Lam Rim Transmission 1

The gas station where MB and I first met:


A carnival on the way to KKC, "Cobra."


Thursday: Woke feeling very energized today. A good practice last night, and not so much sleep sometimes has that effect. Almost went and took precepts at 4:15 AM, but decided/it was decided, against it. Today was the first day of the Buddhist holiday Saka Dawa. Downstairs watched some more of the DVD for errors. Coffee and cereal. Gus treatments. Shower. Down basement and morning practices. Drums. A little tidying. The UPS man came and gave me a package of Gus pills. MB called about them.

Headed to work, driving across town. A good day at the office. B muttered across the divide to Al, something he didn't want me to hear. I stepped through a bunch of code and actually got some data to pass through the new path. Dealing with object life-span issues. Dealing with reference counted objects when you have a network of object relationships can sometimes be more difficult than simply managing who owns the objects. Left early, and headed to KKC.

Arriving at Kurukulla Center, the place was surprisingly full. I almost didn't get a seat in the gompa, but lucky for me a spot opened up near a window. Lots of "where have you been" looks from people. Hm said he'd found something interesting on the internet. Session 1 of the oral transmission of the Lam Rim Chen Mo. I split my time between reading and listening. Geshela ended around 9:40.

Took a walk around the block with Wnd. Found a cat playing with a mouse. Picked the little mouse up and carried him a block away. He must have been stunned, because then he became more vigorous and jumped out of my hand, landing on the sidewalk. I picked him up again and put him in the bushes.

Back home, hello to MB. She had gone to a training session about handing out chocolate milk with Crazy Eddy. I ate a pile of Broccoli. MB put out the recycling, and I put out the garbage. Tea, banana bread and ice cream. Down basement and emails. Now some guitar and to complete the day.

tired and caffeinated

Wednesday: Up late, woke late, as is the pattern these days. Web, downstairs and spent some time viewing a rough burn of the new DVD I've been working on, while drinking coffee. Then some cereal. Fed Oscar and Gus. Gus treatments, shower. Down basement and morning practices, drums, and guitar. A new composition is jumping from the strings, but it feels like a two part thing, so it may not be a CoFD piece initially. Sorted through mail, most of it junk.

Headed off to work, quite a lovely day out, the long way around, doing my best to take in the view, while being safe on the road. Another productive day at the office, doing most of the work on the host side of the new data-flow path to support the add-on side work I had done yesterday. Ate some snacks thanks to MB. Feeling a bit over-tired and over-caffeinated. Talked to my mom, who had just wrapped up her year of teaching. She called from the pool at her condo complex. Took a walk out and got some pizza, which I ate at my desk. Ripped some CMJ CDs into the computer and listened through a bunch of tracks, some pretty good. Stayed until 10 PM.

Back home, and hanging with MB in the kitchen. Salvaged some asparagus from a bunch I had bought only a few days back and threw the rest in the compost heap. Cooked this with some mushroom sauce from last night. Quite good. Then dessert. MB told me about a Dilbertesque meeting she had endured at work, with much coffee and many donuts, as well as time, wasted. Cleaned up. Down basement and some more DVD work. Now guitar and to complete the day.

Ukes

Woke a bit earlier than I had expected, given how late I got to bed (was getting to bed late, and then MB had left a note asking me to burn a disc for her...) Up and some web. Gus, shower. Downstairs and had some breakfast (eggs etc). Oscar was outside, but became startled as I set the lawn to watering. Down basement, and allowed myself to get back into DVD editing mode, working on the DVD menus and doing some fine-tune edits. Set a batch encoding running. Morning practices. Heard the sound of chain-saws and wood-chippers outside. Drums. A uke (little guitar). Upstairs and put away clothing. Headed off to work.

Quite a lovely day out, driving the long way around. Got a good bit done in the office today, working on the add-on side of the new data path project. Lunch at my desk thanks to MB. Took a walk out for coffee, a Greenpeace worker saying "There's still time to save the Earth" to passersby. Stayed until around 10:30

Back home, MB was just getting in as well. We had a nice dinner of salad and polenta with mushroom sauce. After cleaning up (and some tea and ice-cream) back down basement for another hour of DVD work. Now another uke and to complete the day.

Productive Memorial Day

Monday (Memorial Day):

Woke, MB doing her sitting. Gave Gus his treatments.

