Done Since last Sunday, 2018-01-21

[mdlbear]

This past weekend was Conflikt, which is why you're seeing this on a Monday. Not my best Conflikt ever, and I didn't do much singing, but a few good conversations and a lot of terrific music. I didn't do much singing; almost all of it in the memorial circle. (Which was very sparsely attended -- I was the only one there with a guitar. Flame performed a lot more than I did, but I did put in a good performance of "Keep the Dream Alive" at Kat's request. I sang "When I Go" in honor of Ursula LeGuin for my own turn, and sang "The Engineer" after Rick Weiss sang "The Designer".)

... and then, of course, I went and pulled something in my lower back, probably twisting around to pick up my guitar case from behind the chair. Ouch! Took a cyclobenzaprine, some naproxen, and a hot bath. The pain was a lot less this morning as a result, but I took one look at our heavy suitcase and called for a bellhop to load up a cart with it, and hoist it into the van at the other end.

I don't always meet someone new at cons, but I did this time -- Fallon (we-are-spc on DW). I always don't get enough sleep at cons, and this was no exception.

The high point of the con came at the end of Saturday's twofers, when Kat's boyfriend sang his marriage proposal. Kat was crying through most of it -- I know because I was sitting next to her holding the box with the ring. She spent the rest of the con looking somewhat dazed. Colleen and I probably did, too. This means we have two daughters planning to get married.

The trip down was rough, for reasons I don't fully understand except to note that my self-confidence is somewhere south of nonexistent these days. (I appear to be taking this more-or-less in reverse chronological order.) I was somewhere a little north of Mercer St. when I suddenly noticed that I was nearly out of gas -- I'd misread the gauge when we set out. So there ensued a somewhat frantic search for a gas station, which I finally found on Lander, off Airport. At that point, not being confident of my ability to find I5 from an unfamiliar direction in the dark, I set out on First Avenue, which I expected to end up on or near International Blvd. Which it eventually did, but by that time I was a bit frazzled.

So by the time we finally got to the con hotel, the Doubletree, Colleen had been giving me strange directions for a few blocks because she was sure that the con was in the Red Lion. I pretty much lost it at that point.

I did get a little programming done, with the result that this post's filename and subject line were generated with the command "make since". I am getting slightly better at not procrastinating.

Notes & links:

0121Su
  * up 5:55; W=202.8; shower;
  @ Brian Beckman: Don't fear the Monad - YouTube Pretty clear explanation for non-FP
    programmers, except that involves some unnecessary handwaving.
    Tries to explain the type of (>>=), which is m a -> (a -> m b) -> m b, by looking at
    g >>= f where g: x -> m a; f: a -> m b.  So the type of (g >>= f) is x -> mb by
    analogy with f.g, which has type x -> b if g: x -> a and f: a -> b.  Bind flips the
    arguments relative to (.), so it's a little less clear when you're applying it.
    cf. Haskell Monads in 8 Minutes - YouTube
    (working through this made it quite a bit clearer)
  # BTW the new housecleaner is T' -- the old one was T
  # The problem with <br> tags inside, e.g., lists and quotes is the lack of a
    closing slash.  Fixable. -> fixed (in keeping with the "do trivial things when I
    notice them" principle)  Also fixed img and hr, since they probably have the same
    problem.
  # Menu planning.
    # "big, expensive" meal on Monday for optimum shopping and prep time (Does cut into
      project time some)
    # Sandwiches or something else light and keepable on Wednesday due to singing lessons
    # Friday, Saturday, Sunday:  generally no kids, so scrounge
  * placed my Container Store order, in time to take advantage of the 30% off Elfa sale.
  @ Collection: Music
  @ Sonic Pi - The Live Coding Music Synth for Everyone
    server component written in Erlang.  See book in Sam_Aaron/Essentials_Sonic_Pi-v1.pdf
  * 7:45 guitar.  Cut it a little short because my left pinky was hurting a little.
  @ overtone/overtone: Collaborative Programmable Music live coding; clojure.
    SuperCollider backend
  * music:  edit in changes from songbook; bug fixes in printing.

