GJ Willis' Art Notes

Yesterday evening, I went to the BSO to see the Gershwin concert. I wasn’t going to see the show just because it was the next show on my subscription but because I’m an admirer of the work of George and Ira Gershwin. The number of tunes they wrote that reads like a Best of American Music Songbook. The songs they wrote include; They Can’t Take That Away From Me, I Got Rhythm, Someone To Watch Over Me, Swanea, Of Thee I Sing, Strike Up the Band, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off, Funny Face, But Not For Me, Our Love Is Here to Stay, Nice Work If You Can Get It, S’ Wonderful, and the tone poem, An American In Paris. As you can see the list goes on and on. They even did a folk opera, a little thing called, Porgy and Bess which includes the hits, Summertime, I Got Plenty of Nothin’, It Ain’t Neccessarily So, and Bess You is My Woman Now. True, Porgy and Bess wasn’t very successful during George Gershwin’s lifetime but it’s popularity has grown throughout the years.

Of all their work my favorite piece of all time is, what I consider to be the quintessential American classical composition of all time, Rhapsody in Blue. Listening to Rhapsody in Blue is like hearing the sound of the Jazz Age, the Roaring 20’s come to life. You can clearly hear everything from the Jewish immigrant influence showing up in the klezmer sounding clarinet solo that opens up the piece, to lush orchestrations, and syncopated piano rhythms. To hear this music is to hear a vibrant bygone era bustling with energy.

I have to say that this was the absolute best presentation that Principal Pops conductor, Jack Everly, has ever put together! I was actually thoroughly entertained. There was singing, dancing, and film clips throughout the show. The entire usher staff was even on stage for a brilliantly conceived number of, I Got Rythm. The evening ended with the Gershwin’s epic classic, Rhapsody in Blue.

All in all, Everly did George and his brother Ira, proud. I’m positive they were smiling down from heaven last night.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on a black Dr. Who sweatshirt. The sweatshirt has the blue logo from the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie. Underneath the sweatshirt I have on a white turtleneck. The pants I have on are blue jeans. The shoes I have on are old running shoes from Payless. For last night’s BSO concert I dressed up a little. I wore khaki pants and a baby blue sweater along with you guessed it, blue suede shoes!

This morning I had a very friendly bus driver. She had a whole spiel when we got on and off the bus. I think she’s new. Her enthusiasm will soon wear off. If not, I would hate to think there could be such cheery effervescent people in the world at 5:25 in the morning. The light rail and shuttle bus were both on time. I got in to work again at 6:30. I love getting in extra early. Now I have to work on actually leaving from work on time.

CHARLES AND CAMILLA:
I’m probably the only person on earth who’s actually excited that they are finally getting married. I love weddings! I can see her wearing something like a pants suit. I know the ceremony probably won’t be as fairy tale perfect as Princess Diana’s was. Let’s face it they are both up there in age and would probably want to do something that’s more dignified than showy. All in all I hope the wedding is televised. Why? I love watching royal weddings!

Also I know the odds are against me ever getting married. I’m autistic and I lack social skills. Society expects women to be very talkative and empathetic to everything and to go on and and on about feelings. I thinks it’s better for me to just watch a wedding than to participate in one, Besides, there’s less pressure involved.....

WHAT I’M WEARING
I have on a red sweater, yellow turtleneck, blue jeans, and blue suede shoes. I also have on a red head band to coordinate with the sweater. It’s very cold and windy outside.

The shuttle bus was late this morning. I ended up getting in to work at 6:45. I hate getting in late. Yea, I know I was still 15 minutes early. I was really getting used to arriving before anyone else in my department.

Last night I didn’t through up!!! So I believe my stomach is back to normal. I doubt that people spontaneously develop bulemia. Maybe it was all due to a stomach virus. I had no trouble keeping down liquids it was solid foods that kept coming up.

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today. I have on a purple Henley with a cream colored shirt underneath. The pants I have on are blue jeans. My shoes are blue suede shoes. Well, they are more blue suede booties than shoes.

The bus, light rail, and shuttle bus were all on time this morning. The only different thing that happened was that the harbringer of lateness took the shuttle bus at the State Center/Cultural Center Stop. The harbringer of lateness is this guy that works in the mail room. He bares a strong resemblence to 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney. I sometimes see him on the light rail when I’m running late. Hence, my nickname of him as the harbringer of lateness. I believe he’s due in to work later than me. He usually takes the light rail up to North Avenue and takes the shuttle bus there.