Fed Oscar. Breakfast with MB of eggs (mushrooms and cheese) toast, soy sausages, coffee. A little guitar. A quick shower. Down basement for morning practices. Laundry.

Went to the garden center with MB, driving through Central Square, across the Charles and into Brighton. Picked up some soil, trellises, grass seed and so on.
Quite hot out today. Back home and unloaded the car.

Ate a lunch on the back patio with MB (salad, humus, bread). We were about to have some of her banana bread (sans nuts) and coffee, when the house two doors down began belching high decibel Latino bass-lines. I walked over twice to try to express my lack of appreciation. One time I managed to find a small child. I asked her to tell whoever was playing the music that it was too loud. Eventually it did drop in volume. A little.

Walked around with soil aeration shoes on. Spread soil and "Cow Maneuver" on the lawn. MB headed off to teach a class. Seed and fertilizer.

Went out to pick up some batteries. Two women in the pharmacy were talking about laughing at movies. Asked a question about the prices of various packages of batteries. Went to the grocery store and got some eggs and dish soap.

Watering the lawn.

Video editing in the basement. Completed major edits on the second disc, and began the encoding process.

Came upstairs to say hello to MB.

Walked up the street with MB, a lovely night. The video store we often went to has permanently closed. Got an energy drink at a convenience store. Picked up a couple of slices of pizza.

Watched a bit of "Fists in Pocket" (Italian art-house film), eating pizza.

Put away batteries and cleaned out the battery drawer.

Made the bed, and partially put away laundry.

11 PM. Down basement for guitar, and evening practices.

Oscar and Vinny

Sunday NYC: Woke, shower and breakfast at a place farther up the street, avoiding the place from yesterday. In this restaurant, on the second floor of a market, a banner sung the praises of lamb chops. But the food was pretty good. Headed out around 10 AM.

Uneventful drive back to Boston, stopping only once. Rolled in around 1:45 PM. Hanging with MB. Unpacking. Oscar brought another cat friend over. Strangely, he had very similar markings to Leo. The two of them both have a sort of thuggish Somervillian look to them. MB promptly named the new one "Vinny." A grilled cheese sandwich. Down basement and video editing. Back upstairs some time later. MB's student was a no-show. I think she should start asking for a deposit for personal lessons. Back upstairs and another snack. Trimmed the hedge in the front. A party in progress across the way. More video editing, and then off to guitar circle.

At circle tonight, Victor MB Martin myself Chris and Alex. We were able to circulate C Maj up and back in 4 octaves in 3 tries, but once Victor added the "no hesitation" rule, it was no longer in our grasp. Victor's piece. If we're going to be starting with that piece, I need to start warming up before circle. Driving Force. Askesis. Some good info about ringing strings and the pivot. I asked a question about what we should be practicing, which led to an interesting answer.

MB and I stopped at Christopher's on the way home and had some food. (Buffalo Tofu, Portobello Fettucini. MB got soup.) Back home, some more haning out, then more video editing. Now to complete the day.

Brain Gym 2

Saturday NYC: Up and breakfast at a place around the corner. Bits of ham in my omelette. Back to K's and played music with AE. "Brain Gym" for music reading. This seemed to take quite some time. Walked up a few blocks and got dinner at a Japanese place. Back the way we came, and through a park. A mellow evening, and personal practice.

Down to NYC

Friday: Slept in a bit, though late night. MB already off to work. Feeling lurgy. Web. Gus. Shower. No breakfast, but straight down basement. (Late last night as I was leaving the basement, I saw Oscar in front of the house. I tried to feed him then, putting him through the side gate, but he disappeared.) Down basement for morning practices and drums. Packing. Quite hot out today. Headed off, but realized I wanted sandals. Drove back home, then off again. Stopped at the donut shop for a large iced coffee and an egg sandwich.

In at work, PR was hanging with Mk. He said "Time marches on." Indeed. Relatively short day, but made a the connection all the way through on my new data path project. Headed out a little after 5 PM.

Drive to NYC was fairly uneventful. Hit quite a bit of traffic on the Mass Pike outside of Worcester, but otherwise smooth sailing. Arrived a bit after 9. A pleasant evening with AE, hitting a organic vegetarian restaurant.

deciphering

Thursday: Up, Gus, Shower. MB working at home. Some coffee and cereal for breakfast. Down basement, morning practices, drums. Packed acoustic guitar and stuff in car and headed out.

