A Discordant Sunday

The day started normally. I went to breakfast with Bob and Tyrone. Breakfast was good. I had a Santa Fe omelette. Then, we walked out and Tyrone noticed a nail in the sidewall of my right front tire. That derailed any plans I had for the day.

So I popped over to Goodyear and got a new set of tires (the old ones were warn). That took about two hours. While they worked on it I walked over to Santana Row where I sat at Starbucks and people watched waiting for Don to join me for lunch. I have to say there are some pretty people that frequent Santana Row on a Spring Sunday.

Don met me for lunch at Rosie McCann's, where I had bangers and mash, which was pretty tasty. We had a good conversation and then I walked back to Goodyear to pick the Jeep up. I'm now in a good set of tires with an 80,000 mile warranty, road hazard, and pre-paid rotation and alignment. A bit pricey, but I'm happy with it.

I wandered home from there and tried to take a nap, but the incidental sounds of an afternoon kept me from dropping very deeply into sleep. I got back up about 4:00 PM and made a couple of sandwiches for dinner. Then I idled away the time watching some ancestry show with the actress Courtney Cox. It was interesting.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do tonight - I have some work I could do but I'm not really in the mood. On the other hand I've got a fairly good shot of energy, so I might actually accomplish something. Like...being really lazy! Just kidding - I may bag up some things to through away and I may log on to read email and send some meeting notices. Or I might not.


Sent from my iPhone

A Better Sunday

Today was a better day than yesterday. Yesterday was a rough one. I had a good enough time but that heat was kind of brutal. It was hotter on Friday but Saturday was far more muggy. Sleep was almost impossible. I tossed and turned through the whole night and probably only got about 4 or 5 hours of real sleep.

I did have a nice lunch on Saturday. I met Don at Molly Maguire's over in Santana Row. I had a chorizo omelette which was excellent. All in all it was a very pleasant lunch. But, the heat descended, and the rest of the day was just unpleasant.

Today's heat only climbed up into the mid 80s. The air conditioner was able to fend it off. I had breakfast with Bob at the Hickory pit, then ran my morning errands and got my grocery shopping done and was home by noon. I spent the rest of the day inside, in the air conditioning, just relaxing and enjoying the day.

I got my bills paid. I had picked up a new fan at Orchard Supply Hardware and I got that set up. With two fans running I'm able to get better circulation through the apartment and I'm hoping he pulls the evening temperature down enough for a comfortable night sleep. It is cooling off rapidly now.

I've got a lot of work ahead of me this week and I really need to get focused and knock things off. I've been struggling in that area in part due to many interruptions. One of the things that happens at work that vexes me all the time is we have a tendency to set up the project schedule at a level that's doable and then pour other projects on top of it which eat up the time and pull the focus away. If there was one change I could make in the work environment with a magic wand I would grant us the ability to lock the schedule. Then I would jump on my flying pig and zoom around the room. Both are about as likely to happen.

So, here's hoping for a good night sleep and a good week ahead.

Thea

Tables and chairs outside Thea Mediterranean at Santana Row, just prior to lunch on a lazy Sunday.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

Remnants

The remains of Chicken Parmesan from Pasta Pomodoro at Santana Row.  Yummy.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

It Was Easy Going

It was a pleasant spring day today. I didn't sleep well last night, I woke up off and on through the night, mostly due to street noise, since I was sleeping with the windows open.  In spite of this, I had a pretty smooth and relatively serene day.  I went to breakfast early (a vegetarian eggs Benedict), then did a couple of loads of laundry at the laundromat.  At 11:20 AM I went to CineArtes down at Santana Row and saw "Now You See Me", then grabbed lunch at Pasta Pomodoro - tortellini soup and baked manicotti. A short walk down to Best Buy, then off to Lenscrafters to get my sunglasses fixed (lost screw), then home where I hung out with Tony and watched the remake of Total Recall and then the latest episode of Game of Thrones.  I think tonight I am going to spend some time reading Leviathan Wakes.  In short, it was an easy going Sunday.

