Mrs. Freak’s cousin Kaydee (actually her cousin’s daughter) has been staying with us for the past week. She’s been traveling around the country meeting people and getting into adventures, like Caine in Kung Fu. It’s all part of an epic journey of self-discovery that you can read more about here. Or you can stay here and read my half-assed commentary on her visit with musical accompaniment.

Tony Lewis “On The Road Again” (Willie Nelson)
This is the worst cover I’ve heard in quite a long time. It takes what was originally a joyous optimistic song and sucks all of the energy and enthusiasm out of it, leaving ghastly husk behind to frighten the children. Mrs. Freak thinks that this is just a bad song, but I beg to differ.

I’m pretty sure Kaydee is having more fun on her trip than you would expect listening to this song.

Botanica “Broken Bicycles” (Tom Waits)
Somewhere outside of Cleveland Kaydee’s car was rear-ended, which destroyed the bicycle she had hanging off the back of her car. Mrs. Freak took her to a yard sale where she found a fabulous used bike that she then traded to the owner of a local bike shop for one even more fabulous. When I told my barber this story, she asked if they then fell in love and she decided to move to Chicago. That did not happen to the best of my knowledge. There’s a post on her blog with the details.

James Mathus “Diggin’ My Potatoes” (Traditional)
As she travels across the country Kaydee is working odd jobs to pay for gas and food. After she leaves Chicago she’ll spend some time on a relative’s farm in Minnesota digging a root cellar. I know it’s not exactly digging potatoes, but you’d be surprised how few songs there are about digging root cellars.

77s “Working On A Building” (Traditional)
We have also put Kaydee to work on our house, remodeling the little mud room off our kitchen into an extension of the kitchen. She put in some cabinets and countertops to replace the hodgepodge of tumbledown shelving and old chests that were there before. And for the record, my home is not a Holy Ghost building.

James Ghofulpo “Breakfast In America” (Supertramp)
This song is about the reactions that the members of Supertramp had when they first visited America. Kaydee of course has lived here her whole life so her impressions are probably a little different as she drives across the country. I have not seen her eating kippers for breakfast, but I did see her eat an ice cream concoction and onion rings for dinner.