Heavy Rainfall Sounding On The Roof

Heavy rainfall sounding on the roof
drumming the ancient songs, summoning
other rain storms, other places, other nights
And I awake with the song of the wanderer
Thrumming in my chest, in my imagination
Here, Now, Here, Now, Here, Now, Here
I pull myself back across the universe to
This moment as I toss the covers aside and
Roll over to sit on the edge of the bed
Watching the quarter moon on the horizon
Above the distant mountains, shrouded in the
Heavy rainfall sounding on the roof

Any Day - Today

It was a good day at the office.  Busy, long, but productive.  I made some real headway and I am looking forward to making some more headway tomorrow.  This is my five work day week and I'll suffer a bit tomorrow - I think I was close to having worked 48 hours in four days, so tomorrow's three meetings is about all they are going to get out of me by the end of the day.  I had a meeting with one of the system engineers who pushed a little hard to do some expectation setting, since I thing we were off track with each other.   I always hate doing that - basically the baseball equivalent of brushing a batter back, but there are times it has to be done.

Our company has a group that provides into technology services and they are, essentially, a captive vendor that we have to use for most projects.  The problem is, like all captive vendors, they have no financial incentives to provide good customer service.  As a result, they can be pushy and arrogant.  That is not necessarily a reflection of the individuals - but rather a reflection of the culture that has grown up there. Meetings with them can be tough because they tend to be all about what they want, not what the customer wants.  Since I sit close to the customer (metaphorically), I have, over the years, been forced to give them a brush back a time or two or more.  I always dislike doing it - but I have learned that if I don't do it, I will get eaten alive.  But, even with that, it was a good day.

On the personal level I had a wonderful email from TR yesterday and enjoyed writing back to her today.  Her journey continues and I love and support her on it, though are days when my heart yearns. I am home now, for the evening, settling in with the plan to watch a spot of TV, then do some reading into the night.  I was watching Craig Ferguson tonight as I ate dinner and the actress Alice Eve referenced a truly great George Harrison song - Any Road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mePp1l299EE

When The Rain Falls

It is a beautiful afternoon here in California.  As you may know, if you watch the news or the weather channel, we are sliding into a pretty wicked drought here.  Fortunately, right now, we've got a very nice Pacific rain storm pouring down upon us.  It won't be enough to break the drought, but every inch of rain is going to help and they are predicting that we are going to get an inch or more out of this one and there is another right behind it carrying the same promise.

I've been working a lot this week - a pair of 12 hour days in row and then 10 hours today, with the possibility of another 2 hours this evening.  I am going to meet Tony for dinner at Denny's down the street, mostly to see how his world is treating him as he enters what is potentially the end of days for his employment with the City of San Jose.  I've been working on my big project and I bulled my way through a big hurdle this week, moving the customers that much closer to a concept of operations, which is the document that cascades into all the other documents.

I had a rough day yesterday, just a lot of stress in the chaos of work, unintentionally aggravated by one of my co-workers who seems to have developed a real affinity for bureaucracy and one of the things that can get under my skin pretty quick is our pointless love of paperwork.  It led to a testy exchange - and I carried that into the evening.  I was thinking about it as I feel asleep, so I tossed and turned off and on for about two hours, which means I was up late.  I did come to a solution, at least one that will satisfy me, and so I am going to address that tomorrow.

Then, in the evening, I got a wonderful email from TR, which I absolutely devoured.  Following that, I called my folks in Winner and talked with them for over an hour.  Well, mostly they talked and I listened.  It was a pleasant conversation, but I have to say - that whole growing old thing is not for the faint of heart.  When I finally climbed into bed I read for a while and then slipped into a pattern of reading, trying to sleep, reading, trying to sleep until eventually I fell off.  Morning came a little too soon and that is what carried me into the day.  But, tonight, outside, the rain is falling and it is beautiful

Two Semi-Random Thoughts

Will the sun eventually turn the eastern sky the color of need? Will want eventually wash clean the streets of desire?

In this life always be honest. When you are tempted by the lie reject it. Being honest will not be easy. But, being honest will be good for your soul.