0122Mo
  * up 5ish; W=202.8;
  : Bronx was being absolutely adorable perched on the back of the grey office chair
    staring intently at the picture on the wall behind it.  All sorts of fascinating
    critters in there, if only he can figure out how to get to them.
  * B1S1 guitar
  * B1S2 bug fixes in lyrics.make and song.sty; partway through marking short songs in
    lgf/Lyrics.
  @ 7 Simple Ways to Be More Creative in 2018 (ysabetwordsmith)
  : to find short songs:
     for f in *.pdf; do echo $f $(pdfinfo $f | grep Pages); done | grep 2
     -> make list-short; make list-long
  * SL: flour tortillas, chicken for stir-fry, leg of lamb, baking potatoes, asparagus,
    grated cheese, tuna, eggs, spanakopita, rosemary, rosemary BAH bread, cascade ice
  * Walk to Skybird and back.  Less tired than the last time.
    % afterward, however, I _was_ tired.  Possibly low blood sugar, also standing for food
      prep.  Got increasingly flaky as time went on, despite snacks.
  : C is having trouble with her sewing machine -- sent her the contact info for two local
    dealers (in Shoreline and Arlington; both ~15 miles away
    -> called; about a half-hour fix; she'll take it in to Shoreline on Wed.
  * Monday:  leg of lamb, asparagus (note that there is lettuce in the fridge), potatoes
    % too tired to think.
  @ github: Alexa
  # trying to figure out whether to use C's account for the new Dot, or mine.  You can
    apparently have more than one account on a device, so that's useful.
  % 9pm asleep in my desk chair for about ?half an hour?
  @ AI Principles - Future of Life Institute (via (former coworker)David Stork)
    grated cheese, tuna, eggs, spanakopita, rosemary

0123Tu
  * up 6:40; W=203.4
  * guitar:  only about 10 minutes, but some good work on QV(in C); Millennium's Dawn
    intro. 
  @ Distillations Blog: Heritage Foundation
  * project:  .xmonad/show-keys.  Gets default bndings from a copy of XMonad/Config.hs
  & major cleanup.  Fortunately I was out in the living room.
  * take (the two full) garbage cans up to street
  * Tuesday: broccoli ginger mushroom chicken stir-fry -> started about 5:15; served 6:30
    -> didn't find the hoisin sauce at first when C wanted it; too tired to think?
  % gf [antidepressant] | sort | head ->started using the stuff 9 years ago almost exactly
    first ref is 2009/01/21  Just curious.  First appointment turned out to be 0120
    ... so C's illness must have been ~fall of 2008.  There's more detail in 2009/q1; 2008
    is the very start of to.do, so it's sparse.
  @ SuperCollider
    OO/functional language for music synthesis
  * downloaded Alexa app

