Steve Ball Diary
related
Monday November 06
Tuesday November 07
Wednesday November 08
Thursday November 09
Friday November 10
Saturday November 11
Sunday November 12
Tuesday November 14
Wednesday November 15
Thursday November 16
Friday November 17
Saturday November 18
Sunday November 19
Monday November 06
I'm back. After a short, but much needed break, I am back in daily
diary mode. New haircut. New web design. New
outlook. New energy. All is designed to simplify the inevitable intensities and complexities of my life.
To begin, this font is small, perhaps even difficult read.
I like it this way.
Don't like it? I will not apologize for my taste. I have spent a great deal of energy over this past year bending over backwards to sacrifice my tastes, wishes, whims, and will to meet and support the supposed needs of others. The launch of this new black-and-white site is one small step in the process of reasserting my self in a direction that serves my own sense purpose, balance, and taste.
It is also black-and-white in protest of the ongoing interactions I have to people who have decided that the world is divided into two camps or colors. Right and wrong. Yours and mine. Good and bad. Like and dislike. How often we forget that there is an entire spectrum of experiences, opinions, colors, and characters. How often we assume that there is some objectivity in what we see or hear, as we project the heavy burden of what we like on those around us, as if it were the same for everyone.
News flash: this diary is not designed to please you.
So, I am beginning again. On my own terms. And in my own voice. Not happy with the look and feel? Did I say something that pressed a button? Buh-bye.
Confident, assertive, opinionated, and often-annoying Pelota is back.
Life, like my hair, is short.
* * *
Recent reading: "The Age of Spiritual Machines" by Ray Kurzweil. Brilliance within every sentence. An inspiring and convincing look into the future through the lens of someone who knows how to make tomorrow today.
Recent listening: "KidA" by Radiohead. I figured out why I love the first track so much and I can't stop listening to it: It's in 10. Embarrassing prog-reference of the day: Radiohead is the early-Genesis of the late-90s/early-00s.
I am not completely out of my massive all-Tori, all-the-time phase, but Radiohead has certainly put a dent in the Torization of my listening life.
* * *
Dinner with some good friends this evening. Much laughter. Then home early to crank on this diary while listening to Jennifer Kimball in the other room. Had a good conversation with TravisH, the busiest musician in Seattle, at the end of the day. Travis asked me when I was going to dive in and begin playing music again. Great question, Travis. JudyN asked me the same thing this afternoon.
The answer depends upon the honorable completion of a project I began almost exactly one year ago.
But I do miss playing. Since August 3rd (a turning point in my work life,) my practice has been almost completely out the window. SGC rehearsals and the few shows we have performed recently have been my primary contact with music.
But this is a phase, and part of the process. The new year will bring a new process to my musical life. Until then, I am intentionally unavailable to my ongoing, long term commitment to the practice of music.
Curt recently mailed me a link to a biorhythm applet last week. Pretty interesting stuff:
According to this, I have just come out of three consecutive valleys. Hmmmm. I'll buy that.
The "good" news: I should be peaking (all three cycles!) around November 12. This, of course, will be followed by a great crash around November 26th. Not sure if I believe in this java-driven hocus-pocus, but there these peaks don't line up all that often, and it will be interesting to see if these sine waves add up to the roller-coaster November they portray.
* * *
Spoke to my sister(s) this evening. My older sister, Julie-- 39yo, ran in and completed the NYC marathon on Sunday, 26ish miles. She came in 29,381th place. Not kidding! And her name was published in the NY times. Quite an accomplishment.
* * *
So, I'm back. Running my own marathon. Hope to finish in the top 30K, too. For now, my renewed commitment to daily public diary writing will extend to the end of the year. At that point, I will re-examine where I am and what is necessary. For now, an eight week run is manageable.
Let's see how many feathers I ruffle in this next span.
When I do not have the energy or discretion to write something useful in this space, then, rather than reporting the weather, I will quote from recent reading that has held significance for me. Reporting the weather in diaries is so 1999. How about digging in and sharing something useful?
During this next phase, I will continue to focus on only the local work and necessary communication that bring me peace, focus, and progress to an honorable completion of this phase of my work with BootlegTV/Bootleg Networks.
