Thursday: Up around 8:30, as MB was heading out, some web, shower, morning practices in the dance room. Down basement, collecting the garbage can and recycling bin on the way. Hung a picture for MB over the closet door in the dance room. Breakfast, a little guitar.
Off to work. And continued my integration of one project into the other, via the SCC system. Had a talk with B. We agreed that we'd seen the same thing, and come to different conclusions, and that, although I disagreed, that I would do what they requested. Lunch at my desk. Windy in the morning, and rain in the afternoon, clearing in the evening. The project integration project took the rest of the day, finally committing it around 9, and headed home.
Back there, MB and Christine were out having dinner. I ate the leftover Indian food listening to the radio. Worked on a composition for an hour or two, first on piano, and then learning what I'd written on guitar. Some emailing.
MB and Christine returned from dinner, with tales of Hebrew karaoke at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Newton. Thinking about rowing to Paris for Christmas.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
can't get there from here
Wednesday: Slept in a bit, and up around 10. Brief web. Shower and morning practices. Down basement and said hello to Christine. Cereal and a cup of tea. Bit of guitar. Burned some discs of KTR's talks at Milarepa. Stopped on my way to work to drop these in the mail. Quite a nice day out, cool and clear again.
At work, folding M into D, and working out the associated build kinks. Talked with B, but he couldn't really answer my question. Later on, a meeting with B and Rbt. This was difficult, because I was having to defend my failure on my recent round of work. And a deadline is looming close... much closer than I thought. Working with J to AB the performance differences between D and L. Headed out at 6:43.
At KKC, and another hard to fathom class. Sitting next to Wendy's sister. Had to leave for a couple of coughing fits. After class, stuffed envelopes for a while with Wnd. Her father has taken a turn for the worse. Then, out for some coffee and donuts at a local shop, talking about testing procedures, and how sometimes what seems to be bad luck, is good luck.
Home. MB still out dancing. Took out the recycling, and boiled some noodles. Wrote a note to a friend in the neighborhood that I've been lazy about keeping in touch with. Making a pasta salad as MB returned. We hung out while I seasoned the salad. We both ate a little. Bed soon.
At work, folding M into D, and working out the associated build kinks. Talked with B, but he couldn't really answer my question. Later on, a meeting with B and Rbt. This was difficult, because I was having to defend my failure on my recent round of work. And a deadline is looming close... much closer than I thought. Working with J to AB the performance differences between D and L. Headed out at 6:43.
At KKC, and another hard to fathom class. Sitting next to Wendy's sister. Had to leave for a couple of coughing fits. After class, stuffed envelopes for a while with Wnd. Her father has taken a turn for the worse. Then, out for some coffee and donuts at a local shop, talking about testing procedures, and how sometimes what seems to be bad luck, is good luck.
Home. MB still out dancing. Took out the recycling, and boiled some noodles. Wrote a note to a friend in the neighborhood that I've been lazy about keeping in touch with. Making a pasta salad as MB returned. We hung out while I seasoned the salad. We both ate a little. Bed soon.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
dinner with Christine and MB
Tuesday: Woke around 8:30 as MB headed out. Slept a bit more. Not feeling quite myself today. Checked email with a question about the NST Intro. Spent quite a while formulating a response. Shower. Morning practices. Down basement briefly. Breakfast. A bit of guitar. Wrote some emails to old friends. Walked over to the fire station, and cast my ballot in the special state senate election. They said turnout was low.
Quite a nice day out... clear, but temperatures are getting cooler for sure. Most of the time today at work was spent thinking about design, and doing some reorganization. Help Dv with some tricky file IO code. Lunch at my desk. Consulted with Dnl about the SCC system, and his knowledge of a particular bit of code. Headed home around 8:45.
MB, Christine and I arrived home all at 9 PM. We decided to walk to Union Square for Indian food. A nice meal, and good conversation. Then, all feeling stuffed, we hiked up to the top of the Somerville hill and looked across at the Boston night-time skyline. Back home, and tea, talking about old times, and what's become of us.
Quite a nice day out... clear, but temperatures are getting cooler for sure. Most of the time today at work was spent thinking about design, and doing some reorganization. Help Dv with some tricky file IO code. Lunch at my desk. Consulted with Dnl about the SCC system, and his knowledge of a particular bit of code. Headed home around 8:45.
MB, Christine and I arrived home all at 9 PM. We decided to walk to Union Square for Indian food. A nice meal, and good conversation. Then, all feeling stuffed, we hiked up to the top of the Somerville hill and looked across at the Boston night-time skyline. Back home, and tea, talking about old times, and what's become of us.
Monday, September 26, 2005
scary monster
Monday: Up around 8:30, but went back to bed for a little while. Still feeling a bit ill. Shower and morning practices. Fed cats. Breakfast. Burned some old newspapers in the backyard. A little guitar. Victor called to arrange for dropping off some of the cards that Terry had printed out. Down basement briefly.
Over to KKC for water bowls. H was there with his young daughter. In a playful way, I frowned at her and made my 'cookie monster growl'... something that I used to do with a couple of other very young girls that would make them scream with mock terror, and then giggle with delight. Unfortunately, this little girl took it the wrong way, and just cried and cried... inconsolable. When her father left with her, she were still in tears. Not exactly the response I had hoped for.
In at work, I spent most of the day fixing an issue in a feature that someone else had added. The multi support had never been there. Found a typo in a previous fix. Ate lunch at my desk, and did some design work in the evening.
Headed back home around 9:30. Raining a bit. Stopped for gas. Hung out with MB in the kitchen, eating soup and reading Rolling Stone magazine. A little music. Working on the KKC website.
Over to KKC for water bowls. H was there with his young daughter. In a playful way, I frowned at her and made my 'cookie monster growl'... something that I used to do with a couple of other very young girls that would make them scream with mock terror, and then giggle with delight. Unfortunately, this little girl took it the wrong way, and just cried and cried... inconsolable. When her father left with her, she were still in tears. Not exactly the response I had hoped for.
In at work, I spent most of the day fixing an issue in a feature that someone else had added. The multi support had never been there. Found a typo in a previous fix. Ate lunch at my desk, and did some design work in the evening.
Headed back home around 9:30. Raining a bit. Stopped for gas. Hung out with MB in the kitchen, eating soup and reading Rolling Stone magazine. A little music. Working on the KKC website.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
lazy sunday, no circle
Sunday: MB woke me as she was heading off to church, around 10 AM. I had a very lazy morning. A brief sitting. Some web surfing. Downstairs and made some breakfast (eggs and coffee), listening to the radio. Christine called, and I invited her up. She had some cereal and yerba, and we talked about her upcoming tour, and various band dynamics.
MB returned from attending a OCBC congregational meeting. Amazingly, it was 2:45 PM. Christine headed off. I took a shower. Started working on updating the KKC online calendar. MB needed to use the iMac, so I shifted downstairs. Around 4 we had some tea (cookies and coffee), talking politics. Most of the afternoon was spent on the calendar. I also made a little page with information about Ven. Choden Rinpoche's visit to KKC in November.
We were supposed to have done some busking with the NEGC this evening, but David and Martin were feeling sick. I was too, but not so bad as to keep me from it. MB was having a lesson with Victor, and headed off around 7. She called a bit later to say that since the circle meeting would have just been me, her and Victor, that it might be best for me to stay home, and for it to just be a private lesson for her. That was agreeable to me.
Down basement for daily practices. When I emerged, I began putting a dinner together. MB returned. She made some toast and sat with me while I ate my veggie burger, and leftover chilli and potato. Loaded the dishwasher. Catching up on diarizing. We're going to get to bed on the early side tonight.
MB returned from attending a OCBC congregational meeting. Amazingly, it was 2:45 PM. Christine headed off. I took a shower. Started working on updating the KKC online calendar. MB needed to use the iMac, so I shifted downstairs. Around 4 we had some tea (cookies and coffee), talking politics. Most of the afternoon was spent on the calendar. I also made a little page with information about Ven. Choden Rinpoche's visit to KKC in November.
We were supposed to have done some busking with the NEGC this evening, but David and Martin were feeling sick. I was too, but not so bad as to keep me from it. MB was having a lesson with Victor, and headed off around 7. She called a bit later to say that since the circle meeting would have just been me, her and Victor, that it might be best for me to stay home, and for it to just be a private lesson for her. That was agreeable to me.
Down basement for daily practices. When I emerged, I began putting a dinner together. MB returned. She made some toast and sat with me while I ate my veggie burger, and leftover chilli and potato. Loaded the dishwasher. Catching up on diarizing. We're going to get to bed on the early side tonight.
Saturday, September 24, 2005
HHDL Avelokiteshvara NYC
Saturday (Norwalk CT): My internal alarm woke me at 4:30 AM. Downstairs for a brief sitting. Woke MB at 5 AM, and had a quick shower. Mom was up not long after that. Breakfast. We were on the road by a little after 6 AM. Very little traffic heading into Manhattan. We found a garage and parked by a little after 7 AM.
After getting some coffees and snacks, we went and stood in line. Many folks from Kurukulla wandered past. It was a little chilly out, and I had forgotten to bring any sort of coat. The doors opened around 9 AM, and we were seated by 9:30. Wnd wound up sitting right next to MB, which was a happy coincidence.
The first session with HHDL began at 10, and ran until noon. It was a (action-tantra) Avelokiteshvara empowerment. He spoke in Tibetan, and it was then serially translated into English and then Vietnamese (the NYC Vietnamese Buddhist community was responsible for putting on the event). The dual translation gave quite a slow pace to things, and combined with my early rise, made paying attention quite a struggle. Vietnamese is quite an odd noodly language to my Western ear. English is more verbose than Tibetan, but Vietnamese is even more so.
We had a break between noon and 2 PM, so we walked out and got some pizza slices and coffee in a shop a few blocks down. It was strange walking past the peep shows and through the thronging masses after the experience we had just had. One guy who was begging for change that looked like he was dying from AIDS. When we returned from eating lunch he had given up begging, and was lying propped up against a wall in a puddle of his own urine.
The second session was a commentary on the first. I picked up a few good tidbits, but I was so sleepy it was very difficult to focus. Also, its quite esoteric material, and even in two hours there's only so much detail that can be delivered. Especially when your audience falls asleep.
MB and I had thought about posting some NST Intro flyers while we were in NYC, but at the end of the event, it seemed like the best plan was to just head out as quickly as we could. Picked up the car from the garage. (We got the 'special' rate... $12 more than the normal rate.) Decided to stop at my mom's for a cup of tea. She'd had some good news: the P&S on the Cape house had been signed, and they had put 10% down. And then, a long drive back to Boston. MB and I played the yes/no guessing game. My thing for her was Pepe LePew, and her's for me was Pinecone.
