Day - 1853

Thursday, November 29, 2018

USA Today

Cohen’s guilty plea that he lied to Congress about the Moscow Project feels like another turning point. All the crooks were on message, but Cohen jumped ship and has now spent 70 hours with Mueller’s team. Plus he has tapes. A narrative is emerging and Russia is at the center of it. Manafort, Stone, Corsi, Assange, Trump’s failed casinos from the 90s and the need for financing from somewhere (anywhere)...it all leads to the quid pro quo of the Russian oligarchs and Putin.  Everyone in Trump’s orbit is in trouble because Mueller knows everything. How foolish is Trump’s team to think they can pull one over on Mueller with Manafort playing both sides. This entire enterprise makes Warren G. Harding look like George Washington. Now that Trump’s written answers are in, the indictments and juicy factual tidbits will flow out. I’m waiting for the details that finally break the will of the GOP enablers, when it’s clear their corrupt commander is beyond saving. It feels like the end of Act III in King Lear...now comes the epic downfall and real madness. I just hope Crooked King Trump doesn’t blow up the world before the handcuffs come out.

Got a new fun book to go through this month, a nice xmas gift, too:

Beautifully produced, it's a list of painted book covers and bookshops around the country.  A nice distraction from the madness of King Lear.

Day - 1854

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Rehearsal this evening.  I really like Harlem Symphony.  Just a fun piece to play. 

So tired after rehearsal.  Racquetball, a busy day at work, practice, rehearsal...a long day.

Day - 1855

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Tough waking up this morning. Up at 7:20, running late all morning, but settled into work around 8:45.  I loaded all the Beatles albums onto my HP laptop at work.  The day goes by quickly when listening to Revolver and The White Album.  That brought me to this on YouTube:

I haven't seen any of these Karaoke videos, but maybe I need to because this one is so touching and fun. 

What a gift to have the Beatles as a significant part of my childhood soundtrack!

Talked to Nicole re Christmas, etc., then had to cut it short when Alice called.  Her iPhone 7 doesn't work anymore.  She took it to the Apple Store and the technician at the Genius Bar told her the Cellular Modem was broken and the phone would no longer be able to take calls.  Only two years old.  Not cool.  She can get a replacement phone for $350.  Such a drag.  We bought ours at the same time and mine is still working, though I guess I'm on borrowed time now.

I went over to Alice's after practicing for an hour and dinner to see if there was any hope in resurrecting her phone.  I'm not sure there is.  How does a cellular modem just break like that for no reason?

To bed at 11.

Day - 1856

Monday, November 26, 2018

Last week I saw The Beatles complete studio recordings (15 CDs) for $41 on eBay, so I snagged it.  Got them today and I'm in heaven listening to these gems.  217 songs in all.  Listening to these CDs dominated my day.

Came home and wanted to practice, but was too tired.  Luckily, the music isn't as demanding as the past three concerts.

Day - 1857

Sunday, November 25, 2018

We listened to the San Francisco Symphony play Beethoven's 9th Symphony this afternoon at Davies Symphony Hall.  It was pure heaven.  I'd never heard the symphony live before.  It was majestic and powerful.  I've been humming the movements all night long.  What a crowning colossal masterpiece by my favorite composer of all time (since 2nd grade).  So inspiring and life-affirming.  

Day - 1858

Saturday, November 24, 2018

A day of reading and rest.

Day - 1859

Friday, November 23, 2018

Shopped all day for deals and gifts.  We got our tickets to Japan for $999 total, 50% off the regular price.  We also got our hotels situated in Tokyo and Kobe.  We'll stay at the Keio in the heart of Tokyo for three nights and the Kobe Meriken Oriental Hotel for five nights, using it as our hub for day trips to Kyoto, Osaka.

Hit the Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Barnes & Noble hard all day with good deals and gift rewards I've had stockpiled for Christmas '18.  It's nice to have all my shopping behind me.

Day - 1860

Thursday, November 22, 2018

A full day of feasting, playing games, and hanging out with my favorite people in the world!

Day - 1861

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Alice arrived home around noon.  She's so tired but can't sleep.  I'm like that too when I return from the other side of the world.  Her trip to Japan was very good.  She and her family had a wonderful time.  So many good pictures!

Day - 1862

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

On task for appetizers for Thanksgiving.  I'm thinking of making three dishes from recipes I found online: (1) tomato tartlets, (2) snack/Chez mix, (3) mustard mayonnaise for boiled shrimp. I picked up a few ingredients this afternoon.  Alice flies back tomorrow.  Her trip was a great success, but she's ready to come back home. 