Chances are good that I will continue to ignore those of you who have been trying to reach me recently.
* * *
Tuesday November 07
A wonderful day of ups and downs.
Up: XP Planning Game with the full dev and IS team cranking in the XP Team room (former BTV conference room.) This team is world class, and they amaze me every day.
Down: more VC dancing and prancing and waiting on answers.
Looking forward to the 12th. Three bio-rhythmic peaks on one day.
* * *
ColleenS delivered some pictures I took on Saturday of TobinB's last day in Seattle. Tobin is off to TellMe, lured by the Ponder promise of extreme excellence in unlikely places.
Post-sitting, outside Curt's apartment
Post-sitting, Tobin, Bill, Curt
Post-sitting breakfast hang spot
Vera's unlikely sighting: Tobin and BillVB
Please, remind me to call BillVB tomorrow
about getting together later this week.
Final shot at BTV, sending final emails
from Seattle to Sara while downloading
MP3 porn on Jeramy's computer
Tobin arrived in Seattle from Athens, GA in 1996, visiting for a weekend on a whim to check out the Seattle music scene. An hour before departing for the airport on his way home, I made a call about a potential music job at MS, again, on a whim, and Tobin did not go back to Athens.
Besides being an outstanding guitarist, Tobin has a knack for following his feet to be in the right place at the right time. Of course, he never would have met Jane Siberry had he not taken that first leap.
Good luck in California, bro.
* * *
Spent time working on some interactive music homework this evening. Groove Armada really grooves, even though they steal and rearrange most of their source material. It all comes down to taste. Knowing what to leave out, and when to stop.
* * *
-----Original Message-----
From: Fisher, Michael
Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2000 10:02 AM
To: 'steveball@steveball.com'
Subject: Go ahead, ignore me...
Yes, this email may be deleted unread. I know that.
I just wanted to say how happy I am to see that steveball.com is not totally gone. During those days when it was blank white with four lines of HTML comment code, I shook my head, believing that Steve had been consumed by this beast called Bootleg...nice to see that rumors of your death have been
exaggerated.
So, Radiohead is the early Genesis of our times? I'll have to go check this out, then...
Have you heard the new CD of Todd remixes? He provided plain vocal tracks from various songs to a number of remix mavens, and they came back with a stunning variety of reinterpretations...
Gabble Ratchet,
-MF
It is so hard to ignore Michael Fisher. Especially when he hits me in a soft spot by talking about Todd Rundgren. But I am going to ignore this mail. I have no more time for Todd right now in my Tori-only world. <delete>
* * *
Good email from long-lost Christian dS today. He has landed in Germany, safely away from enemy territory (ie. anything or anyone Crafty.)
Okay, let the email shower begin. <delete key>, close at hand.
* * *
-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Elliott
Sent: Thursday, January 06, 2000 6:27 PM
To: steveball@steveball.com
Subject: Information about Guitar Picks
Dear Steve,
I am student doing an assignment about the guitar pick and I was wondering if you could answer me the following questions:
What is the size of the plectrum market - in how many countries are they sold?
What is the industry worth annually - Globally? In America? Europe? Asia? Uk?
Is the industry in growth or a slump?
What does it cost to manufacture a guitar pick?
If you could answer these questions, that would be fantastic!Ron Elliott
Dear Ron,
Thank you for your questions. Unfortunately, although I spent a great
deal of time and energy manufacturing a small quantity of a very particular and
rare triangular guitar pick 12 years ago, I cannot help you find the answers you
need for your assignment.
I know very little about the size of the plectrum market, what it is worth annually, globally, in America, Europe, Asia, or the UK. My guess is that the pick industry is in a slump, but this is based only upon the data that I know: I have not bought a guitar pick since 1989.
I do know what it cost to manufacture 10,000 triangular embossed ebonite (a form of vulcanized rubber that is no longer in use, and impossible to find) guitar picks twelve years ago, but I'm afraid that is not exactly useful information for your project.
There is a book I recommend called "Picks! : The Colorful Saga of Vintage Celluloid Guitar Plectrums" by Will Hoover. This may be a good place to begin researching the answers you need for your report.
