And more Saturday

26:29

Up too late now. . .Will inevitably get a late start on things tomorrow. Oh well. The shopping run produced the desired results from the first location, and some so-so ones from the second – a dresser and a nightstand. Had the big, heavy bits of some bookshelves loaded up on the cart thing, but ended up putting them back because the extra shelves were out of stock. Found out that the sofa (loveseat+chaise combo, actually) boxes won't fit in my car (the easy way, by measuring before I bought them). May have them delivered, or go look for something nicer. Oh – still no kitchen garbage can. Maybe I should give up trying to find a good rectangular, under-the-sink one.

Got the dresser half-assembled tonight, that was pretty easy so far. Was pleasantly distracted during that by a good, long conversation with MB. Came home for some dinner after that. Scheduled cable/internet installation today, it won't happen until Monday the 8th though. Oh well. I can't really "move in" until I have internet access. . .I guess that's OK, I'll be able to prepare for that mostly next weekend.

music: Mesuggah, The Cure, Siouxsie

Saturday so far

Saturday, September 29, 2007
17:02

Back at the old place now. Nice to not have to drive across town this morning. Slept mostly OK, took a while to fall asleep though. Need less-poofy pillows. Didn't help that the BB went off at 2:30. Found a few more warranty issues there – seals on windows, etc.

Six? for calisthenics today, including newcomer IB. First hour of practice was an open circle, mostly circulations, F major, Bb major, D melodic minor. Then some cake (BR's birthday is tomorrow, wherever he is), then mostly work / play w/ Diana, improve w/ dancing. Then a bit more of IA's new piece.

DB called during practice, one of the ASes had the BBS queue thread die, he was at a soccer game, luckily Alfred was online to go kick it.

Came home after that, debated what to do. Looked at furniture and electronics online. Decided to eat – when to Than bros. BB rang there – DB again, CSDSes were not working right. Probably a buffer size issue, yet again. I scarfed down my food and went home – yep, he was working on updating the configs. What a pain. That's done now.

Probably going to head to BB+B and Ikea, to get kitchen towels, pillows, garbage cans, bookshelves? sofas? chairs? we'll see. It'll be a zoo, I'm sure.

Friday at the new place

Friday, September 28 2007
15:30
My new place!

No computer here yet, so hand-written journal tonight. Spending the night here alone for the first time.

Work was work, got to play TF2 on our pub server for a bit which was fun. Called MB @ 3-ish [left a message], she called back a bit later, from Harvard Square – running some errands. Good to talk w/ her.

Spent a couple hours cleaning up and disassembling and boxing stuff there. Bass rig / music gear / etc, cleaned my desk. Brought 2 boxes of books up. Not sure yet if I'll bring more bookshelves or what.

Bought Eat, Pray, Love at B&N after work. Will begin that tonight Or tomorrow, should sleep soon [read 3 chapters].

music: Roxy Music, Res

/cold

Thursday, September 27 2007
24:12

Back to being overcast today. Began the day sniffly still, but I'm not anymore. Yay! Went in to work. On the drive in, had a momentary thought, "gee, that weekend felt really long". Duh, that's because it's Thursday.

Kept in touch throughout the day with a dear friend on the other side of the country that is going through a lot right now. Feels weird, not a lot I can do from here except talk and listen. I'm pretty sure I'd be overwhelmed were I in the same position. The process continues, there are many personal elements to it, and also a few beaurocratic ones now. Lawyers and name changes and such. I did find something that I can do here, a little advance work / recon sort of thing.

Had a package waiting for me when I got home, as I'd hoped. A dictionary and a thesaurus! and old ones, at that. Wonderful. More Far Side cartoons involved too.

Then some work on that recon. . .seeing if I can get some online map stuff to work out, IE crashed on me once! but then I think it worked in the end.

music: A Perfect Circle - Mer du Noms; Jonas Helborg - Abstract Logic

A sunny day

Wednesday, September 26 2007
25:20

Sniffly today, still. Worked from home. Sunny outside, and in the 60s today. Not bad. Got to go out a couple times to run some quick errands. Also a nice break mid-day for a phone conversation, the timing was good as my CD package was received during the call. Was really tempted to just stay on the phone indefinitely, but back to work. Not as busy as yesterday.

