Jacques du Bois

16. How to Kill the Job Culture Before it Kills You: Living a Life of Autonomy in a Wage-Slave Society by Claire Wolfe

Not a bad book over all- mostly common sense and stuff like that considering that I've given up working and will never work again. Not a bad book to jar someone from their complacency.

17. Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau

A translation of an interesting work- the same story told 99 different ways and in different styles. Very recommended if only for amusement in reading the Pig Latin version, the Surprise version and to see the cool little pictures. I will read the French version to compare it.

18.The First Crusade by Steven Runciman

A short book all about the First Crusade and how it all happened. A very interesting read that highlights the Byzantine involvement and influence on the Crusade and how all the leaders of the crusade mistrusted each other and were basically out to get whatever they could. The attack on the Jews in the Rhineland is mentioned as well as all the massacres and just general horror that the crusaders did too. The descriptions of Peter the Hermit and Peter Bartholomew who "discovered" the lance that pierced Jesus make me wonder about the medieval mind. An eye opening book.

Moving sucks. As I toted boxes and things I said to myself, muttering under my breath...

I shouldn't be moving, I need to be writing my thesis!

I began to fantasize about writing 200 pages worth of that sentence in its many permutations and in dozens of styles, à la The Shining or Brion Gysin

It also sucks that the iMac's (The Doctor) hard drive died and I'm using a a borrowed Dell Battleship laptop (The Master) with Vista on it (Vista's very underrated...it's best version of Windows I've EVER used!) to write, get Doctor Who and look at the internets. Yes.

And now, more tea, more driving and more moving! Yey!

The move is on, even if I don't know where I'm landing. But the thing of it is this- I have a ton of books, probably, literally. I spent most of my evening going through my CDs and DVDs, which were easy to pack...and will take no time at all and didn't. But I look at my books with a bit of dread- I have so many I have to move and that's not just the ones in inventory!

Just like wise old Solomon said-

"...there is no end to the writing of books and much study is wearisome." (Ecclesiastes, 12:12, Revised English Bible.)

(That is the third quotation of that passage online from the REB, which is the best Bible translation, a bit ahead of the NRSV. It is the best version of the Bible to read and here's a bit more all about it...)

At first I thought I could keep 20% of my books, but as I look at them all more and more closely, I see more I can live without. I dread this move but it's survival and I must get through until August and take it a day at a time until then...

Tegan & Sara are amazing. I'm very much looking forward to seeing them again at Treasure Island Music Festival in SF along with The Raconteurs. If you've not heard them constant reader, go listen to something by those brilliant young ladies and I defy you to not say it's great pop music, at least.

The video for Monday, Monday, Monday which reminds me of a semi-dirty joke about showbiz.

Rest and consideration of what I do next as I have a few days to decide what exactly to do with the majority of the books I've been keeping around.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121217626838633437.html

This is a great essay! And, it's rather funny too. I can appreciate this very much since I'm in the process of deciding what to keep and what to get rid of in my book collection.

And, Sante mentions Walter Benjamin's great essay "On Unpacking My Library". If you haven't read Walter Benjamin yet, you've missed the most underrated philosopher next to Simone Weil from the 20th Century.

dream

some friends and I went to see a movie at a big old movie theater, Alice in Wonderland with all kinds of amazing actors and Stan Laurel as the Mock Turtle (that movie doesn't exist). The trailers were going on and on and on, but they were for all sorts of amazing and wonderful movies, some which don't exists...and a hippie girl without shoes on sat next to me on my right and began to flirt and be interested in me. I could see her deep blue eyes and her big smile from next to me in the movie theater. Her name was Louise and I smiled at her and she began to snuggle up to me. After showing a couple trailers for some late '60s Czech movies with cool jazz soundtracks, the theater announced they would show Jesus Christ Superstar on the screen to the left, which suddenly came up out of the floor and began playing as the theater was in a gigantic circular dome and had five screens in the wall and showed movies with rear projection, like they do at the Brattle Theater at Harvard Square in Cambridge. Alice in Wonderland began very strangely, with her falling down the rabbit hole and Jesus Christ Superstar started like it always does and we all settled into the movies.

Everyone talks about gas prices...so much so that H. and I agreed that we won't complain about it. It's just something, in my mind, that's not worth bitching about. Drive less if you don't like it. Ride a bike. DO something rather than just talk or bitch. This comes to my mind since tonight I needed gas for my car. I was in town, after hanging out with friends and I decided to get gas before I mailed my books and transcript letter. I was lucky to get gas at $3.82 a gallon since the gas station raised the price of gas I was getting it to $3.87! I heard a noise as I finished putting in $30 worth (8 gallons) and noticed the guy who worked at the gas station having trouble putting up the new signs for the gas price. It amused me and I made a picture of the guy putting it up...here it is.