Good luck and best wishes,
- Steve Ball
* * *
Wednesday November 08
So much juicy stuff going on this week, and yet, here I am again at 1:02am,
exhausted, just home and sitting down wondering how to capture and/or transmit
any of the significance in a way that has value beyond the heat generated by my
typing.
When I first met John Lapham, (Bootleg's on-staff VP of Legal and Business affairs) nine months ago, one of the first things I remember coming out of his mouth was the principle of the "11 o'clock" rule which is stated something like this:
"Thou shalt not write important email after 11pm."
The same prudent principle may apply to diary writing. These late night, spontaneous and exhausted diary entries seem to be the ones that get me into trouble as I spill raw, occasionally abrasive and unconsidered opinions and observations into a dangerously public and subjective forum.
But no.
I hold the shovel knowing the repercussions, and yet I keep digging myself in deeper.
* * *
A long afternoon of diligence. In VC terms, diligence is the process of providing a potential investor access to the details of your business products and plans. As the cliche so aptly illustrates, there are often dogs and ponies involved.
Arf. Arf.
Nay.
* * *
Tomorrow is another "pivotal" day in the history of Bootleg Networks. Yawn. Is this sounding like old news? Is not every day pivotal?
piv·ot·al (piv-ah-tl) adjective
1. Of, relating to, or serving as a pivot.
2. Being of vital or central importance; crucial: Its pivotal location has also exposed it to periodic invasions. (Henry A. Kissinger).piv·ot (pi-vt) noun
1. A short rod or shaft on which a related part rotates or swings.
2. A person or thing on which something depends or turns; the central or crucial factor.
3. The act of turning on or as if on a pivot.
Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1992 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
By these definitions, tomorrow will, in fact, be a pivotal day. It may involve resolutions and actions of vital or central importance. Or it may involve a short rod or shaft. Conspiracy theory fans can interpret this poetry in many intriguing ways.
Pivotal, schmivital. What if our actions every hour of every day held vital and central importance? What would we do differently? Real work instead of coasting? Speaking up instead of hiding? Important tasks instead of time killers? Necessary instead of optional?
Call me a puritan. Protestant work ethic. Idiot. No fun.
The bad news is that these hats all fit my big-ass head.
What a strange and life-changing blessing it is to experience the intensity and harmony in a group that is acting in the real belief that their actions hold vital and central importance.
There I go again. More implicit proof that the 11pm rule does apply to diaries.
* * *
Thursday November 09
11:36pm. Home from dinner/cooking class with friends hosted by CarmineM
(principal architect at Bootleg), including special guests FeliciaO and her
(boyfriend/husband?) DeborahG, and KevinM. On the menu: excellent food accompanied
by descriptions of books about a surreal potential future and explanations
regarding the values of prog rock.
On the stereo just after dinner: vinyl version of the first U.K. album. This, of course, only poured fuel on the prog rock fire that had already been smoldering.
* * *
As predicted last night, today was in fact Pivotal, with a capital Pee.
God bless GraftonM and SteveH - two world class leaders in their industries who are going to bat for Bootleg. And not to mention the formidable BillB. A-men. I did not ever see a single episode of the famed show 'survivor' that seemed to be impossible to avoid in the press a few months ago. What ever the hell that show was, if Bootleg were on it, we would win.
We are the Jason (as in Friday the 13th) of Seattle startups. We will not go down; what does not kill us is making us stronger. Without meaning to get all cheerleader, it is clear that we have the will and the skill to win. The price is very very high, but somehow, this core team goes to the front line everytime, and comes back alive.
However, there was a casualty today. My flag is at half mast. I really really need a break.
* * *
Tomorrow is Friday. Looks like I'll be in NYC again next week afterall, pending two phone calls very early tomorrow morning. Need to get some rest this weekend. This battle is almost won.
But it is not, by far, the last.
* * *
Interesting to listen to KevinM and CarmineM discuss (with great passion) their musical differences. No wonder this world is so difficult to navigate: we resonate to such radically different sources. Pat Metheny recently ripped KennyG a new asshole in a long public diatribe regarding KennyG's music. Pat's quotes are now almost legendary, and it is taken to be common sense among most musicians that KennyG deserves the shit that Pat is flinging at him.