Had some dinner – sushi, and a bagel, then grabbed a couple more boxes of stuff and drove up to the new place. Unloaded those boxes, also the two boxes of books I'd left there, and headed East to rehearsal. Which was good – we had a visitor, IB who has moved to Seattle for school and is crashing at Travgor's for a couple days – worked on Igor and Travis' new piece the whole time. It's good, a fun and slightly silly one. After that, over to Travgor's for some Scotch I'd picked up this afternoon, feeling good and wanting to spread the feeling a bit.

Not sure if I'll be going in to work tomorrow or not. Will probably still be sniffly.

music: Tom McCarthy - Spark and Luminance; Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future

Tuesday

Tuesday, September 25 2007
14:36

Yesterday: Still had that sore throat when I woke up. Actually I was awakened at a quarter to seven by a phone call. . .a pleasant surprise though. Talked about some big things. Then back to sleep. Then, luckily, a follow-up call which woke me up when I should have been up already – I'd forgotten to turn my alarm on last night. Anyway, sore throat still, so decided to work from home. Did that, also wrapped up the CD project and got that in the mail. Listened to a copy of it on the stereo – the first time I've really listened to a bunch of those tracks that way, usually it's through headphones. Interesting. Monitor speakers are definitely on my to-buy list after I move.

Anyway. . .grabbed some stuff to take up town with me – silverware, of which I have plenty and it's good, so there's one thing I won't be replacing – and headed up to Ballard. Dropped that off and went to the space. Lots of warmup time which was good. The show was weird. Lots of us felt that way. Small audience, one sleeping/snoring at times. I tried to wake him up during Kashmir but dang, he's a heavy sleeper. He was up and very attentive for the encore though! haha. Anyway, then a small gang out for food and drinks after that. I had a few announcements – it was all good/right news really, but the lead-in sounds like bad news, so initial responses were mixed. I was also all prepared for many probing questions, eager to talk about it, so when they didn't come I had to kind of fish for them which was funny. Anyway, that was good. Meanwhile I had some tasty salmon (though outshined by the very peppery broccolini and the yummy sweet potato fries) and a hot toddy.

This morning, another wake-up call! Haha. Well, that will get old eventually ;) Anyway, some talk about last night, my email "report" wasn't really worded well and that caused some upset. Better now. My sore throat isn't so sore, but I've got the sniffles a bit, so staying home again today. Been a productive remote-work day so far. Chilly, gray and drizzly here yesterday and today. Sunday was pretty nice, if I remember correctly.

Wheeeee!

I am a happy boy.

2 + 2 = 4

Sunday, September 23 2007
25:09

Saturday: Calistenics and the sitting as usual, then a trip to Vera's for lunch. After the big dinner Friday night, was feeling like maybe a light lunch was in order. But, somehow I ended up scarfing down a plate of huevos rancheros. Then, over to CHAC for our tech setup/etc day. Four hours non-stop, mostly moving stuff around, and climbing up very, very tall ladders to screw things in to the ceiling. Some playing too, it sounded OK which was a nice surprise for me. The ladders were scary and I'm worried about people having to climb them before and after every show.

Home for a bit after that, boxed up a couple loads of books. Deciding to sell/give away about as many others. The dust on the bookshelves was pretty thick and probably not good for my health. I ended up with a sore throat by the end of the night (that is still with me). Then, drove the boxes up to the new place and dropped them off, and headed to Yanni's to see Lost Pedro. A very enjoyable evening. Five of us at the table to listen / eat – again, I ended up eating more than I expected. I got a salad. . .then Diana didn't like her entrée (an eggplant thing what was really really yummy), so I ate most of that. The wine was a bit off – almost effervescent, but palatable. Then back to Howard and Diana's for some more wine and good company w/ people and cats.

