There is no video, but this way you can hear the whole song. I heard it for the first time today on wxpn. So pretty! I bought it on iTunes for 99 cents.

O La Pago Yo O La Paga Ella (Marino Pérez)

Either I’ll Pay or She’ll Have to Pay

Me voy a beber
Dos o tres botellas
O la pago yo o la paga ella
O la pago yo o la paga ella

Oye, cantinero
Traiga otra botella
Oye, cantinero
Traiga otra botella
O la pago yo o la paga ella
O la pago yo o la paga ella

La mujer que tengo
Eso parte el alma
La mujer que tengo
Eso parte el alma
Su boquita sabe, mamá
A melado de cana
Su boquita sabe, mami
A melado de cana

Me voy a beber
Dos o tres botellas
O la pago yo o la paga ella
O la pago yo o la paga ella

Cuando yo amanezco
Con ganas de beber
Cuando yo amanezco
Con ganas de beber
Pido una botella
Llamo a mi mujer
Pido una botella, mami
Llamo a mi mujer

Mamacita linda
No seas tan rechula
Mamacita linda
No seas tan rechula
Que me estás matando mamá
Con tu sabrosura
Que me estás matando
Con tu sabrosura

Me voy a beber
Dos o tres botellas
O la pago yo o la paga ella
O la pago yo o la paga ella

Cuando ella me dice,
“Pide lo que quiera”
Cuando ella me dice,
“Pide lo que quiera”
Seguimos bebiendo
La semana entera
Seguimos bebiendo, mami
La semana entera

La mujer que tengo
Eso parte el alma
La mujer que tengo
Eso parte el alma
Su boquita sabe, mamá
A melao de cana
Su boquita sabe, mami
A melao de cana

Me voy a beber
Dos o tres botellas
O la pago yo o la paga ella
O la pago yo o la paga ella

(Guitarra…)

Me voy a beber
Dos o tres botellas
O la pago yo o la paga ella
O la pago yo o la paga ella

Mamacita linda
No seas tan rechula
Mamacita linda
No seas tan rechula
Que me estás matando, mamá
Con tu sabrosura
Que me estás matando, mami
Con tu sabrosura

Cuando yo amanezco
Con ganas de beber
Cuando yo amanezco
Con ganas de beber
Pido una botella, mami
Llamo a mi mujer
Pido una botella, mamá
Llamo a mi mujer

Me voy a beber
Dos o tres botellas
O la pago yo o la paga ella
O la pago yo o la paga ella

Me voy a beber
Dos o tres botellas
O la pago yo…

————————————

English translation:

I’m going to go drink
Two or three bottles
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay

Hey, barman
Bring me another bottle
Hey, barman
Bring me another bottle
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay

The woman I have
It breaks my heart
The woman I have
It breaks my heart
Her little mouth tastes, mamá
Like sugar cane syrup
Her little mouth tastes, mami
Like sugar cane syrup.

I’m going to go drink
Two or three bottles
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay

When I wake up
With a desire to drink
When I wake up
With a desire to drink
I ask for a bottle
I call my woman
I ask for a bottle, mami
I call my woman

Beautiful little momma
Don’t be so sweet
Beautiful little momma
Don’t be so sweet
Because you’re killing me, mamá
With your tastiness
You’re killing me
With your tastiness

I’m going to go drink
Two or three bottles
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay

When she tells me,
“Ask for whatever you want”
When she tells me,
“Ask for whatever you want”
We keep drinking
All week long
We keep drinking, mami
All week long

The woman I have
It breaks my heart
The woman I have
It breaks my heart
Her little mouth tastes, mamá
Like sugar cane syrup
Her little mouth tastes, mami
Like sugar cane syrup

I’m going to go drink
Two or three bottles
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay

(Guitar…)

I’m going to go drink
Two or three bottles
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay

Beautiful little momma
Don’t be so sweet
Beautiful little momma
Don’t be so sweet
Because you’re killing me, mamá
With your tastiness
You’re killing me
With your tastiness

When I wake up
With a desire to drink
When I wake up
With a desire to drink
I ask for a bottle, mami
I call my woman
I ask for a bottle, mamá
I call my woman

I’m going to go drink
Two or three bottles
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay
Either I’ll pay or she’ll have to pay

I’m going to go drink
Two or three bottles
Either I’ll pay…

Today I am feeling so much hope and happiness. I have a sense of the upward spiral beginning again. Thank you all for your concern. Got a nice haircut today and haven’t felt low in a couple of days. Played guitar and piano and took a walk with Ike and enjoyed every minute of it. Feeling flat at times, but it’s easier to laugh and feel alive. Please don’t worry, I’m OK. Love to all! xo Amy

Well, I have done it again.
Last week I was in the hospital for a little under a week, to help me get back on track with my sleeping and meds. I have bipolar disorder and have written about it several times already. Feel free to browse the archives. (They are a little messed up at the moment, so it will take some wading, but it’s worth it, in my humble opinion, if you want some insight from someone who lives with this daily.)
The hospital is not the thing that I want to write about at the moment, though.
I want to write about a fun, yet not-so-fun, aspect of this illness.

