american girl

i admit it: i couldn't care less about the superbowl.  to me football is a gruesome sport reminiscent of the battles of gladiators long ago, scarcely more entertaining than commercials.  i don't like the smashing, or the silky shoulder-padded outfits, or the obnoxious screaming painted crowd.  i don't enjoy watching the players get hurt, or getting glimpses of the scantily clad bouncing cheerleaders, scarcely visible amidst the chaos.  it can't even keep my attention at the bar.  i cringe at the thought of brain cells lost from head trauma, just for a big paycheck and an audience thrill.  

when i was a kid, my parents used to enthusiastically hoot and hollar and scream bloody murder at the television during football games.  hearing them from my bedroom would startle me, and i would hurriedly run downstairs to see if they were okay.  yes, they were okay.  they were watching football.  somehow, i didn't inherit that gene.  

but a couple few years ago, when i accidentally caught the halftime show, tom petty played.  i was actually moved to tears.  yes, i cried.  at the halftime show.  even today, watching it again, i got that little lump of emotion in my throat.  that, my friends, is meaningful entertainment i can get behind.

..she was an American girl

raised on promises

she couldn't help thinkin'

that there was a little more to life somewhere else
After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to
And if she had to die tryin'
She had one little promise she was gonna keep..

..god it's so painful when something that's so close

is still so far out of reach..