I was again 30 minutes early today. Despite this I admit I have a problem leaving from work on time. I tend to leave 15-20 minutes after the fact. I think I do this because I’m not in too much of a rush to get home. The majority of people I work with have families to come home to.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:
I threw up again yesterday! I’m starting to think that maybe it’s a stomach virus or stress related. I had no problem keeping down breakfast and lunch it was just when I get home that I couldn’t keep anything down. I don’t feel sick or anything. God/Godess knows I take more than enough of vitamin C. I average about 3-4,000 mg’s a day. I don’t nearly take nearly as much as Linus Pauling did. He injected about 12,000 mg’s of it a day and lived to be well into his 90’s. I tried to take a lot of vitamin C once but it ended up giving me diarrhea. I think my problems with keeping food down is either related to stress or a stomach virus. I suppose it will clear up on it’s own.

WORK NEWS
The streak has ended. Today, co-worker Arnold, noted for the wearing of short sleeved button down cotton shirts has finally stopped his 4 week streak of wearing long sleeved button down cotton shirts to work. It all started 4 weeks ago with a long sleeve blue shirt, then a red, a beige, and then another blue shirt. Seeing him in long sleeved shirts was almost like seeing a mid season miracle appear before my eyes. I wonder what happened to make him start wearing long sleeves shirts and then stop cold turkey? I suppose the world will never know.....

Also in work news it appears that Richard will keep his job and salary as Senior Tech. However, Mellissa moves into the newly created Lead Tech position and gets a pay raise as well as new job responsibilities. These new responsibilities involve being the official stand in for Supervisor Brian when he’s unable to fulfill his supervisory duties.

To put you back to speed a while ago at work we had two senior techs positions. They were both told that they were going to eliminate their position and make one of them a Lead Tech. The other one would be welcome to stay on as a regular tech with a decrease in salary. I was wondering who would get the position. Richard is black and has worked at the company for a very long time. Mellissa is white and female and has also been at the company for quiet a while as well. The only drawbacks I saw for Richard is that he’s dangerously close to retirement age. The drawbacks for Mellissa is that she’s a single mother and may have childcare issue which might pull her away from work. Overall, I saw them both as being cherished minorities. Who do you choose?

So the company decided that Richard keeps his job and his salary and Mellissa moves up on the food chain. No one had to move down a peg. Brilliant solution!!!

WHAT I’M WEARING:
Today, I have on this purple turtleneck blue jeans and blue suede shoes. I decided not to put on the brown leather lace ups because they’re kind of scruffed up from the fall yesterday.

The bus was on time in the morning I either take the #2 or #1 bus to the light rail. The Shuttle Bus was on time. The shuttle bus that is usually waiting at the stop is the C bus. When I first started taking the shuttle bus it was the B Express bus that was at the stop.

The only odd thing that happened this morning was that I tripped and fell to the ground as I was getting off the Shuttle Bus. My right shoe looks a little scraped up. My right pants leg is a little scraped up with mud. A woman who had gotten off the bus at the same time I had went back to help me get up. The two men who work in the mail room didn’t bother to look back and help me up. That couldn’t be helped. I believe that both of them are deaf. I know one of them wears a hearing aide and I’ve seen the other using sign languege. In the end my knee was skinned. All in all I think I’ll live to see another day.

CONCERN OF THE DAY:
I felt very nauseous when I finally got home from work yesterday. I knew that this was because I hadn't eaten anything since the morning. So when I got home I ate. Then I was still feeling nausea so I took some Pepto Bismol and took a nap. When I woke up a couple of hour later I still felt nauseous. Then before I knew it I threw up. I can’t explain it but I felt really great after I threw up. It was almost like a feeling of elation. I wonder if this is how bulemia starts?

WHAT I’M WEARING: Today, I have on my favorite sweater. It’s a blue fair isle knit sweater. I also have on blue jeans, and brown leather shoes.

I admit I have'nt been any where near a computer in the last few weeks. I've been going through another bout of depression. The problem with my bouts of depression is that I can never really pinpoint it down to what makes them happen. Anyway, despite this I've been making faithful entries in my AlphaSmart. I'll try to upload all those entries this week so that it won't look like I disappeared off the face of the earth for two weeks.

TODAY'S COMMUTE:
Recently, I've gotten into the habit of taking the light rail train and getting off at the State Center stop so that I can catch the shuttle bus. I like to take this bus because on average it gets me to work 30 minutes early. As you can imagine this gives me plenty of extra time to make entries in my AlphaSmart.

The ride over to work this morning was smooth as silk. The only problem was the ride back from work. The shuttle bus was over an hour late!

When the bus finally arrived it became extra crowded with each stop. The bus driver ended up asking us if anyone had to get off at certain stops so that he could determine whether he could eliminate them from his drive. After the Pepper Road stop he determined he could head for the 83 expressway over to the North Avenue bus stop.

I should say here that he had to ask a passenger how to get to the expressway. I suppose the reason for the driver's unorthodox manner was that he might have been a fill in shuttle bus driver. I have no complaints what so ever about his methodology. In the end I got home close to the time I usually arrive home.

WHAT I'M WEARING:
Since allegedly it's supposed to be the upper 50's today I have on a blue turtleneck, stone washed jeans, along with blue suede shoes.