What does it mean that I can simultaneously agree with Pat Metheny's passionate assessment and arguement, while still considering him to be an arrogant prick for being such an opinionated dick (even if he is a very well-informed, talented, hardworking and educated dick) to another musician?
I have very little tolerance for intolerance.
* * *
On a somewhat but perhaps barely-related note, CurtG was playing some heavy music from a past life at Bootleg this morning. KevinM could not believe that these heavy CurtG songs from Curt's "scream" were written and recorded by the same CurtG who plays all of that "medieval harpsichord music" with the Seattle Guitar Circle.
We are strange, diverse creatures, capable of so much.
* * *
Friday November 10
The day began very early with two missed phone calls.
Not mine, but one that I had arranged. By 8:30 there was more frantic
calling to see what had gone wrong. Emergencies on the east coast had
prevented one. Busy-ness on the part of a very busy person prevented the
other.
However, by late afternoon, the calls were completed, and there was a very real sense of hope in the air. The check is not quite in the mail, but the deal has been made. At least 33 people will now have the runway they deserve to complete the work we began almost one year ago.
* * *
An evening of reflection and laughing out loud. I will sleep like a baby tonight. Speaking of babies, I'll be up early in the morning to transfer a crib from DeborahG's house to Bob and Jaxie's before the sitting at Curt's.
* * *
Someone asked me today if I had ever grown a beard. Depends. There was one feeble attempt while I was in an an experimental hair phase just after a time of mild personal trauma in 1993:
Yikes.
Dyed the stuff on top bright red, too... and showed up at an RFSQ gig in LA, surprising/frightening a few old friends. Those were the days.
These are days too. And today, I am counting my blessings.
* * *
Saturday November 11
Woke up early to help DeborahG move a crib
that is going over to Bob and Jaxie's. Deborah and I swapped cars this
morning, and I could not help myself -- stopped at a car wash on my way to
Curt's.
Nine people at Curt's this morning for sitting. Tobin's local absence was present. No post-sitting brunch at Vera's -- that is so October. And, I am sooo over Vera's.
* * *
A wonderful Saturday afternoon. Witnessed some great conversations between the Chad and Linda Blair. Had ta be there. Also, a longish, but good meeting with JudyN at Uptown Espresso. Getting some closure here so that something new may be possible, both for Judy and for Bootleg. A good intersection.
* * *
Late afternoon, cleaning up around the house and preparing for another week on the road next week. Mundane stuff, but it was so nice to be diligent in the mundane today. And deeply necessary and satisfying to take care of stuff at home.
* * *
Disturbing evening film with DeborahG and KevinM. I don't know if it was Linda Blair, the popcorn, or my general state, but I came home with a major stomach ache and a general feeling of nausea.
To bed immediately. Hoping the bed does not shake on its own accord this evening...
* * *
* * *
Sunday November 12
A long day of scurrying beginning with a breakfast meeting followed by a car
swap followed by trip preparations followed by a wonderful chicken and pasta dinner with close
friends followed by a documentary about life at Bootleg Networks, followed by folding laundry, packing, bill paying, and more mundane
tasks at home. Followed by sitting and writing this mundane entry.
Highlights of the day:
1. a one hour meeting with SteveE, outlining visions for the next phase of UI for the XP team. Some exciting stuff on the table now. We have just made it through the end of the beginning. Next, the beginning of the middle will bring a new, short-lived wave of inspiration and energy. This should last about one week before the middle of the middle begins to kick in. When that happens, a new form of unbearable despair should kick in just in time for Thanksgiving.
2. just after the nourishingly delicious dinner with friends, we watched as a fantastic chocolate mustache grew spontaneously on the upper lip of an amazing three year old as he inhaled the frosting off of his cupcake with a full commitment.
* * *
Intensee biorhythms should be kicking in about now. Uh,... still waiting.
* * *
Interactive election tools: isn't this just a barrel of fun?
* * *
Off to NYC in the morning. Back Friday? Disclaimer: may be a sporadic week of entries from the road next week.
