These are presented with the most recent at the top, so you might want to view them from the bottom up.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
a sampling of this week's work.
Among other things (which I'll catch up on soon) I have been working on designs for the 2008 Spring Season of Tuning the Air. Here are just a few. (Disclaimer: I am not a qualified Graphic Designer!)
These are presented with the most recent at the top, so you might want to view them from the bottom up.
These are presented with the most recent at the top, so you might want to view them from the bottom up.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Catching up
Today's loaf of bread. I wasn't sure this was going to work out since I was supposed to bake it yesterday. Lacking the time, last night I put the dough in the refrigerator to slow down the rising and baked it this morning. Looks and tastes just fine.
Four for 8am calisthenics. We work (at a much slower tempo) on the A Harmonic Minor exercise and this time, the chords begin to get identified. CG advises me on fingering choices. He suggested anticipating the NEXT chord in making fingering choices. That moment reminded me of a favorite section in Mark Twain’s ‘Life on the Mississippi:
'What is the shape of Walnut Bend?'
He might as well have asked me my grandmother's opinion of protoplasm. I reflected respectfully, and then said I didn't know it had any particular shape. My gunpowdery chief went off with a bang, of course, and then went on loading and firing until he was out of adjectives.
I had learned long ago that he only carried just so many rounds of ammunition, and was sure to subside into a very placable and even remorseful old smooth-bore as soon as they were all gone. That word 'old' is merely affectionate; he was not more than thirty-four. I waited. By and by he said--
'My boy, you've got to know the SHAPE of the river perfectly. It is all there is left to steer by on a very dark night. Everything else is blotted out and gone. But mind you, it hasn't the same shape in the night that it has in the day-time.'
'How on earth am I ever going to learn it, then?'
'How do you follow a hall at home in the dark. Because you know the shape of it. You can't see it.'
'Do you mean to say that I've got to know all the million trifling variations of shape in the banks of this interminable river as well as I know the shape of the front hall at home?'
'On my honor, you've got to know them BETTER than any man ever did know the shapes of the halls in his own house.'
'I wish I was dead!'
'Now I don't want to discourage you, but----'
'Well, pile it on me; I might as well have it now as another time.'
'You see, this has got to be learned; there isn't any getting around it. A clear starlight night throws such heavy shadows that if you didn't know the shape of a shore perfectly you would claw away from every bunch of timber, because you would take the black shadow of it for a solid cape; and you see you would be getting scared to death every fifteen minutes by the watch. You would be fifty yards from shore all the time when you ought to be within fifty feet of it. You can't see a snag in one of those shadows, but you know exactly where it is, and the shape of the river tells you when you are coming to it. Then there's your pitch-dark night; the river is a very different shape on a pitch-dark night from what it is on a starlight night. All shores seem to be straight lines, then, and mighty dim ones, too; and you'd RUN them for straight lines only you know better. You boldly drive your boat right into what seems to be a solid, straight wall (you knowing very well that in reality there is a curve there), and that wall falls back and makes way for you. Then there's your gray mist. You take a night when there's one of these grisly, drizzly, gray mists, and then there isn't any particular shape to a shore. A gray mist would tangle the head of the oldest man that ever lived. Well, then, different kinds of MOONLIGHT change the shape of the river in different ways. You see----'
'Oh, don't say any more, please! Have I got to learn the shape of the river according to all these five hundred thousand different ways? If I tried to carry all that cargo in my head it would make me stoop-shouldered.'
'NO! you only learn THE shape of the river, and you learn it with such absolute certainty that you can always steer by the shape that's IN YOUR HEAD, and never mind the one that's before your eyes.'
'Very well, I'll try it; but after I have learned it can I depend on it. Will it keep the same form and not go fooling around?'
Before Mr. Bixby could answer, Mr. W---- came in to take the watch, and he said--
'Bixby, you'll have to look out for President's Island and all that country clear away up above he Old Hen and Chickens. The banks are caving and the shape of the shores changing like everything. Why, you wouldn't know the point above 40. You can go up inside the old sycamore-snag, now.
So that question was answered. Here were leagues of shore changing shape. My spirits were down in the mud again. Two things seemed pretty apparent to me. One was, that in order to be a pilot a man had got to learn more than any one man ought to be allowed to know; and the other was, that he must learn it all over again in a different way every twenty-four hours.
~~~~~
The TTA team reconvened at 10:30 to follow-up on the challenge BillR gave last weekend. I was out of town, but received an email summary in which B suggested we find an area of work/play we wish to improve and become ‘demonstrably reliable’ in this area. Intending to address the persistent difficulty of coordinating the activity of the right and left hand, I selected this challenge:
By the spring equinox, I aim to be able to play the BillR exercise without looking at the fret board.
I was disappointed that the only participants to take up Bill’s challenge were guitar players (or aspiring guitar players.) I can’t help but wonder what could be possible if the others joined in.
~~~
The afternoon work with Curt & the house team continued the A Harmonic Minor work from the morning, this time in the form of a circulation. More opportunities to study listening to transitions. Then, a circulation based on a bit of Bach. Again, a sense of knowing where my notes belonged. And occasionally even being able to place them there.
~~~~
After a nap, out with CG and TS to see ‘There Will Be Blood’. In so many ways, this is an excellent film, but I walked away feeling the film had missed the mark. Perhaps it is because I looked at the film through its relationships – and found them wildly inconsistent and unbelievable. The main character, while incredibly well-acted – denies his depths even as he suffers from them.
Still trying to work out the kinks in my day from this 7am gathering at CG’s. Not sure why this is so disruptive, but it is. This was followed by a (spontaneously arranged) brisk walk around a frozen Green Lake this morning. What a pleasant way to finally meet a Seattle member of the Well community.
Back to the home office to follow up on several leads. Applied for two more positions and requested advice on two others.
Yesterday, while composing a cover letter, I struggled to describe one of my approaches to refining project requirements into specifications and the term ‘narrative prototyping’ emerged. It describes what I do perfectly. Curious about the term, I googled it, and found four hits. (Unsurprisingly, one of these hits related to the term to Barry Katz of Ideo. Great minds and all that. ) Narrative prototyping is a form of story telling, you enter the future you intend, live it narratively (what does it look like? what does it feel like? who is there? what are they doing? etc. etc. etc. ) In Jerry Mander’s book, ‘In the Absence of the Sacred’ he describes how most of the impacts of the invention of the telephone were predictable and predicted. (Skyscrapers, for example.)
It is a regret of mine that I have only begun to recognize this capacity for what it is so far into the arc of my life.
Saturday
Four for 8am calisthenics. We work (at a much slower tempo) on the A Harmonic Minor exercise and this time, the chords begin to get identified. CG advises me on fingering choices. He suggested anticipating the NEXT chord in making fingering choices. That moment reminded me of a favorite section in Mark Twain’s ‘Life on the Mississippi:
'What is the shape of Walnut Bend?'
He might as well have asked me my grandmother's opinion of protoplasm. I reflected respectfully, and then said I didn't know it had any particular shape. My gunpowdery chief went off with a bang, of course, and then went on loading and firing until he was out of adjectives.
I had learned long ago that he only carried just so many rounds of ammunition, and was sure to subside into a very placable and even remorseful old smooth-bore as soon as they were all gone. That word 'old' is merely affectionate; he was not more than thirty-four. I waited. By and by he said--
'My boy, you've got to know the SHAPE of the river perfectly. It is all there is left to steer by on a very dark night. Everything else is blotted out and gone. But mind you, it hasn't the same shape in the night that it has in the day-time.'