This gas stuff is crazy and it's more crazy to realize that most of the the American infrastructure built in the last 50 years was done so with the idea that gas would always be 40¢ a gallon. The only people who are making money on this are the oil producers and the oil companies, the middle men and the consumers are losing money. I'm starting to wonder what dreadful choices are being made by people to pay for gas... gas over food? Gas over medicine?

I also wonder when the pictures of paying for gas like people paying for bread and food during the Weimar Republic will start appearing...

The soundtrack to Barry Lyndon is cool and great, just like the movie.

Current Song of the Now- Tegan Quin- His Love and The Dresden Dolls- Night Reconnaissance

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
6/10


You'd have to be an anorak, a comic-book guy type or a jerk to want to list all the problems with this movie. It was fun and entertaining movie, something that you couldn't feel badly about unless you expected any more than a popcorn movie (I didn't have popcorn as I had had Indian Buffet with chai before the movie). I walked out of it yesterday feeling good about it generally, unlike the new Star Wars movies.

But the main problem I had with the movie was that Indie was never really in danger...I never felt that he wouldn't be able to get away from the danger he was in at any moment- and maybe, he was never in danger at all. Overall, the movie was like a pastiche of all the parts that people really liked from the first three movies, but it wasn't a good, cohesive whole. It did manage to pack into two hours everything I've come to dislike about Spielberg and Lucas into one, silly movie. And, it didn't pass "The Harry Cohn Butt Test"...I was squirming and uncomfortable by the time Indy and Shia were doing some high toned graverobbing in Peru.

Off into the rainy, cloudy day. This is what Nevada weather will be like after global warming- wet, cloudy, dour.

dream-

I was in Manhattan and I had just arrived there from JFK. I was going to meet someone and somehow I ended up in a strange office building that looked like it was from the 1930s and completely film noir and a couple thugs were after me to get me for some reason (maybe they were the guy/guys who were paid to kill me? ). I managed to give them the slip and I wandered to the subway and took it all the way to the Bronx. I got out and was a few blocks away from the new Yankee Stadium. I walked from the subway to where I could clearly see the stadium and asked a black cop who I saw how far I was from the stadium. He told me "Not far, it's a five minute walk. You got here just in time since they're going to tear down the original one in August...you'll be able to see both." I started walking toward the stadium.

Werner Herzog's directing what???

Before I went to rest last night, I saw the most horrible thing...Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant. A remake. WHY WERNER??? I don't recall that movie but I know Abel Ferrara (a great director, who did King of New York and New Rose Hotel just as good as Herzog) made it in 1992...now the worst part is Harvey Keitel, who originated the role of the Bad Lieutenant will now be played by Nicolas Cage‽ Nicolas Cage is the one actor who I just despise and have always despised, even in good movies like Raising Arizona...ugh. It just sounds like a shitty, horrid movie. And what's wrong with Werner for even considering doing this movie?


If people in Hollywood are so damned hard-up for movie ideas, why can't they find some new frigging talent and see might come of that? I know at least six people, not including myself who have great ideas for movies that could be blockbusters.

Hilary Clinton must go away. FAR FAR away. Saying that if she doesn't stay in the race until June someone might get assassinated is pure crap. Total crap!

SOMEONE YOU CALL YOUR FRIEND, WANTS YOU DEAD.

I felt very sorry and bad for you, that your life is going to end like this if you don't comply, i was paid to eliminate you and I have to do it within10 days. Someone you call your friend wants you dead by all means, and the person havespent a lot of money on this, the person also came to us and told us that he wants you dead and he provided us your names, photograph and other necessary information we needed about you.

If you are in doubt with this I will send you your name and where you are residing in my next mail. Meanwhile, I have sent my boys to track you down and they have carried out the necessary investigation needed for the operation, but I ordered them to stop for a while and not to strike immediately because I just felt something goodand sympathetic about you. I decided to contact you first and know why somebody will want you dead by all means. Right now my men are monitoring you, their eyesare on you, and even the place you think is safer for you to hide might not be. Now do you want to LIVE OR DIE? It is up to you. Get back to me now if you areready to enter deal with me, I mean life trade, who knows, and I might just spear your life, $12,000 is all you need to spend.