Beautiful day. Stopped at the PO (almost empty) and commented it must be a good time of day to go there. Returned a CD which didn't play for me.

In at the office, continued deciphering some particularly knotty code (not bad really, but cryptic). Made some progress on that front. Lunch at my desk. Conversations with B, light-hearted in quality, which is good given I just sent him a fairly critical email last night.

At 7:30 met Shawn. Arlington, and ran through most of our material. Felt sloppy tonight. EotN. Shawn's getting somewhere, but its taking time. We had a break, walked around, got some beverages and continued our walk. Lovely night. Cellphone message saying there was a problem with something about the DVD, or the art. Heard someone screaming at someone else from a second floor room in a large white house. A little more work, making it through the piece, almost. Gave Shawn a ride home.

Back home, and burned a disc for MB containing sound files she's recorded. Ate some noodles watching "The Wire." MB called from the road after an interesting evening at the Athenian Corner. She has a new book idea that sounds really promising. She arrived back around 12:30. Some hanging out. Gus' nose is bleeding a bit again. We watched some Dave Chappelle clips on youtube. Wickedly funny dude.

In health studies, I wonder how they factor out psychological factors. For example, if a study shows that "vitamins are correlated with an increased risk of cancer" how do they know if its not just that people who feel the need to take vitamins are more are more generally "worried?" Perhaps its actually the persistent mental state that is causing the negative impact on their health, and not the actual substance.

Johnny D's

Wednesday: Quite a nice breakfast, enjoying the increased variety of food after the previous evening's shopping trip. Down basement, morning practices, drums and guitar.

Continued my investigation in the land of the ImplImpls. Got a burrito for lunch. Had a conversation with Al about how I'm feeling railroaded on some UI design. Sent off an email about this to B.

Picked MB up at 9:15. We drove to Davis and found parking. An interesting show with a woman singer, (the wife of MB's friend's son). Crazy Eddie was there, and told me about how the lead singer of his former band, had just fired the entire band, at the bidding of a record company. Saw some other folks we know. Drove MB over to the Middle East for a BD gig she had. Headed home.

Put out the garbage and recycling. Ate some noodles and a veggie burger. Worked on the next two DVDs. (Titles and markers). MB came home around 1, so I paused to say hello. More work. More hello. More work, until 4 AM. Then evening practices.

2 Shopping Trips

Tuesday: Slept in a bit, but didn't add much to the sleep bank, since I was up late. Web. Gus, shower. Eggs and coffee for breakfast. Fed Oscar. A quite good guitar practice, working on speed, and a new composition taking form. Down basement for morning practices. Some drumming.

Drove off to work, a beautiful day. At the office, a long conversation with the new programmer. Continued my research on "the new data path" and did some more UI design. Left around 9 PM.

Back home, and a phone call with some friends. The review of a rather complex technique. MB returned home. I said "hello I must be going," and drove out to do some grocery shopping. The first store was closing in 30 minutes. Did what I could and asked the check-out people if there were any 24 hour stores around. They directed me to one. Off to there. Picked up almost everything on the list (and then some). Back home, putting away, unloading the dishwasher. Ate some noodles with MB. Hanging out. Now down basement, and perhaps a little more guitar.

An interesting find in the refrigerator:

Letter to India

Monday: Slept in, with some odd dreams, only half remembered now. Web. Fed Gus and Oscar. Put on water to boil. Gus treatments. Shower. Down basement, more email, and morning practices.

Off to work, stopping to mail a letter (to India) at the PO. At work, said hello to B who was cleaning up a space for a new guy. Did some research work on a new data path I'm creating. Also typed up some UI thoughts, and made some associated graphics. Stayed until around 10:30 PM.

Back home, watched some "Fire dancing" video with MB. Made some burritos, and ate one of them. More email. Soon down basement.

3 Days

Friday: Compact morning. To work, and checked in burn project as well as "disturbance reduction" work. Headed off around 3 PM. Raining.

Drove to Omega Institute without event. David D was not teaching the course, due to illness in the family. But, Clint and dear Julie Weber were on hand to fill in.

Saturday: Rain continues. I walked out of the afternoon session when cameras made an appearance. Now that I've been sensitized to the effect that cameras have in workshop settings, it seems oblivious to me that it is not standard practice to ban them from any sort of activity where one is trying to cultivate care and attention to quality. Quite a lovely performance in the evening. Amazing young tabla player. I played some solos, that people seemed to enjoy.