Queen of Hearts decided to stand by Saudi Arabia and MBS, even though the evidence is indisputable that he ordered the killing of Jamal Khashoggi.  Such a tragic story and such a cowardly and brazen act.  Queen of Hearts makes me sick.  I can't wait for the end of his foolish, silly reign.

Day - 1863

Monday, November 19, 2018

No racquetball this morning.  Sore all day.  Came home and had dinner, did some laundry, and thought about Thanksgiving plans.  

Day - 1864

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Played in John Ellis's Concord Turkey Shootout at In-Shape today.  A Singles was my division.  We were 20 total with four divisions of five.  I won all four games in my division, won the quarters, and the semis against Jazmin Trevino (11-3, 7-11, 11-9) in a real shootout.  In the finals I played John's son Julius, who beat me in two.  He's become a very good A/elite player.  Playing the Stockton players is always a challenge because they don't make mistakes and are trained so well.  In the finals I could barely stand straight I was so sore.  I had a great time playing and landed an entry into the Championship Tournament in Stockton in December.

I came home and could barely walk up the stairs to the front door.  I was so sore and exhausted I dropped on the couch and stayed there all night.  I fell asleep at 6 p.m. and didn't wake up until 1.  Thankfully, I took Advil before I fell asleep.

With John Ellis

With Julius

Day - 1865

Saturday, November 17, 2018

Cleaned, read, took care of stuff at home.  I like days like these where I can catch up on stuff.  Even ordered a couple of Christmas gifts!

Day - 1866

Friday, November 16, 2018

We left work early (around 3) because the air quality was so bad.  The fires are still raging up north.  They're only 50% contained.  

Day - 1867

Thursday, November 15, 2018

I lost to Carlos in the semis 5-15, 15-11, 9-11 in a close match, especially in the tie-breaker.  His serves were on and fast and he scored a few points on aces alone.  I had trouble controlling my returns.  We had some great rallies and I have to hand it to him...he played well.  He faced Steve Basham in the finals and almost beat him.  That match went to a tie-breaker as well. There was a key moment in game two in which Carlos was serving 13-14 and missed a shot that would have given him match point.  He never had that opporunity again.  Steve was fearless in the second game after losing the first game 12-15.  Steve has no repeated as champion, a nice accomplishment now that he's 50! 

I came home, had dinner, and went right to sleep.  Even though I'd only played one match, I was exhausted. 

Day - 1868

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

First orchestra rehearsal after our concert a few weeks ago.  We played through the Harlem Symphony by James Price Johnson,

Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland,

and the St. Georges Violin Concerto No. 5. 

We'll perform these pieces and a couple of Coleridge-Taylor pieces in February, 2019.

Day - 1869

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

In SF tonight to prepare the Airbnb for the next guest.  Spent the evening wrapping up a few things online and also reading A Gentleman in Moscow, a book I should have finished by now, but dropped in the lead up to our wedding cruise.  Back into it now and will discuss with mom.  The air in SF is not very good.

Day - 1870

Monday, November 12, 2018

Busy day at work.  Pretty much non-stop.  Came home and cooked a pot of chicken stew in the pressure cooker, one of my favorite dishes these days. 

Day - 1871

Sunday, November 11, 2018

A full day of rest, with a little cleaning.

Day - 1872

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Spent the afternoon playing backgammon with Howard and Dorian.  I brought over a large Star Pizza.  We had a lot of fun!

Day - 1873

Friday, November 9, 2018

The Camp Fire north of Sacramento raged through the town of Paradise.  Unreal.  Another horrible natural disaster.  It's as if we're at war with nature and not realizing it. 

What's next in the battle?  We're been immune from so many natural catastrophes, but it's only a matter of time before the big one hits SF and all the glass from the towers I'm surrounded by come crashing down.  I hope I'm home when it happens.  I would hate to be downtown. 

I watches several videos of people escaping Paradise.  Horrifying.  

Day - 1874

Thursday, November 8, 2018

Quarter final playoff match tonight with Robert Knox.  Beat him 15-7, 15-6.  I'll face Carlos in the semis and the winner of Steve v. Tyrone in the finals if I beat Carlos.  Playing well and making smart shots.  Should be a good set of matches next week.  Then on Sunday, I'll play in the Concord Turkey Trot tournament that John Ellis is running.  That'll be fun!  

Day - 1875

Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Alice, her sister Karen and her parents leave for Japan today for two weeks.  They should have a wonderful time!

