Soon to be Ex-Octopi and girly shopping

I am becoming crepuscular.

I could get used to that, if I didn't have to go to work tomorrow at nine and stick it out 'till five. Work and a crepuscular schedule don't fit together well. This is why rabbits can never hold down a steady job.

I had a good and reasonably productive weekend despite the heat. My folks' yard party wasn't nearly as happenin' as usual; presumably people were passed out in front of their fans at home. I don't blame them. Still, I played some great tunes with Anthea, Lawson, and Tom Dulcimer (though he brought the bouzouki instead, this time). My boss from TRL came, which was really nice of her. Even better, the party coaxed ribbitkisser down, and she stayed over and hung out this morning.

westrider, ribbitkisser and I had breakfast at the market, and then Des and I went shopping. I know, I know, it's so girly, and you always end up spending way more money than you intend to. Still, every once in awhile girls just need to have a morning out at Home Depot. Guys just can't understand.

Anyway, I picked up a nice full spectrum florescent shop light, and after Des started back up to Seattle I installed it in the basement. Even in the basement I broke a sweat. Yi-uck. I'm trying to set up a painting area in the basement, in the north corner by the little window. The light is very bright (hooray for new advanced technology florescent tubes!), but since the ceiling is fairly close to the work I got a lot of glare along the top of the painting I used as a tester. I'll leave the light as-is until I purchase a weasel, and that will give me a better idea of where I need it to fall.

After standing in my sprinkler for ten minutes (and inviting my small neighbors to run through it, which they did), I went up for a nap, dozed for awhile, and then dug into the book I've been reading.

I've been chugging through this novel for over a week, rather than finishing it in a few days. This is sadder when you know it's suggested reading for nine to ten year-olds. This is cooler when you know it's in French. I was hooked when the fifteen year-old kid revived his concussed eleven year-old friend with his "little flask of armagnac, strictly reserved for important occasions." Currently my five young heroes (quatres garcons, une fille), having been underground for a few days, are systematically exterminating all animal life on a small island. They already ate one rabbit, which they startled into running into a rock and concussing itself (I'd have trouble suspending disbelief if it was any animal but a rabbit). Now they've set traps for the other rabbits, dug/built fish traps, eaten their fill of fresh mussels, and are going after an octopus.

Well, y'know the French and their food...

But that's my tune!

I rarely post twice in one day, but I just have to show this off.

I was looking to see if Anthea had a webpage up at the moment, and found a mention of Fiddlehead's latest recording on thesession.org. Now, Fiddlehead's latest recording's title track is a tune I wrote, so of course I was interested. It turns out that someone from Texas transcribed my tune from Anthea's CD and uploaded it to thesession.org, and 15 people have added it to their virtual tunebooks!

The tune appear more or less as I wrote it, thought there are some notes in there I hold rather than breaking up, and some things that are definatley bow-triples that aren't marked. What's more amusing for me, naturally is the small comments section.

"This was written by someone up in olympia, Washington state in the us. Washington state lays on the Juan de Fuca plate, hence the name."

I'm a someone. It's there in print.

And as you all of course know, it's named for the strait of Juan de Fuca, not the geological feature. That would be why it's called "Over the Strait of Juan de Fuca", or more commonly around Oly "Over the Straits".

I am officially a part of the oral tradition.

Only it's digital.

Go figure.