0124We
  * up 5:55; W=205;
    % WTF is up with the weight?  Skip breakfast?
  @ The Joy of Tech comic... Breakup!
  @ Beloved Fantasy Author Ursula Le Guin Dead At 88 | HuffPost
    Ursula K. Le Guin, Acclaimed for Her Fantasy Fiction, Is Dead at 88 - NYT
    Ursula K. Le Guin - Wikipedia
    I heard the news from C last night.
  * B1S1 guitar:  Gentle Arms (picked rather than strummed, loosely based on Dave's
    version.  I like it better that way.)  Riverheart.  A little Millennium's Dawn.
  * 9am wake C
  * B1S2 Emily Wilson's Odyssey, Ursula LeGuin, Radio Row.
  @ The Death of New York's Radio Row (thnidu)
    " They are the former inhabitants of Radio Row. The entire World Trade Center complex
      sits on their land, land that once teemed with family-owned businesses, some
      stretching back generations. Once, the area was a thriving, 13-block warren of
      mom-and-pop electronics shops, restaurants, furniture stores, florists, jewelers,
      printers and other commercial enterprises. Roughly bounded by Liberty, Church, West
      and Barclay Streets, the neighborhood was leveled in the mid-1960s to make way for
      the center. "
    " In addition, container ports were built at the Port of Newark-Elizabeth, New Jersey,
      sealing the fate of New York City as an international shipping port. That irony,
      compounded by the obliteration of the existing piers by the landfill that would be
      created by the construction's excavation, seems to have been lost on everyone at the
      time. "
    I remember.  Radio Row had been one of my favorite hang-out spots in NYC when I was a
    teenager, going in to the city on weekends.
  @ ordered The Odyssey: Homer, Emily Wilson (solarbird)
    The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson review – a new cultural landmark: Guardian
    " Tell me about a complicated man.
      Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost
      when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy,
      and where he went, and who he met, the pain
      he suffered in the storms at sea, and how
      he worked to save his life and bring his men
      back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools,
      they ate the Sun God’s cattle, and the god
      kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus,
      tell the old story for our modern times.
      Find the beginning. "
    How Emily Wilson Translated ‘The Odyssey’ – Chicago Review of Books
    The first English translation of ‘The Odyssey’ by a woman was worth the wait
    Emily Wilson's 'Odyssey' Scrapes The Barnacles Off Homer's Hull : NPR
  * File cabinet - T' with a little assistance from me. (B1S3)
  * brief wikipedia dive into LeGuin and a side trip into Ansible(software)
  * last garbage can to street
  * called MIP re: bedpad.  referred me to Service Care, Inc. in Michigan; 248-543-9010
    -> ordered 4 x 1103/DB -- $15 each + shipping via UPS ground.  Paid by AX
    % painless.  I need to _remember_ that that was painless.  B2S1
  : C and V called:  UNW messed up the appointment, so they'll be very late - C's new
    appointment is 5pm.
  * B2S2: emailed (web formed?) (therapist) CB via Psychology Today.  Email saved.
  * 5pm singing lesson Lord of the Buffalo (g wrote a descant!), Ship of Stone (because
    descant), Caveat Emptor
  * Wednesday: tuna sandwiches (see capers and -kalamata olives-)
  * work on Caveat Emptor after returning home

0125Th
  * Up 5:55; W=204.4;
  @ The Band | World of OMNIA (ysabetwordsmith | Listen to Omnia)
    amazing.  And a whole musical subculture I know nothing about.
    OMNIA (Official) - Fee Ra Huri - YouTube
    Omnia - Morrigan @ Castlefest 2013 - YouTube
    OMNIA (Official) - I don't speak Human - YouTube
    
    OMNIA (Official) - Earth Warrior - YouTube
  * starting to move stuff into the file cabinet.  Found the CPAP prescription in an
    unlabeled hanging folder at the back of the rolling cabinet.
  : etoolbox.sty missing on DH
  @ Mr Tompkins - Wikipedia
  @ "Unified Field Theory" by Tim Joseph - reprinted from The New York Times
    The original is here, in the New York Times archives, but the line breaks are missing.
  @ Super blue moon to coincide with lunar eclipse for 1st time in 150 years (ysabetwordsmith)
  * set up suitcase and scooter bag for packing.
  : Bronx is trying to help with all stages of the packing process -- he is especially
    fascinated with the printer.
  * Thursday: Welsh rabbit (uses up some of the beer)
  # *must* get dinner done by 6pm (due to g's school schedule)
    -> that means fast,easy stuff on Tuesday and Thursday as well as Monday
  * Printed Rainbow Con fliers and Rainbow Caravan business cards.
  * mostly packed.  Will be taking suitcase and Flame in Rosie, Rolly and the scooter
    bag in Molly with the kids.

menu 0122Mo-0125Th
  * Monday:  leg of lamb, asparagus (note that there is lettuce in the fridge), potatoes
  * Tuesday: broccoli ginger mushroom chicken stir-fry
  * Wednesday: tuna sandwiches (see capers and kalamata olives)
  * Thursday: Welsh rabbit (uses up some of the beer)
  * Friday - Conflikt, so no dinner
 
