Up a couple times during the night. Listened to Norman Fischer talking about Dogen, did the Spelling Bee.
Up for real at 10 am. Breakfast, coffee. Conversation with Bree about my depression, isolation, and pessimism.
Finished reading How to Raise an Ox around 1:30, also skimmed notes. “Those who have acquired fine dwellings are leading lives of error.”
Mundane online tasks.
Edited 2 to 4. Spent time on a footnote. Am at the last 2 grafs.
Read 1/3 of Janet Radcliffe Richards, “Why Feminist Epistemology Isn’t” (1995)
Made more coffee. Listened to piano lesson, w/ ear training. Sat 15 min.
Piano: scales, arpeggios, “Dancers In Love.” I think Duke plays it around 185 bpm. I’m working on it around 120 for now, though I tried the main line faster.
Finished the Richards paper. I think I own the book it’s from.
Read Gene Krupa chapter of Blesh, Combo U.S.A. to make my 50 p. prose quota. Should finish it tomorrow.
Changed water bottle for Bree, added something to a grocery order, opened a late Xmas present from a neighbor.
Watched/listened to a live Billy Bragg set from a 1998 Bernie Sanders rally. I really ripped of “Like Soldiers Do.”
About 15 p. Breezeway.
Took out trash, short walk. Remembered to put maintenance check in slot.
1 p. Poetry notebook. Did Sunday crossword (35 min. or so, not much of a theme) w/ an electronic track I half-promised to write lyrics for on repeat. Listened twice more after words, typed out some idea. Lights out before midnight, put on 3rd disc of Ashley, Private Lives.
1/1
Up 8. Breakfast - yogurt, oats, seeds/raisins, banana.
Read 30 p. How to Raise and Ox.
Made coffee. Had the last piece of the pie we ordered for Xmas. Sat 15 min.
Edited 10:15-12:15. Getting somewhere on this section - maybe a couple more days to finish?
Read half of a book chapter on Dialectic of Enlightenment by Marcel Stoetzler, from my ridiculously overstuffed pdf. folder.
Lunch - sautéed a meh winter tomato to give it some flavor; 2 eggs.
Set up/updated yearly budget pages, while listening to Wire,10:02.
Piano 30/min - scales, arpeggios, “Dancers in Love,” blues in B.
Rest of the Wire album.
Tried to devote 30 min. to recording, which in this case meant total failure to get my computer to recognize either Focusrite interface. (I had more success when I gave it a shot a week ago). Gave up b/c Bree was going to need the living room for an hr. Decided to d/l a software update, which is taking hours.
Made more coffee. Worked on radio show 4-5:15; completed the file, have to do the log/playlist.
Finished the D. of E. Piece around 6.
Dinner - last of yesterday’s soup, can of mackerel, a little sliced turkey.
Read to p. 140, Ox - part way through long essay on “Continuous Practice.”
Worked on entering playlist, filling out log, exporting file to dropbox etc. About 90 min., most of it w/ The Go-Between on since I wasn’t listening to music.
Found that I had an email from my bank questioning a couple of charges to bandcamp; they were legit but I usually used PayPal. Had to call to confirm, to avoid having my debit card deactivated. Annoying thing to have to do at 8:30 pm. (There was more of this today than I’m indicating - wrote maintenance check, paid bills online while the internet was slow.) At least I finished the movie on hold. I’d like to know about the two songs sung after the croquet match.
Started Ashbery, Breezeway (2015), about 10 p. Short walk outside. 1 p. Poetry notebook, needed a break, did tomorrow’s crossword.
Made myself jot down some lyric ideas; I don’t know if anything’s worthwhile, but one of my “resolutions” is to do some daily work - even 30 min. - on songwriting, as well as recording. Have to double up until I get the Superchunk track and the like done.
Lights out just before midnight - would like to get to bed earlier, but I did hit just about everything I meant to.
Nov./Dec. 2020 reading
Henri Lebfevre, The Explosion: Marxism and the French Uprising, trans. Alfred Ehrenfeld
Kristen Case, Principles of Economics
Marcus O’Hare, Different Every Time: The Authorized Biography of Robert Wyatt
David Edmonds, The Murder of Professor Schlick: The Rise and Fall of the Vienna Circle
John Ashbery, Commotion of the Birds
12/31
Keeping it quick. Up 9. Wrote 2 p. In poetry notebook b/c I couldn’t find it last night. Watched some of Losey’sThe Go-Between, off and on (gave up on that TV series). Edited noon-2. Said I’d call my dad around 3, kept it shorter today. Sent my uncle (Dad’s brother) a text acknowledging a birthday message, should call him soon too. Worked on radio show for an hr, got to about 40 min., took a break for dinner, went back to it, close to 1:30 - need another set before the (long) Dutch improv track I’m ending with. Emailed KSPC to let them know the show would be in by Sat. Did the crossword and tidied desk/room (CDs everywhere) while listening to jazz piano lessons; will start on week 6 of the course tomorrow. A few other loose ends (like posting this and the scant Nov./Dec. reading list) so I won’t have to do them in the morning. Lights out just before midnight.
(P.S. - I have no idea why I have been dating posts to November for most of December; I changed a few, will go back through more of the month when I have time.)
12/30
Up for a while around 3. Did the Spelling Bee and listened to a reading of Dogen. Got back to sleep - up 9, felt quite tired. Breakfast, coffee. Got into a couple twitter things I probably needn’t have (what Fred Moten and Adrian Piper think about Kant, for instance). There might have been a nap in here somewhere. Sat 20 min. Read a bit of How to Raise and Ox. Edited for an hr. Had a call w/ Evan Kindley, ostensibly to talk about his book proposal but really just to catch up. Therapy w/ Bree. Watched just a bit of the Ronald Colman version of Kipling’s The Light That Failed. Spent a couple hours ripping CDs/picking songs for next radio show - it’s come up quickly. Managed to get the USB interface on the turntable, ripped 3 songs. The physical set-up in the living room is not convenient. Discovered I had somehow signed up for a year of Amazon Prime, I’m really not sure how. So I watched, in between other things, an episode of some show from last year called The Affair - kind of a Big Little Lies vibe. Took out trash, short walk outside. Read the last few poems in Commotion of the Birds. Watched (really, listened to) the end of the show while doing the crossword.