One of the sexiest faces I’ve ever seen.

I imagine her attention falling to me, just for a moment, in this crowd, out on the street. I feel her size me up, a knowing critical gaze. Is she instantly writing my story behind those eyes?

She finds me…acceptable.

It’s enough.

Currently re-reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, champion of Beat Generation writers passed away this week at 101 years of age.

Here’s the last line of “I Am Waiting” from A Coney Island of the Mind (1958.)

”…and I am awaiting perpetually and forever a renaissance of wonder.”

The Final Sentence website contains some riches. It’s handy if you are looking for something you’ve already read, but beware of spoilers. Use the search feature instead of browsing. Or not.

“There is a kind of life that is peculiar to the land in summer—a wariness, a seasonal equation of well-being and alertness. Road runners take on the shape of motion itself, urgent and angular, or else they are like the gnarled, uncovered roots of ancient, stunted trees, some ordinary ruse of the land itself, immovable and forever there. And quail, at evening, just failing to suggest the waddle of too much weight, take cover with scarcely any talent for alarm, and spread their wings to the ground; and if then they are made to take flight, the imminence of no danger on earth can be more apparent; they explode away like a shot, and there is nothing but the dying whistle and streak of their going. Frequently in the sun there are pairs of white and russet hawks soaring to the hunt. And when one falls off and alights, there will be a death in the land, for it has come down to place itself like a destiny between its prey and the burrow from which its prey has come; and then the other, the killer hawk, turns around in the sky and breaks its glide and dives. It is said that hawks, when they have nothing to fear in the open land, dance upon the warm carnage of their kills. In the highest heat of the day, rattlesnakes lie outstretched upon the dunes, as if the sun had wound them out and lain upon them like a line of fire, or, knowing of some vibrant presence in the air, they writhe away in the agony of time. And of their own accord they go at sundown into the earth, hopelessly, as if to some unimaginable reckoning in the underworld. Coyotes have the gift of being seldom seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond, loping in and out of cover on the plains and highlands. And at night, when the whole world belongs to them, they parley at the river with the dogs, their higher, sharper voices full of authority and rebuke. They are an old council of clowns, and they are listened to.”

—N. Scott Momaday, House Made of Dawn

The Coneheads never left. They’ve been hiding out in SoCal for decades.

Dear ((name)),

Congratulations on your successful campaign to become a U.S Senator/Congressperson.

As you know from your introductory information packet, before you will be allowed to propose any legislation, post to social media, or be interviewed by any journalists or news networks, you must complete an introductory course in playing the Cas Cas. Thankfully, for the American people, this will likely be a lengthy process.

You should be receiving your Cas Cas shortly. Please view the video linked below for an example of how the instrument should be played.
When you feel you are ready, you may schedule a time to come in and demonstrate that your Cas Cas skills are sufficient.

Once you pass your Cas Cas audition you will have a useful benchmark for determining the worthiness of any legislation you may be considering.

Ask yourself, “Is this legislation at least as valuable to humanity as listening to someone play the Cas Cas?”

Chances are the answer will be no.

Welcome to Washington, D.C.

How to Play the Cas Cas

Today’s Bandcamp purchase. One of my favorite tenor players and since I did not know about this album (released this month) a big fat fantastic surprise for me.

Isfahan is beautiful but definitely not Johnny Hodges’s interpretation. You can listen to it here for free before you purchase it.

“So mom. My boyfriend took all of my money, wrecked my car, and gave me three different kinds of STDs.”
M: “Oh dear! I’m so sorry!”
D: “… I can’t wait for you to meet him!”

—Republicans, apparently.

The Expanse has the best-written female cast on television. Tough, brilliant women everywhere you turn.

Dominique Tripper, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Frankie Adams, Cara Gee.

From Prospero’s Books Kansas City, The Dusty Bookshelf Lawrence, KS, and my Library of America subscription. The James Corey is a gift from my daughter Marilyn because she knows The Expanse is my favorite TV show.