The Middle is at the Beginning

Monday: Woke at 6:18. Shower and brushing the teeth. Morning practices. Sitting with the group. Had a banana and tea for breakfast. Avoided the performance. Hanging out in the tent. Nap. Missed the beginning of Tai Chi, so, some stretches. Made another call to AT&T and determined that my phone could not be used via bluetooth to access the internet.

Large circle in the Hall with RF. Working on forms again. Alternating smaller groups in the center to demonstrate.

Small group with Curt on the top floor. Playing only first and last notes of each "sub circulation"

Bread, cheese and tomato soup for lunch. Some demonstrations of forms. 5 - 2 alternating with 3 - 1. A discussion of terminology that I skipped.

Washing up after Lunch with Rob Hank and BR.
Big rain storm 1. Ran back to my tent to make sure it wasn't leaking, and got a good soaking in the process. Rain stopped shortly after.

Small group in the attic with Victor. Working on some forms at higher tempi. Variegated 5 - 1 and 7 - 3.

Tea: Not much place to sit, so outside with a few cookies. I was walking back in, but noticed Quiet was visiting, so back out. Alex was coming and I made a "quiet over there" motion, and he tempered his stride. Suddenly the crickets were as loud as a freight train.

Small group in attic with Curt. Working in two sub-groups alternating on and off the beat, in several patterns, BR giving an interesting perspective as a drummer.

Big rain 2: Tom Redmond arrived. Borrowed his umbrella to go fetch mine.
Walked over to the Hall and told a couple people that:
Tai Chi in the Conservatory. Luciano added some instruction, and showed a new exercise at the end. Deluge had stopped.

Supper of rice and cabbage medley. Discussion of the relative merits of hand cutting versus machine cutting. Happy birthday by the sub-atomic-chamber-ensemble, also known as "Horn up your ass."
Brief contact with the internet, thanks to a kind member of the kitchen staff.
Took a visit to the House of Movements, and was serenaded by someone practicing "Space Oddity."
Some personal practice in the tent. A series of small calamities, including spilling wax on the bed, and the flashlight dying.
A exposition of the morning sitting practice. Sleepy.
A cup of tea. Cool and clear outside. Now to complete the day.

First full day of circulation project

Sunday: 6:25. Crazy shower. Sitting with a sneeze. Breakfast, and half a banana. Hank arrives. Some down time, in the tent. Playing Thrid Rel with MB. Tai Chi with Luciano in the BR. Short break, and circle with guitars.
Basic form left, & right. Left & right with return. Left + 1, Right + 1, left&right + 1 with return. Whiz. Circle in thirds: C, G, A, D, E, B in various permutations of the circulation patterns introduced. Brief break and work in the house.
Circulations in the attic with Luciano. C Maj + 1 up and back in 3 octaves reversing direction at the top. Then "triplets" with the same basic form. Lunch, beet soup, bread and cheese. Billy and friend arrive. Discussion of the mornings work, and "transmission of quality."
Spoke with a "customer service representative" from ATandT, asking how I could use my cell-phone to allow my laptop to access the internet. She was clueless, and said I had to buy some "PC Access Card" even though she couldn't tell me what it would do, or even if it would plug into my computer or into the laptop.
A strange hot meditation session in the tent. Somehow I came out just in time to find a circle forming on the top floor. C Maj up and down in 4 octaves, basic form with return, plus one. "Tea for Two"... with lemon squares. I volunteered for the washing up, along with Scott E. Took about an hour. Just about time for an AT lie-down. The Tai Chi. Then Dinner. The teasing continued about my having not known where the "Conservatory" was. I went to go practice on my own, but MB told me the GCNE was getting together to rehearse. I let them know that I would not be performing. The purpose of the meeting was preparing to perform, so I went back to practice on my own. At 9:45, a large circle in the newly named Movements Hall. Began with clapping including the non-guitar players on the course. Recapitulated the work of the day, adding "whizzing with chords." Helped put away chairs. Brushed teeth. Now to complete the day.

