Watching Simulated Murder

Sunday: Another day spent mostly at home. Breakfast again with MB. (Fried eggs and stewed apples). Down basement, morning practice, drums, and email. At 6, headed out, dropping off DVDs, and a check at Third Life. Met Victor at the Middle East. Yummy food. He asked a bunch of questions about what's been going on with me. Not sure what that was about. We talked about some ideas for how to proceed with the "free circle." Drove to Davis, found parking, and saw "The Departed" at the Somerville Theater. Good. Very bloody. Back home, eating leftovers from the Middle East watching "The Wire" and hanging with Gus. MB is out at a BD gig. Some leftover birthday cake.

First Snow

Saturday: A quiet day at home. MB didn't go to Third Life. She woke up late to meet Stc for lunch. Shower, Gus, basement. Snowing a bit. Took a walk out and went to the ATM. The breakfast place wasn't open, so picked up some eggs. Breakfast with MB, splitting the last soy sausage and the last bean treat. Looked at some possible evening activities. Nap on the futon. Down basement and personal practice. Rented some DVDs and picked up Chinese food. Watched "The Devil Wears Prada" Frank called and said they'd had to put one of their cats down. Its been a bad year for cats. Some guitar, then back down basement.

Party at Victor's

Friday: Woke, and getting up, when a call came in from a credit card company. Apparently I had missed a payment. This is strange, because I didn't think I had a balance. Gus. Shower. Email. Breakfast. Down basement. Drums and morning sitting.

My car wouldn't start. This is the same problem I've been having with it for several years now, that I hoped had been fixed last year. Rats. In at the office, continued working through problems with altering the representation of file data (single files versus multiple files). Creating a layer to make it look like multiple files. Left at 6:30ish.

Over to Victor's for a birthday party. Arrived at the same time as MB. A pleasant evening of socializing, though MB had to leave fairly early. Victor and I spoke briefly about plans for the free circle. Bridge gave us a rock and roll performance, complete with a low slung guitar, and hip gyrations. Yummy food thanks to Jane. Talking about gifting and re-gifting.

Driving back home, heard that the former dictator of Iraq had been put to death. Stopped for gas. Are these two events related? Hello to Gus. Watched "The Wire." Email.

Night off

Thursday: Email, shower, Gus. Down basement. Headed out... stopped for an egg sandwich at the donut shop. Put some windshield wiper fluid in the tank.

In at the office, Al had left me a note saying he had corrected a problem in my check-in. The SCC continues to give me headaches. Not terribly productive. Started working on getting an alternate representation to be accepted by the code-base at large. Left around 7:30.

Union Square: Walked through "Reliable Market" but didn't buy anything. Zero peoples. Some personal practice, then home.

Hanging with MB. She told me about a conversation she'd had with Sct at work. Leftover Indian food. Emil. Watched an episode of The Wire (third season). Tea and cake. Hanging with Gus.

Half masted staff

Wednesday: Slept in, MB running out to be a hand-model at a video shoot. A lazy morning: email, shower, Gus, down basement for sitting and drums. Talked to the cat sitter. Eggs and toast for breakfast, listening to retrospectives on Gerald Ford. Loaded the old iMac into my car, and my electric rig. Put away laundry. Headed out.

A quiet day at work. Completed some testing on my new "capture and export" implementation, merged with the latest code in the DB, and checked-in. Met Shawn at 7:30.

Over to Arlington, and a short but productive rehearsal. Ran through our existing material, and worked on Thrak. Shawn was a little under the weather, physically and psychically. Back to his place, and unloaded the iMac (his brother was buying it from me).

Sat at the top of the Somerville hill for a bit. Ordered some Indian food. Picked it up. Banking. Back home: MB was making Spanikopita. We ate some of the take-out together. She read to me a bit: A man outside a butcher-shop is saved from committing suicide by a man who makes sport of slicing pigeons with a meat cleaver. "The shit is not the shit. The pigeon is the shit." Tamped down the Christmas wrapping into a paper bag for recycling. Email.

Travel day

Tuesday (Day after Christmas, Hanover PA). The alarm sounded at 7, but we decided to sleep until 8ish. Sitting in bed. Shower. Drove MB over to the retirement village so she could hang with her grandfather. Back to the hotel, an found my mom eating breakfast. Joined her, and had some strange egg things on English Muffins. Packed the car.

Picked up MB, saying hello and goodbye to Allen. On the road by around 11:30. Drove solidly until 2 PM. Stopped for lunch at a fast food place. My mom hadn't had the veggie burgers there before and was pretty happy with the experience. Back on the road around 2:40. Hit traffic going across the GW Bridge, and then more in CT on the Merrit. Took some back roads for the last leg to mom's place.

Just as we arrived and were transferring stuff from mom's car to MB's, we heard a loud crash. A car had backed up into a truck and knocked a bunch of plumbing supplies out of the rear. A guy got out, looked at the damage, then drove away. I got his licence plate number, went and found the plumber and let him know what had happened. My mom knew exactly who the guy was who had done the damage. A real piece of work, from the sound of it: lying about his car not being functional, cutting down shrubs and trees to avoid getting West Nile Virus, barbecuing in the buff. A cop showed up and I answered some questions. MB mom and I had some tea and pie. Then back on the road.

