The Side Effects of Endorphins

Composer’s Datebook

Do you realize someday today may be the good old days. You may wax nostalgia about today.

Nostalgia isn’t planned. It just happens and usually out of the blue.

Today, the last day of the year, it was 18 or 19 years ago this woman I was dating came over to the house and stayed over. She never left.

Music

I generally don’t listen to music for nostalgia purposes. When I listen to old music, it is for the purpose of possibly I missed something good the first time around. Or possibly, enjoyed it for the second time around with a more refined ear.

Who knows if it is nostalgia . Does it matter.  in the words of the late Peter Schickley, music sounds good. It is good.

Observation Deck

Have you ever seen an old photograph of yourself and think, I love that shirt where did it go.

In 2025 we lost our beloved Cooper. He was the sweetest dog I’ve ever had the pleasure of sharing a life. We certainly miss him.

And I’ll close the year with a poem by William Stafford. His poetry flowed through a park we once lived. We spent a lot of time together there.

When I Met My Muse

I glanced at her and took my glasses
off–they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. “I am your own
way of looking at things,” she said. “When
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation.” And I took her hand.