California Dreaming

The sky at ten in the morning is crisply blue and all the stretch limos that dotted the streets last night have whisked away their Emmy party-goers. Swimming in a rooftop pool in LA on a late September morning is to swimming in Cayuga Lake on an August afternoon as a cup of cafe creme (two sugars) is to a double shot of espresso, with lemon peel garnish. Fear strikes the heart of a man changing lanes on Freeway 10 but at least it's not rush hour. What brought that song to my head? When we were in high school, Bill O'Brien wondered whether the line was "got down on my knees / and I pretended to pray" rather than "and I began to pray." He heard wrong but the mistake in hearing improved the lyric, a lesson I've kept in mind ever since. My worst such error dates back to when "Stop the World I Want to Get Off" was a hit on Broadway with Anthony Newley singing "What Kind of Fool Am I?" I was maybe fourteen. The singer wails, "Why can't I cast away this mask of play and live my life?" But I heard, "Why can't I cast away this mass souffle and live my life?" And did they make fun of me? They did. I was cookin' with gas, still am, though the world has moved on to microwaves. And here's to you, Jackie Robinson, number 42, and your theft of home in game one of the 55 Series, though Yogi to this day maintains you were out. -- DL

Comments

[Rachel Barenblat]

Delightful.