Day - 1735

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

We ran through all three pieces in rehearsal tonight.  I hit a lot of the notes and missed entire passages that were too fast.  Oh boy...lots of work in store for me before the concert in April.  Wednesdays are always so long and brutal.

I'll need to spend extra time on the Debussy this week.  I've been spending my time on the Wagner, getting the notes in my fingers, so I've forgotten how to play certain phrases in the third movement of La Mer.  Such an amazing, amazing piece!

Day - 1736

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

More practicing after work and another quick visit to R&L's to visit with the boys.  Trey and I talked about Facebook.  He thinks the company will go under soon.  Um....no.  Not when it's so profitable and makes billions in profit per quarter.  Evil? Yes.  Amoral?  Yup.  Liars?  For sure.  But going down?  Hell no.  The company is an American success story and will brand itself as such until people forget how evil the company is.  Besides, advertisers love Facebook.  Love it.  It's an advertiser's dream site that targets its exact audience.  Supposedly.  Invest in evil, it's the future.

Day - 1737

Monday, March 25, 2019

Busy at work today, so much so that I actually stayed late to finish a project that needed to go out.  I practiced an hour after work, then hung out at Richard and Lisa's for an hour.  Trey and Miles were home for spring break.  Maddie, Margaret, Jared, R&L, Miles, Trey, and Soph were there.  We talked politics, life, school, all the things that matter to us.  I'm still so disappointed with yesterday's summary.  What a scam.  It makes no sense to me.  

Day - 1738

Sunday, March 24, 2019

We cleaned Alice's guest room for her new arrivals this evening, then went on a short bicycle ride to the Cliff House.  We bought popovers and stopped at Amy and Patrick's for a short visit.  The kids were there and we listened to a few Cal Berkeley stories.  Patrick talked about the pre-Hass snakes and how compulsively competitive, cutthroat, undermining and sabatorial the Business School is.  It's quite a different environment from what Saint Mary's offers. 

In the afternoon, the Mueller Report finally came out.  Well, actually, the report is still a big secret.  The Attorney General Barr's letter briefing Congress on the primary findings of the report came out, and I have to say, what a bunch of total bullshit this Barr letter, and the entire neutrality of the findings, are.  Gag.  How on earth does this evil ringmaster get away with his evil circus act?  Now we have to listen to this clown brag about how he's squeaky clean because there was never collusion...yeah right, Mr. Upstanding play-by-the-rules Asset with Roger Stone and Paul Manifort in his camp, playing by the rules.  What a lot of wasted air on this neutral report.  Step aside Mueller so that Stormy Daniels and the SDNY can roll up their shirt sleeves and properly charge this criminal thug with something.  There's so much more to life than this nonsense.  Time to take a break from this epic disappointment.  I'll come back when there's another indictment, but at this point I won't hold my breath.  Pathetic cowards.

Did a little research on our upcoming Japan trip using OneNote.  Great program!  It's so easy to clip anything onto pages and keep them organized.  I love OneNote.

Practiced a bit in the morning and evening.  The Rachmaninoff is such a great, haunting piece. 

In bed by 10:15 p.m.

Day - 1739

Saturday, March 22, 2019

We drove to Sausalito with our folding bikes and rode along a bicycle trail toward Tiburon.  It was so nice and tons of fun.  The weather was beautiful.  Alice rode her Swagtron e-bike while I rode her clunky folding bike.  I need to bring my bike over to SF. 

We had lunch in Tiburon and stopped by an e-bike store that sells $4-5k bicycles.  Wow.  Really nice, but still, that's a lot of money for a bicycle.

We came home around 3:30.  I practiced the rest of the afternoon and rested in the evening. 

Day - 1740

Friday, March 22, 2019

Had a wonderful dinner with Michael, Alice's bookkeeping client, at Kokkari Estiatorio on Jackson Street.  Delicious food and plenty for the three of us.  We caught up with life, talked about future travel plans, and spent only a few minutes on depressing politics.  Michael's partner David passed away about six months ago.  He's still grieving and succumbing to the flatness of life when in that state.  He's such a great guy.  I enjoy the time we spend with him.