You will first of all pay $4,000 then I will send the tape of the person that want you dead to you and when the tape gets to you, you will pay the remaining $8,000. If you are not ready for my help, then I will have no choice but to carry on the assignment after all I have already being paid before now.

Warning: Do not think of contacting the police or even tell anyone because Iwill extend it to any member of your family since you are aware that somebodywant you dead, and the person knows some members of your family as well. For your own good I will advise you not to go out once is 7pm until I make out time to see you and give you the tape of my discussion with the person who want you dead then you can use it to take any legal action.

Good luck as I await your reply to this e-mail contact: final.bulletpointserviceemail@gmail.com

Mr.Anthonio Benito.

final.bulletpointserviceemail@gmail.com


Wow- I guess I can't go see Indiana Jones, unless I want to get it.

13. Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

An amazing novel about books, the Spanish Civil War, love, hate, revenge and Victor Hugo's pen. Many reviews of this book are rather unfair as it is a good book, but about 3/4 of the way through I had figured out the main plot points and the ending was a bit overwrought and somewhat tedious, but it was still a great book and a wonderful translation. Highly recommended.

14. We Always Treat Women Too Well by Raymond Queneau

A pot-boiler and a fast read of a group of men with names that are very similar (the same?) as guys from Ulysses (Finnegan's Wake!) and their actions during the 1916 Easter Rebellion in Dublin. This group goes to take the post office, does it but then has to deal with a femme fatale who hides in the women's bathroom and take them on one at a time in a very sexual way. Now I'm interested in reading more of Queneau

15. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A tragic love story between a doctor and a sometime patient...although, I did see parts of my relationship with S. in the book and it helped me think about that. It is a novel that is just as good as Gatsby in its own way, following the lives and love of Dick and Nicole from the start where they seem like the perfect couple to the very last page, where they aren't. Highly recommended.

I've not been out of town for longer than a day for at least a year and this weekend, I went to San Francisco. It was a good reminder of what the world is more like than it's not. And the iPhone was invaluable...it helped us get around and in and out of trouble.

Live, the Dresden Dolls are amazing sight to behold. And, I beheld them at the Fillmore (a tremendous venue- I'm still surprised that I hadn't yet seen a show there until last night), at that. It was a great cap to a grand weekend that was sort of a victory lap to student teaching. Each time I leave Reno to go anywhere else now, I'm starting to feel that Reno and the area around it is stuck in a time-warp and a black hole that sucks you back in. Reno SUCKS!!! But- each book I sell, takes me a step further in my goals...yes.

So- back to the Dresden Dolls...Amanda sang The Gardener where she got into the audience and I stood feet away from her as she sang her new song and walked through the audience. And to think, I was considering NOT going to the show. Man, if I had just sold my ticket to the scalpers in front (the show was SOLD out totally so I was lucky to get a ticket) I would have missed one of the best shows I've been to yet. Tegan and Sara was great, but this was better because the crowd was great and interesting and INTO the music totally...the opener, Vermillion Lies, was funny and funky and great in the same way that the Dolls are too and Paul Nathan, the MC and magician is who I'd want to turn into eventually... yes. The whip card trick was amazing- and he was quite good as an MC. A great night.

Weekend summary-

Saturday-
delayed start and drive through hell (aka Sacramento) to South San Francisco, which is the city of Industry and to the hotel we stayed at (my dad and I went together). It was next to the airport but it was cheap enough to be fine. The wind was howling and it was cold, but someone had a pool party for their kids that day at the hotel and the kids splashed around and made the best of it.

A walk through Chinatown to get kung-fu shoes (lots of the curio shops are closed or closing I noticed...and Chinatown seems grubbier than I remember it since last I was there last year) and then, dinner at Hunan Home's in Chinatown...a brilliant dinner and the best chinese I've had in ages. I felt lighter after I ate it. There is no good Chinese Food in Reno. None.

A drive and a lucky discovery of a parking place and then a café au lait and snack at the Castro Cheesery, and it was a great coffee and I got a tin of Prince of Wales tea. Then, to the Castro Theater- organ music, and the Disney movie "The Black Hole". A movie I remember from my childhood- the music always has stuck with me- the robot making scene has stuck with me. It's damned violent for a Disney movie, the special effects are great and it's an interesting movie. At least, it's better than the first Star Trek movie. 8/10 for the music, effects and the crazy story.

Back to the room and to rest...

