After a long, unsettled night of strong moonlight and restless dogs puttering, clicking their nails on the wood floors of the place I'm house-sitting, I awoke with these lyrics in my head:

And it's a long, long way to the top
But when you come down
It's one headlong rush

Those are the opening lines of "Bicycle Spaniard" by Cracker, a dreamy, melodic favorite of mine, with a sinuous guitar line that drizzles like honey over the vocals.

Its appearance represents a significant improvement over the songs that usually float through my waking brain. ("Sweet Escape" by Gwen Stefani shows up a lot.) Where do these songs come from, I wonder. Why does Gwen Stefani have access to my sleeping brain?

And... just now, just ten seconds ago, after I typed the word "brain," I got a text message from Sweetheart, showing a photo of her hand holding up a pair of spats. In the immediate background is a sign reading "LAMB/Gwen Stefani." That was weird.

Look, I�ll just post it, so you can see for yourself (see illustration):

ILLUSTRATION

Is this a sign? Can Gwen see me right now? I would prefer it if she could not, but maybe there is some benefit to her psychic influence. She is a fellow Libra. Perhaps we have a psychic bond. That would be excellent. I guess. I wonder what size shoes she wears.

And so this entry, in which I had intended to explore the nature of unbidden influence, and expand to a discussion of the things around us that we take for granted or willfully ignore, has been sidetracked by a woman with lips that appear to be made of vinyl.

Oh, well. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. All together, now:

Ooo-ooo!
OOOO-ooo!
Ooo-ooo!

Star of the day. . .David Lowry