Some rain. I got sleepy about the time we got to the Massachusetts boarder. We stopped for coffee (I ordered a coffee, and while MB was thinking the guy behind the counter suggested "Two coffees?"... I wanted to say "What, are you practicing to be a mind reader?"). MB took over driving. Heard a weird thing about a guy boning a pig on NPR, and an old interview with James Brown (who just passed). (TG asked "Did your musicians go along with your ideas, or did you have to convince them?" JB: "I paid them.")

Back home, Gus was fine. Unloading, and putting stuff away. Making phone calls. Email. And so on.

Canned Green Beans, Twice in One Day

Monday: (Christmas, Hanover PA). The alarm went off at 8, but we decided to sleep until around 9. Sitting in bed. Shower. Down to the lobby for some bits of food. Mom made the mistake of trying the fruit salad. Ick.

Over to the retirement village where MB's grandfather is staying. He'd had another fall, and so a slow parade of nurses came through checking him out. Visiting. His friend Nancy was there for a bit. We followed Allen (driving his electric scooter) to the dining hall for lunch. Some water was spilled. Mom cut up his ham for him. Mom, MB and I just had vegetables. Back to the room. MB and I played a little guitar. Mom started taking pictures and I asked her to please not. Allen complained that what we were playing didn't have any tune to it. So, I put my guitar away. MB played a little more. Opening presents. Allen got many boxes of tissues. We played a little more guitar. Allen asked how long I'd been playing, and, stealing a line, I said "evidently not long enough."

Back to the hotel. Raining. A nap. Around 5:30, we met mom and headed out looking for some food. One of the few places open was the diner. Mom and MB had salads. I got mozzarella sticks and cheese ravioli... with a side of second-hand-smoke.

We arrived back at the retirement village just before 7. Spent a bit more time with Allen, listening to Tony Bennett. He didn't know who Tony Bennett was, and didn't much care for the music. We should have stuck to classical music, I guess. He liked the Yo Yo Ma/Bach solo cello music we played earlier. Mom and I left MB an Allen to watch a movie. Back to the hotel. Personal practice. MB gave me a call around 10:10 PM. I picked her up, and back. Snacks. Looking at the entertainment choices at the TV. They had an odd assortment of CDs available for streaming. We could have ordered King Crimson's THRAK.

Two additions: Allen told us a story about when he was in the merchant marine, how after only four months of medical training, he was expected operate. The procedure he performed was on a "little Chinaman," and involved the removal of hemorrhoids.

On the drive here, we saw a small wooden handmade-sign that read "Hershey Fur Center." (There is a large cottage industry in fur and pelts around here, and this is PA... so). This led to some hilarity, and riffing along the lines of "I'd like a chinchilla with almonds, please."

To PA

Sunday (Christmas Eve, Norwalk CT): Woke around 9, MB jumping out of bed. Downstairs, and sitting. Shower. Made breakfast (eggs, leftover soy sausage etc) with MB. We ate. I took a very brief, but refreshing nap, on the couch. Packed the car. We headed off at noon.

An uneventful drive to Hanover PA. Sunny and not much traffic. Listening to Secret Museum of Mankind, My Brightest Diamond and others. A couple of stops. Arrived at the hotel (which came up sooner than we thought) just after 5 PM. Settling in.

We had an early dinner at a local chain-eatery, with a decent salad bar and a veggie burger on the menu. Then, over to the retirement village. When we arrived Alan was being tended to, so we waited outside his room for a bit. A patient alarm was going off, an it took quite a while before anyone attended to it. A woman wheeled herself to the door of her room and said "I need a nurse" in an indignant tone. "Help!" she screamed angrily. "Oh Margaret, please!" said a nurse in passing. "I know..." grumbled the old woman. Then again "Help!" and so on. We had a nice little visit. Alan is 97, and perhaps not as spry as he was a year ago, but hanging in there.

Mom and I went back to the hotel, leaving MB with Alan. Mom went to bed in her room. Personal practice in my room. MB called around 10:15 saying she and her grandfather were done watching their movie, and that I could come pick her up. So I did.

Snacks in the lobby. Now, up in the room. Perhaps some guitar.

Christmas Eve Eve

Saturday (Norwalk): Woke. Sometime. A good sleep, but the mattress was a little hard. Sitting in bed as MB showered. Shower. Eventually we all met downstairs and had some nice breakfast (eggs, soy sausage, coffee, little toasts, pumpkin and sunflower butters). Some quiet time. Mom called Koky and we said we'd be over in an hour. I practiced guitar a bit.

A lovely visit with Koky (my old 5th grade teacher. Now, 94). Some tea and opening little presents. Got her gas fire working (well, the remote wouldn't work, but found the manual switch). I showed her my new guitar and played a bit. Then MB and I played some music for her and my mom. Got a call from a fellow who was the head-master of LRS for a time, as well as the teacher of several subjects.

Back home and a bit more down-time. Eventually, the present opening got underway. Good stuff. I gave MB and iPod and a speaker system to go with it. Hopefully it will work nicely for her belly-dance gigs. Some good books. Kitchen stuff from mom.

Off for some supper at "Wild Rice," a new Oriental restaurant (sort of Japanese/Chinese hybrid). Mom has come to a new understanding of the horrors of factory-style animal husbandry, so she's mostly vegetarian now. Good for her!