The Days to Kill in The Kingdom of Heaven

A nice day, all in all.  I woke early, spend an hour or so reading Flipboard, then went out and met Tony for breakfast.  From there, we went to Barnes and Noble - I picked up a Jack Kornfield book and a book on art.  After that, we saw "Three Days to Kill" with Kevin Costner.  It was an enjoyable movie, based on a story by Luc Besson.  Then, from there, I came home, had an apple salad for lunch, took a nap, and then spend the evening alternately reading and then watching Ridley Scott's "The Kingdom of Heaven" with Orlando Bloom and Eva Green.  I guess this was a weekend for movie.  I enjoyed it and I am looking forward to the week to come.

Frozen & Black Sails

As I sit here waiting for the arrival of pizza, watching "Black Sails" off the DVR, I thought I would take a few minutes to write.  I really wanted to like Black Sails, but I am afraid it has to land somewhere in the middle - too much talking, not enough action.  It might deliver in the end, but right now, it is on the bubble for me, at least as far as the shows I regularly watch.

Now, on the plus side, I went out today and saw "Frozen" over at Cupertino Square AMC.  I have to say that is was truly excellent.  It seems a little slow to me starting out, like it could not quite find its feet.  Once they found it though it was an outstanding piece of work - the animation was amazing, the story was filled with interesting twists, and the songs were clever and funny and well executed.  Definitely an excellent addition to the Disney canon.

A Quick Step of a Week

Okay, it is a quiet Friday evening and, after dishes and taking the trash out, I am kicked back and watching an episode of Ancient Aliens, one of my guilty pleasures.  Let me catch you up real quick on the things that have been going on.  On the personal side of the house TR is on her journey yet, so I am missing her and enjoying each chance to talk when it occurs.  The folks are doing well in the assisted living community in Winner, SD.  Siblings are doing okay.  Most of my friends are continuing their journey there, so all is pretty much status quo.  At work we rolled out phase one of the project I am working on and we got some much needed direction in terms of future developments in the project and the O&M support model.  The launch was amusing but mostly smooth.  Now, we start work on the second phase this coming week.  In short, a brisk and busy week without a lot of opportunities to write - most of the free time I had went to work, to the process of getting the project launched.  I am looking forward to a solid night of sleep tonight without having to worry about the work project - largely because no one should be working over the weekend.  Tomorrow, I am planning on making it a long, slow and easy day.

Mostly Incoherent

It has been a busy week here.  The project I am working on passed one of the first key milestones today, so running up to it involved an early start on each day.  Monday and Tuesday I started at about four in the morning and then, last night, I slept a solid twelve hours again.  I am a little tired tonight, now that I am home, but I am going to fight off sleep by watching a couple of episodes of Ancient Aliens and do some writing.  I think maybe a hot bath might be in order as well.  Then, time to start a new novel (I finished my Doc Holliday biography) as I settle into bed.  And, oh, a couple of family calls tonight.  Right now, I am mentally fried, so I may have more coherent thoughts tomorrow.

Morning

It was a beautiful morning
A light fog and through the fog
A full moon, pale and white, glowing
As dawn approached the fog fell
A sheer dressing gown slipping
From the maiden moon and in the east
Over the mountains came the heralds of dawn
Dressed in bands of gold and blue
To sweep back the night and tear
The last tendrils of fog from that
Glorious moon, to strip it naked
For the hot embrace of the sun

Waiting For Pizza

It's a lazy Sunday here in California.  I am sitting in the living room, watching Justified, and waiting for the arrival of pizza and hot wings.  It was one of those lazy that, for me at least, seem to be too few and too far between.  Of course I realize that a lot of it has to do with choice.  Today, I made the choice to be lazy.  I may be even more lazy before the day is out, but that is going to be pretty hard too do.

I've spent most of the day reading my Doc Holliday biography and just soaking up the sun.  I've got all the windows and blinds wide open, letting that glorious light in.  I think that, because of the light, I am in a particular good mood.  I did try and go out for lunch, but I only got as far as contemplating it before I was ordering the pizza.  Days like this are gentle, simple and beautiful.