12.15.17

Full day. Up 7. Left w/ Bree before 9:30; she was going to physical therapy.

Read Blue Bloods on the train (throughout day). Therapy. Met Bree at Walter Reade for Now, Voyager (Irving Rapper 1942), which I’d unaccountably never seen. Relatable (actually, I was close to tears for much of the running time). Had coffee together nearby, she went home, I went downtown to check out the holiday record sale at the Archive of Recorded Music. It had been going on for several days, and the pickings were fairly slim, which is fine given my dislike of collector/hoarder crowds. Came out with Gilberto Gil, Carlos Gardel, and Tim Lee CDs, LPs of Peter Maxwell Davies, Eight Songs for a Mad King (w/ Julius Eastman), the soundtrack to A Patch of Blue, and a copy of Berliner, Thinking About Jazz. Had a bite at a cabbie joint; got a coffee and a free cookie, got back into Poincaré. Walked around the corner to the “Speech Acts” event at Triple Canopy, a reading/panel associated with a show at ICA in Philly (which I won’t be seeing; might track down the Futurepoem catalog). Chatted with Dan Machlin and Serena Jost beforehand. Tiona Nekkia McClodden, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Morgan Parker, and Simone White. Rasheed, about whom I knew nothing, extremely lucid, quality of discussion otherwise uneven – I thought Parker and White were saying almost diametrically opposed things about linearity and genealogy, w/o acknowledging it. Someone said that as a black woman, she was speaking a language (English) that she wasn’t intended to speak; tendentious way to use “intended” (by?), but it formulates something that might be said about music too. Stopped by E77 on the way home. Read up to ½ way point in Crawford (a book I’m not sure I like much), another 50 p. of Blue Bloods, and heard some bluegrass. Home at 11.

12.14.17

Up 7. At E77 for a while, read to about 67 of Poincaré (beginning of chapter on “Chance”; his determinism is showing) + a chunk of Blue Bloods (takes less that ¼ of the book to get past her first two marriages, which left her with enough money to fuck up her kids lives). Daybook. Got back before noon – really should have turned around and gone somewhere to write, but got involved online and wrote more EMP comments. Made it out to Lucid from 4-7, but only completed one graf and started a new one. Not the use of a day w/o appointments or events that I’d hoped. Read on in Poincaré and Lynne Crawford in the evening. Unusually tired; dropped off around 11 trying to listen to a GTD podcast (though I’ve basically broken the productivity-porn habit).

12.13.17

Up 7:30. At E77 an hr. or so later, finished Robins. The longer poem “Circus” (that I read last night) gives a possibly deceptive impression of larger, sustained organization through a reference-shifting placeholder, “Q.” Otherwise – verse. State names; imaginings from the warmth of the domestic bed. I’m being unfair, but a lot of it slid off me, and I’m not actually sure the couplet thing plays that well w/ his sense of syntax. Posted a bunch of these entries, caught up on daybook, Shazam’ed what turns out to be Postmodern Jukebox’s version of “This Must Be The Place,” and an A Camp song I liked quite a bit. (I may have that CD.) Wrote to the rest of the band w/ a link to the November rough mixes. Read a few pages each of Lynn Crawford, Fortification Resort and Henri Poincaré, Science and Method (just Bertrand Russell’s foreword and the author’s introduction.)

Took train to Lincoln Center to see 2 in their melodrama series w/ Bree, Only Yesterday (John M. Stahl 1933; loosely based on the same novel as Letter From an Unknown Woman) and Back Street (Robert Stevenson 1941), both w/ Margaret Sullavan (the first was her film debut). Could say a lot, and a good conversation about them w/ Bree but I’ll leave it at: If you sleep with someone who’s leaving town, make sure you don’t miss their boat the next morning. Also, Frank McHugh is one of my favorite actors. In between, we went over to the library so Bree could see the photos from 1950s productions of Balanchine’s Nutcracker, because she’s so devoted to Bob Baker’s puppet version in L.A. Had just enough time to check out Blue Blood, a biography of the arts patron/occasional composer/crazy rich lady Rebekah Harkness (explaining why would take too long; file under Subjects for Further Exploration).

