Transported up the mountain of happiness. Your letter arrived at 3:00 today but as I ripped open the envelope, they called the move for music practice up at the chapel. I just about read the "Dear ..," and noticed the graphics of the last page to know you found something about the keyboard. I put the letter back info the envelope and stuck if under my mattress where if patiently awaited my return.

I had a great music rehearsal working with a younger inmate who plays the guitar but cannot read music at all so he plays the chords without being able to get any melody or timing information from the music. Everything is as he has heard it before. We were singing a song familiar to him, but new to me and at several points in the song we were singing in harmony. This was not on purpose, but due to the fact that what he was singing was a more linear version of the song based mostly on the chords he was playing.

As I "sight-sung" the words based on the melody line printed all of a sudden there was harmony. I tried to explain this to him without sounding too judgmental and comment that it was a good thing as our voices tended to complement each other.

So at 5:00 I left the chapel and came back to the dorm to read your letter. As usual, I started at the beginning and read all the way through. Okay I could not swear to the fact that I did not peek at the keyboard page first but I do not think I did.

After reading your letter and then the comments, well I was lifted up and transported up the mountain of happiness. Boy did I need that. Not to take anything away from the power of your letters, but when I finally reached the email from a pen pal I had not heard from in way too long well that put me right up there on the top of the mountain.

I will hopefully stay energized all weekend and be able to type plenty of posts for the blog.

The officer I am working for on the computer is off Saturday and Sunday, so other than my four hours of church and practice on Saturday, and the hour and a half for the Catholic mass on Sunday I will put the bulk of the remaining time to typing.

I was going to type this out and also save if then send you how I would have edified it but once I am in the memory mode I can not go back and correct anything on the previous line like I would like to. If I do not use the memory, I can go back up a line or two and make minor corrections.

Let me leave this subject for a moment and get back to my day.

After absorbing all the positive vibes in your letter, the blog comments, and the keyboard info, I was on cloud nine. This can be a tenuous position in prison since falling off the cloud usually leaves one with a really hard landing.

Next I decided to place a call to Mom and Dad and see how they felt about buying the new keyboard. They agreed. They asked what I would do with the keyboard I now have and I suggested I could donate it to the chapel or send it home to them. They thought it would be a good idea to give it to the chapel. Not only will I now be getting a keyboard with a 6 track sequencer. The model I now have has only a two track sequencer.

The first time I called home, there was no answer. I was so wound up; I ended up blowing a couple weeks of healthy eating in one little meal.

I started with a round 20 oz. size Rubbermaid bowl. On the bottom of the bowl I put three halves of English muffin, cut in quarters to fit the bottom of the bowl. What happened to the fourth half? It got smeared with some margarine and then sprinkled with garlic powder and devoured in much haste. Yum. Yum.

I should probably mention that I ended up spreading each of the quartered muffin pieces with margarine and then sprinkled them with the garlic powder. Yes, it would have been smarter to put the margarine on before I cut them up but I can not always be thinking of the best way to do things.

Next I chopped half of the 8 ounce block of sharp cheddar cheese into thin pieces, and at least three ounces of a pepperoni stick. It is a five ounce stick and through some miracle of self control I did not just eat the entire five ounces.

I just noticed I forgot to mention that the English muffin was toasted first.

Now the assembly of the meal. You have the toasted, margarined and garlic powdered English muffin quarters on the bottom of the bowl. I poured about half a can of tomato sauce over the muffins, and then added one four-ounce can of mushrooms.

Next came the pepperoni, exquisitely cut using my trusty plastic knife. I had to break out a new knife as they do lose their sharpness after a while.

Another one of those facts the average Joe might not notice. We purchase our "silverware" in a box of eight place settings. Each setting consists of a fork, teaspoon, and knife. These utensils are not the even the high quality plastic style that seem too good to throw out. These are the ones most people would not think twice about tossing out after a single use.

Although I pay wholesale for my utensils, I do wash them after each use. Most times after many uses the forks will lose a tine as I mix up some tuna salad, or the knife will break in half while I dig out some peanut butter for a sandwich.

Meanwhile, having spread out the pepperoni over all the above mentioned ingredients, I then added the four ounces of cheddar cheese. It was heated, uncovered in the microwave on 60% power for four minutes. Let sit for two or three minutes; rushing in can lead to a burnt tongue, and then dig in.

I could certainly devour a similar bowl of items each and every day, but good thing I have a modicum of self control. And if you believe that last sentence, I have some the title to a certain little bridge spanning the East River in NYC that I could sell you.

Having stuffed myself I then called home again and this time reached my Mom and Dad.

Tonight the waiting starts. When will the keyboard arrive (and how long will it take the package room to release it to me). When will the long awaited, and now promised pen pal letter arrive? And will those that asked for my address follow through with a letter? Stay tuned for further developments.

In the meantime I have plenty of other doings to write about and that is what will be happening this weekend. If all goes well, this is just the start of a deluge of thoughts, big, small and probably a few inane ones too.

I have just fished my laundry out of the dryer and have nice clean sheets for the bed tonight.

I was just going through my files to find my file of movie reviews, and have not found it, but did find the envelope that contains my bi-weekly commissary receipts. The plasticware mentioned above cost me 44¢ a box.

Let me dive back into my locker and see if I can find the movie review file. The late movie tonight is Lucky You.

I found the review and even the full page movie poster in the Sunday NY Times Summer Movie section from May 6, 2007.  ¶ 8:28 AM