Consciousness Streaming

The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Way I Feel

"You look like that actor, but I can't think of his name." I get this from people from time to time, and more frequently, for some reason, in the past year of so. No one can ever think of his name, though, so I'm mystified. Most recently, I was told that he appears in "that movie that starts out in black and white and then becomes in color." Uh...The Wizard of OZ? (Actually, I suspect they're thinking of this guy.).... They used to pick up the trash and the recycling in the morning around here; now they pick it up around midnight. This has pros and cons: less traffic tie-ups in the AM but more noise in the PM. So I'll just be drifting off the sleep when I hear bottles and cans being dumped into the back of a compactor truck. It's the sound of all my silly thoughts and calculations and anxieties of the day being discarded and hauled away, I try to tell myself. I haven't lost much sleep over it.... Add to shopping list: noise-canceling headphones (no, not for at night).... I got a postcard yesterday inviting me to an art exhibit called "Reverence for All Living Creatures." The opening reception is on February 2nd -- yes, Ground Hog's Day. There will be a classical musical performance of something called "Groundhog Day Interlude." In upstate New York, where I'm originally from, ground hog's are more commonly known as "woodchucks". In other areas, they're called "whistlepigs", I understand. My father used to shoot them with a shotgun because they were digging holes in the lawn. (I don't think he does this anymore, but I'm not sure.) It's an odd thought to think of them being celebrated musically. According to the dictionary, an "interlude" is "a musical composition inserted between the parts of a longer composition". Part of the Rodent Quartet, maybe?.... Why don't I…. unfold my love? (Beatles reference.)