Day Seventeen

you know half of this story already. forgot to tell you the continuation. so in the interest not telling a partial story, (and for the benefit of any lurkers), we'll take it from the top.

Christmas morning: first thing i do when i wake up is put on a kettle for coffee. fill it up, set it on the stove, crank the dial. the stove's a little cluttered but whatever. you're not home and i'm not expecting company. grind some beans, go to bathroom. use bathroom, brush teeth... what's that smell? something is burning. i run to the kitchen, toothbrush in mouth, and discover i'd turned the wrong burner on and a box of aluminum foil is smoldering. (we have an electric stove, thank god.) i quickly pick it up, throw it out onto the deck and think to myself "hope that's not an omen".

when i came home from dinner, i finally put the missing string on my guitar (xmas gift to self: pack of strings) and played until my fingertips were black. over the course of playing i took a couple smoke breaks. it was getting late and as i grew sleepy i smelled something strange again, like a synthetic burn or something, so i checked the kitchen and nothing was odd. i go out for my last smoke of the night and the citronella candle that we carelessly use as an ashtray is billowing smoke. i suppose an earlier cig lit up a few of its fallen comrades. i poured what was left of my beer on it and the beast sizzled out. "well ain't that some shit."

so yeah. your boyfriend set two accidental fires in your house on Christmas day. (cue Gilly: "Sorry!") this is how much i need you. but i promise the house will still be here upon your return, just maybe a little crispy around the edges. you love crispies!

most folks would probably post "Burning Down the House" as musical accompaniment to this story, but that's too easy. Kermit the Frog's rendition of "Once in a Lifetime" is great but hardly applicable. (will find use for it later....)

THIS is on the money. growing up, we listened to a lot of classical music in our house, more so than even mom's beloved early Beatles or oldies radio. mom would always pick up the music that whatever the orchestras or ensembles sis and i were involved in were playing. Ravel's "Bolero", of course. Holst's "The Planets" (Mars and Jupiter kick ass), "New World Suite", Dvorak. all that. i think sis played "Firebird", and it stuck with me. it's so haunting and moody, and it builds this great momentum and this really dramatic yet affirming finale. this video is fantastic too, the Maestro at the helm. simply sublime.... i don't listen to the classics too much anymore. too hungry for the esoteric. still these linger in the blood, and they're a hell of a lot more entertaining than the Talking Heads. don't you think?

LRV, b



Igor Stravinsky conducts "The Firebird Suite"