Sunday-

"Continental Breakfast" heh- which one? The waffle maker that is ubiquitous in hotels was there and I had that. We checked out and went north up El Camino Real through S. San Francisco, Colma (I know a former mayor of that town who has) to the Fillmore District and found a good parking spot, since Bob was looking out for us.

Coffee at the Fillmore Café...as we waited to go into the Coltrane Church. Because it was the day of Bay to Breakers, the traffic was all screwed up and we were the first people there...my dad hung out and I walked around to the Safeway to get money for the concert.

Service at the Coltrane Church. A wonderful time and moving time- my dad played his trombone and we prayed. We didn't stay for the whole service but we got a good flavor for it- we'll go back there again soon. Worshipping there could convert me.

My dad went to visit a friend at the Musician's Union on 6th and Mission and I walked over to the Goodwill at Mission and Van Ness to bookscout and did just fine. I got back and listened to some great Latin jazz. Yes.

We drove around the Mission, down Valencia and settled on eating at Ali Baba's, great Arab food. Then, we drove around some more until we got to Ocean Beach, where I saw lots of jellyfish and crab shells. A guy was using a kite to go down the beach in a little 3 wheel cart and was having fun. A poem leapt out at me as I looked at the Pacific, but it left me before I could write it down.

Then, we went to Amoeba...and I found a CD version of Church of Anthrax! They were selling it and it's supposed to come out in June...yet there it was and now it's sitting next to me.

As we drove down Haight, to Fillmore and finally up to Geary and I got out and went to the Fillmore. I walked past about a half dozen scalpers who were begging me for a ticket and went in.

It was one of the best shows I've ever been to. 2008 has been a great year for shows so far for me...Tegan and Sara, The Dresden Dolls...what next?

After the show and on the way out of town, I had McDonalds....that sort of was coming back to my normal reality for me there. My dad stopped in Vallejo to get gas and I could have waited and just had something else, or nothing, but I had the Big Mac and ate it. McDonalds always makes me feel queazy after

Iron Man
6/10

The movie, as adaptations from comics go was pretty good. What was most impressive to me was the Iron Man suit and the special effects. The story was interesting until the last 1/3 of the movie when it got predictable and silly. The scene after the credits probably only has meaning for someone who is a fan and since I am not, I wasn't sure how to take it. I simply wanted to see the movie since it had good actors and seemed like an interesting movie. And it was except for the ending and all the product placement. Yes, the product placement in the movie was very blatant...the American Cheeseburger part was lame, all the computers were of a variety that can be had by mail order only, all the cars were either Chevys, Jaguars and Hummers.

But don't get me wrong, I liked it as it was mindless fun. After seeing Breathless by Godard, Ambersons by Welles and other high toned movies for a while, this was nice for a change.

Also, the people in the theater were rather perplexing- the first person I sat in front of didn't have shoes on his feet and they dangled near my dad and I as we started to watch the movie. His feet stunk so badly we had to move. It was awful. And, yet again, many people in the audience laughed when things blew up, people got shot, burnt and generally massacred. I didn't laugh at those point but like the last time this happened in a movie as I was watching, I turned around and took a good, long look. Since it was opening night of a comic book movie, the audience was filled with fans- and they chatted all about the inaccuracies and how they'd change the movie if they could. And, I could have imagined Comic Book Guy back there, bitching and saying his trademark phrase. I didn't know he had a name. Jeff Albertson...just goes to show me what I've missed in the five years or so since I stopped watching The Simpsons regularly. In other words, not much.

To bed- I have three more days of student teaching. Yes!

Read the French or German version of Post Secret!
http://postsecretfrance.blogspot.com/
http://www.postsecretdeutsch.de/

The French one is more interesting since it's mostly about sex this week.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/03/28/arts/20080330_FOLD_IN_FEATURE.html
Here's a collection of fold-ins from MAD Magazine. Great stuff and funny too.Yep- you can fold them and everything. And, it's from the New York Times.

Atari 2600 Video Game hit covers like Obligatory Educational "Game", Buzz Aldrin's Space Rainbow Tennis and Tim Curry's Magic Board!
http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2008/04/21/fun-from-yesterday/

Meanwhile- I went for a bike ride, since I couldn't sleep in thanks to the Praxis II test. I'm drinking English Breakfast Tea and plotting out my day.

Eagle Vs Shark is a touching and lovely movie. It was described to me like Napoleon Dynamite, and that doesn't do the film justice. And, the actress who plays Lily, Loren Horsley, is beautiful and charming. I'd want to hang out with her and her brother too. A great movie...