0126Fr-28Su Conflikt
  * up 5:45; W=204.4;
    % slept pretty soundly last night and the night before.  Yay!
  * do dishes
  * print zongbook.
  & debug compact-format printing.  TeX conditionals are a pain in the arse.
  * put suitcase and Flame in Rosie for the trip down
  * put scooter bag and Rolly in -Molly- Rosie -- N isn't feeling well and needs the
    safest car we have.
  * take kids to Manny's
  : SEA is 2 hours (55 miles) away
    -> in the end, we got in around 5:45.
     % *VERY* rough trip down from M's -- noticed somewhere a little before Mercer
       St. that I had misread the fuel gauge, and was almost out.  Got off on Airport,
       found a Shell station on Lander (the warning light was on at this point and I was
       rather fragile), took advantage of the bathroom.  By then it was dark, of course.
       Down via First St, Marginal Way, etc.  Upset C rather badly because I kept telling
       her not to talk when I was trying to concentrate.  Lost it *completely* when we
       finally got to the Doubletree and she thought we were supposed to have been in the
       Red Lion.  I did *not* need that.  At last I remembered the map on the pocket
       program, so I knew we were in the right place, but, ...  Sheesh!
  * make * to.do entry and  * 12/13 hotel reservations for Conflikt  conf# 32KGN4G6
  : Recognized  we_are_spc (Fallon) by their nametag.  I'd been wondering whether I'd
    connect.
  * (therapist) CB wrote back to say that her practice is full.  No surprise.

0127Sa
  * up 7am; ;
  : C woke up about the same time, so we'll get down to breakfast fairly early for once
  % 8am feeling drained.
  * Instrument petting zoo
  * pulled "Mother I Climbed" from Tracy Grammer Chords & Lyrics -- has chords in parentheses, so perfect
  * Rabbit proposed to Chaos in the one-shots; I was holding the box with the ring.
    She was crying through most of both songs.  Amazing.  Got a recording, and with luck
    it'll be on the livestream video.
  * C's scooter batteries appear to be dying.  Been two years; ...  Still sucks.
    Behaving weirdly; loose connection?  bad battery?  Doesn't pull enough charging
    current for the charger to light up and say so, but the voltage goes up anyway.
    Briefly.  Grump.
  * up in the room with N and G charging.
    -> I need to re-do my packing checklist -- a lot of stuff got left behind, including
       spare tips for iGo (I packed the wrong one), USB-C and u-USP cables, a 3-port
       charger, etc.  And uSD cards and a couple of adapters.  I have the damned stuff;
       all I have to do is remember to bring it.
  @ Mycroft – Open Source Voice Assistant - Mycroft
    Mycroft Mark II: The Open Voice Assistant by Joshua Montgomery — Kickstarter 
    GitHub: Mycroft
    MycroftAI/mycroft-skills: A repository for sharing and collaboration for third-party
    Mycroft skills development.
  * Went to Brett Glass's Band-in-a-Box workshop.  Interesting, and one can clearly do a
    lot with it, but probably not useful for me.
  * rehearsal attempt with Carole's song - still being worked on.  May be able to get
    something done during the break after Leslie Hudson's concert
  * memorial circle - very small.  Played guitar for carole (Into the Starry Night), sang
    "When I Go", sang "The Engineer" a capella after Rick Weiss did "The Designer".  My
    guitar was borrowed by two people.  There were no other guitars in the room.
  : The only way I can get all the devices charging is by plugging one into my computer.
  * down 12:15ish

0128Su
  * Up 5:45; ; bath
  @ Mycroft Mark II: The Open Voice Assistant by Joshua Montgomery — Kickstarter 
    $ $144 backed kickstarter -- Mark II expected in December.
  @ Data Privacy Day - Wikipedia
    Data Privacy Day - Stay Safe Online
  @ ChordSmith: transpose song fake sheet/lead sheet keys and convert to/from ChordPro
    format and Nashville Numbering System 
  @ LinuxBand BiaB alternative
  * make recipe to draft the weekly "Done since" post.
  * called Mom and told her about the OD's engagement.
  @ Conflikt - Kat's engagement announcement, with video.
  $ C $80 to Conflikt on AX for 2 regular and 1 supporting membership for next year.
  * Sitting with F at the song contest and band scramble.
  * smoked salmon:  Keep the Dream Alive (Kat's request).  Couple of chord fluffs but
    pretty much nailed it as a performance.  Mostly picked rather than strummed.
    "Filk Inside the Circle" (Kat again)
  % I can feel a muscle --right QL?  tightening up.  Grump.
  : The scooter battery is clearly dying.  If we're lucky we might make it down to the car
    in the morning without my having to push.  If.
  * "Blue Boat Home" by Peter Mayer" song sung by Rick Weiss.  From the UU Hymnal
    Considered found filk.  Followed by Vixy and Tony singing 39
  % right QL started acting up when I got up to go back to the room. p=6.5 or so.
  % took a cyclobenzaprine and two naproxen; hot bath.