* * *
Monday
November 13
Just when all seems bleak, like it is over, like there is no hope left,...
persistence and diligence make a bottom of the 9th inning comeback.
Okay -- ten minute break. Now the real work begins.
Again.
* * *
Last minute: NYC trip postponed for now. Minor sigh of relief -- such a privilege to sleep in my own bed. Travel, schmavel. I love to and do really need to stay home and take care of business (and myself) in Seattle right now.
* * *
Decision: letting go of the rehearsal space I've been sharing with BillR for the past seven years. Time to open up to new spaces and to new logistics. I'm letting go of Vera's and I'm letting go of that rehearsal space. Clean slate.
* * *
Nice conversation with SanfordP this afternoon. Another tempting job offer from TellMe dangled in my path. Had to tell Sanford the good news: I have a stable job at a stable, well-funded company. And I have a huge amount of challenging work to do with this company and with this amazing team that has pulled through in difficult times and gotten funded again in an extremely dry capital market.
Sanford has a knack of being in the right place at the right time. Now Tobin has that knack as well.
* * *
Tuesday November 14
More confirmation: the runway is extended. There was a tangible buzz in the office today, a buzz resonating in the fact that those who have been persistent and trusting now have validation from a tough audience that they put on a great show.
GeorgeM brought in three bottles of Champagne, and at 5pm, we toasted the hard work of the entire Bootleg team who have stuck together and worked to get us through the current round of funding. Getting funded in this current marketplace is quite an accomplishment.
And a sign that we are doing something right.
* * *
My previously-scheduled east coast trip, postponed at the last minute due to ongoing election turmoil at one of the news organizations were going to meet with in
NYC, now may be on again. Ug.
Highlight of the day: a fruitful afternoon session with SteveE and PeterO, prioritizing upcoming features. This is tiring, but satisfying work. Getting some real traction now from a committed team who can also get stuff done.
Alas, more confirmation: another last minute change means that one east coast meeting is now back on. This means a Tuesday evening red-eye for a 2-hour meeting out east.
Bleeeeeeccch.
* * *
Evening: quiet teriyaki dinner then off to the airport at 8pm for the red-eye out east. Couldn't really sleep on the plane, so I spent most of the flight typing into my laptop and reading. I now have
two laptop batteries which get me through one coast to coast flight - thanks IreneV - I know I still owe you.
* * *
I was planning on taking some time off next week for Thanksgiving. Not sure now. Opportunity looms. When does it ever stop? Still planning on getting some personal stuff done next
week, nonetheless.
* * ** * *
Wednesday November 15
Check into hotel 6am after sleepless flight. Sleep until 10am. Shower, then breakfast with GeorgeM and BillB to plan for the 1:00 meeting. Good meeting with an industry veteran. More confirmation that there is interest in and a need for what we are doing. The good and bad news: we have a serious deliverable due mid-December.
* * *
2:30pm EST - meeting complete. Cab to the airport for a non-non-stop flight home.
<grumpy old man> Sat next to an extremely obnoxious, coughing, loud, crying blond-headed little boy who was being somewhat restrained in the arms of an overly patient-and-too-tolerant mother. Besides four hours of constant screaming, spitting, drooling, farting, and poking, (not kidding!) it was an almost-bearable flight. I'm not sure why the airlines let these two share a (middle) seat - the poor squirming kid seemed to be at least 2 years old. Is there a minimum age for sharing seats on a plane?
Hmmmm,… entering dangerous territory here. I remember last time Curt complained about
screaming kids on
planes, he got into trouble. Perhaps I've said too much here? So. What else is new. Just telling it like it is -- this kid made my flight intensely uncomfortable. Paying $2,200+ to be drooled on by a sick kid (literally!) seems somehow unjust.
</grumpy old man>
Pointed-stick, pointed-schmick. I need rest and cannot afford to get sick.
And of course, I was extremely pleasant, friendly, and tolerant to the boy and his poor mother. I'm sure her suffering was 10x my own. So I will shut up now.
* * *
I decided on Monday that I am, in fact, taking a formal break from SGC rehearsals and performances until January. When my travel plans
changed on Monday, and it became possible for me to go to rehearsal Monday evening, I
instinctively chose to not go.
