Thursday, December 31, 2020
Day - 1089
Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Cleaning up at home, organizing, and reading. I see High Stakes Poker is back on the air with Gab Kaplan and AJ Benja on the PokerGo network. Worth obtaining an annual subscription just to see this acclaimed poker show. Nice!
I have such a high stack of books I'm reading right now. Too many books.
Day - 1096
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
Really enjoyed this on YouTube:
I seem to get sicktracked from reading A Promised Land. Only 600 pages left! It's cold outside and hard to run or do anything beyond staying warm inside.
Day - 1097
Monday, December 21, 2020
This morning, Chris, Fred, Brian and I had a great conversation about our Grandudes table reading and how organized and professional Heather's group was. Everyone enjoyed it.
Continued reading Stony the Road, which is so good. I'm finished up chapter 3. I'm 150 pages in and have two chapters left. The negative messaging of blacks after Reconstruction and into the Redemption period that brought about Jim Crow laws is really informative and speaks to the rampant racism that exists to this day.
Day - 1098
Sunday, December 20, 2020
Had a short morning session with Chris about yesterday's Table Reading.
Watched a funny SNL Beethoven skit from the past that I'd never seen before. Funny!
Day - 1099
Saturday, December 19, 2020
Chris and I had our table reading today. Really fun and thrilling to hear a few actors read our lines. I loved it. We began at 2 and ended at 4. Once our recording is up, I'll capture a few images.
Day - 1102
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
We had a meaningful Wednesday Elders session this morning. Dorian had an agenda all lined up, but it was thrown off track when Glenn interrupted the morning prayer, saying he didn't feel comfortable with morning prayers by the same person every week. So after 30 minutes of discussion, we decided to rotate the morning opening. It was something that had come up a few times before but was never settled. Now it is. What came from that was a series of talks about religion in the U.S., and how faith and God and religion have been used by black and white followers. Dorian reminded me that slaves were killed for reading the Bible and even learning to read. The stories from Caste are still in my head. America needs an intervention in 2021. It does not like criticism of itself, and yet there is so much to criticize.
This is one of my favorte SNL commercials...Beck Bennett never disappoints.
Day - 1109
Wednesday, December 9, 2020
Lots of work today, along with a 30-minute planning call with Michelle Silverthorn, a diversity speaker who will present at Hanson Bridgett next week. Very nice woman.
Link to Facing Racism documentary (1996):
Day - 1110
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Emailed the latest draft of our Grandudes script to Fred and Heather. Looking forward to the 19th!
Ordered Pakastani food tonight from DoorDash, a break from what we've recently had for dinner. It was delish!
Day - 1111
Monday, December 7, 2020
Working and proofing Grandudes today. Had our Monday 5-6 meeting with my racquetball gang, then Grandudes revisions with Chris at 7. I'll send the script to Heather and Fred tomorrow morning. Glad that's behind me!
Day - 1113
Saturday, December 5, 2020
I spent most of the day revising Grandudes. Chris and I got together around 3 and went over changes for two hours. We received toques in the mail from Chris and Elizabeth! How nice!
Day - 1112
Sunday, December 5, 2020
Brought over butter tarts, which we've been eating!
A full day of revising today.
Day - 1118
Monday, November 30, 2020
Lots going on. Updating Grandudes again for a December 19th table reading. Not a lot of changes going on, but enough to absorb several hours. Chris and I talked at 7 tonight and went over a few changes we needed to make.
Ordered a few Christmas gifts. I'm about 30% done.
Bought this book, which is coming on Wednesday.
Day - 1119
Sunday, November 29, 2020
A day of rest and baking. I made pie dough for butter tarts, banana bread, and raisin bread in the bread machine.
Day - 1120
Saturday, November 28, 2020
Yesterday was so much fun we decided to go on another day trip to Hakone Estate and Gardens, a Japanese garden in Saratoga, CA, about 1 hour away. Wow, it was fantastic!
It's a beautiful garden created in 1915 by philantropists Isabel and Oliver Stine. We arrived just when the garden opened at 11 a.m. and the sun hit several of the trees so that we enjoyed the garden in all its color and magnificence. What a spectacular time!
At 1 we left for Von's chicken...oh, wow, crunchy goodness. We devoured this 1/2 box of wings in no time!
After lunch, we went to the new K-Market Korean grocery and picked up a few things for dinner and tomorrow's dinner. Great store, new, clean, and full of all kinds of different things to try.
Another great day in the Bay Area. If we can't be tourists around the globe, we'll be tourists in our back yard!
Day - 1122
Thursday, November 26, 2020
It was full-on feast that included clams. From now on, clams is a must for Thanksgiving. Wow, what a spread Alice put on. So incredibly delicious! Along with a full skillet of clams in wine sauce, we had two cornish game hens over a bed of diced butternut squash, bbq ribs that we cooked downstairs, spinach, and pumpkin pie for dessert. I ate so much I wasn't able to do anything else afterward, even watch TV.
Day - 1121
Friday, November 27, 2020
We woke up early, packed up the bikes and were out the door by 9 for our day trip to Yountville, CA. Alice had been talking about riding bikes in Napa all week. Luckily, the day was perfect, blue skies, no wind, around 70 degrees, what could be better than a post-TG Fridays like this one. We arrived around 10, found a spot to park in the middle of town, and away we went.
Our first destination was French Laundry at the end of Washington Street in Yountville. This is us standing in front of the famous 3-star Michelin restaurant. This is on our bucket list, a night at this place. Perhaps after Covid. We'll start saving our pennies...it's $350/person.
