Somerville Armory

Saturday: Up around 8:30, MB still in bed. Shower. Brief morning practices in the guest room, as MB went downstairs and made tea. A little laughing and hanging out. As MB got ready, I felt a little between things. She headed off to ballet class around 10:30. Continuation of morning practices in the basement. Around 11, I packed the trunk of the car with some yucky stuff (old paint, smoke detectors, thermostats, brake fluid) and drove over to the DPW where they happily accepted all my toxic waste. Picked up cat food. Filled up the gas tank. All this had taken less than an hour, so, I decided to get my oil changed. Drove to Union Square and waited for about 15 minutes, and then another 5 for the actual job. Valvoline owes me a penny.

Back home, fed the cats, and had some snacks. MB arrived around 1, and Terry not long after. We worked on the JSB Invention 10 for an hour. Much of that was spent just working on our triplet circulation feel. After he left, I spent the next couple hours working on a mix CD for my new music teacher. Sample rate wrangling. At 4:30, MB and I walked up to Highland Ave, to the old castle-like Somerville Armory, which is now being renovated into some sort community art center. Dusty. Lots of fun seeing inside this old building, which I'd been wondering about for years. We missed the mayors speech, but stood around eating potato salad, and talking to MB's friend Sty. Lots of people. A couple of bands. We looked at the work-permits, which were tacked to the wall, and tried to figure out what was going to be done to the place. Walked back home. The fellow that was supposed to come look at the furnace, didn't.

More work on the mix-CD. Still feeling a little between things. Finally hit "burn" around 8. MB headed off to dance a BD gig. Down basement for more morning practices. Hard juggling them on days like this, with no schedule.

At 9:30, I gave F and M a call. Headed over to their place around 10, listening to my freshly burned CD in the car. Saw their new cat, who is provisionally, and coincidentally, named Desdemona. Walked around Somerville with F, getting a couple of slices of pizza, and talking about the Boston Red Sox, Cats, Ghosts, Extra Terrestrials and Gnosticism. Need to read more about Saint Thomas, for whom I've always had an affinity, given my middle name, and skeptical nature.

Took the long way home, listening to the rest of the CD. A fun disk. Back at the ranch, typed up some brief liner notes. Completion of practices. MB returned from her evening out just before 1 AM.

Sunspots

Friday: Up a bit after 9. Feeling quite good today. Web. Shower. Morning practices. Put together a lunch. And off to work. Another beautiful spring day.

Fairly solid day at work, though I was feeling a little distracted. Talked to B a little about the Stata center, Mk about synchronization primitives. Did some proofing for Jm and showed him a new small feature he didn't know about. Talked to Dv about PowerBooks. RF is playing my home-town. Ordered some tickets. Took a walk out to get a little sun. Still see a little afterimage, so maybe I got too much. Worked until about 10.

Called in an order for a pizza on my drive home. Picked up another DVD of "The Wire", and then the pizza. Home, and a guy's night alone, with food and a movie. Then some guitar. MB was out with friends at a couple BD gigs. Something isn't working with the dishwasher. MB arrived home about 1:20. Soon bed.

Analog Devices

Thursday: Up a little before 8. MB headed out. Shower. Sorted through some mail. Unpacked the glasses (anniversary present). Down basement for morning practices. Headed to work. Lovely day out.

More heavy code lifting today. My sense of the value of the time I spend at work fluctuates quite a bit. Today was a high value day, I think. B took a half day. His car apparently sprung a gas leak. Headed out around 5 to go hang with Wnd.

Quite a bit of traffic heading to her place. We had a nice time, doing some Tibetan study, watching "Wallace and Grommet", eating a bit of food, and talking about some of the topics we're studying. She also gave me a tour of her office. She has a cubicle, above which she's made sort of a 'ceiling' out of a plastic tarp (to keep the heat in). She showed me the room where they do their hardware testing. Pretty interesting.

Back home. MB left a message she's on her way back from a BD gig. A bit of guitar. Got ready for bed.

Third Anniversary

Wednesday: Up around 8:30, feeling buzzy today as well, although not as much as other days following yoga. Expectation... Decided to cut the grass before taking my shower. Lovely weather out. Probably the nicest spring day we've had so far. The grass was longer than I like to let it get before cutting, so the job took a bit longer than usual. Afterwards, laundry, and breakfast. MB had left me a nice little book of 'coupons' for our anniversary. I looked at that while eating breakfast. Called the DPW and asked about disposing of old smoke detectors. Shower. Down basement for morning practices. Ordered a book online. Headed out. Talked to Cln next-door about the new porch they just had built. She wasn't as happy about it as I expected her to be.