Sunday: Final session, and lunch. Had a nice conversation with Julie and Clint. Headed off around 2 PM. Made good time getting back. Nap with MB. Guitar circle. C Maj exercises, Driving Force, Victor's piece, Askesis. Home and food. Catching up on email.

The Interview

Thursday: Woke around 10. MB working at home. Shower. Gus. Some cereal and coffee with MB. Tya from the party last night showed up around 11, as MB was leaving. She wanted to interview me for a book she's writing. We talked until around 1 PM, when she headed out to find lunch. Oscar showed up, though it was rainy, for food. Down basement, morning practices, drums. Headed off to work.

Hit traffic on the connector and on Storrow. Don't know why. Sent an email with a proposal for a feature enhancement to B and Mth. Productive day, more or less wrapping up the burn feature, and writing some documentation. Burrito from the place on the first floor. No CoFD rehearsal tonight, so worked until 10.

MB told me about her experience with the Mayan Massage today. Sounded good, and intense. I ate some food while she recorded a song in the office room. I helped her bounce it to MP3 format, and then to do an edit to a song she wants to use for belly-dance. Soon down basement.

Red Tail Collective

Wednesday: Up, email, Gus, shower. Treated myself to a nice breakfast. Fed Oscar, who seemed a bit more satiated today than on previous days, only eating half a can of food at once. Down basement and morning practices. Drums. Put away laundry, packed guitar stuff into the car, and headed out.

Stopped at the post office and mailed off a DVD for duplication. In at the office, continued with my feature, offered some design ideas for a reworking of some UI stuff. Lunch at my desk. Victor called to say the jam wasn't happening. Worked until around 9, then headed out.

Attended a party in an artist's loft in South Boston. Fun. Cheese. Guitar conga bass jam going on, that morphed into a cello guitar violin jam later on. Good conversation, and some possible new openings.

Back home around 12:30. MB and I took out the garbage, and had some bits of food. Now down basement and to complete the day.

Farewell Falwell

Tuesday: Some time in the early morning, I woke to Gus dripping snot into my mouth. Yuck. Up and mouthwash. Gus out of the room. In the morning, I felt like I had been drooling all night, no doubt in sympathy. Up, email as my brain solidified. A new project came into focus in a rush. Shower, Gus. Fed Gus and Oscar. Oscar was really quite pushy today, and also seemed to want some attention, and not just food. Down basement for morning practices. Drums. Started a build of a DVD I've been working on. Cleaned some mildew off the ceiling above the tub. A bowl of cereal. Burned a DVD.

Headed off to work, long way around. Quite nice out. Coffee. Worked solidly for most of the day adding some more features to my burn project, and some long overdue enhancements to the root dialog/process. Lunch at my desk. Talked to B in the late afternoon, discussion programming methodologies, and what I'm up to. Worked until about 11. Raining.

Back home, MB was doing audio recording. A bit of food. Down basement and proofing my DVD. Preparing it to be sent off.

Jerry Falwell died today. Does the fact that the only phrase that seems to come to mind is "good riddance," make me a bad person? It's a good reminder of impermanence. Even our most terrible enemies, fade away, and sooner rather than later, as do we. So people, in the meantime, why can't we just get along?

subPin

Monday: Woke at the right time, listening to NPR a bit (profile of Mr. Romney), email, Gus, shower. Had a bowl of cereal and some coffee. Called a number to try to get a replacement part for the screen door. Oscar came and ate a whole can of food. Down basement morning practices, drums. Laundry. Beautiful day.

Headed out, driving around the long way. Quiet and productive day at work. Got some fancy UI stuff working for the burn feature. Burrito at my desk, and barely talked to a soul otherwise. Headed home around 11.

Hanging with MB, burned a disk of some files for her. Ate the last bit of cheesecake and a piece of pizza. She read me some Milan Kundera. Researching tomorrow's special election for Alderman at Large. Now down basement.

