For Sarah

A 1940 jazz rendition of Rhapsody in Blue - the theme music for Sarah's employer.

I'm looking forward to my European trip, now only a few more days away. I will not be flying on Sarah's airline, but I will be flying on its main partner Lufthansa, and I will remain a United Premier into 2010. And more importantly, I need to walk away from Europe with inspirations that I can apply to Sarah's life story - inspirations and motivation have been very lacking as of late for me.

My life has been extremely high-stress (even a getaway to Vegas ended up being trashed, with an uncooperative new friend), but thinking of flying away to a saner place, either with Sarah or otherwise, is always a good thing.





The Facebook friend who shared this video with me remarks that many renditions of Rhapsody in Blue are played way too fast, like a rat race. I've heard a few renditions played at quite different tempos indeed. I personally prefer it fast - because I often think of my experiences being stuck in a hellhole city, where I'd like my getaway flight turned around and departing as soon as possible. Indeed, it happened to me at least twice - Amsterdam in 1999 and Indianapolis in 2008 - and both getaway flights were indeed on United. I also had the misfortune of hearing a slower rendition on XM Satellite Radio, and thanks to the digital compression, it sounded like my most recent United flight - a junk Boeing 737 staffed with a total a-hole of a purser; I'd rather listen on my iPod with superior sound quality, and think about flying in business class and being pampered by Sarah.