Robert Manners

Little Obsessions

I was out in San Francisco on Sunday, and blew my week's allowance for four CDs from Tower Records... which is kind of a shame, since I'd planned to blow it on porn, but I parked near Church Street and so Tower happened to me before Jaguar Books did. Besides, music is the food of the soul, and porn is mere entertainment.



I needn't have worried, though... one of the CDs I bought, which I'd chosen almost solely on account of the cover art (but also because of the playlist and the tempting sale price of $12.99), was so damned sexy that new porn was quite unneccessary... gilding the lily, as it were.



Noiresque: The Lonely Fate of the Femme Fatale by Sandra Lawrence. You must have this album.

Under normal circumstances, when I talk about music I like, I just talk about it and tell you how much I liked it and why... but this time, I am going to tell you to go out right now and buy this album! Musical taste differs from person to person, but this album sets your loins on fire... and I don't know anyone who doesn't like having his or her loins set on fire. Well, maybe my Grandmother, but then she forgot how to have fun thirty years ago (and she thinks Roger Whittaker is one of the world's greatest singers, in company with Jim Nabors and Anne Murray).



Somewhat less groin-stirring, but nevertheless soul-feeding, I also bought Ultimate Broadway 2 (I wanted UB1, as well, but is was a double-CD set and wasn't on sale, damn this strict budget of mine), Anthology: Nina Simone (which is a double-CD set, but was on sale), and Anita O'Day's Finest Hour (I'm trying to expand my knowledge of the genus Jazz Diva).



On other obsessive fronts, my niece brought over The Sims Unleashed, and I've gotten hooked all over again. It's amazing how the advent of little animals adds such depth and dimension to the game. It also has new objects and decorative things and actions and the ability to go shopping, which also add to game-play. So I created a new house and a new character (David Doolittle), and took the character down to the pet store and bought him some goldfish (which just died), some love-birds (which died right afterward, making me wonder if there was some sort of simulated disease in my house), and an adorable little tan-and-white Boston terrier named Ahaseureus (the Latinized version of Achashvairosh, which in turn is the Hebrew version of the Persian conqueror Xerxes, which name is in turn is a Greek version of the Median name... which I discovered while reading the Book of Esther instead of listening to the idiotic mission presentation on Sunday morning... it was a pretty good read, too).



My obsession pales in comparison to that of my niece and my little cousin, who are allowed to use my computer when I'm not here (after I secured all of my files and disabled internet access and made sure nothing "unsuitable" was visible from the computer desk... I don't have to worry about them snooping, they are so enraptured by the game). They can sit for eight hours straight playing this thing — and when they're not playing it, they talk about it. I'm sure when they're not talking about it, they're thinking about it.



So anyway, these are the things that make up my life today. I have to go to work now, and then to the gym, and then to the AA meeting. Next week I'm on vacation, to which I am looking forward greatly. I will have time to deal with all my car issues, maybe get some houswork done, and hopefully rest a bit while I'm about it. Until then, I am just going to do one thing and then the next thing and try not to get my panties in a bunch about anything.