Where's Martin? / screen door (2)

Sunday: Another sleep in. MB went off to Third Life to practice dance, and did some shopping on the way back. We had breakfast when she returned. Shower. Got her set up for audio recording. Down basement for practices. Called my mom for mom's day. MB called her parents also. I chatted with them while doing more work on the screen door. Completed the job except for one minor detail that will have to wait. Mowed the sad excuse for a lawn, kicking up dust. Wrote out a couple checks, and walked out to mail them. Talked to neighbor Cln on the way. A couple of kids were playing, and I asked them where they lived. One didn't want to say. The other was more friendly and showed me how they were trying to master riding on their scooters sitting down. Walked up to the PO and dropped the letters in the box. To the bank to deposit a check. There was a percussion jam going full-tilt behind the bank. I walked over to watch and groove for a couple minutes. Back down the street. Felt uncomfortable walking past someone at the bus stop. Into the grocery store for some ground coffee. Across the street for pizza. Ordered two slices. The guy gave me three and called me "Blood." Does this imply something that I'm unaware of? Back to my street and more chatting with Cln, about education and health-care.

Walked into the house and it had somehow gotten to be 7:15. Threw things together, while eating a slice of pizza, and off on the road with MB to Guitar Circle. Just us two and Victor tonight. Where's Martin? We did some work on Driving Force. Victor told us some interesting stories about when it was being composed. I showed Victor an addition to Chrysanthemum. Some C Major exercises. A short night.

Back home, some more cheesecake, and watched the rest of "Black Orpheus." Hanging out. Gus is being even more snotty and smelly. Down basement for email and to complete the day.

floorEEEEda / screen door (1)

Saturday: A sleep in. Breakfast with MB. She headed off to language class. Practices in the basement. Drums. Spent some time assembling a list of things to do this weekend. A little more cheesecake. Drove out to the Home Depot and picked up some lawn stuff and a screen door. Found a way to wedge the screen door into my car (with the top down), and slowly drove back home. MB called my cell in transit.

A little hanging out with MB. Did a little work on the door, getting it hung. Threw on some nicer clothes, and headed off to OCBC with MB. We attended a fund-raiser for Cambridge MA's sister city in El Salvadore. A nice vibe. Kids dancing in circles. Acoustic guitar. The drummer looked totally bored. Ran into Sml down in the basement. He let me use a computer to try to get some info on a party MB and I were thinking about going to. No luck. We drove off and found some food at a place in Central: veggie burrito and Mexican vegetable plate at La Picante. Drove into Boston to look for the party, but no luck. Did find "Lucky's Lounge." A very fashionably dressed woman, presenting her ID, said "Well now that you know that I'm about 100 years old, may I entree?" The guy checking IDs said, after she left "Hot, but weird. Bad combination. She said Florida and pronounced it floorEEEEda." Couldn't find the party.

Back home, some more cheesecake, and watched some of "Black Orpheus." Worked on the cover art for the DVD. This kept me up quite late, but I'm happy with the results. Then completing the day.

5th Wedding Anniversary

Friday: Woke in the late morning. MB told me later that she had shoved me thinking I was somehow making the sound of her alarm clock. I have no recollection of this. Brief web. Gus. Shower. Down basement for morning practices. Drums. Glued the mallet for the slit-drum which had been broken during a BD class by the student's child.

Raining out. Headed to work, stopping for an egg sandwich and coffee at the donut shop. It wasn't the usual crew there. Fuel. Drove around the long way. At work, burnt my first disk. Worked perfectly first time. Added some polish. Started work on some more UI stuff. Lunch thanks to MB.

MB came into the Square, and we met around 6. Spent some time wandering around trying to find a performance that was going on. No luck. Decided just to walk. Thai food. Spent some time in the Harvard Bookstore. Spiderman. Back home. We have developed a new mantra: "I have cheesecake at home."

"Plain 5 3 Plain" "5 3 Plain 5" "3 Plain 5 3"

Thursday: Up late, but woke at a reasonable time. Gave Gus his treatments. Some blood in his nasal discharge, which probably is not such a great omen. Shower. Down basement and morning practices. Bowl of cereal. Tried burning a DVD for Shawn with a bunch of pictures of our old band Sabot. The DVD didn't want to burn on my laptop, but it was fine on the iMac. I realized this was because the media is an old formulation, and the drive on my laptop is a little finicky. Some drum practice.

Hot out today. Turned on the AC in the house for the first time this year. Off to work. Hit heavy traffic on Storrow and detoured across the BU bridge to Mem Drive. At the office a large coffee. Alex helped me figure out a bug in his code. Stepping through code. Got the CD drive door to open and close, but not quite to the coaster stage. MB made an interesting lunch, including her version of a "Chip Butty" (i.e. potato sandwich). Brief meeting with Rbt and B, and Mth showed me some artwork. At 7:15 went out and did some shopping. Met Shawn at 7:45.