Last night was great- I had the best sushi I've ever had in my life and I went to see Tegan and Sara.

I had sushi with M. and A. at a place in South Lake Tahoe called The Naked Fish. Although it was very expensive, it was the best sushi I've ever had. Literally, the fish was being cut into pieces at the sushi bar and we were shown the fish we were eating before we ate it. The sake was astonishing and mysterious- the waitress said that it was a live-culture sake and it tasted wonderful and happy. The toro was fat and wonderful, the suzuki was great and it was all wonderful. I'll never eat sushi anywhere else again it was SO good. And I had a great time talking to M. and A. on the way up and down. A great evening to start the evening.

Then, I went to the Grand Sierra and saw Tegan and Sara. I got there a bit late, and saw some co-workers from the school I'm student teaching at who were taking tickets. I walked up to the front of the stage and found a spot next to a drunk couple of lesbians (this was the case for most of the crowd- it was overwhelmingly female, with the exceptions of a few hipster type guys and guys with their girlfriends). The opening band was called An Horse, and they were quite good- a duo of a guy on drums and a gal on guitar who rocked and sang interesting songs. After the show I got their CD and had them autograph it for me as I was very impressed with them. Tegan and Sara came on with a great back-up band and they were amazing. I've seen a lot of rock shows live but only the White Stripes, Bowie, Costello and Ray Davies were as good as these amazing ladies. Both Sara and Tegan told interesting stories, Sara told one about her grandpa who made slot machines and they would go and play on them and after they lost their money, their grandma'd open the machine and get their money back. Neither them seemed very impressed with Reno and they didn't like the crowd and how they talked when they were talking and just didn't seem too into it. Sara even said a word to the people who went there just to go there and were talking and talking...nevertheless, the y looked like they were having fun and were actually polite to their rodies and the theater people. The songs were wonderful and they played all the songs that I'd hoped they would. It was a great night and a wonderful way to cap off that evening.

dream-

I was with Barack Obama and we were at the Democratic convention, going around to each delegation and finding out that he was losing to Clinton by one or two votes per state, usually around 45 or 46 for her and 44 or 43 for him. We ran around to each delegation, always getting the same results and he nor I broke a sweat, but we kept on going around and around to each delegation, dozens of times and always getting the same result.

4. The Book of Isaiah

Heavy stuff. Amazing images, fascinating writing. I'm not so sure about what is said about the book and about its prophetic nature, but it's interesting nonetheless.

5. The Book of Daniel with the additions

Another book of the Bible. Fascinating with amazing images and some cool stories. Daniel as a character is very interesting and what happens to him is amazing. The second part of the book, the prophetic section is very much like Revelations. The additions from the Greek are more stories about what an amazing person Daniel was.

6. Lies My Teacher Told Me

A book all about how American History is taught and usually mistaught, looking at 12 text books used in the early 1990s. I can report, I am not following in the wake of those mistake and most of the textbooks now used are much better, but still have problems. A good book for anyone interested in history or education.

7. In Search of of Zarathustra by Paul Kriwaczek

An amazing book that talks about Zarathustra and the religion he taught. The book goes backwards in time and around the world going from Iran, Bosnia and Herzegovina, central Asia, and all the way back to the time of Zarathustra, 4000 years ago. It talks about Islam, Zororastrianism, the Knights Templar, Bogomilism, the Cathars, the Byzantines and Romans, Mithraism, the Persians and Greeks and all the way back to Iran today. It's a great and fast read and well recommended.


8. A History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich

The 1,123 years and 18 days of the Byzantine Empire backed into about 500 pages. It's amazing, although it mostly talks about the rulers and rich people of Byzantium, but most of them are amazing to read about. There is a three volume version of this one volume, condensed book, but I don't know that I'd be able to get to it any time soon. An amazing book.

9. Everything Bad Is Good for You by Steven Johnson

A 200 page rant about how video games and TV shows make people smarter, without any real evidence. I read it in an afternoon and was depressed by it, generally.

10. Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite

A revisit of an old favorite- I love Brite's prose but at times, the story is very much grand guignol. Still, a great read and an interesting escape.

11. The Wicker Man by Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer

The novel of the famous cult movie. It is much more in-depth and offers a glimpse into the mind of Sergeant Howie. The ending, much like the movie, troubles me and makes me question religion.

Granola is the food of the gods for breakfast, especially if you make it yourself. I got a great recipe for it and I have made it twice...and it makes my house smell like honey and brown sugar. Yes.

