Here is an awkward situation: I think I am having problems with my email. I do not think I am getting people's email. It is awkward because it reminds me of being a teenager and waiting for some guy to call and the phone does not ring so you get all your friends to call you, just to make sure the phone works. Yep, the phone works!
Today is typical. All I get is an acre of spam. Watch, I'll find out that "sgt. joey jones," Alhaje Danco and Herve Konate were all close friends of Leonard Pennario, trying desperately to get in touch to share their memories of him for my book. But I doubt it!
And a few people have told me they tried to email me, and I never got it. Anyway, if anyone out there has been trying to email me and I never got it, the trick is to sign yourself Alhaje Danco and the message will get through. Or say you're from the British Lottery Board. That seems to work.
You know those days when you just run, run, run? I had one of those yesterday. I went to work, then to my tote-that-barge, lift-that-bale Body Sculpt class, then to the farmers' market (can't stay away) then back to work, then to UB for that lecture Robert Levin was giving, then I went to the airport with Robert Levin, which, my friend Phil was taking him there and invited me along, so I couldn't say no. We got to talk to Robert Levin about Mozart the entire drive. When his cell phone rang it rang with the last movement of K. 466! How funny is that?
When he got off the phone I said, "K. 466, on your cell phone."
And he explained how he programmed it and stuff. He is so much in his own world -- the Mozartean world -- that he takes it for granted that everyone talks in Kochel numbers. For anyone out there in Blog-o-Land new to Mozart, every piece of music that Mozart wrote is assigned a Kochel number. Ludwig Kochel was the researcher in the 19th century who catalogued all Mozart's works.
When we got Robert Levin to Jet Blue he still sat in the car and talked about Mozart. He was letting us in on secrets involving K. 175, one of Mozart's early piano concertos. I had just listened to K. 175 a few hours before. What are the odds? Anyway, I wished the ride to the airport could have been longer. The Buffalo Niagara International Airport is just too darned convenient.
After that adventure I went to cook dinner for my mom, then to .... Jackie Jocko! The glass of wine at the end of the rainbow!
When I walked into E.B. Green's it was great to know everyone in the lounge. Paul was there, which you always need because Paul sort of anchors us all, sitting by Jocko with his arms folded and a beer in front of him, talking about the great songs. Erna Eaton was there and I gave her a hug and a kiss. My friend Toni from work brought her dad. Toni's dad used to go hear Jocko years ago. He had not known Jocko was still playing. The jazz singer Diane Armesto was there with her boyfriend, Larry. Also Gary was there, and the great boogie pianist Annie Philippone. Groups like this are great. You just pull up a chair.
We were laughing about Robert Levin and how his cell phone played K. 466. I began thinking that Levin would be fascinating to write more about sometime.
But then I kept contrasting him with Leonard Pennario, and I realize it's too early for me even to think about dating again.
1 comment:
Today's title and body sculpt class reference remind me of a parody of Over The Rainbow written by the late Allan Sherman. Here are the lyrics (the first two lines were given him by Steve Allen):
"Somewhere, overweight people,
Just like me,
Must have someplace where folks don’t count
every calorie.
Somewhere, over the rainbow,
Way up tall,
There’s a land where they’ve never heard of
cholesterol.
Where folks can eat just what they want
And still be trim and slim and gaunt,
You’ll find me -
Where every little thing I taste
Won’t wind up showing on my waist,
Or worse - behind me.
Somewhere, overindulging is divine.
If their waistlines aren’t bulging,
Why then, oh why does mine?
If bluebirds weighted as much as I
You’d see some big fat bluebirds in the sky."
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