Vacation - Day One - Evening

It was an easy day to start a vacation on. I lingered in bed, then met Tony for breakfast over at Goodies II.  Breakfast inside me, I swung home and spent an hour or so tinkering around, then joined back up with Tony and ran a couple of errands while getting ready for vacation.  I am basically set to go and tomorrow I just need to throw the incidentals into my bag and I am ready to hit the road - or the air, as the case may be.

We had lunch at Pasta Pomodoro at Santana Row and then took a wandering walk through Best Buy, just to see what the newest tech toys were.  From there, I swung back home and spent the afternoon printing off documents for the trip this weekend, called the ranch, did some incidental things around the house and then settled in to watch "Master and Commander" with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, an enjoyable movie.  I followed that up with several hours of watching my TomTom update.

Then, I finally heard from my nephew, who was transferred to the hospital in Rapid City, SD.  He is recovering from internal bleeding, as side effect of his illness.  Still, it was good to talk to him and he was going to call the ranch after he talked to me.  A close one, and we can only hope that he learns the lesson about staying on his medication and taking care of himself.

A Small Branch

I saw Terence Malick's "Tree of Life" today over at CineArts. I enjoyed it - though it is not for everyone, it is a visually rich tapestry which unveils a powerful story. If you're expecting normal Hollywood fare, you'll be disappointed, but if you're open to the experience, I can recommend the movie.

Inspired by it, let me just quickly illuminate the branches of my tree today.
-Breakfast a bowl of Total, with milk and a cup of black coffee.
-I watched two episodes of "The Dresden Files" on DVD (Harry Dresden is a great character).
-I drove up to the Comcast office and picked up a new controller/DVR box.
-I drove into the office and picked up some paperwork, talked to my analysts, and then returned a couple of phone calls.
-I had lunch with D.R. at Sneha on Lawrence (excellent Indian buffet).
-I drove to the wrong theater (Camera 7) to see the movie, but fortunately had enough time that I was able to drive over to the right theater (CineArts).
-I saw "The Tree of Life".
-I had an early dinner with Tony at Mama Mia's on Hamilton (pizza, chased by a piece of Tiramisu).
-I came home and got my new controller/DVR all set up and programmed.
-I got my new work laptop (a sweet little HP with I5's) set up to connect to my home network.
-I went online to work and rooted through the email (about thirty), handling some, sorting others.
-I spent slid gently into the evening with T.R.
-I wrote this entry.

The Tree of my Life had some active branches today, but it is a three day weekend ahead of me and I am looking forward to moving through it slow and easily.

A Day In Five Parts

Part One: I wake in the gray light of the bedroom, curled beneath my comforter. Nothing in particular woke me. I was simply done sleeping. I linger for a while and then roll out and take a shower. I dress simply, blue jeans and a black button down shirt. I make coffee for the morning. I go online and journey into the Spiritual Insights chat room. As I sit there I realize I have fallen into an introspective mood. I simply read the chat for about an hour. I exchange pleasantries with a few people. I note the absence of a few people who always brighten the room. I leave chat. I write a journal entry. I respond to One Minute Writer. I gather my laundry.

Part Two: I drive down to the laundromat and load three machines. 24 minutes for the wash cycle. I text a dear friend whom I am thinking of. There is no response. I read "One Bullet Away". The timer sounds and I switch the clothes over to the dryers. 36 minutes to go. I go back to the car. I think. I write. I read. Then comes the moment I enjoy so much. I stand at a table and fold laundry. The warmth. The textures. The soft scents. I stand, I fold, I gaze out the windows and watch the wind swirl in the vivid green leaves of the trees across the street.

