Paul’s gone cosmopolite on me again, so I was solo for walk as well as shuffle this morning. This gave me the chance to swap iPods between events, and hook up to a book I’ve been listening to in the car, called The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen, by Jacques Pepin. I liked Pepin from the first time I saw him on TV, with his wonderful French accent, easy-going approach to technique, and general joy at the counter and stove. But I became a real fan when I realized that he, too, was the slightly stunned father of a beautiful, charming, and accomplished daughter.

I’m no foodie. If someone asks me for the best place to eat around here, I’m likely to recommend Blackie’s, home of the world’s best hot dogs (and conveniently between me and the nearest REI). But Pepin’s story of a classic French apprenticeship, followed by a life in the US using and modifying what he had learned, is fascinating. And he seems like a guy who’d appreciate Blackie’s, too.

I can’t start listening to this book on the Shuffle, because I could never find the spot where I left off, so I’m still searching for an appropriate replacement for what this morning began with “Come Softly to Me” and ended with “Silhouettes”. Let me take you out today with a dulcet and deeply meaningful Wa-wa-ooooooo.