We stopped at the grocery store in Somerville. Then back home, we put things away, and I went down basement for the rest of my daily practices. Christine came in just after I wrapped up. MB and I were watching SNL, and I was eating a potato with veggie chilli and cheese. She came up and hung out with us for a while. Then, some email, and to bed by about 1:30.
After getting some coffees and snacks, we went and stood in line. Many folks from Kurukulla wandered past. It was a little chilly out, and I had forgotten to bring any sort of coat. The doors opened around 9 AM, and we were seated by 9:30. Wnd wound up sitting right next to MB, which was a happy coincidence.
The first session with HHDL began at 10, and ran until noon. It was a (action-tantra) Avelokiteshvara empowerment. He spoke in Tibetan, and it was then serially translated into English and then Vietnamese (the NYC Vietnamese Buddhist community was responsible for putting on the event). The dual translation gave quite a slow pace to things, and combined with my early rise, made paying attention quite a struggle. Vietnamese is quite an odd noodly language to my Western ear. English is more verbose than Tibetan, but Vietnamese is even more so.
We had a break between noon and 2 PM, so we walked out and got some pizza slices and coffee in a shop a few blocks down. It was strange walking past the peep shows and through the thronging masses after the experience we had just had. One guy who was begging for change that looked like he was dying from AIDS. When we returned from eating lunch he had given up begging, and was lying propped up against a wall in a puddle of his own urine.
The second session was a commentary on the first. I picked up a few good tidbits, but I was so sleepy it was very difficult to focus. Also, its quite esoteric material, and even in two hours there's only so much detail that can be delivered. Especially when your audience falls asleep.
MB and I had thought about posting some NST Intro flyers while we were in NYC, but at the end of the event, it seemed like the best plan was to just head out as quickly as we could. Picked up the car from the garage. (We got the 'special' rate... $12 more than the normal rate.) Decided to stop at my mom's for a cup of tea. She'd had some good news: the P&S on the Cape house had been signed, and they had put 10% down. And then, a long drive back to Boston. MB and I played the yes/no guessing game. My thing for her was Pepe LePew, and her's for me was Pinecone.
We stopped at the grocery store in Somerville. Then back home, we put things away, and I went down basement for the rest of my daily practices. Christine came in just after I wrapped up. MB and I were watching SNL, and I was eating a potato with veggie chilli and cheese. She came up and hung out with us for a while. Then, some email, and to bed by about 1:30.
Friday, September 23, 2005
police activity
Friday: Up around 8:30, as MB headed out. Brief web. Shower, packing. Morning practices. Some breakfast and a little guitar. Down basement briefly, no Christine. Noticed that the soft top of my car has three distinct slices in it, that look like they were made with a razor blade. Overcast in the morning, clearing in the afternoon.
Headed to work. A long conversation with B about a new architecture to replace the one I was working on. More emails with add-on makers. A tweak, trying to resolve an add-on's bug (which didn't help). Released a new dev kit internally, adding a small feature we need for our own add-ons. Ate some lasagna at my desk. Left at 6:15.
Back home, some last minute things, and then on the road with MB by about 7:15. Stopped at a rest area near the 84 join. Bits of heavy traffic, but overall OK. Listening to Negativeland's Dispepsia, Primus, and RF String Quintet. On 91 there was some major police activity going on... many vehicles with flashing lights, a helicopter with a search light, German Shepherds, and so on. MB saw a guy lying (possibly handcuffed) in the grass. Stopped at a rest area, on the Merit for coffee. A guy was waiting for his wife, and asked us about what was going on on 91.
Arrived at my mom's about 10:45. Made the bed, and had a good conversation, about the shaky state of the world, and MB's relationship with her brother. We have an early morning tomorrow, so to bed soon.
Headed to work. A long conversation with B about a new architecture to replace the one I was working on. More emails with add-on makers. A tweak, trying to resolve an add-on's bug (which didn't help). Released a new dev kit internally, adding a small feature we need for our own add-ons. Ate some lasagna at my desk. Left at 6:15.
Back home, some last minute things, and then on the road with MB by about 7:15. Stopped at a rest area near the 84 join. Bits of heavy traffic, but overall OK. Listening to Negativeland's Dispepsia, Primus, and RF String Quintet. On 91 there was some major police activity going on... many vehicles with flashing lights, a helicopter with a search light, German Shepherds, and so on. MB saw a guy lying (possibly handcuffed) in the grass. Stopped at a rest area, on the Merit for coffee. A guy was waiting for his wife, and asked us about what was going on on 91.
Arrived at my mom's about 10:45. Made the bed, and had a good conversation, about the shaky state of the world, and MB's relationship with her brother. We have an early morning tomorrow, so to bed soon.
mums rehearsal
Thursday: Up around 9, surprised that MB wasn't already up. Then I remembered it was her day to work at home. I got in the shower before her. Downstairs, made coffee (fru-fru for her and espresso for me) and poured some cereal. Some bits of guitar. We ate breakfast together. Down basement for morning practices, no Christine. Sitting was extra long for some reason. Emerged, loaded the car with my electric rig, a bit of email and then off to work.
Had a long conversation with B today about my bandwidth project. Possibly a serious rethinking in the works, but it seems we have a way forward. Emailing and some wild remote low level debugging. Left a project loading and got a couple of slices of pizza. Lovely weather here. Rita is about to hit TX. Worked through one little enhancement, and then headed off for my practice with Shawn.
Terrible traffic compounded the fast that I didn't leave on time, so I arrived almost a half hour late. A good session, but the challenge of the pieces we are working on is becoming more evident as time goes on, rather than less. I'm having quite a hard time playing my own compositions. I guess that's a good thing. Worked for quite a while on Chrysanthemum. We went for a little walk, I got a espresso-milk drink at Starbucks, then did more work. Shawn has the map, but has to fill in some details. The middle inverted section is still beyond me.
Back home, MB was still out at a BD performance in Lowell. Some more music, working on a bass-line. MB returned not much later. We chatted and had snacks in the kitchen. Our yard-helper M just installed a compost bin for us. Neat.
Our illustrious leader said tonight "To withdraw from Iraq now would be to repeat the mistakes of the past, that led to the attacks on September 11th." My first thought was how wonderful it would be to actually talk about what led to those attacks, and how strange it is that 4 years on, this was the first time I had heard him mention that there might be things that we did that were contributing factors. My second thought was to wonder what mistakes he was talking about. It could well be that this whole Iraq war business is a complicated playing out of 'the son proving the father wrong.' And with that, I give you the smirking chimp.
Had a long conversation with B today about my bandwidth project. Possibly a serious rethinking in the works, but it seems we have a way forward. Emailing and some wild remote low level debugging. Left a project loading and got a couple of slices of pizza. Lovely weather here. Rita is about to hit TX. Worked through one little enhancement, and then headed off for my practice with Shawn.
Terrible traffic compounded the fast that I didn't leave on time, so I arrived almost a half hour late. A good session, but the challenge of the pieces we are working on is becoming more evident as time goes on, rather than less. I'm having quite a hard time playing my own compositions. I guess that's a good thing. Worked for quite a while on Chrysanthemum. We went for a little walk, I got a espresso-milk drink at Starbucks, then did more work. Shawn has the map, but has to fill in some details. The middle inverted section is still beyond me.
Back home, MB was still out at a BD performance in Lowell. Some more music, working on a bass-line. MB returned not much later. We chatted and had snacks in the kitchen. Our yard-helper M just installed a compost bin for us. Neat.
Our illustrious leader said tonight "To withdraw from Iraq now would be to repeat the mistakes of the past, that led to the attacks on September 11th." My first thought was how wonderful it would be to actually talk about what led to those attacks, and how strange it is that 4 years on, this was the first time I had heard him mention that there might be things that we did that were contributing factors. My second thought was to wonder what mistakes he was talking about. It could well be that this whole Iraq war business is a complicated playing out of 'the son proving the father wrong.' And with that, I give you the smirking chimp.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
angry awakening
Wednesday: Woke around 8:00, to MB getting up. After she left I was lazing, when the phone rang. It was the plumber who runs the company that installed our furnace and hot water tank. She said that they had dropped the key in my mailbox, and that was the end of it as far as they were concerned. She also said, in a hostile tone of voice, that she had read my report of her company on the internet site that I had used to contract them in the first place. She hung up on me. Not the best way to start the day. Shower, then morning practices in the dance room. Breakfast and a little guitar. Pulled my stuff together, down basement briefly, and said hello to Christine.
Stopped at the post office and sent off some flyers to TG. In to work. A bug I had fixed bounced back to me from testers. It's actually a slightly different, but related, bug they are complaining about now. Emails to various folks, mostly about add-on issues. Took a walk out (very nice weather) and flyered H Sq, hitting several CD stores, and putting a couple around on the street (though I know they'll get pulled down almost immediately). Pizza. Rita is heading for Texas. Saw Martha Stewart saying how lucky she thinks everyone is, that she was letting us watch her on TV. Ran out of time on the bounced back bug. Left at 6:35.
KKC, and feeling pretty sleepy. Class only ran for an hour tonight, and then it was a ceremony. I sat on a chair in the back and followed along in English. Afterwards, talked to Nick and Rbt briefly. Wendy's sister is in town (from Australia), and it was nice to see her. Said hello briefly to Wnd, and she gave me a little prayer wheel that she'd gotten in AZ.
Stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Talked to my mom about our trip to NYC on Saturday, and staying at her house. Picked up a few essentials. Back home, and talked to MB while I ate a little lasagna. Her friend, who escaped New Orleans after Katrina, is trying to figure out how to go back to get her stuff. We may take a road trip down with her. That could be pretty educational. A little guitar and some email. Soon bed.
Stopped at the post office and sent off some flyers to TG. In to work. A bug I had fixed bounced back to me from testers. It's actually a slightly different, but related, bug they are complaining about now. Emails to various folks, mostly about add-on issues. Took a walk out (very nice weather) and flyered H Sq, hitting several CD stores, and putting a couple around on the street (though I know they'll get pulled down almost immediately). Pizza. Rita is heading for Texas. Saw Martha Stewart saying how lucky she thinks everyone is, that she was letting us watch her on TV. Ran out of time on the bounced back bug. Left at 6:35.
KKC, and feeling pretty sleepy. Class only ran for an hour tonight, and then it was a ceremony. I sat on a chair in the back and followed along in English. Afterwards, talked to Nick and Rbt briefly. Wendy's sister is in town (from Australia), and it was nice to see her. Said hello briefly to Wnd, and she gave me a little prayer wheel that she'd gotten in AZ.
Stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Talked to my mom about our trip to NYC on Saturday, and staying at her house. Picked up a few essentials. Back home, and talked to MB while I ate a little lasagna. Her friend, who escaped New Orleans after Katrina, is trying to figure out how to go back to get her stuff. We may take a road trip down with her. That could be pretty educational. A little guitar and some email. Soon bed.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
flyering squirrels
Tuesday: Up around 9 as MB headed out. Too long on the web. Shower. Morning practices in the dance room. Feeling sleepy. A load of whites. Breakfast. Guitar. Emailing about the Roundhouse course. Lots. Briefly down basement, Christine already gone.
Drove to Davis Square. Flyering. The first shop I put a flyer in was "Rocking Bob's Guitars" a used guitar store. As they say "It's a sign." Also hit a couple of coffee shops, and a CD store. Picked up dietary supplements for the cats at the vet. Tried another music store in Porter Sq (Cambridge Music) but they don't have a bulletin board. Posted one near the Tibet Arts shop. A guy asked me, in an urgent tone of voice, where the nearest place was he could purchase a 6-pack.
A mellow but satisfying day at work. I fixed a couple of small problems, but spent most of the time working out ways to convince the developers of a couple of add-ons, that their software was misbehaving. It's a bit weird how much of my time is spent this way... but since I can't fix their bugs for them, I must convince them that they should give it more effort. It wasn't clear if yoga was happening tonight, so I hadn't brought my stuff. It turned out it was, but I took the opportunity to work late. My body needs some exercise though. Stayed until about 9:30.
Back home, MB showed me a mysterious piece of chocolate (with wrapper nearby) that had appeared on our back porch. We have had problems before with kids and some vandalism, but it seemed pretty odd to think that someone would be hanging around in our backyard eating chocolate. On closer inspection, the tooth marks did not look human. I suspect a squirrel is the culprit.
Speaking of squirrels, I saw some Scientology folks plying their wares in Davis Square today. They had a table set up with a huge stack of copies of Dianetics, and they were giving free "Auditing" sessions, complete with the little galvanometer (or whatever it is). I was feeling good about judging them, when I realized I was there to walk around posting flyers for my own little club. If not squirrels, maybe we're just monkeys.
Some more email. Guitar. And a snack. Soon bed.
Drove to Davis Square. Flyering. The first shop I put a flyer in was "Rocking Bob's Guitars" a used guitar store. As they say "It's a sign." Also hit a couple of coffee shops, and a CD store. Picked up dietary supplements for the cats at the vet. Tried another music store in Porter Sq (Cambridge Music) but they don't have a bulletin board. Posted one near the Tibet Arts shop. A guy asked me, in an urgent tone of voice, where the nearest place was he could purchase a 6-pack.
A mellow but satisfying day at work. I fixed a couple of small problems, but spent most of the time working out ways to convince the developers of a couple of add-ons, that their software was misbehaving. It's a bit weird how much of my time is spent this way... but since I can't fix their bugs for them, I must convince them that they should give it more effort. It wasn't clear if yoga was happening tonight, so I hadn't brought my stuff. It turned out it was, but I took the opportunity to work late. My body needs some exercise though. Stayed until about 9:30.
Back home, MB showed me a mysterious piece of chocolate (with wrapper nearby) that had appeared on our back porch. We have had problems before with kids and some vandalism, but it seemed pretty odd to think that someone would be hanging around in our backyard eating chocolate. On closer inspection, the tooth marks did not look human. I suspect a squirrel is the culprit.
Speaking of squirrels, I saw some Scientology folks plying their wares in Davis Square today. They had a table set up with a huge stack of copies of Dianetics, and they were giving free "Auditing" sessions, complete with the little galvanometer (or whatever it is). I was feeling good about judging them, when I realized I was there to walk around posting flyers for my own little club. If not squirrels, maybe we're just monkeys.
Some more email. Guitar. And a snack. Soon bed.
lonely guys with too much disposable income who are picky about their stereos
Monday: Woke around 9 as MB was heading out. Little sleep. Lazed a bit... took me a bit to gather my faculties. Brief web, shower, bit of guitar, breakfast. Morning practices up in the dance room. Put away laundry. Down basement briefly, Christine had already left. Decided it was too late to run any of the errands I'd been contemplating.
Over at KKC, filled water bowls. Other than the room needing a little sweeping, everything else was in good shape, so it went quickly. Brought garbage cans around back. Lovely weather today.
In at work, fairly productive. Emails to the OS folks about a mysterious crash that is happening on one person's system. Sent in an official application to the Colrain course. Got through the rest of my bug list. Another 'bug' marked 'urgent' wound up being expected behavior. Stayed at work until about 9:30.
Back home, hanging with MB. Made a big eggplant lasagna. Listening to Esquivel and Combustible Edison with MB, in preparation for a Space Age Belly Dance gig. OK! Clean-up. Guitar, with one eye on the lasagna. Working on counting to 15. Soon bed.
Over at KKC, filled water bowls. Other than the room needing a little sweeping, everything else was in good shape, so it went quickly. Brought garbage cans around back. Lovely weather today.
In at work, fairly productive. Emails to the OS folks about a mysterious crash that is happening on one person's system. Sent in an official application to the Colrain course. Got through the rest of my bug list. Another 'bug' marked 'urgent' wound up being expected behavior. Stayed at work until about 9:30.
Back home, hanging with MB. Made a big eggplant lasagna. Listening to Esquivel and Combustible Edison with MB, in preparation for a Space Age Belly Dance gig. OK! Clean-up. Guitar, with one eye on the lasagna. Working on counting to 15. Soon bed.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Chrysanthemums
Sunday: Up around 9:15. MB already downstairs. Shower. Brief sitting. Had some cereal, then headed to Kurukulla, as MB headed to OCBC. Hln led a puja today, since all of our usual teachers are in AZ. It wrapped up early. I took a drive around, winding up back home.
Had some coffee and cookies. Laundry. Played guitar until about 1:40, making a quick recording of my new piece, which I have dubbed Chrysanthemums. Very difficult. Down basement for daily practices. MB returned during. Popped upstairs and said hello. We had lunch of miso soup, bread and cheese. Then, the plan was to go do some other stuff and rendezvous back at 5 PM.
Down basement to wind microfilm. Things were going well, with the advent of a guide, which gave me a more even wind. But then, one of the spools fell apart, and trying to cram it back together again took the rest of my time. Back upstairs, and watched the rest of "Roger Dodger"... a good film, but I didn't quite buy the ending. Back downstairs for more winding. I repaired the spool that fell apart by cutting it into two chunks, then rewinding the outer chunk around the inner. Wrapped up all I could at this point. Will need to order more. Back upstairs, and practiced guitar for a bit, reviewing some material for this evening's circle. Unloaded the dishwasher with MB. Coffee.
Good circle tonight: Me, MB, Victor, Martin, David. We worked on 'embroidery', pentatonic circulation, fast circulation, marching while Thraking, and Askesis. Some discussion about the upcoming Intro to NST course, and how to promote it, as well as some other things on the horizon.
Back home, I made an omelette, which MB and I ate. Email. Updated the OCBC website.
Had some coffee and cookies. Laundry. Played guitar until about 1:40, making a quick recording of my new piece, which I have dubbed Chrysanthemums. Very difficult. Down basement for daily practices. MB returned during. Popped upstairs and said hello. We had lunch of miso soup, bread and cheese. Then, the plan was to go do some other stuff and rendezvous back at 5 PM.
Down basement to wind microfilm. Things were going well, with the advent of a guide, which gave me a more even wind. But then, one of the spools fell apart, and trying to cram it back together again took the rest of my time. Back upstairs, and watched the rest of "Roger Dodger"... a good film, but I didn't quite buy the ending. Back downstairs for more winding. I repaired the spool that fell apart by cutting it into two chunks, then rewinding the outer chunk around the inner. Wrapped up all I could at this point. Will need to order more. Back upstairs, and practiced guitar for a bit, reviewing some material for this evening's circle. Unloaded the dishwasher with MB. Coffee.
Good circle tonight: Me, MB, Victor, Martin, David. We worked on 'embroidery', pentatonic circulation, fast circulation, marching while Thraking, and Askesis. Some discussion about the upcoming Intro to NST course, and how to promote it, as well as some other things on the horizon.
Back home, I made an omelette, which MB and I ate. Email. Updated the OCBC website.
winding
Saturday: Up around 9 as MB headed out to OCBC for a Deacon's meeting. A lazy morning. Shower. Made some eggs and toast, listening to NPR. Overcast by not raining hard. Guitar. Down basement for morning practices. More guitar. Called a couple of vets but everything was closed on the weekend.
Headed to Kurukulla. All of the mail-inserts had been done, so half my reason for going over evaporated. Said hello to Hln who was making some tea. I found the copper prayer wheel which had been mounted on a spindle. Hln and I talked, and then SDp (from India) came into the kitchen and joined our conversation. Looking at the arcs of the three lives represented there, it was clear to me that often we think we are making decisions with our rational minds, but something else is at work. Took a bit of a drive around, and then home.
MB had a nice time it sounded like, at the meeting, and then during her performance at Third Life. A call from a credit card monitoring agency alerted me to suspicious transactions placed on my debit card. I suspect a fraudulent company, with whom I recently had the misfortune of doing business. MB and I walked over to Assembly Square. No movies that were starting soon that we wanted to see. Walked around Home Depot looking for a "contour gage." Didn't find one. Bought a little drain strainer.
Back home, we made a little repast of bread, cheese, olives, carrots, green peppers, humus and tea. After cleaning up, we watched some of the movie "Roger Dodger." Then more guitar for me (working out the reverse line to my arpeggio piece), and MB upstairs. Talked to my mom about her upcoming sale, and assessing the value of furniture. MB headed off for a night out with her belly dance friends at a club named Baladi. I worked on guitar until about 11 PM, then got down to business with my microfilm winding project. Made good progress, using a rubber wheel attachment for a power drill to spin my old turn table, in conjunction with a ancient tape deck, spooling film from one jury-rigged reel to another. Ate a sandwich. I closed up shop about 1:30 AM. MB returned home not long after. She gave me a report of the club scene, and confirmed that comparing yourself to others is a losing game.
Ophelia passed us by.
Headed to Kurukulla. All of the mail-inserts had been done, so half my reason for going over evaporated. Said hello to Hln who was making some tea. I found the copper prayer wheel which had been mounted on a spindle. Hln and I talked, and then SDp (from India) came into the kitchen and joined our conversation. Looking at the arcs of the three lives represented there, it was clear to me that often we think we are making decisions with our rational minds, but something else is at work. Took a bit of a drive around, and then home.
