Adam's Rib

           I went to a rib joint and had a singular rib for dinner. I thought I was getting ribs, but no, it was just one rib. Albeit it was a big rib from a big steer with as much meat as three or four ribs, but it just wasn't the same. Having a rib for dinner changes everything.
          "Honey let's have a rib tonight!" 
          It's hard to get excited about a rib.
       
       
          

Silverlake Reservoir

          I want to swim in Silverlake Reservoir. The plan is to wait for a warm summer night, hop the fence with a long rope, tie the rope to a tree, and shimmy down the concrete embankment to the water. I'll swim until I'm satisfied, which more than likely, wouldn't take very long. My paranoia will kick in at some point.
          I have a similar plan for the Griffith Park plunge. That's an easier job. One fence, no need for a rope, easy pickings. I'm looking for a accomplices. But when I bring it up to people they look at me strange, as if I'm saying something peculiar.
          I tell them, "Imagine having the whole plunge to yourself after midnight, swimming in the deep end with the night sky hovering above, it sounds nice, right?"
          No takers yet. I think it has something to do with breaking the law. But it's more than that. It's breaking the law to swim in a gigantic public pool at night with nobody around. Someday, someone will see the beauty in my vision.

A society without accountability, is a society in peril.

Nick Cave

          I saw Nick Cave at the Shrine Auditorium. It was a great show. Nick has a way with an audience. He was born to perform. 
          As a musician it's difficult for me to just sit and listen to concert. I like to take in the whole band. What's the drummer doing? What kind of sound is the guitar player getting? What's the bass player playing? Is Nick flubbing words? How's his voice holding up? How's that giant chandelier being held in place, the one that is suspended over the orchestra seats? Concerts for me are learning experiences mixed in with fun. I felt sorry for the bass player. There was a lot of eighth note picking in E. Not the most interesting of parts, but important to the grand scheme of things.  
         As far as Nick goes, he can sell a song. It's not easy to sing about mermaids or God and still maintain a sense of cool. The mermaids alone are enough to destroy you. But Nick pulled it off. He knew every trick in the book. He went into the crowd a lot. He did his Dance Dance Revolution moves. He's an entertainer. I enjoyed his show immensely. 
         

The Ballerina

          I lived with a ballerina once. She was my roommate. She had dreams of dancing with a company, but like many ballerinas, she fell short due to injury. In my roommate's case it was her knee that did her in.
          When a ballerina can no longer dance, her soul takes a beating. That's what happened to my roommate. She was living in the past and hardly ever thought about the good things in the present. She smoked cigarettes, to my irritation, and when she ate it was in itty-bitty portions just like a ballerina.
          Her disposition fostered a self-fulling prophecy. Bad things happened to her, one after another. First, she had a motorcycle accident. Then, she couldn't keep a man. And to top it off, she ended up losing her job.  
          As a roommate I tried to encourage her to stay positive. But my own cynicism never thought it would happen. Some people are doomed until they decide not to be. You have to un-doom yourself. It's easier said then done, but I believe it to be possible. The first thing you need to do is reboot. 

Numbers

          I'm thinking of a number from one to six. It's an odd number, not three or five. It's not one either. One is not an odd number, but a number with very few peculiarities. An odd number is four. It's a triangle on a stem. Even, odd, it's just another way of saying every other. But it's more profound than that. Numbers can plot a path to the moon, to the stars and back.
          I find it interesting that the numbers that changed the world are zero and one. Two numbers, and presto you have yourself a life altering technology. The Mayans thought of it long ago. It took us a while to catch on. I wonder what would happen if computers used three numbers instead of two. Now, that would be nuts. 012. Your computer might be the head of household then. You'll be asking permission to go outside. And your computer will ask you "why did you buy that?... You know we can't afford it!"
          

The Rub Down

          I had a massage. It's hard to complain about a massage. I like everything about them. The lighting alone was enough to put me in a good mood. It was nice and dim with very little stimuli. And when the masseuse told me to strip down to my boxers, I really warmed up to the place.
          I was told to lay on my stomach. There was a donut hole thing to rest my head on. I put my forehead and a good part of my face into it and closed my eyes.
          The masseuse started in on me. I felt her hands. They were kind of small and clammy, but I didn't mind. I thought about my life and the masseuse's life and how at that exact moment we came together- she from halfway around the world, her life, whatever it was before she placed her hands on me, and mine.
          I had my face in the donut hole and I imagined sapphire and citrine colored diamonds floating in blackness, and a Tinker Bell fairy flying through the air with a magic wand. Beams of light shot out of the diamonds. The fairy was wearing a peach colored leotard and ballet slippers to match as she danced through space. 
          When a baby laughs for the first time, that's when a fairy is born.