'How on earth am I ever going to learn it, then?'
'How do you follow a hall at home in the dark. Because you know the shape of it. You can't see it.'
'Do you mean to say that I've got to know all the million trifling variations of shape in the banks of this interminable river as well as I know the shape of the front hall at home?'
'On my honor, you've got to know them BETTER than any man ever did know the shapes of the halls in his own house.'
'I wish I was dead!'
'Now I don't want to discourage you, but----'
'Well, pile it on me; I might as well have it now as another time.'
'You see, this has got to be learned; there isn't any getting around it. A clear starlight night throws such heavy shadows that if you didn't know the shape of a shore perfectly you would claw away from every bunch of timber, because you would take the black shadow of it for a solid cape; and you see you would be getting scared to death every fifteen minutes by the watch. You would be fifty yards from shore all the time when you ought to be within fifty feet of it. You can't see a snag in one of those shadows, but you know exactly where it is, and the shape of the river tells you when you are coming to it. Then there's your pitch-dark night; the river is a very different shape on a pitch-dark night from what it is on a starlight night. All shores seem to be straight lines, then, and mighty dim ones, too; and you'd RUN them for straight lines only you know better. You boldly drive your boat right into what seems to be a solid, straight wall (you knowing very well that in reality there is a curve there), and that wall falls back and makes way for you. Then there's your gray mist. You take a night when there's one of these grisly, drizzly, gray mists, and then there isn't any particular shape to a shore. A gray mist would tangle the head of the oldest man that ever lived. Well, then, different kinds of MOONLIGHT change the shape of the river in different ways. You see----'
'Oh, don't say any more, please! Have I got to learn the shape of the river according to all these five hundred thousand different ways? If I tried to carry all that cargo in my head it would make me stoop-shouldered.'
'NO! you only learn THE shape of the river, and you learn it with such absolute certainty that you can always steer by the shape that's IN YOUR HEAD, and never mind the one that's before your eyes.'
'Very well, I'll try it; but after I have learned it can I depend on it. Will it keep the same form and not go fooling around?'
Before Mr. Bixby could answer, Mr. W---- came in to take the watch, and he said--
'Bixby, you'll have to look out for President's Island and all that country clear away up above he Old Hen and Chickens. The banks are caving and the shape of the shores changing like everything. Why, you wouldn't know the point above 40. You can go up inside the old sycamore-snag, now.
So that question was answered. Here were leagues of shore changing shape. My spirits were down in the mud again. Two things seemed pretty apparent to me. One was, that in order to be a pilot a man had got to learn more than any one man ought to be allowed to know; and the other was, that he must learn it all over again in a different way every twenty-four hours.
~~~~~
The TTA team reconvened at 10:30 to follow-up on the challenge BillR gave last weekend. I was out of town, but received an email summary in which B suggested we find an area of work/play we wish to improve and become ‘demonstrably reliable’ in this area. Intending to address the persistent difficulty of coordinating the activity of the right and left hand, I selected this challenge:
By the spring equinox, I aim to be able to play the BillR exercise without looking at the fret board.
I was disappointed that the only participants to take up Bill’s challenge were guitar players (or aspiring guitar players.) I can’t help but wonder what could be possible if the others joined in.
~~~
The afternoon work with Curt & the house team continued the A Harmonic Minor work from the morning, this time in the form of a circulation. More opportunities to study listening to transitions. Then, a circulation based on a bit of Bach. Again, a sense of knowing where my notes belonged. And occasionally even being able to place them there.
~~~~
After a nap, out with CG and TS to see ‘There Will Be Blood’. In so many ways, this is an excellent film, but I walked away feeling the film had missed the mark. Perhaps it is because I looked at the film through its relationships – and found them wildly inconsistent and unbelievable. The main character, while incredibly well-acted – denies his depths even as he suffers from them.
Friday
Still trying to work out the kinks in my day from this 7am gathering at CG’s. Not sure why this is so disruptive, but it is. This was followed by a (spontaneously arranged) brisk walk around a frozen Green Lake this morning. What a pleasant way to finally meet a Seattle member of the Well community.
Back to the home office to follow up on several leads. Applied for two more positions and requested advice on two others.
Yesterday, while composing a cover letter, I struggled to describe one of my approaches to refining project requirements into specifications and the term ‘narrative prototyping’ emerged. It describes what I do perfectly. Curious about the term, I googled it, and found four hits. (Unsurprisingly, one of these hits related to the term to Barry Katz of Ideo. Great minds and all that. ) Narrative prototyping is a form of story telling, you enter the future you intend, live it narratively (what does it look like? what does it feel like? who is there? what are they doing? etc. etc. etc. ) In Jerry Mander’s book, ‘In the Absence of the Sacred’ he describes how most of the impacts of the invention of the telephone were predictable and predicted. (Skyscrapers, for example.)
It is a regret of mine that I have only begun to recognize this capacity for what it is so far into the arc of my life.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
CGT visit
Last night’s CGT gig was really wonderful. Great to see and hear them again.
The cold weather persists, and the precipitation seems to have been delayed.
Another day devoted to the job search. Applied to several positions at the Very Large Corporation here. Also found an interesting job at a local newspaper that seems written for me. Tried for several hours to write a cover letter and each sounded more retarded than the last. Finally, just a scant 30 minutes before I needed to leave for the dentist, it started to flow. Barely finished it before I needed to leave. Sent it off this evening. And yet another long shot as a garden designer/project manager that I applied for. If they are willing to take me on and actually pay me enough to live on, that would be an excellent job!
Another job prospect appears just as I’m preparing to put the computer in sleep mode. This would be a hosting an online community for a scientific research center in Santa Fe, NM. It would require quarterly visits to Santa Fe. I send off a hasty introductory email to the person who is coordinating this and by the end of the evening have a telephone interview set for next week.
The hardest part of this effort is the hours spent gnashing my teeth as I fine tune the resume for each job and prepare a tailored cover letter. Repeatedly, I encounter the same halts and blocks and end up investing hours in something that eventually gets completed quickly once things begin to flow. A cover letter for a garden design job looks nothing like a cover letter for a systems integration role at a newspaper.
The dentist visit results in a surprising turn of events. I asked for more information and a closer examination of one tooth. In the end, we find that I may require a root canal on a different tooth and she agrees to send me to a specialist to verify condition of the tooth that she suspects is cracked. (There is no evidence of this in the x-ray because of the angle of view.) She also gives me information for having the work done at the University of Washington dental school, an institution she has great respect for. And a sweet surprise at the end of the visit – she decides not to bill me for the visit! This plan is much more reasonable and I feel far more informed about the situation. And it includes obtaining a 2nd opinion on the tooth she acknowledged may actually not be cracked, since it is also the site of an old bone graft done years before by a periodontist.
Now for guitar practice….
The cold weather persists, and the precipitation seems to have been delayed.
Another day devoted to the job search. Applied to several positions at the Very Large Corporation here. Also found an interesting job at a local newspaper that seems written for me. Tried for several hours to write a cover letter and each sounded more retarded than the last. Finally, just a scant 30 minutes before I needed to leave for the dentist, it started to flow. Barely finished it before I needed to leave. Sent it off this evening. And yet another long shot as a garden designer/project manager that I applied for. If they are willing to take me on and actually pay me enough to live on, that would be an excellent job!
