So many notes!

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You may know that, despite owning an MP3 player and an e-book reader, I prefer physical media. Today I used one of my remaining Xmas gift cards to buy a handful of CDs. Hooray!

• LP, Forever For Now: I was one of the people who resisted learning about LP after she made a huge impression at Folk Fest last year. Silly, silly me. A few weeks ago I discovered her song "Someday," which I've been playing obsessively since. (Lesson: Don't resist the recommendations of people whose taste I generally trust.) Today I picked up the full-length CD and am listening now. Her styling really appeals to me, and I love her voice. Tasty!

• Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blood Sugar Sex Magik: I didn't buy this one back in the 1990s, though I should have. Now that CDs are so ridiculously cheap, I've been filling gaps in my collection. This one is iconic. (Earlier this year I bought Californication, too.) Crunchy!

• Tori Amos, Unrepentant Geraldines: I was drawn to this disc because of my long, long history with Ms Amos and my dogged sense of loyalty — loyal to a fault, sometimes. Haven't listened all the way through, but the first two tracks were pretty solid. Hopeful!

• Passenger, Whispers (deluxe edition): New discovery. Sensitive, intelligent song-writing and thoughtful musicality. Again, I haven't listened all the way through the disc yet, but I like what I've heard so far. And the deluxe disc is worth the extra four dollars: Disc Two provides acoustic versions of album tracks, and the booklet is breathtaking. Dreamy!

OK, but I also have to cop to buying Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" on iTunes the other day. Yeah, that's me bouncing in the driver's seat with the speakers turned way, way up ...

The vault of lost lyrics, chapter 101

If you were listening to music in the 1980s, you remember its excesses. (Not that every era doesn't have some excesses.) Culture Club had a hard time being taken seriously after "Karma Chameleon," and that's too bad because their singles reflect very pretty pop styling with catchy and sometimes clever musical details. This lyrically wistful song may make you smile — if somewhat wryly.

"Time (Clock Of The Heart)" (as recorded by Culture Club)

Don't put your head on my shoulder

Sink me in a river of tears

This could be the best place yet

But you must overcome your fears

 In time we could've been so much more

But time is precious, I know

In time we could've been so much more

The time has nothing to show

Because time won't give me time

And time makes lovers feel

Like they've got something real

But you and me we know

We got nothing but time

And time won't give me time

Won't give me time

Don't make me feel any colder

Time is like a clock in my heart

Touch we touch was the heat too much

I felt I lost you from the start

In time we could've been so much more

But time is precious, I know

In time we could've been so much more

The time has nothing to show

Because time won't give me time

And time makes lovers feel

Like they've got something real

But you and me we know

We've got nothing but time

And time won't give me time

Won't give me time

Tell-Tale Details

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Chatelaine magazine uses the following list of questions for its "Telling Details" sidebar in "Ms. Chatelaine" profiles. I thought it might be interesting to try answering the questions myself ... so ... here goes ...

MY PROUDEST MOMENT WAS ...

Crossing the stage at my doctoral convocation

I DEFINE DOWNTIME AS ...

Those glorious, fleeting minutes when I can convince myself I have nothing urgent to do and am not accountable to anyone else

I WAKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT THINKING ABOUT ...

Everything I haven't done yet

MY FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY IS ...

The period between leaving my office and settling down for the evening's work

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I EVER MADE WAS ...

Not renting the Miata for a trip to the West Coast in the early 1990s

I WISH I HAD MORE TIME FOR ...

Visiting with friends. Reading. Yoga.

MY FAVOURITE QUOT[ATION] IS ...

"All of us are better when we're loved." — Alistair MacLeod

I WISH I WERE BETTER AT ...

So many things! Piano playing. Various athletic endeavours. Time management.

MY PERFECT DAY WOULD BE ...

Sunny and hot — probably in July — and would involve the people I love best in the world.

I'M CURRENTLY READING ...

Last Night in Twisted River by John Irving

Bears Without Fear by Kevin Van Tighem

About That Night by Norah McClintock

So ... are you willing to share your telling details?

Ways in which the boat is trying to kill you

As B, C, and I began our formal boating course work, I realized that a
big part of my anxiety about sailing -- apart from the newness of
being on a boat itself -- stems from the many, many warnings in our
course books about all the dangers and risks involved in living on a
boat. B reasonably pointed out that many of the same risks and dangers
exist with RVs and cars. Still, I believe there is some
anxiety-relieving value in enumerating all the ways in which the boat
is trying to kill you. Thus, this list:

1. Hypothermia from falling in water

2. Hypothermia from being on deck without sufficient layers (this one
is a real risk, even in summer!)

3. Propane explosion

4. Accumulation of explosive gases associated with head

5. Accumulation of explosive gases in engine locker and bilges

6. Carbon monoxide from motor while motoring

7. Carbon monoxide accumulation in salon due to winds blowing exhaust into cabin

8. Crushing you against the dock if you fall in while docking

9. Driving over you while you are being rescued (from the water, if
hypothermia didn't get you first)

And there are probably more that I just can't think of right now. That
said, if you're reading this, you can feel assured that the boat
hasn't got me ... so far.

PS: So ... in the realm of mousies etc., I really do have good intentions for this blog. This post was originally composed Monday, 16 June; regrettably there was little internet out there in the coastal Pacific.