We bought lunch at R&D Kitchen (rainbow sushi), then croissants and lattes at Bouchon Bakery (30 minute wait).
Such a wonderful day!
Even traffic coming home was easy and nice.
We came home, had leftovers from last night, then watched the final two episodes of The Queen's Gambit. Fitting conclusion to a fine first season. I loved the triumphant conclusion in which everyone helps Beth beats Russia's best, who takes defeat like a gracious champion (unlike someone we all know, who never learned how to lose (never learned how to lose...what a sad, sick loser)).
Day - 1128
Friday, November 20, 2020
Day 1 of my 3-day Facilitation training. We had 20+ participants. Zoom works suprisingly well for this, and it's organized nicely with a couple of interns and trainers. Mun Wah is excellent at this.
We began at 9 a.m. We introduced each other, then went into dyads for an exercise involving listening. I was paired up with a woman named Nayeli from Holister, CA. She is Mexican descent. We shared stories of our childhood and worked through the assigned exercise with ease. It was a pleasure meeting her. We used pages from our handbook (p. 8, 10).
At lunch, I was grouped with Lynette and Mai. Lynette is from Wisconsin and Mai from Fairfax, VA. We were asked to share an emotion we have difficulty expressing. It was a good conversation.
After lunch, we worked through another exercise involving reflection and inquiry, repeating what the speaker said and then asking for more information about the subject matter the speaker brought up. Basically, these are ways of enforcing listening and acknowledging to conversations before getting to the question, "what do you need from me?" Too often, this question is asked first without first establishing that the speaker was heard and acknowledged.
We had one final exercise before our first day ended at 3 p.m.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing, organzing, reading. I watched The Social Dilemma on NetFlix. Good.
Day - 1134
Saturday, November 14, 2020
Back with Alice today. So happy! We met up with Alice's cousin Lillian and her husband William for lunch at a really great restaurant on Washington St. in the Financial District. We ate outside beneath heating lamps. The day turned out to be sunny, but not too warm. We had oysters, a delicious white sausage, and a lamb meat pie. Everything was so good. Dessert was a brioche carmelized in a rich carmel sauce with a scoop of ice cream on top. Loved it! It was so nice seeing Lillian and William.
We came home around 3:30, rested, had dinner at 7, then watched two episodes of The Queen's Gambit on NetFlix. Good!
Day - 1138
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Flew back home today, leaving Arizona around 9:30 a.m. and arriving in Oakland by 11. Took Lyft home, then unpacked and reviewed all the books and articles I need to read. Busy times ahead.
Looking forward to my first Oakland Nespresso tomorrow!
Day - 1140
Sunday, November 8, 2020
A leisurely, enjoyable day. More phone calls. More reflecting. Time to think about all the work ahead. I need to read everything by Tim Wise. That's a start. This comes out in December 2020.
Day - 1141
Saturday, November 7, 2020
Joe Biden was officially president-elect this morning when Pennsylvania was called. Spontaneous parties and celebrations popped up all over the world. Biden slayed the evil orange dragon. Biden Harris won! It's a marker in history that speaks to the fragile tight rope we walk along and the power of self-sabotage. Had Trump won a second term, this country would have gone dark in a way that we've never seen before. But we're not going there, at least for now. It's interesting how Trump's supporters believe Biden and certainly Harris will take us to that darkness. Um, no they won't. They will take us back to normal behavior, normal protocols and normal relationships. They will do their work while we can get back to doing our work. It's like our dear country just broke up with a horrible boyfriend, and now has a much better boyfriend now. There's just no need to pay attention to the ex anymore. What was so satisfying about today, besides all the parties and parades around the country (including the block party on Grand Ave. in Oakland, captured on MSNBC), was that the focus was on Biden and Harris, not Trump. It's amazing how quickly the focus and power shift. Once the congratulations pour in from other world leaders, ex-presidents, and all the influencial and important personalities in the country, Trump's ring of influence will shrink to the small cabal of yes-men, advisors and sychophants who circle his orbit. It will take a few weeks and maybe up until the inauguration when people let go of the non-stop chaos of DJT. But eventually, what happened to Hillary will happen to him. Because he lost. America loves a winner and will no tolerate a loser. We'll see if the Trumpists feel this way in the next four years.
I was taking calls, sending texts, watching all the cable networks, and simply loving everything I was seeing. My joy was sky high today. Sure, I would have liked a much stronger repudiation of Trump and Trumpism, but I'll take what we were given.We got a lot of work to do.
Day - 1142
Friday, November 6, 2020
All roads are leading to a Biden victory, but no official announcement yet. I've been collecting my thoughts, jotting down notes, thinking of my role as a white male in having conversations about race, racism, white privilege and white supremacy in America. White males need to widen their lens and be better men. That' my mantra going forward. We have so many super power privileges and yet we've seen four years of the most powerful white male on the planet play into his inner victim of how stacked and unfair everything is for him. More self-knowledge, more empathy, more compassion, more listening, less talking, less narcissism, less selfishness, less defensiveness.
Trump delivered what many are calling his most dishonest briefing. I watched it in full. This is what Trump does.
Day - 1143
Thursday, November 5, 2020
It was clearer today that Biden would eventually win. When the decision would be announced was unknown. Maybe tomorrow? Maybe Saturday? Waiting, watching, feeling more and more confident that Biden will win. Meanwhile, several senate races were lost and the repudiation I was hoping for didn't happen. Hmm.
Day - 1147
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Watched football all day with mom and Rich. Seahawks looked great today!
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