Another job prospect appears just as I’m preparing to put the computer in sleep mode. This would be a hosting an online community for a scientific research center in Santa Fe, NM. It would require quarterly visits to Santa Fe. I send off a hasty introductory email to the person who is coordinating this and by the end of the evening have a telephone interview set for next week.
The hardest part of this effort is the hours spent gnashing my teeth as I fine tune the resume for each job and prepare a tailored cover letter. Repeatedly, I encounter the same halts and blocks and end up investing hours in something that eventually gets completed quickly once things begin to flow. A cover letter for a garden design job looks nothing like a cover letter for a systems integration role at a newspaper.
The dentist visit results in a surprising turn of events. I asked for more information and a closer examination of one tooth. In the end, we find that I may require a root canal on a different tooth and she agrees to send me to a specialist to verify condition of the tooth that she suspects is cracked. (There is no evidence of this in the x-ray because of the angle of view.) She also gives me information for having the work done at the University of Washington dental school, an institution she has great respect for. And a sweet surprise at the end of the visit – she decides not to bill me for the visit! This plan is much more reasonable and I feel far more informed about the situation. And it includes obtaining a 2nd opinion on the tooth she acknowledged may actually not be cracked, since it is also the site of an old bone graft done years before by a periodontist.
Now for guitar practice….
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
At least the sun is shining....
Bitterly cold this morning. When I get in my car to drive over for the sitting, the temperature is 30 degrees. But at least it is dry. Tomorrow, the temperatures will be as low, but we’ll also have precipitation.
Job hunting. Applied for two more positions – both long shots. Followed up with all the email contacts I made before my trip. A few responses begin to trickle in, but no leads yet. Tom R. calls and his first words are ‘Where’s your Bachelor’s Degree?’
Wrestling with the State Of California DMV – trying to get them to understand my vehicle is registered here in Washington. In the meantime, they are damaging my credit rating. And a letter from the building management company informs me I must sign a new lease for one year. A phone call from the dentist tells my appointment is THIS Thursday, not next Thursday. I weigh the pain I’m in against delaying to get a 2nd opinion, and decide to keep the appointment. May the teeth gods keep an eye out for me.
After typing the above, I can't help but note that it doesn't feel as dire as it sounds. It simply astonishes me that my mood rarely dips into the darkness despite these difficulties. There are far more important things to weigh these challenges against.
~~~~~
A party at Travgor's last night to visit with the CGT. So good to catch up with Paul and Bert. When we were talking with H., Paul described me as the first CGT fan. This isn't strictly true, but I know what he means. Unlike other fans who came by way of King Crimson or Guitar Craft, I encountered CGT without entering those other doors first. In fact, they were my door into this new world.
Job hunting. Applied for two more positions – both long shots. Followed up with all the email contacts I made before my trip. A few responses begin to trickle in, but no leads yet. Tom R. calls and his first words are ‘Where’s your Bachelor’s Degree?’
Wrestling with the State Of California DMV – trying to get them to understand my vehicle is registered here in Washington. In the meantime, they are damaging my credit rating. And a letter from the building management company informs me I must sign a new lease for one year. A phone call from the dentist tells my appointment is THIS Thursday, not next Thursday. I weigh the pain I’m in against delaying to get a 2nd opinion, and decide to keep the appointment. May the teeth gods keep an eye out for me.
After typing the above, I can't help but note that it doesn't feel as dire as it sounds. It simply astonishes me that my mood rarely dips into the darkness despite these difficulties. There are far more important things to weigh these challenges against.
~~~~~
A party at Travgor's last night to visit with the CGT. So good to catch up with Paul and Bert. When we were talking with H., Paul described me as the first CGT fan. This isn't strictly true, but I know what he means. Unlike other fans who came by way of King Crimson or Guitar Craft, I encountered CGT without entering those other doors first. In fact, they were my door into this new world.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Traveling, again
Thirteen and a quarter hours of driving. Encountered lots of weather. Deep - almost frightening - fog less than an hour north of Sacramento that slowed me down considerably. (There are parts of this area that are notorious for 25-30 car pile-ups in the fog, usually attributed to a driver becoming hopelessly disoriented.) Snow flurries from Mt. Shasta in California to nearly Ashland Oregon. Then intermittent rain for the rest of the drive. Returning to the act of walking again was a little strange.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
A good weekend
Gitta & I attended the Roger Eberhard opening at the Palo Alto gallery on Friday night. I had not expected to enjoy myself, but had a great time. Roger achieved tipsy status early in the evening and became quite silly. I was given Roger’s book as a gift from the gallery owners and when I presented it for Roger’s signature, he acknowledged our shared subject matter with this inscription:
To Christina,
FLOWERS FOREVER!
R. Eberhard
Saturday morning and a simple breakfast with Gitta and Bliss. A silly cartoon had the three of us in waves of giggles.
An all too short session of guitar practice – trying to re-find what Doug and Lance taught me the other day. Visited the studio for some coordinating and picked up a few items I wanted to take back to Seattle.
Gitta is a graceful hostess. The effortless way she goes about this always impresses me. In a blink of an eye, the buffet is ready, requiring only the last minute steps executed after the guests have arrived. Friday night, Gitta and I started the dough for a loaf of the No-Knead Bread. Returning to the bread now, we heated the oven and soon had a loaf baking. Not long afterwards, with the now arrived guests, we were sampling the bread with some wonderful olive oils for dipping.
The evening was devoted to art salon action. Gitta has (as usual) been the most productive of us. This memory project she is working on has really picked up steam. While it is a very personal project, it is also a service to others since there seems no lack of children whose lives are shaped by war. My presentation went largely without comment except for EO’s suggestion that I might want to use a spray on my prints to make them more conducive to the application of pigments. I shuddered at the thought. Robin’s photograph of a church interior seemed oddly risky. While we have many photographs of church celebrations (weddings, christening, communions, etc.) photographs of a simple service, featuring no one in particular and more focused on evoking a moment of the sanctity of what is possible there are not at all common. I still have that first image she shared within my mind’s eye.
To Christina,
FLOWERS FOREVER!
R. Eberhard
Saturday morning and a simple breakfast with Gitta and Bliss. A silly cartoon had the three of us in waves of giggles.
An all too short session of guitar practice – trying to re-find what Doug and Lance taught me the other day. Visited the studio for some coordinating and picked up a few items I wanted to take back to Seattle.
Gitta is a graceful hostess. The effortless way she goes about this always impresses me. In a blink of an eye, the buffet is ready, requiring only the last minute steps executed after the guests have arrived. Friday night, Gitta and I started the dough for a loaf of the No-Knead Bread. Returning to the bread now, we heated the oven and soon had a loaf baking. Not long afterwards, with the now arrived guests, we were sampling the bread with some wonderful olive oils for dipping.
The evening was devoted to art salon action. Gitta has (as usual) been the most productive of us. This memory project she is working on has really picked up steam. While it is a very personal project, it is also a service to others since there seems no lack of children whose lives are shaped by war. My presentation went largely without comment except for EO’s suggestion that I might want to use a spray on my prints to make them more conducive to the application of pigments. I shuddered at the thought. Robin’s photograph of a church interior seemed oddly risky. While we have many photographs of church celebrations (weddings, christening, communions, etc.) photographs of a simple service, featuring no one in particular and more focused on evoking a moment of the sanctity of what is possible there are not at all common. I still have that first image she shared within my mind’s eye.
