Cheesy Rat Blues

Holding this soft, small living creature in my lap this way, though, and seeing how it slept with complete trust in me, I felt a warm rush in my chest. I put my hand on the cat's chest and felt his heart beating. The pulse was faint and fast, but his heart, like mine, was ticking off the time allotted to his small body with all the restless earnestness of my own. -Haruki Murakami, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Arise from sleep, old cat, And with great yawns and stretchings... Amble out for love -Issa, Japanese Haiku Kiko and the lavender moon Out playing, makes believe Nobody can see And then he waits And then he fakes And then he bends And then he shakes He plays and plays Still playing till he Goes off to sleep Kiko and the lavender moon Out dancing making faces at A big black cat And then he flies Up to the wall Stands on one foot Doesn't even fall Dance and dance Still dancing till He goes off to sleep He always sleeps Till the sun goes down He never wakes Till no one's ar...

The title of this blog is a quote from an interview with Duke Ellington, who when asked "I thought you played piano?" said all he did was dream, all the time. These days jazz appeals to me because it sounds like dreams and dreaming, which feels safe and comforting and free. ******** I grew up in South Sacramento, in what we later learned is called Glen Elder, but which we knew as The Creek. We spent most of our school days walking to school, be it elementary or middle school, and even high school (though usually on a bike and then driving). When I went away to college, the neighborhoods that Occidental College straddled in northeast Los Angeles (Eagle Rock, Highland Park) felt very familiar to me. Not in a "ice cream parlor on the corner who's owner knows your name" but in a keep your head on a swivel for threats. I walked around some of it but knew what lots of kids from similar neighborhoods also knew, that having a quick way to get out and away in case anythi...