At long last, we found Quincy a buddy. He’s young, highly curious and not a little rambunctious. We’re going to need to get him a proper scratching post right quick. The name he came with is Andre. He’s only 4 months old, but I don’t expect him to get as big as Quincy, so he needs a new name. Suggestions are welcome. Mym’s contribution was Thumb, because he’s so posable.

So I’m filling out a questionnaire about the type of person who buys the vehicle I drive. It’s pretty typical stuff until I get to the section titled “your feelings about vehicles and other matters.”

Hmm, says I. Other matters? This could get interesting.

But it isn’t, really. Not until I get to statement number 17 near the bottom of the page: Without the church, morality would collapse.

Whaaaat?! I read it again. They’re serious.

I look for the box labeled “Oh, h-ELL no!”

I didn’t know it at the time, but I was already a fan. We had heard a local band called Caravan Gypsy Swing Ensemble was playing at a coffee shop downtown, so we went to check it out. Having never matched the music to a name, I didn’t know what to expect. So, it was a pleasant surprise to discover it’s the same kind of music as the soundtrack of one of my favorite movies.

It was a small shop, so only three of the band members were in attendance – two guitars and an upright bass – but, man, what a sound! About halfway through the first set they played a light-hearted arrangement of the Peanuts theme that had everyone smiling and tapping their feet, even if half of them couldn’t figure out why until the end of the song. I bought their cd at the back of the shop during the break. At $5 for a 10 song playlist, I felt it was a great deal… until I popped it into the cd player on the way home. Track one, Minor Swing. Good tune. Track two, nothing. Track three, nothing. Tracks four through eight, nuthin’. The last two tracks were good but by then I was a little disappointed at the missing two-thirds of the music.

Luckily, my computer turned out to be smarter than my car and plays the whole cd without a hitch. Good stuff, too.