on music…
While headed out for lunch today, an old comment that I read once popped into my head unbidden. I remember reading some music critic discussing the differences [s]he perceived between Mozart and Beethoven. (At least, I think it was Beethoven.) The description of the difference: while Beethoven's work sounds carefully composed and constructed, Mozart's work had an aura of uncreation—almost as if he had just found the music whole and entire, and done nothing except write it down.

It's a fascinating concept. I really wish I could remember where I read it. I'm sure it must have been years ago. In case you can't tell, I really like our local public radio station, and they play classical during the day.more music, but not classical
I went music shopping today. For the heck of it, I stopped at a store I had been to about a week or so ago. I didn't expect to find anything—I didn't last time—but I came home with:

• Fatboy Slim—On The Floor At The Boutique
• Tragically Hip—Fully Completely
• Leftfield—Rhythm and Stealth

That, plus the new Underworld album I got last night, and I'm set with new music to work to for a while.

work versus home
Oddly enough, I don't listen to techno at home much. I think I perceive techno as music to listen to while I'm working. At home I'm much more likely to listen to rock/folk sorts of things. It's an odd little dichotomy, but it keeps me happy.

on the homefront…
Jeff gets home late from classes on Thursdays. So no cooking tonight—I will probably crank out a quick batch of pasta and leave dinner at that. I could start some dishes and some laundry tonight—that'll be fewer things that need doing over the weekend. Not sure what the deal is, but I'm craving a good long rest this weekend. Extended letdown from the party, I think, plus the events from earlier this week.

The cats have been clingier than usual, too. They seem to know when I'm tired. Tenzing, especially, has been a cuddle fiend (as evidenced by all the cat fur on my shirt today). He's taken quite a liking to snuggling up in the crook of my left arm and radiating happy purrs. Such a silly fellow, and so rewarding to pet. When he was a kitten we joked about his auto-purr —touch him, and he purrs.

other cat stuff…
Speaking of all that cat fur, I was looking at the fur on my shirt today and I was intrigued by what I saw. If you look at pictures of the cats you see that they have orange-on-orange heads, ears, necks, flanks, backs, and tails. (Envision petting a cat—you start at the top of their head, scratch their ears, go back down their neck and back, and finish with the tail. Everywhere that you petted, that's where they've got orange-on-orange spots.) They have white bellies and paws.

I looked at the orange fur that was left on me this morning and realized that it's white at the bottom, and tipped with two bands of orange—lighter for the background color and darker orange for the mackerel tabby pattern.

I find this incredibly interesting. How do the follicles know to change the color of the fur as it grows? Does this mean they're really white cats with orange markings, instead of the other way around?

They're such a joy to have around. They fascinate me.