Heading to Camp Caravan

Saturday: Woke around 9:30, brief sitting, shower, saying good-moring to Luciano. Downstairs and made some coffee eggs and toast for the team. Enjoyable breakfast. MB headed off to pick up more people at the airport. Cleaning, doing laundry. MB returned with Colin and Taylor. Not long after, everyone except me headed for Camp Caravan. Wrapping up some DVD stuff. Putting the house back in order. Folding laundry. Packing. MB gave a call around 4, and I drove out to meet her at the car rental place (Logan). Back to the house, some last minute fussing around, and then, who do we see just as we're leaving but F&M. They went in the house to take a load off the feet, and we left.

Made good time in our travels, arriving at CC a little after 6. Hello to friends. Set up my tent. Dinner at 7.

Took one of the last few seats available, which I was later informed was "One of the worst seats in the house." So I moved. Soup and sushi. Then home made ice-cream. A question about whether water is alive.

Volunteered for dish washing. Spent an hour with Tony and David, but they still weren't all done. Meeting in "The Conservatory"... which I thought was in the building with the ballroom. Not. So late for the meeting. Lovely. RF said a bit about the origins of the name "Fripp"

Completed the washing up. Sticky rice. Fun. Now to complete the day.

Advance team departs to Camp Caravan

Friday: MB woke me at 8. Brief sitting in the dance room. Threw on clothes, quick bit of coffee and cereal, fed Oscar, and we were out the door by 8:30. Drove to the airport and picked up the rental van. Then found Curt and a couple of other Crafties. We had parked in the "Over-sized" area, which turned out to be across the vast central parking lot. I went back to my car and the four of them went off to find the van. We all arrived back home about the same time.

Some hanging out. Coffee, people using the wireless. I knocked on the basement door, but no answer. A bit later our comrade turned up, and half an hour later, the team was ready to depart. I waived goodbye from the front landing.

I did some stuff around the house. Shower. Reset the basement space for the next batch of incoming teammates.

Headed out, stopped to find some disk mailers. Didn't find them in two places. Found something usable in the third. MB called from the road saying she was heading home. I put 4 DVDs in the mail, the last of a series of 3. Picked up some pizza and ate it in the shop watching "The People's Court."

In at the office, more turning shorts into longs. There were chocolate goodies in the front, but they were a bit stale. Al came and talked to me quite a bit. He's heading on vacation in a place that is about to get hit with a big hurricane. Does that sound like fun? Burrito. Around 7:30 I concluded that I was too fried to do any more work. Headed home.

Stopped for a moment at the top of the Somerville hill, then home. Hello to Oscar. Evening practices. Down basement and some graphics work. MB called from the road. I put on some water to boil. She returned, feeling tired, having driven many miles, and put in quite a heroic effort today. We decided I should go to the airport to pick up the next bacth on my own.

Back to Logan. I met Luciano right away. It turns out that Terminal B is split into two halves. Lance was in the other half. Eventually Mark found us as well. Back home, some tea and goodies, talking about the Chinese language and plans for the next day. (Rolling your Rs: With the tip of the tongue, it's just a release, and then a return.) Good-nights. Some more graphics work in the basement and now to bed.

Details of Oscar's past and a team member arrives

Thursday: I was up quite late, so sleeping until noon didn't really do much. Up, and still feeling strange having no cats in the house. Web. Shower. Fed Oscar. Re-heated some coffee. Down basement and more cleaning and fussing around. Morning practices. No drums, because I had the windows open and didn't want the sound floating around too much. Had a bowl of cereal and the coffee. Taking out garbage. Was fixing the wind-chimes when a boy started talking to me from the rear-neighbor's porch. It turns out: Oscar is about 10 years old. This guy got him when he was 8 and he's 18 now. They tried to catch Oscar when they moved to Virgina, but Oscar got away and they had to leave. The boy, Larry, didn't mention Oscar by name, he just kept saying "the cat." He offered me $50 to trap Oscar for him, but I declined, saying the cat was happy, and we should let it be. He seemed to agree with me.

