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Robert Greenberg, the professor whose lectures on classical music I'm listening to now, had this to say about Berlioz:  "He was a self-indulgent crazy in an era that celebrated self-indulgent crazies."
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Me: I chipped this tooth a few months ago. But I deputized myself and filed it down with an emery board.

(later)

Dentist: I'll give you some adhesive to take hom with you in case the temporary crown comes loose. You can reattach it yourself or come back to the office and I'll do it.

Me: You know I like to perform my own dental work.

Dentist: That's right . . .  Just don't start drilling. I draw the line at power tools.

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From Paul Collins's column in Slate this week on the very first how-to book for fiction writers, produced in the late 19th century:

"The whole discipline [the study of fiction writing] had been gestating for a decade, beginning with novelist Walter Besant musing in 1884 over the notion of "Professors of Fiction"—something then as fantastical as a steam-powered robot. It was a vision that at least one critic found 'Appalling. As if there were not enough novels already. .  . . [Now] we are to have our young maidens trained to the business, and let loose upon the world, in batches, every year to pursue their devastating calling, as if they were dentists or pharmaceutical chemists.'"

Scooby-cue:  Hrrrh??
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Have been wallowing in some deliciously sad music:

1. Smells like Teen Spirit, Tori Amos cover. Slow and haunting.

2. Both Sides Now, Joni Mitchell. I love the Judy Collins version, but this one recorded by Joni Mitchell (the song's composer) is another beast entirely.

3. Who Knows Where the Time Goes, Judy Collins. Lovely song from the 60s.

This doesn't fit in my depressing-music playlist, but I've also been compulsively playing "Wedding Bell Blues" by the Fifth Dimension. The Fifth Dimension was a band from the 60s and 70s that my older siblings listened to and no one remembers anymore. But they have a good pop sound and lots of hits: "Up Up and Away," "The Age of Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine," "One Less Bell to Answer," and "Go Where You Wanna Go." I remember being obsessed with "Wedding Bell Blues" when I was a kid, especially since I had a crush on a guy named Bill when I was in the first grade. It's still a great pop song.
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I do like routine. And two of my favorites day in and day out are:

1. Coffee in the morning

2.Sharing an apple with Rocky at night

Every evening I eat half an apple and then hold the other half for Rocky to finish. He nibbles at it like a pony, taking little gentle bites. It's adorable. He starts to drool when he sees me come in the room with it. This trick I learned from my brother, who used to do the same thing with our childhood dog Shannon.
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I was thinking about how Sarah Palin seems like a truly nice person, attractive, fun, interesting. I bet her friends and family really love her. And yet, if she were given the opportunity, she would destroy the lives of gay Americans, nullifying their marriages, allowing them to be fired from their jobs, and denying them the ability to adopt children. And that's when it came to me:

Sarah Palin is Dolores Umbridge.

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Better than Rob? You decide.

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Another piece by Pat Steir:



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Pat Steir's Self-Portrait: An Installation:

Thank you, Rob. Happy Friday to you, too!

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Easy Vegetarian Dinner

Curried Beans and Rice

1. Put rice in rice cooker and press start.

2. Heat largish pan and smallish pan.

3. In small pan, over very low heat, throw in spices: cumin, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, red pepper. Toast until fragrant.

4. In large pan, turn to medium and add oil. Then add chopped onions and cook till soft. Then add canned beans and spices. Then cooked rice.

5. Add chopped nuts if you want. I usually add them to the plate one I've scooped out a serving rather than stirring them into the rice and beans; they stay crisper. And I do try to toast them a little beforehand, because Martha Stewart says there's nothing as tragic as room-temperature nuts.

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