Good rehearsal in Arlington. Spent most of it working on EoTN, and the dual interference pattern |: "Plain 5 3 Plain" "5 3 Plain 5" "3 Plain 5 3" :|
Then ran through a bunch of material, mostly sounding pretty tight. Acoustic tonight. A couple guys asked to see my guitar on the way out. Dropped Shawn at his place.

Back home, some foods with MB (microwaved burrito for me. she had some snacks and tea). Exchanged some gifts for our 5th wedding anniversary. Down basement, much email. Now to complete the day.

Google Earth

Slept in, having been up till dawn. Shower. Gus. MB was working at home today, so she helped. Got some saline on my pants, so changed. Down basement and morning practice. Drums. Put together a mail-in rebate for a cell-phone I'd bought. Headed off to work. Quite lovely out today, and feeling like summer is on its way.

Sitting down at my desk, T came and said I should put the roof of my car up, since there have been leaks from the restaurant that now inhabits the first floor. I walked out and got a coffee and a bagel, and also put my roof up. A good day of programming, filling in the last bits of my first pass at the burn feature and getting to the point of stepping through some code. No coasters yet. Lunch at my desk. Had a conversation with B, about what I'm up to and how the 401k stuff came about. MB came by having been at a deacon's meeting, and we had a nice dinner at Grendel's. An hour more work.

Back home, MB was upstairs working. Guitar for an hour. Said goodnight. Played with Google Earth. Amazing application. Now to complete the day.

Tripe and jellyfish

Tuesday: Up, web, Gus, Shower. Down basement MP and drums. Paid bills. Called my cell carrier and found that I could still get my rebate, if I sent it in.

Another lovely day. Off to work, the long way around. Walked to the pharmacy and picked up a few things. Got a humus bagel sandwich. Some friendly nut-jobs were spreading memes. Got a coffee at Au Bon Pain. Spent the day wrangling some sample code together. Didn't quite achieve lift-off. Perhaps tomorrow. A meeting was going on for much of the day across the divider. A quick lunch at the place on the first floor: three meager bean tacos. Left around 6:30.

Over to Diesel for some socializing. A guy told me all about his favorite Chinese dishes: tripe, jellyfish and intestines. I just smiled and nodded. Back home, down basement and a call with some friends. Only three joined in. We tried to join another call supposedly going on, but just found ourselves again. Hanging with MB: microwaved potatoes and bean soup. Some guitar. Said goodnight to MB and Gus. Down basement. Exercise and a vid. Email. Now to complete the day.

A man-made island complex in Dubai.

401k

Monday: MB woke me on her way out. More sleep. Web. Gus. Shower. Down basement and morning practices and drums. Paid bills and did some organizing. Realized that the "mail in rebate" for a cell phone that I bought recently is rigged to make it unlikely that you'll actually collect on it.

Headed off to work. Stopped at a light, a motorcycle next to me blaring "Everybody plays the fool (sometimes)." No crane blocking the street today. Got a coffee and bagel from Au Bon Pain. Good work on my continuing burning project today, adding in an important mid-level subsystem. Tomorrow I'll add in the bottom layer, and actually make some costers. T asked me into her office, which sort of freaked me out. Turns out we're finally getting a 401k plan. Hooray! Burrito and chips from the place around the corner. Stayed until around 8:30.

Back home, feeling pretty wiped out. Reading a magazine with Gus in my lap. MB called to say she was on her way home. When she arrived we watched some more of Haxon. Guitar while watching (silent films are excellent for this.) Some more hanging out. Down basement, a little exercise while watching another movie on my laptop. Email. Soon to complete the day.

Returning from Hanover

Sunday: MB woke at 6AM to say goodbye to her parents and others. I tried to continue sleeping, but without much success. Decided it was a good opporunity to get a jump on the day, so morning practices. Sent an email I'd been avoiding. Shower. MB came back up as I was getting dressed. A bit of "breakfast" down in the lobby (odd egg sandwich sort of thing, etc) with D & K. After more goodbyes we shoved off around 9:30.