Day - 1741

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Took a day off practicing.  Happy spring.  More rain is on the way, but I've had my fill.  I'll always be a sunny summer kind of guy.  

Day - 1742

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Today was all a buildup to rehearsal in the evening, going through these three difficult pieces.  I had a stand to myself, which I always like.  The Wagner goes very fast.  It's a great piece but so many notes.  I'm not sure how I'll be able to play the many runs, especially our last one which is really exposed. The orchestra's sounding good, considering how difficult the music is.

Day - 1743

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Thinking about the steps involved to effectively communicate with someone who has a vastly different view of reality.  Like my sister Gwen.  Communicating with her in a normal way is no longer possible, but I do believe healthy connection is possible, albeit somewhat limited.  Certain words can't be used.  Delusion.  Ill.  Crazy.  Madness.  Bipolar.

Practicing for tomorrow's rehearsal.  Looking forward to it.  I really like these pieces.

Day - 1744

Monday, March 18, 2019

Another week gone and begun.  They come and go so quickly.  Practice tonight after work.  Still very slow on the Wagner. 

Day - 1745

Sunday, March 17, 2019

St. Patrick's Day!  I wore my green Gap sweatshirt.  We got up at 7, had breakfast, packed up the coffee table Alice wanted returned at IKEA, and headed to Emeryville at 9:15 a.m.  IKEA opens at 10.  We waited by the doors with about 10 other people.  Alice returned the table and two rugs while I talked with Jill.  Tom had run a marathon but only made it to mile 21.  A hamstring injury he'd suffered a month ago had flared up and he couldn't continue.  He was disappointed.  We talked about that and also Gwen's re-entry into the family this past week.  She called Nicole, Mathew, mom, and has called me a few times but I didn't pick up.  We scheduled a call today at 3:30.  It's very difficult talking with Gwen because we always end up debating who believes what, who doesn't believe what, and how Greg ruined her life.  Nearly two years after their divorce and the conversation still hasn't changed.  Frustrating.  But I'll talk with her this afternoon and see where she's at.  Nicole said she hasn't been drinking so that's encouraging.  She also spoke with Mathew and apologized for her behavior at his wedding.  That's also encouraging.

Alice bought a pillow at IKEA after returning her items and we headed back over the bridge to sunset.  We hopped on our bicycles at home and rode around Golden Gate Park.  We stopped at Stow Lake for lunch.  It was so beautiful outside.   

We rode for another hour inside Golden Gate Park, down to the ocean, then up Kirkham to 39th Ave.

I took a nap afterward, then got ready for my call to Gwen.

We hadn't talked since March of last year.  She sounded the same.  Still obsessed about her fears, ex-husband, life as a disconnected outsider.  I reinforced the tools we had used at Resilience.  We talked for 40 minutes, which was probably too long.  At any rate, I got through it.  There was little if any joy in talking with her.  I've come to accept who she now is and what her significant limitations are.  I'm so limited myself when talking to anyone with a mental illness. 

The rest of the evening was quiet and uneventful.  I was hoping to practice my Debussy, but ran out of time and energy.  I'll save my practice session for tomorrow.

Day - 1746

Saturday, March 16, 2019

Finally, the weather was warm and the sky was blue.  It was a perfect day in the Sunset district.  Alice and I rode our bicycles to Noriega a few blocks away.  I wanted to try the Impossible burger, an all-plant-based burger that is supposed to be delicious and taste like beef, but place that sells them was out.  So instead I had a breakfast sandwich at Devil's Teeth.  We also had coffees and a scone at Andytown.  

Day - 1747

Friday, March 15, 2019

Lost all my games this morning.  Everyone played well, but I was in some kind of physical time warp.  I felt good, but the ball went places I didn't want it to go. 

Quiet at work today.  Studied Debussy in the afternoon.  Such a tough piece to get in my head and fingers.

Came home tonight and caught up on a few things, along with 90 minutes of practice.

