Calvin loves vacuum cleaners

He told me so.

Then he spent the rest of the evening asking us questions about our vacuum. How long is the cord? What color is it? Is it loud? Does it have a tornado on it? Can I feel the bag? I wish the old vac was still running. He would have loved seeing the filth swirl around in the canister.

We finally got it out for him. He vacuumed the family room a lot. He insisted that we find the attachments for it - sticks, he called them. He's only four.

His sister told him to run the vacuum up against my shoes, but he said no, because my laces could get sucked into the blades.

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Yahoo! Music

At the suggestion of a friend, I signed up for Yahoo! Music. It's very cool. It cost me seventy bucks for the year, but that's way cheaper than cable TV, and I listen to this quite a bit.

I started out with their free radio thing. I rate a bunch of bands, albums and songs, and it plays music according to my taste. Most of the songs are ones I've rated, but some are based on similar artists. If it plays a song I don't like, I skip it. It's like radio without bad songs. I enjoyed that for about a month. Then I started their Music Engine. This is where I actually choose the specific music I want to hear. I can choose a band or an album, or even a single song. I can create playlists (but I don't).

I've been using it to hear music that I've been curious about but never heard. Right now I'm listening to Bill Bruford. Last night it was Roland Kirk. The night before, I heard Miles Davis and Hubert Sumlin. Steve Morse was really good. He's with Deep Purple now. I should find out what they sound like these days. I intend to listen to Physical Graffiti, since I've never heard that one straight through. And pick up those late-period Who albums I've never heard. I could make a whole list.

Any suggestions for me? Anyone you think I should hear?