MB had a nice time it sounded like, at the meeting, and then during her performance at Third Life. A call from a credit card monitoring agency alerted me to suspicious transactions placed on my debit card. I suspect a fraudulent company, with whom I recently had the misfortune of doing business. MB and I walked over to Assembly Square. No movies that were starting soon that we wanted to see. Walked around Home Depot looking for a "contour gage." Didn't find one. Bought a little drain strainer.
Back home, we made a little repast of bread, cheese, olives, carrots, green peppers, humus and tea. After cleaning up, we watched some of the movie "Roger Dodger." Then more guitar for me (working out the reverse line to my arpeggio piece), and MB upstairs. Talked to my mom about her upcoming sale, and assessing the value of furniture. MB headed off for a night out with her belly dance friends at a club named Baladi. I worked on guitar until about 11 PM, then got down to business with my microfilm winding project. Made good progress, using a rubber wheel attachment for a power drill to spin my old turn table, in conjunction with a ancient tape deck, spooling film from one jury-rigged reel to another. Ate a sandwich. I closed up shop about 1:30 AM. MB returned home not long after. She gave me a report of the club scene, and confirmed that comparing yourself to others is a losing game.
Ophelia passed us by.
Saturday, September 17, 2005
Ophelia's Skirt
Friday: Up with MB around 8. Another overcast day with bouts of rain. Ophelia's skirt, I believe. Quick email check. Fed the cats as MB headed off to work. Shower. Breakfast. A little guitar, then downstairs for morning practice. During my sitting, I heard the street cleaner drive past. I knew this meant that I had just received a parking ticket. How did it get to be the third Friday of the month? Also heard M arrive to clean. When I came back up, chatted with her for awhile, giving computer advice and showing her some settings in the software that I work on. Headed out.
Drove across town to work. A solid day in the office. Looked into a very puzzling bug with an add-on, where one variant when loaded trashes the OS in a way that we hang trying to receive user input. The same add-on's synchronization feature is now functioning well. But the real work of the day was hunting down a subtle and long standing bug, where the function of provisional tailoring elements would sometimes be foiled by elements being inserted beyond the bounds of the working segment. I seem to have come to some sort of truce with the SCC system. Stayed late and submitted my changes. MB called from a restaurant, eating with her friend C, who was living near New Orleans when Katrina hit. Mid-day I took a walk out and picked up some posters for the NST Intro course. Wandered through Tower Records, thinking about the transitive nature of self.
Stopped at the grocery store. They are selling Christmas items, and we're still a month off from Halloween.
Back home I unloaded the groceries. MB and Christine were chatting. I ate some leftover Thai food from MB while we all sat around having a conversation about the state of the world, and the US budget. Cleaned up. More guitar.
Drove across town to work. A solid day in the office. Looked into a very puzzling bug with an add-on, where one variant when loaded trashes the OS in a way that we hang trying to receive user input. The same add-on's synchronization feature is now functioning well. But the real work of the day was hunting down a subtle and long standing bug, where the function of provisional tailoring elements would sometimes be foiled by elements being inserted beyond the bounds of the working segment. I seem to have come to some sort of truce with the SCC system. Stayed late and submitted my changes. MB called from a restaurant, eating with her friend C, who was living near New Orleans when Katrina hit. Mid-day I took a walk out and picked up some posters for the NST Intro course. Wandered through Tower Records, thinking about the transitive nature of self.
Stopped at the grocery store. They are selling Christmas items, and we're still a month off from Halloween.
Back home I unloaded the groceries. MB and Christine were chatting. I ate some leftover Thai food from MB while we all sat around having a conversation about the state of the world, and the US budget. Cleaned up. More guitar.
Thursday, September 15, 2005
help departs
Thursday: Up around 8. MB asked what the weather was supposed to be. I checked the web for an answer: rain. Not that I mind at all. After the endless sunny days we've had lately, a little rain seems cozy and peaceful. Shower, some guitar, breakfast. Down basement, I said hello to Christine, then retreated into the music room. I heard her leave not long after. Talked to the print shop about flyers for the NST Intro course. Some small mods need to be made. Sent T an email.
Off to work, heading through Union Sq, and across town. At work, asked Jn to do a test in a competing program. Neither of us could figure out how to perform the operation, which we thought should be quite simple. Resigned myself to recreating my SCC set-up from scratch. And a long rebuild process, during which, I cleaned my desk. Looked into another bug. Lunch at my desk. Rapid fire phone conversation with Rbt about the bandwidth feature. What that all I did today? Hard to believe. Left at 7:40.
Practice with Shawn. We ran through our older material. Neither of us was playing well tonight. My comment was, it had the quality of help being withdrawn. This is how we grow. For example, when you are very young, you parents might hold your hands to aid your balance while you are learning to walk, and then, they let you walk on your own. The initial response to this is to fall down... but one has learned that walking is possible, and so, one perseveres.
Did some work on a new piece of mine (a pretty bit, growing out of an arpeggio exercise). This will be quite a challenge for me... and for Shawn, apparently.
Back home, chatted with MB, who had been to another neighborhood meeting. She shook the mayor's hand, and learned quite a bit about the city of Somerville. We put away dishes. And that's about it.
Off to work, heading through Union Sq, and across town. At work, asked Jn to do a test in a competing program. Neither of us could figure out how to perform the operation, which we thought should be quite simple. Resigned myself to recreating my SCC set-up from scratch. And a long rebuild process, during which, I cleaned my desk. Looked into another bug. Lunch at my desk. Rapid fire phone conversation with Rbt about the bandwidth feature. What that all I did today? Hard to believe. Left at 7:40.
Practice with Shawn. We ran through our older material. Neither of us was playing well tonight. My comment was, it had the quality of help being withdrawn. This is how we grow. For example, when you are very young, you parents might hold your hands to aid your balance while you are learning to walk, and then, they let you walk on your own. The initial response to this is to fall down... but one has learned that walking is possible, and so, one perseveres.
Did some work on a new piece of mine (a pretty bit, growing out of an arpeggio exercise). This will be quite a challenge for me... and for Shawn, apparently.
Back home, chatted with MB, who had been to another neighborhood meeting. She shook the mayor's hand, and learned quite a bit about the city of Somerville. We put away dishes. And that's about it.
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
cz arrives
Wednesday: Woke around 8 as MB headed out to work. She offered to buy cat food, but I said I would. She watered plants, and I lay around awhile. Up and showered. Breakfast, a little guitar. Down basement for morning practices. Sat in the music room on the floor, seeing how it will be when Christine is here. Headed out.
Drove over to the vet's and picked up three cases of cat food. Turns out my new vet is leaving for Northampton. In to work. Fairly productive day, but problems continue with the SCC system. Lunch at my desk. Headed out around 6:40.
Over to KKC. Geshela took pity on us, and slowed the pace down a little, so we had some hope of capturing what he was saying. After class he shared the pineapple from Saturday with us, and Wendy gave out some yogurt almonds she got down in DC with Lama Zopa. Gave H a ride home, talking about the upcoming opportunities to see HHDL. Several KKC people are flying out to Arizona tomorrow with this aim. I'll see him in NYC in a couple of weeks. Stopped at the grocery store.
Back home, unloaded groceries. MB and I put out the garbage and recycling. Ate a microwaved burrito while chatting with MB. More guitar waiting for Christine to arrive. She did around 11:40. Got her settled. Soon bed.
Drove over to the vet's and picked up three cases of cat food. Turns out my new vet is leaving for Northampton. In to work. Fairly productive day, but problems continue with the SCC system. Lunch at my desk. Headed out around 6:40.
Over to KKC. Geshela took pity on us, and slowed the pace down a little, so we had some hope of capturing what he was saying. After class he shared the pineapple from Saturday with us, and Wendy gave out some yogurt almonds she got down in DC with Lama Zopa. Gave H a ride home, talking about the upcoming opportunities to see HHDL. Several KKC people are flying out to Arizona tomorrow with this aim. I'll see him in NYC in a couple of weeks. Stopped at the grocery store.
Back home, unloaded groceries. MB and I put out the garbage and recycling. Ate a microwaved burrito while chatting with MB. More guitar waiting for Christine to arrive. She did around 11:40. Got her settled. Soon bed.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
headache
Tuesday: MB got up early and headed out at 7:30. I had to move my car, as I was parking her in. Sat around feeling dazed not quite sure if I should go back to bed or not. Eventually I decided that I'd be useless at work unless I got a little more sleep. Back to bed for two hours. Made bed, shower. Had a veggie burger for breakfast, and milk. Down basement for a sitting and brief morning practices. Off to work. Another very nice day out. Hot even, though we have had whiffs of Autumn already. The first taste of autumn in the air is a bitter sweet pleasure, full of import, to a New Englander.
Today was similar to yesterday: fighting with a plug-in, and with the new SCC system. Made a little progress. Killed a couple of bugs. Reclassified a couple bugs as features. Yee haw. Bit of a headache today. Stayed until about 8 PM.
MB and I did some cleanup in the basement, in anticipation of a friend coming to stay. I'll retreat into my music room for my sittings and she can have the main space. I painted over a spot of mildew, and put in a little strip of vinyl baseboard. Upstairs, I removed the pile of books off my Ovation. The glue-job I did on the bridge seemed to hold as I re-tightened the strings. Played guitar for a bit. Working on the form of a composition that has been with me for a while. MB said goodnight. Made some soup. Now daily practices.
Today was similar to yesterday: fighting with a plug-in, and with the new SCC system. Made a little progress. Killed a couple of bugs. Reclassified a couple bugs as features. Yee haw. Bit of a headache today. Stayed until about 8 PM.
MB and I did some cleanup in the basement, in anticipation of a friend coming to stay. I'll retreat into my music room for my sittings and she can have the main space. I painted over a spot of mildew, and put in a little strip of vinyl baseboard. Upstairs, I removed the pile of books off my Ovation. The glue-job I did on the bridge seemed to hold as I re-tightened the strings. Played guitar for a bit. Working on the form of a composition that has been with me for a while. MB said goodnight. Made some soup. Now daily practices.
Monday, September 12, 2005
hampered
Monday: Up around 8. In the shower, after MB. Feeling zonked. Coffee and some cereal. Down basement around 9:30. Afterwards, fixed the wind-chimes in the backyard. Packed up the car with my electric rig and headed out. Stopped for gas. Returned some vegetarian sandwich 'meats' that had gone bad, wagging my finger at the assistant manager of the produce section. At KKC, filled water bowls, which went relatively quickly until I accidentally tipped over a vase. Feeling a little sick today. Said hello to Hln as I was leaving. Saw a couple of black squirrels. Really pretty out today, and warm.