Headed out, stopping at a Starbucks to buy some ground coffee. They didn't have a French Press, so I had to go to the Tags. MB called while I was there saying she'd bought a pastry for our guest, but that it had sat in the car too long. I stopped on the way to H Sq and bought a few nibblies.

At the office a short day. Alx talking to me about various XML relating things. More "turning short numbers into longer numbers." Headed home around 5:30. Back home put the coffee and other goodies in the basement. A white cat was curled up in the backyard with Oscar. We're becoming "cat central." MB and I drove out to Logan, making good time. Parked and met our guest at baggage claim. An uneventful drive back home, the lights shining brighter, talking about the Simpsons. We gave a tour of the neighborhood, pointing out coffee shops and places to walk. Then, we showed him to his quarters in the basement. Things seemed satisfactory, so we said goodnight.

Hanging out on the back porch with MB. Called Shawn and told him I'd like the evening off. Then some food (leftover noodles, toast) Oscar came into the house briefly and then left. More hanging out. Practiced guitar for a bit. MB came down and we some work on the circulation pieces. Then a restringing party, watching a bit of "Young Frankenstein" (I'm glad you like the food... you just made a yummy sound.) Tea and Toast. Now to complete the day.

Gus is in the ground

Wednesday: MB woke me around 9 asking "how long will it take..." "To say goodbye?" I finished her sentence... "Not long." I got up and threw on some clothes and went downstairs. MB carried the body of Gus the cat wrapped in a towel (given to her by a member of the team on an intro to GC course). "What do I do?" "Put the cat in the hole." Gus actually looked quite peaceful down in the hole, but MB couldn't get the towel out from around him gently, so it became his burial shroud. Very gracefully, MB shoveled earth on to our little friend. We picked rocks out of the soil as she did this. When she was done I started pouring water on top to help compact the earth. MB had a batch of Impatiens that she adroitly planted in the muddy dirt. I piled the rocks up around the edges. Gus was in the ground.

Oscar appeared from behind the fence, again giving the illusion that Gus had managed a stunt worthy of Houdini.

She headed off to work and I took a shower. I had a nice breakfast of eggs and coffee, listening to how the polar ice caps are melting, and how the Russians are making a "land grab" for the newly accessible areas. Happy thoughts. Down basement for morning practices and drums. Put some odd gauge strings on my old ovation. Paid some bills. Laundry. Did some tidying. The cleaning person came, much appreciated, and I headed out.

I took a batch of now un-needed supplies to the vet. They took them back and gave me $150. Headed towards work. A quiet day in the office, realizing that the extension of the addressable space may need to be done in two segments. Still, just a few more bits would help a lot.

MB came and picked me up at 8 PM. We drove over to Alston and had a nice dinner "on Gus" at the Grasshopper. Then, we walked around getting some coffee and ice cream. We were sitting on the steps of a church, when a young man said to us, and to some other people standing around "Do any of you have cracks? If you do just say yes." No one said a thing. Is this a common question to be asked by a stranger in this part of the world, I wondered? Our fingers were sticky from the ice cream, so we were happy to have some little wipes in MBs newly detailed car.

Back home, we took a walk over to Sty's apt and watered plants. No cats in sight, I wonder where they are? Back home, cleaning and organizing in the basement in preparation for its use by a member of the team. On the back porch, a fat racoon. In the basement, many spiders. I mostly left them alone.

Gus passes

Tuesday: Woke after a good, but somewhat displaced, night's sleep. Morning practices. Drums. Some tidying. Talked to the people from the condo board. Checked in on Gus. Wasn't doing well. Treatments. Offered food, but he didn't seem interested. Set up a barricade in the kitchen door so he could at least wander between the bathroom and the kitchen. Called F & M and told them they might want to come give him a send off. M was in town as luck would have it. They said they'd also take care of Gus for the couple of days that we didn't have coverage. Called the pet sitter and left a message that she was off the hook. Shower. Was going to have left over smoothie, but the ring from the milk top had fallen in, and I decided I didn't want to drink chopped up plastic.

