uTopianTurtleTop

In the morning when I leave to go to work, I am so sad to take leave of my books. Because I don’t deal with them professionally, I am free to idealize my relationship to them.

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Condolences to Carl and his family.

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Gang of 4 was here last week. I found out they were coming at 11:30 the night they played. One of my regrets of my college years is that I skipped a chance to see them play then. Their first album remains a touchstone. The night after missing them last week I went to see the Ives symphony, paying $22 for the ticket, 3 bucks less than what Gang of 4 had charged. Given our household economy, it probably would not have worked for me to go solo to concerts two nights in a row.

During intermission at the Symphony concert, after hearing perfectly nice pieces by Carter, Sessions, Rorem, and Bergsma in the first half, I was full of “alas.” Gang of 4 would have been better.

As we were taking our seats after intermission, the man sitting next to me, who was also there alone, asked me if I were enjoying the concert. “I came to hear the Ives,” I replied cheerfully. He replied that that’s why he had come too, and asked whether his 4th Symphony was the one that required more than one conductor. Yes, it was, and wouldn’t it be great to hear that one some day too.

After hearing the Ives songs and his 3rd Symphony, I no longer felt wistful about missing Gang of 4. The man sitting next to me looked like his team had just won the championship. “Some day we’ll hear the 4th,” I said. And we both smiled.