Back home, dessert treats and hanging out. The three of us took a walk around the condo complex with Max the dog. Now, the day is winding down.

G lobal O rgasm D ay

Friday: Woke around 10:30, and then some more sleep. Email. Gus. Shower. Reheated some coffee and had a couple of quick fried eggs. Down basement, and a phone call with my friend Stcy. Sitting. I heard MB come come. Some tidying. Off to work.

Got more of my "capture and export" rewrite going. The thing that had been tripping me up was that an exception was being thrown in the non-real-time case. Headed home around 7:30.

Stopped and bought some booze and baked goods as last minute presents. Back at the ranch, MB had left some stuff for me to do. Ate some leftover Indian food. Emptied the dishwasher. Took out the garbage. Loaded stuff into the car. Packed. Left a key for the cat sitter. Listened to phone messages. One was from a friend of MB's grandfather. He's had a fall, and doesn't want us to visit. MB called and we arranged for a place to meet. A few last minute things, and then on the road.

Picked MB up near the church where were married. On the road. Rain. Stopped at a service area, but everything except McDumpings was closed. The donut shop was open at the next one, which fit the bill. MB had gotten some bean treats at the Asian market. We drove on, mostly in silence. Arrived at mom's around 1 AM. MB removed her banana nut loaves from the pans. Now, I'm filching internet from a neighbor. Happy G.O.D!

Lizards in the faucet

Thursday: Woke in a funny state, with Gus out of the room, but a feeling like MB was still in the house. She wasn't. Felt quite off balance. Or maybe more in balance, which registered as off balance? Email. Then suddenly feeling the need to be efficient with time. Shower. Gus. A couple of quick eggs and coffee. Down basement. Brief drums, sitting. Laundry. Took the long way around to work. A sunny day.

Of all strange things, a 'for loop' wasn't working. A full rebuild cleared things out. I detest stuff like that. It would be like, turning the faucet of the sink, and having lizards come out, but then, tapping on the pipe made them go away. Got some sad, over expensive, pizza. A man complained about the price, while I was paying. I chimed in saying I also thought it was too much. The young woman behind the counter agreed. Got a bunch of stuff working on the "capture and export" feature. Left at 7:35.

Over at Union Square, I lost my little suction cups, so had to pin the sign onto the fabric on the door. MB came to class, and two other people. It was balanced,so I did more partner sort of stuff than usual. Tonight had a nice flow to it.

After class, MB and I had some food at the India Palace, watching Indian music videos and sipping hot tea. Back home, laundry, guitar, emailing.

Wrapping

Wednesday: Up around 10. Email. Shower. Gus. Had some breakfast and coffee. Down basement. A sunny mild day. Loaded electric rig into the car.

In at work, continued getting my new code on its feet. My computer seemed oh so slow today. I don't know if its the shared compiles, or what, but eventually I turned off my compile sharing... it was just horrible. Tofu burrito. Met Shawn out back at 7:30.

Over at his space, a run through our material. This felt like a maintenance session. Not much progress, but important for keeping things in the body. Worked a bit on Thrak. He stayed to work on a video.

Back home, hand-drumming was going on, so down basement. It stopped, so I went to investigate. It had just been MB. Coffee, cheese and crackers and baklava. Some hanging out, and watching some of the "Young Glenn" slide-show. Down basement. Email, wrapping.

Coat-rack

Tuesday: Got to bed late. The black beast gave me some problems. Still awake when MB was getting up. She shut Gus out of the room, and so I got a bit of shut-eye. A relaxed morning. Shower. Breakfast. Gus. Email. Down basement for a long session. Put the final coat on the coat-rack. Changed clothes.

Headed into work, taking the long way around. Hit traffic, so aborted my usual route, and headed back across Cambridge. Stopped at Starbucks again, and was again a bit surprised at the snootiness of the staff. At work, debugging my new "data capture/export" code. Ate the lunch MB had packed. Later on got some pizza. When I went to leave, a demolition team was working on the first floor of the building, and it sounded as if the floor was going to give way and they were going to come crashing down into the garage. Talked to Wnd on the drive about some changes she's experiencing.

Back home, nailed some little feet onto the bottom of the coat-rack. Hello to MB. Was going to play guitar, but MB suggested we hang out a little. Checking in and making fun of Gus. Working on a DVD slide-show: a Christmas present for mom.

The Paw of Destiny

Monday: Slept in, but with difficulty. Battled the Black One, who wanted to drip snot on me, and poke me with the Paw of Destiny. Feeling a bit out of it. Email. Down basement and morning practices (in the afternoon). Drums. Stowed the new iMac box, and retrieved the old iMac box.

In to work, stopping at the Broadway market for some prepared food, and a coffee from Starbucks. The Christmas Blend doesn't taste like cinnamon, or nutmeg, which is thankful, but does make me wonder what makes it "The Christmas Blend." Some consultation with Dv. Continued my revamping of the "capture/export" function. Talked to my mom about our travel plans. Got a call from MB in the evening. Headed home.

Stopped to pick up Indian food. MB and I had dinner together, reading Christmas cards, and chatting. Set to wiping sensitive info from the old iMac. The fixed heating zone seems to be making an unfortunately loud humming noise when active.