At work, realized that having more disk space was necessary for me to make any forward progress. Drove back out to Microcenter, and picked up a big Firewire drive. Spent several hours attempting to install a small bit of software. Then, beat my head to a bloody pulp against the hinky nature of the new SCC system. Dnl didn't know what the heck was going on, and he's an expert. Lunch at my desk. Eventually, I gave up trying to fathom the SCC system and did managed to write perhaps 10 lines of code.
Headed out about 7:50. Arrived in Arlington at 8:10. A good session with Shawn. We worked on one section of our new piece in a very detailed manner, and while I'm not sure that we made any immediate progress, I think efforts like this are never wasted. Had a nice long loop jam at the end.
Stopped back at his place and said hello to Christine. She'll be staying at our place for a couple of weeks! Back home, ate some eggs and leftover spanikopita. Hung with MB. A friend of ours was living near New Orleans when the hurricane hit. She's physically OK, but distraught, and living with her mom in Salem. Email. Soon bed.
At work, realized that having more disk space was necessary for me to make any forward progress. Drove back out to Microcenter, and picked up a big Firewire drive. Spent several hours attempting to install a small bit of software. Then, beat my head to a bloody pulp against the hinky nature of the new SCC system. Dnl didn't know what the heck was going on, and he's an expert. Lunch at my desk. Eventually, I gave up trying to fathom the SCC system and did managed to write perhaps 10 lines of code.
Headed out about 7:50. Arrived in Arlington at 8:10. A good session with Shawn. We worked on one section of our new piece in a very detailed manner, and while I'm not sure that we made any immediate progress, I think efforts like this are never wasted. Had a nice long loop jam at the end.
Stopped back at his place and said hello to Christine. She'll be staying at our place for a couple of weeks! Back home, ate some eggs and leftover spanikopita. Hung with MB. A friend of ours was living near New Orleans when the hurricane hit. She's physically OK, but distraught, and living with her mom in Salem. Email. Soon bed.
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Tara
Sunday: Up at 9:15. Into the shower. Brief sitting. No time for breakfast. Headed off to KKC. A very good class. Quite comprehensible, insightful and detailed. A little gem:
They are not one, yet they are one entity.
They are one entity, yet they are not inherently one entity.
They are different, yet they are not inherently different.
Afterwards, I asked Hm and Db about setting up for the puja in the afternoon. Then talked to Wnd for a bit. She's getting ready to head off on her trip to AZ.
Back home, ate a veggie burger, listening to NPR. Down basement for daily practices. Later on, talked to Mkl about a little project in the backyard. It's probably not the job for her. Said hello and goodbye to MB. She'd gone to OCBC in the morning, and then did some belly-dancing with Bn. She told me about a guy at OCBC who she pegged as a compulsive liar.
Headed back to KKC, stopping at the grocery store, and buying flowers and cookies. On my way in, saw my old band-mate (from Project Eno) Crazy Eddie, mowing the grass. Turns out he lives right next to KKC. Set up for the puja with some help from Hm. Feeling a little ill. It looked like it was going to just be Hln, Hm, Hm's daughter, Tsunmala and myself, but then four college kids showed up. We worked our way through the ceremony, which took about one and a half hours. A bit of a strange place to begin: I kept wondering how it was for the college kids. Hln did a great job of leading. When someone asked about her musical life, she said "I used to play." This made me feel a bit sad. She has perfect pitch, and is no doubt quite an accomplished musician. Stayed around and cleaned up. Afterwards when I was leaving I heard what sounded like a debate between the college kids.
Back home, MB was on the phone with her folks. I did a little work on the prayer wheel, cutting two pieces of dowel that will help me rewind the micro-film. MB and I ate some of the Spanikopita she'd made. She made another phone call while I cleaned up. We walked up to the video store and dropped off the DVD we rented yesterday. On returning, I played guitar for a bit, but noticed that my bridge had pulled farther off the body. Put some wood-glue in the crack, loosened the strings, and set a stack of books on it while it dries. Email.
Once again I'm struck by how odd it is that folks concern themselves with how a guitarist's hands look. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not in the shade of brown. Meanwhile, MB practicing Askesis filters down from upstairs.
You might find this an interesting article.
A related site.
They are not one, yet they are one entity.
They are one entity, yet they are not inherently one entity.
They are different, yet they are not inherently different.
Afterwards, I asked Hm and Db about setting up for the puja in the afternoon. Then talked to Wnd for a bit. She's getting ready to head off on her trip to AZ.
Back home, ate a veggie burger, listening to NPR. Down basement for daily practices. Later on, talked to Mkl about a little project in the backyard. It's probably not the job for her. Said hello and goodbye to MB. She'd gone to OCBC in the morning, and then did some belly-dancing with Bn. She told me about a guy at OCBC who she pegged as a compulsive liar.
Headed back to KKC, stopping at the grocery store, and buying flowers and cookies. On my way in, saw my old band-mate (from Project Eno) Crazy Eddie, mowing the grass. Turns out he lives right next to KKC. Set up for the puja with some help from Hm. Feeling a little ill. It looked like it was going to just be Hln, Hm, Hm's daughter, Tsunmala and myself, but then four college kids showed up. We worked our way through the ceremony, which took about one and a half hours. A bit of a strange place to begin: I kept wondering how it was for the college kids. Hln did a great job of leading. When someone asked about her musical life, she said "I used to play." This made me feel a bit sad. She has perfect pitch, and is no doubt quite an accomplished musician. Stayed around and cleaned up. Afterwards when I was leaving I heard what sounded like a debate between the college kids.
Back home, MB was on the phone with her folks. I did a little work on the prayer wheel, cutting two pieces of dowel that will help me rewind the micro-film. MB and I ate some of the Spanikopita she'd made. She made another phone call while I cleaned up. We walked up to the video store and dropped off the DVD we rented yesterday. On returning, I played guitar for a bit, but noticed that my bridge had pulled farther off the body. Put some wood-glue in the crack, loosened the strings, and set a stack of books on it while it dries. Email.
Once again I'm struck by how odd it is that folks concern themselves with how a guitarist's hands look. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, not in the shade of brown. Meanwhile, MB practicing Askesis filters down from upstairs.
You might find this an interesting article.
A related site.
GCNE Wedding Gig
Saturday: Up at 6 AM. Shower. Down basement for brief sitting. MB and made a bowl of cereal for me, which I ate. We packed the car and headed out a little after 7. Stopped at the coffee shop.
Uneventful drive down to Rhode Island, talking about science and the mind. We were the first of the ensemble to arrive at the church. I changed and used the facilities in the back... down a trail, behind a bush. Dev arrived next. Martin called to say he was on his way. Eventually Victor and Alex arrived. We got the PA going, and did some sound checking. Around 10:50 we began playing... pick a note (D Maj) C Pent/D Pent circulation, Eye of the Needle. The bride and groom had not yet made an appearance, so five of us did some circulating in G while Victor soloed (this wasn't quite successful, to my ear) Calliope, Moving Force, and then Invocation, which morphed into Growing Circle for the groom's walk down the isle. One pair in the wedding party didn't seen to want to walk to that music and waited until it was over. We did some circulating to cover their passage. Sat for ceremony, which was very nice, and gave us a full history of the romance between the bride and groom. MB commented later that she feared that perhaps it would go into too much detail. We played Hope for the 'recessional' music, which worked quite nicely, and then Third Relation, which worked a little less nicely.
Standing around unplugged outside, we played Moving Force again and Bicycling to Afghanistan. Martin declared we were done, so we were. We got held up a little loading our stuff out of the church, because they were taking pictures in the front, and there was no rear entrance. Eventually we were set to go. There was a big group shot arranged. We stood on the church steps and played Asturias as things were being organized.
Martin headed to the reception, the rest of us headed to Crazy Burger, a popular little restaurant in Narragansett. I had the "Neurotic"... they specialize in funky vegetarian burgers. Some talk about our connections to Guitar Craft, and the upcoming course. We left around 2:45, and were back home by 4:30 or so. A two hour nap ensued.
Down basement for practices. Afterwards, I did some work on the KKC website, then MB and I took a walk, up and around on Highland, talking about home renovations, and the funny family of one of her close friends. Stopped at the video store and picked up a movie about the work of a recluse, who wrote a 15,000 page illustrated fantasy novel, and many paintings and collages, all while working as a janitor. His work was only discovered when he was near death.
Back home we made miso soup. The first batch we chucked when we found an ant floating in one of the bowls. The unlucky guy had apparently crawled into the kettle. We washed everything and began again. Ate watching our movie. I have a few more things to do... then bed.
Uneventful drive down to Rhode Island, talking about science and the mind. We were the first of the ensemble to arrive at the church. I changed and used the facilities in the back... down a trail, behind a bush. Dev arrived next. Martin called to say he was on his way. Eventually Victor and Alex arrived. We got the PA going, and did some sound checking. Around 10:50 we began playing... pick a note (D Maj) C Pent/D Pent circulation, Eye of the Needle. The bride and groom had not yet made an appearance, so five of us did some circulating in G while Victor soloed (this wasn't quite successful, to my ear) Calliope, Moving Force, and then Invocation, which morphed into Growing Circle for the groom's walk down the isle. One pair in the wedding party didn't seen to want to walk to that music and waited until it was over. We did some circulating to cover their passage. Sat for ceremony, which was very nice, and gave us a full history of the romance between the bride and groom. MB commented later that she feared that perhaps it would go into too much detail. We played Hope for the 'recessional' music, which worked quite nicely, and then Third Relation, which worked a little less nicely.
Standing around unplugged outside, we played Moving Force again and Bicycling to Afghanistan. Martin declared we were done, so we were. We got held up a little loading our stuff out of the church, because they were taking pictures in the front, and there was no rear entrance. Eventually we were set to go. There was a big group shot arranged. We stood on the church steps and played Asturias as things were being organized.
Martin headed to the reception, the rest of us headed to Crazy Burger, a popular little restaurant in Narragansett. I had the "Neurotic"... they specialize in funky vegetarian burgers. Some talk about our connections to Guitar Craft, and the upcoming course. We left around 2:45, and were back home by 4:30 or so. A two hour nap ensued.
Down basement for practices. Afterwards, I did some work on the KKC website, then MB and I took a walk, up and around on Highland, talking about home renovations, and the funny family of one of her close friends. Stopped at the video store and picked up a movie about the work of a recluse, who wrote a 15,000 page illustrated fantasy novel, and many paintings and collages, all while working as a janitor. His work was only discovered when he was near death.
