Hello again

Sunday, October 19 2009
24:22

It's been pretty clear to me that having a journal is a useful thing, if for no other reason that it provides a better memory than my own, for certain things.

Yesterday was busy - sitting, breakfast, rehearsal for me and HC meeting part one for MB. Then, I went home and worked on some things while MB had HC meeting part 2. We traded places, me at CG's this time for a course prep meeting. The wheels are definitely in motion there. Finally home together around 4, just enough time to get ready to go to my Dad's for birthday celebrations (late for C and early for me). MB had been putting the finishing touches on another yummy b-day cake - this time, alternating layers of orange and purple, with bifurcated frosting of likewise colors. "red velvet" cake and cream cheese frosting. Yum! Dinner was good, nephew Charlie was cute and fairly well-behaved. We got home around 10 I think?

Today not as busy - slept in a bit, then we met w/ "our" judge, at the Northgate Starbucks! We're both totally happy with this guy, he's perfect. So we talked with him for an hour or so. Then, to the U Village to do some shopping. MB got a desk chair and rug, I got an ottoman. Stopped off at home, then to the Theo factory to get some chocolate - for gift baskets. Next, to Queen Anne and a fabric store for some ribbon. Then a stop home, and to the video store and dinner at Peccolino's. Delicious. Very full. Home, some puttering around, a brief mini-nap, and dessert and a movie (Elizabeth: The Golden Age). Now it's late and time for sleep.

Hasta la semana despues proximo

Thursday, April 2 2009
14:32

Packing and otherwise getting ready for Cabo. Yay!

Something got me thinking about an old diary post today. It wasn't quite as weird as I'd worried it was. Anyway, an old friend that I met up with again online a few months ago seems to have disappeared. OK.

Looking at those diary posts from two years ago. . .was it really two years ago? Seems recent on one hand, and a thousand years ago on the other. I think I was actually out of my mind, for the better part of 4 months. Life was frequently unbearable. I really feel like I now have a direct sense of what life is probably like for some people most of the time. They tend to be artists. I'm glad to be here now.

Meanwhile. . .packing. Cleaning out the backpack, had a bunch of junk from our Denver trip in it. Including a postcard, unwritten: Greetings from Coloradio, with a very perky looking golden marmot. On the back: "A friendly marmot among the wildflowers seems to be an official greeter in the Colorado Rockies". Missed 'em, dang.

MB has a busy day today, she's currently off meeting with her jeweler partner. In not too long, we head to FAAC for the TTA show. Home fairly late from that, and then we fly out tomorrow. We get back Saturday night, then have Easter brunch Sunday morning, then (you guessed it) a special one-off TTA performance type thing (benefit for Yoga Behind Bars) at FAAC Sunday night.

I think I used a "March -> Lion" title last year?

Sunday, March 8 2009
23:45

Last weekend: MB's longtime friend Kelly came to visit. We headed to the airport after the show Thursday night to get her. Her plane was delayed, so we had time to go out for pizza and drinks first. Friday, she and MB spent the day together, then they went ballroom dancing while I worked late - girls night out! I did get to go out for pizza dinner with some coworkers though. Saturday, after rehearsal MB and I had some time in the afternoon, then we all went to Kate's wine bar, Verve, in Columbia City. Great place! We met up with some of Kelly's old friends there, and had dinner and lots of good wine. When Kate heard about MB's birthday she bought her dessert and some dessert wine flights on the house. Yum! It's a really relaxed place - we spent about three and a half hours there. Tobin showed up later on, which wasn't too surprising, so we got to say hi to him too.

Sunday - MB took Kelly to the airport (she rented a car for the weekend, that's how they got around Friday night) while I slept in. Then, mostly work - house work, finances, etc. Later on we headed over to TM's to watch BSG. Another doozy of an episode. But. . .where are they going? how will they get there? oi.

A busy week at work, with much going on.

This weekend. . .working late again Friday, fighting some fires. A very good open circle on Saturday, and then another 3 hours of rehearsal after that. Then a quick stop home, and I drove up to the Mukelteo ferry, where I met MB. She'd gotten a ride there from a classmate. We caught the 5PM ferry to Whidbey, and drove to Langley. We stopped at the first restaurant we saw there - the Edgecliff grill? I think it was called. The food was OK, my burger was good, MB's fish and chips was, well, different. Then, it was over to the WICA to see The Vagina Monologues. What a riot. MB's aforementioned classmate's wife was in the show, which is how we ended up there. Anyway, it was hilarious. Afterward we went to a local Bistro with them for some food and drinks (MB had a soda craving so got a Coke, I got a glass of red wine that made me wish I'd gotten a Coke). We spent about an hour there, then headed home. Oh, meanwhile, it snowed. It snowed/hailed on the drive to the ferry, then while we were having dinner. Crazy weather. Thunder and lightning around Ballard, apparently. So on the way home we went through some areas that still had quite a bit on the landscape, but the roads were clear. Home around midnight I think. Lost an hour of sleep! bleargh.