OCBC and Wnd

Sunday: Woke around 8:30. Shower. Down basement and morning sitting. Made some breakfast for MB and myself: fried eggs & toast. Off to OCBC.

The boiler was out, and the Christmas wreath had gone missing. A good turn out none the less. A young girl sang during the offering. Quite amazing. Hellos and goodies afterwards.

Back home, hanging out with MB for a spell. Nice to have some quiet time. Then, in to work for a bit. Fixed a couple of compile errors. Got a burrito. Headed down to Norwood to visit Wnd. We had plenty to talk about, involving her recent escapades. We went out to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. A funny older lady helped us scoop ice-cream, and recommended the jello.

Back home a bit before 10. Some more time with MB. Updated the KKC calendar, which took quite some time. Listening to the Secret Museum of Mankind. Evening practices in the basement. Very sleepy.

Alarm, iMac and Fluff

Saturday: Woke around 8 AM to the sound of our house alarm going off. It's quite a noise. In my half awake state, I thought "Oh, they're coming to fix that soon, so I can just keep sleeping." MB gave me a nudge. Out of bed, and the phone rang. Smoke alarm in the basement was going off. Checked it out. All was well. Probably dust. MB and had sort of a breakfast in the living room (I had some chamomile tea, and toast, vitamins and water, she had some oatmeal). Back to bed (MB heading out to do various stuff). Slept until 1 PM.

Emailing, and some fried eggs. MB called a couple of times to let me know what was going on. Down basement and "morning" practices. Drums. Shuffling through papers. MB returned home. A little later, we made some bean burrito sort of things for dinner. Then tea and cake.

Email. MB continued with her recording project. I headed out to the mall. Bought a new iMac for the house. Did some more low-key Christmas shopping. Bought a funny book of photos of nuns. The lady at the checkout said she hadn't always seen the humor in nuns, as she went to Catholic school. Stopped at the 24 hour pharmacy for some small items. Heard a woman repeatedly describing a particular concoction of which she was fond: "First you take a big scoop of the Fluff, and you dip it into the hot chocolate, and then when you take it out, it just melts in your mouth." The fellow listening seemed very interested. "I'm going to have to try that first thing tomorrow morning!" he said.

Back home, hanging with MB and Gus. Set the new iMac to coping data from the old iMac. It looks like I lucked out this time: no dead pixels.

Needham

Friday: Up, still a bit snotty. Email. Shower. Gus. Down basement, morning stuff and drum. Attended to financial matters related to an online study group I've been organizing. Ate some miscellaneous food substances and called it breakfast.

Off to work. More restructuring of the faster than real time export feature. Some slightly tense consultation with Al about some code that he changed (and slightly botched). Got what will probably be my last cup of coffee from Toscanini's, for at least 6 months.

At 6:30 drove off to Needham to visit a friend. Interesting time. Stayed until 10.

Back home, hello to MB. Some food. Watching a belly dance video while supplying back-rubs.

To Squawk and Back

Thursday: Woke around 10, and lazed awhile. Gave MB a call trying to make some plans about a student. Shower. Gus. Had some fried eggs for breakfast on cheese toast. Coffee. Down basement and morning things. Some drums. Headed off to work, taking the long way.

A fairly productive day, continuing my refactoring work. Somehow, everything we're doing right at this point, is making the program smaller. That's a really good thing. I'm deleting more modules than I'm creating. Coffee. At 7:30 I headed to Union Square.

Three people came to class tonight, including MB. Not sure if she really counts. I fell back to a typical evening session tonight, with yoga at the end.

MB and I then went to Squawk Coffee House. A man talking a mile a minute about many a crazy thing was the first act we saw. Then Dagmar. Good stuff. Some blues piano. A very talented young girl singing in sort of a swing style. A guy ranting on in a semi-pornographic way about his love affair with Ticonderoga Number 2 Pencils, made me edge for the door.

MB dropped me back at Union. I made a phone call to a student. Back home, continued my laptop restoration. MB headed to bed. I am typing this on my resuscitated MacBook. Hallelujah.

MacBook resurrection

Wednesday: Up around 10, feeling full of mucus. But, improving as I showered, and email. Much of it leaving my system. Close to healthy. Gus. Called the Apple Store and checked on the status of my drive. They located the record and said they'd call back. Down basement for morning things. Some drums. Packed my car with the electric rig. Was about to head out when the cleaning people arrived. I let them know there was only one cat now.

Across town, and some good work, refactoring some data capture objects to allow them to be used in a new context. Got a call from the "Genius" at the Apple Store and set up an appointment. Headed over there around 1:30. Dropped off my laptop. Went and got some coffee, which took longer than I had expected. Eventually went back and picked up the MacBook, it having been restored to its former 120 GB glory (supposedly). Did some shopping. Back at work, continued my project. Going smoothly. Burrito. MB called around 9:30 PM, and we went out and I drank some coffee while she had some veggie chilli and a corn muffin. I walked her back to her car, then drove home myself. Warm out today, and rainy.

At the house, the cleaning people had done a nice job. Unloaded the car. Set my data restoring onto my laptop, fingers crossed. Some emailing. Soon down basement.

