Hello, all! No, I'm not traveling again yet--that comes in August--but I think I may begin using this site also for stray comments and even "reviews" of books, music, artworks that interest me. In that vein, I'll begin by saying this: on troublesome, wearisome days and weeks and months, when I despair of ever seeing the sun again, some few things can cheer me, one of which is the marvelous song "House of Mine" by Sky 'Sunlight' Saxon and Firewall, from the mid-'80s lp Destiny's Children. While it's really quite an upbeat track, Sky's slightly ditzy take on peace and harmony and philosophical universalism, much more common to the '60s than the '80s (or any time since), can bring tears to the eyes as he bucks us up for whatever we face: "Don't need forgiving / 'cause we're all living / in a house of mine." Fruity '60s organ, perhaps played by Mars Bonfire, is the perfect musical accompaniment to this out-of-due-time hymn to hanging on. You can buy it on MP3 or hear it at YouTube (http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sxTIDbv-vX8). I definitely recommend it for any disheartening day.