Headed out, stopping at the post office. A woman loudly talked to the person who was on the job. I mailed a couple DVDs to California. Picked up a couple of slices of pizza for "breakfast." Back in the car and over to Porter Sq. Bought strings or rather unusual gauges. In to work, and more "long number" efforts. Got a call from Ant and we straightened a few things out. Talked to MB. Talked to a loan officer and got some figures. Picked up a tofu burrito. Listened to a CD by CZ. Stayed until 8:30.

Headed over to Porter Sq, to the apt of F & M. Visited a little with their cats, including to young stripy ones, Bengal (m) and Cordelia (f). I'd gotten a parking ticket in the 10 minutes I was inside. Back to my place. Gus had not moved from the place I'd left him earlier. I showed F how to administer fluids. We put the oven on to cook a frozen pizza. M picked up Gus and carried him into the living room. I put on a movie "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp." Gus made a few strange mews. F took him into his lap so he could lie more comfortably. I paused the movie. His breathing slowed to short gasps. He twitched, and died.

F and I looked at each other. F handed him on the towel to me. I carried him into the downstairs bathroom, his body more limp than any living thing could be. I set him down and closed the door. F was crying a little and giving M a hug. I gave him a hug too. We went out on the back porch, and up walked Oscar. One black cat gone, another arrives. After hanging out awhile, I put the pizza in. MB returned from some shopping and I told her what happened. She was upset, but we both knew this was actually a very good way for Gus to exit. We'd both been concerned about what would happen if he was getting sicker and sicker while we were at the course, or if he died while we were gone. After some hugs, we joined F and M and the four of us sat down to eat pizza and potato salad.

After cleaning up we all drove back to F and M's. MB got to visit with their cats. Then we headed back to our place. MB and I dug a grave for Gus in the far corner of the yard. We got down a good couple of feet, but not before the handle on the P.O.S. shovel broke. I took a shower, some more hanging out, and now, in the basement to complete the day.

Long numbers, Gus slowing down

Monday: Slept a little late, but up late, so feeling groggy. Web. Got Gus, who wasn't looking so good, and gave him some treatments. Shower. Downstairs and fed the cats and made a smoothie. Down basement, morning practices and drums. Worked on the DVDs and burned a couple new masters. Put away tools I'd been using to build the furnace doors. Swept up in the garage a bit. Added some extra insulation to the doors for good measure. Paid bills. Called the Somerville condo board, and looked into loans (about this house down the street).

Headed to work, it starting to rain. Got a coffee at Starbucks just as the "sky opened up." At work began a "long number" project by making a wrapper object, and doing batch search and replaces. Wound up simplifying some other classes in the process. Got some stuff compiling by the end of the day. Shut the computer down, since the power is going off in the am.

Back home. Gus had made a mess upstairs and was not wanting to move around much. I cleaned up after him and gave him some more fluids, then quarantined him in the downstairs bathroom. Down basement and played with some hardware, trying to do a format conversion. Didn't work so well, and I gave up. Some evening practices. MB returned home. When I was done with a segment, upstairs and hello. She was hanging with Gus. We ate some leftover noodles, talking about our friend RH. I mentioned a "level 4ish" idea, but I guess it wasn't a good time. Made the bed. Some guitar practice. Down basement and doing some research on how to export AppleWorks draw documents in a format that can be edited. The best method thus far seems to be to print to PDF, and then use a draw program that can open PDFs. Now to complete the day.

