I can’t believe it’s already Sunday. The week flew by too fast and there were so many things that I wanted to do today, but then I foolishly answered the phone when it rang this morning. It was my future mother-in-law inviting me to dinner (which is really a big lunch) and how could I say no? Sure, lunch doesn’t sound too time-consuming, except that it takes an hour to shower and get ready, then two hours to eat and chitchat, then at least another half hour to make my getaway.
The getaway is key. It’s virtually impossible to leave the house without a bag full of food. I try, but Old-World Generosity wins every time. Here’s an example of the conversation.
Mom: You take some pastry with you. You want to take them all?
Me: No, just one is good.
Mom: You want four?
Me: No, just one.
Mom: OK, I give you three.
Today, she wanted me to take bread, rice, chorizo, bread sausage, chicken, AND pastry. I should know by now not to turn my back while the food is being put in the container, but I forgot, and while I was looking the other direction, the food magically multiplied. The problem, I think, was that my future father-in-law was also there. He distracted me while she loaded up the extra food. They tag-teamed me.
Well, I enjoyed the visit. It’s just too bad that the day is almost over and I haven’t started work on the next installment for Sunday Stories. I better get to it.
I love the music of Sting. I wanted to learn some of his songs, so I bought the Hal Leonard guitar tab book for Fields of Gold. There’s a transcript of an interview with Sting at the beginning of the book. He said a lot of interesting things. Here’s one answer that particularly struck a chord with me.
I think one of the downsides of leisure time is that you are allowed the time to think about things seriously. In a way, you are over-sensitive to certain issues. Maybe just because I don’t have to worry about paying the mortgage anymore or I don’t have to clock on at work at 7:30 every morning, or drive through the rush hour traffic. I actually can sit at home and worry. Maybe that’s an artist’s job: to worry, to be anxious, to articulate that anxiety, to look for a path out. Most people haven’t got time until it’s too late.
My mood took a turn for the worse today. It seems some additional gratitude is in order.
I am grateful for the music of J.S. Bach.
Whether I’m playing it on my keyboard or listening to it on my iPod, the music of J.S. Bach always makes me feel good. Say all you want about Mozart, I don’t think Bach’s genius has ever been rivaled. How amazing is that, given that he died over 250 years ago?
There was no global warming in evidence today. It was actually rather chilly, not to mention cloudy and wet. It was not the most overtly inviting day. Yet the rain brings out the beauty of Nature if you’re willing to see it. Stuck at a traffic light, I turned to my right and saw a pond I’ve passed a hundred times without really looking at it. Today, the lily-pad green jumped in contrast to the grey sky and a pair of swans floated along in the distance, two spots of brilliant white against the green. The raindrops on the window blurred the scene so that it looked like an impressionist painting.
I could watch “Stargate SG-1” all day. And I can, thanks to the DVDs that arrived in the mail today.
I have a blister on my finger. That’s what you get when you have no calluses on your fingertips but you play the guitar anyway. I would have calluses if I played more often, but I don’t because . . .
Why don’t I play more often?
There’s a bunch of reasons and I assure you that they’re all stupid. I’m going to have to get past them or I’m going to have to give the guitar away. I don’t have room for a dust-collector.
I am grateful for rhyming dictionaries.
I used to think that rhyming dictionaries were for losers. I mean, who doesn’t know how to rhyme? Then I realized how much time I spend making lists of rhyming words. It happens both at work and, with my silly limericks, at home. Why should I spend effort on rhyming when someone else has already done the work? I shouldn’t!
So now I own two rhyming dictionaries. My favorite is the Scholastic Rhyming Dictionary. It’s intended for children, but it has all of the common rhymes, which is more than enough for simple limerick-writing. It’s so easy to use that it’s a joy to own. I also have the Oxford Rhyming Dictionary. It’s not as easy to use, but it’s huge and definitive. For serious work, it’s just the thing. It lists not only exact rhymes, but also near-rhymes, which are key if you’re writing songs.
And in case you were wondering what words really do rhyme with GRATITUDE, there’s ATTITUDE, LATITUDE, and one of my all-time favorite words, PLATITUDE.
My Faithful Reader is leaving me for a few weeks. What will I do without him?
I suspect that I will play a lot of music, do a lot of movie watching, a lot of blog writing, and a lot of reading. Oh, and a lot of pining 🙁
Will I give in to the temptation to invite other readers?
Only time will tell.
I am grateful for visitors.
Sometimes we get so stuck in what is that we forget about what can be, until an event, such as the arrival of a visitor, forces us into action.
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