Part Three: I drive a few blocks to Boston Market for lunch. Dido's "White Flag" is playing on the radio. I sit in the car for a moment to let the song echo to a close. A young woman in gray sweat pants and a gray SJSU sweater walks by carrying an over-sized bottle of coke. A gust of wind buffets her and she drops the bottle. It hits the pavement and explodes. She leaps nimbly out of the way of the spraying soda. She stands there and looks forlornly at the bottle until it
stops spraying. She picks it up and throws it into the trash can twenty feet away - a clean and crisp jump shot. Lunch is chicken, red potatoes and sweet corn, washed down with iced tea. I drive home. I carry the laundry up to the apartment and put it away. I sit in my chair and write, bathed in the peculiar gray light of the impending rain. I am still restless. I decide to wander back out. I slip my camera in my pocket.

Part Four:  Lacking an organizing principle I drive over to Santana Row, to CineArts, to see "The Reader", with Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes.  The movie is a mish-mash. I want to like it but, ultimately, I don't.  A pair of powerful actors in a movie that hits a half a dozen cliches that we have seen before - there is simplicity in movies and their is mock simplicity.  "The Reader" abounds with mock simplicity.  It tries to hard but lacks the underlying imagination to pull it off.  As I walk out of the movie theatre I get a text.  I read it.  No response is necessary. I walk back to the car and drive home.

Part Five:  I order a delivery pizza. I work on my other laptop, running scans, making adjustments.  I watch the last half of Juno while eating pizza.  Grosse Pointe Blank comes on so I settle in to watch a movie I have seen a dozen times, but still love.  John Cusack plays Martin Blank, a hitman, going home for his high school reunion.  I would rank it high on my list of favorite movies.  The evening is quiet.  The evening is reflective and introspective.  The evening is a meditation on complexity.  The evening is a meditation on the nature of our demons.

Sent from my iPhone

Winter At Santana Row

I've updated Flickr with a new photo set, a series of pictures taken while I was out seeing "Slumdog Millionaire" at Santana Row in San Jose. I think they capture the feel of a California winter quiet nicely.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roderckdhu/sets/72157611394632129/

It was a quiet and relaxing day here, just gentle and easy I slide into the holiday season.

A Day of Simple Things

Today was a good day. I lingered in bed reading Ted Hughes "Selected
Poems" on waking. Then I took a hot shower. I spent most of the
morning drinking coffee and orange juice and chatting online. It was a
pleasant morning in chat, with subjects ranging from insects to
explosives to elephants! Sometimes the seques are amazing.

Then, I had tamales for lunch at Maria's, followed by one of the very
best movies I have seen in a long time - Danny Boyle's "Slumdog
Millionaire". I highly recommend it. After the movie I went to Borders
on Santana Row and bought the new Koontz novel and the movie "Romance
& Cigarettes". I wandered a bit more, took some photo's, and circled
home.

Dinner was pork chops and rice pudding. Then I watched "Sanctuary" and
"Stargate Atlantis". I chatted a bit more and made a phone call with a
great little conversation and am now going to curl up and read myself
to sleep. The great things in life are simple things and today was a
day of simple things.

Sent from my iPhone

A Fall Night

The movie was short. There were only the barest bones of a plot to give the Hero an excuse to follow the scripted course. You knew the Bad Guy the moment he appeared on the screen. The Leading Lady was stunningly beautiful. The Supporting Characters were appropriately quirky.

I walked out of the theatre into the fall night. Santana Row was across the street. It was lit in various shades of neon and mercury. The night was velvet in its blackness, all trace of the stars lost behind the clouds. It was cool, cool enough that I zipped my jacket shut as I walked across the parking lot. My car was sitting there alone underneath a street light, clean and silver. A single landscaped tree, strategically placed in the expanse was its only company.

I took a deep breath of the air. It smelled like rain. I crossed the parking lot in a slow purposeful stride, drinking in the sensual champagne - the dance of light and shadows, the scent of rain and fall, the feel of coolness on my face, the lingering taste of Black Cherry soda, the quiet hushed sounds of urban life. I shook hands with my friends and wished them a good night.

A perfect fall moment. I wish I could capture it. I wish you could have been there. I share it hear only imperfectly. A pale imitation of the moment. Perhaps it is enough that you can, from your memories, close your eyes and call the sensuality of it into your senses from somewhere deep in the well of memories.