Bridge's School / Fixing Zone 2 / Phone

Tuesday: Woke just after 6:30. Up, shower and so on. Gave myself a needle jab while giving Gus his saline... on the index finger of my left hand. Luckily it didn't interfere with playing. Down basement and brief sitting. MB and I headed out at about 7:35. We stopped for some breakfast at the donut shop and were on our way again by 7:45. I made a bad decision about one route, and took one wrong turn, and we didn't wind up at Bridge's school until 8:45.

Brief sound check. A little time in the green room, and we were on. We played for perhaps 100 children in a smallish auditorium. Dev's guitar gave us some problems at the beginning, but then we settled in. A pretty good set, as far as I could tell. The kids were certainly enthusiastic. Victor lobbed one question about how guitars a built over to me. No comments (cloaked as questions) about candy eggs, this year. We wrapped up around 10.

Headed home. The guy from the plumbing company called on the cell. I said I could stay home longer to make up for the fact that I had to be out in the AM. Back home, cut the Gus monster's nails, and a nap. MB woke me saying someone was at the door. Very confused being half asleep, I thought the guy had come from Apple to fix my laptop. No. Took the fellow below decks and we inspected the patient. He purged the zone, but still no good. So, he headed off to get a replacement pump. I did some drum practice while he was gone. He was soon back, and did the swap, and Eureka, we have heat on the second floor again... and it only set me back $500.

In to work, stopping for gas, driving the long way. Talk with B and Alx about various things, and then finally down to it. Completed my update and house-cleaning, reviewed my changes, and checked this big chunk of work in. Left around 9:30.

Back home, briefly upstairs. MB came home just as I was heading down basement. Had a nice talk with Wnd about her L2 experiences. Hung out with MB a little while she made lunches and a salad. I ate some salad rolled up in a tortilla shell with some cheese. Tea. Back down basement and catching up with my friend Chln. Completing the day.

Gentle day

Monday: Slept in. Up around noon, still feeling pretty punk. Treated myself somewhat gently, doing normal morning things. Gus, Shower, Email. Talked to Wnd while I made some eggs over easy, toast and tea. Down basement and morning practices. Food in the bird feeder. A coat on the coat-rack. Headed off to work.

Did an update to the stuff Al checked in. More housecleaning, ripping chunks of APIs out that are no longer needed. Talked to B about how to help Al get on with it. Coffee. Only 7 days left before Toscanini's has to close for 6 to 9 months.

Back home around 9. Made macaroni and cheese while MB made a salad. Dinner. Some guitar. Down basement for evening things... have to get up early for the gig at Bridge's school.

Jam packed

Sunday: Woke at 8:20, ten minutes before the alarm went off. I'd been having a racy dream about a woman that looked like Britney Spears, but who (I suppose not surprisingly) was made of plastic. Up, shower, clothes, Gus. Down basement for morning practices. Off to KKC. Stopped at the donut shop for an egg sandwich and coffee. Got a jelly donut but didn't have time to eat it.

It was lovely being at the center this morning. It's one of Geshela's last times teaching before he heads to India for the winter. Sleepy. There was some discussion about the number of sentient beings at the end. I asked "how many positive integers are there" to Damchoe... I had to explain this concept. This is East meets West sometimes. We don't understand concepts that seem fundamental to each-other. I had to get up to get some tea a couple of times. Wnd wasn't there. Txted her. Had to turn down giving someone a ride in order to get back home.

Back home by 12:25. And Satsang with Wnd, El and Ali. Nice session, and some back-rubs. Wnd caught us up on her L2. There were out the door by 2:20, as planned, and MB and I were on the road by 2:25.

Over to Waltham. I navigated and drove as MB talked to her sister-in-law on the cell. We arrived at Bently College at 2:50, and found parking without problem. No problem fining the hall, and were assisted by a helpful woman. The program began at about 3:05. Music of Thomas De Hartman, up first, with a couple of pieces from his early life, then some much later in life, and then some of his collaborations with G.I. Gurdjieff. After a brief break (I got almost the last cup of coffee, and most of the cookies and cake were gone too. I guess people were hungrier than expected.) Movements. This was very interesting to watch. It's not really stuff that is designed for watching... it was designed to have an effect on those dancing. The, no doubt, long hours of work that went into learning these pieces, was apparent. Some of it was quite lovely. A bit of Crafty Face though. After the performance MB and I headed out quickly.

Back home, and some snacks. I scoped out Jane's art opening, and it looked like we might be able to catch some of it. We headed out and drove to the newly opened Institute for Contemporary Art. Unfortunately, there was a half hour wait to get in, and we only had about a half hour to spend on the whole deal, so... on to the Free Circle.

A little waiting outside. Chrs showed me some work that had been done on his 12 string (which he uses with only 6). Victor was able to park right in front. This was the last session of the Free Circle series. Victor went over the basics of the operation of the left and right hands, and the first 6 primaries. We did some circulating... which was surprisingly good. And the Free Circle was a wrap. The other guys showed up, and Guitar Circle New England was in the house, including Dev! (Dev had been up over 24 hours, working at the Symphony Hall, and had even damaged himself slightly. Be careful Dev!) We worked through some choreography for the upcoming "Bridge's School" show. We played with a few ideas for interactive things we could do with the kids. Worked on our repertoire. Wrapped up around 11 PM.

