...or, "holy cats! Did I really just listen to 'Tempted' by Squeeze seven times in a row?!?"

I've not quite taken the plunge, but I have dipped my toe--or I should say credit card--into the waters of the iTunes Store. Bought one tune I had been planning on buying for quite some time ('Hey Ya!' by Outkast), and whilst browsing the celebrity playlists, found and bought one of my all-time favourite songs off of Sting's playlist (and that would be 'Tempted'). I was pleasantly surprised by how much Sting and I are sympatico, musically-speaking!

I hadn't planned on browsing the iTunes store at all. I opened iTunes so I could start importing some of my CDs and ultimately couldn't resist the temptation to go shopping. It sort of reminds me of my youth when I could run down to the store and buy a song (actually two or three songs, if you count the B-side) for only a dollar. For those of you born after 1982, those would be 45s. You know, vinyl. But not the big pizza-sized ones, more like the little personal pizza-sized ones!

And iTunes has this "visualization" feature that reminds me of many nights spent down at the Planetarium watching the likes of "Laser Zeppelin," "Laser Pink Floyd," and "Laser U2" (I can hear you saying it now, "boy, is she old!"). I could sit and watch visualization on my computer for hours. Well, actually, I did do that...

And now that I'm importing a short stack of my favourite CDs into iTunes, I can see that I've now outgrown my little Rio mp3 player. Wonder if I can get a student discount on an iPod? And an additional hard drive. And more tunes...

It's much cooler today on Planet Vicster! At a little past 5:00pm and it's only in the mid-70's inside the apartment. The fish are a bit more active and the furkids even napped in the sun beam when it streamed through the window earlier this afternoon! Me? Oh, I'm a lot less cranky! The heat migraine is still there, but it's much dulled now so I can actually function.

Here's hoping that the trend continues downward, just about another 10-15 degrees. Then I might do that Happy Dance!

For your review: "Not Tonight...I Have a Headache"

Some of your readers are actually older than 30, and therefore their musical memories go back a little further than 1982. So, when you use a song title reference instead of the singer's name, it could cause a lot of confusion and consternation.

=======================

I saw the headline " 'Gloria' Singer Dies" and my heart sank, thinking we had lost another legend in Van Morrison...or that something awful had happened to Bono (the U2 song "Gloria" is still my favourite track on October, and one of the highlights on the Under A Blood Red Sky album).

As far as I can tell, both Irishmen are just fine...the headline actually referred to Laura Brannigan, who sang her own song called "Gloria".

I didn't care much for the song, but I always thought she had a fantastic voice. She was quite young, too (age 47). Brain aneurysm. At least she went in her sleep and--other than complaining of headaches for a couple of weeks prior (yikes!), didn't seem to suffer. Hopefully, now she's happily reunited with her late husband (I think he passed away 8-10 years ago).

Let me be clear about this. I HATE hot weather. There is no reason for it to ever be warmer than 75 f and if it is, there damn well better be a nice, steady breeze coming in off the ocean (and not those stinkin' off-shore winds that blow the heat over from the valley). Not sure what the official high temp was--last time I looked early in the afternoon it was in the mid-80's. It's supposed to be just 66 out now, but it's still in the 80's in my apartment. Even the betta fish are sluggish. Poor fellas!

Oh, it gets even better: This little bout of Summer has now brought on a world-class heat migraine. Feh!

The next time I look out the window and it's cold and foggy, I will do a major Happy Dance, I'll tell you what! But for now, it's a handful of migraine-strength tablets, a cold shower before bed and putting the ice pack on the point where the migraine is based before I try to sleep.

The interior designer in me curses the ceiling fan in my bedroom (I had to get rid of my beloved iron canopy bed when I moved in because of that stupid fan)...but on nights like this I sure do love that monstrosity!

I have yet another stinkin' cold! This is the third one I've had in the last six months!. And, just to add an exclamation point on the whole thing, my face is breaking out big time. Clearly, there are a ton of toxins my body is trying to get rid of. NOW.

Can't do much about the zits, but I did drag my sneezing, sniffling, sorry-assed self over to Trader Joe's at 9 a.m. to get the ingredients for chicken soup. It was quite tasty, thanks for asking! Just wish I'd have been able to round up some ginger to add that extra bit of zing to it, but it's really quite good as-is.

But this "down time" has given me pause to reflect on why I'm suddenly sick every two months, so I'll just break this down: A little over six months ago there was a change in my life: A change that should have alleviated stress, but instead seems to be causing even more of it (and it seems to have increased tenfold in the last six weeks or so).

In the two years prior to that, when I had plenty of reasons to be stressed out, I had ZERO colds...and that includes all the time I've spent at school, where viruses run riot! And in the years before that, where I had a somewhat stressful existence at work AND I took public transportation every day (that other viral smorgasboard), I'd get maybe one cold a year.

Well guess what, folks? I'm sick-and-tired (literally!) of this! I'm sick of being so angry and frustrated by 6 p.m. that I don't want to talk to anyone for the rest of the evening. And I've had it with being so stressed out that my immune system is so severely compromised. There need to be changes...oh yes, there WILL be changes!

Stay tuned.

We've lost another legend this week. RIP RJ.

Also, here's a great article from the NY Times on Henri Cartier-Bresson's life and career. (I think it's a reg. required site, but c'mon, it's the NYTimes and registering doesn't cost you any money!)

I've lost one of my heroes today. If you're a photography geek, you'll understand why this really puts a lump in my throat.

Henri Cartier-Bresson's was a style I tried to emulate...well before I had ever even heard of him. As a kid, running around with my little Kodak 110 camera, I always sought out the unposed portraits in natural light, and cropping my photos before I took the picture (no Photoshop back in the day, dont'cha know). When I first saw a book with his photos in it, I was completely riveted and utterly moved by the elegant simplicity of his work. I knew then that I had found my photography "teacher". I owe my deep appreciation (and decided preference) for black-and-white photography to Henri Cartier-Bresson (and Ansel Adams). Alas, black-and-white photography can be a harsh mistress and after a good two decades of effort, I'm still completely humbled when I see his work and mentally compare my progress to it.

Merci, Monsieur Cartier-Bresson. You will be greatly missed, but never, ever forgotten.