Today: slept in. Then some time around the house writing and figuring out what to do. Hit the stores, failing to find a few things (furniture) but ending up getting some plates and cups and a runner rug. And a broom! Back home, to also grab a bookshelf, and up to the new place. Had a good long phone conversation while there. Had a few of those this weekend actually – my friends are suspicious, as I hardly ever talk on the phone. Well, it may be time to let the cat out of the bag. I have the feeling a few have already figured it out.

music: Pat Metheny Group, ProjeKct One, Autechre

Zoom

Friday, September 21 2007
25:24

A pretty enjoyable day. Pretty focused at work, knowing that it would be a short day due to celebrations. First, a "happy hour" in the company kitchen / etc area the celebrate the Orange Box games going "gold". Had some yummy tequila then some blah brandy after that ran out. It was noisy and crowded and people everywhere were having a good time, and it was good. The highlight was a round of Happy Birthday for a bemused and maybe embarrassed now-26-year-old dude.

Bailed on that a bit early to go out to dinner w/ some of the guys from work and their wives. Went to Maggiano's, where we had a price-fixed family-style dinner that was really very good. Left there around 8:30 I think. Then, back to the office to wrap up some things and write some email, then home. Spent a couple hours working on the "liner notes" to a CD sampler of my recorded musical output over the past decade or so.

Ah – how could I have forgotten to mention this! Got a housewarming gift in the mail yesterday – a big book of Far Side cartoons. I love the Far Side. Absolutely my favorite cartoons, going back to when I was a kid. With Bloom County a close second. Anyway, this would go on my coffee table if I had a coffee table yet.

music: Cocteau Twins – box set; Christine Zuttery - A Decouvert;

Thursday

Thursday, September 20 2007
24:49

Began the day in a funk, ending it feeling pretty good. Lots of good discussion on email and later the phone. In between that, work, fixing bugs and doing some things that had been put off for the push last week. After work, stopped by the new place to see what's been done – nothing – since Tuesday, and do some laundry. Had the aforementioned good phone conversation while I was there, then picked up some leftover margherita pizza from the fridge to take home and eat here. It was but a shadow of its former self, having been sitting in a box in the fridge for three days, oh well. I still have a couple food items in there, that are probably fresher, courtesy of my weekend guest: a pack each of yogurt and rice pudding. Oh, and a bar of very tasty chocolate.

A friend's car troubles tonight remind me that my car is overdue for service. Hmm, maybe next week.

music: Klaxons, Interpol, Modest Mouse

Wednesday

Wednesday, September 19 2007
26:01

A sleepy day today. Skipped coffee in the morning, then had a big lunch w/ some wine, and that left me wanting a nap in the afternoon. The lunch was fun, a celebration over recent accomplishments. Got coffee after that, which helped.

Rehearsal in the evening, that was good. Celebrated Bob's birthday again a little bit, and also the arrival of the "Solaris Project" CDs.

Some back-filling details from this weekend. I'll definitely put Senor Moose on my "good dining" list. . .wonderful breakfast there on Monday. I've heard the rest of the menu is good too. Such a small little place tucked in next to an auto-body shop, I'd never even noticed it before. We stopped at Gilman Village in Issaquah on the way back from the falls, looking for ice cream. The place was deserted! even for a weekday. I'd never been there with so few people around. The only people working at the place we found ice cream (a meager and mediocre selection) were three teenage boys. They were almost shocked that someone would order a hot fudge sundae. They had no hot fudge, either. But, that all was redeemed by the fact that it was really very pleasant sitting on the patio in back.

music: New Order, Angels of Light, Peter Gabriel

Quite a weekend

Fell behind on my journalizing. Tired now, so not enough energy to go into much detail here. So, broad strokes:

Saturday: late to calisthenics, then the sitting, the usual coffee run, and rehearsal. Our guest / visitor for the weekend, Mary Beth, was fetched from the airport by Christina towards the tail end of that. Unfortunately she missed Diana's work with us since Diana had to leave earlier than expected.

Lunch: Indian food. Dinner: pizza. In between, saw Diana doing butoh at a really wacky art 'installation' at a soon-to-be-demolished motel off Aurora.

Sunday: "stagecraft" work at Travgor's, which was fun and relaxed and didn't take too long. Then, a "barbecue", though it was raining so an indoor thing. Also very low-key but fun. That ended around 9.

Monday: Played tour guide, taking Mary Beth out to Snoqualmie Falls. The weather was gray and drizzly but somehow ended up being fairly nice up there. On the way down the trail I pointed out some of the "fake bamboo" that grows in the area, and she said, "That's Japanese knotweed - polyganum cuspidatum!" which was pretty impressive. Back to Seattle after that for the TTA show. It went pretty well, a small but very nice audience. Out to the hi-life afterwards, a large group around a small table, toasting Bob's 50th and Mary Beth's visit, it was an energetic and fun thing.

