the danish outpost
updated when time and inspiration allow. latest and greatest always in the blog.
it was like a dream

2001-05-18

feeling kinda how a girl feels

listening to: David Gilden, Kora I, which i bought on the subway 15 years ago and haven't listened to in 10.

nice things happened today, as well as a fair amount of weird shit. but if you believe my horoscope, that's the way it was destined to happen. ;)

it was relatively quiet in the office for a change. people were wandering the halls in a dazed state, which seems to be par for the course these days. (found A playing with the fabric on the walls the other day, and he said that he had just been driven to that state of distraction. feh.) some people were out, others were moving cubes (i'm sad that L has moved out of my corner), but mostly there wasn't much going on. :silent thanks:

that gave me the space to hang out and just chat with a bunch of people. you know, when your idea of a break is sitting on the patio debating the merits of variable blocking, you have achieved a higher range of geekdom. seriously, it was a good thing. andy, frenchy and i ended up taking a smoke break together, and talking about what's been going on with a few customers. of course, that devolved (or evolved, depending on your point of view) into a discussion about why certain sysops do what they do. my answer? 'because they can.' it's a good reason for many things. the more accurate explanation turned out to be highly educational for me, altho i do worry that pretty much any acronym that gets thrown out there i can decrypt correctly 98% of the time.

after that, i took a little stroll to do some shopping. one of my writing groups is doing a giftie exchange. i suppose i started it, in a way. dark angel was saying he didn't have a web cam with his new computer setup. i happened to have one i wasn't going to use (came free with the DSL setup), and offered to send it to him. of course, others wanted treats. since i only had the one cam, i offered chocolate. things snowballed, jenn saw the beginnings of a good idea and ran with it. she suggested we swap names and send little treats (only a few dollars, to keep it reasonable) to everyone. i had 6 people to send treats to, and had the best time shopping for everyone. it was like doing stocking stuffers for Xmas, which i enjoy almost more than buying full presents for people. i surfed around to all the sites to try to get an idea of what might be right for everyone, and wandered thru some of my favorite stores with a stunned expression and a list of notes. hopefully, everyone will like their treats. if nothing else, it's wonderful to get little packages in the mail.

i sure think so. i got home tonight and found a package from jenn! yay! she sent along her favorite brownie recipe, Sweet Tarts, and Pixy Sticks. god, i haven't had Pixy Sticks in... oh... 15 years? my brother and i used to bike over to the General Store for penny candy, thru the back roads and dunes. that must have been the last time. if this entry seems a little hyper, it's because i just pounded down a Pixy Stick. 8)

actually, i had a good shopping time yesterday as well. fran and katie are getting married on Sunday, and we took fran out last night. we had taken up a collection in the office, and i was delegated to spend all the money. oh, damn. break my heart. give me a lot of cash that isn't mine, and ask me to spend it *all*. 8) it was great fun. i got a few things off their registry - two serving trays, a teapot and a set of juice glasses. i stood there looking at the pile of things, and it seemed to have a breakfast theme. so i went toddling off thru the store looking for a breakfast or brunch cookbook. didn't find one, but found scone mix, some jams, a gift box of tea and chocolates, and a few tea towels. here's hoping that they like the extras. with any luck, fran will get the hint and make katie breakfast in bed. hee hee. 8)

it was lovely to see fran last night. he was so excited about getting gifts (altho he saved them to open with katie), and thrilled that so many people showed up. there would have been more, too, if it hadn't been such a hard week. but those that couldn't make it sent their best wishes.

the nicest thing was seeing fran so happy. i mean, yeah, he was stressed out, as one might expect to be 3 days before getting married and throwing a huge party. but he also was just beaming. beaming, and happy. i haven't seen him that content in a while. it's fantabulous when you see people that you care about being that happy.

fran - passion and happiness to you and katie, always.

so the kora tape (see top of entry)... i'm still jazzed about the concert that jay and i went to tonight. we hung out, caught up, had a nice dinner, and then went to hear Phillip Glass and Foday Musa Suso perform Screens at Sanders Theatre. Sanders is a gorgeous place to hear music. the acoustics rock. it's all wood, well designed to reverb in the right way, and the sight lines are awesome. the music is a fascinating meld of African and European rhythms. i already knew i was going to see this concert the other night, and hearing the kora and drums then just made me anticipate this all the more. i have to say, it was a ridiculously sedentary crowd, given the music. looking around during the songs, i couldn't see anyone moving. jay and i were doing the White Soul Seat Dance, and we were the most hip people there. altho, as jay said, 'this is Hahhhhhvahhhhd.'

the percussion guy with the group had the best gig going. he sat there with a table full of toys and a smattering of drums, and just played the hell out of them. he had shakers, cymbals, bells, various home grown bunches of shells and bottle caps... and boy, did he know what he was doing. i've never seen the tambourine played that way - he held it upright, in one hand, and played it almost like a tabla drum with cymbals. which, i suppose, is exactly what it is. but i've only ever seen the Western approach until now.

and god love my music buddy. jay had no idea what to expect, but was still willing and able to go. and he had a good time. yeah. thanks, jay. and yes, i'm up for another musical gig next weekend.

on the stereo now: the soul mix, from Beg, Scream and Shout, an awesome box set. a little more surfing, a glass of wine, good music, and a good night of sleep. i don't have to be up at any particular time tomorrow. whee! 'night, y'all.

yesterday :: tomorrow

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