Picked up some fire wood and charcoal brickettes at the grocery. Headed over to the mall and bought some cookware as a house gift to ourselves. The ladies ringing me up seemed quite flummoxed by the cash register. I declined their offer of a discount for opening a charge account. In to work (finally).

Solid code produced on my new project. B seemed harried today. Don't know why. Ate MB's lunch from yesterday (she'd forgotten it). Brief day. Enjoyable little conversation with Mk. Consulted with Chs on semaphore implementations. Left a little after 7.

MB was in the kitchen when I arrived. We opened presents (glasses, pans) and then she got back to her cooking. I lit the charcoal out in the fire-pit. This was it's inaugural fire. (Been sitting unused since Christmas). Back inside, I made veggie and tempeh shish-kabobs, marinated with olive oil, tamari and stir-fry sauce. Popped them on the grill. We lit tiki torches. MB made rice.
We ate outside. After cleaning up, MB took out the trash and I bundled up the boxes the pans came in. We watched an installment of "The Wire" on DVD. MB did some sewing. Guitar for me. She's off to bed. Me to follow soon.

Full Sun Salutation

Tuesday: Up around 8:30 feeling energized. Web. Shower. Down basement for practices. Filled the bird feeder. Lovely spring day out. Grass needs to be cut very soon.

Drove by KKC, seeing Geshela leaving for a ride in someone's car. He gestured for me not to come talk to him. But the way he did it was so friendly, it made me grin. I picked up a USB cable. Then headed for work.

Some back and forth with a couple developers, but most of the day was spent header wrangling. This is an interesting part of the design process. It's where the abstract becomes pinned down. Ideally, once the headers are done, the implementation should almost write itself. Took a walk out and did some shopping. Lunch at my desk. The MP3 player I was hoping to transfer files from would require a change in firmware to work with Mac OS X. Left work at 6:30.

KKC. Arrived just as yoga was getting going. Wnd didn't come tonight, as she needs to help out her dad tomorrow. A good session. Wendy showed us the 'full sun salutation' (slightly modified... I think she left out the downward facing dog posture.) I stayed well focused through the meditation session. I guess today I wasn't as sleep deprived as I have been in the past. Leaving the eyes open slightly helps also.

After the session I talked to Emlo (who is staying at the center for a little while). I think he's a native Spanish speaker. We did our best to discuss weighty philosophical topics, despite the language barrier. He left me reading a book, that was probably flying over my head. Saw Hln and Ngawang as I put back the MP3 player. Ngawang does his best to teach me Tibetan phrases, but, I'm not much of a student. His wrists were hurting him from too much email. I showed him a better typing posture.

Back home, hello to MB, a veggie burger (listening to a bit on NPR about the fight over Creationism and "Intelligent Design" in the Kansas school system.) Guitar practice, feeling tense, but not in terrible form. One of the cats made a big stink.

Some people have a funny definition of "Agreement." Two examples:

Judge May asked Mr Milosevic whether he wished the full 32-page indictment, charging him with crimes committed in Kosovo in 1999, to be read out. Mr Milosevic told him: "That's your problem."

Crucifiction? Yes? Good. Out of the door, line on the left, one cross each. Next! Crucifiction?

3rd Commentary

Monday: Strange energy boost visited me in a dream last night. Up around 8:30, as MB headed out. Brief morning practices. Shower, then down basement for the rest. Fed the cats. Headed to KKC.

Swept up the teaching room. Said hello to Geshela and Damchoe. Filled water bowls. In to work.

Chased down a bug in some third party code today. This is really a full time job. Thinking a lot about "plan b" today. Got a note from my mom. Wish I had given her a call yesterday. More code on my new project, header jockying giving way to some preliminary methods. Lunch at my desk. Walked out to the pharmacy. A young spunky jazz quartet (stand-up bass, drums, two saxophones) were blaring away at the pit. I pondered the question "Am I able to hear and see at the same time." Left work at 6:30.