Back home, and some more snacks. Here's an idea: Relish filled Donuts. Or, tuna filled donuts for cats. Gus loves donuts, so I'm sure he would really love them if they were filled with tuna. Cleared up a few things about Growing Circle for MB. Email. Completing the day. MB is poking me and asking me why I am ignoring her.

MB's Cousin/Naps

Saturday: Darn cold in the house, and feeling sick. Threw on some clothes and went to see what was up with the heat. It looks like the pump for the second floor zone is kaput. Great. Made MB and myself some cheese toasts, warmed up some tea, and poured some juice. We ate this in bed. Then up. MB headed out to pick up her cousin, who is now working as an airline stewardess, and happened to be in town on a layover. Email. Shower. Brief sitting in the dance room. MB and M returned. Froggy voice today, the crazy robot gone. Made some breakfast for us. MB cut up some fruit. An enjoyable meal. MB's cousin is young and exploring her career options. Very wise. They headed off around 11. MB had a fund-raiser to go to. Put away laundry. A longer sitting in the basement. Drums. Napping in the basement (its warm). Watched some "24." Gus. MB returned. Some hanging out. The final season 1 episode of 24. Then we both took a nap in the basement. I made us some noodles for dinner. While things were cooking, called my mom, and talked about Leo and some stuff going on where she works. MB and I ate dinner. Clean up. Hanging out in the living room. Email.

Crazy Robot Voice

Friday: Gave a bit too strong of a yell, through head-cold-vocal-chords, to MB, who was heading out, and injured my voice. Couldn't speak in much above a whisper for the rest of the day, without sounding like a crazy robot. Not that I have anything against crazy robots, but trying to order a Jasmine Tea with that voice can result in some pretty strange looks from the coffee shop employees.

Made the bed. Email. Gus. Shower. Called the local vet and the vet hospital and let them know about Leo's passing. Ate some cereal and feeling lazy watched the season 2 finale of The Wire. Down basement for morning stuff, and drums. My drum practice is actually much more regular than my guitar practice these days. Why? It's fun. Some little tidying in the house.

Headed across town to work. They didn't have any Jasmine Tea, so I got some Spicy Chai (sans milk and sugar) and a sandwich. Continued work on my vari-speed project. It's about done now. The quality is much improved and I think it has a pretty good feel. Someone said that the FireWire port on his laptop had been used so much, that it was hanging like a wizard's sleeve. I said "high five!" (in a crazy robot voice). Burrito. MB called and a crazy robot answered. I left work around 10:20.

Hit traffic on the long drive. Stopped at the grocery store. Decided I didn't want to ask the guy stocking yogurt where the maple syrup was, in a crazy robot voice. Back home, me and MB put away the groceries, making jokes about Gus, who looked on with a puzzled expression on his face. I told her about the episode of The Wire I had watched (in a whisper). She's taking a shower as I type on the iMac. I still do not have a laptop.

Three on the Raft

Thursday: Slept in a bit. Feeling under the weather in several dimensions. Almost didn't go to work, but decided that getting out of the house would be good for me. Lots of laundry. Gus. Spent some time looking at photos. Down basement for morning stuff. And drums.

Stopped at the dry cleaners, dropped off my coat and a sweater, and picked up a bunch of stuff (mostly MB's). Ate an egg sandwich. Around the long way in to work. A fairly short day, debugging some of my recent reworking of a subsystem. Left at 7:35.

Over to Union Square. 4 people tonight. Led the Yoga Nidra again, leaving more space this time. A slight bit of snoring. A good sign, actually. Then some yoga. SR (the organizer of the space) came in just as I was leaving. Over to Wang's for some Chinese food. Watched The Wire, while eating. Tea. Wnd called and we talked about her experience at the course she just returned from. MB came home. Hanging out on the couch. Making the bed. Only three on the raft.

Leo ascends in flame

Wednesday: MB headed out. Around 9 AM, I got up to take on the task of packaging Leo for cremation, and cleaning up the sick room. I sewed him into the leg of an old pair of MB's PJs. He'd become pretty ripe. Into a bag, and then doubled bagged in plastic, with disinfectant between layers. Cleaned up the room, wiping down all the surfaces and mopping. Fresh air. Incense. Laundry. Dishwasher. Sweep. Mop. Shower. Clean clothes. When this was all put right, down basement for morning practices. And drums.

Drove out, stopping to buy a mixture of diesel and gasoline, and a bagel with cream cheese. Then, over to Brookline for a bag of heating coal. And, in to work. Continued on the vari-speed business, but it was a short day. Called Apple again, trying to see what was up with getting me going again. It sounded like there was a solution in the offing. Left work at 4:35.

Back home, packing drums, and percussion instruments into the car. Then the guest of honor. MB arrived, and we left not long after. Picked up F&M, and drove out Route 2, heading west to Wendall, listening to Alessandra Belloni. We reminisced about many stories involving Gus and Leo throughout their long history with us. Got a bit lost, missing the turn. Managed to raise Mrg on the cell, and he put us right. Arrived at his place around 7:30 PM. I said hello to his wife and son. Thr ran to me, almost knocking me over saying "Glenn!" I was surprised he remembered me.

