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.