Back home we made miso soup. The first batch we chucked when we found an ant floating in one of the bowls. The unlucky guy had apparently crawled into the kettle. We washed everything and began again. Ate watching our movie. I have a few more things to do... then bed.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Rid of the RRCEASO
Friday: Up around 8. MB headed out. Lazed around a bit. Email. Eventually some coffee and cheese toast. Shower. Sitting and brief morning practices. Decided to drive the RRCEASO to work so that I could go straight to the dealership to be rid of it, rather than having to bike home first. Stopped to get gas. Put $28 in it. That took it from a little below 1/4 to 1/2 full. Scary to think that a full tank might be upwards of $100.
Parked the RRCEASO in the garage. It was a trick just getting it into the garage at all. There was no chance at all of fitting it into a parking spot. Parked about 4 of my coworkers in, left a note on the window, and informed those blocked.
Imported projects and switched gears back to bug-fixing mode for a little while. B helped me get going, as there's some weird bailing-wire stuff to make the new SCC system work with our antique development environment. Took a walk out and delivered a USB cable to a friend that also works in the square. I had pilfered the cable from KKC, and then forgotten all about it. This morning I realized my mistake. Swatted several bugs. Al and Dv gave some advice.
At about 4:40, called the dealership, and they said that my car would be done soon. After a little more bug investigation, hit the road. It took at least 15 minutes just getting the RRCEASO out of the garage. Slow going on the Mass pike, and parts of route 3. Had a nice chat with MB on the cell. Made it to the dealership by 6:15 or so.
There was some confusion regarding the whereabouts of my key-fob, and the car itself, but, I was back on the road by 6:30. The car is much happier. There was a misbehaving computer module that was messing up the timing. Weather was overcast and cool today. Heading towards autumn. On NPR, a show on the topic "where has the country gone since 9/11, and are we any safer." Never realized that Tom Wolfe was such a right-wing-nut. Stopped for a fast food veggie burger, which I ate back home.
Walked down to the store and bought some cats of high quality cat food, since we've run out of the usual stuff. Down basement for daily practices. MB returned home from work while I was at it. She was watering the plants when I emerged. She made some little salads and baked potatoes. We ate while watching Napoleon Dynamite, a cute off-beat film from the MTV studios. She'd bought my some pants and shoes. The pants fit, but the shoes were a little too big. Re-strung my guitar while MB did some practicing through my amp. We played Moving Force together. Packed up stuff for our early departure tomorrow. Email. Soon bed.
Parked the RRCEASO in the garage. It was a trick just getting it into the garage at all. There was no chance at all of fitting it into a parking spot. Parked about 4 of my coworkers in, left a note on the window, and informed those blocked.
Imported projects and switched gears back to bug-fixing mode for a little while. B helped me get going, as there's some weird bailing-wire stuff to make the new SCC system work with our antique development environment. Took a walk out and delivered a USB cable to a friend that also works in the square. I had pilfered the cable from KKC, and then forgotten all about it. This morning I realized my mistake. Swatted several bugs. Al and Dv gave some advice.
At about 4:40, called the dealership, and they said that my car would be done soon. After a little more bug investigation, hit the road. It took at least 15 minutes just getting the RRCEASO out of the garage. Slow going on the Mass pike, and parts of route 3. Had a nice chat with MB on the cell. Made it to the dealership by 6:15 or so.
There was some confusion regarding the whereabouts of my key-fob, and the car itself, but, I was back on the road by 6:30. The car is much happier. There was a misbehaving computer module that was messing up the timing. Weather was overcast and cool today. Heading towards autumn. On NPR, a show on the topic "where has the country gone since 9/11, and are we any safer." Never realized that Tom Wolfe was such a right-wing-nut. Stopped for a fast food veggie burger, which I ate back home.
Walked down to the store and bought some cats of high quality cat food, since we've run out of the usual stuff. Down basement for daily practices. MB returned home from work while I was at it. She was watering the plants when I emerged. She made some little salads and baked potatoes. We ate while watching Napoleon Dynamite, a cute off-beat film from the MTV studios. She'd bought my some pants and shoes. The pants fit, but the shoes were a little too big. Re-strung my guitar while MB did some practicing through my amp. We played Moving Force together. Packed up stuff for our early departure tomorrow. Email. Soon bed.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Ridiculous Rolling Colossal Edifice to American Stupidity and Overindulgence
Thursday: Woke around 7... but slept until 7:45 or so. Interrupted sleep last night, phasing in and out of a meditation of sorts. Up, and MB headed off to work. Shower, a brief sitting, breakfast, and got on the road just after 9. Stopped for gas before heading to New Hampshire.
Dropped my car off at the dealership. They loaner (a rental car, actually) turned out to me this absolutely enormous pick-up truck. I told them it wouldn't work very well for me, since my parking spot at work couldn't possibly accommodate such a large vehicle, but they said it was all they had. Grumpily, I drove back to Somerville, in this Ridiculous Rolling Colossal Edifice to American Stupidity and Overindulgence. Parked it in my driveway, it's ridiculous enormous metallic ass poking out and partially obstructing the sidewalk. Well, from my hostility towards this vehicle, you can certainly see why I wound up with it. Morning practices.
Rode my bike in to work, dropping off the Bartok manuscripts at the library. More tweaking and tweezing on my throughput project, with maybe some slight improvement. B asked me to shift gears for a bug-fix release. Got a burrito. Talked to Mk about some threading issues, but what he had to say wound up depressing me. Not sure what he said was valid anyway. Did some research into a competing product, and what they were doing didn't seem particularly interesting, but did confirm that what I'm doing should be OK. Left around 7.
Biked back home, playing 'dodge the bus.' Ate a snack in the kitchen and had some leftover coffee while MB got ready to go to GCNE rehearsal. At about 8:45 we left for Victor's. We took MB's car and left the RRCEASO where I had parked it, with its metallic ass taking up half the sidewalk. Suppose that when they gave me my loaner, they had said "Uh, sorry, we didn't have any cars left, but here's a steam shovel."
Over at Victor's, in his basement the wedding team ran through our repertoire for the event. Growing Circle, Hope (lots of Hope), Aspiration, circulation in C Maj Pentatonic, and D Maj Pentatonic (alternately), Third Relation, Eye of the Needle, Moving Force. At one point we took a break, and Victor gave us some ice-pops. At the end of the evening, after talking through some details, we recorded a quick version of Growing Circle, so the groom would know how quickly to walk.
Jane showed us their new patio. We talked about raking leaves. A quiet drive back home. Crazy drivers on the road. A little Cooper Mini skidded, and nearly bashed itself into the Tip O'Neal Tunnel wall... So stupidity isn't unique to big-ass trucks. Back home, someone else who owns (and presumably likes) a big black pick-up has decided that right in front of our house is their permanent parking spot. I left a note on their windshield asking them if they could park somewhere else from time to time. Some little snacks. Emailing. Quite sleepy now, so, with luck, bed soon.
Dropped my car off at the dealership. They loaner (a rental car, actually) turned out to me this absolutely enormous pick-up truck. I told them it wouldn't work very well for me, since my parking spot at work couldn't possibly accommodate such a large vehicle, but they said it was all they had. Grumpily, I drove back to Somerville, in this Ridiculous Rolling Colossal Edifice to American Stupidity and Overindulgence. Parked it in my driveway, it's ridiculous enormous metallic ass poking out and partially obstructing the sidewalk. Well, from my hostility towards this vehicle, you can certainly see why I wound up with it. Morning practices.
Rode my bike in to work, dropping off the Bartok manuscripts at the library. More tweaking and tweezing on my throughput project, with maybe some slight improvement. B asked me to shift gears for a bug-fix release. Got a burrito. Talked to Mk about some threading issues, but what he had to say wound up depressing me. Not sure what he said was valid anyway. Did some research into a competing product, and what they were doing didn't seem particularly interesting, but did confirm that what I'm doing should be OK. Left around 7.
Biked back home, playing 'dodge the bus.' Ate a snack in the kitchen and had some leftover coffee while MB got ready to go to GCNE rehearsal. At about 8:45 we left for Victor's. We took MB's car and left the RRCEASO where I had parked it, with its metallic ass taking up half the sidewalk. Suppose that when they gave me my loaner, they had said "Uh, sorry, we didn't have any cars left, but here's a steam shovel."
Over at Victor's, in his basement the wedding team ran through our repertoire for the event. Growing Circle, Hope (lots of Hope), Aspiration, circulation in C Maj Pentatonic, and D Maj Pentatonic (alternately), Third Relation, Eye of the Needle, Moving Force. At one point we took a break, and Victor gave us some ice-pops. At the end of the evening, after talking through some details, we recorded a quick version of Growing Circle, so the groom would know how quickly to walk.
Jane showed us their new patio. We talked about raking leaves. A quiet drive back home. Crazy drivers on the road. A little Cooper Mini skidded, and nearly bashed itself into the Tip O'Neal Tunnel wall... So stupidity isn't unique to big-ass trucks. Back home, someone else who owns (and presumably likes) a big black pick-up has decided that right in front of our house is their permanent parking spot. I left a note on their windshield asking them if they could park somewhere else from time to time. Some little snacks. Emailing. Quite sleepy now, so, with luck, bed soon.
fence complete 2/check-up/MB's debut as pro
Wednesday: Out of bed around 9, feeling pretty well rested. Mysteriously, my dental floss, which had gone missing last night, appeared again in the medicine chest. I suspect the cats were making tiny lassos for the ants. Somehow got pulled into doing a brain-gender test. Quite interesting. I seem to have a gender balanced brain, listing slightly towards the feminine side. That sounds about right. Breakfast, coffee, then out back to put the final touches on the fence and clean up. This stain is strange in that when dry, it repels water, but is itself water based... so you can't very well put on two coats. Weather was perfect again today.
Shower. Down basement for morning practices. Put away laundry. Decided that since, by this point if I went in to work, I would just have to turn around and leave for my doctor's appointment, that I would just hang out at home a little longer and go straight to the doctor's. Ate the lunch MB had packed for me. Headed out.
I was not seen by my usual doctor, but rather, a woman who was probably about my age. I was there for a regular physical, and while she did ask me to take deep breaths, I was relieved that she didn't put on rubber gloves, or ask me to turn my head and cough. I'll probably live a little while longer.
In to work. The briefest of days, working on the suggestion that came out of my conversation with B yesterday. The initial result is not encouraging, but I may just need to work with it a bit more.