We built a pyre with a thick layer of coal, then my little buddy, and then a bunch of wood. I soaked the whole thing with the diesel/gas mixture, said "Leo, you were a good little cat" and then Mrg lit it up. We drummed and talked, tending the fire. The little plastic cap off the end of the gas can got lost in the shuffle. Sounds of the bunt-pan. A near full moon. A smell like someone burning a chicken on the engine of a truck. A smokey truck. After some time, I realized there was a squishy bit that wasn't burning, I chased this around in the coal embers, until it was gone. This took some time. I think we left around 9:45.

Stopped at a 24 hour convenience store for snacks. I had another bagel and cream cheese. It's the food of the day, I guess. Drove back, without much talking. Dropped F&M. Back home. Unloading. Showers. MB to bed. Tea. Typing.

Leo in the clear light meditation

Tuesday: MB headed to work. I had a sense that Leo was gone, and I felt that MB must know it also. Around 8 AM I went to check, and indeed yes. In keeping with Buddhist tradition, the body is not to be disturbed for a period after death. The belief is that one is actually in deep meditation for some time, even after the heart has stopped. So, I left him alone. A recording of monks chanting played in the room, looping a CD, but otherwise, the house was quiet this day.

A bit more sleep. Woke from having a dream that I was actually laughing in. It was a comedy routine that was a take-off on Sherlock Holmes, with the tag-line "The Dick with No Bite." Holmes and Watson were arguing over whether this was a good tag-line, or not. Watson's point of view was that most people wanted a little bite with their dick. Realized I was coming down with something. Down basement for practices. Paid a pile of bills. So many good causes with their hands out at this time of year. Drove in to work, stopping at the mall. Renewed my driver's licence. Funny to smile for the photo on the same day my dear friend passed on.

At work, a bit more on trying to improve the quality of the vari-speed, and work out a few remaining kinks. Didn't feel like eating much. Left early.

Back home, MB wasn't in yet. The monks were still singing. Down basement for practices. I heard MB come in, and went up to hang out. We were both feeling pretty wiped out, and emotionally drained from our friend's passing. To bed early. Woke around 2 AM, and couldn't get back to sleep for a while. My sinuses hurting, I think I have an infection. Neti-pot, a cup of tea, and ate the lunch MB had packed for me, sharing bits of cheese with Gus.

Leo transitions

Monday: Woke around 8. Email. Tried to get back to sleep, but did not find it, no thanks to Gus, who wouldn't settle down, and repeatedly poked me in the face. Lazing. Up around 10:30. Gave Leo some food, but he really wasn't doing well. Tsunma-la called and said Geshela could see Leo around 2 PM. Shower. Some breakfast. Down basement. Sitting, and drums. The vet called and said that Leo's cultures came back negative. Bad news in this case, since the alternative diagnoses was cancer. Played some guitar. At 1:30, took Leo over to KKC, driving with him wrapped in a blanket in my lap "Britney Spears Style." Tsunma-la, Ngawang-la, Helen-la and Geshe-la were all very kind to him and me. Geshe Tsulga gave me instructions about how to handle his body after death, and forbade me from having him put down. "As long as no shot, no problem" he said. Back home. The clinic was freakishly not able to make outgoing calls, and so, they couldn't get the prescription faxed to Porter Sq. I found this out on my way to Porter Sq to pick it up. Back home, called the clinic. Called Apple and tried to get my laptop deal straightened out. Finally realized I wasn't going to be able to pick up the meds today. Headed to work, stopping for an egg sandwich, which I ate while driving.

B wasn't in today. It was quiet in the office. I continued refining my vari-speed implementation. Completely scrapped the old damping logic, and used a much simpler scheme. Called Apple again, and finally got put through to someone that could help me. The situation turned out to be much more reasonable than it had seemed before, but the previous guy I had talked to hadn't known where to look for the tech's notes on the matter, and had just gone into defensive mode. My hard drive probably had been damaged in shipping, as it wouldn't mount when it arrived at the repair facility. The mistake the tech made when replacing the drive was that he didn't check its size. Since the drive was installed after my purchase, this was pretty understandable.

Back home, and Leo was much worse. He was trying to get to the litter-box, and walked headlong into the wall. MB and I decided to make the downstairs bathroom his sick room. We moved the little box out of it, and I put a pillow the the heating pad down for him. He crawled over to me and nuzzled my leg, stayed there for a couple minutes, then crawled back to the pillow. MB pet him for a long time. His breathing was growing shallow. She went to bed, and I went to write my diary. Around 2 AM I had a feeling that he had passed, but I didn't want to disturb him if I was wrong. Down basement and practice, meditating on my long friendship with this creature. Then to bed.

Two Circles

Sunday: Slept in, waking here and there, morbid thoughts about dear Leo floating around my brain. MB came home from being out and about. More sleeps. Up, and cat nursing. Shower. MB headed out to a BD event (a hafla with Zabeth). Down basement and morning stuff. Drums raise the spirits. Changed a light-bulb along the side of the house. Wrapped the generator in a tarp. Gave the coat-rack another coat (a process that I repeated a couple of times during the day). Spent some time with Leo, thinking about all the nice times we'd had together. Moved the cat magnet into the bathroom to give him less of a trip to the cat-box. Down basement and some sitting. MB returned home. Back upstairs to say hello and hang out a bit. MB took a nap on the couch. Back down basement. Off to guitar circle. I attended the free circle tonight, as I may take over leading some classes in the future. Some good circulation. Who's that at the door? Dev! Then Martin! And then on to the established circle. David showed up around 9. We worked on some stuff picking notes from triads, and slightly composed circulations. Then repertoire related to the upcoming gig at Bridge's school. Dev Victor and I make a big bass section, with two higher-end wooden guitars, and Dev's deep-body Ovation. My thoughts were with my little cat-friend as we played Asturias. The first time we played Invention 1 was possibly the best ever. Back home, and some snacks. Cat nursing.

