Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away...no, seriously, at one time in the not so distant past (1989) I went to work for a company located in Grand Prairie (a suburb of Dallas). The year after I went to work there, the company bought a six story high rise office building in Irving (another suburb of Dallas) to serve as the new national headquarters of the company. We also had offices in Houston, Phoenix and Tampa Bay. All sales calls from all the cities were routed through our office in Irving. When we moved, I got to choose the location of my cubicle and the one I chose had a fantastic view of Texas Stadium, long time home of the Dallas Cowboys. Texas Stadium has passed into the annals of NFL history having been supplanted by Jerry Jones with his new NFL Cathedral, the Taj Ma-Jones if you will, in Arlington which is just west of Grand Prairie. However I digress. When the company moved to Irving, we hired additional staff to meet the increasing demand for our services. One of the people in this new group was a young man by the name of Christian. A man of average height, not more than 5' 8", but that was the only thing that was average about him. Christian was of Italian/Hispanic ancestry with a flawless, smooth creamy complexion and electrifying hazel eyes. He wore his jet black hair in long braids that reached the middle of his back. His vibrant present lit up the room when he walked into it. Not that Christian really walked, when he moved about the sales floor, it was more a graceful glide than a walk. Intelligent, witty, beautiful and an extremely talented salesman, he could sell ice water to Eskimos in a blizzard. He was, of course, openly and exuberantly Gay. We became good friends and enjoyed many pleasant times both at work and away from the office. Christian was one of those whom one meets who leaves an indelible imprint on your life. He certainly did on mine. When I left the company in 1994, we managed to catch up with each other on occasion but eventually life took us both in different directions. Christian, like Texas Stadium, has passed on into the annals of history but the memories of both live on in my mind. Christian's beauty and vibrant presence in the world was snuffed out, ravaged by the scourge that is AIDS. I can still see Christian in my mind and hear his laughter. To me he is the face of AIDS, the insidious disease that steals life from too many around the world. It is fitting that today I think of him and what could have been if not for the AIDS that consumed him body and soul. I know each and every one of us has someone who is no longer in our lives or is living with this disease or the HIV virus that is at the root of it. Today is the day to rededicate ourselves to the continuing fight to find a cure and relegate this too to the annals of history.
While this week was not a banner week for collecting photographs, I only came up with 618 new ones, I did manage to uncover some exquisite gems among them. Each photograph in today's review has something intrinsic that draws you to the photograph, arresting your attention and holding it for the moments it takes you to absorb the art form on display before moving on to the next piece in the gallery. I think you will be pleased with my selections.
Your Saturday Soundtrack this week is comprised of 13 Quintets by Luigi Boccherini. The first seven are
Guitar Quintets and the final six are String Quintets. Performance is
by La Magnifica Cuminita with Eros Roselli featured on Guitar in the
first seven. Included are Guitar Quintette I in d-moll G.445, Guitar
Quintette III in B-dur G.447, Guitar Quintette V in D-dur G.449, Guitar
Quintette VI in G-dur G.450, Guitar Quintette IV in D-dur G.448, Guitar
Quintette II in E-dur G.446, Guitar Quintette in C-dur G.453, Quintet I
in A Major G.265, Quintet II in E Flat Major G.266. Quintet III in C
Minor G.267, Quintet IV in C Major G.268, Quintet V in E Flat Major, and
Quintet VI in D Major G.270. Thank you for choosing to spend part of your weekend here at Nichevo. I look forward to seeing you again on Monday. Until next time as always, Enjoy!
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