Done last weekend (20111208 Th - 1212 Mo)

[mdlbear]

It was a very good weekend. Unexpectedly good -- I will confess to having been nervous about it. Perhaps justified, since I really didn't know what I'd be heading into, in the wake of Naomi and Callie's breakup. What I did know was that I'd be staying with Naomi and working on seeing whether it was worthwhile trying to perform at Conflikt as a new duo called Lookingglass Folk.

Naomi was more doubtful than I was, but in any case all our doubts were gone by Friday night. LgF is on its way.

Let me back up a little. Thursday morning I finished the last-minute packing, then went back to the old office in San Jose to do some catching up with my former coworkers, and go out to lunch with one of them. I found them celebrating -- the first "development and demo" kits ready to ship. So, Yay! A product that I worked on is out in the wild.

Travel notes:

I was traveling with Flame, my Ovation, rather than my travel guitar -- the plan was to leave it up in Seattle so that Talis could practice with it before the con. Uneventful -- Southwest is very musician-friendly -- and I discovered that both Minnie and Chami can fit nicely under a seat. Good to know.

This was also my first trip with the Belkin computer bag, which nestles nicely into the top 2/3 of Chami (the carry-on rolling backpack). My CPAP fills the bottom third, and there's room underneath (alongside the handle tube) for the other assorted electronics.

Naomi told me that the Belkin's name was BJ. More on that in Sunday's notes, if you're into that kind of thing.

People notes:

I had breakfast with Callie on Friday morning, getting back while Naomi was still asleep. I think... no, probably better not to go there in a blog post. What I think about it doesn't matter much anyway.

I also met Naomi's new housemate, A, and her new (to her) car, Talis. I'm never quite sure how much about people to put in a post. Low self-confidence?

Tech notes:

This was also my first trip with Cygnus, my new Thinkpad X120e. It was fantastic! The keyboard is a dream to type on, especially compared to the Dell netbook I've been using for the last two years. I got quite a lot done, both re-editing lyrics for the new two-person scripting, and an assortment of other housekeeping tasks inspired by having to configure a new system.

At this point almost everything in my home directory is set up using git, making it easy to keep in sync and to work even when disconnected. At this point about the only things I really need the home system for are email and DW posts, and of course audio editing.

1208 Th
  * earlybird checkin requested
  * up 6:45; W=194.6; drugs, nose, teeth, dishes, laundry, exercise, light
  * print * boarding pass  * shuttle tickets  * setlist (x2)
  * pack.  
    * comforters
    * kitchen knives
    x fruit leather
    * last-minute items
  @ Why Steampunk (still) Matters (ysabetwordsmith)
  & EWS is shipping!  Demo and developer kit to channel partners.
    at scrum.  Things haven't changed at all.
  * set alarm to leave work 4ish
  * Lunch with Bob Razban; very good visit to EWS.
  @ vistaprint.com - customizable products; ~ cafepress but many free
    loss leaders.
  * a bout of pretty severe anxiety in the afternoon; probably about the trip.
  * take up Flame; bring back next trip after Conflikt
  * grab coat
  * leave house 4:30ish for 6:45 flight
  : Flame + songbook + minnie + coat = HEAVY!
  * San Jose, CA - SJC  to  Seattle/Tacoma, WA - SEA  Confirmation # I3CGYV
    DEPART DEC 8	6:45 PM San Jose,  CA (SJC) to
    	       		9:05 PM Seattle/Tacoma,  WA (SEA) Flight #339
  : Room under the window seat for Chami, with room left over for Minnie!  I
    win. 
  * more anxiety, on and off, incuding in the plane on the runway and in the 
    van on the way up.  Vanished when N. opened the door.