Today: back to work. Things are going well. I missed much excietment there yesterday, most of it good.

Wed / Thur / Fri

Friday, September 14 2007
24:39

Hmm, missed two days of journalizing. Been a bit busy. Work, shopping / deliveries, cleaning, etc. And I still haven't got the battery in my watch replaced.

Went to see MMW+Scofield tonight at the Moore, with Travis and Igor. It was very good. Maybe not the best venue for them. The Showbox would have been nice, though I'm sure I'd have been tired of standing by the end. Anyway. . .what a scary group of musicians. Each one of them did some jaw-dropping things. The highlights for me were Scofield's forwards-backwards-forwards-backwards-etc soloing in the first song, and Medeski's bassoon? mellotron solo later in the set. A real, live mellotron. I couldn't tell if he was getting the pitch-bending and other effects via some knob (the tuner?) on top, or actually reaching in and massaging the innards to slow down the tape spools.

Need to sleep now, waking up early tomorrow.

music: Michel Camilo - Triangulo; Tom McCarthy - Spark and Luminance

Monday / Tuesday

Tuesday, September 11 2007
25:00

First show of the new season last night – it went well. Rough, for sure. But there were also some supremely wonderful moments, at least from the players' perspectives. Not a whole lot of feedback from audience members inside the circle afterwards though. Out to the Hi-Life afterwards. Old habits. Actually, Michelle, our old favorite bartender/waitress was there hanging out. She introduced the gang to her fiancée, and was really really happy to see us. My mojito was tasty, but the alcohol just played the depressant role without any of the typical upside. Their menu theme is now Argentina, lots of good looking dishes there. I got some chicken skewers with a smoked veggie/cheese thingamajig. Pretty good, the chicken was very good and the thingamajig too smoky for me.

Exciting times at work. I feel like a bit of a pariah for not being around as much as usual, now that my Monday evenings are occupied again, I'm in late or missing bits and pieces to deal with condo stuff, and I've mentioned that I'm pretty much off the map next weekend and Monday too. Monday is the TF2 Beta release. A huge thing. But, there is somewhere else I'd rather be!

music: Underworld - 100 Days Off; Rain Tree Crow – s/t; Dead Can Dance - Spleen and Ideal

Long day Sunday

Sunday, September 9 2007
25:38

A long day, but energy is low now, so I probably won't write much. I have the feeling that will be a theme this week. Nephew's baptism in the morning, that was good. Saw a few extended family members I hadn't seen in a while. All their kids are growing up.

Home around 3, went out to do some more shopping. This wasn't quite as bad, experience-wise, and it was also fairly fruitfuil in terms of getting what I set out to get. A dinner break at the apartment, then up to the condo to unload the car and build some furniture. Interrupted in that process again tonight, by the need for a power screwdriver. Back home for a snack and some writing. Various emails flying around today, plans for this week and next weekend. Turns out that someone else will actually be living in my new place before I do, if just for a weekend – a visiting friend from the east coast, who needed a place to stay.

music: Siouxsie, Gamelan, Herbie Hancock

Flying

Saturday, September 8 2007
25:28

Was up a bit too late last night, so I skipped calisthenics this morning. Then was a bit too late to make the sitting too, so I did that here. Rehearsal was a 'dress' rehearsal, though without the dress part. I'm such a moron! I was thinking that this Monday was a dress rehearsal, and the first show next week! I had it the right way around a couple weeks ago, but in the intervening time lost track of things. I've had a lot on my mind lately.

Some cleanup and space prep afterwards. Then, lunch, with Christina. Oh, stopped by my new place to show it off for a bit first, she took pictures which I should have expected, really. Tried out a pizza place in my new neighborhood. So-so – the chop salad was OK, but the service was iffy. Worth another chance, for sure.

There was a cleaning crew in the new place, so still not ready for a final pass-over on the little details. So, home after lunch. There were two packages waiting for me in the mail: a CD of the new Angels of Light album, signed my MG, which was nice. The other packge had a DVD and a CD in it, a card, and some cartoons. And that was so far beyond "nice". It was over the moon, to borrow a phrase. Watched a bit of the DVD, then a very pleasant surprise phone call from the sender.

