Among the most predictable things in our lives one could mention: the chickenpox, the vacation in Spain, the traffic jam, the shock of Beatles breaking up, the falling in love with a teacher, the sofa from IKEA, the hangover, the second-rate wedding night, the second hand car, the visit to the Louvre, the 80 GB iPod, the panic, the unhappiness, the French fries and the goose-bumps.PS: and let’s not forget about Ramones’ “Suzy Is A Headbenger”.

I have a regrettable weakness for decorative life. I could spend hours over my dinner, lunch and breakfast as long as they are properly arranged on good-looking plates. Tragically enough, I get a weird sense of joy by only looking at a beautiful case (suitcase, bookcase, jewelry case, life case etc.) and I couldn’t stand an ugly coffee-machine.
… And finally, my daily living is sometimes dramatically spoiled by the fact that a less handsome question would fail to call for my frank answer; a rough question desolates me; and I get lost in all those vulgar, ugly details that were left unsaid.
I have no noble reasons to celebrate my disposition to adorable settings and adorable talking; my refusing the harsh and the ugly things of the world could be, after all, a sort of pornography in reverse. It keeps me from disapproving, disagreeing, deviating, arguing, clashing, branching off, falling out. And my highest price for sometimes having decay, distortion, corruption and downfall dreams is a most frightening Self-denial.PS: Paul McCartney’s new album Memory Almost Full. It has all those faultless classy arrangements that may sound almost nonsensical when one doesn’t have the gift of wrapping them around perfect pop hooks. And McCartney has re-written all those genial pop hooks you missed so much ever since Lady Madonna managed to make ends meet back in the ’68. To my guess, this album beats Chaos And Creation In The Backyard . It has a certain retrospective feeling that touches me deeply. It has all the simplicity one has the right to ask from a pop manufacturing, but also all those sophisticated, sometimes slightly eccentric add-ons that assure the contemplative side of this album. Most people I know, Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper lovers, never really considered to pay exclusive attention to McCartney. Sometime at the beginning of this month, the most uncomfortable music critic, dear Mr. Lefsetz, couldn’t even bear watching the new, disconcerting video for the single “Let’s Dance”. Which looked like a normal reaction. I had to let this song reach me a few times via headphones in order to appreciate the domestic beauty of mandolin, kick-drum and whistling and – well, – to forget about dancing. “Mr. Bellamy”, “You Tell Me”, “House of Wax” and “Only Mama Knows” came closer and closer without any specific effort. “See Your Sunshine” is, rather surprisingly for those used with the cute Beatle boy, a quite sexual song. (side-question to the connoiseurs: what happened with all these aging rockers singing more about sex and less about love?). “Nod Your Head” is – to my ear – the proud cousin of ” Why Don’t We Do It In The Road” while “Gratitude” reminds me once again of the 40th anniversary of the good old Sgt. Pepper. This album may not be the White Album, but it works for me. In all manner of ways.

PS2: Reading Between The Acts of poor Virginia (Woolf). In her books, things lose their shape and grandeur, they just melt and linger like a puddle. What happens when one doesn’t look anywhere, not downwards, nor upwards, a reader might wonder? Oh, Virginia, better don’t answer…

We were taught to feel pity for the past, for those people who built it, and for those who still live in it. We were taught to look ahead and feel responsible for every unfulfillment of our needs, purposes and goals. We were taught to be the first ones to praise ourselves so that we could, later on, be others’ object of praising. We were taught to forget about our origins so that we can build our own (open) sources of identity.

1. history
2. music
3. love.PS: Talking picture from Teplitz (Czech Republic) (massage included, she assured us in German) – one of the hundreds I have taken while riding throughout our historical, musical, lovely Europe. From the northern North to the southern South.

PS2: Have some sincere music. Nick Lowe for instance, “All Men Are Liars” and “Half A Boy, Half A Man”. Or Scocco for the glad Swedes all over the world, “Bara En Drink Till”. Nationaldagen is not that bad after all. Skål!