1208-12 LgF rehearsal

1209 Fr
  * up 7:00 (alarm)... drugs, nose... 
  * figured out the last bit of the local WEP key.  Last 4 bits, actually
  @ Cerowrt - Overview - Bufferbloat experimental router distro (LWN)
  @ Evolution of shells in Linux
  * breakfast with C at CJ's (1st Ave).  N still in bed when I got back a
    little after noon.
  * 15min:  a little work on .emacs, removing old cruft and starport-specific
    paths that aren't there on a laptop.
  * 15min:  some work on .bashrc, home.html, nova/home.html. 
  * erands:  car, bank
  * LgF: Rehearsal:  work out & test scripting
  * Order Chinese
  * LgF:  another run-through on the hard ones.
  * LgF:  edits for the rescripting:  3/10

1210 Sa
  * awake 6:30ish; up 7:20; drugs, nose, teeth, exercise
  @ pocketnaomi: Yes.
  % the "yoga socks" have good traction, but aren't at all comfortable.  The
    fabric is thin and seems a little scratchy.  Ugh.  Plus, because of the
    separated toes, they're hard to get on and touch places I'm not used to
    having fabric.  Oh, well.  Worth knowing.
  @ post mdlbear | Songs for Saturday: Well, not exactly
  * 15min:  some makefile work in Journals/Music/Makefile
  * 15min:  a little work on the LgF website
  * lgf:  3 more songs re-scripted
  * lgf: rehearsal.  Mostly a straight run.  Good progress; still lots of rough
    edges on the two trickiest songs.
  * lgf: all songs rescripted
  * tried guitar stool.  Strap needed; the footrests are way too low.
    Probably better with Plink than Flame; would be great for house concerts
  * Finally get to meet N's new housemate/housekeeper/nanny, Angela
  * 15min:  .gitconfig now in steve/Config under git control (duh)
  : travel with Cygnus is nice.  Great battery life, and a full-sized
    keyboard.  HELL yes! 
  % very sleepy ~9:30.  Will take a bath at ~10, then probably splat.
  * notebook rings very hard to open.  Look for something else.

1211 Su
  * up 8am; drugs, nose, teeth
  @ My kind of Christmas tree - Imgur (slweippert)
  & tracked down the Stagg mic stand and music stand desk that I had shipped
    up for TGl.  Those should stay here for LgF.
  * print clean copies of the songs with the most scripting changes
  * add .*twmrc to /users/steve/Config 
  * Rehearsal 3ish; sang The Bears afterward for A
  @ Software to Rate How Drastically Photos Are Retouched +Alan Ralph
  -> N thinks the Belkin bag is called BJ.  No idea what it stands for.
     Probably not Bell(e) Jar.  Billy Joe?  Billie Jo?  Great; my new bag is
     genderqueer.  Or something. {Just call me BJ and don't worry about it, OK?}
  * Call Mom
  * 15min:  to.do file cleanup.  Lots of deadwood.
  % 10pm:  sleepy.   splay 10:30? (no, just fell asleep at the keyboard)

1212 Mo
  * up 7:30ish; drugs, nose, exercise; pack
  : N having car trouble (starter)
  : rehearsal - a good runthrough; work on the trickiest (mainly for rhythm) 
  * -offer to- take home the rest of the salmon candy
  * shuttle pickup 4:20 - 4:40
  * Seattle/Tacoma, WA - SEA to San Jose, CA - SJC    Confirmation # I3CGYV
    RETURN DEC 12	7:30 PM Seattle/Tacoma,  WA (SEA) to
    	       		9:40 PM San Jose,  CA (SJC) Flight #1169
  * call Colleen from the airport.  M. is respecting K's wishes not to talk to
    her, so she's understandably miserable.  That sucks, and isn't fair.
  % Easy way to travel without the guitar is to pull the Belkin bag (BJ?) and
    replace it with the jacket, then put Chami in the overhead rack.  BJ
    easily holds a couple of magazines alongside Cygnus.

Comments

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

"Just glue some gears on it, and call it steampunk (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFCuE5rHbPA)..."

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

I am glad your weekend went well.

[mdlbear]

Thanks!