Wish List 08

Both my twenty-four(teen)th birthday and Christmas are coming up soon, and people always ask me what I kind of gifts I want. Whenever someone asks me the question, though, my mind goes completely blank. So here I'll keep a running list of things I'd like, so you lucky few who read this blog won't be left in the dark. (A certain amount of analysis can reveal more about what kind of person I am, too, probably revealing more about me than I would like to.)

So, here's my wish list for 2008:

• Caroline Hartig's Clarinet Brillante II. I don't already own this CD from my college clarinet prof, and there's no excuse for it. [Finally bought this, Spring 2009]
• A wireless router (as opposed to a cordless router — we're talking WiFi here) [All right...so I went out and bought this one myself. I still get to cross it off the list!]
  
• A subscription to Games magazine [Thanks, Dad!]
  
• The CD Best of Bowie [Thanks Ginia!]
  
• The Kronos Quartet's Nuevo [Thanks, Mom!]
• Coldplay's Viva La Vida
• Spore Creepy and Cute Parts Pack [Thanks, Nelsons!]
• Neal Stephenson's new novel Anathem [Thanks, Jean!]
  
• A 26-hour day
  
• Russel Shorto's Descartes Bones
  
• A house in Lawrence township (in hopes that Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, et al. surf the blogosphere looking for ways to spend money)
  
• One of those nonclassical-music creation programs, like one of these. [Anyone know of a good Cakewalk guide?]
  
• Effects pedals for an electric guitar (I don't have any, so anything from simple distortion to a wah-wah pedal would be great -- get them used at eBay)
  
• Maybe a new watch (analog, something interesting but not too visually loud) [Even better: an old watch. Two, actually, that belonged to my brother.]
  
• A large donation to the Indiana Wind Symphony
  
• A small sculpture of a clarinetist, to add to my small collection [Not a sculpture, but a nice framed paper silhouette]
• Teen Titans: The Complete Fifth Season [Found this at Fry's]
  
• The New England Jazz Ensemble Wishes You a Cookin' Christmas

A Compliment . . . 16 Years Later

Way back in the early days of the nineties, when big hair bands were giving way to grunge and a Bush-free eight years was just beginning, I took a printmaking class in high school. One of the projects we did was silk screening. I created "my version" of Picasso's "The Old Guitarist," which, hopefully, you can see here:

The original.

This is from Picasso's Blue Period. Thinking of him as "The Blue Guitarist," I gave him an electric guitar and sunglasses and made him "The Blues Guitarist." I made six prints (and I'm realizing now that I never took a picture of them). I have one of them (the first one, which definitely wasn't the best one) hanging up in my office cube.

[AND I'LL INSERT IT HERE AFTER I GET A PICTURE OF IT.]

The complete and total fraud

I had since forgotten what happened to the other five. This weekend, I got a Facebook e-mail from Kelly. Kelly wrote to tell me that I had given her one copy of this print, and that she had moved it around from apartment to apartment and displayed it for 16 years, framed even. As you can imagine, this made me feel quite good.

Honestly, I didn't even remember who this Kelly was. I looked through her photos on Facebook for a while before I recognized her. I don't remember actually giving her the print, but I do remember that she was a pretty red-head, which in those days (okay, still!) would have been enough for me to do anything for her. I was such a pushover for a pretty face and red hair.

Too often, things from our past can come up and bite us. It was nice that something from my past came up and gave me a big hug.