I'm so tired of cleaning up after dogs and cats and the sloppy people who live in this house! I had just fussed at Mike for being non-productive and the dogs for making a mess when I spilled a whole glass of peach tea on the carpet. Do we really need days like this? It is Monday.

I'm listening to the beautiful music of Dawn Higgins Murphy, an 80 year old concert pianist who does water aerobics with us. She gave us CD's this morning that were made as a fundraising project for one of her favorite charities. Originally from New Orleans, she has played with Al Hirt and Pete Fountain, and was a regular entertainer for years at the Roosevelt Hotel. Since moving to Jackson, she has appeared with the Jackson Symphony Orchestra, and can be heard frequently at the Colonial Country Club performing with the New Bourbon Street Jazz Society and on Sunday nights at the piano bar at Char. She and her husband Bob celebrated their 60th anniversary at Mass on World Marriage Day at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson. This picture of her was in the Catholic paper where she is looking into the eyes of her husband (he still plays tennis) as he repeats his pledge of love to her and she has the most adoring look of love on her face. It's scanned from the newspaper, so is not as clear as the original, but that look says it all, doesn't it? (Thanks, Judy!) It's hard for me to imagine being in love with the same man that long and to be as devoted to him as she obviously is, or to have the kind of talent she has. She's definitely one of the more colorful characters I've met lately - a beautiful lady and very talented musician.

4/7/08 update: Several inaccuracies in the story about Dawn, I found out today, which just goes to show you can't trust hearsay or the internet. Go directly to the source. She was never a regular musician at the Roosevelt, and didn't play with Al Hirt and Pete Fountain. She doesn't play on Sunday afternoons with the NBSJS or on Sunday nights at Char, even though she's usually there and has played a time or two. The CD was recorded primarily for her children and grandchildren. Well, by now I'm sure you've realized that I know how to take a short tale and make a tall tale of it. As my friend Jean says: Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Benji posted the results of a political survey he took which verified what we already suspected - he's as liberal and left-leaning as the scale allows. I took the same survey and was also slanted in the same direction, not nearly as extreme as he is, though. My position on the chart was very close to that of the Dalai Lama. (Is that the 14th or in general?) If you want to take it, too, it's here. Share the results with us, if you dare.