Headed out, stopping for a couple of slices of pizza, which I ate sitting in my car, then over to KKC. A very difficult-to-follow session tonight. The notes I took are a series of words, each with no connection to any of the others. I asked a question at the end, the answer to which was "don't ever stop." A good answer. Enjoyable conversation with Ed, Wnd and Dlrs. Relating some of my father's long and colorful history. Took a walk around the block with Wnd, talking about her upcoming trip to Arizona.
Headed to the Middle East, and saw MB's first gig as a 'professional' there. (Lots of politics involved in who gets what slot.) It was just Oud and drums tonight, but it all worked quite well. She danced marvelously, and really engaged the audience. ZB's daughter danced also. I met a Tibetan gentleman who said his uncle was His Holiness the Dalai Lama's secretary for 15 years. Also met Victor's good friend Gn, who does audio work for the Middle East. May have actually been able to answer a question of his.
On the drive home, heard about the toxic soup that fills New Orleans.
Back home, email, web work for KKC... Soon bed.
Shower. Down basement for morning practices. Put away laundry. Decided that since, by this point if I went in to work, I would just have to turn around and leave for my doctor's appointment, that I would just hang out at home a little longer and go straight to the doctor's. Ate the lunch MB had packed for me. Headed out.
I was not seen by my usual doctor, but rather, a woman who was probably about my age. I was there for a regular physical, and while she did ask me to take deep breaths, I was relieved that she didn't put on rubber gloves, or ask me to turn my head and cough. I'll probably live a little while longer.
In to work. The briefest of days, working on the suggestion that came out of my conversation with B yesterday. The initial result is not encouraging, but I may just need to work with it a bit more.
Headed out, stopping for a couple of slices of pizza, which I ate sitting in my car, then over to KKC. A very difficult-to-follow session tonight. The notes I took are a series of words, each with no connection to any of the others. I asked a question at the end, the answer to which was "don't ever stop." A good answer. Enjoyable conversation with Ed, Wnd and Dlrs. Relating some of my father's long and colorful history. Took a walk around the block with Wnd, talking about her upcoming trip to Arizona.
Headed to the Middle East, and saw MB's first gig as a 'professional' there. (Lots of politics involved in who gets what slot.) It was just Oud and drums tonight, but it all worked quite well. She danced marvelously, and really engaged the audience. ZB's daughter danced also. I met a Tibetan gentleman who said his uncle was His Holiness the Dalai Lama's secretary for 15 years. Also met Victor's good friend Gn, who does audio work for the Middle East. May have actually been able to answer a question of his.
On the drive home, heard about the toxic soup that fills New Orleans.
Back home, email, web work for KKC... Soon bed.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
fence complete/back to work
Tuesday: MB woke me as she headed out. Late night again, but did some fun work towards a possible new gizmo for playing with Shawn. Feeling quite energized despite the lack of sleep. Decided to do painting before practices, so fed cats, quick breakfast and coffee, then out back to sling the brush. Stained the side gates on the left and right of the house, and the last little segment of fence. Also touched up some spots that I missed or went light on yesterday. Stained a little bit in the way back on B's side. The neighbors from across the street waved and said I was making them look bad. Hope that's not true. Did some clean-up, but left some for tomorrow, since I want to do a bit more touch-up anyway. A sitting of sorts, shower, down basement for morning practices. Saw C and K from next door on my way out. K (who is 4) loves my car, and I offered to give her a ride sometime. Remembered I needed to do laundry, so drove around the block, put it in the machine, and then finally headed off.
Drove across town and parked behind Cambridge Music. Picked up a couple of guitars I'm about to sell. Then, towards H Sq.
A brief day at work. Had a long talk with B about the current state of my bandwidth project. One concrete avenue of exploration came out of it, and he agreed to take a look at some logs I'm generating to see if we can come up with any other angles of attack. Walked over to the pharmacy, and back. Once again, absolutely stunning weather.
I have talked with a few other people that have noticed that the cleaning staff always seems to arrive at exactly the moment that one decides it's time to use the bathroom. They have also taken to just barging in, and beginning to clean, even if one is occupied... And one of the staff is a young woman, who is not at all shy about heading right into the men's room.
Headed over to yoga at 6:40. Arrived just as things were getting going. A good session, though I was tired. Wendy showed us some of the finer points of extended child's pose. I hadn't had a session in a couple weeks, and I paid for it. Afterwards, some talk about the Nyung Ney Wendy had just run up at Milarepa center.
Stopped at the Shaw's on my way home, and swapped a bag of bad carrots for a bag of (presumably) good carrots. Back home, some soup, bread and cheese with MB, and career talk. Need sleep, so will just do the minimum to wrap up the day with integrity, and then to bed.
On a sad note, the actor that played Gilligan, has gone to his island in the sky.
Drove across town and parked behind Cambridge Music. Picked up a couple of guitars I'm about to sell. Then, towards H Sq.
A brief day at work. Had a long talk with B about the current state of my bandwidth project. One concrete avenue of exploration came out of it, and he agreed to take a look at some logs I'm generating to see if we can come up with any other angles of attack. Walked over to the pharmacy, and back. Once again, absolutely stunning weather.
I have talked with a few other people that have noticed that the cleaning staff always seems to arrive at exactly the moment that one decides it's time to use the bathroom. They have also taken to just barging in, and beginning to clean, even if one is occupied... And one of the staff is a young woman, who is not at all shy about heading right into the men's room.
Headed over to yoga at 6:40. Arrived just as things were getting going. A good session, though I was tired. Wendy showed us some of the finer points of extended child's pose. I hadn't had a session in a couple weeks, and I paid for it. Afterwards, some talk about the Nyung Ney Wendy had just run up at Milarepa center.
Stopped at the Shaw's on my way home, and swapped a bag of bad carrots for a bag of (presumably) good carrots. Back home, some soup, bread and cheese with MB, and career talk. Need sleep, so will just do the minimum to wrap up the day with integrity, and then to bed.
On a sad note, the actor that played Gilligan, has gone to his island in the sky.
Monday, September 05, 2005
the fence, day 3
Monday: (Labor Day, Somerville MA). Slept in as MB headed off to her dance space for some personal practice. Up, then email, made the bed, shower. Took out the garbage. Made a shopping list. Down basement for brief sitting. As I emerged, MB was just arriving. She had bought us a sandwich to split, and also had some coffee for me. We ate and chatted a bit. We decided to combine my trip to fill water bowls at KKC with a shopping trip.
I dropped her off at the Shaw's market, and went to do my bit at Kurukulla. Very quiet at the center. None of the things that can make the task take longer needed to be done, so I was soon heading back to the market. Helped MB with the rest of the shopping.
Back home, and put away the groceries. Walked next door, to ask our neighbor B if it would be OK to paint his side of our fence. He said "Who's fence is it? Yours right? What am I gonna say, 'no you can't paint your fence?'" He also pointed out that we'd gotten some stuff on the side of his house in our stripping efforts. I promised to clean it up. Then, MB and I walk around to our rear neighbors and made a similar request, which was also granted.
We spent the next several hours painting. I accidentally sprayed my lovely wife with stain through the cracks in the fence. She didn't seem to think that my assessment that this sort of occurrence is an occupational hazard that must be accepted, was quite on the mark. As we rounded the corner from the rear to the side, I realized that we were not going to have enough stain. At about the half-way point (just beyond, actually) I declared I was stopping to make a paint run. Put a frozen pizza in the oven, called Home Depot to confirm they were open (they were) and headed out. Quick trip there and back. The weather today was absolutely lovely, by the way.
MB had made us some little salads, and we ate our pizza, and drank Coke. I asked her if she was ready to resume our task. She said "I have to finish my Coke first." I amended the question to be "in the fullness of time." As dusk fell, we realized we weren't quite going to complete the job. We made it along the side, but there are some bits in the front that still need to be done. We cleaned up outside, then cleaned ourselves up, then lay down for a well deserved bit of rest... but not for long.
Around 8:50 PM we headed out to OCBC for JW's 70 birthday party. We were hoping to arrive in time for the coffee and cake. It turned out their evening hadn't gone quite as planned, and we arrived just as the local comedian Jimmy Tingle was going on. I ate some leftover Italian food that was hanging around. MB found the last piece of cake. Jimmy was very entertaining and topical. A local accent, but a worldly outlook. Many zingers aimed at our illustrious leader. After his bit, we said hello and goodbye to JW... his long history of tireless work for social justice, make him a truly inspiring person. Gave an OCBC member a ride home. She was carrying a guitar, and said that she had sang a song entitled something like "Old time religion on a holy ghost night."
Back home, I talked to my mom. She has sold her house on the Cape. A good move for her. We made plans for MB and me to go out and help her pack and so forth. Some more coffee and email. Still have daily practices to do. It'll be a late night.
I dropped her off at the Shaw's market, and went to do my bit at Kurukulla. Very quiet at the center. None of the things that can make the task take longer needed to be done, so I was soon heading back to the market. Helped MB with the rest of the shopping.
Back home, and put away the groceries. Walked next door, to ask our neighbor B if it would be OK to paint his side of our fence. He said "Who's fence is it? Yours right? What am I gonna say, 'no you can't paint your fence?'" He also pointed out that we'd gotten some stuff on the side of his house in our stripping efforts. I promised to clean it up. Then, MB and I walk around to our rear neighbors and made a similar request, which was also granted.
We spent the next several hours painting. I accidentally sprayed my lovely wife with stain through the cracks in the fence. She didn't seem to think that my assessment that this sort of occurrence is an occupational hazard that must be accepted, was quite on the mark. As we rounded the corner from the rear to the side, I realized that we were not going to have enough stain. At about the half-way point (just beyond, actually) I declared I was stopping to make a paint run. Put a frozen pizza in the oven, called Home Depot to confirm they were open (they were) and headed out. Quick trip there and back. The weather today was absolutely lovely, by the way.
MB had made us some little salads, and we ate our pizza, and drank Coke. I asked her if she was ready to resume our task. She said "I have to finish my Coke first." I amended the question to be "in the fullness of time." As dusk fell, we realized we weren't quite going to complete the job. We made it along the side, but there are some bits in the front that still need to be done. We cleaned up outside, then cleaned ourselves up, then lay down for a well deserved bit of rest... but not for long.
Around 8:50 PM we headed out to OCBC for JW's 70 birthday party. We were hoping to arrive in time for the coffee and cake. It turned out their evening hadn't gone quite as planned, and we arrived just as the local comedian Jimmy Tingle was going on. I ate some leftover Italian food that was hanging around. MB found the last piece of cake. Jimmy was very entertaining and topical. A local accent, but a worldly outlook. Many zingers aimed at our illustrious leader. After his bit, we said hello and goodbye to JW... his long history of tireless work for social justice, make him a truly inspiring person. Gave an OCBC member a ride home. She was carrying a guitar, and said that she had sang a song entitled something like "Old time religion on a holy ghost night."
