Did not sleep well last night. I tried, woke up at 3 thinking it was 6. Not a good way to sleep. Tossing and turning and when I finally fell asleep it was time to wake up and go to work. And what fun that turned out to be. The sheer stupidity of some people is overwhelming sometimes. But I was able to escape once or twice and run some errands so that wasn’t so bad but all the day did was drag.

The Ipod healed itself somehow. From Friday night to Saturday morning all it did was reload from my home pc. Took about 8 hours to move 6000 plus tracks from one thing to another. I know, it wasn’t worth the drama, but I’ve been called a drama queen before and if the tiara fits…

Bill and I recovered from the counseling last night. Sufficiently so that we are planning a visit to Washington DC around Easter to visit my dear friend Billie. I knew Billie through Jet. Sisters 3 we were. Kate, Tasha and Cindy. Now Kate is gone and has been replaced by Judy. So Cindy and Judy hope to spend some egg rolling time in DC with Tasha. Of course it’s all up to Tasha if she is ready.

Bill has never met Billie so that should be interesting. Protective older sister he/she is. I enjoy visiting Chocolate City. It’s a place where I can let my hair down and actually dance. I look forward to dancing with Bill and Billie, that is, if we go out. It all depends if Billie is on top of Tasha’s game, health wise.

Been listening to Laraaji’s ‘Day’s of Radiance’ produced by Brian Eno and is part of Eno’s Ambient series, making it ‘Ambient 3’. It is really soothing and up and something else. Multi layered zithers. Walked to work listening to that on the Ipod.

Odd thing about the Ipod: One of the last albums I played on the Ipod was ‘Sandinista’ by the Clash. Though everything seems to be running ok now, I am hesitant to play it for fear that it might happen again. And if it happens again, no big deal, there’s always the mini. It was weird for me to use the Ipod, I felt like I was thrown back a couple of months into 2005. I am so attached, or addicted to the Ipod, even feeling smug and superior when I see an Ipod not as sleek as mine.

That’s so not me. I am generally humbled and get humbled around most friends and family so ego is not a problem here. More like the lack of ego.

Now I am playing the ‘Rain Song’ by Led Zeppelin. The memory of this now is driving to Sandy Hook in the summer of 2005. Annemarie at the wheel, me being co-pilot as usual, and Earl and Stine (now Mrs. Julio Lopez) sitting placidly in the back seat. It was a rainy weekday, spent most of the time checking the weather reports. I was determined to have a good time.

And I played the ‘Rain Song’ as well as other rain themed songs, like ‘Rain’ by the Fabs. It seemed to work, we had a pretty good day at the beach, which was relatively empty from the distant clouds.

And here are some pics from way back when:

Annemarie

Earl

Stine (Mrs. Julio Lopez)

Chewbacca (Philip Seymour Carey)

My Dearest Elizabeth,

I am so terribly sorry to read about what has happened to your father and his ferret. It seems like only yesterday when he just bought Ulysses. The two got along like a house on fire. No one expected the ferret to have a seizure when they both went out for a drive last month. From what I’ve read in the paper, the coroner stated that your father had gone into shock after Ulysses tore through your father’s hamstring.

It was sad to read and brought back memories of my great Aunt Dorothy and her pet rabbit. The two were inseparable. So much so that during cold winters, the rabbit would drape itself around Aunt Dorothy’s neck, occasionally dispensing dried raisins to children in her neighborhood.

When the rabbit died, Aunt Dorothy had a sumptuous dinner featuring rabbit as the main course. A few guests complained about the meat being too tough, I guess from aging improperly.

Speaking of aging improperly, did you hear about Mrs. Sofronicz? Apparently she was caught with the garbage man sorting out recyclables from regular trash, if you know what I mean. Mr. Sofronicz came home earlier than expected one night to find the garbage laid out all over the driveway. It’s been said that he revved the car and almost ran over the two of them, creating an even greater mess than before.

Mary Beth tells me that Mr. Sofronicz was caught loitering in a rest room at the shopping mall. Imagine that! A banker, hanging out midday in a public restroom. The scandal! Mary Beth said that he paid off the police as well as the press who were tagging along. No one knows if they’ll be having their usual Mardi Gras party this year. We’ll have to wait and see.

My youngest, Todd, has been having a few scrapes with the law, spraying graffiti on public buildings. You might know his ‘Tag’. It’s ‘Todd’. I’ve seen a few of his signings or art works, and they are quite colorful, but lacking something. Todd always lacked imagination. He’s got something, but not that creative spark.

He’s a handful, though a bit slow. His mother wants me to speak with him about his grades. He’s failing miserably in most subjects and we’re considering one of those tutoring companies that they show on early morning television.

I still think he doesn’t apply himself, but then again I didn’t really apply myself either. I was bored, I don’t think he is. I don’t think it’s drugs or alcohol, which if he had a problem with, I’d blame his mother’s side of the family. Bunch of lousy rehabbers.

I’m glad to see your oldest daughter has gotten her GED and finished her community service. I tell you, that girl is going places.

Once again Elizabeth, I can’t say how sorry I truly am about your father. It truly is a shame. He truly loved that ferret, almost more than life itself. That makes it ironic that the thing he loved more than life itself wound up taking his life.

Call me, we’ll have lunch.

Maurice