Too much news

After several days of watching too much news-political and global- I have opted to turn the channel to Music Choice and listen to a rhapsody by Delius.I was feeling all the terrible "a" words- Apathy, anomie, anxiety,agitation, anhedonia, and ambivalence.Donating a little to Doctors without Borders made me feel more hopeful until I read their planes were being turned away from landing in Haiti.

I used to be able to listen to classical music on our public radio station, but no more. They have gone to an all jabber most of the time format.What a sad situation- to be grateful to Comcast for Telemann instead of to NPR.How soothing it is to listen to the wonderful orderly elegance of Baroque music. We should not allow dim-witted chatter, and gossip, and trivia into every waking moment of our lives.

My plans to make Bongo-Bongo soup this past weekend went astray.This is one of the signature dishes of Trader Vic's restaurant. I ate at the old Trader Vic's in Boston many years ago. Pu-Pu Platters and Mai-tais paid for by the U.S. Veterans Administration. The V.A was a generous employer back then. They paid for the hotel room, the nursing seminar,and the mileage. Add to that the faux exotica of Trader Vic's tiki torches and Polynesian decor! I remember nothing of the seminar. I cannot remember who I drove to Boston with, but I remember eating at Trader Vic's! I was under the impression that the whole restaurant chain had closed. I was wrong. Their website shows perhaps a dozen restaurants in the U.S, two in Germany, one or two in Britain, zero in France, and what look to be at least 100 in the Middle East! Dubai, the UAE,Azjerbajan- all the places one imagines restless oilmen sitting around glad there is someplace to get a drink.

We are about to get pounded by rain and thunder. No tornadoes though. One of these days I will post my tornado poem. It appears that I used to be able to spit out verse on any subject. Possums. Ants in a Flowerpot. Hummingbirds. Sad to say that poetry has fled. Now I blog and and try to put the seat of my pants in the seat of my chair so as to get back to work on my hospital novel-