The PBS station in Reno has a horribly weak signal and I can't get it with my digital TV or with the converter box and super antenna. What good is TV anyway?

And what good is saying "I don't watch TV." anyway? It makes you sound like a creep to most people, whose lives revolve around American Idol, Big Brother, ER, or whatever show is popular at the time. And I do use my TV for movies, some video games on the PS3 and TV shows on the air and downloaded.

Powered Antennas and Smart Antennas for TVs are rip-offs since the $9 antenna does just as well as a $50 super antenna. But it's better than paying for cable.

The latest Simpsons episode was horrible. That show was never one for having any sort of a continuity but the last episode was just silly. The only good shows on Fox now are Hell's Kitchen (I dig Gordon Ramsay, and seeing him angry is amusing. He does have some great tips on cooking, if you search them out) and Terminator, if it comes back.

Only six games into the baseball season and the Giants are already a lost cause. They SUCK and this baseball year will be painful.


Back to school, back to granola and back to sleep. Week ten starts in hours.

dream-

I was waiting in the roundhouse in Sparks with a bunch of people to take a train to Salt Lake City and take a tour of the first Mormon settlement there. We all got on the train, which was like a European train, with the sleepers and passenger cabins and a steam engine. I was with three other people I didn't know but I made conversation and was pleasant to them as we sat. The train stopped at Gerlach's station and I got off the train to stretch my legs but the train left the moment after I got off of it. I tried to rush after the train but it had left me with only the things in my pocket and a book I was carrying. I went to the station agent and he said (he was perfectly dressed with a waistcoat, bow-tie, white shirt, a cap with a visor and a badge that said station manager) and he said that he could send me to Salt Lake and suddenly I found myself there.

The place where I was could have been Salt Lake but it was something like a nightmare- all the houses, Victorian style that glowed, were run down and there were no people anywhere. The sky was like the 15 minutes or so before sunrise or just after sunset, still dark but with a murky light and in the background I heard cars driving around. It was then that the train pulled up next to me, working very well off of its rail, and everyone on it got off and we all walked to the Mormon settlement. It was closed by the time I got there through the line and stanchion posts and line barriers and the lady who'd been selling tickets said mechanically "No refunds. No refunds. No refunds. No refunds."

dream

I was at the première of a movie that Richard Linklater and I made together. I wrote it and he directed it. It was a sort of homage to drive-in movies of the 1960s and 1970s but it was done in a surreal way. As I was there, Richard and I were setting up the sound area and making sure it was all right since there première was happening in a high school gym at my high school, Wooster. All the bleachers were pulled out and it was packed. I saw all of my friends, a few enemies and several people I admire like Orson Welles, William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac sitting in the bleachers along with everyone else.

The movie itself was very surreal and I don't remember much of it except that Mr. T was in it and Zelda Rubinstein was too, the very short lady who was in Poltergeist. And then I was in it at the very end- Richard helped me get into the screen and I showed the characters how to end the movie. All the main characters had been turned into children, except for me, Zelda and Kathy Bates. I ask them, "Why wasn't I made back into a child?" Zelda said, "You've been bad." and Kathy Bates, who was dressed like she was in Misery, disappeared. All the children came down for dinner and were served by Zelda and then she and I began to waltz to some music I'd written. I tried to get away from the screen since I knew that I was in the movie and shouldn't have been but I couldn't- I was stuck in the movie and it all ended for me as the movie did. The last thing I did was I bent over Zelda, who kissed my forehead and smiled and the movie faded out.

Today, I asked my students to make their top ten favorite songs list, so here I make my own. I take it to mean song list of the now and it is in no order.

10. David Bowie- Station to Station
9. J.S. Bach- Brandenburg Concerto #6
8. John Coltrane- Giant Steps
7. Miles Davis- Milestones
6. Belle and Sebastian- I'm a Cuckoo
5. Os Mutantes- Bat Macumba
4. Orchestra Baobab- Sutukum
3. Nine Inch Nails- 10 Ghosts II
2. Siouxsie & the Banshees- Israel
1. Ecstasy of Saint Theresa - Pistachio Places

Student teaching is now halfway over for me and I am glad. Now I know how to teach and the best way to do it and be able to go home at night. My mind has been moving onto the next step...and several paths appear before me as long-term plans manifest. Things are all right but still a bit too tenuous for my tastes.

The 21th of March is J.S. Bach's birthday- he is by far, one of the greatest inspirations I've ever had in my life. I have always loved his music, the Brandenburgs and the Art of the Fugue being the works I like best.