My first paper on AIDS and music, back in the mid-1990s when I thought death was imminent, and honesty unavoidable, was titled, "at three in the morning, with both pedals down".
Now it's four in the morning. Half an hour ago I finished the Sondheim paper – or declared it finished.
Calm, exalted, distant.
Yes, I wish the thresher (really more an abbatoir) of editors and publishing house wouldn't mangle everything, put everything through such processing-machines (exactly 7,000 words and not more – and boy did that last hundred words hurt at points). But the Sondheim – Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park with George, especially those songs that triumph over time (which is what the paper is about) – playing from my computer speakers, very quietly, is an excellent soundtrack to living at this level.
If I lived in Rome I would go walk through the silent streets among the vast, beautiful, ancient buildings.
In Los Angeles I would walk through warm streets and the buzzing of endless halogen lights. It's considered strange to take a walk in Los Angeles, but it's still comfortable, possible. And you can go a long way.
In San Francisco, if it were warm, I would walk, maybe even out to the Marina, and watch the sun rise....
Comments