Clearly, I need a break.
I had previously stated that I would be largely unavailable for the rest of the year, but I can now be clearer on this matter: I will be
completely unavailable for the rest of the year.
The new year will be the time for re-evaluation and re-calibration. I've been developing some ideas about the next phase of work with the SGC. But ideas are cheap. These need some gestation and consideration about what the group needs before I go spouting new shiny brightness.
* * *
My personal theme for the next six weeks: completion, simplification and liquidation.
* * *
I wonder if Bob and Jax had a baby
today?
Speaking of Birth, Happy Birthday Katie (sis.) Hope you received the Bjork in the mail...
* * *
Thursday November 16
* * *
A very satisfying day. Bootleg is finally beginning to crank on all cylinders. Tomorrow morning, more dogs, more ponies. But the real show is happening in the XP room. Great to have a front row seat.
* * *
Excitements from the mailbag:
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard KeslerWest [mailto:rkeslerw@uci.edu]
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 1:07 AM
To: steveball@steveball.com
Subject: you, mostly, but really me
Dear Rael,
Looking at your diary again. I saved it in text format and it's really easy to read that way (neener neener neener!). Glad to see it back in action, anyway, and i'm not referring to when your web site was down. I guess i stopped reading when your entries became a string of times and abbreviations and encomiums. I began to wonder if you had subcontracted your corporate persona to do your diary (i'm just being mean because it is easier to be witty that way).
Pivotal schmivotal. "Thoughts that come on dove's feet rule the world" - Nietzsche. This moment is always pivotal; at what other time does the future get to sneak into bed with the past?
You cut your hair? Cool. Send me some in a paper sack.
My copy of Silence is hiding in a box, but i remember Cage saying not to criticize another musician's work; rather, create music that embodies your criticism. Maybe Pat Metheny already has (?)
My journal has struggled between the commitment to keep it interesting and the commitment to keep it going. I also tend to write in it when life is just going, and ditch it when life gets interesting. Is this instinct, or laziness? Currently, i've ditched it, but life may be settling down, a little. I think i'm pretty clear of abstract 'shoulds' and musty old 'musts', but i'm still seduced by my rational mind saying "Y'know, it would be a really good thing if you were to...(write every day in your journal, practice every day...)" If our instincts were always clear, we would still be lemurs. Perhaps our rational minds evolved to fashion instincts ad hoc (rather than through genetic evolution). Now we seem to be so infatuated with the creative part of our minds that we want to spit out new ideas all the time but not take the time to hone them through repetition and elimination. Bright ideas. Like this one.
Row, row, row your boat...
Richard Blaked KeslerWest
And this:
-----Original Message-----
From: Claude Gillet
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 12:21 PM
To: steveball@steveball.com
Subject: Feels good
Hello Steve,
It was great to listen to your music. Its playing all the time here, with the SGC cd. Very nice. It is so good to hear from you. Thank You.
Maude was delighted to visit the Guitar Craft community in Seattle. She have plans to return.
You seems in a quite busy state, with all the responsibilities you have embrace; I hope things are well for you.
I showed Maude a postcard and a letter you sent me quite some years ago; would you believe a dozen.
On this postcard you write that you worried for me. Well, when I saw your picture with Curt and Deborah (from Maude), I thought that you looked tired (I can understand that). Well, as in your postcard, if you need to rest a little, you are mostly welcome in our humble house. We live in the country. Very quiet.
Did you know I play the lute; and I came back to the guitar.
Love
Claude
Claude is an amazing man. We spent a great deal of time together in England and in West Virginia many years ago. His daughter recently visited Seattle. Amazing to see Claude's grace and intensity alive and thriving in a new generation.
And finally, from the mail bag, a photo from my dear friend and prog enthusiast, TravisH, with the following caption:
"What's so bad about prog?"
Of course, in an act of complete and intentionaly irony, I cropped the copyright information out of the photo before pasting it in here...
