I came downstairs this morning to an overturned, torn up floor lamp, compliments of Mick, I'm sure. I didn't realize lamp shades could be so easily pulled apart like this one was. And why he would attack the lamp is another mystery. A cat is gonna do what a cat is gonna do, no apologies, no regrets. He may spend most of his time on the back porch today.

My poet son has shared the first draft of his masterpiece thesis with me. Seems his inspiration for this freak show fetish came from family and friends. I agree with his friend Jane Wilson: "for every strange photo, for every outlandish freaky oddity, there's likely just a normal person, trying like the rest of us to get through life unscathed, thinking ourselves uniquely weird, however hidden our record-breaking qualities...." I'm glad he used that, it softens the starkness of the pictures he paints. Benji is so good at what he does - expressing himself dramatically. Where did he get all that talent? And here I am, doing what he so obviously deplores, gawking. Maybe he's right, there's a fascination for the twisted and kinky in all of us.

Betsy, Mike, and I attended James Martin's recital last night at St. Philips. He should have been singing to a standing-room-only crowd, but there were maybe 50 people in the audience. I understand he pulls better numbers in New York. What a voice and stage presence! David accompanied him on the piano and worked himself into a sweat-soaked shirt. They held hands taking bows, and it looked so natural; they obviously love each other a lot. My favorite selection was "Come Sunday," the Duke Ellington tune made popular by Mahalia Jackson. WOW!

I intended this to be a pajama day, but Mike left the house without the grocery list, and doesn't want to go back out. There's nothing on it that can't wait. We've got a 90% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. We definitely need the rain after three weeks of nary a drop. Then the temps are supposed to go back down to nearly normal for April. We've had a preview of summer this week, made me wish for April showers. Mike brought a movie home that he wants me to watch with him, An Unfinished Life. Might as well.

2 hours later. I liked this movie. I've never seen Robert Redford so disheveled and scruffy, and Morgan Freeman looked like he had been mauled by a bear. Angelina Jolie played her part well, but the girl who played 11 yr old Griff, Becca Gardner, was the best. And that guy playing the sheriff, Josh Lucas, reminded me of Matthew McConaughey. Funny that Redford was playing Jolie's father-in-law, since she's now with Brad Pitt, who, I always thought, looked like a young Robert Redford, more in his early days than he does now. Camryn Manheim is always good.

We had about 5 minutes of rain, hopefully we'll get some more before it blows out of here.