KKC: Geshela's third and final evening of commentary on the short Y.S. A bit compressed at the end, I thought. Many questions still unanswered. Said a brief hello and goodbye to Wnd. Had a nice conversation with Wendy about practice, and yoga.

Stopped at the grocers on the way home, giving MB a call to help me with the list. Shopping. Back home a bit after 10. Put away groceries. We talked about some news stories we'd heard today, and Josephine Baker's "Rainbow Tribe." Email. J is back from Japan.

Geshe Tsulga's Birthday

Sunday: Up around 8:45. Shower. Down basement for morning practices part 1. Quick cup of tea and cereal with MB. Over to KKC by 10 AM.

Special Insight. I ran sound. Many questions came to mind, but I didn't get the chance to ask any of them. A pot-luck for Geshela's birthday. Much good food. Talked to David K and Wnd. The fund raising I've been working on is going well. Three quarters of the way to our goal. Took a brief drive around Medford on my own. Stopped at the video store on the way home. An afternoon with MB. Nap.

Did a little calking in the stairway and upstairs bathroom. Down basement for morning practices part 2. Rainy chilly day. Headed to South Boston just before 8, arriving right at 8:15.

Terry was back tonight after a bit of a hiatus. Also: Martin, David, Victor. Circulation patterns, including 'the bat wing.' Repertoire for the OCBC gig. Victor gave me some pointers for my solo in Israel. Discussion of logistics for the OCBC gig. Some processing of Friday's gig at the Montessori school. I asked a question about division of attention. Headed home a bit before 11.

Some soup, then ice-cream, listening to the BBC. MB is upstairs listening to Middle Eastern music.

Don't Panic

Saturday: Norwalk CT. Mom's condo. Up around 8:30. Shower and downstairs for brief morning practices, as MB and mom got going upstairs. Mom set out a very nice brunch. Her friend F arrived, having driven down from the Cape. We ate, and talked. Seems like a jolly fellow. Found that his small dog had made a mistake upstairs. We all went for a walk, my mom trying to show us a garden tended by "the sisters"... although no sisters were to be seen. Back at the condo, talk, and throwing the ball for the dogs. MB and I headed out around 1:30.

Stopped for gas. A fellow said the pumps were slow, but they seemed fine to me. MB called her parents on the drive. I chatted with them briefly, while maneuvering in the HOV lane. We stopped, being lured in by a sign proclaiming free coffee and donuts. We didn't find any donuts, but a bunch of wet and cold boy scouts, giving away hot dogs under an a tent. The coffee was OK. Raining the whole way. Back to Somerville about 4:45 PM.

We had some lunch. Clean up, then I went down basement for the rest of my morning practices. MB worked on belly dancing. I reappeared a bit before 8. Enjoyed reading up on, and playing with, some guitar related electronic gadgets. It turned out MB did not need to dance tonight, so we went out and saw "Hitchhiker's Guide." Great fun. MB loved it, and she hasn't been exposed to much D. Adams.

Back home. Tea. Homework. She's off to bed. Me too, soon.

Montessori Othello

Friday: Up just after 6 AM. Shower. Down basement for morning practices part one. Upstairs, packed the car with our gear, and a quick cup of tea and a bowl of cereal before getting on the road, with MB, at 7:30. Traffic was not bad heading down 93. Made one wrong turn, but otherwise no problems in the directions. Arrived at the Montessori school around 8:05 AM.

Martin, Victor and the sound man were already there. We brought our gear in and got set up. Still no sign of the others. We were to go on at 9. Dev and Méli arrived shortly before 9, followed by David (David had gotten lost. Dev gave Méli a ride.) We tuned as the wee ones were lead in and arranged on the floor of the gymnasium. Don't have the exact set list, but it was something like: Circulation, Asturias, Invention 10, Eye of the Needle, Homage, (Q&A), Growing Circle, Third Relation, Circulation, Moving Force, Aspiration. While we played, B was interacting with Victor in a pretty hilarious and un-self-conscious way. He fed Victor a carrot during Eye of the Needle. The Q&A section was funny, because the kids were very enthusiastic in putting up their hands, but few of them actually had questions. One said something like "I had a hamster named Victor." and another "When I was at church, I ate candy that came from an egg." One fellow asked how many strings were on our guitars. Invention 10 bass section almost came unglued. After the performance (the kids were starting to wriggle even before Aspiration got underway) many expressions of thanks and appreciation. MB and I left as soon as we could. Back home by 10:30.