After that, got my butt in gear to do something I planned to do this weekend, get a few specific pieces of furniture for the new place. That was, so-so. The shopping drained a lot (but not all, by any means) of that good energy, and I finally came home with a compromise, something simple but not terribly high quality. Not expensive, though, at least.

Stopped by "home" to check in and grab some tools, then up to the new place to unload boxes and build things. Oops, can't do the building, no light in that room yet! duh. OK, so back home for a late meal and some writing.

Tomorrow: up early for a family thing in Tacoma, then many things to do in the remaining time of the day.

music: Steve Reich – Eight Lines / New York Counterpoint / Four Organs; Angels of Light - We Are Him; New Order - Power, Corruption, and Lies (sounds like a downer, but it's not, entirely).

Today and the near future

Friday, September 7 2007
24:47

A fairly busy day. More servers arrived today, and about as many went back out the door. Yesterday I got a few scrapes on my arm from moving boxes around and taking the machines out etc. Today a few bruises appeared. Enough that it actually shocked me when I noticed.

Wasn't sure if I felt like going to see Sarah Shannon at Mars Bar tonight. . .realizing that my enthusiasm for her voice and my long-ago crush don't really carry me through the music on the latest album, it's just not my cup of tea. Which is OK. But it might have been a nice show to go to. Anyway, was leaning towards not, then that question was answered for me as some things at work took my time until too late.

Some exciting news in the evening, that has me a bit giddy.

Oh, my watch battery is still in need of replacement. My greatest concern right now? That I won't be able to know what time it is during the sitting tomorrow. Heh.

The next ten days are so are going to be very busy, and fairly exciting. TTA dress rehearsal and first show. . .many things brewing at work. . .moving. . .and more.

music: Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future; Afghan Whigs - Black Love

Thursday

Thursday, September 6 2007
25:49

Another uneventful day for the most part. Oh – eleven new servers did arrive, which was kind of like Christmas (got 10 more on the way still) but also a pain as they had to be unboxed and attended to then reboxed. They go to Europe tomorrow.

Another nice day out. Walked over to the mall to see about getting the battery replaced in my watch – it stopped at 7:22 last night. I think I didn't try hard enough. The specialty watch store is gone now, and I tried one other place that wouldn't do it for a brand they didn't carry, and didn't think any other place in the mall would either. Apparently the drugstore up the street will, and probably for cheaper.

Teriyaki for lunch again today. A "peanut butter 'n stuff" sandwich for dinner. Mmm, that's a pretty tasty sandwich.

music: Pixies - Surfer Rosa / Come On Pilgrim; Torn / Karn / Bozzio - Polytown; and in the random playlist, a few tracks from Ratatat – haven't listened to them in months, still like it, so putting that on my to-get list. . .

A pleasant enough Wednesday

Wednesday, September 05, 2007
23:29

Just noticed that on Saturday I wrote, "hips and hummous" instead of "chips and hummous".

Sunny day today, a good temperature. A few of us had lunch in the park. The bees were very interested in my teriyaki.

Practice at the Wilsons after that. No socializing afterwards, so home to some ice cream, and to watch Obama on the Daily Show.

music: Toyah - The Blue Meaning; Radiohead - OK Computer; The Police - Live!

Tuesday

Tuesday, September 4 2007
25:25

It ended up raining last night for a while. Woke up at some early hour, and after listening to the sound of the rain for a bit, looked at the clock and it was seven. Decided to check my email, glad I did, as a couple messages got lost in the ether, causing some concern. Got it sorted later, well it's still a mystery, but the re-sends made it at least.

Uneventful day after that. Team meeting, looking at the schedule, lots to do. Had a smoked salmon / pecan salad for lunch, a bit of a failed experiment. Fishy fish in a salad context still just does not work for me. Ahi or something sure, but not salmon.

music: Sylvian / Fripp - Damage; Rollins Band - Weight; various Santogold tracks via MySpace and YouTube.

Labor Day and such

Monday, September 3, 2007
22:29

Sunday: Got up early, but was really sleepy so for just long enough to send a quick message, then back to bed for a couple hours. Got some breakfast, then spent a couple hours on the phone. Had a good conversation with a new friend. A mix of topics past, present, and future.