Back home, I talked to my mom. She has sold her house on the Cape. A good move for her. We made plans for MB and me to go out and help her pack and so forth. Some more coffee and email. Still have daily practices to do. It'll be a late night.
the fence, day 2
Sunday: A relaxed morning. Wrote diary entry for Saturday. Shower, breakfast. MB was off at a BD lesson. Down basement for morning practices. When I came back up, a slice of pizza and an open-faced sandwich. Had a nice chat with MB. Some guitar, working on learning the high part of Invention 10, in full. More work on the fence, giving things another shot of stripper, then mildew stain remover, then wood brightener. Lots of scrubbing and water. Should be ready for stain tomorrow. Perfect weather for it. Sunny and cool. Shower. More work on Invention 10. Headed off to guitar circle with MB.
A good session. This was just for people that are going to be playing the wedding gig next week. Dev, MB, Alex L, Martin, myself, Victor. Worked on several pieces: Eye of the Needle, Growing Circle, Hope, circulation (in D Maj, G Maj, C Maj and F Maj), Third Relation, Moving Force. Did some work on Invention 10, but it was decided that it didn't sound good as an ensemble piece with people playing in unison (its wonderful, of course, in circulation). I asked about Ben B at the end, which led into a longer discussion than I was expecting. Some interesting stuff about how teachers have to guard against passing their own disfunction on to their students.
Back home, and some soup and toast, chatting with MB. Soon bed.
A good session. This was just for people that are going to be playing the wedding gig next week. Dev, MB, Alex L, Martin, myself, Victor. Worked on several pieces: Eye of the Needle, Growing Circle, Hope, circulation (in D Maj, G Maj, C Maj and F Maj), Third Relation, Moving Force. Did some work on Invention 10, but it was decided that it didn't sound good as an ensemble piece with people playing in unison (its wonderful, of course, in circulation). I asked about Ben B at the end, which led into a longer discussion than I was expecting. Some interesting stuff about how teachers have to guard against passing their own disfunction on to their students.
Back home, and some soup and toast, chatting with MB. Soon bed.
Sunday, September 04, 2005
stripping fence
Saturday: Slept in a bit. Up and some breakfast with MB. A brief sitting in the basement as she did some cleaning and puttering.
Headed over to Home Depot, and bought materials for our 'refinish the fence' project. Quite amazing people watching. I wonder what it is about Home Depot... perhaps that it draws such a cross-section of the population.
Back home, put down tarps, and sprayed stripper on the fence. MB helped. We managed not to get too upset with each other when things weren't working exactly as planned. Much scrubbing and spraying of water. I went back to HD and got some more stripper. We cleaned up, and ended our project for the day, exactly at 6 PM.
I got cleaned up, and went out to pick up a pizza. The guys at the pizza shop were of course, talking about the price of gasoline. One of them told me that the cash register, which has been with the business for 58 years, may be replaced soon. The problem is the old one doesn't tally above $5. I guess 58 years ago $5 was a lot more money. MB and I ate pizza and salad. I paid bills and sorted through mail. She headed out for a BD gig. I headed down basement and spent a focused hour in daily practice. Resurfaced around 10 PM.
Called F&M, and decided to pay them a visit. Saw F's new pet, Phil (whose name I use without permission, but who I trust would not mind), an African millipede. Talked with M a bit. Back home, played F's mandolin (Bicycling to Afghanistan is a hoot... Every Crafty should take a mandolin for a spin.) We watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Such a wonderful film. Gave F a ride home. Some concluding practice. And bed.
Headed over to Home Depot, and bought materials for our 'refinish the fence' project. Quite amazing people watching. I wonder what it is about Home Depot... perhaps that it draws such a cross-section of the population.
Back home, put down tarps, and sprayed stripper on the fence. MB helped. We managed not to get too upset with each other when things weren't working exactly as planned. Much scrubbing and spraying of water. I went back to HD and got some more stripper. We cleaned up, and ended our project for the day, exactly at 6 PM.
I got cleaned up, and went out to pick up a pizza. The guys at the pizza shop were of course, talking about the price of gasoline. One of them told me that the cash register, which has been with the business for 58 years, may be replaced soon. The problem is the old one doesn't tally above $5. I guess 58 years ago $5 was a lot more money. MB and I ate pizza and salad. I paid bills and sorted through mail. She headed out for a BD gig. I headed down basement and spent a focused hour in daily practice. Resurfaced around 10 PM.
Called F&M, and decided to pay them a visit. Saw F's new pet, Phil (whose name I use without permission, but who I trust would not mind), an African millipede. Talked with M a bit. Back home, played F's mandolin (Bicycling to Afghanistan is a hoot... Every Crafty should take a mandolin for a spin.) We watched "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." Such a wonderful film. Gave F a ride home. Some concluding practice. And bed.
Friday, September 02, 2005
unacceptable hands
Friday: Had a bit of a sleep in. Web. Shower. Fed the cats. Breakfast and coffee. A bit of guitar. Down basement for a longish sitting. Today there was some back and forth about a photo of some hands playing guitar.
Off to work. Lovely weather. Car really not running well. Hope it makes it until next week when it's due into the shop. Interesting day at work. I'm trying to get the last 10 or 20 percent performance out of my system, and its tricky. Starting to feel like I'm tinkering more than being particularly constructive.
Took a walk out and got a burrito. Bought some chips and a soda at the convenience store. While I was in line a guy pointed at the horrible little roll up things that cook forever on the hot-dog rollers and said in a derisive tone "That's the best Mexican food you can get in Massachusetts." I said "Uh, actually, there's a really good burrito place next door." He wasn't buying it though. His girlfriend said she only eats Mexican food in Texas. Later on the fellow, hoping to smooth things over with me said that he always ate in the burrito place next door when he was drunk.
I worked fairly late. MB had a late night BD gig. Got home around 9. Emptied the dishwasher. Cleaned out my razer. Fed the cats. Down basement for daily practices. Some guitar. MB should be home soon.
Off to work. Lovely weather. Car really not running well. Hope it makes it until next week when it's due into the shop. Interesting day at work. I'm trying to get the last 10 or 20 percent performance out of my system, and its tricky. Starting to feel like I'm tinkering more than being particularly constructive.
Took a walk out and got a burrito. Bought some chips and a soda at the convenience store. While I was in line a guy pointed at the horrible little roll up things that cook forever on the hot-dog rollers and said in a derisive tone "That's the best Mexican food you can get in Massachusetts." I said "Uh, actually, there's a really good burrito place next door." He wasn't buying it though. His girlfriend said she only eats Mexican food in Texas. Later on the fellow, hoping to smooth things over with me said that he always ate in the burrito place next door when he was drunk.
I worked fairly late. MB had a late night BD gig. Got home around 9. Emptied the dishwasher. Cleaned out my razer. Fed the cats. Down basement for daily practices. Some guitar. MB should be home soon.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
in Shawn's room
Thursday: Up around 8:45 as MB headed out. Shower. Fed cats. Breakfast. Did a good job of limiting my computer use. Down basement for morning practices. Did some yoga too. Coffee and breakfast. Made a sandwich for lunch. Got an email from Shawn saying things were a little iffy for this evening. Called him and made alternate plans.
Warm out today. Drove a non-optimal route through Union Square to get to work. A good day of work on my system. Feeling like I'm very close to a central truth in it. Took a walk out, picked up a copy of the Somerville Journal. Deposited money at the bank. Got a haircut. The guy next to me at the barbershop seemed to be talking angrily about liberals. I'm sensing an air of desperation in the Republican ranks these days. The Dems usually only seem to really win when the Elephants fall on their own swords. Luckily, that's pretty often.
The news out of New Orleans continues to worsen. What is left of the city is spiraling into anarchy. It was a really lovely place... One of the cities I felt I could call home. Strange to know that such chaos and suffering is going on, on such a nice day. I try to remind myself throughout the day that those people would be so happy, just to sit at a clean desk, and drink a soda. Headed off to Shawn's at 7:45.
The studio was booked tonight, so we played in his music room instead. He played lightly amplified electronic drums, and I played acoustic guitar; the reverse of our recent sessions where I was electrified, and he was old-school. He didn't have a beater for his kick-trigger, so I just stomped on the floor with a big shoe. We worked on "The Ides"... and it really came together quite nicely. It'll be great to hear it 'big.' We ran through the rest of our repertoire, then recapped the new piece at the end. It was nice working this way. The low volume gave me the feeling that we could concentrate more on detail.
Back home a little after 10. No MB. Heated the last of the soup I'd made from the vegetables from Shawn's garden. Managed to burn my fingers a little on super hot steam taking the soup out of the microwave. Soy chicken patty sandwich. Listening to the news. MB returned home. She'd stayed late at work. Her picture was in the paper (from the BD contest on Sunday). We talked... It's a sad state of affairs in the world. Soon bed.
Warm out today. Drove a non-optimal route through Union Square to get to work. A good day of work on my system. Feeling like I'm very close to a central truth in it. Took a walk out, picked up a copy of the Somerville Journal. Deposited money at the bank. Got a haircut. The guy next to me at the barbershop seemed to be talking angrily about liberals. I'm sensing an air of desperation in the Republican ranks these days. The Dems usually only seem to really win when the Elephants fall on their own swords. Luckily, that's pretty often.
The news out of New Orleans continues to worsen. What is left of the city is spiraling into anarchy. It was a really lovely place... One of the cities I felt I could call home. Strange to know that such chaos and suffering is going on, on such a nice day. I try to remind myself throughout the day that those people would be so happy, just to sit at a clean desk, and drink a soda. Headed off to Shawn's at 7:45.
The studio was booked tonight, so we played in his music room instead. He played lightly amplified electronic drums, and I played acoustic guitar; the reverse of our recent sessions where I was electrified, and he was old-school. He didn't have a beater for his kick-trigger, so I just stomped on the floor with a big shoe. We worked on "The Ides"... and it really came together quite nicely. It'll be great to hear it 'big.' We ran through the rest of our repertoire, then recapped the new piece at the end. It was nice working this way. The low volume gave me the feeling that we could concentrate more on detail.
Back home a little after 10. No MB. Heated the last of the soup I'd made from the vegetables from Shawn's garden. Managed to burn my fingers a little on super hot steam taking the soup out of the microwave. Soy chicken patty sandwich. Listening to the news. MB returned home. She'd stayed late at work. Her picture was in the paper (from the BD contest on Sunday). We talked... It's a sad state of affairs in the world. Soon bed.
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