Art exhibit in the woods

Sunday, Cape Cod: A lovely sleep-in, waking around 11. Up, and sitting in the closest.
Downstairs and fat cat was inside and being frightened by the dog. I took kitty outside and gave it some pets. Ate a bowl of cereal and coffee. Hello to mom, who suggested I eat on the porch. Hello to N. I read some news online. Had some yogurt and fruit mixture that MB had made. Mom and N went outside to do some sketching. I said hello to the owner, who was talking to the artists, and asked her what was wrong with the "Californian Theater" organ. Back inside, I cleaned up my applications folder, and reinstalled some software, and deleted some unused installers. MB and I played guitar on the side porch. Mom made a salad and we had a nice lunch on the back porch: salads, chips and spreads. I set some washing going in the machine in the basement. We all had some pie and ice cream, and then, it was time to go. We drove, mom and N in one car, and MB and I in the other, to Dennis, and an art show. Mostly pottery and some nice paintings. Some young girls excitedly showed my mom and I some broken pieces behind the exhibit saying "They're free." Around 6:30, MB and I headed back to Boston. We hit some traffic on Rt 3, but not too bad. We got in around 8:30. Gus had made some messes but seemed OK. Cleaning up and putting things away. Salad and "Vegetarian American Chop-Suey." Down basement and working on some video editing. Hanging with MB. Soon to complete the day.

Eating and beaching

Saturday, Cape Cod: Woke around 10. MB did some reading. Morning sitting in the closet. Shower. Downstairs and hello to Ncy who is also staying here with mom. Made some eggs, MB made a yogurt fruit mix, and we all had breakfast out on the porch. Took a walk with the dog down to the water. Some guitar in the side screened in area. We piled into my car and drove to the store to pick up stuff for lunch. Sandwiches and cold salads, which we ate back at the house. A drive to a bay side beach. Walking in the shallows. Watching a wedding, bagpipes, flowers etc. Drove across to the ocean side, and more beach time, watching waves and kites. Back to the house some quiet time and washing up. Out for dinner at a Chinese place. MB's fortune: You have inexhaustible wisdom and power. Must have been the Scorpion Bowl. Stopped at the video store and made some selections. Neighbor Cln left a message on MB's cell saying Gus had been located. Back to the house for pie, and ice cream. MB and I watched a frivolous movie after the others went to bed.

Keys and a microwave

Friday: Up around 10, web, Gus (slowing down), shower. Fed G and O. Drank leftover smoothie and had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. A good bit of guitar. Down basement. Put the hardware on the furnace doors. They're pretty much done. Morning practices and drums. More NeoOffice db investigation. Nice online community for support for OpenOffice and NeoOffice, perhaps balancing out the bugginess.

Drove over to Home Depot. A guy was getting a bunch of locks re-keyed, and I had to wait for the locksmith. Copied house keys. Picked up a few things for the basement, including a microwave oven. Hit traffic on 93, but it cleared on the long off-ramp to Storrow. In the office, more debugging and testing. Quick burrito. Some talking with B about sick cats. Told him about what I intend to do next. Decided to check my stuff in. Perhaps not perfect, but well along. Stayed until around 8:30.

Headed back home. Looked for a Starbucks, but the one on my way wasn't open. Settled for donut shop coffee. Unloaded the car and set out the microwave. Down basement for evening practices. MB watering plants outside. Quick packing. MB had set things out for our neighbor to look after Gus while we're away. On the road around 10:30 or 11 heading to The Cape. We made good time, and arrived around 1 AM. (Had a little trouble finding the house, but otherwise no problems). Hanging out with mom, some snacks. Soon bed.

A house in need, and a cheese party

Thursday: Up, gus shower etc. Made a smoothie for breakfast. Down basement and morning stuff, drums. Wrote a couple checks. Some more work on understanding the db module of NeoOffice. Put the guitar and stool in the car. Worked on the trim on the furnace doors, cutting down some nails to not be too long, shaping the side trim pieces, sanding, finally gluing and nailing. Rth showed me around the house two doors down. Quite a place, in much need of repair and love. The floor layout reminds me a lot of my old apartment. It could even have been the same builder.

Headed off to work driving across town. My mom had left a message on my cell, so I returned the call and got her cell. Dropped checks in the mail. Hot out today.

