The Journey Is All

Merry Christmas, dear readers! I've been writing this blog for nearly nine months, long enough to have a child or write a historical treatise, long enough for me to learn to cook or knit or garden or understand art history. Needless to say, I have done none of the above except write the blog. As a Taurus, I share a single-mindedness with several dangerous and not-so-dangerous crackpots like Jim Jones, Adolf Hitler, and Sigmund Freud, or coded more positively, a passion like the late James Brown, with whom I share my birthday. In the great documentary Hands On A Hardbody about a contest where people have to keep one hand on a truck for days to win it, the opening quote is "The destination is nothing, the journey is all . . . "

So I'd like to thank all my dear readers for coming along for the journey. It's been a revelation to me as much as anything else and every day I start without a clue about how I'm going to untangle my weary mind. The results haven't always been pretty. My mother used to ask me when I was wearing something particularly hideo in the my teenage years (in my defense it was the eighties so the choices were limited), Are you trying to make yourself look bad? Even though this wasn't great for fashion, it sometimes happens in writing and the writer is grateful for it, the way you're grateful for something real happening, no matter if it's good or bad. Like the pilot said on my last flight to the lone star state said, It's been a bumpy ride. There wasn't anything I could do about it. Dear readers, I can only apologize for the bumpiness and say that I hoped you have enjoyed the ride so far, the way you might enjoy a good rollercoaster. Paul Theroux, the great travel writer, once told a story about being a young man in a foreign country, strapped for money. A stranger loaned him some, and Paul T. asked for his address so he could pay him back. The stranger said, It's a small world. We'll meet again. What could be sweeter than that idea? Here's to meeting now and again, in this world and the next.

Michelle's Spell of the Day

Here's two great James Brown quotes:

"Thank God that I had the ability to understand that I had a different beat and that I was a drummer."

"Die on your feet, don't live on your knees."

Cocktail Hour

Drinking music suggestion: Sentimental Mood John Coltrane

Benedictions and Maledictions

I was so sad to hear that the godfather of soul, Mr. James Brown, died early this morning. I loved his music, especially "Black and Proud" and "Sex Machine." His music has been written about and praised by many, and I feel no different. But more than that, he was a great and crazy spirit, doing splits on stage well into his sixties. Damn! That's something to aspire to, to live each day with the same joy and energy of your youth. The obituary I read said that he died with a "longtime friend" at his bedside. We should all be so lucky to pass into the next world with someone we love telling us everything is going to be all right. Rest in Peace, to the hardest working man in show business!