Well, dear readers, I am sitting here like so much fish, listening to a wonderful piece of classical music by someone I’ve never heard of, one Jeanne Demessieux, a French composer from France, also an organist and this is her Poeme for Organ and Orchestra, a wonderfully melodic piece, impressionistic in a way, and at times sounding very much like film music. I’ve listened to it three times already – it’s only twelve minutes. It’s on the Tube of You if anyone’s interested in sampling. It seems to be the only orchestral piece of hers, although I’m still searching for more. A wonderful discovery. I also happened to watch a couple of motion pictures on the big boy TV but on YouTube – they have tons of movies if you don’t mind their commercials literally every six minutes. First, I watched a Bruce Willis movie called Hostage. Turns out, I saw it in 2015 on the Flix of Net and reading what I wrote I kind of enjoyed it for what it was. It’s poorly directed, but is from a novel from the very good writer, Robert Crais. I watched it for a reason, which I can’t really go into, and I enjoyed it for what it was, same as before. It gets a little over the top at the end and there’s a bit too much plot, but it moves along at a steady pace. Then I watched a movie based on Stephen King’s novel, Cell. King co-wrote the screenplay, which does in ninety-eight minutes what the book did in 384 pages. It has a really badly directed first scene that holds one’s interest, then it becomes another sort of zombie movie and a rather silly one at that. John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson star, but I watched it because the Orphan actress Isabelle Fuhrman is in it. She doesn’t really have much to do or much of a character for that matter. Anyway, it pretty much was terrible. And now, I’m listening to a piece by Elliot Carter, a composer I’ve never listened to because I’ve heard he’s so atonal and pedantic. Imagine my surprise to find a lovely and moving piece called Elegy for String Orchestra. Who knew? I gather his later music is probably not going to be to my liking. We shall see. We’ve seen. Anything pre 50s seems to be very American in sound and very tonal, like his first symphony, which is really beautiful and very Copland-esque.

Yesterday was at least a quiet day of quietude. I was up at eight-fifteen and out the door before nine. I went to Art’s Deli and had an omelet and a bagel – a little boring but it was okay. Then I went to the Studio City Gelson’s and got some stuff for an evening meal of few calories, drove around a bit, then came home. I did a little proofing, watched the movies, then made food. I did something I don’t think I’ve done before – I sauteed up some broccoli, zucchini strips, cauliflower, carrots, and onions with two small chicken filets. It was surprisingly tasty and of course the veggies have almost no calories and the two small filets are not even two hundred. And here we are.

Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll proof some more, but mostly I’ll have a ME day. I have tuna here, if I want to do that again – if that’s the decision, I’ll go over to Western Bagel in the early afternoon and get a couple of onion bagels. Otherwise, I’ll just watch, listen, and relax.

Tomorrow, we’ll announce the new date for the cancelled Kritzerland show – April 16, and our new musical director and one new cast member. This week will be book stuff, Sami stuff, and prayers for a hugely huge modern major miracle in the key of C.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, proof, have mostly a ME day, eat, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s free-for-all day, the day in which you dear readers get to make with the topics and we all get to post about them. So, let’s have loads of lovely topics and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have made some new musical discoveries.