Playing "Favorites"

My apologies to everyone who has become as addicted to my Splash du Jour feature as I myself am!
This morning I could not put one on there because my “service provider” was deciding to not “provide me service”!
I know, I know… you could not get through the day, right?
Me neither, to tell you the truth.

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OK, some of you have been wondering what it was that yesterday’s “Idiot©” exactly SAID, 143 times, on my blogpage.
Well [not to disappoint you or anything] but he/she [and for all I know…. it may have been one of these new-fangled he-she’s]…. kept saying self-aggrandizing things like, “Nice site. I like your color scheme. Here’s my site!” [followed by a LINK].
Or…. “Great work. Keep it up.” [LINK].
I felt like writing back and saying…. “Your site looks terrible. And I don’t need Viagra!”
Instead, I just deleted him/her 143 times, and instituted SQUIGGLY MEASURES!

Just so your visit here has not been a total waste tonight, let me write a thesis here on the word “favorite.”
“Preferred before all others”, basically.
Like when I say, “Jose Saramago is my favorite author.”
And he is.
But what does that mean, really.
Like… what about Margaret Atwood, or Leo Tolstoy, or Ian McEwan?
Are they all chopped liver? Wannabes?
Am I saying that Jose Saramago writes BETTER than these people do, and/or did?
No, not really.
[I am thinking of this right now because I am drunk.]
No, in all seriousness, I am thinking about this right now because I am listening to Eva Cassidy sing.
Eva Cassidy (1963-1996) was, in my opinion, one of the greatest voices that have ever let me hear them.
This is Eva, in the picture, above.
If you have never listened to her music, [light jazz, folk, acoustic, renditons] well, trust me, you should. There is a quality to her recorded voice that makes me feel that if I had heard her LIVE, I would have left my body, never to return.
She is perhaps my “favorite” singer ever. Of all time!
But does that mean that when she sings “At Last” [which she does]… she is singing it BETTER than Etta James, or even Celine Dion?
No.
But something moves me when Eva sings it… in a greater measure than when anyone else does.
With authors, we are talking about original work, at all times. Authors don’t DO renditions. But similarly, I think, when we talk about FAVORITES, we are talking about something so subjective… so personally opinionated… what we are saying, I guess… is that this author, this favorite of mine, ENGAGES me.
Holds me.
Probably the only realm that is even more subjectively diverse, is the realm of poetry.
One man’s favorite poet, is another man’s birdcage liner!

Just some thoughts I have tonight, as I sit here, smoking Jack’s cat-hair.

Oh, and by the way, several people have requested updated photos of me.
They express that they are a bit tired of that one of me on a boat, there.
So here is one, just taken yesterday, in fact…. it's among my "favorites".....

I know, I know.
I’ve gotta lay off the carbs, a bit…. I’m workin’ on it!

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