I think that George Gershwin’s “Summertime” is the most beautiful music in the world. I always sing it to myself and have done so for decades.

But it is only today that I have discovered that the lyrics of the song are not “Oh, Your mamma’s rich / And your daddy’s good lookin'”, as I always thought without ever analyzing it.

Speaking of  a Freudian mistake.

A daughter of one of US Presidents took courses in Spanish at the department where I later studied. This is a story her language instructor shared with us.

One of the assignments in the course was for each student to prepare a presentation on a country that the US had invaded (which I think is a very stupid kind of assignment, both intellectually and linguistically, but whatever.) The President’s daughter was assigned a small Caribbean country of Granada.

On the day of the presentation, she decorated the board with beautiful pictures and started narrating.

“Granada is a city in Andalucia, Spain, located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains. . .”

“Wait,” the instructor said, “I understand that you are closer than I am to the place where the decisions to invade are made. As far as I know, though, Granada has never been invaded by the US. Unless there is

some news you want to break to us here. . .”

P.S. Whether the story is true or not, I want to mention that I think the instructor behaved like an asshole here. I would never treat a student this way, no matter how many grievances I might have against her parents.

P.P.S. I really want to travel to Grenada for the spices. They have the best nutmeg on the planet.

Does anybody know what this car is called? Because I really want it. Or rather, I want N to want it. For myself I want a Chrysler PT Cruiser.

This looks like a painting by XIXth-century Russian painters but it’s just a photo of nature by the restaurant where we came for lunch.

The word “frugal” would be the very last term I’d use to describe myself. It fits me worse even than such adjectives as “patient,” “soft-spoken,” and “tolerant.” After reading this article, however, I discovered that I’m a queen of frugality because I have been doing all these things for ages.

I hate the word “frugal”, though, and I hate cheap people who always pinch pennies. What is life for, if not to be enjoyed?

I now need to go buy something to convince myself I’m not really frugal.

P.S. Bought two jars of mulberry preserves, one jar of young walnut preserves, and one jar of white cherry preserves. Can’t think of anything more to buy at the moment.