ALL THE NOTES

Dear Spike:

I was feeling a little down yesterday, for no particular reason. Sometimes we just get the blues. That's all.

I thought a bit of happy music might do the trick, so I started flipping through our compact disc folder.

Problem was, we don't seem to own any happy music. And even music I thought was happy turned out not really to be that way once I started listening. Strange how that works.

Even more depressed than when I started, I tried something else: I started whistling. And I'll admit this is a bit strange, but I started feeling better right away. And when I say right away, I mean, right away. Like, within three notes.

Compelled to explore this phenomenon, I started whistling the first few notes of every song I could think of. And as it turns out, it is completely impossible to whistle a melancholy tune. Oh, you can hit all the notes, but it just won't feel sad.

Go ahead and try it.

Mozart's Requiem? Bethoven's Fifth? Morrissey's Bona Drag album? The collective works of Sinead O'Connor? When you whistle, it all sounds like part of a Sesame Street soundtrack.

This revelation alone was enough to make me feel better. And I know it's probably not going to help you out the first time you have your heart broken or when a good friend moves away.

But maybe when you're feeling a bit blue... well... give a little whistle.

Love,
dad