Friday, January 18, 2008
It is QUIET here.
Yet another of the strange MySpace Friend request: "Air Guitar Heroes League"
Note Doug's mini marshal stack
Good connection with Doug and Lance last night. The ‘usual’ drill. Doug meets up with me and we drive over in my car to nab Lance from the train station. Dinner at the Cries & Whispers Café, where our usual waiter greets us. A bit of catch-up with each other. I discover a surprising interest in a particular triumvirate of journals, only one of which I pay occasional attention to. After dinner, we drive to my studio and take over the gallery space to circle up. Doug’s acoustic guitar is over at Lance’s place, so he uses his Parker with his ‘mini marshall stack’. We circulate, work on a few pieces of repertoire together and close with more circulation. It is good to play with these guys again. (I hear they are planning to get together on Saturday, and then begin busking together at a Bart Station in SF on Tuesdays.)
After our circle, I drove Lance up to the Millbrae Bart station and then met up with Doug down in Woodside so he could show me the way to his place. I’m glad he did that rather than leave me to find his place with my googlemap. I would never have found the turn for the road to his house, and even if I had, I would have doubted myself. D&M live in a small house, perhaps best described as a mid-sized cottage, at the end of a long dirt road. They live in a wooded area west of Skyline Blvd. As I type this, it is morning in their living room and the only sounds are clocks ticking and the heater’s tiny clicking and clanking. It is QUIET here.
~~~~
An excellent night’s sleep. Even when I was awoken, I went back to sleep easily. This morning a quiet conversation with Doug. Afterwards, we leave and he leads me out of their hideaway home back to urban life. Last night, as we drove in the darkness, I had rolled down my window to listen to our two hybrid vehicles roll along nearly silently on the twisty and windy road. This morning again, moments with only the sound of our tires crunching on the rocky, only somewhat paved road.
A few hours at the studio now and then to Gitta’s to make ready for a gallery visit tonight. Tomorrow’s primary activity is the art salon. Then an early, early departure to return home on Sunday. At least that is the plan.
Note Doug's mini marshal stackGood connection with Doug and Lance last night. The ‘usual’ drill. Doug meets up with me and we drive over in my car to nab Lance from the train station. Dinner at the Cries & Whispers Café, where our usual waiter greets us. A bit of catch-up with each other. I discover a surprising interest in a particular triumvirate of journals, only one of which I pay occasional attention to. After dinner, we drive to my studio and take over the gallery space to circle up. Doug’s acoustic guitar is over at Lance’s place, so he uses his Parker with his ‘mini marshall stack’. We circulate, work on a few pieces of repertoire together and close with more circulation. It is good to play with these guys again. (I hear they are planning to get together on Saturday, and then begin busking together at a Bart Station in SF on Tuesdays.)
After our circle, I drove Lance up to the Millbrae Bart station and then met up with Doug down in Woodside so he could show me the way to his place. I’m glad he did that rather than leave me to find his place with my googlemap. I would never have found the turn for the road to his house, and even if I had, I would have doubted myself. D&M live in a small house, perhaps best described as a mid-sized cottage, at the end of a long dirt road. They live in a wooded area west of Skyline Blvd. As I type this, it is morning in their living room and the only sounds are clocks ticking and the heater’s tiny clicking and clanking. It is QUIET here.
~~~~
An excellent night’s sleep. Even when I was awoken, I went back to sleep easily. This morning a quiet conversation with Doug. Afterwards, we leave and he leads me out of their hideaway home back to urban life. Last night, as we drove in the darkness, I had rolled down my window to listen to our two hybrid vehicles roll along nearly silently on the twisty and windy road. This morning again, moments with only the sound of our tires crunching on the rocky, only somewhat paved road.
A few hours at the studio now and then to Gitta’s to make ready for a gallery visit tonight. Tomorrow’s primary activity is the art salon. Then an early, early departure to return home on Sunday. At least that is the plan.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Traveling
Yesterday, at 3:40pm, after 9 hours of driving, I crossed into California. At 9:20 pm, after 825 miles and thirteen and a half hours of driving (with two stops) I pulled into my sister’s driveway.
~~~~
Decided to let myself sleep as much as necessary this morning, so no alarm. Bolt upright awake with a sense of others sitting. Check the clock – it is shortly after 7am. I bring myself to sitting posture, pull the sleeping bag around my shoulders and join them.
(Far too) brief exchanges with niece and nephew this morning as they pack off to school. My sis needs to stop off at Starbuck’s on the way to the ranch, so I tag along. As we walk in the door, Tony Bennett’s voice sings “I left my heart in San Francisco’. At the ranch, we are surprised to see that Richard is in the office today, so I get to see the man himself. It has been too long. I am pleased to see the most recent photos have aggressively exaggerated how much he has aged - he looks good. I can’t help it - I want all the good people to live forever.
(Sitting here in the ranch office, I hear Mark on the phone in the background. I’m remembering his voice when I first spoke to him about attending a course here back in 1998. At the time, I had no money and no job and had just dipped into my 401K (with the costs associated with an early withdrawal) in a desperate effort to make the next month’s rent. The course was 9 months long and cost almost $1500. It was crazy to think I could go. I explained all of this to Mark. He said simply, ‘If you make a commitment to us, we will make a commitment to you.’ I signed up. (Just spoke with Mark and shared this memory with him. He reminds me that the course was actually $5K!)
I’ll be meeting with the crew here to investigate this option. After lunch, I expect to drive to Belmont for a rendezvous with a couple guitar players I know.
~~~~
Decided to let myself sleep as much as necessary this morning, so no alarm. Bolt upright awake with a sense of others sitting. Check the clock – it is shortly after 7am. I bring myself to sitting posture, pull the sleeping bag around my shoulders and join them.
(Far too) brief exchanges with niece and nephew this morning as they pack off to school. My sis needs to stop off at Starbuck’s on the way to the ranch, so I tag along. As we walk in the door, Tony Bennett’s voice sings “I left my heart in San Francisco’. At the ranch, we are surprised to see that Richard is in the office today, so I get to see the man himself. It has been too long. I am pleased to see the most recent photos have aggressively exaggerated how much he has aged - he looks good. I can’t help it - I want all the good people to live forever.
(Sitting here in the ranch office, I hear Mark on the phone in the background. I’m remembering his voice when I first spoke to him about attending a course here back in 1998. At the time, I had no money and no job and had just dipped into my 401K (with the costs associated with an early withdrawal) in a desperate effort to make the next month’s rent. The course was 9 months long and cost almost $1500. It was crazy to think I could go. I explained all of this to Mark. He said simply, ‘If you make a commitment to us, we will make a commitment to you.’ I signed up. (Just spoke with Mark and shared this memory with him. He reminds me that the course was actually $5K!)
I’ll be meeting with the crew here to investigate this option. After lunch, I expect to drive to Belmont for a rendezvous with a couple guitar players I know.
Monday, January 14, 2008
at least *someone* is looking at my website
As I left the sitting this morning, I was asked if I had a cold. I said 'no' but on the way home, I realized that the three sneezes I sneezed during the sitting signaled that I'd lost this battle.
