Body and Soul

I never liked the store brands of pasta sauces, until I tried Trader Joe's delicious varieties. Now I find I don't make my own spaghetti sauce nearly as often as I used to. Besides, who ever has the thyme?

It's overcast and damp, and bloody freezing in the house, in the low 50's Fahrenheit. I'm too stubborn to make a fire in latter day April, so I'm resigned to being grumpy about it.

I've added a playlist section to the blog. I'm a hopeless shuffler. I'm delighted with the first few tracks that popped up today. Coleman Hawkins "Body and Soul" is among my all-time favorite jazz recordings. I'm also very fond of that overplayed Iz tune (Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful Life).

I am still trying to find my Blog voice. I'm also in that limbo of an inchoate blog that has yet to garner a comment other than my own. I'm guessing this is natural. As is the alarming amount of unaccountable time gobbled up by random acts of web page tweaking. I don't even know what a new comment looks like. Will I be notified in some way? O magnum mysterium!



I listened to a fantastic interview with Kurt Vonnegut last night, a rebroadcast from a year ago of the BBC's World Book Club. (click Kurt for details) Calls and emails from all around the world, and charming responses from a great American author. We miss you, Kurt. Hi ho!

I just got a call back from the A&E people about that broken Avengers DVD. They are willing to replace it for free, if I pay for the shipping. Praises to C/S rep Julie who went out of her way to make this happen, when I hadn't even asked. By the time I talked to her, I had resigned myself to buying the replacement at full price. She took all the initiative.

This was such a refreshing contrast to the first jaded nameless C/S rep I talked to who refused to help me in any way, beyond answering every point and plea I made by reiterating, in a Nurse Ratchet tone of voice, that my only recourse was to take it back to the store where I bought it. Implied message: scum who don't buy directly from A&E would not be countenanced.

Today's the day the Roomba died. Our beloved cleaning robot will need to go to meet its maker, who, I hope, can repair it. I suspect a shattered ball bearing is what's keeping the brush cylinder from rotating, judging from the jerky rattling. While they're at it, they can restore its beep tone voice, which has been sickly for weeks.

    Highlights from Today's Playlist of Life

  • Umqombothi (African Beer)─Yvonne Chaka Chaka─Hotel Rwanda
  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful LifeIz
  • Hendrik Andriessen (1892-1981): Qui habita─Netherlands Chamber Choir; Uwe Gronostay─Music in the Light of Vermeer
  • J.S. Bach: Ich folge dir gleichfalls─Rundfunkchor Leipzig; Staatskapelle Dresden; Peter Shreier, conductor─J.S. Bach: Johannes-Passion
  • Body And Soul─Coleman Hawkins─Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of American Music

Comments

RevJen said…
Hey, Puzz. This is what a new comment looks like! Sorry about the Roomba, glad about the DVD, keep on bloggin'.
Puzzled said…
Aw, how cool!

Bless you, Jeanny! You're the first!

I think the Roomba's greatest contribution to our quality of life is getting me to realize how satisfying a vacuumed floor is...to the extent that now I am willing to drag out the conventional vacuum cleaner. In the old days it tended to stay in the closet for days and days.

And thanks for the encouragement! My confidence was starting to waver...and now...I think I just might keep on bloggin'!
RevJen said…
Keep it up, dude. I find that comments are rarely forthcoming on my blog, especially on the posts where I most want some feedback. Sigh.

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