Happy hair is good hair.*

Damn, just found out that Best Buy does not accept gift cards for online orders. Here I have this $25 gift card burnin’ a hole in my pocket (actually, my wallet), and I find the Nina Simone Anthology I have decided I must have (mainly for “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” song I first heard whilst watching The Dancer Upstairs), and SMACK! (That is reality, slapping me in the face, again!): Gift cards not redeemable online.

And I can assure you, neither of the Best Buys within a 100-mile radius of me has the album.

Ah, well.

Walked around the nearest BB for 45 minutes tonight and had in my hands, at various times, The Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, something by Tegan and Sara (with an “h”? I do not remember), and Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, mainly because it has “Sweet Thing” on it, and I want to hear the song in the context of the original album, if that makes sense. (Well, it does to moi!)

: )

At this moment, however, I have this most beautiful song by Josh Groban in my head, after listening to it no less than 5 times in The Lovely’s car whilst waiting for her to finish a jaunt through Famous after tennis: “Mi Mancherai.” And I have heard it before, but tonight ... tonight, listening to the version of it on Josh Groban Live at the Greek (which I just misread as Live at the Creek ... which makes it sound as if it is something that could have been recorded in, like, The Ville or somewhere!), with the sweet, sad sound of the violin, and Josh’s voice ... wow.

I mean: WOW.

The talent of that young man. And he sings the song in Italian (though parts of it sound French to me, but what do I know?), so I had not a clue what he was actually singing about ... until my freetranslation.com told me what it meant: “I’ll Miss You.” No, wait: Actually, I found that out from Google; according to my free translation, “Mi Mancherai” means something like, “You Will Be Lacking Me.” (???)

Anyhoo. The Lovely said she actually prefers not knowing what the words mean, that it allows her simply to listen to and to enjoy the songs ... and now, I agree.

It’s a little like when I was on the train from Paris to ______ (the town next to Giverny, the name of which escapes me now and every time I think of the time I went there), and the people on the train were talking. Constant conversation on that train, none of it loud or harsh, but for the entire hour-long (or was it longer?) ride, people were talking, mostly in French but possibly in other languages I did and do not know. And then it occurred to me how soothing it is to listen to words when you have no idea what they mean.

: )

Yesterday I watched an amazing film called Aimée and Jaguar. I bought the book a few years ago but never finished it, barely started it, in fact. It is the story of two women — one of them the wife of a Nazi soldier, the other a Jew — who meet and fall in love during World War II. Must watch it again and reflect on it some more. Very romantic and sad, sweet and beautiful.

Yeah, I loved it.

: )

I played tennis this afternoon, and for a while, my entire body ached.

Damn, it is a BITCH getting old.

: )

* — Props to Jack for yet another essential truth.