Visits to Leo

Saturday: MB headed out very early and returned about 9 AM. A glorious sleep-in. Up, gradually. MB's friend Scy came over and paid Leo a visit. Coffee and chat. Cat nursing. Showers. A nice breakfast. The eggs tasted particularly good today. MB put nice little Clementine slices on the plates. Cleaning up. Down basement and sitting. Drums. MB headed out to the store. I went out also. Picked up some colored indelible markers at Staples, then to Home Depot for a gas can, a tarp, and four cans of spray paint. Back home, filled the tank of the generator. Sanded and wiped down the coat rack. Did a little staining of fill spots in the armoire in the basement. Helped MB make a CD for her belly-gram. F&M called and were coming over to visit with Leo. Gave the coat rack a coat (of spray primer). F&M arrived. Hanging with Leo. Picked up a pizza and salad. Ate while watching Anus McGillicutty. Also watched an episode of Pee Wee's Playhouse, and some of my friend Randy's music videos. MB came home from her belly grad. It was a birthday party with an Animal House theme. After some more tending to Leo, they headed out. M is thinking about moving back to Pgh. Cleaning up. A bit of guitar.

El Niño

Friday: Woke late morning. Shower. Basement for morning practice. Drove out and picked up cat nursing supplies. Freakish warm weather, yesterday and today. The Irish woman at the vet's said "As long as the snow stays away..." I said "It's all good fun until the ice caps melt." A woman asked for directions to Somerville Hospital. Back home and administration of supplies.

Off to work. Faxed in my proof of purchase for my 120 GB drive. Hopefully Apple will make good on this. A horrible thought struck me though: What if the guy at the repair place ripped my drive off, and is searching it for credit card numbers and so on. Most of my important info was encrypted, but not all of it. A pretty good day. Working on getting the vari-speed stuff to really be good, now that its more or less working. Talked to J and B about an idea I have for making it more usable. Got some pizza later in the day. Almost went to hang out with Wnd, but decided to keep working. Headed home around 10:30.

MB had just gotten in from a party, that was sort of like a tupper-ware party, except for cosmetics. Leo is not doing great, but seemed to have perked up slightly from the fluid I gave him earlier. MB went upstairs to get ready for bed. Leftover Chinese food, and The Wire. Goodnights.

Now, email and typing, a cop car raced past our house, sirens and lights going, in pursuit of some other car.

The missing hard drive

Thursday: Woke at 9. Slept a little more. Strange dreams about falling into a library. Up, email, shower. Sitting in the dance room. Brief cat nursing. At 10:35, headed out.

To Watertown for an eye exam. My first. Strange little office. I'm in good shape. Stopped for an egg sandwich on my way back to the office. One of my eyes was dilated. This put me in rather an odd state.

At my desk: My laptop, back from being repaired. On booting it: Horror the "I'm a brand new computer" routine. They had replaced my 120 GB drive with a 60 GB drive. Calling in dismay I was told to call back on Monday. Decided that wasn't good enough and called back. "If you can prove to us the computer had a 120 GB drive in it, maybe we can do something for you." was one thing I heard. Also "Installing the 120 GB drive voided the warrantee." and "It was a non-conforming part, so it was replaced." Good god. I had only returned the computer for a minor cosmetic repair. I actually became pretty angry. The anger left me feeling yucky for the rest of the day. Finally talked to a supervisor two levels up the food chain, and at least felt like I'd been heard. Got back to work. Got the vari-speed stuff working pretty well by the end of the day. Mom called. Pretty good news about her knee. Probably doesn't need an operation. Deposited my check. Coffee. Ate some of the chocolate that had been given to us by happy beta testers.

Left at 7:20, and over to Union Square. Spent some time making notes from the Yoga Nidra book. Led an interesting class to three people. Biggest challenge for me leading Yoga Nidra was going slow enough. Then some stretching and movements. People seemed happy, saying they'd come back.

After closing up, around 10:10, headed to Wang's for some Chinese food. Talked to Wnd about her upcoming workshop. Back home. Leo's not doing so well. Looks sick and vomiting. Ate food watching The Wire. Email. Printed out some receipts so I could at least prove I'd purchased a 120 GB drive, even if I couldn't prove it was actually in the laptop I sent in. MB returned from an adventure to a coffee house. Watch this to get the gist.

Later, as I was heading out to drop a check at Third Life, I noticed that the copper trellis for the climbing hydrangea along the driveway had gone missing. MB said she had read that people were stealing metal. Creepy. Drove to Third Life and dropped off a check. Down basement. Changed strings on my acoustic guitar, trying Mike Doolin's winding technique. The high G string kept slipping as I practiced.