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Monday January 31 What a total roller coaster day. Very high ups. Very low downs. And some tricky curves. Dropped one thousand bills in the mail, trusting that the check really is in the mail. Then, spent the morning reviewing numbers and dealing with email and essential communications. Met with Curt at our temp office space downtown to review the numbers and clarified some important appointments for the rest of the week. All the while, sitting patiently by the phone for the phone call. * * * A slight diversion:
Apparently, Travis showed the SGC CD, Twilight, to a friend of his at work who made derogatory comments about our posture. Posture, schmosture. If only Travis knew that there was a job here, waiting for him, he'd be sitting up straight in a Uhaul even as I type this... * * * 4pm, Curt and Steve visit the Commuter Building, the almost once-and-might-have-been home of BTV. But, we were there to see MS, the man behind Atom Films. An inspiring 1.5 hour meeting with BE and MS took us up and down the BTV food chain. Some good food for thought, and I left hoping that MS would come on and join the BTV wagon train. * * * Back to temp headquarters for a tech team meeting over chips and salsa (Curt had not eaten all day...) and finally, over to Curt's house for a brief recap before SGC rehearsal. While driving to Curt's, my cell phone rang. A cheery, jet-lagged, sleepless, concerned, supporter was calling in from England with well wishes and wondering about the call that had not yet come in. Sadly, I had no comforting words to offer: no call yet. * * * Then, an honorable SGC rehearsal at Bob and Jaxie's - the bad news: Dean called in sick - we missed him. I'm sure Jaxie's notes will cover this far better than my own recollection. Except that I am happy to report that during Vulcanization, the call I'd been waiting for all day came in. Following the call, I sailed through the rest of Vulcanization wearing a big smile, knowing that the night ahead would be restful. * * * Tuesday February 01 9:13am The view out my home office window is a blurry blend of windy green and gray. Rain drools down the window, and a cold draft sneaks in the window next to my right arm delivering an army of goose bumps.
Five years ago, I developed a web site called "Rockslide" (now defunct) which featured (among other things) the exclusive web versions of paintings by Frankie Sundsten. Frankie is a world-class painter living and working in the Seattle area. Her body of work is deep and wide. Her paintings give me the creeps -- in a very good way. I wish I could afford to buy one of her amazing pieces. Maybe next year. If she decides not to sue me, I'll continue to populate my otherwise boring diary entries with leftover Rockslide thumbnails of Frankie's insanely great paintings. * * * Multiple meetings downtown today. Then meetings in Kirkland all afternoon. Exciting phone calls began to hit the fan at 3pm, three in a row, while Curt was entertaining a team of investors in a conference room next door. I poured into the room buzzing gently from a good call with GZ. Full steam ahead. Curt peeled off at 5ish to head back home for a lesson, and I continued onward. Then, one more meeting with BE, plotting the course and paperwork for the next 48 hours. RF left a cheery message on my cell phone during the BE meeting ~ something about very good news. I didn't have the heart to risk waking him with a return call at 7pm Seattle time. Good news seems to be in the air this week. * * * Unless you consider my faux pas with Peter Kardas and his band "Stop That" this evening. Jaxie had a good point of seeing around a small logistics mishap regarding the Whidbey Island show. I hope she will share it with the rest of the SBRS team on Thursday evening, after our rehearsal. * * * Late 1:1 rehearsal with Brock this evening in preparation for our Friday night SBRS show on Whidbey Island. Brock is the ideal songwriter's drummer. He instinctually just does the right stuff because he thinks like (and is) a songwriter. He is also my favorite pop drummer on the planet. Tasteful, restrained, and sensitive to the needs of the song. No frustrated-prog-hog, fill-happy, simmering, Bruford wanna-be here. Just great time, tone, and teamwork. And a great friend. Hearing his new mixes of the Brocksongs sessions (also featuring some acoustic Pelota, Curt on loud electric guitars, and Bob on belting bass) confirms my belief that the year 2000 will contain a strategic inflection point for Brock in his ongoing musical trajectory. My toes were tapping, and my lips were wide and smiling as I heard the mixes. * * * On the way home, a few very late night phone calls (CG, SE, RF) before dictating the day into this space. * * * Quick mailbag update:
Travis, right on the money, as usual. And all this talk about sandwiches is making me hungry. Clarification coming via private email very soon. But right now, the only thing I need to clarify is my head in a pillow. * * * Wednesday February 02 * * * Major steps forward today, both globally and locally, in the growing BTV circus. The side show is beginning to move into the main ring. What yesterday was only a fleeting, hopeful vision is now beginning to resonate with those who are in tune with themselves and the future. These words do not do justice to what is real in these activities. So shut up, I will. It is 11:17pm, and I am once again, just completing what has been a 17-hour day. I am also in complete denial that I have a sore throat. Nope. Not me. Not gonna happen. But, just to be safe, this diary entry is going to be brief this evening. Me and my non-existent sore throat are going to bed instead of painting a one-eyed vision of my so-called life today. * * * Goodnight, dear friends and revolutionaries. Thursday February 03
This morning seems like it happened two years ago. I woke up with a wretched sore throat, and when my alarm went off I felt my entire self praying for health to return and sustain me through this next difficult period. I pried myself from my bed at 8:00, hit the fridge for some OJ, mumbled into the shower, and continued a very real and silent prayer for strength. In the shower, something changed, and I began to wake up to the responsibilities of my day. By 9:00 I was downtown for the first meeting of the day, and I met the person I was here to meet, RD, in the elevator on the way up from the parking garage to his office. He needed an extra half hour to check his mail, so I used the time from 9:00 to 9:30 to hang out in the Starbucks in this downtown high rise, make some quick calls and tweak the powerpoint work that I had done with BillVB the evening before. BillVB also joined me at around 9:20, and at 9:30 we descended to the 37th floor for a lively two hour discussion with BVB, DL, RD. I was grateful to be in the presence of such big brained men who also happen to have big hearts. Somehow, these three successful men have managed to retain a sense of passion within their aspirations, despite many reasons and temptations to let go and trade it in for the easy path of cynicism, greed, or hedonism. * * * Immediately after this meeing, I drove over for meeting #2 of the day with Curt, Liz, and Violet. While driving over, some messages on my cell phone kicked in and I was delayed by a series of important and energizing calls from far away. My cell phone battery also decided to die, so I made many of these calls while sitting in my car outside of the Speakeasy on 2nd Ave. When I use my cell phone, I also use an earpiece to avoid radiating my braincells to death. When I am sitting in my car, earpiece in place, it looks to the outside world like I am talking to myself. Fortunately, this type of abnormal behavior is not unusual for Belltown. * * * Then, over to VL at 1:30 for another conference call. Wow. We have been presented with some extremely tricky mazes to navigate, and success requires a balance of creativity, trust, rigor, analysis, bravery, and insight -- the right blend of each of these is to be delivered on demand. The stakes are high. All the stops are out. My impression is that we were successful in our navigation this afternoon. But time will really tell. * * * SBRS rehearsal this evening. I had a terrible headache going in -- the hour before I had been reviewing the gory details of a complex lease over the phone for over an hour. By the end of the evening rehearsal, I felt much better. As long as you discount the sore throat and complete exhaustion. I think we are going to deliver a great show tomorrow evening on Whidbey Island. And having Brock back in the SBRS on drums feels so right. * * * Friday February 04 * * * Another million year day. Phone glued to my ear most of it. An interesting meeting in the morning. Too interesting to mention here. Then one billion phone calls, many of them long. Very long. But useful traction made today. Quote of the day yesterday by BE: "This is hard. No, actually,... it's all hard." * * * SGC and SBRS at Whidbey Center for the Arts this evening. A great crowd and a very musical show. I think we touched some hearts this evening, including those of our own team. Linda took many shots with her new digital camera, and here are some quick pics from this excellent show:
Check out the excellent left hands of Bob and Jax. Many more pics to share over the next few days... * * * Some heros this evening: Peter Dervin, Maggie Dervin, Violet and Ken, Dawg and Linda, Walter Harley, Brian Nelson, Brock Pytel, Peter Kardas (and his band Stop That, who stopped that and gave us the space to do the right thing.) Not to mention, Curt, Dean, Bob and Jax who emote brilliance upon demand. * * * While waiting for the ferry on the way back to Seattle, we had a pile of people crammed into my van listening to mixes of the new Brock Pytel CD. Hit. Hit. Hit. Looking forward to the debut of the Brock Pytel band later this month. And some happy friends. What a blessing to be surrounded by such charismatic, creative, clean and committed people. * * * I am no longer in denial about my sore throat. It hurts. Really bad. Sleeping in tomorrow to keep my health on track. Accurate quote from SP today: "you can't afford to be sick." Good night. Yes, it was a very good night. * * * Saturday February 05 Went to sleep last night with a very, very sore throat. Woke up feeling even worse. Sweating, generally feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Then, a truck hit me. The phone rang at 8:50am -- this was the truck. It was a totally unexpected truck, swerving in from South Center field just in time to make an already perilous life even more 'interesting' in the Chinese proverbial sense of the word. Repercussions of the presence of this truck have not yet been felt beyond the point of impact, although there are ripples headed out toward dry land even as I type this nonsense. What it really means: perhaps a loss of a useful asset in the short term in exchange for a better position, long term. More on this as we determine whether this truck has the proper momentum, direction, passengers, and roadmap. * * * Despite feeling like a soggy cardboard box, I managed to fulfill my morning obligatory breakfast meeting with a potential employee, and I'm glad I did. HR is a good person, and right for this team. * * * After corrupting many important calls over the past few days, my cell phone is now confirmed to be a completely useless piece of crap. Just after my breakfast meeting, I spent 1/2 hour shopping for alternatives before giving up and heading home for bed. * * * I'm up now, writing earlier than usual, post-nap. I feel disoriented, achy, and generally like my throat has been attacked with an electric sander. I have a fifty gallon jug of magical fruit juice, a care package which MVL gave me this morning during breakfast. This is helping somewhat. It also makes me pee like a fountain. Too much information? Apologies. * * * I just read a short portion of Trey's diary -- his tales of TGB road horrors make me sad (for him, TonyG, and his band) and relieved that the SGC and SBRS have adopted a local-immobile approach to the musical life. Road hell. Been there. Done that. Despite the virus that is holding my body hostage, I feel a great sense of internal health and warmth based upon our show last night. For the die-hards, here are more of Linda's photos, left to right, from last night's show:
PS - Looks like we all have some posture problems here... Happy birthday, Frank! * * * Sunday February 06 11am Sunday morning Pho with Bill Rieflin. Very soothing to my squelchy throat. Dialog quote of the morning:
Some discussions about Bill's favorite TV shows, and his processes for taping and viewing them. Bill has not discovered TiVO or Replay yet. My prediction: he will be a very happy TiVO customer within 12 months. Also, some discussions about computer hardware and software installation insanity. Reformed-Luddite-Bill is only now learning (first-hand) that there is a heavy cost associated with the value of technology. * * * 12-5pm, a useful marketing brainstorming meeting hosted by LizK. Lots of brainpower around this Zombie table. At the end of 5 hours, my throat hurts again, and I'm ready for bed. Many 'interesting' negotiations in the next 48 hours. Need to rest to get my strength back. * * * More Whidbey SBRS photos:
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Seems we have come a long way since the Skirt. Have I mentioned yet that this Whidbey show was pretty amazing? Can't wait to see the video. * * * Too much excitement for me right now; I am still sick as a dog. How long will this sore throat last? BE GONE! * * * previous: fourth week of
January 2000
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