Comments

[hms42]

Congratulations! (I saw the video that Kat linked to over the weekend). I wish I could have been there, but my health did not allow it this year. :( Seeing you (and your family) at Conflikt is one of the things I missed by not being there in person.

Also, FYI - You must be more tired than you thought - Convention was Conflikt, not Consonance as posted.

[madfilkentist]

Congratulations to Kat!

[amaebi]

I'm so sorry about your back!

All joy and traction to Kat, and indeed to both your daughters. :)

[deborah_c]

Aww! Congratulations to Kat -- I haven't spoken to her in ages, so please pass on my love.

[septemberlilac]

Congrats to Kat! But, Steve, you almost gave me a heart attack! Started reading. "Consonance? But - but Consonance is in March! Did they change it? What the... Did I miss it??? I just looked at the website a couple of weeks ago - I'm sure it still said March..." Stopped,checked Consonance website. Still says March. Whew. Back to reading. "Ohhh. Conflikt. Right." So - will you be coming to Consonance when it happens? Miss seeing you around these parts.

[mdlbear]

Sorry about that. I probably won't make it to Consonance, but I'm planning to go to Worldcon in San Jose.

[mdlbear]

The con transposition (con-position?) is, apparently, what happens when I post on painkillers and too little sleep.

[septemberlilac]

"Con-position" - I like that. Yes, either painkillers or sleep deprivation could do it; put together, the odds increase exponentially. If you were to add in a little jetlag on top of it, it would be absolutely guaranteed. Come to think of it, driving stress is probably equivalent.

[mdlbear]

It's not the same, but it's certainly a contributing factor.

[tagryn]

The Conflikt two-shots are here on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kea3ZzSzIcw

[mdlbear]

Thanks for the link!

[catsittingstill]

Congratulations to Kat! And I’m sorry to hear that about your back.

[we_are_spc]

Buuuh, sorry about your back. Too bad that was Sunday night *after* the massage table went down. :( We'd've worked on you.

(Also: Craimar sang for NG_moonmoth; think you'd left by then.)

It was fun sitting with you for the bandscramble and all that. :)

-Fallon~

[mdlbear]

Naomi worked on me after I got home Monday -- she's a massage therapist, too. I don't know whether you got to meet her, but you might have.

NG_moonmoth was there?! I don't know xyr mundane name; it's hard making connections without cross-references between contexts.

Yes, definitely fun. Conversations are absolutely the best thing about conventions.

[we_are_spc]

Nah, ain't met Naomi. Considerin' some of the company we keep, (Present excepted, obvs, since she worked on ya), not sure we will.

NG_moonmoth was there?! I don't know xyr mundane name; it's hard making connections without cross-references between contexts.

Yeah he were there. In the toofers: one with the Library Science song. Ain't sure we got permission to say the mundane mame heah. :d (Hey, I'm Jay, Fallon done ran off someplace)

Yes, definitely fun. Conversations are absolutely the best thing about conventions.

That an da music. Both. :d

-Jay~

[mdlbear]

N goes to OVFF and her ex doesn't, so that's an option. She was at Conflikt, so you may well have seen her without knowing who she was. I don't know how much information or misinformation you may have gotten about her; I would be happy to fill in gaps via some other medium.

Library Science is enough to go on -- thanks!

[we_are_spc]

We remember seein Techno at the last OVFF, which was our firs, but not N. We get the sense she a musician, she lived wi'Callie (Who flew us out) somethin' about 10 yeahs ago or somethin'. but tha's about all we got on huh. We also get the sense it didn't end well, but tha's all we know-an' really, that's all we need to. Whatever happened between those who were livin' togethah's done, an' we too busy tryin' to get our current lives on track to worry about past shit. We seen huh commentin' on thin's (If she pocketnaomi, that is) but not much. Also, sorry for the misspellin's o'names, if there is any.

Ya welcome. :) We like xe. Xir's good peoples. :)

-Jay~

[gorgeousgary]

Congrats to Kat! And hope to see you at Worldcon.