Saturday, June 19, 2010

Scribblings Found in a Briefcase

I'm heading over to Amherst today to go to Amherst Books and Amherst Coffee, places that keep their missions and names focused. I pulled an old briefcase from the back of the closet to carry some items for my field trip so I won't have pants-pocket overload bulge. My camera, my phone, my digital recorder. I know, I should get an iPhone and they would all be contained in one device, but an iPhone is the speedball of tech devices and I would end up in recovery. These days there should be AA meetings for iPhone junkies. Apps Anonymous.

In the briefcase I found a postcard for the Moscow Circus which dates my last usage of the bag to Februray 2008. I also found a piece of yellow pad paper, transcribed below. It seems to be a scenario I wrote down after hearing about my old friend Monika getting complaints from her neighbors about practicing her cello. Monika was/is a renegade and the leased cello was later repo'd by Amherst Strings. (actually Stamell Strings)

"The neighbors don't like cello and bang the broom against the ceiling. What do they expect? This isn't a performance. It's the work that leads up to it. It's the sound of life in a neighborhood. It ought to make them happy. Imagine if you heard someone practicing cello in Baghdad. You'd think the tide was finally turning."