Today - slept in. Made pancakes and eggs for breakfast, which turned out great. MB went to yoga while I worked for a while, played bass, listened to music, and fiddled with recording software. Then, back over to TM's for BSG episode number "only two more after this one". Same as last week - Oi, but where? how? we'll see I guess. More absolutely delicious carrot/potato soup thanks to TM. It's so good. After that, somehow we ended up watching Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. That's a really good movie. I still think Snatch is better, but that's good stuff. Finally, MB and I hit the grocery store on the way home, now we're back and the day is about done.

P.S. oh yeah, how could I forget - Michael Gira was in the audience on Thursday night! yow.

MB Day 2009

Wednesday, February 25 2009
23:53

Had a great day celebrating MB's birthday yesterday. We got up early, which wasn't so fun, but then went to Senor Moose for breakfast. yum! I had sopes con huevos, MB got huevos rancheros. Then, we were a bit ahead of schedule, so we walked around Ballard a bit. The weather was dreary, but we managed. We went into an eyeglasses place and tried on a bunch of glasses. I found a few that I thought were good on me. . .can't remember the brand though. Something Danish. Anyway, from there we headed to the Pacific Science Center, to see the "Lucy" exhibit. Wow! More than half of the exhibit is really about the history of Ethiopia. That was good, though not as exciting as the end where they actually have the fossilized bones from "Lucy" - 3.18 million years old! And a life-size re-creation, etc. They mentioned a few offshoots from the human family tree I'd never heard of - one of the skulls, something pre-Neanderthal and found first in Germany, was really quite freaky looking. I'm really glad we got to see that exhibit. Being a Tuesday, we were surrounded by droves of school children, but that wasn't too bad.

After that, we went to the University Village to do some shopping. MB needed some new shoes and a new watch. Success on the watch front, but not shoes. I got some socks too! hah. We had smoothies, and checked out a few other stores while we were there. Again, too bad the weather sucked, but we still had a good time. From there we headed back towards Fremont, stopping briefly at what a coworker calls "the hippy drum store" in Wallingford. They have a bunch of random percussion there. Anyway, our next destination was the Theo chocolate factory! We took the tour, which was great. The factory was pretty quiet by this time of day (4), so not much activity. It's so cool though that this place exists and is doing so well. I learned quite a bit about chocolate, too!

Next, it was up to Phinney to have dinner at Carmelita. Excellent. We got a bottle of wine, and split the cheese plate and a salad. MB had a polenta and squash dish, I had carrot gnocchi. Both yummy. We split the "duo of ice cream sandwiches" for dessert. That, alone, was disappointing. Really not very good. But overall a very nice dinner. We couldn't quite remember all that we'd done on "MB Day" last year, besides the Zoo. We thought maybe we'd eaten at Carmelita, but that was on 3/14 according to my diary. Survey says. . . looks like it was just brunch at the Hi-Life, then the zoo. After that, grocery shopping and watching the Oscars. Well, this year was better!

Speaking of which, after dinner we went to RCV and rented Charlie Wilson's War and Little Miss Sunshine. We watched both, in that order. CWW was very good - I'm a sucker for Aaron Sorkin's style. Overall, it was a bit of a love/hate, given the subject. Also, the "re-created" war footage (mixed with actual archive footage) was just so incredibly clunky and pointless and cheesy. . .I don't know what the hell they were thinking? But the rest was good. LMS was hilarious. I'm glad I finally saw that.

We had some nice weather last week, but it's pretty gray and wet and windy now. At least it's not dark at 4 PM any more.

February is almost over. And so is today.

Food and Movies and TV and stuff

Sunday, February 01, 2009
22:39

A packed weekend. Friday night: out to Habesha with MB for Ehtiopian food (yummy!) and belly dancing (a duo, each with very different styles). Home pretty late from that.

