I had an odd sensation of triple sychronicity today. In the shower, at 5:45 a.m., I kept singing the Who version of "Pinball Wizard" from Tommy. I rather wish, on reflection, that I had "heard" the Elton John version as I sang. When I emerged from the shower, the AMC cable channel was playing the movie "Tommy". Then today on my internet news service, word of Pete Townsend's arrest on a potential charge of child pornography possession popped up. Suddenly, my life is one endless weird Who saga. I hope that Mr. Townsend is not guilty of the offense suggested by the media.
My partner and I went to our local Furr's cafeteria, where I dined on baked fish, navy beans and turnip greens. My partner mentioned that Furr's had recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. One would never know it from the Garland outlet, where people crowd in for the "all you can eat" pricing. I hope that the chain survives.
Lately I've been listening a fair bit to the University of North Texas' campus radio station, which is devoted primarily to jazz music, in keeping with the university's orientation as a "top" jazz music school. Yesterday that old NPR chestnut "Piano Jazz" was playing, where the host and a guest play two and four handed jazz standards, while talking in leisurely tones about "old jazzfolk I have known". Every life has its own stresses, but it would be fun to have the skill to play piano jazz on the radio.
I'm reading yet another Trollope novel this week; I rather think I've read the Vicar of Bullhampton before, but it's too early in for me to be certain. I don't know why the Trollopes so often appeal to me, but I will take my reading comfort where I can find it. I ordered a set of books on art history from half.com, and have been experiencing that certain "you've got mail!" excitement as each half.com individual seller confirms that his or her portion of my order will soon be on its way. The pricing for the whole set of books was not zero, but it was not bad, either. I do not know what I did for cheap merchandise before the internet.
Yesterday I thought of kaleidoscopes. They used to have them in the 5 and Dime, little cardboard tubes, costing very little. I love the look of a kaleidoscope, so I went to ebay.com to see which were on auction. There were so many kinds and so many options, that I found the process of shopping for them more fascinating then the prospect of actually bidding on any. I am not a fan of "shopping" per se at all in "real stores", but it is kind of fun to imagine odd merchandise, and then hunt for it on ebay, half.com or froogle.com.
I felt that my "to do" list was insuperable on Sunday, but my productivity seems to be quite high right now. I suppose that old saw about vacations improving productivity has some validity.
I am of two minds about vacations. Some of our best trips, such as a week we spent one summer in Whistler, have been "full" vacations. But I rather like taking multiple three and four day weekends instead. It's true that one can fail to exhaust an area's full panorama in a short trip, but the omissions are kind of tantalizing.
This week I'll finish my week with some business travel, and next week I'll also have to do some business travel. There's something to be said for business travel, but I have done so much of it over the years I can no longer remember what it is.
I was reading over the first few months of my journal tonight.
I wonder, somehow, if it was more fun to read when it had no readers than it is now that some kind folks read it. I can hardly wait for the warmer weather which my journal reminds me is mere weeks away.