I keep coming back to K’Naan’s second album, Troubadour, as a place to remember why music is made in the first place – to tell stories. The song “Fatima” was playing on repeat in my head when the alarm/call from the photo lab/text from my sister all went off at the same time. There’s no video, but here is a decent version of the track.

Also, if you have 45 minutes to kill, watch this fascinating and moving in-studio performance/interview on KCRW:

Zap Mama‘s new album comes out May 26. Get it, and see her live if possible. One of the greatest vocalists I’ve ever heard. But where in the world is DJ Krush these days?

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Curiosity killed the crab, as well.

He must have climbed the stick we recently installed in his crabitat, somehow wedged himself between the covering plate glass and tumbled out. Without access to food or water for who knows how long, he was a goner. We buried him out in the backyard, with some of the sand and pebbles from his home-within-our-home, and some extra shells for the crabby afterlife. We never found his original shell, even after turning the apartment upside down. I like to think that it is a good omen, a sign that he wanted to pass on his home to the next occupants of this place. Seen another way, it could be the residence of his ghost, forever to haunt this hallowed ground.

Needless to say, he was loved more than his crabby heart could ever know. May he (she) rest in peace.

Known to generations of students as “Miss Stathos,” she was a strict disciplinarian who instilled in her students a life-long love of learning. Over the years, students would often return to visit her at the Burbank School to share their news about college, jobs and their families. She touched the lives of more than 1,300 students during her teaching career, and was the recipient of many teaching awards.

She loved traveling, reading and was especially proud of her Greek heritage. Her parents immigrated from Greece in the early 1900s and settled in Cambridge, where Miss Stathos grew up in a tightly-knit Greek family and community. Her father founded the Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Cambridge and owned a candy shop in Central Square.

Miss Stathos is a graduate of Cambridge Latin High School and attended Lesley College and Boston University. She is survived by two sisters, Christine of Wellesley Hills, Mary of South Yarmouth, and two brothers, Charles of Lincoln and John of Charlottesville, Va. Another sister, Julia died in 2002. She is also survived by several nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

Funeral service will be held at 11 am Friday at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church. Burial will be at the Mount Auburn Cemetery, immediately after the service.