Spent the afternoon largely procrastinating on doing things related to moving. Did break out an old inventory of things in the apartment. Two are gone (sold on ebay), and a few new things to add. Was surprised at how detailed it was, I'd forgotten going into it that much whenever it was I did that, probably about a year ago. Played the fretless bass for a little while, through the amp, though not really loud enough to be satisfying.

Then went up town to CF's for some soup and to watch The Pianist. Curt, Igor, and Igor also came over. It is indeed a very stark and brutal movie. I'm not sure if it's "depressing" as people say a lot. The DVD (from the library) was scratched, so we had to skip a couple bits, maybe 20 minutes total. Back home after that, spent a couple hours writing, then to bed.

Monday: Began the day not really sure what my plan was. Take the day off, and look at furniture? Work from home? go in to the office? Settled on the latter, as I had some work to do, and felt like doing it there instead of here. Also, that would actually give me some more time outside, at least driving, and the day was nice (it clouded over in the afternoon though). A quiet day there, doing a mix of things including some remaining playtesting "assignments". Left around 8, stopped at the store, had dinner, watched a few episodes of Scrubs.

There was a flash of lightning and some thunder just after posting this. No rain yet though.

music: Rush - Signals; Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

Did I mention that life was interesting?

Saturday, September 1 2007
26:19

Slept in a bit late, so had to run out the door in a hurry to make it to the sitting, just did. There was an endless parade of airplanes flying over during it. Rehearsal was in three sections: meeting about getting ready for the next season, including the discussion about whether or not the guitarists-portion of Tuning The Air should take the name Tuning The Air when performing at other venues. No decision made about that, though some good rationale presented that this is only an issue in our minds; if we play a quick show as "Tuning the Air", it won't be a completely foreign and / or idea to people that we are also in this weekly show called Tuning The Air that is more than that. I'm not convinced that's enough reason to not do that, however.

Next, we ran the set that Bob has arranged for the first show. It felt good to me. Really noticed the sound in that room, for the first time in a while, it is wonderful. It is at its best when there are no cushions or audients in there, unfortunately, but I think it is still good with them. After that, we had blocked out time in the church's gymnasium, so we set up a circle there, first 19 feet (the existing circle size), then moving out a bit at a time until 25 feet. The sound was different to begin with, and it more or less stayed the same to me as we expanded. A bit harder to connect with the other players at the full size. Have to take it with a grain of salt however, as the CHAC room sounds completely different, yet again. Very dead.

Stopped by the new place on the way home and picked up my keys! Wow, OK so that's a little reality check. They are still working on the floor, and will have to do the other punchlist items this week. I said it was OK if they took until Friday, I hope to really begin moving stuff next weekend.

Then home for a nap, didn't sleep much though. Tired, but with some zingy energy. Then a bagel and some hips and hummous for lunch, listening to Heaven or Las Vegas on the stereo. Then some emailing, and off to the poker game. It was good. Lots of fun. Fairly boisterous, a bit more than usual. Dean was the only one to bust out, and that was in something like the third-to-last hand, around 1. Tobin and Mike more or less split the "big winners" award. I was down a little bit from my stake.

Got home about 1:30. Had a doozy of a message waiting for me. Kind of pushed aside the rest of the day. Scary but exciting, indeed. Need to get some sleep now, and then tomorrow. . .

Friday

Friday, August 31 2007
24:14

Minor email snafu today, so I didn't actually go pick up the keys to the new place. Maybe tomorrow, no reply about that yet (and this time I've checked the spam filter).

Meanwhile, a number of items on the weekend agenda already filling in. Rehearsal tomorrow, a poker game in the evening, then dinner and a movie with friends on Sunday. Not sure yet if I'll be working on Monday. Probably.

Listening to some Keith Jarret "bootleg" recording, from a huge archive site, courtesy of CF. I have mixed feelings about bootlegs, hard to know the circumstances around the recording. But anyway, wow. Wonderful stuff.

Been writing a lot in the evenings, which leaves me a bit tired out by the time I get to writing here! Oh well. It's good.

music: Res - How I Do; Miles Davis - On the Corner