Only in Los Angeles

I ventured out of the apartment today to purchase a gift for a housewarming party I'm attending tomorrow. I'm becoming more like an elderly shut-in all the time, and when it's been raining like it has the past couple of days, I'm even more reluctant to go outside. However, the sun was shining the entire time I was out and about this afternoon. I went to the Westside Pavilion because free parking is nothing to sneeze at these days. I was tempted to go to a movie at the Landmark, one of my favorite theaters, but I resisted the urge and stayed focused on finding a suitable gift.

I made my way through the mall to a couple of stores, even walking all the way to the far end from where I parked. That meant I went to the three-story Barnes & Noble, one that is particularly well-stocked, I might add, lots of possible gift choices there. On my way out of the bookstore--no, I'm not going to tell you if I bought anything there or anywhere else--I had to walk through Nordstrom. I was walking toward the escalators when I heard the pianist one floor down. There's almost always someone playing piano on the weekends in this Nordstrom, and today it was a distinguished looking African American man. The tuxedo always helps to make one look distinguished, doesn't it? It took me a couple of seconds to recognize the song he was playing: "The Way He Makes Me Feel," one of the songs from Barbra Streisand's directorial debut, Yentl.

I've not heard the song in a while, to be honest, but the melody is rather distinct. I don't know why he would be playing this song today. The DVD of Yentl just came out this past Tuesday, so perhaps it was fresh in his memory. Maybe he had watched the film and wanted to play one of the beautiful songs written by Michel Legrand and Marilyn & Alan Bergman. Or maybe just he's a fellow Friend of Dorothy (or Friend of Barbra?) and knows all of her music and was in the mood to play one of them. I wonder how many other people walking through Nordstrom today recognized the song. I suspect the number is pretty low.