Made good time on the drive back. Stopped for veggie burgers (except for A) at the Vince Lombardi rest area. Hit a bit of traffic on the GW bridge. A jeep SUV, travelling right behind us, hit its breaks, fish-tailed, rammed into the center divider, ricocheted across three lanes, almost hit the back of our car, before coming to rest at the far right. We continued unscathed, but slightly disturbed. Arrived at my mom's around 3. Unloaded her stuff, and transferred ours to MB's car. Continued on our way. MB took up driving at the first rest stop in MA. There had been an accident at the corner of R 16 & Mass Ave. Several fire trucks an ambulance and three or four cop cars were on the scene, even though it seemed like no one was hurt. Dropped A back in Davis.

Back home briefly, Gus seeming no worse for the wear. Then repacked and off to Guitar Circle. We arrived around the same time as Martin and Alex L. Circle tonight was circulation work in C Major. Up and back in 4 octaves, 1st pos and 5th pos. Triad work.

Back home, email. We're both feeling beat so, soon to complete the day and bed.

Allen's memorial service

Saturday (Hanover PA). Woke at 8. Didn't sleep so well last night. New beds seem to do this to me sometimes. Sitting. Shower. Got dressed, finding the suit a little tighter than I remembered. MB up as well. Downstairs for a "continental breakfast." Headed over to the retirement home around 10. Got slightly turned around on the way. But then, figured it out (thanks to MB). The clan was gathered in the meeting room. We watched a slide-show that Dn had put together... Allen's life, in mostly chronologically ordered pictures. MB had typed up some notes about Allen's history, based on his notes for a talk he had given to a men's group. Some of us helped to fold up printed copies, and put them in manilla envelopes. Over to the chapel for a nice service, remembering Allen, and bringing to mind some timeless themes from the Christian faith. Back to the meeting room for a lunch put together by the "church ladies." I had a plate of Utz potato chips, potato salad and macaroni salad. My mom and I looked at some books at a tag sale, took a walk around the grounds, and then drove back to the hotel. Daily practices. MB called to say she was on her way back. She didn't show up for awhile, so downstairs for coffee. Saw her parents and hung out for a bit. Back up to the room, hanging with MB's father while MB's mom went to get new room cards. My mom stopped in as well. Finally MB returned. I changed some strings on the guitar. Upstairs to B's room to say goodbye to K, B and little Z. Back to our room, MB and I did a little work on guitar. I tried pointing out some chord patterns on the neck. MB took a nap and I played a little. At 6:10, downstairs and met mom to head to the restaurant for dinner. We were seated with the rest of the bunch right around 6:30. Not much for me to eat at the place, I settled for a spinach salad and mozzarella sticks. Camera's flickering around the table. D started conversation about banjoes. Career and financial talk with D and C. The waitress took some group photos of the whole bunch. Drove with mom and C back to the hotel. Reading, completing the day.

Traveling to Hanover (probably last time)

Friday: Woke at 8 AM, burned a DVD for MB of some more spoken word recordings she had completed. Shower. Gus saline (MB had done the rest). Down basement and morning practices. Very brief drums. Cleaned up my desk a little. Last minute packing, and packed the car (MB's). We headed out just a little after 9:30. Over to Davis Sq and picked up Adam. Drove to CT, talking about A's work (man made islands, etc).

12:40, Mom's. The phones weren't working, and I tried to investigate. The problem turned out to be work that was going on in her condo complex. Lunch with some yummy "egg pie" and salad. Headed out around 2PM, MB at the wheel. Hit traffic near the GWB. Stopped for coffee and a donut somewhere in NJ. Mom got a smoothie, but she threw it out and then just got water. I took over driving... continuing on arriving in Hanover around 8 PM. Went straight to the chain restaurant to meet up with the bunch. Z has become a very cute 1.5 year old. Hellos all around. D seems to always want to bring up political conversations that he knows will annoy. Flash photos while attempting to eat salad. B laid out the agenda for the morrow.

Checked in at the hotel. Got my mom some ice and set the alarm for her. MB headed back downstairs to socialize. Practices in the hotel room. MB showering. Soon bed, but first perhaps a little guitar.

3/8 against 4/4

Thursday: Up and email. Gus. Shower. Saw Oscar again in the backyard and fed him almost a whole can of food. Down basement for morning practices and drums. Trimmed Gus' claws.

Off to work, stopping at the donut shop for an egg sandwich and coffee. A lovely day out. Arriving in H Sq, the large crane was again blocking the street to our parking garage. I circled the block and drove the wrong way up the one-way, and was able to make it in. Had a long talk with B about a bug I ran into involving his reworking of event handling. Being satisfied for the moment with the UI work on my burning project, I moved onto the next layer down, modifying some high level managerial code to set things up for the new process. Lunch at my desk thanks to MB.

