Day 979: Last Works

Last night, one of the last things I heard was somebody who works at WCRB-FM announcing that the radio station was featuring last works by great composers, all weekend.

I wrote that down

as I was working on my latest (but not last, I hope) Games Magazine, because I wanted that idea to last.

Last night, I also heard a beautiful work by Beethoven.

The String Quarter no. 14 in C# minor, Op. 131, one of the last works by Beethoven, is, obviously, going to last. According to Wikipedia, Beethoven dedicated that work to a baron who accepted his nephew into the army after a “failed suicide attempt.”

In my work last week as a psychotherapist, I heard several people talk about “failed” suicide attempts. I hope my work encouraging that kind of “failure” is going to last, too.

Here’s the latest (but not last)  work of my cat, Oscar:


See  the “////////////////////////////” in that photo? That works to show you that Oscar …


… likes to work on the keyboard while I’m working on my blog posts (which I hope will last, too).

Speaking of cats who work on me, last night — while we were working our way through our neighborhood on a walk —  my boyfriend Michael and I saw this cat …


  

… who we last saw many, many months ago. Before last night, I’d been working on a fear that cat had breathed its last. Obviously, that cat is working fine.

So what else would I like to work in here about “Last Works,” before I work on the last word of this post?
Tomorrow is Labor Day in the USA, and my son might work more on his idea — perhaps working it into a lasting stand-up comedy routine — that the name “Labor Day” is lastingly ironic, because it is a day when people who labor do NOT labor. Both Aaron and I, when we were working on lasting through a long walk yesterday, worked on a discussion of whether “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette

 

should be rewritten to include something that is actually ironic, like “Labor Day.”

“Ironic” is going to last, don’t you think?

This is the last thing I’m going to work into this “Last Works” post: Today, I’m going to a funeral of the mother of some friends I last saw many decades ago. I have many lasting memories of this mother and her daughters. After I publish this “Last Works” post, my lasting friend Deb and I will be working our way to our hometown on the North Shore of Boston, to pay our last respects.

Lasting thanks to that mother and her daughters, to my son Aaron, to Michael, to Deb,  to Beethoven, to radio station WCRB-FM, to Leonard Bernstein, to Alanis Morissette, to lasting friendships, to people who “fail” at suicide, to Oscar, to our neighborhood cats, to all things that last as best they can and — last but not least — to you, for lasting here, today.

Categories: personal growth, photojournalism | Tags: , , , , , , , | 36 Comments

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36 thoughts on “Day 979: Last Works

  1. Your neighborhood cat, looks like my neighborhood cat (my avatar). I missed him. The picture is the last and only one I have of him. I hope he is doing ok.

  2. Oscar my grandson, your last works will be with me; I see Ann doesn’t see your talent as a writer; I do! Come with me grandson!

  3. They also have Harley in there, full of with hidden talents. He could play Bogie so well if only they would let him!

  4. I lasted easily through this. But alas, I will not last well the next few weeks as I am going on a road trip and connection will be spotty. You can follow my adventures through the Pacific Northwest, though, on my blog. I promise LOTS of photos. But spotty!

  5. Good morning, Ann! On this long last summer weekend, I’ve chosen today to work on some CEUs required to renew my licenses. And I’ll visit my garden to pick some of those amazing Cherokee Purple heirloom tomatoes. My condolences to you and to your friends for the loss of their mother. I salute you for posting here every single day, a lasting archive of your life as it unfolds.

  6. Love the Beethoven piece..it will be the last sounds on my laptop as I head out to capture the last of summer, Ann. Thanks. 💞

  7. I read somewhere that one person in the world succeeds at suicide every 40 seconds. Ugh.

    I am grateful that there are people like you encouraging failure in such a final act by preventing more success.

  8. I hope that the meaning and spirit of Labor Day is forever lasting, Ann. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. That’s from dol.gov.

  9. Such a lovely touching Beethoven piece Ann as a final remembrance. xo

  10. Mags

    I lasted and read every word, enjoying reading and the music.Oscar has a very sweet face and your neighbor cat seems sweet and looks like a friend’s cat. Hugs

  11. oh that Oscar is just too cute and sweet and smart I might add-with getting right in there to search! I have always thought it ironic that Labor Day is a day of no labor, go figure.

    • That’s not the first search Oscar has done on my computer and I’m sure it’s not the last. I’m lastingly happy to see you, Lisa.

  12. Just letting you know I dropped in today and liked what I read, now I have to go get ready for a funeral

  13. A current TV advert in UK features a man pouring water over his laptop so his dog gets blamed for peeing on it. We have an alternative word for pee. It is slash. So we know what your cat’s been up to.

  14. And lastly, have a great Labor Day, Ann. Thanks for all your insightful posts.

  15. Oh, cats on computers…

    By the way, you’ve been chosen as one of today’s nine blogs in That’s So Jacob’s Ninth Month Blog Challenge (http://www.thatssojacob.wordpress.com)! I challenge you to find nine blogs you find interesting and give them a comment to brighten their day…well, eight other blogs and mine 🙂 Copy this message in your comment and enjoy your new blog friends!

    • That’s very kind of you, Jacob, and I did reply on your blog site. I don’t do awards, and this seems similar to me. However, I will make sure that I comment on 9 new blogs I haven’t been to before (including yours). Many thanks for working hard at your blog and working to help connect other people here.

  16. I listened to the Beethoven piece. It is so sad, almost as if there is a final futile attempt to save something, but there is such a moribund (I love that word) undertone, as if all is lost. This is the last thing I listened to before I went to lay down. I think I will pretend to be one of the main characters at the end of the opera when they are belting out their final breaths. I will fling myself onto the chaise and fall into a sound slumber only to awaken later and berate myself for having accomplished nothing of any great significance today.

    • Perhaps this is my last work on this blog post page (but maybe not): How can you say you have accomplished nothing of any great significance today, SD, when you’ve (1) listened to Beethoven and (2) improved the quality of my life by commenting?

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