At the office, another day of testing. Finding bugs in my code, and existing bugs. (Transition time-stamps.) Lunch at my desk thanks to MB (a sandwich with greens to be added at the last minute). Crln had left a message on my cell saying she was going to be at the party, so my plans changed. (She had several things for me that I needed to get). Met Shawn at 7:30 and over to Arlington. Elt was working in the space when we arrived. He told us about his recent lessons with the guitarist of Mission of Burma. A so-so rehearsal on my part. My head was elsewhere and fingers felt a little stiff. Wrapped it up and headed for Brighton, and a party at Cthy the guitarist for AQM's house.

In the backyard: much cheese. Story about a Craig's List apt-mate, arrested by 7 policemen, and never seen again. Another apt-make woke in the AM "I was hoping I could handle this on my own, but we have to go to court"... leading to eviction. The real purpose of the little flowers in glass tubes, heroin technique caught on film, the rear-end of the South End, G.D's Kiss impersonations. Two cute gay guys from France making out. Crlyn arrived with (bf?) Jsh in tow. She gave me chocolate, a CD and a check, all very welcome. Pn and Shawn seemed to have a nice connection. Leaving around 1, gave Shawn a ride home.

Back to my place, MB already asleep. Completing the day.

Head wins, wall loses

Wednesday: Woke in the late morning. Web. Gus treatments (setting water to boil) shower. Fried eggs and coffee. Down basement. Email. Morning practices, drums. A bit of tidying. Said hello to neighbor C and across the way Rth. May go look at a place for sale tomorrow.

In the car, and headed out. Drove up to Fresh Pond, and over to Aztech Electronics. A lovely hot sunny day. Picked up my old 8 track reel-to-reel, and 4 track cassette decks, which had been in for service, and the Mouse Amp that I'd inherited from Christine. JWS had called saying he was on his way to return a table of mine. Poor communication. I told him to meet me in H Sq. Arriving there, into the office. Al showed me some of what he was working on, and the idiocy of it made me literally beat my head against the wall. The wall was dented in the process, but my head seemed unscathed. Took a walk out. Banking. JWS called and said he was in th square. I told him to hang out. Went to the pharmacy and picked up my usual prescription without a problem. Picked up the table from JWS. Spent the rest of the day testing, and fixing small things. I'm making progress, but I found some big holes as well. Stayed until about 11:30.

Back home across town. Hello to MB. Ate a frozen burrito out of the microwave for dinner. Hanging out, talking about the upcoming GC course. Took out the recycling. Now, to complete the day.

Lots of light, but not golden

Tuesday: Woke around 9:30... earlier than I would have liked, but sleep was not returning, so up. MB returned from a trip to get her car's oil changed. Shower. Gus treatments. MB went back out to pick up Gus supplies. Quick breakfast of smoothie, yogurt with peaches and a little scone. Down basement, morning practices, drums. Did some more work on the furnace door. Realized the design could be a little simpler than I had thought. Sprayed some foam into cracks. A bit of guitar. MB asked if I wanted some salad.

Off to work, salad in hand. Stopped at the dry cleaner and picked up some shirts. Across town. Iced coffee at Starbucks. Again today, I spent most of my time diffing code. Made a few tweaks, and took notes on what I wanted to test. Damn near everything. Al showed me some of the UI stuff, which struck me as not very well designed. Walked out around 5:45. T kindly gave me my paycheck. It was too late to deposit it (I'm waiting for a new card) and the pharmacy said my insurance wouldn't cover a prescription that I'd been given. It would have cost $187 without coverage, and it was sort of optional, so I said I didn't want it. Picked up a tofu burrito on my way back to the office. Saw Kyo, who told me she's moving to Florida. Stayed until 6:30.

Hit a little traffic on the way to KKC. Another evening with Lama Zopa. He spent a lot of this evening addressing some issues that are particularly difficult for Westerners to relate to in the teachings (from my perspective). Jn and some women friends appeared. A bit from the Golden Light sutra (first two chapters). Jn reappeared, then left. Extensive good wishes sent at the end. The end of the end was around 2:10 AM.

Back home, MB already asleep. A quick snack. Now down basement to complete the day.