I’m extremely disappointed, yesterday I finally felt up to going on my Donut Walk™. I managed to walk 3.57 miles, talk to Allison, and buy eggs. I had one bad moment when coughing led to a back spasm, but overall, I felt good. I figured the worst was over and I could get back to my usual activities. That was not to be, today I took a step backward. My back has been so bad I’m afraid to go out. It was even triggered by a yawn. Once again I’m spending my day at home and not getting dressed. That has led to the return of the sleepies. I will see how I feel tomorrow and go out if possible.
I canceled my appointment with the therapist pinch-hitting for my regular one. I found myself not looking forward to the session. It’s just too much work getting her up to speed. If my therapist doesn’t return in the beginning of May I’ll rethink it. There’s another layer to this as I’m worried about my therapist; I suspect that personal tragedy explains her absence. People develop close relationships to their therapists so I’m sure this is a common situation. It just seems backward that I’m the one worried about her well-being.
On to much better things. I got two packages in the mail at the same time. One was the new WFUV t-shirt designed by Nicole Atkins and the Common Ground Cookbook. I contributed a recipe as did a plethora of great musicians:
Steve Addabbo
Birds of Chicago
Bobtown
Robert Sarazin Blake
Joe Crookston
Darlingside
David Wax Museum
Dom Flemons
Driftwood
Ana Egge
Carrie Elkin
Howard Fishman
Abbie Gardner
Rachelle Garniez
Mary Gauthier
Vance Gilbert
Eliza Gilkyson
Tracy Grammer
John Gorka
Reggie Harris
Her Crooked Heart
Meg Hutchinson
Susan Kane
Judy Kass
The Kennedys
Eric Lee
The Levins
Sharkey McEwen
Radoslav Lorković
Laurie MacAllister
Terence Martin
Miles & Mafale
The Nields
Old Dogs New Tricks
Pesky J. Nixon
Karyn Oliver
Pluck & Rail
Radio Free Honduras
Danny Schmidt
The Sea The Sea.
The Shovel Ready String Band
The Slambovian Circus of Dreams
Chris Smither
Carolann Solebello
Amy Speace
Spuyten Duyvil
Matt Turk
Letitia VanSant
Molly Venter
Sloan Wainwright
Susan Werner
Pat Wictor
Dar Williams
Winterpills
Cover Illustrations by Antje Duvekot
You know you want it, order it now. I made my Matzo Brei To Make Your Bubbe Cry yesterday and it was delicious. Imagine what the dishes by people that can cook taste like. Mary Gauthier is a chef! You can buy it on either Amazon or directly from Carter at the Common Ground, Carter explains the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. Click on the photo for the link.
Too bad I’m on a break from therapy, my brain is a puzzle I can’t solve. Before my Fantasy Baseball League Draft, I could not get myself to do any research or visit the website that hosts the league. Preparation caused anxiety. Since we had the draft I’m a dynamo. We didn’t have our minor league draft, and that had to be organized. I could have left it to my co-commissioners, but I didn’t. I arranged a time and set up a spreadsheet to make it easy for me. The site does not seem to be set up to allow us to do it. How did I get myself to do all that? I played around on the site and found a problem that I alerted everyone in the league to. I created a league directory. Who is this person getting everything done?
Gord’s Gold was streamed last night and posted on Mixcloud today. I have already programmed next week’s show and I’m working on future shows. I’m feeling excitement not anxiety. These things go on and off without rhyme nor reason. That reminds me to write about something I used to write about often, but haven’t in ages, my favorite author James Branch Cabell. There was a time when I gave all my friends copy of his most famous book, Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice. Like The Lord of the Rings this is a book I kept by bed and could quote chapter and verse. I have not had a copy since I lost all my books, but I just now downloaded the Kindle Version. I didn’t know there’s a free Kindle App and free Kindle Books. What brought Jurgen to mind was that the titular characters greatest delight was observing the workings of his own mind. I can relate to that and I bet many of My Gentle Readers can too. Many of Cabell’s books are about art, poetry, and writing. He had strong opinions about the nature of art and artists. Beyond Life is a collection of essays, framed as a conversation with one of his characters, the author John Charteris. It resonated with me as much as any of his novels.
His best books are fantasies, Jurgen visits heaven, hell, and places less prosaic. His adventures start when he chastises a monk for cursing a monk that stubbed his toe on a rock and curses the devil that put it there. Jurgen is a pawnbroker and points out that without evil both he and the monk would be out of a job. The mysterious Black Man is so moved by the praise for the existence of Evil that he grants Jurgen a life free from cares. Jurgen tells him that it’s too late, that he’s married. Nobody else could manage being simultaneously a cynic and a romantic. That is his essence. I find the combination irresistible.
Wise Madness 