WHERE'S MY SANDY BEACH?

A musical mash-up — or is it more of a merry-go-round thing? — in my head this morning. Must Have Been The Roses by the Grateful Dead plus Heart of Full of Soul by the Yardbirds plus Rufus Wainwright's version of Hallelujah.

Days later.

Look at me! At the airport so early, I have time to burn. I have already begun my consumption of useless vacation calories with a stupidly expensive not-very-good caffe latte and coffee cake, which is already making me sick. Wheeeeee.

I am on my way to Oakland for a couple of days' parental care respite. This is the first time I have been away from Janet since December. Janet is toughing it out by herself and we will see how that goes. She will enjoy not being dictated to.

I woke up too early as I transposed the time of departure. I probably got up too early anyway. I did have Butterscotch purring loudly and making a lot of enthusiastic bread on my arm. She'd be great in a bakery. In other Butterscotch news ...

... a digression here...

I did something big and significant in my life last week. I decided to end my participation in a project I had been working on for 12 years. I will likely write more about it at another time, but this was a traumatic event that caused plenty of tears and breast-beating. Coincidentally or not, I also went to four yoga classes in a week. After not having done any significant practice since about 2005, I was amazed at my dexterity and flexibility. Lots of hip and heart-opening, backbends and baby inversions.

Part of my superstitious ritual is to wash my sheets and dry them in the sunshine to get some psychic freshness. I did so on Monday, and woke up on Tuesday to a crisp linens. At my head was Butterscotch sweetly, deeply sleeping. Then I gave her a little stroke, whereupon she woke and started a puking process in my face on my clean sheets. I did manage to get her on to the floor, but I did find this cosmically hilarious.

Monday night's yoga class was intense for me. I have muscle aches in places I had forgotten I had muscles. I am still achy today. Still, I think yoga practice is a good direction for me to pursue along with swimming, so if I can find the money I will continue.

Now, here's a weird one in the music land. I still have Wake-Up Sad as a lower level in my consciousness, but as I walk around the airport, I hear Kansas City in my head. Maybe I am going to Oakland City and that's the connection.

I also snagged a good copy of the first Pretenders album. Damn Jackson, that is one hell of a good piece of music. I listened to it three times in a row, beginning to end, blasting it as I drove to LAX to pick up Kim. Brilliant art. Mystery Achievement. 

As I haven't any poetry with me on this trip, we will have to settle for song lyrics.

Mystery achievement 

Don't breathe down my neck no 

I got no trophies on display 

I sign them away 

I mean what the heck 

All of your promises 

Don't fill me with pride no 

I just wanna get out on the floor 

And do the Cuban slide, slide, slide, slide

But every day, every nighttime I find 

Mystery achievement 

You're on my mind 

And every day, every nighttime I feel 

Mystery achievement you're so unreal

Mystery achievement 

Where's my sandy beach? Yeah 

I had my dreams like everybody else 

But they're out of reach 

I said right out of reach 

I could ignore you 

Your demands are unending 

I got no tears on my ice cream but you know me 

I love pretending

But every day, every nighttime I find 

Mystery achievement 

You're on my mind 

And every day, every nighttime I feel 

Mystery achievement you're so unreal

In thrift store land, I scored some excellent mid-century modern tables for KMH for the low low price of $18.00.