In a Word, It’s Relaxing

Who cares if he inhaled or not? Why doesn’t he just say he just did what any other guy his age did at least once or twice during those tumultuous years? Words, words, words, words, words, words, words.

We feel like the little guy in the New Yorker magazine spot art: walking stoically under an umbrella as words, words, words fill the sky, pelt down, cluster and flatten on top of the umbrella, elongate as they drip off its edges.

We have a bad case of campaignosis, and it has made us fretful and grumpy. What we need is music.

Aaaahhh. The mere thought of it, and the tongue uncurls from the roof of the mouth; a glorious chord of relaxation streams through the veins. We fold the umbrella, and melodies caress our heads. The world is pure and bright again, with no graffiti in sight.

Hallelujah for the musicians of the world!

There will be a bunch of them April 19 in the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Main Street at Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica, at 7:30 p.m., when the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra will present its final concert of this season, under the direction of conductor Allen Robert Gross.

Opening the program will be the West Coast premiere performance of “River of Stars” by Bill Alves, and pianist Helene Wickett will perform the solo in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 19 in F Major, K. 459. And it’s free. Further information is available at (310) 393-9961 or (310) 450-7808.