In which I join the modern age

I have finally succumbed to the temptations of the modern world and acquired a cell phone. I hadn't gotten one in the past because I didn't want to spend more than $5 or $10 a month on service (I don't talk on the phone much) and I didn't want any sort of long-term contract. I had been under the impression that that was more or less impossible, but it turns out Virgin Mobile has this nifty prepaid concept where you can get away with prepaying a minimum of $15 every 90 days, and you can get a cheap phone for $50. Apparently they only market these plans to college students (it's the exclusive service for "*MTV") and people with no credit history, so I had never heard of it until I came across a random mention while reading through the last few months of ba.food.

And so I'm now (919)395-0011 if anybody ever needs to reach me urgently.

Tuesday night I went to the Philharmonia Baroque plus Chanticleer concert at the Lafeyette-Orinda Presbyterian Church, consisting of 18th century works from the Toledo Cathedral. Absolutely delightful concert of works mostly by Jaime Casellas, who was entirely unfamiliar to me. Chanticleer is a fantastic vocal group, but I was especially impressed by their new soprano Dylan Hostetter; his solos in the opening Missa pange lingua were amazing.

Tonight (after acquiring my cell phone) I stopped at M Is For Mystery in San Mateo for docbrite's talk and signing. That was fun, and I now have a signed copy of Prime.

At dinners this week I've been reading Margo Lanagan's Black Juice. It's a collection of some wonderfully unique stories. My favorite so far is "Sweet Pippit," a story told from the perspective of an elephant whose trainer has been taken away. The oddest story so far is "Red Nose Day", which is about a pair of clown assassins. Weird stuff, and quite enjoyable.