"So Ray, it's (ahem), real simple. You know that chime that a Mac has when it starts up? What I need is a chord like that, but distinct, it's own sound, not the Mac chime. Like one of those meditation chimes you get at the New-Age stores. But thicker, more complex. Way more complex. And unique. And warm friendly sensual, like something that you would hear on Oprah, or the Oxygen Channel. A bit more sexual than Lifetime. A bit too sexy for Hallmark. Lots of complex overtones, or something like that. Five, maybe ten seconds. Lots of tail. Enough tail for it to die out to silence, but no obvious reverb. You're the master."

"Yeah, can do. You know my rate covers the first ten minutes of music."

"And if the chord is like I want, I won't need the other nine minutes and whatever seconds."

"AIFF, WAV, or MP3?"

"Any high-res format. Uncompressed. I'm going to start with a DVD, but I'll probably end up making MP3's, so the higher quality and less compression you give me, the less shitty it will sound at 320 or 240 or wherever I decide to deliver. I'll need the right to use in multiple compositions, but as a work for hire, I shouldn't have any problems. Right?"

"You actually understand copyright law. Now if my rights lawyer were as smart as you and understood all about computers, I'd be a happy man."

"So I'll e-mail you an agreement, and we'll do the fax thing, and you'll ship me a file."

"That's the way it works."

Ray was an old high school buddy who reappeared as a big-time music-for-TV composer. Music beds for comedy series, lots of commercials. And, as I found on his web site, general composer-for-hire. I hired.

<Chime>

"My check cleared?"

"Oh, I made sure of that before I dug out my keyboard. Remember when you fixed that keyboard for me back in high school?"

"I was clueless at the time."

"Yeah, this one took that same horrible lot of rearranging all of the elements to get it to come out right. I should have charged you for an hour. A Christmas comedy special with original music would have been easier. But if you're happy, I'm happy. Let me know what the title is when it comes out."

"I'll send you some copies. Add 'em to your demo reel."

"Let me know the next time you need some more music. But for you, the minimums just went up."

"C'est la vie."

"Welcome to the Palo Alto Method for Richer and More Fulfilling Orgasms. Please ensure that you are seated in a safe, comfortable place before playing this DVD. We suggest that you not be driving a car, not be operating machinery, and not be in a public place while listening to this lesson. The Palo Alto Method works to develop your inner focus on deeply personal sensations, which is counter to what is needed for public activities.

<chime>

"And now that you are in a safe, comfortable, place, you could relax, and let the sounds of this method drift through your consciousness. Like white puffy clouds in a blue sky, let the words float by, and you might notice if they could mean something to you. When you were little, skies were blue, the sun was yellow, and clouds were white, and as you became older, you developed a deeper consciousness of colors, so that azure became distinguished from royal blue, daffodil became distinguished from mustard, and eggshell became distinguished from iceberg. And this is as it should be, for as you gain more experience, you are capable of distinguishing finer and finer shades. And in this program you will recognize the depth of your experience, and you will distinguish finer and finer shades of sensation. And this is as it could be, that you are capable of distinguishing finer and finer shades of sensation, and of linking sensations together, and linking sensations with your orgasm.

<chime>

"And now relax, and savor the sensation of relaxing into a warm scented bubble bath. And the water is exactly the right amount of warm, just warm enough so that it relaxes every muscle of your body. And the water is warm, and laps against your body. And notice the sensation of the warm water, and the sensation of your body in the water. And notice that there is exactly enough water to relax and support you, and notice that every muscle of your body relaxes as you sink into the warm water. And you let every muscle of your body relax as you sink into the warm water. Notice how your neck relaxes, and your chest. Notice that your belly relaxes and your thighs and your legs and your calves, all the way down to your ankles and your feet and the tips of your toes all relax. And notice that your arms and hands and your fingers all relax, all the way out to your fingertips. And notice the sensation of your muscles relaxing as you sink into the warm water. And notice the scent of the water, just the right scent to relax you, and just the right scent to clear your head of all thoughts, and the faint cloud of scent clears your breath, and you breathe deeply, clearing the air from your lungs, and drawing clean warm scented air into your lungs. And notice that your head is clear of all of your thoughts. And you take another breath of the warm scented air, and draw clean warm scented air into your lungs. Any you notice the sensations of drawing a breath of the warm air, and notice what you feel in your chest, and on your skin. And the bubbles are warm against your skin, easing the transition from the warm water to the comfortable air. And you notice the feel of the bubbles on your skin.

<chime>

"So now think back ands recall an orgasm, and recall the sensations in your body. Recall the sensations in your body, and notice that many of them are located in a specific part of your body. And now that you can distinguish many different parts of your body, notice how the sensations were located in different parts of your body. And now that you are capable of distinguishing body sensations from each other, and notice that there were sensations in your face, and sensations in your breasts, and sensations in your genitals. And examine closely, and you will see that each of these sensations was an aggregate of many specific sensations, and that all of these sensations together were linked to your orgasm.