No orchestra tonight, so I'm in SF taking care of the Airbnb for the next guest. Alice made a ton of food for me and Austin.  We have about five main dishes in the fridge.  The house is awfully quiet with Alice not in it.

Day - 1876

Tuesday, November 6, 2018

Here we go.  I dropped my ballot off at 7:15 a.m.  Returns as of 8:15 p.m. are so-so.  Looks like we'll control the House.  That's good.  Some races are very close.  Weaker than a wave, but stronger than a ripple.  I don't get how anyone could vote Republican this year.  Tribal tendencies run deep.  We'll see how it all plays out tomorrow.

Day - 1877

Monday, November 5, 2018

Racquetball, work, home to catch up, anticipate tomorrow's election.  Should take House.  Unlikely to do much with the Senate.  A strong blue showing would be nice.

Day - 1878

Sunday, November 4, 2018

Day off everything.  Relaxing.  Nice!

Day - 1879

Saturday, November 3, 2018

A very relaxing, easy day at home with Alice, who leaves for Japan with her sister and parents on Wednesday.  We had dinner at Beach Chalet Saturday night.  We like this place a lot. 

Cheesecake for dessert! Yum.

Day - 1880

Friday, November 2, 2018

After such a busy week, I came home and collapsed on the couch.  Watched a little TV, had dinner, then went to sleep.  Looking forward to a very low-key weekend with Alice. 

Very good Real Time tonight:

Day - 1881

Thursday, November 1, 2018

Finished up our racquetball regular season tonight with a lackluster evening, going 4-3 and securing #2 seed.  

Day - 1882

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Another successful Halloween.  We had our dress rehearsal at 6:30, about as late as we've ever run through one of these for the first time.  From 7-9 we had it down and were giving one performance after another.  I thought it went pretty well.  It sure was fun, as always.  Another Halloween in the can.

Day - 1883

Tuesday, October 30, 2018

Tired today.  Went over to the Youngs after dinner and tinkered a little with Richard.  The show is tomorrow and we're still going over things.  Even though we haven't practiced at all, it should go just fine tomorrow night.  

Day - 1884

Monday, October 29, 2018

Racquetball, work, then home to make chicken stew for the Youngs.  We rehearsed a little after dinner, then called it a night at 10.

Day - 1885

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Haircut with Ivy at 9:30, then off to Green's restaurant with Alice for David's memorial.  It was very nice.  Between 40-50 people gathered in the back room of the restaurant.

Card of Michael and David's House

There was a short presentation, along with a sit-down lunch.  We couldn't stay for dessert, unfortunately, because I had to get to Oakland for our afternoon concert. 

Alice and Margaret showed up.  The rest of my gang was busy preparing for Halloween.  The concert was successful.  The Rossini and Mozart went well, and the Sibelius sounded pretty good I thought, considering how difficult the 1st and 3rd movements were.  The 2nd movement had some rough patches because we didn't spend as much time on it as we should have; however, we made it through without too many noticeable errors.  The 4th movement sounded triumphant.

After the concert, we went to Richard and Lisa's for pizza and a sneak peak at the Halloween skit.  Looking good!  We left at 9 and drove back to SF.  What a weekend!

Day - 1886

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Left SF at 6:30 a.m., had our 2-hour morning rehearsal, then got ready for Steve Basham's 50th at a park in the Oakland Hills.  Steve brought a foosball and ping pong table to the picnic grounds.  Good choice!  The food and foosball were great!

Day - 1887

Friday, October 26, 2018

We ate at Progress for Alice's birthday on Fillmore Street.  I drove to SF at 5 a.m. and took MUNI to work.  I gave Alice an Apple watch for her birthday.  I think she'll really enjoy it.  She was fine with the black band that came with the watch, so I returned the red band to Apple after work on my way to Progress.

Alice knows the pastry chef Kat at Progress, so for her birthday Kat presented Alice with every dessert on the menu!  Oh wow, what a treat!

Progress is a wonderful Michelin star restaurant with large tables and benches that nicely implements that open space community dining experience that's so popular these days.

Our table was right in the corner, a great spot to look out over the main room.

We had fish fries for our appetizer and they were so delicious.  They were fresh anchovies fried in a toasted sesame batter.  Very good with the sauce.

Alice ordered a Sunny Jim cocktail that we both enjoyed.

The squid ink noodles were really good.

We ordered a platter for two of the BBQ livery farms half duck.  Look at all the food!  We ate half and took the rest home.  Best duck ever.

Then came Kat and the desserts.  So good!  She brought all of them to the table.  It pays to know Alice Wu.  What a wonderful birthday dinner!