* * *
At 1:30pm today, John Lapham called the Bootleg Annex conference room where we were having a meeting. He was calling to relay a message from Curt:
"Ka-ching"
Bet you could read that one without increasing the text size in your browser. This simple, one-word signal means the "runway" (start-up term meaning cash needed to stay alive while a product is being developed) has hit the bank account.
I credit my biorhythms for the timing of this success.
* * *
Speaking of Curt, he obviously must have read yesterday's description of screaming kids on planes because he sent me an interesting link to his diary.
* * *
Friday November 17
Visitors this morning in the office. Tangible growing momentum in what and
how we are doing. We are still operating largely on faith and trust that
what we are doing will have value when it is completed.
In purposeful creative work, is this not always a prerequisite?
* * *
Gemini
You are opinionated, full of controversy and grand statements, Gemini, and everybody loves you for it. You not only fit easily into the role of the intellectual, but you are also quite entertaining when you do it. So have fun debating and don't be afraid to say offbeat things about how the sky is not really blue and how you believe the government might be controlling the weather. The like-minded people you are conversing with will take your statements for what they are worth. The ideas are spilling out, so you may as well explore them -- at least for the fun of it.
- Infospace
* * *
Biorhythms and horoscopes both seem to be telling the truth: I feel great.
Doing some exploring this evening -- plotting some home recording projects for early next year. Feeling a slight sense of the tingle that comes just before a creative period begins.
Not really acting on it yet, but doing some homework.
* * *
Home from a small, but powerful sitting this morning at Curt's.
Of course, the morning I get up early, drive over to my storage space, dig through 20 boxes to find a rare copy of "Get Crafty" for Elizabeth, she decides not to show.
* * *
Post-sitting shopping at Larry's to stock up for a Brock and Heather going away event happening this evening chez Pelota. Hope Jaxie can wait until tomorrow to deliver. Maybe if Bob, Jax, and Isabel come tonight, all of the excellent food and company will induce labor and they can go to the hospital just as the event is wrapping up?
Plus, Ingrid and Curt will already be here. How convenient!
* * *
Mid-afternoon coffee with TravisM. Good to catch up with Travis after three weeks of procrastination on my part due to front burner concerns. Electochakra show tonight at a Belltown Pizza place a few blocks from here. Looking forward to seeing the show.
* * *
10:45pm
Just said goodnight to Heather, Brock, Clement, Dean, Curt, Frank, Ingrid, Bob, Jax, and Isabel after a delightful evening of appetizers and conversation. Isabel and Clem gave Uncle Pelota a good workout between tickle assignments and hypnotism sessions.
Deborah and Ezra were unable to attend due to a last minute emergency.
At one point, Isabel discovered my ex-pony tail and paraded it around the room for all to see.
Some good belly laughs this evening.
Speaking of bellies, Jax is looking good, now three days past due date. From what I overheard, contractions seem to be happening hourly. Not sure what that means, but Curt and Ingrid are on call as the support team.
Fifty-four minutes left for baby to be born on the 18th (same day as both Bob and Jax.)
* * *
Saying goodbye to Brock and Heather as they head off in one week for their next phase in Vancouver. They landed in Seattle five years ago and the night they arrived, we sat (as we did tonight) on the living room floor of my other Belltown apartment. Interesting symmetries today.
Bookends. More sine waves.
* * *
Bummer: Electrochakra show cancelled -- apparently TravisM, TravisH, and BenS showed up and found a sign on the door that said the pizza place was closed due to an illness.
Another typical gig horror story for the history books.
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Sunday November 19
10:05pm Home from Belltown Pizza dinner with TravisH. Topics of
discussion: work, Seattle, impending moves, music strategies, abandoning
mechanical processes, gigs, Italy, and projects next year.
The usual.
Because of his drive, ambition, work ethic, and raw talent, I'm continuing to cast TravisH in my movie.
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A very satisfying day spent in Quicken-land. Those who know how anal I am will appreciate and be able to bask in the insane yellow joy of how much raw filing, sorting, and organizing I was able to get through today.
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Met this morning for a couple of hours with ChristianVB and a Microsoft person doing some diligence on Bootleg. This person is now working closely with many people I know quite well. A kindred spirit with great talent in an area where we could use some help -- wish he were looking for a job.
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