1. It’s Monday, April 25, 2016.

2. My favorite Prince piece is “1999.” I love that organ open on the recording. It announces itself, as a lot of great songs do.

As for Prince himself, I haven’t listened to much of what he’s done in the 21st century. The songs of the 1980s and 1990s set quite a standard on their own.

My brother says the reason Prince’s death resonates with so many people is that his music is the soundtrack of their romance.

I can’t say that’s true for me. But his music is the soundtrack of a time and place in my life that was exciting and adventurous, and I think that’s why his sudden death resonates so much.

3. Still, I was a little surprised by the outpouring for him.

I didn’t expect President Obama to issue a statement – although there is the possibility that he and the First Lady had “Little Red Corvette” playing in the background of their first days. Sports teams and cities turned their sites and buildings purple to commemorate his passing. Maybe it was the shock of someone not so old, and the suddenness.

4. So do you think the deal went down?

Did the rival gangs meet at the Golden Corral in Hermitage, Pa., to work it out?

Was Reince Priebus held hostage, like the Bocchiccios in “The Godfather,” until the details were worked out and no one was double-crossed? (Is he still there?)

Did the two principals meet and kiss each other on the cheek – nah, I take that back, these guys aren’t letting that photo op take place.

Those guys, of course, are Ted Cruz and John Kasich. They have announced an alliance of sorts in an effort to stop Donald Trump from a first-ballot presidential nomination at the Republican convention in Cleveland.

Cruz won’t campaign in New Mexico or Oregon, while Kasich will pass on Indiana. Together, those states have a little more than 100 delegates, but they could be enough to stall Trump and allow one of the two – or, of course, some mysterious else – to claim the nomination.

5. There’s a bunch of flaws in this in my mind. But I – like almost everyone else – have been wrong an awful lot this election cycle, so take this with appropriate grains of salt.

First, if I’m a moderate Republican in Indiana, I might be thinking Ted Cruz is as bad for the party as Donald Trump; and the Ohio governor is a neighbor.

Similarly, if I’m a fundamentalist conservative in Oregon, do I really feel comfortable voting for Kasich, who said in an early debate he attended a same-sex marriage of a friend even though he opposes the idea?

In short, how comfortable are people voting for someone because he’s not someone else, rather than voting for who you want?

Secondly, if I’m Donald Trump, whose success is predicated on the idea that the system is out to get me and you and everyone like us, is this the smoking gun or what?

No one wants me except you, he can tell his minions in Indianapolis and Bend and Gallup, and it’ll resonate.

Finally, let’s say the Cruz-Kasich Pact succeeds. They stop Trump from getting the nomination on the first ballot.

Who the hell do the Republicans nominate?

Cruz and Kasich won’t be able to combine their delegates to choose the candidate themselves. Are they going to be able to convince other non-Trump Republicans and those forced by law to support Trump on the first ballot that their partnership is the path to beating the Democrats?

Does Cruz, who has far more delegates, have to take Kasich or Kasich’s designate as his running mate?

Does someone who never ran in a single primary, or who dropped out, get a gift nomination?

And how do you think the people who support Trump, who now are less than 400 delegates from their goal and will be even closer after tomorrow’s mid-Atlantic primaries, would feel about the nomination going to “Lyin’ Ted,” “1-for-38 Kasich,” “Little Marco” or anyone else not named Donald J. Trump?

It’s 84 days until the Republican convention. It’s gonna be a fun 12 weeks.