~~~~
The Campaign begins today. My revised resume is slowing but surely streaming out electronically. I am not spamming. Instead, I am writing (from a basic template) a separate email to everyone on my (evolving) list. A little more time consuming, but it feels proper. There is one line in the resume that gives me pause - because I suspect my Seattle friends will find fault in it. It has to do with 'excellent interpersonal skills'. That phrase was not in my original draft. It was added by a former boss who reviewed my resume. It was expanded by one of the directors of research when he reviewed my resume. Yet given my experiences of the last few months, I imagine my friends here rolling there eyes when they get to that line.
~~~~~
A spike in my web statistics this past Friday. It seems that the cards I gave out on Thursday are resulting in some image viewing.
~~~~
The Campaign begins today. My revised resume is slowing but surely streaming out electronically. I am not spamming. Instead, I am writing (from a basic template) a separate email to everyone on my (evolving) list. A little more time consuming, but it feels proper. There is one line in the resume that gives me pause - because I suspect my Seattle friends will find fault in it. It has to do with 'excellent interpersonal skills'. That phrase was not in my original draft. It was added by a former boss who reviewed my resume. It was expanded by one of the directors of research when he reviewed my resume. Yet given my experiences of the last few months, I imagine my friends here rolling there eyes when they get to that line.
~~~~~
A spike in my web statistics this past Friday. It seems that the cards I gave out on Thursday are resulting in some image viewing.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Mad World
Woke in time for Calisthenics and with sufficient will to get out of bed, but my body emphatically said 'No. If you are going to beat this cold, you must rest.' So I set the alarm an hour further. Arrived at Trinity just barely in time for sitting. This is the first time I have missed Calisthenics and settling in the room I noticed something like the waning turbulence in the wake of a boat.
Breakfast at Vera's and then a circle of the House Team. Curt was invited to join us and we began with some listening work. Three arpeggio's (Am, F and C for those who are counting) in various sequences with an invitation to anticipate the sound of a chord before playing it. I'm trying to develop distinctions in listening, but at this point the best I can do is that one is long, the other sounds longer and the last sounds scrunched. So scrunched, in fact, that the intervals were hard to hear. I was a bit hampered in this exercise by a stabbing pain that showed up in my left forearm. I tried working through it, but no dice. So I moved up an octave and tried to work there. A little better, but not much.
Then Curt assigned bass notes to Ian, who also had the job of holding the rhythm. MB was given two chords to repeat. I was given a melody line and IgorK was given a melody that fit in between my melody notes. As I wrote in an email to Curt later:
In the afternoon, we had another appointment at the Pelayo property - this time for the rest of the team to get a peek at it. Jaxie, Taylor and MB took advantage of the opportunity.
In my opinion, the physical space (with the extra green room) is entirely workable. I trust our creativity to make it work. The challenges are all contractual. First, the amount of rent for the two spaces we'd require. Plus working out a lease agreement that protects the investment we would be making in the property. There are a number of factors in that 'protection' concern that are already detectable. And probably a few that we wouldn't learn about until we would inhabit the space.
Breakfast at Vera's and then a circle of the House Team. Curt was invited to join us and we began with some listening work. Three arpeggio's (Am, F and C for those who are counting) in various sequences with an invitation to anticipate the sound of a chord before playing it. I'm trying to develop distinctions in listening, but at this point the best I can do is that one is long, the other sounds longer and the last sounds scrunched. So scrunched, in fact, that the intervals were hard to hear. I was a bit hampered in this exercise by a stabbing pain that showed up in my left forearm. I tried working through it, but no dice. So I moved up an octave and tried to work there. A little better, but not much.
Then Curt assigned bass notes to Ian, who also had the job of holding the rhythm. MB was given two chords to repeat. I was given a melody line and IgorK was given a melody that fit in between my melody notes. As I wrote in an email to Curt later:
You know, I think today is my first experience of of sharing a melody line with another player. It is a very different experience. It changed something about playing - made it three dimensional in a funny way, as if Igor's notes created a place for me to drop my notes into. And it created a sense of making something whole with another person in a way that was even more pronounced than that sense one gets when playing a part alongside other players.Afterwards, C. sent us a link to a YouTube video that includes the whole song (with a sweet bit of video accompaniment.) Here it is. It is a beauty.
In the afternoon, we had another appointment at the Pelayo property - this time for the rest of the team to get a peek at it. Jaxie, Taylor and MB took advantage of the opportunity.
In my opinion, the physical space (with the extra green room) is entirely workable. I trust our creativity to make it work. The challenges are all contractual. First, the amount of rent for the two spaces we'd require. Plus working out a lease agreement that protects the investment we would be making in the property. There are a number of factors in that 'protection' concern that are already detectable. And probably a few that we wouldn't learn about until we would inhabit the space.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Objectives
No distractions allowed today. Two objectives. One: completely revamp my resume based on the job postings I have seen. Two: do whatever possible to keep these cold symptoms from blossoming into a full-blown cold. Moderately successful so far on both counts.
Last night I finally reached my sister K. after weeks of trying. Mentioned the poor job prospects here. She jokingly said, ‘well Richard is looking for a new assistant.’ Then – immediately - she withdrew the joking aspect.
‘Would Richard actually consider me?’ I asked. Richard is one shrewd judge of people and I am an open book to him - foibles and all. I studied with him for two years (1998-1999).
My sister’s response was that I was an ideal person for the job because it is so unusual. Richard needs someone sharp enough to be able to coordinate with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his behalf, and yet be willing to run out and deal with an issue in the vineyard. Researching the logistics of any of Richard’s new ideas one day, and taking a cat in for spaying the next. I really am ideal for the job. It would require living in the north bay of the SF region. This is near my sister, which is a great thing. (But the area is 75-90 miles from my studio in Belmont – entirely impractical for regular use. And it is the south bay that my eyes love to see.) Still, it is a fascinating job prospect that I must give serious consideration to.
~~~~~
My resume still needs two sections re-addressed and then it will be ready for The Campaign – I will send it to everyone and anyone I know here in Seattle who might be able to help me find work. The Campaign is scheduled for Monday morning.
Last night I finally reached my sister K. after weeks of trying. Mentioned the poor job prospects here. She jokingly said, ‘well Richard is looking for a new assistant.’ Then – immediately - she withdrew the joking aspect.
‘Would Richard actually consider me?’ I asked. Richard is one shrewd judge of people and I am an open book to him - foibles and all. I studied with him for two years (1998-1999).
My sister’s response was that I was an ideal person for the job because it is so unusual. Richard needs someone sharp enough to be able to coordinate with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on his behalf, and yet be willing to run out and deal with an issue in the vineyard. Researching the logistics of any of Richard’s new ideas one day, and taking a cat in for spaying the next. I really am ideal for the job. It would require living in the north bay of the SF region. This is near my sister, which is a great thing. (But the area is 75-90 miles from my studio in Belmont – entirely impractical for regular use. And it is the south bay that my eyes love to see.) Still, it is a fascinating job prospect that I must give serious consideration to.
~~~~~
My resume still needs two sections re-addressed and then it will be ready for The Campaign – I will send it to everyone and anyone I know here in Seattle who might be able to help me find work. The Campaign is scheduled for Monday morning.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
A grey and wet Thursday
An appointment with the dentist today. First, filling out the many forms required to establish a new medical relationship. Then x-rays. Gag! Then the examination. A cracked tooth – a tooth critical to the stability of an elaborate bit of bridge sculpture installed by Dr. Peter Greene Matthews nearly 30 years ago. Dr. Matthews had warned me that the cantilever might eventually weaken, but it was the best solution he could offer at the time. When I told Dr. Kim about the vintage of the bridge, she was very, very surprised. (I suspect my bridge is older than Dr. Kim.)
