Mess Mess

I made chow mein again today, this time with added celery. (The fact that I was reading The Good Earth as I ate is pure coincidence.)

There is an ungodly mess in the kitchen, which I will have to clean up soon.

It was worth it.

(By the way, there is neither redundancy nor repetition in the title.)

Songs of Experience

Janis Ian released The Autobiography Collection, naturally enough, to coincide with the publication of her autobiography. Prior to buying the album, I didn't actually know much about her, as person or as singer. Of course, I knew her signature hit, "At Seventeen". I knew that she is a science-fiction fan, and that the day she was introduced to Connie Willis was the day she understood the stammering incoherence of her own fans. Beyond that, not much.

What can I say of the album? This: that I do not have any other album which packs such emotional punch for me. Songs of joy, of triumph, of defiance, of sorrow.... I'm sure much of what I react to is idiosyncratic, but, well, there it is.

( The Autobiography Collection )