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August 10, 2005

Musical get-well cards

Having all the risk factors for skin cancer, I faithfully visit a dermatologist twice a year. On Saturday she removed some moles that left me with some very sore spots afterwards. Beloved Partner was inspired to give me a cheer-up present: he dug around in our old LPs to find three by my favorite classical pianist, Vladimir Horowitz:

  • Rachmaninoff's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3, D Minor, Op. 30 (Horowitz performing with Ormandy and the NY Philharmonic);
  • Beethoven's Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2 "Moonlight"; and
  • Sonata No. 8 in C Minor, Op. 13 "Pathétique."
    And then of course he made a CD of them. And it's a beautiful thing. I had forgotten entirely about Horowitz, it had been so long since I'd heard him perform. It did, indeed, cheer me up.

    And then BP dredged up a 1988 compilation tape that I'd made, called Magic. The tape was exceptionally good, with terrific splicing, and there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth when, about a decade ago, it would no longer play. Somehow BP got it to work again, one more time, and we now have it on CD:

    SIDE ONE
    John Prine, Dear Abby
    Moody Blues, Dear Diary
    Four Tops, Shake Me, Wake Me
    Dave Pell, I Could Write a Book
    Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Clinch Mountain Backstep
    Mountain, Sittin' on a Rainbow
    Vanilla Fudge, Season of the Witch
    Doors, Verdillac
    Steeleye Span, Twelve Witches
    Quicksilver, Witches' Moon
    Creedence Clearwater Revival, I Put a Spell on You
    Doc & Merle Watson, Fisher's Hornpipe/Devil's Dream
    David Bromburg, Demon in Disguise
    Flying Burrito Brothers, Devil in Disguise
    Bruce Springsteen, Devil with the Blue Dress medley
    Santana, Black Magic Woman
    Platters, The Magic Touch

    SIDE TWO
    This Magic Moment (performed by an unidentified band on a pirate tape given us by a Jamaican friend)
    Golden Earring, Radar Love
    Pointer Sisters, Who Do You Love
    Eagles, Best of My Love
    Iron Butterfly, Best Years of Our Life
    Jimmy Buffett, God's Own Drunk
    Howard Jones, Conditioning
    Peter Gabriel, We Do What We're Told
    Men at Work, It's a Mistake
    Iggy Pop, Blah Blah Blah
    Prince, Paisley Park

    Posted by senioritis at August 10, 2005 10:05 AM

    Comments

    I *hate* having moles removed. We pale folk suffer terribly, don't we? (BTW, I have a scar on my back that looks like a bullet wound. I'm still working on concocting a story to go with it...)

    Posted by: susansinclair at August 10, 2005 10:55 AM

    Yes. I slather #30 sunblock on before I cycle, and my dermatologist is pleased with how pale I am, given how much time I spend in the sun. But that doesn't do anything for the damned moles—nor, as it turns out, for age spots that look like moles (raised from the skin and everything) that turn up in places you really really don't want to have them. (We're not talking about the brownish spots on hands and face. Noooo, this is much worse.) As for your bullet hole: pick a former lover and say that when you left him/her, s/he shot you in the back. Almost makes mole removal worthwhile.

    Posted by: senioritis at August 10, 2005 11:10 AM

    so for but of you - did your mole removals require stitches?

    Posted by: Chris Geyer at August 10, 2005 10:38 PM

    Nope. I try to stay out ahead of 'em and get to 'em before that. These only had to be scraped off. Ouch, but no stitches.

    Posted by: senioritis at August 11, 2005 06:18 AM