Thursday, January 04, 2007

Popcorn ballet

I was in a great hurry last night to get out of the house and on to a meeting. Instead of the sandwich I'd planned on, I made a bag of microwave popcorn, dumped it in an enormous plastic bowl, and hit the road. I drove one-handed, stuffing popcorn in my mouth with the other hand. When I arrived, I brushed the inevitable stray crumbs off my person before joining the meeting.

Afterward, on the way home I had to stop at a long light at a busy intersection. I opened the window and emptied the bowl onto the road. Half a minute later I was transfixed, watching a dozen small white fluffies make their way out to play in the middle of the street. They were rolling and bouncing, dancing with the traffic. I was amazed how they glowed in the headlights, like motes of dust on a bright afternoon.

Monday, January 01, 2007

More music, more reading, less dishes

It'd be a shame to waste the opportunity for New Year's resolutions. I want to move away from mindless duty and do more things that I like instead of waiting till all the chores are done to get around to them.

So I will find more time for playing music and reading, and not be in such a rush to get the dishes done, because by God, those suckers will not care one bit if I wait.

I was listening to Cathal Hayden's 1999 album of great, bracing fiddle music. I remembered how I always play better when I get to play with good players. This is not nonsense; it was even true back when I played in orchestras in high school. You rise to the level of those around you, and you feel great in the process. So I'm trying something: putting on headphones and playing along with the recording. It worked pretty well this evening. But man, that guy plays
fast!

As for reading, I made myself a nest in the spare bedroom with all kinds of lovely books. And I wound up settling on
The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (yes, the actor). I suppose you could fault the text for being over full of clever bits, but then you would probably turn out to be someone who thinks there can be too many chocolate chips in Toll House cookies.

The kitchen is looking only slightly sparkling. So far so good. Happy New Year.