Bestelle dein Haus

As he was doing some cleaning around the house this popped into his head:
Bestelle dein Haus
denn du wirst sterben
und nicht lebendig bleiben.

Put your house in order
for you will die
and not remain living.

Three in a row. Let's not jinx it.

So good. Another in a series of perfect weekends. Dare I say it?



{Okay, I'll whisper it quietly: I think I may actually be happy. That's right--happy, although I'm not exactly where I want to be yet. It's unusual for me, I feel almost naked without that persistent sense of dissatisfaction. But it's progress, right?}

Finsternis

A really cool thing I learned today:

"Und von der sechsten Stunde an war eine Finsternis über das ganze Land bis zu der neunten Stunde.:
[And from the sixth hour on there was a darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried aloud and said]

In Bach's St. Matthew Passion, "Finsternis" [darkness] is an F-flat which, thanks to equal temperament, we recognize as the enharmonic equivalent of E. But in Bach's day it didn't exist! That is, it is using an impossible note for an impossible event as a form of musical exegesis.

The reaction I get when trying to share this with friends is a mixture of pity, apathy and annoyance. This is the kind of expression that I suspect you, dear reader, are making right now. It only makes me feel a little lonely and highly dorky.

Still, I'm delighted by this and by the promise of more if I keep at it.

on line

Several days ago, I found myself asked to pick up baked goods on short notice at 9:30 pm. We couldn’t arrive at the birthday empty-handed. This was no a problem since I was only blocks away from Magnolia, whose cakes and puddings I enjoyed years ago but which now seems too hyped-up for what it is. I told the bartender to save my seat, that I would be back to finish my wine and prayed that the bakery would not be overrun with people. The sight that I encountered was a line that ran out the door, snaked around the corner, and extended out of sight into the darkness. Curses! Don’t these people have anything better to do? They couldn't find one of the thousands of other places that now serve cupcakes in this town? WTF? I cabbed it to Bruno Bakery and bought myself a pignoli tart for my trouble.

It think of Jeffrey Steingarten's article "Lining Up" which begins: "I am totally sick of New York’s restaurant reservation rat race." He writes an account of a week-long foray into some notable New York restaurants with no-reservation policies, having at times to endure long waits and long lines. In the following excerpt, he is at the end of a line three rows deep in order to eat at a restaurant referred to as "Super Sushi" (and sounds from the description a lot like Tomoe):

After an hour, we began talking with the people around us. To my surprise, at least half are first-timers who have come on a recommendation from a friend or a guidebook (one of which speaks of "sushi heaven," and gives Super Sushi a food rating as high as Lutèce). The couple ahead of us live in Colorado. I tell them that real New Yorkers would not have to wait on line if tourists from Colorado stayed at home, where they belong. I tell them that people from Colorado are like cholesterol, blocking our city’s arteries. They have read about typical New Yorkers who insult innocent tourists, but they have never experienced one, and they seem truly appreciative. For them, it is like visiting the Statue of Liberty.

Kara-nokay

I should come up with five good karaoke songs--know 'em, learn 'em, and practice them well. Just in case. The trick is to find something not too difficult, but will entertain your friends without appearing too much like the jackass. Just a teensy bit of practice at home could help you work out some of the kinks of performance so you needn't do that in front of real people, thereby avoiding some of the pitfalls of live karaoke.

1. Rap is hard. If you can't do it well, don't even think about trying. Especially if you look like a frat boy.

2. Mincing around in the spotlight does not necessarily transform you into Britney Spears. Nor is it cute, frankly. Also, Britney Spears should definitely not be sung by more than one person. Imagine a sixth-grade chorus singing "Toxic." That's what it sounds like.

3. People who sing badly can be funny, but not if you're doing it on purpose. Then it's just annoying.

4. Whiny songs are not fun. It. deadens the dynamics. And I don't care if you're a great vocal stylist, it's just really really boring.