A Few Sure Things

So far, it doesn't matter where I'm going--if I go on my motor scooter, it's a groovy time.

I suppose if I drove one every day, there'd be opportunities to ride around frowning and arrive in a bad mood. But I only ride on weekends since my scooter lives at my friend's house on the West Bank. I only get to ride when I'm in New Orleans.

I've driven to job interviews, to the bank, post office and grocery store, to a movie theater and cafes, to work, to church... Doesn't matter. I feel great pulling up anywhere if I get there on a scooter.

Playing piano works too--no way to stay in a bad mood or bored if I'm playing. One difference: if the instrument is crappy or damaged it makes a difference. I won't play long.

Bodies of water also have this magic. I can't think of a body of water I've visited and didn't feel like I could stay there forever. Some of my favorites are the Pacific, Lake Merritt in Oakland CA, the Mississippi (up by St. Louis and down at New Orleans), and now, Turkey Creek and the Gulf of Mexico. I'd like to visit the Amazon and the Yangtze before the show ends.

I've heard people say "Who doesn't like sex?" and it's not that I'd raise my hand; but when I compare having sex to riding my scooter or being at the ocean or playing Beethoven...well...

It's surely the result of not enough "good" sex and too much mediocre or careless sex in my life. People with traumatic piano study histories or for whom playing is difficult probably shake their heads at my lust for piano. We all have our "things," no?

I tried not to smoke today and made it until about 2. Talking to my son on the telephone, he playfully suggested that if one of my wealthy friends were to offer me $10,000 to quit smoking I might succeed. At that moment, my jaws were clenched and I had tears in my eyes from the intense confusion and discomfort I was feeling (still hadn't broken down and bought a pack). I told him I didn't think it would work.

Later in the day I thought about it again: would I quit if someone offered me money? I still don't think it would work. Money has never been one of my "things."