Honestly, honestly, I want to run out there with a pitch pipe and give him what for.
Last night I finally got to Caroline’s – it’s been bloody months – and we sang! I bought the Sacred Harp song book. Hey all you musicians, imagine paying 20 cash for a hard cover book with more than 400 pages, every one of which has music on it. It’s shaped note music, but you get the idea. Shaped note music uses 4 shapes instead of the ovoid ones to convey note values and relationships. It sounds weird but it isn’t and it’s pretty easy to pick up. What isn’t easy to pick up is how loud people sing when they are singing Sacred Harp songs. (The Sacred Harp in question being the human voice singing praise to God). Yes, every single one of the songs mentions Jesus dying on the cross, sprinkling the singer’s heart with blood (zombie alert) and how very upset bad people are going to be when they find out about God’s judgement. I dunno – I am thinking of rewriting the lyrics of some of the better tunes to be atheist anthems, etc.
A couple of days ago I invented a new game to play with Margot. She ‘got’ it instantly and repeated her behaviour in front of Jeff. Usually cats are not that obliging, but Margot is a hopeless ham. The game involves wrapping a chopstick in polyester rope and then encouraging her to get the chopstick out. Once she does that, she ‘kills’ the chopstick, administering the coup de grace by biting its neck, or the place the neck would be if the chopstick was alive.
Jeff wants to put a camera up permanently where it can take pics of the stairs as Margot tries to trip people.
I’m off to the insurance company tonight. I’m a new driver in BC so I’m going to pay a horrific amount of money – double what I’m paying for the car – to earn the right to put plates on it. I’ll be taking Friday off, partly because I want to use the time for car oriented stuff. I asked Paul to dig me up some paperwork on how I was an additional named insured to try to save some money. Paul was having trouble getting out of Calgary after Dot’s funeral (minister said he’d never, ever, seen the church so full, and we all know what that means) because it was snowing. Thanks, I’ll stay here. Rain is okay by me.
The show Treme continues to be awesome. John Goodman kicks ass. Dr. John guested on the most recent episode.
I have discovered that Margot fur is scarily flammable and not swift to self extinguish. No, I did not set fire to her. I am, however, considering selling her fur balls as firestarters. Exothermia!
My to do list is 70 items long, but since once of the items is “Go to Macchu Picchu” it’s not quite as bad as it sounds.
Last night I was in a social situation which required me to confront a portion of my racism. I think I managed to redeem myself, but whenever I lose the first principle and catch myself doing it I am rendered a little more thoughtful, and I hope more compassionate. The racism involved making an assumption about the origin of a person and not taking the cues that I was wrong until it was pointed out to me. Gently and respectfully. Ya gotta love Vancouver.
Do a virtual tour of Macchu Picchu and check it off your list. You might not want to o there in person. I have word (Shirley Post) that the altitude sickness is a bear, and besides, so many people go there that the paths are paved with candy wrappers. My dream was Los Encantadas – to meet a giant tortoise in a sunlit glade. Then it turned into a nightmare because I saw a discarded pepsi can in the scene…
Check this out. http://www.melville.org/encant.htm
Yes. Melville’s words to go with Attenborough’s images. I don’t need to go there any more. My mental landscape is well provisioned.