"go, & never darken my towels again." - groucho

happy sunday! i read a great YAFIC book the other day; found it at the house while cleaning. my sister'd recommended it, i believe. can't stop thinking about the book! reminded me of when i was a teacher-librarian & we'd have our library meetings & these very well-read sort of intellectual women would comment that books written for young people are often superior to adult fiction: more vivid, direct storytelling, characterizations, adventure, moral lessons. the one i read's called "the house of the scorpion" by nancy farmer. i'm thinking when i volunteer at the library in OC each wk & i'm doing my sections, YAFIC & YAVL, i should be picking books out to read instead of just blasting thru the dewey decimals shelving & organizing at top-fuel nitro speed!... that ref reminds me of last night when james & i were driving to kern county & talking about evel knievel as well as a show we both used to love, "super dave." we laughed out loud recalling the mock-serious set-ups & stupid stunts on that show! that was in my heavy chemical-usage days, a generally despairing, negative time in my life, & that show was quite a happy highlight, i realized!... super dave actually was bob einstein, brother of albert einstein -- that is, albert brooks... when we return to the mountain house, i hope we'll finish watching "defending your life," an early-90s brooks comedy containing for me that appealing combo of world-weariness & hope/whimsy... that, of course, leads to my most-beloved exchange from "horse feathers" (1932): thelma todd: oh, professor, you're full of whimsy! groucho: can you tell from over there? i'm always that way after i eat radishes... if you didn't know this, my husband james, whiteboy james on stage, is a "crazy genius," my sister has declared, possessing naturally a brain on fire w/such verbal facility & word associations/gymnastics, i suddenly yesterday imagined him going toe-to-toe w/the great mister julius marx: what oral fireworks would ensue! what hilarity! what insanity! what fun! then i realized that groucho, known for his keen intellect, is another example of a learned & brilliant person w/no formal higher education (i'm constantly realizing things lately, i realize)... james talks often & fondly of his childhood friend mookie, whom he says was the king of "playing the dozens" (look that up, if you're interested), but mookie was killed long ago, in the riots, poor soul, so the closest i've seen to groucho-james, i think, was at thanksgiving when james & brother-in-law doug went on a wildly impromptu comedic tear: what merriment! what humor! what laughs we all had, just watching & listening to those two! dad, who's no mental slouch at all, commented, "watching those two, i felt like i should be wearing a dunce cap!" dad always has been known for his kindly humility; still, i know what he means... i was a gifted child/teen at one point, many millions of brain cells ago, & while i'm no dummy now, i do feel at times in awe of james's gift of gab & with words. i mean, wow! ok, heading out for a run now. to sum up, some words from groucho marx: - "i refuse to join any club that would have me for a member." - "outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. inside a dog, it's too dark to read." - "i find television very educating. every time somebody turns on the set, i go in the other room & read a book."

oh, professor, you're full of whimsy!! www.old99.net

-> "well, it's midnight, & i wanna go home / driving union avenue all alone / eucalyptus trees frame the old moon / i'm in a terrible place, i don't know what to do / so i'm driving into bakersfield / motels line the avenue wide / broken dreams, old places, neon signs / this town used to be so grand, old 99 was big buck land / & i'm driving into bakersfield" ... that's part of a near-rhyme tune i wrote several years back, about driving & crying & loving-hating bakersfield, & was pt of the dusk devils' genesis... a happy turn is my newest band is called OLD 99! our drummer recently went to the rob's house & laid down about 8-9 drums tracks for songs, then in a burst of enthusiasm, came home & made a bunch of whimsical pictures. (thelma todd: oh professor, you're full of whimsy! groucho: you can tell from over there? that always happens when i eat radishes. - Horse Feathers) this is my favorite, capturing the appropriate way i feel we should approach this musical project, which has been increasingly exciting. (too, i have happy memories of going to big boy w/auntie rita & my sister & cousins.) it's all for fun - nothing lasts - don't take yourself so dang seriously (rule 62) - whee!
-> soon enough, there'll be the equivalent of an LP's worth of music available on the band website at www.old99.net . the music's mostly honky-tonk w/emphasis on harmony singing, also some old R&R, rockabilly, R&B, & softer stuff, which i'm really having to get used to. i think i can, since the fellers are so generous in spirit. so far, old 99's been a welcome & unexpectedly nice surprise.
-> feliz fin de semana to all who read this. :)