The celebrity crushes.

I am not sure if anyone else with bipolar disorder routinely suffers from this weird affliction, but I certainly do.

I was first diagnosed with mental illness in 1995, when I’d just turned 21. About September 30, to be exact. At the time I broke down I was at an R.E.M. concert. And my crush was a certain Mr. John Michael Stipe. (I’ll never get over that one, I’m afraid..he was a crush since I was 16. Too bad he’s gay! ;-D )

Well, that crush was the one that lead me to believe that he was in the hospital with me. I told my friend, Tammy, that one over the phone and she half-believed it and was, needless to say, very very confused! Hee hee.

Fast forward to my next hospitalization, and it’s February 2005, Melbourne Australia. I am in the hospital because I believed that Garrison Keillor was sending me dedications over the radio. Yes, everyone reminded me of his age, his looks and that he had a wife and child. That didn’t make it any easier. I decided I needed to get over that one, but it was a painful process. Did I mention that I had a husband at the time? Yes, indeed. That was not my concern. Also, this husband took me to the Melbourne R.E.M. show, where I got to meet Mike and Peter. Can you say “Make the crazy woman even higher without the aid of cocaine?!” Yes, I knew you could! However, since Garrison was supposedly out of the picture, I went back to crushing on Michael and could not believe he had the audacity not to show up to the bar where we were hanging out with the other guys.
I KNOW!

Now it’s three years later and I’m crushing on someone new. He’s 12 years older than me, has grey hair, blue eyes, freckles, is Glaswegian and so hilarious. I watch him at 12:30 am because I knocked out a deal with my family about my bedtime schedule. (Routine is very important when one has bipolar disorder.) He’s a talk show host named Craig Ferguson. I’ve scared my sister good already. I don’t know if she knows, but I’ve read an entire book written by him and watched a movie called “Saving Grace” which he wrote and starred in.. Mom agrees it is great. However, I won’t be trying to email him or get in touch with him because, though I have mental illness, I AM NOT CRAZY! :-D HAaaa.

Crazytown is where I live right now, but it’s not where I want to reside forever. So I’ll crush from afar, and maybe, just maybe I’ll end up crushing on Stipe again after this next concert on June 16…guess who? That’s right! R.E….. oh, you know the story of my life already…. so I’ll just shut up and sigh over this new-to-me drummer/author/actor/writer/comedian. *SIGH*

So, who are YOUR crushes? Crazy or not. Celebrity or nae…

“It’s hard to stay up
It’s been a long, long day
And you got the sandman at your door
But hang on, leave the TV on
And let’s do it anyway
It’s OK, you can always sleep through work tomorrow, OK?
Hey, hey, tomorrow’s just your future yesterday”

Because bipolar disorder can throw me for a loop, it can take months after an episode of mania till my thoughts are clear, my vision isn’t blurred and I am not as easily distracted as a puppy with her choice of bacon, liver snaps, a new ball and squirrels all around.

This time it’s been a struggle and sometimes the weeks feel like months, but I’m trying to relax and be gentle with myself. So until I can draw and paint, I am “hand-tinting” photographs in photoshop. I’ve always been interested in portraiture and love life drawing, so I am going to “work with people” in my current pieces. Eventually I’ll be scanning some artwork that isn’t digital or computer-based. Until I feel comfortable enough with a pencil in hand, I’ll have fun this way.

So far, I’ve worked on a portrait of my best friend, Tammy, and of my hero, Michael Stipe (from the band R.E.M.). I got the idea of make-up from his usual stage theatre type of makeup, but I don’t know if I’ll do every portrait that way..we’ll see how it goes.

Believe it or not, I took my first step by “pretending” to paint, dragging empty brushes against the computer screen. The idea sort of grew from there. You do what you gotta do! If you find you are struggling with something that seems unbearable or heavy, I don’t know what to tell you except that it is easier to give up and give in.

It is harder to accept the feelings, but push yourself hard enough to put one foot in front of the other …and then…. take it easy long enough to “fall in a new direction”. Sometimes letting go a bit can give you the answer. I think of it like when you are on a swing and you pump your legs until you’re quite tired, and then you drag your feet against the ground to slow down and let yourself swing a bit wildly and loose and twist up the chains a bit, or go upside-down or just jump off the swing altogether, to land in the soft grass.

Even when you are not struggling, it is good to let yourself break free from the routine of what has always worked in the past.