Day - 1748

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Practiced tonight after work, trying to get the sound and rhythms of the first movement of the Debussy in my head.  No easy task.  After practicing, I had dinner, then went to bed early.  So tired.

Day - 1749

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

A day of work and practicing, both with my instrument and studying the music while at my desk.  We rehearsed the Rachmaninoff with the Holy Names conductor, running through the entire piece.  He's easy to follow.  It's the easiest of the three pieces we're performing in April.

Rehearsal went well.  I didn't play too badly.  Dead tired when I came home.

Day - 1750

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Still tired, perhaps because of Daylight Savings and Sunday.  Work wasn't too demanding, but coming home and practicing for tomorrow's rehearsal was difficult.  I was only able to practice about 45 minutes or so before calling it a night.  Went to bed early.

Day - 1751

Monday, March 11, 2019

Up at 2:25 a.m. and got ready in 10 minutes.  It took another five minutes or so to find my left shoe.  Funny how I was anticipating this.  I figured Hailey had taken one of my shoes and played with it somewhere.  I finally found it inside her play house.  So hilarious.

The drive to SeaTac was dark and peaceful.  It takes about an hour and ten minutes to get there.  The flight was on time and half full, so I had a row to myself.  I wasn't sure whether we were on a 737 Max 8 aircraft, but I wasn't worried.  Maybe I should have been.  The crash and Boeing's new 737s are the talk of Wall Street right now.  Clearly, something is wrong with these new planes.

Got into Oakland at 7, took Bart to SF, then plowed through the day with a mocha to help keep me awake. 

After work, I stayed with Alice in SF.  I needed to practice but wasn't able to.  Too tired.  I went to bed early.

Day - 1752

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Up at 3:30 to catch a 4 a.m. Uber to SFO.  Flew into Seattle at 8, picked up the rental car, and drove to Nicole and Mike's for the day to join in the celebration of Hank's 1st birthday.  Such a cute happy baby!

Dad and Sue came over around noon.  I didn't get to see them over Christmas, so it was wonderful spending a few hours with them, hearing about Sue's dad's 100th birthday party and getting caught up on everything.  They're going on a cruise in two weeks to Mexico on the Royal Princess out of LA.  Dad's fully retired now and getting a little stir crazy.  I was impressed with all the Netflix and Amazon Prime shows they've watched.

The birthday party lasted until 4 or so.  The Hannis and I then hung out the rest of the evening.  Mike and I watched a crazy WWII war horror film called Overloard, part that featured some A-level special effects and supercharged Nazi warrior zombies.  Silly comic book craziness with superb production values.  It was fun but very violent.  Do we need all those rounds of ammunition in movies?  I don't.

Went to bed at 9:15 and set the alarm at 2:30 for my 5 a.m. flight back to the Bay Area.  A quick 24-hour trip, but well worth it.

Day - 1753

Saturday, March 9, 2019

Up early to help Alice clean the Airbnb unit, then practiced for two hours. 

We went to Lowe's to pick up some salt pellets for her back.  We soaked in the hot tub at Diamond Heights and grabbed an order of the BBQ mix at Uno Hawaiian BBQ.  So good.

The Apple TV remote is missing so we weren't able to watch anything on Netflix.  We ended up watching a couple of cruise videos on YouTube before bed.  A peaceful, quiet day in SF.

Day - 1754

Friday, March 8, 2019

Breezy day at work.  Came home, tidied up.  I really need to take a day or two off work just to deep clean.  No time otherwise.

Day - 1755

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Worked in the San Rafael office today in order to train a new hire who's working on documents that are complicated and sometimes a bit glitchy (lots of legacy documents with amble instances of direct copying and pasting).  Thankfully, it wasn't raining while I was on the road.  We've had more rain this winter than any year I can remember.