Got a bite at Spicy Tibet on the way home. Nothing of note in the evening. Read to about p. 30 of Poincare before bed: “Who can tell that what we believe to be simple does not conceal the most alarming complexity?” (18). Lights out 11:30.

12.12.17

Up before 7, worked at E77 about 8:30-12. Did some ok revision/sharpening on the section so far, and added 600 words. Came back, tried to get going on some mundane things, ended up finishing the Everett. Might be one of his best books, next to Watershed, of the ½ his output I’ve read. Also read a sample chapter of Deloria and Olson, American Studies: A User’s Guide (dl’ed from publisher); I’m not certain it’s the intro I need. Got into a couple hrs. of email organization. Wrote to Corey Fogel about playing w/ me and Dan Clucas at the Battery in Pasadena in Jan. Ordered Pete Blegvad’s new record. Listened to a Blue Note comp of boogie woogie and stride, though Sammy Benkin’s “The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise” is a stretch by that definition. Unfamiliar highlight: James P. Johnson, “Mule Walk (Stomp).” Wrote to relatives about Rosina; I doubt we’ll be back in CA in time for the services. Reshelved some records I’d been sorted. It looks like my collection divides into about 9 categories: rock (all eras); jazz (all eras) and (very little) blues; soul/r&b/funk (not enough disco or hip-hop vinyl for a separate section) folk/country/roots; musical theater/standards/cabaret; classical; Latin/int’l; spoken word/kids’ records (though most of those are Bree’s/oddities (advertising records, etc.); New Wave Time Capsule. Could break out commies/agitprop (Paul Robeson, Weimar, &c.) despite overlap w/ folk, pre-jazz (e.g. ragtime), and piano jazz.

Can imagine having gotten a lot more done from, say, 3-8. Read Robins on train to Wmsbg., met Drew and Katie for his birthday at Skinny Dennis, watched a set and change by Zephania Ohora and his Last Roundup Boys (almost all Merle Haggard songs, except for a request for “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain” he read off his phone). Good singer (he’s sat in w/ Laura, I said hi), more Willie than Merle, tight band (2 teles, pianist who turned out to be a fair hand on guitar as well when he switched, jazz-ringer bass player ala Jeremy, idiomatically subdued drummer). Stayed a couple hrs; 2 Guinnesses. Now I just have to get out to see Smokey Hormel and Thirsty Dave. Home/lights out 1 am.

[Mick Moloney, “Along the Rocky Road to Dublin” to Orquesta de Felipe Valdez, “Alza Colombia”]

12.11.17

Up before 8. Had to call Bree’s insurance provider for info, and write a related letter. On hold for a while, but I got my questions answered. Got out just before 10. Read second 1/3 of Everett on train, which skipped Times Square. Learned about the bomb scare later. Took longer route; started working on some EMP comments at coffee. Therapy, lunch. Wanted another coffee, but a couple of spots were crowded; same near Lincoln Center. Finally found somewhere, did the rest of the comments about 2-4. Necessary, but also aware it was procrastination against putting a real day of work in on the book. Went to 3rd floor of library at 4:30. Waited for an annoying conversation at the info desk to end. Worked until 7:45, not much more than 400 words.

Stopped in the Columbus Circle Whole Foods for a bite and to bring home some fruit for Bree (after calling her to ask if she needed anything). Overspent. Some real kooks hang out in the eating area down there, including a man who had used their toaster/broiler to make what looked like half a boule swimming w/ melted cheese, and two possibly related guys, the older with a reddish weave and the younger with a Caesar, both with Jersey accents, asking Siri whether members of the Carol Burnett Show cast were dead or alive. Read that “Cat Person” story on the train. Home around 9. Didn’t do anything much but catch up with Bree. Lights out around 11.