I learn from Silliman's blog this morning that Spicer admired Johnny Mercer. That makes my macaronic poem "Quelqu'uns mots..." better after the fact, because I mention Mercer in one section and Spicer in another. I lament the fact that Mercer never wrote lyrics for Thelonious Monk's "Crepuscule for Nellie." I have decided to log in in English in the morning and in Spanish in the afternoon. I've been getting some great emails from David Shapiro lately, which always make my day. How can I avoid writing my "instruction manual" today?

Mercer is almost too much of poet at times. I am thinking of "Midnight Sun." You need Sarah Vaughn's voice to justify the Victorian richness and density of the lyric. I don't even know who wrote the melody to this song, which is also beautiful. Usually I don't even like lyrics of jazz standards, except when they are written by Lorenz Hart.