After work, I was hoping to make it to Pleasant Hill to see the 3D version of "They Shall Not Grow Old," the Peter Jackson WWI documentary that has been on my to-see list since new year's.  I wasn't able to make Pleasant Hill, but the Grand Lake Theater was showing the non-3D version at 6, so I saw it.  Amazing.  After the film, Peter Jackson explained the restoration process, which involved getting the right speed of the film, brightening or darkening the print, and going over 100 hours of WWI footage, hiring lip readers to decipher what the the soldiers are saying, and colorizing the prints.  The result is magnificent.  The takeaway, like most war takeaways, is that war is futile, pointless, brutal, and an endless exercise in the worst of humanity.  How those soldiers survived trench warfare is something I'll never fathom.  Bravo Peter Jackson for bringing WWI to life.

Meanwhile in the neverending saga of Compromised Asset in Chief, ex-campaign chair Paul Manafort got 49 months in the fun house when everyone was expecting 15-20 years.  The judge thought such a sentence was excessive.  Manafort will face another sentencing next week, where he may get an additional 10 years.  Or nothing.

Day - 1756

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

A peppy racquetball session this morning, along with more rain.  Rain, rain, rain.  I'm done with the rain.  Wednesdays are always a grind with orchestra rehearsal in the evening.  We only have five weeks before our concert and all three pieces are very challenging.  So tough!  The Wagner is full of fast chromatic runs and the Debussy is difficult to hear properly.  I'll need to log in many hours with these pieces. 

Our rehearsal tonight was pretty good, all things considered.  I wasn't able to play many bars though.  Too tough, and I won't have much of a chance to practice with this week since I'm flying to Seattle early Sunday morning to attend Hank's 1st Bday in Snohomish. 

Came home at 10, watched a little TV while the heating pad warmed up the sheets, then went to bed. 

Day - 1757

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Back to taking a break from the news.  It's such an endless stream of corruption and yet the insane Compromised Asset in Chief has a 46% approval rating?  Is that possible?  Get a life, dumb America.  You have the president you deserve, but unfortunately, he's a troll to happiness and well being for the rest of us. 

More practicing.  Hmm...my fingers are moving faster.

Day - 1758

Monday, March 4, 2019

Practice, practice, practice.  These pieces are challenging.  Lots of notes and the temp is quick. The Wagner in particular.  There are passages in the Debussy that are hard for me to hear properly, but the notes are manageable.  Many of the passages in Debussy are atmospheric, but passages in the Wagner are exposed.  No horns to hide behind. 

In the San Rafael office Thursday.

Day - 1759

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Up early and drove to Berkeley Bowl for breakfast at 9.  Alice's friend Tammi joined us.  We shopped for a few items at 10, then went to IKEA.  Alice picked out a new living room coffee table to replace her old one which was moved downstairs.

Talked to mom for 40 minutes, then assembled the table.  It looks nice!

I spent the rest of the afternoon practicing.  These three pieces are going to be challenging.  Debussy's La Mer is really tough.  I think we're playing in every key imaginable.  Sometimes six sharps, other times seven flats.

Alice found a yummy recipe for salmon.  We had it for dinner...so good!  We watched 60 Minutes, then I went through my music again, one measure at a time.

La Mer...

Wagner Flying Dutchman Overture...

Rachmaninov Isle of the Dead

Day - 1760

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Went to Stroud's and Daiso in the morning for vegetables and supplies, then spent the rest of the day reading, setting up accounts for possible side gig work, and making guacamole for our dinner tonight with Soren and Patrick.  They came over at 5:30.  Alice made delicious soup, rack of lamb, rice and vegetable.  Soren and Patrick brought over a delicious cake from Schubert's on Clement.  We had a wonderful time catching up with them.

Day - 1761

Friday, March 1, 2019

The morning began quietly enough, but the afternoon blew up with a massive rush project involving Excel, Word and PDF documents that all needed to be combined into one Excel doc.  That mean combining columns of data together, converting PDFs to Excel spreadsheets, and formatting everything so that each document had the same number of columns.  Luckily, the PDFs converted to Excel seamlessly, a macro I created merged a couple of columns together into one column, so my end of the project was finished at 3:30. 

Went home to Oakland, wrapped up a few things, then headed over to SF at 9:30.