I don't know where to find a recording of the 1976 NY Shakespeare Festival Production of "Threepenny Opera."

This is random even for me, I know. But I'm in a restless, irritable mood, tired of doing things for other people and figuring out what everybody else needs and wants.

Sometimes I can snap myself out of these moods by asking: "What do I want?" and trying to take care of that. I recommend this; sometimes it's as simple as an hour alone with a book, or a good cup of coffee.

This morning, what I want is a copy of the cast recording of the 1976 New York Shakespeare Festival production of The Threepenny Opera, starring Raul Julia, Blair Brown and Ellen Greene. I used to own it on vinyl, but lost it in a move; it's possible that it wound up among my ex-fiance's collection, because I know I still have a couple of records that belonged to him. (Which is silly, because I haven't owned a turntable in 20 years.)

But this recording no longer seems to exist. It's out of print, unavailable in either CD or electronic format. I look for it whenever I visit a used record store; I once spent an hour on the floor of a store in Brunswick, sorting through uncatalogued boxes.

Of course, if and when I ever find it, it might not be as good as I remember it. But the tunes are still intact inside my head, and I can still sing whole stretches of it (not that anyone ever asks). This verse from the finale is in my head today, given the current temperature (-2F) and the continuing terrible news about the economy:

Don't punish our wrongdoing too much; never
Will it withstand the frost, for it is cold...
Think of the darkness and the bitter weather,
The cries of pain that echo through this world.

Yeah, I'm in a mood. Maybe what I need to be searching for is a DVD of Road Runner cartoons instead...