~~~~~
Yesterday a second visit to the former Pelayo Antiques building, this time with Travis and Curt who spontaneously made themselves available. Fortunately, so did Beth, who is one of the people showing the property, so we managed to get in.
Curt & Travis assess the situation
(I checked Google to see what Pelayo means - and it turns out to be the Spanish name of a man who discovered the 'Kingdom of Asturias'. 'Asturias' being the name of a classic bit of Guitar Craft repertoire, this is kind of interesting.)
I arrived early for the house circle last night, but the room Curt unlocked for me had been nabbed by some of the other Trinity tenants. So I sat in the kitchen with guitar and metronome and worked on the A Harmonic Minor calisthenic that has eluded me. At 8pm, when Curt's lesson ended, the house circle gathered and we devoted ourselves to circulating tonight. First, your basic circulation. Then three minus one. Then a double note circulation where your first note is played with the player on your left and your second note played with the person on your right. With only five players, it is a challenge to get much going. Nonetheless, it was a good meeting. One of our better meetings, in fact.
Synchronistically, today's email includes an invitation from CG for an interesting circulation project.
~~~~
A Fresh Air interview today with Susan Sontag's son David Reiff. He's just published a memoir of his mother's death and talks about her relationship with dying. He was asked why someone who did not believe in God would fear death. It was interesting to hear him speak on a popular national radio program about death as extinction.
~~~~
A knock at the door this evening. It is one of the practitioner's from the healing arts center next door bringing two of her clients over. The clients saw the prints I'd given them as a gift last week and wanted to meet me and get cards.
~~~~~
Yesterday a second visit to the former Pelayo Antiques building, this time with Travis and Curt who spontaneously made themselves available. Fortunately, so did Beth, who is one of the people showing the property, so we managed to get in.
Curt & Travis assess the situationI arrived early for the house circle last night, but the room Curt unlocked for me had been nabbed by some of the other Trinity tenants. So I sat in the kitchen with guitar and metronome and worked on the A Harmonic Minor calisthenic that has eluded me. At 8pm, when Curt's lesson ended, the house circle gathered and we devoted ourselves to circulating tonight. First, your basic circulation. Then three minus one. Then a double note circulation where your first note is played with the player on your left and your second note played with the person on your right. With only five players, it is a challenge to get much going. Nonetheless, it was a good meeting. One of our better meetings, in fact.
Synchronistically, today's email includes an invitation from CG for an interesting circulation project.
~~~~
A Fresh Air interview today with Susan Sontag's son David Reiff. He's just published a memoir of his mother's death and talks about her relationship with dying. He was asked why someone who did not believe in God would fear death. It was interesting to hear him speak on a popular national radio program about death as extinction.
~~~~
A knock at the door this evening. It is one of the practitioner's from the healing arts center next door bringing two of her clients over. The clients saw the prints I'd given them as a gift last week and wanted to meet me and get cards.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
MySpace
In a kind of reverse version of musical chairs, I have become the keeper of the Tuning the Air MySpace pages. One of the activities there is to accept or decline 'friend' requests. We get some reasonable requests, some pretty strange requests, and some very interesting ones. Today came one from that last category - this group requested that we be 'friends'. I suspect it is related to a friend request I'd sent out from Tuning the Air to David Hykes.
Found a tall, round casserole dish at Goodwill and tried it out with the NYTimes bread recipe (herb & garlic variation.) This one makes a taller loaf and is good for slicing.
~~~~~~~~~
Editing this late in the evening to share this little gem:
Found a tall, round casserole dish at Goodwill and tried it out with the NYTimes bread recipe (herb & garlic variation.) This one makes a taller loaf and is good for slicing.
~~~~~~~~~
Editing this late in the evening to share this little gem:
Monday, January 7, 2008
Center House Theater visit
The decision about the apartment was made for me yesterday when I learned that a tenant from a smaller unit in the same building decided to upgrade. I am disappointed and relieved.
~~~~
(This morning, a few minutes into sitting practice, there is a sensation near the tip of the right shoulder blade. It is as if someone has gently touched me. Then, again. And again. I begin to think there might be something immediately behind me that I am brushing with my body as I breath, but then I notice the pulse of the sensation doesn’t exactly match the rhythm of my breathing. After a few minutes, it stops completely and I see how I went from noticing it to ‘trying to understand’ it? Regardless of whatever superficial appearance of quiet or calm, I am torqued over in the mind toward trying to make sense of this phenomenon.)
A quiet walk up and down Phinney Ridge, then home deal with email, the State of California, and more resume tailoring. Then off to Seattle Center to look at possible performance spaces.
Center House Theater
Center House Theater
Theater 4
View of Theater 4 from the light board
In the evening, a meeting at the Wilson’s to talk about the next Tuning the Air season. The short summary: We need a performance space.
As the meeting concludes, A. steps over to me to offer a suggestion for one of the topics under discussion. Why this wasn’t offered during the meeting is one question. The other is why I was selected to be the recipient of the suggestion, particularly since someone else was designated the point person for the topic.
~~~~
(This morning, a few minutes into sitting practice, there is a sensation near the tip of the right shoulder blade. It is as if someone has gently touched me. Then, again. And again. I begin to think there might be something immediately behind me that I am brushing with my body as I breath, but then I notice the pulse of the sensation doesn’t exactly match the rhythm of my breathing. After a few minutes, it stops completely and I see how I went from noticing it to ‘trying to understand’ it? Regardless of whatever superficial appearance of quiet or calm, I am torqued over in the mind toward trying to make sense of this phenomenon.)
A quiet walk up and down Phinney Ridge, then home deal with email, the State of California, and more resume tailoring. Then off to Seattle Center to look at possible performance spaces.
Center House Theater
Center House Theater 
Theater 4 
View of Theater 4 from the light boardIn the evening, a meeting at the Wilson’s to talk about the next Tuning the Air season. The short summary: We need a performance space.
As the meeting concludes, A. steps over to me to offer a suggestion for one of the topics under discussion. Why this wasn’t offered during the meeting is one question. The other is why I was selected to be the recipient of the suggestion, particularly since someone else was designated the point person for the topic.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Decisions
Decisions. Funny how some decisions get made so easily and others are like the figurative tooth pull. This one might require Novocain.
Dropped by the apartment-for-rent this morning. Bright, airy place in front, quiet and secluded in back. Windows to the east, north and west. A vegetable garden that leads on to the roof of the garage. Japanese maples out front. Roses too. A gas range! Landlord immediately liked me. But a small place – very small. I would have to scale back considerably to fit in this place. Spent an hour or so in front of the computer with a hastily-made floor plan plotting out how I might fit. The real question of course is what I wish my life to look like in the near-term, and of course, how much volition I have over this future. And what I can afford.
Sat down to practice guitar after floor plan analysis – and despite the heat being on – it is simply too cold today. Even after fifteen minutes, my fingers would not warm up.
Last night’s show (Jonathan Way / Chris DeLaurenti / Martin Bland) at Good Shepard was curious. Everyone was working with pre-recorded materials. C.D. hand-played a Stravinsky 78rpm vinyl recording on a cardboard turntable he fashioned. J.W. mixed and processed sounds recorded in the mountains and M.B. presented his ‘Randomized Control Trials, a set of randomly shuffled CDs”. Throughout the evening, I kept wondering what the role of the audience was in these performances – we seemed to be irrelevant.
