Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert, 1975

Keith Jarrett, jazz pianist, born in Allentown, PA, in 1945. I wonder if they sent him a Medicare packet like they did me. I'm too scared to open mine. Paperwork. Hate it.

I bit the bullet. I bought the Koln Concert which, according to Wiki, is the largest selling jazz album ever. I hate buying things. As I said in my famous poem, whose name I can't remember - oh! People from the Midwest -- we like people more than things. With the exception of my mother who likes people and things b/c things remind her of people.

Within 20 years my kids are gonna throw out everything I own. Even the word 'own' is onerous to me. Why is that? And owning a piece of property, the cornerstone of the American dream,is the most ridiculous thing of all. Tell me, do I own the air over my property? The rain when it hits the ground?

The pianist Keith Jarrett came to my attn when my son/law Ethan Iverson did a brilliant interview with Jarrett. He may even have gone out to Jarrett's huge estate somewhere in New Jersey. Yes, I believe he did. When I visited Ethan and Sarah I asked which Jarrett tunes I should listen to and he suggested the Koln.

I forgot about it until I read, as I often do, my blogroll to the Right of this site. I list various things there so I won't forget them. Sure enuf, there was the Koln Concert and finally I said, You must have it. It will enhance your life.

What is the test for purchasing things? Luxury items like CDs. A girl needs to relax and to think. What I'll do when it arrives via Amazon is put it on my downstairs CD player and listen to it when I fall asleep. I can't for the life of me turn on the damn TV set. Fortunately there's never any good shows othan Turner Classics.

I do most of my writing up here in what was once the dining room. It's got a b'ful fancy chandelier over my head.



Don't tell anyone but I'm killing time now until my bread comes outa the oven. Then I'll go swim at Ada's pool.

Lemme say a word or two about being in the mood to do things. I have a unique capacity to do things when I'm not in the mood. My god, who feels like baking a bread today? Certainly not me. It needed to get done so I picked up the telephone and called some people to keep me company while I baked it. You know, you get your hands all yucky from the dough, the table gets messy. But you do it.

Had a very interesting phone call last nite from a woman who's had intractable depression for 20 years. Meds do not work. "Have you ever thought of getting ECT?" I asked her.

Surprisingly, she said No. Not even her doctor suggested it to her. Believe me, depression is terrible. This woman can't do a fucking thing. She can't work. She has a really good husband and a teenage son. If it were me, I'd look into shock treatments. I added a bunch of stuff to our New Directions website about shock therapy.

I was put here on earth for the following reasons:

- to give birth to Sarah and Dan
- to think
- to use my powers of enthusiasm to help show people the wonders and grandeur of the world
- to use my altruistic gifts
- to be the best responsible hedonist I can possibly be

PS - Thought you might enjoy seeing what a Nice Rejection Letter looks like:

Thank you for your query. Although your novel sounds provocative and memorable, I'm afraid it's not a good match for my list.

I do appreciate you thinking of FinePrint and me and I wish you luck with your work.

All best,
Meredith Hays

Meredith Hays
FinePrint Literary Management
240 West 35th Street, Suite 500
New York, NY 10001

I always have trouble with people named Meredith. Oh, well! Here comes another letter from a woman named Victoria. Let's see how she rejects Lil Ruthie.

Dear Author, Please forgive this impersonal note. We receive a tremendous number of query letters and are forced to focus our attention on a limited number of projects. We regret that we must decline the offer to review your work. We encourage you to keep writing and we wish you every success. Sincerely, Victoria Sanders