Down basement for morning practices part two. Packed a lunch and, in to work. Nice weather out. Brief day at work, reaching 'first code' on my new project. Mostly header jockeying, but code, nonetheless. Cleaned my desk. Back home a bit after 4 PM.

Packed the car, and on the road just after 4:30, heading down to Hartford. Cut across town and over to Newton, picking up i90 West. Lots of traffic, clearing out, farther away from Boston. Arrived in Hartford at 7 PM. Parked, picked up our tickets, and found a little brew pub. Lovely old building, with multi level seating and large semi-circular windows (probably was a factory at some point). We got root-beers and some food. MB said the women's restroom was strange, with very low toilets. Back to the theater a little before 8.

Othello. Quite a good production we both thought. The music for cello by Tony Geballe, that introduced the acts, and worked as an occasional backdrop, was lovely. This drama is so... dramatic! Several times, among all the treachery, jealousy and murder, I wanted to yell "OK you all, just calm down!" We stood in the back for the second act, sipping coffee. A very enjoyable evening. Many thanks to TG!

Drove in the rain down to my mom's house, arriving a little before 1 AM. Good to see her. Can't believe that Christmas was that last time we saw each other in person. Soon bed.

England Loves Labor, not Lost.

Thursday: Another sleep in. Feeling groggy getting up. Dehydrated? Shower. Moved my car out of the way of the fellows building the porch next door. Down basement for morning practices. Paid bills, and sorted through some papers.

In to work. A pretty day out. Looked into a couple bugs. B is back today. Kth is going on a road trip. Design work on my next project. Built a copy of the branch that will be the starting point for my project. Close to first code. Some email with people from the nearby yoga studio.

Back home at 6:30. Méli was waiting there. MB arrived right after I did. Inside, and work on Invention 10. It went pretty well, although playing with the metronome proved a challenge. Headed out at 7:40.

Arlington, and rehearsal with Shawn. We worked on improv, my piece and some GC rep. Broke a string. Tonight I began to see my potential as a lead player in NST. What fun!

Back home, and made an egg drop soup, talking to MB. We need to get up early tomorrow, so she's off to bed. Ate my soup listening to the British election returns.

A Charge in Romania

Wednesday: MB headed out early today, on her way to spend some time with a bunch of sixth graders. Up, but then, slept in a bit. Shower. Made a couple phone calls. Forwarded a message to MB from her bank. Morning practices in the basement. The neighbors are having their front porch replaced, so my practice was accompanied by the whine of a circular saw. Put together some materials relating to a small fund-raising project I'm doing at Kurukulla.

Off to work. Clear in the morning, a little rain in the evening. Brief day. B is still out. Looked into a bug, but couldn't reproduce it. Emails with a couple of different people regarding the hard to diagnose interaction between our application, and a plug-in, mediated by the operating system. Tiger is pretty nice, but I found a huge flaw in Spotlight: It seems you can't search at all on server volumes, not even by name... hopefully there's some way to make this work. Some friendly talk with Jn about the housing market, and his search for an apartment mate.

Over to KKC, and set up my little fund-raising station. A good class on the 70 Topics. Quite a download. This is the second class for which I've taken full notes. It's quite a different experience than just sitting and letting the material wash over me. I'm a lot more engaged... but I may miss some things also. I'm more involved in the process of trying to capture the information, than in understanding it. Made a little announcement about the fund raising. Its announced that Geshela will be going back to India for some teachings from HHDL. Wendy and Nick are going also. KKC will be at a near standstill! Some talk with Ngawang and Wnd.

Back home, and the living-room was full of people watching a movie about Um Kalthoum... a little party following on from the Middle Eastern drum class that MB organizes and holds at our house (the teacher is a really great fellow named Mchl.) I eat some treats and watch a bit of the movie. Everyone leaves. MB and I clean up.

Today, MB discovered that she had been duped into typing her CC number, and other personal information into a scam site, pretending to be PayPal. Her card had been used to buy stuff in Romania. This was due, in part, to her paying for Guitar Craft Journal access (she had never used PayPal before, and wouldn't have fallen for the scam otherwise.)

Guitar for a half hour. The distinct sense of the weight of my right hand, and that utilizing the inertia of its mass is most of what is involved in picking.

Email. A rapprochement with the person with whom I was too honest and unkind.