And now, at the café for more job-hunting/resume work. If I must sit in my coat to work, I can do it here where the light is better.
A blurry Chris DeLaurenti at intermission.
Dropped by the apartment-for-rent this morning. Bright, airy place in front, quiet and secluded in back. Windows to the east, north and west. A vegetable garden that leads on to the roof of the garage. Japanese maples out front. Roses too. A gas range! Landlord immediately liked me. But a small place – very small. I would have to scale back considerably to fit in this place. Spent an hour or so in front of the computer with a hastily-made floor plan plotting out how I might fit. The real question of course is what I wish my life to look like in the near-term, and of course, how much volition I have over this future. And what I can afford.
Sat down to practice guitar after floor plan analysis – and despite the heat being on – it is simply too cold today. Even after fifteen minutes, my fingers would not warm up.
Last night’s show (Jonathan Way / Chris DeLaurenti / Martin Bland) at Good Shepard was curious. Everyone was working with pre-recorded materials. C.D. hand-played a Stravinsky 78rpm vinyl recording on a cardboard turntable he fashioned. J.W. mixed and processed sounds recorded in the mountains and M.B. presented his ‘Randomized Control Trials, a set of randomly shuffled CDs”. Throughout the evening, I kept wondering what the role of the audience was in these performances – we seemed to be irrelevant.
And now, at the café for more job-hunting/resume work. If I must sit in my coat to work, I can do it here where the light is better.
A blurry Chris DeLaurenti at intermission.Wednesday, January 2, 2008
A short week
Wednesday: Spend a considerable part of the day reading over job descriptions on Craigslist and Monster.com. Pulled a handful off and saved pdf's for further scrutiny/research. Also looking for arts opportunities for myself as well as TTA. Found a literary grant application that I forwarded along to FrankS.
Out of the corner of my eye, also keep tabs on rentals. I want to know what is out there and what the going rates are. Actually took a spin down 3rd Ave to see the outside of a unit in a 4-plex. It is an old building (circa 1910 - old for these parts) and decidedly worn - but charming in a way. The property owner will be showing it in Sunday and I may go check it out.
Dinner: butternut squash soup and homemade garlic-herb bread. This was my first chance to sample the garlic version of this recipe, though I made a loaf a week ago. I'd planned to have it as part of a pasta dinner with a friend and ended up making a gift of it.
Thursday: Good circle work last night. It has been quite awhile since the five of us have been together, and CG stuck around to work with us. I still don’t know how to use my hands in any coordinated fashion.
~~~
An opportunity for daily group sitting practice has opened up, so I sat with C and D this morning. Afterwards - finding myself in prime walking territory - I climbed Phinney Ridge for a brisk early walk in a light rain.
Home to ready myself for the day’s appointments. Dropped a selection of prints off with my neighbors. (I’ve decided to give them a few prints for their healing arts office and want them to make a selection.) Then pulled together the paperwork and questions I’d worked out for the 4Culture grant and drove downtown for the workshop. There were only three of us there (plus an utterly clueless artist who thought this was a workshop geared to opportunities for individual artists.) I stayed after the presentation to pour over the previous year’s applications and see what I could learn. Back home, I wrote up a summary of the workshop and sent it out to the grant team.
This grant activity is turning into a crash course in the non-profit arts world. This is a tricky business for tthis particular team. On the one hand one needs to demonstrate reliability, continuity, fiscal security, etc, etc. Yet, also be free to disappear if we find we have served our purpose. There is the question of how ‘firm’ and ‘stable’ and ‘official’ we wish to be, and yet still court resources that are necessary for the work we are engaged with now. I wonder how many of us who are involved in this are aware of this contradiction we inhabit?
Friday: Yesterday I dropped off prints for my ‘healing arts’ neighbors to review –intending to make a gift of one or two of them - and already have two contacts with interior designers! I know not to get too excited, but it is nice to have interest generated.
More job-hunting activities – tailoring resumes/cover letters for the jobs I found earlier this week.
When I arrived at the café for an afternoon of resume revising, the sky was brilliant with blue sky and fluffy clouds. Grabbed my camera for a few frames since I may need such images for the next Tuning the Air poster and such skies are pretty rare these days.
Today I discovered that the Good Shepard Chapel website now mentions the ‘Seattle Circle’ gig coming up in July. The problem of what to call the performance team when they do ‘away’ performances now rears its head. Tuning the Air Performance Ensemble? “The Portable Tuning the Air?’ The Tuning the Air Envoy? (Emissary?)
A call to friends in California to hear how my studio there is faring in the storms there. Lots of flooding, but my studio seems to be in good shape.
After an hour of guitar practice this evening, I have doubts that I will ever develop any competence with this instrument. Six notes. I am unable to play six notes, in time, with quality.
Saturday: Early rising to calisthenics. Curt offers an exercise of octaves in response to my request for right-hand help. It proves to be a good balance of left and right hand work, not to mention a nice test of one’s grasp of the C major scale in this tuning.. In a manner similar to the observations made about metronomes (they inexplicably speed up or slow down) I find the fret board shrinks between the highest three strings and I also seem to find that the first string suddenly disappears entirely when cross-picking.
Seven for sitting practice . Afterwards a few of us went to Vera’s for breakfast and afterwards, MB, IB, IK and I circled up. We began with the 6-note melody Curt employed with us for our study of Eye of the Needle. Then we began breaking down Asturias, eventually looping the first section to count and pay attention to the dynamics.
Around noon, we broke up to give IB and IK a chance to have lunch. MB and I traded guitar exercises and got a few yoga stretches in. Then MB wanted to relax with a book, so I retired to the green room for solo practice. Around 1:15, I began to prepare for the Open Circle, reviewing the room for readiness. There were a handful who would require help with tunings and such. I tuned up Jaxie’s guitar for Deb. Ian helped set up a new player – Colleen. When her G string broke in tuning, I realized the House Circle was unprepared for our role as hosts – no one had wirecutters/plyers or a stringwinder. Something to remember next month. Fortunately, Curt had what was needed in his gig bag.
This is the second Open Circle of this series. Good circulation work and an architecture exercise. It is unfortunate that it will be another month before we all get to circle up again – it would be very interesting to see what would be possible if we met tomorrow morning to pick up where we left off.
Exhausted. But I have a notion to go to Good Shepard Chapel fortonight's phonographer's show.
Rain on the Trinity windows
Out of the corner of my eye, also keep tabs on rentals. I want to know what is out there and what the going rates are. Actually took a spin down 3rd Ave to see the outside of a unit in a 4-plex. It is an old building (circa 1910 - old for these parts) and decidedly worn - but charming in a way. The property owner will be showing it in Sunday and I may go check it out.
Dinner: butternut squash soup and homemade garlic-herb bread. This was my first chance to sample the garlic version of this recipe, though I made a loaf a week ago. I'd planned to have it as part of a pasta dinner with a friend and ended up making a gift of it.
Thursday: Good circle work last night. It has been quite awhile since the five of us have been together, and CG stuck around to work with us. I still don’t know how to use my hands in any coordinated fashion.
~~~
An opportunity for daily group sitting practice has opened up, so I sat with C and D this morning. Afterwards - finding myself in prime walking territory - I climbed Phinney Ridge for a brisk early walk in a light rain.
