It's Sunday, and Thanksgiving week in Houston. I have taken the week off after fairly busy previous 3 months. It is chilly here, of course in Houston standards, meaning it is extremely comfortable weather. Wife is travelling overseas, Kids are still in bed, and its morning. I can finally light the fireplace and sit in front of the fireplace and have a cup of coffe and cream cheese with bagel. I can lift my legs up and open up Murakami's "After Dark" and listen to Curtis Fuller while sipping my coffee! To me, nothing can be better at this point! It's perfect!
It is neither about the book, or the music, or the quiet morning. It is about the time. It is about how slowly I can relish the moment with things that I like. It is not often that I have spent a week long vacation at home. Whenever, I did I was actually doing something, working on a deadline or doing some house work. It is therefore rare to have an absolutely free time for me.
Usually when that happens, I pick up a good book. This one is something I have read before. I often read Murakami multiple times. Any good book is meant to be read many times. At different phases of life it usually has a different flavor or impact. He randomly tells an old Hawaiian legends at a random cafe (rather Denny's! How American!) in Tokyo;
“If you really want to know something, you have to be willing to pay the price.”
I am thinking is he right? Do we always pay the price for something we really want? Or is it rather random. If there is so much structure in life, then it would be easy and predictable. As far as I can tell, it is not. Life is usually not fair. We like for it to be fair. We like for it to have justice. We like a happy ending. We don't get it. But as Curtis Fuller pulls away with his "Love Your Spell Is Everywhere".......the magic of his trombone is slowly making me oblivious to mortal world. My goodness what a wonderful album this is! This is 1959-60, they don't make 'em like this any more. The Album is Blues-ette; only 6 tracks. Oh man! It is priceless!
"Five Spot After Dark" (Benny Golson) - 5:18
"Undecided" (Sydney Robin, Charlie Shavers) - 7:09
"Blues-ette" - 5:31
"Minor Vamp" (Golson) - 5:12
"Love Your Spell Is Everywhere" (Edmund Goulding, Elsie Janis) - 7:07
"Twelve-Inch" - 6:28
That being said, "After Dark", and Murakami as whole, is very personal. Few writers expresses their feeling, as if directly to me personally, like he does. So this is a personal moment to be cherished as long as possible. Therefore, the obvious question is why am I writing about it on the blockchain? The answer is rather simple. It is likely I am going to forget this day or moment likely next week. This is nothing spectacular to remember, however, if I write it down, it will be here foreever, eh? :)
PS: By the time I actually finished writing this after multiple interruptions (surprise!) it is 4:45 pm! That's life!
