Woke up around 8. Didn’t try to write on Christmas, but Bree was doing physical therapy, so I read a bit more of Beiser. Watched part of a TV production of Ibsen’s Ghosts w/ Judi Dench et al. Called Dad for Christmas around 1:30, talked for an hr. Tried my aunt and uncle, left a message. Had a Zoom call w/ another cousin and her family around 3. Listened to maybe half of the first disc of Robert Ashley’s Private Parts — want to excerpt something to pay tribute to Blue “Gene” Tyranny. Wrote a little year-end stock-taking I intended to post on fb on my birthday. Had Christmas dinner (we ordered it yesterday) w/ Bree, played some Gene Autry and assorted campy Christmas songs (e.g. Wilf Carter’s “Punkinhead”). Modest gift exchange. Bree gave me some vintage monogrammed cufflinks (presumably from Esty), I got her a book about Judy Canova and a few CDs (Connie Francis, Alec Wilder, Chet Atkins). Pie for dessert. 1 p. Poetry notebook (might have been earlier). Called Ron in CA. Crossword, lights out 11.
12/24
Up 8. Worked about 10-1, same section. Inching along - this might be another one to send. Participated in a holiday call w/ Bree’s parents and a neighbor (in their pod, I guess/hope?) who played some Xmas songs we sung along with, latency be damned; after he got tired, I played “The Christmas Song” and “White Christmas.” Tried to read a bit w/o much luck. Sitting meditation 15 min.
Spent about 3:30-5 pm working on getting this new audio interface (Scarlett Focusrite) working w/ Logic and my digital piano. (I’m talking about this mundane stuff b/c this is the ‘process’ page.) D/l’ed relevant software, watched some instructional videos, was able to get audio throughput and hear myself playing along w/ the Superchunk track, but didn’t actually get anything recorded — not sure I understand the various track input settings in Logic, so that will be the next step. Other issues: the interface I got, I think the model is called 2i2, let’s you record 2 inputs at once, e.g. a vocal and an instrument, but doesn’t have a way to record one instrument in stereo, which is really what I should do for the piano. So I probably need the next step up. Also considering recording MIDI so they can replace the sample when mixing; also need some cords for that. I should talk to Ron about some of this. Emailed Mac an update.
Spent an hr. organizing office and updating to-do list before dinner. Watched half of a 1963 Judy Garland Xmas special w/ Bree. Not much in evening. Crossword, 1 p. poetry notebook, 2 short JA poems: “I used to be a slightly handsome boy, then/this happened.” Lights out 11:30.
12/23
Up 9, breakfast/coffee, read a few p. Baiser. Worked on Adorno section about 11-2. Not sure what to do. Made a phone video w/ Bree, singing one of my dad’s Xmas songs at the piano, to send him. Not a “performance,” so it didn’t take as long as Bree’s benefit song. Also sent it. Read maybe 20 p. of Beiser. Cleaned stove before Bree made bok choy/mushroom soup; had some, visited. Watched another piano lesson, practiced - a bit of ear training (rolling intervals are hard, need more practice) scales, more blues. I should write down the blues scale in, e.g., Ab, but working on it by ear is worthwhile too. Played a couple of “Stella By Starlight” w/ metronome, fairly quick - less forgiving than what I’ve been doing. That’s really about it - I’m sort of surfeiting myself on Zen videos, so that will free up some time. Walk outside, crossword (about 20 min.). 1 p. poetry notebook. Lights out midnight.
12/22
Up 9. Worked 11-2, finished “Transition and Retransition” section, looked more at Adorno section — maybe I really do have to slash it by half. Made some sauce (from canned tomatoes, still better than jarred). Read another 10-15 p. of Beiser’s Hegel. Watched a piano lesson and practiced - scales, blues in Ab (hard) and Bb (not hard). Also went through one of the 2-part inventions I’ve played off and on for the last 3 years w/ metronome. Still 2 bars that I’m not reliable on, so I did separate hands a few times. I’ll get it. More Beiser. Good, plainspoken book, so far. Wrote Christmas card to my dad (won’t get there until after Friday, but we’ll talk before that). Took out a lot of trash and recycling; took card to mailbox; crossword; short walk outside. Wrote 1 p. In notebook (more song lyric than poem). Lights out 11.
12/21
Up at 10. Breakfast/coffee. Had to change a delivery order for Bree. Worked about noon-2, almost finished w/ this section, though tempted to add something. Practiced “Music In My Meals” for a bit waiting for Bree to get ready. Interrupted that for therapy, 3-4 (which I thought was cancelled for Xmas this week instead of next week). Resumed, finally got an acceptable take, helped Bree send the file from her phone, finished about 6. But then it took at least an hour to get the video from Bree’s phone to the recipient (b/c of size and her email server). More time than I wanted to spend on all that, but it’s done.
Not much to say about the evening; didn’t get down to any meaningful reading. Crossword, short walk outside. Promised myself I was going to start writing a daily notebook poem (1 fairly short page, about 20 lines?) on the solstice, made myself do that. Lights out about 11, listened to an audiobook of Dogen (the eds. Introduction, actually).