Home to ready myself for the day’s appointments. Dropped a selection of prints off with my neighbors. (I’ve decided to give them a few prints for their healing arts office and want them to make a selection.) Then pulled together the paperwork and questions I’d worked out for the 4Culture grant and drove downtown for the workshop. There were only three of us there (plus an utterly clueless artist who thought this was a workshop geared to opportunities for individual artists.) I stayed after the presentation to pour over the previous year’s applications and see what I could learn. Back home, I wrote up a summary of the workshop and sent it out to the grant team.
This grant activity is turning into a crash course in the non-profit arts world. This is a tricky business for tthis particular team. On the one hand one needs to demonstrate reliability, continuity, fiscal security, etc, etc. Yet, also be free to disappear if we find we have served our purpose. There is the question of how ‘firm’ and ‘stable’ and ‘official’ we wish to be, and yet still court resources that are necessary for the work we are engaged with now. I wonder how many of us who are involved in this are aware of this contradiction we inhabit?
Friday: Yesterday I dropped off prints for my ‘healing arts’ neighbors to review –intending to make a gift of one or two of them - and already have two contacts with interior designers! I know not to get too excited, but it is nice to have interest generated.
More job-hunting activities – tailoring resumes/cover letters for the jobs I found earlier this week.
When I arrived at the café for an afternoon of resume revising, the sky was brilliant with blue sky and fluffy clouds. Grabbed my camera for a few frames since I may need such images for the next Tuning the Air poster and such skies are pretty rare these days.
Today I discovered that the Good Shepard Chapel website now mentions the ‘Seattle Circle’ gig coming up in July. The problem of what to call the performance team when they do ‘away’ performances now rears its head. Tuning the Air Performance Ensemble? “The Portable Tuning the Air?’ The Tuning the Air Envoy? (Emissary?)
A call to friends in California to hear how my studio there is faring in the storms there. Lots of flooding, but my studio seems to be in good shape.
After an hour of guitar practice this evening, I have doubts that I will ever develop any competence with this instrument. Six notes. I am unable to play six notes, in time, with quality.
Saturday: Early rising to calisthenics. Curt offers an exercise of octaves in response to my request for right-hand help. It proves to be a good balance of left and right hand work, not to mention a nice test of one’s grasp of the C major scale in this tuning.. In a manner similar to the observations made about metronomes (they inexplicably speed up or slow down) I find the fret board shrinks between the highest three strings and I also seem to find that the first string suddenly disappears entirely when cross-picking.
Seven for sitting practice . Afterwards a few of us went to Vera’s for breakfast and afterwards, MB, IB, IK and I circled up. We began with the 6-note melody Curt employed with us for our study of Eye of the Needle. Then we began breaking down Asturias, eventually looping the first section to count and pay attention to the dynamics.
Around noon, we broke up to give IB and IK a chance to have lunch. MB and I traded guitar exercises and got a few yoga stretches in. Then MB wanted to relax with a book, so I retired to the green room for solo practice. Around 1:15, I began to prepare for the Open Circle, reviewing the room for readiness. There were a handful who would require help with tunings and such. I tuned up Jaxie’s guitar for Deb. Ian helped set up a new player – Colleen. When her G string broke in tuning, I realized the House Circle was unprepared for our role as hosts – no one had wirecutters/plyers or a stringwinder. Something to remember next month. Fortunately, Curt had what was needed in his gig bag.
This is the second Open Circle of this series. Good circulation work and an architecture exercise. It is unfortunate that it will be another month before we all get to circle up again – it would be very interesting to see what would be possible if we met tomorrow morning to pick up where we left off.
Exhausted. But I have a notion to go to Good Shepard Chapel fortonight's phonographer's show.
Rain on the Trinity windows
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Raspberry Cake
The raspberry bundt cake I baked for the New Years Eve Party (a variation on the lemon/orange bundt cake I often make) turned out strangely -it was oddly reminiscent of PopTarts. That's a variation I won’t be trying again. Taylor’s party began at 8pm, but I couldn’t imagine 4 hours of revelry so I didn’t arrive until 10. It ended up being a bit more than three hours of revelry and the iPhone images traded with the other New Years Eve party suggests that ours was the livelier. Ours was certainly loud. After venturing out for a bit of line dancing, I was done with dancing for the evening, but M. kept trying to get me up again. Finally she blurted with a mixture of emotion and liquor, ‘I read your email!’ ‘Which email?’ I asked. It turned out it was my Tuning the Air 2008 commitment reply in which I acknowledged that my participation might be remote. For a moment we both had liquid brimming on our eyelids as the parting that was implied registered between us. And it is true that in moments during the party, I held a veil of that awareness, noting my connection to those with whom I partied and even those at the other party.
Morning guitar practice this first day of the year included all 24 variations of the First Primary at 84 on the metronome. This is the first time for all 24 patterns in a single practice session.
Dropped by the mall to make a quick purchase. Rather than return home, I headed in the general direction of Fremont. Taking that route knitted in some of the gaps in my geographical understanding of the city. It reminded me of the months of frustration and discomfort experienced when I first moved here. Similar, but more intense than the discombobulation I felt when I moved from Palo Alto to Belmont. In that case, it was simply finding the grocery store or library or post office. Here, I didn’t even know the roads, didn’t grasp the overall geography, often ran up against a canal or lake and couldn’t figure out how to get on the bridge. I was miserable. Today, while I still get lost and still find much of the area a mystery - that level of misery is rare. On the other hand, a look at the
10-day forecast for Seattle had me briefly checking rentals in the Bay Area where it is stunningly expensive. There was one ad for what can honestly only be described as a shack in a backyard. Less than 200 sq feet in total, its kitchen consists of a hotplate, microwave and refrigerator - $800 a month!
Tomorrow is a ‘Monday’ in the holiday the week – and many tasks have been put off until it arrives. Number one priority is making a dental appointment to find out what is causing this nightly pain in my jaw. I tried to make an appointment before Christmas, but every dentist I called had closed there offices until Jan 2 and would only take emergencies from existing patients.
Morning guitar practice this first day of the year included all 24 variations of the First Primary at 84 on the metronome. This is the first time for all 24 patterns in a single practice session.
Dropped by the mall to make a quick purchase. Rather than return home, I headed in the general direction of Fremont. Taking that route knitted in some of the gaps in my geographical understanding of the city. It reminded me of the months of frustration and discomfort experienced when I first moved here. Similar, but more intense than the discombobulation I felt when I moved from Palo Alto to Belmont. In that case, it was simply finding the grocery store or library or post office. Here, I didn’t even know the roads, didn’t grasp the overall geography, often ran up against a canal or lake and couldn’t figure out how to get on the bridge. I was miserable. Today, while I still get lost and still find much of the area a mystery - that level of misery is rare. On the other hand, a look at the
10-day forecast for Seattle had me briefly checking rentals in the Bay Area where it is stunningly expensive. There was one ad for what can honestly only be described as a shack in a backyard. Less than 200 sq feet in total, its kitchen consists of a hotplate, microwave and refrigerator - $800 a month!
Tomorrow is a ‘Monday’ in the holiday the week – and many tasks have been put off until it arrives. Number one priority is making a dental appointment to find out what is causing this nightly pain in my jaw. I tried to make an appointment before Christmas, but every dentist I called had closed there offices until Jan 2 and would only take emergencies from existing patients.
