Of happiness

• Paul McCartney's slight but beautiful song "Bluebird" came up while my ancient iPod was shuffling today. It reminded me of an odd coincidence -- several songs I love have "bluebird" in the title. ELO, one of my favorite bands, has not one but two great bluebird songs: the early album track "Bluebird Is Dead," and the obscure eighties deep cut "Bluebird." The latter is a near perfect pop song: joyful, soaring, and beautifully arranged.


• Thanks to what I can only describe as an inauspicious television choice, Archer is now preoccupied with Rachel Ray. He recreates her 30-minute meals program with Play-Doh, recruiting Cady Gray to be his partner, also named Rachel Ray. This apparently started while I was in Denmark, but I've witnessed the creation of a pancake breakfast and smiley-face cookies. I think Archer's favorite parts are the commercial breaks; he seems delighted to be able to say "And we'll be right back after these messages."


• Cady Gray came home today full of excitement about an encounter with a bee on the playground. "Samir found a bee, and I had to run from the bee. I was running away from the bee!" she repeated with great gravity. I asked her if it was a friendly bee, and she said, "No, there are no friendly bees."