Noga

Tuesday: Up around 8:30. It's been a strange couple of weeks. My psyche has been feeling a bit assaulted. Where is this coming from? Why? Part 1 of morning practices. Shower. Part 2. Downstairs, and cleaned up the table in the front hall. Pulled my stuff for the day together, and headed out.

Picked up some tea and a muffin. The girl with the shocking red hair behind the counter was talking up her idea for a beauty salon. Mellow day in the office. Looking into a couple bugs. Played with the release version of Tiger a bit. "Spotlight" actually seems to do a pretty good job. Mostly design today. Lunch at my desk. More emails with the person with whom I've been too honest (and unkind.) Walked out in the evening at got some pizza, while continuing my design work. MB called and gave me a little shopping list. No yoga tonight (had forgotten about that.) Did a little searching on the web for other yoga studios in town. Left a bit after 9 PM.

Stopped at the grocers and did some shopping. Filled up the tank. It cost $33.33. I'm one of those people in favor of more expensive gasoline. Let's factor the environmental impact, and the cost of research into finding a replacement for this non-renewable resource, into the price.

Back home, and hanging out with MB in the kitchen, drinking juice spritzers. Guitar practice. Email. Soon bed.

Those who fancy themselves benevolent pointed sticks for others, may just be, self-deluded sadists.

Disappointment

Monday: Up around 8:20 as MB was heading out. Shower. Brief practices. The guys from the DPW arrived, and moved the water reading connection around to the front of the house. Rest of my morning practices in the basement. Headed to KKC about 11:20.

Filled water bowls, saying hello to Ngawang. Found a broom around the corner of the house and returned it to its place. Talked to Tsunmala a bit.

In to work, walking out to the bank, and getting a bagel. Checked my changes of the last few days in. Worked out the recommended solution to some strange interactions with some external software. Didn't really make matters any better. Closed out entries in the bug database. Brief talk with B. Installed Tiger on partition B. Bought a notebook. Headed to KKC around 6:30.

A commentary on some of the material we've been working with. Very dense. I took notes, but it was difficult to capture everything. Geshela sounded pretty disappointed in all of us near the end. I think its for each of us to look where we have come up short. I certainly have my top ten for myself. Talked a little with Damchoe and Wnd. Headed home.

MB had made some noodles. I ate some, and we talked about our days. Guitar. MB worked plugged in. I went upstairs. Its funny, but when my right hand looks right, it doesn't feel right. Hmmm.

A torrent of emails from someone with whom, I was a little too honest.

S.O.S.

Sunday: Slept in. The plan was MB and I were going to spend the day together, and so, I didn't go to Kurukulla. This translated into us sleeping the morning away. Probably a good use of time. MB's friend Sty called and asked us out to brunch. Unfortunately, it didn't fit into our schedule. Shower. Down basement for some morning practices. Breakfast (eggs, waffles). Laundry. Down basement for morning practices part 2.

MB and I walked out and visited several artist's spaces that were open to the public as part of Somerville Open Studios. One of the locations was the cat shelter that MB's friend Sty helps out at. Coffee and goodies. In the basement, some photos from Burning Man. On the second floor, large colorful paintings of pencils. An Irish band played on the first floor. Also visited a large building across the way. A painting of a loading dock. Up around on Highland, and into someone's basement, full of dioramas created from found objects. Stopped and saw some fused glass at the house of one of MB's belly dance students. Over close to Davis Square, and to a friend's house (Kt H from OCBC), and necklaces and pottery. We walked into Davis, and, waited at the bus stop. They are showing "Bollywood" movies at the Somerville Theater, at $11 a pop. Took the bus back home. I saw a woman, who looked on the verge of homelessness, with a bag containing 4 or 5 cartons of cigarettes. That's probably close to $200 worth of smokes.

Back home, and some open-face burritos. Music of the day: The Smiths. After clean up, and some email, headed out to Guitar Circle.

Martin brought a friend along tonight. We did some body awareness exercises, including "shadowing." Most of the rest of the night was spent working on Eye of the Needle: Focus of attention, eye contact, counting and so on. I sat in on a little session working on counting the bass line. Some talk about future gigs, actual and potential.

After the circle, MB and I transferred some topsoil to Victor's car. Back home, arriving around 11. I set up a guitar amp for MB. Soon, completion of morning practices in the basement, then bed.