Saturday: rehearsal from 10 to 1. MB did HC stuff until 3; during that time I took a photo to the A&F shop to get it laminated, did some laundry, put my bike on the newly-installed bike rack in the garage (yay!), and had lunch. Picked up MB, and we headed to a tango lesson in the U District. That was very good, a wonderful teacher. Then back to this neighborhood, for a pho dinner, and then over to TM's to watch The Player. That movie is about as dark and cynical as it gets. And soooo good. Had some snacks and drinks there, then home to bed. I had a really bad headache for some reason. Thankfully, that was gone by this morning.

Today - slept in a bit while MB went to yoga. Then, a quick breakfast and out the door for haircut appointments on Cap Hill. I got a lot of hair cut off, MB got a color and style. On Will's suggestion, we stopped by In the Bowl for lunch - yum! All vegan pan-asian fare. Quick and decently priced. We got the taro spring rolls and green curry w/ tofu. The soy-meat stuff they do is apparently really excellent. I wish a place like that was closer to either work or home. From there, over the hill to JC's house for a Super Bowl party. That was good - they have a really great little house, I like it a lot. Watched the game with them and other folks from work - it was a great game. Started off a little one-sided, but stayed very interesting right up until the end. At which point we hit the road back to Ballard, to watch BSG at TM's. Wow, an intense episode. Had some wonderful spicy carrot / sweet-potato soup there and a few cookies. Then back home to wrap up the weekend, and now, to bed.

(2^11)-39

Monday, January 19 2009
23:18

Had a condo association meeting today to talk with "the lawyer" about a lawsuit. Whee. Been fiddling with hard drives and raid controllers at work, and lately prototyping some algorithms related to a re-do from the ground up of one significant and well-aged chunk of the system.

Christmas was good. Got stuck in the snow on my way to my Dad's, got out but then had to park at the store down the street. Later we moved my car up to a residential street. Dad's 4wd subaru performed heroically. Thankfully no flight delays to Colorado the next day - spent a very enjoyable few days w/ MB's family there. Got to go up to the top of Pike's Peak, and walk around a few other beautiful places (Garden of the Gods).

Had a NYE party here again this year. Lower-key event, not as many folks this time. Very good though. No hangover the next day, as an added bonus.

TTA rehearsals are ramping up again. For the most part, we're back in the saddle without many gaps or issues. I'm learning some different bits of Scorched Air, they are fun but/and mind-bending.

Got a new camera - the LX3, 2nd successor to the old one. I'm excited, I'm sure I'll be wanting more zoom but it looks like it's far superior in image quality, and an F2.0 lens in a compact is really sweet. The card reader in my computer is borked right now though. . .ugh.

Probably more to say, but I'm sleepy. Oh, the first new episode of BSG. . .wow. Theories abound.

Fluffy white stuff

Sunday, December 14 2008
16:53

Snow!! It snowed last night. MB and I went to a cookie exchange party at D&Ds. It was pretty fun. I think I knew about half the folks there. Good food and wine too. Out cookies came out pretty well. "by the box" oatmeal cookies w/ curry powder instead of cinnamon, white chocolate chips, and then made into sandwich cookies using orange-vanilla cream cheese frosting. Yum! Lots of work though. It didn't help that I accidentally made twice as much dough as I wanted to (tripling the recipe instead of 1.5-ing it). So that took a lot of time on Friday night. The other cookies brought were mixed - some actually kinda icky, some pretty tasty.

It was just beginning to snow as we headed up there - the hills of Newcastle. I figured we were pretty crazy to go, given that it was supposed to snow then freeze, and they're on a hill, and I have not-snow-friendly tires on my car (they are all-season, but just barely). Anyway, we left just before 12 and made it home OK. Went very slowly down the hill, no sliding, then it was mostly bare roads until home. It was snowing pretty hard around the 90/5 interchange, then there was an accident on 5 going under the convention center, so traffic was backed up a bit there.

The plan for tonight is to go to TM's new place and review the first part of BG season IV, as the next episode will be in just a couple weeks. Not sure when that is happening though. . .need to call and find out. Ah, he left a message while I was playing bass. Said activity has yielded a blister covering my entire middle finger, as it always does. Fun though. MB zilled along to YYZ for a bit before heading off to yoga.

Work-wise. . .got my hands on some of those SSDs. They will not work for my purposes. They just don't stand up to being written to constantly. Really bummed about that. Talked to some folks at X about it, but didn't really get anything useful. Basically - I was using a benchmark tool to measure random write performance, and after writing the entire drive once or twice, perf went down the tubes. They can supposedly "fix themselves", but not if your access pattern is more or less the same as the benchmark activity. You can hard-erase the drive to start over, but what good is that in production use. Bleargh.

Just ordered some xmas gifts online. Still have more shopping to do, though.