That just as in love, the starry-eyed glow often fades into reality the first time Prince Charming has a headcold and wants to be babied, or when her Highness sends you to the store for feminine hygiene products. But for every dashed dream there are usually comparable compensations. And I've already done more than my share of scut work and drudgery to feel that I'm worthy to try my hand at something more fulfilling. Am I still going to be in love with even the idea (let alone the reality) of this new job in six months? I can't say... This job is being created FOR me, in large part BY me, so if the general scheme of things gets fouled up I'll probably be able to lay the burden of guilt at my own door.

But for now, I'm flying into the wind with gritted teeth and girded loins. I'm ready for the new adventure-- as ready as anyone could be when the potential for falling is as great as the potential for success. And so, I present the lyrics to one of my all-time favorite songs by the disbanded UK group, Fairground Attraction. I recommend their album, The First of a Million Kisses, and in particular the song "Allelujah" (from whence the album title comes). I wore out two cassette copies of the album back in the early 90's, and methinks I need to pick it up on CD as well. It's a bit flat on the screen, I'll admit-- but once you've heard it sung you'll know it for the exultant hymn that it is. Even though my mind is on the career move at hand, my heart is singing these words.

Allelujah - by Fairground Attraction

The lights on the westway go on
A million cars hurry home
An ice-cream van shuts off its tinsel bells
Winter won't be long

I see you everyday
I watch you as you walk down this way
We pass on the stairs on this council block
Too shy to find words to say

But your smile is a prayer that prays for love
and your heart is a kite that longs to fly
Allelujah, here I am
Let's cut the strings tonight

So meet me on the corner at eight
Let's get out of this place
We'll kiss the first of a million kisses
and let the past fall away

'Cause your smile is a prayer...

For your smile is a prayer...

We'll kiss the first of a million kisses, ah...