At 7:30, headed out to meet Shawn. Drove to Arlington, telling him about my trip. Rehearsal tonight focused mostly on EotN, working out accents to tie together his 3/8 rhythm with the 4/4 phrases. This was time consuming, but valuable. Met a friend of his with a crackberryish cell. Some new shelves had been constructed in the space. Gave Shawn a ride home.

Back at the ranch, hanging out with MB. Noodle soup and toast. Packing for the trip. Now down basement completing the day.

Improv at the Charles

Wednesday: Woke a bit after 9. Web. Gus was hounding me (which is odd for a cat) so, gave him his treatments. Shower. Forgot to mention that Oscar the doppleganger cat was in the back last two days. Gave him food too. Down basement and sitting. Drums, feeling a bit rusty. Put away laundry, and headed out.

Arriving in H Sq, found a large crane blocking the entrance to the parking garage. Found parking on the street and put money in the meter. A bit more research, and finally settled on a plan of attack for my disk burning project, then started writing some code, beginning with the UI. Fed the meter. Walked into the H Bookstore to make a joke about needing a book suitable for holding open a door, but too busy. Lunch at my desk thanks to MB, with excellent pickle containment. Got a good bit of the UI happening, and home around 8:30.

Practices in the basement until 9:20 or so. MB had come home in the meanwhile. Loaded up my car with gear and said goodbye. In to Boston. Found parking, no I didn't, yes I did. Walked about two blocks carrying: my rack effects, stool, foot pedal, amplifier and electric guitar. Arrived at the Charles Playhouse Bar. Victor came in wearing his Blue Man paint, and showed me where to set up. Two drummers, one Warr Guitar, and Victor and myself both on electric guitars. About two hours of mayhem ensued, with one break in the middle. Good fun. I think the second set might have been better... more melodic on my part anyway. Spilled a cup of mostly ice while packing up my gear. Back home around 12:30.

MB had put together the garbage and recycling, which I took out to the curb, along with the busticated storm door. Researching RAID solutions. (My $325 Terabyte drive arrived today. In 1989 I paid $800 for a 100 megabyte drive, or 8 dollars a megabyte. There are 10 "100 megabytes" in a gigabyte, and 1,000 gigabytes in one terabyte. So, this drive is 10,000 times the size of the drive I bought in 1989, for less than half the cost... or about 3 cents a megabyte.) Now to complete the day.

Diesel

Tuesday: Woke around 9:30. Not so much sleep last night, but feeling good. Was aware of a friendly tickle on my left arm. Eventually had a look and: Hello Yellow Jacket! Opened the window, but then couldn't find my visitor. Eventually did track him down and escorted him outside. Email. Gus. Shower. Gave Gus some food. Ordered some more stuff for him as well. Down basement. Some more unpacking. Morning practices. Drums. Laundry. Heading out, realized my sunglasses weren't in the car. Got them from inside. Around the long way, a sunny day.

At the office, but first, deposit my pay, and got a bagel and coffee at the bagel place I almost never go to any more. Was not looking forward to seeing this pan-handler, who, while a nice guy, always hits me up for money. He wasn't there. Continued my research on the disc burning project. Tofu burrito, chips and a coke. Left right at 6 PM.

Over to Davis Square and picked up the stuff for Gus. Had a coffee at Diesel Cafe, chatting with some strangers. Back home. Down basement and early evening practices. MB returned home. Helped her unload groceries. Ate a veggie burger. Some work on the DVD disc and jacket art. Now, guitar.

First day back

Monday: Odd puppetish dreams. MB said goodbye as she went to work. Sleep. Up for a bit. More sleep. Web, Gus, Shower. A bit more unpacking. Down basement for morning sitting. Did some computer clean-up, and set a back-up going. Headed to work the long way around. Lovely sunny day out.

In my absence, Al and B had made a strategic fix, which sounded like a good one. I spent the day doing some research for a project that I've long wanted to do. It looks pretty simple to do. Fun! Lunch at my desk. Hearing about how things went at a recent trade show.

Back home, and hanging with MB. Her folks called. Tea and a faux-chicken puck. Guitar for an hour. Watched a bit of one of the movies from a collection of classic foreign film that arrived while I was gone. Email. Now to complete the day.