Another Random Collection

Been saving up a variety of ideas while I haven't had time to blog. In on particular order:

Burning one's ass

Specifically, in the bathroom. Remember, I mentioned that phenomenon I occasionally experience - of serially dropping things in the shower? Well, there was an odd occurrence earlier this week, when I somehow knocked the organic apricot exfoliating face scrub off the shelf. I bent over to get it, and suddenly my ass was being scalded. I jumped up and cringed in the corner. Turned out the scrub had hit the faucet control on the way down (you know the kind, one lever that goes left for hot and right for cold?), and turned it way up hot. Weird, right?

It reminded the last time I burned my ass in the bathroom. I used to stay with a friend who lived in Brooklyn - Park Slope - in the top story of a railroad brownstone. The bathroom, like the apartment, was long and narrow, and heated by the means of a pipe that ran up the corner of the whole building. Problem was, it was unregulatable (either all hot or all cold, and the landlord controlled it), and so it could get extremely hot. Naturally, it was located on the wall that was directly behind you when you stood at the sink, so every time you leaned over to use the sink, your ass would hit the burning pipe. Well, mine did, anyway.

I Saw a Great Bumper Sticker

It was very simple but really struck me. Seems applicable to almost every situation. It was just this:

Respond with Love

Font Fetishes

I saw my friend D on Wednesday - the one who is a fellow cheese lover; we bonded over the Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam triple cream the first time I visited his house, and he had some there on Wednesday, along with two other delicious cheeses. He offered me some wine, and admitted he drank rarely, and could not vouch for its quality, as he purchased it not for its suspected taste but for the label's typeface, which turned out to be Mostra, "inspired by Italian Art Deco poster lettering of the 30's" and which he admitted to really really liking (the wine was a dry, complex 2007 Novella Synergy, Trader Joe's, $7.99, and it went great with the fantastic trio of cheeses).

We began discussing fonts - I've always had a fondness for the Woody Allen Windsor EF Elongated, and the Wes Anderson Futura. The Windor relaxes me on contact - the second I see that white font on a black background, accompanied by a classic Woody Allen song (Fred Astaire, Duke Ellington, Harry James), I know all is right with the world, and I can almost certainly make it through. I am programed to respond positively to the Woody Allen font, and I know I'm not alone. D was kind enough to send the font to me the next day, and I promptly installed it - and no fewer than three people in my life were kind of of excited by this. Font fetishes - who knew?

More Jesus Christ Superstar...

If you have read so far, you know I reference JCS regularly (and expect this to continue). My same cheese- and font-loving friend, D, also shares with me a love of JCS. He bought me, on two separate occasions, both the old brown & gold original classic double vinyl album I grew up with (complete with libretto) and the matching score (selected songs of) - and delivered both unexpectedly at times when I was in a deep funky state of exhaustion and comfort was much-needed. Like Windsor EF Elongated, JCS restores my faith in life on contact. Ah! Whew! All is going to be OK. (The same thing happens with The Colbert Report).

I was a bit late to D's; I climbed up his stairs and noticed his door was open, but it was a lovely evening in the city and I imagined he wanted to enjoy the mild breeze and the warm light. I stepped in, and at that exact second the first three classically recognizable chords of JCS (you know, the da-da-dah, which, if you were singing, would be the "Je-sus Christ" part of "Jes-us Christ, Je-Sus Christ, who are you, what have you sacrificed) rang out on his stereo, loud and clear and equal parts unexpected and satisfying, which is to say, inexpressibly so. What a lovely moment for a friend to think of, plan and then actually (successfully) execute.

We went through the songbook at the end of the evening, me trying to sightread the rather tough chords on the uke and both of us singing with goofy passion. I need to work on it if I am ever going to realize my dream of an all-ukulele Jesus Christ Superstar. Hey, I saw the band that does Dark Side of the Uke, which was fantastic. It's the Bay Area - I'm sure I should be able to assemble, rehearse and perform my uke JCS, but so far it's been an uphill battle. I'm not giving up yet!

That's all for the random thoughts. I've got five short stories due in four days and not a single one finished, so I better get off the blog and get some writing done.