Music

I mentioned that I was going to take a "moderation in all things" approach to life this coming year. One of the reasons for this decision is the fact that the amount of money I spend on music isn't sustainable. I keep very good track of how much money I spend online, but I rarely add it up because I really don't want to know what the totals are. I just added up the amount spent on items I'm still waiting for (meaning they were either preorders or things I've recently ordered), and the total money involved in just these is $750.00. I'm a little afraid to add up the rest.

It's not just the money spent either, although that's a big part of it. It's also the fact that I don't really have time to listen to all of this music properly. Sure, I listen to everything I buy, and I enjoy it all to one degree or another, but sometimes months or years will pass before I re-listen to some of them. Gone are the days where something lives on my turntable (or CD player, etc.) for weeks while I listen to it again and again. I want to bring those days back. This means I have to get a lot more selective about what I buy this coming year.

I'm getting to the age where there is most likely less time in my future than there was in my past. Now that's a thought to give one pause... It's time to focus more on what I have, and less on what I want. I do enjoy supporting all of the musicians who are making great music, but damn, there sure are a lot of them.

Miles

One of my accomplishments this year was finally completing the "Walk to Mordor" challenge of walking 1,779 miles like the Hobbits supposedly did. That was months ago, of course, and I started it years ago.

This year alone, I walked 812 miles. Those are the miles I logged, anyway. I probably walked more. A while back, Jeanine got me a Fitbit that worked for awhile, and then ceased functioning. For Christmas, she got me another, better one, so I'm back in business. It really does inspire movement of all kinds. I haven't set any specific exercise goals for 2016, but I will.

My basic all-encompassing goal for 2016 is "moderation in all things". There will be multiple subsections.

Arbitrary Endings, Arbitrary Beginnings...

Weirdly, I sometimes feel like I'm playing catch-up with books and music. I buy so many that sometimes I'm surrounded by piles of one or the other that I haven't had time to enjoy. One of my goals for the forthcoming year is to consume at a more sedate pace, and produce more (when have I heard that before?, you ask). There are more musical notes and written words out there than I'll ever be able to process. Maybe I need to be more selective. I want to write more, and maybe even record some music. I've done a lot of the former already, but precious little of the latter.

Here, on the last day of 2015, is a picture of Willow, recently arisen from bed and expressing a desire not to be photographed. She is surrounded by the comforting clutter of our home environment.

Brian the Bold Adventurer

Brian knows how to get into the rafters, but not how to get down. Typical. I have some perforations around my hands and wrists.

Portraits

Here are some photos taken by my friend Wayne over the weekend.

Me:

Eva:

Pressed For All Time

I spend a lot of time reading, both at home and at work. Goodreads helps me keep track of what I've read, and comes in handy when I wonder exactly how many books I've read in a given year. This year I read 73 books, or 28,058 pages. It doesn't have a breakdown of how many words that is. Here's the page with the list of books. I read a lot more fiction than nonfiction. The line is often blurred anyway. There is a lot of truth in fiction, and a lot of... interpretation (to put it kindly) in nonfiction.

Speaking of reading, I recently got a 1919 edition of Algernon Blackwood's "Pan's Garden", and as I was flipping through it, I discovered that the previous owner had used it to press flowers. Considering that it's a book of nature stories, I guess it's appropriate. I thought it was interesting enough that I'm not even irritated that some of the pages are stained. It adds to the character of the book, I think.

I've got a cold right now, although it's not a horrible one. I'm not working again until New Year's Day, and then only for a few hours. Today, I'm going for a walk to mail a bill payment and get some supplies at the pet store.

Before and After

After a couple of days acting as site supervisor up at camp, I stepped aside and spent time with friends, took a trip to San Francisco with Jeanine, Eva, and Eva's friend Michelle (to eat a meal in Chinatown and do some record shopping at Amoeba), and then once again gathered with friends to eat some deep dish pizza (jalapeno and pineapple actually goes quite well together).

While walking back to the car, I was wondering aloud why we kept hearing Motorhead (first at Amoeba, and then blasting forth from some other store we passed), and Eva replied, "it's because Lemmy just died". If it's possible to be shocked and not shocked at the same time, that's how I felt. It's like having an ailing relative who keeps hanging in there well past all expectations to the contrary, until one day the struggle suddenly ceases. Today, I'm going to spend some time with my pile of Motorhead records.

Lemmy joins musicians Vic Chesnutt and Lhasa de Sela, who also died around this time of year, Chesnutt on Christmas Day, 2009, and Lhasa on New Year's Day, 2010.

It was cold this morning, in this new Lemmy-less world. There was frost on the roof and the yard has that wintery moistness so common this time of year. The chickens don't seem to care. Chickens are quite imperturbable, unless there are hawks around.

Quoth the...

Jeanine got me this nice raven nightlight for Christmas. She tends to buy gifts whenever she comes across them, whereas I generally do most of my shopping at the last minute. Jeanine's way is better, although sometimes so much time passes that she forgets what she has bought. This little guy languished in some forgotten corner for half a decade before being exhumed and wrapped.

Eyes On Us

Whenever I get the feeling I'm being stared at, I turn around and see this:

This clown lives in the struggling indoor foliage, malevolently glaring at us, waiting for the right moment to do something that I'm sure will manage to be simultaneously comical and terrifying.

Nearby are hundreds of little plastic eyes, staring blankly from the faces of Jeanine's other Pez people.

Aftermath

The house is a mess. For the next week or so, I'm acting as a site supervisor for a meditation group who is renting our site for the week. It doesn't look like I'll have to do it every day though. Not that it's hard, but it I'd rather be doing things at home or elsewhere because this is traditionally a vacation week for me.

I could start with cleaning up the living room. Or not.

After the unwrapping festivities on Christmas, we had a meal, followed by a short trek over to eat dessert with cousin Peter and family. Yum. It's still a novelty having relatives nearby. I like it. They're moving slightly farther away in around a month though. Right now, they're walking distance away, if one doesn't mind a long walk. When they move into their new house, they'll be driving distance away.

Merry

Older kids let the parents sleep in, but they're still pretty happy when they unwrap gifts. A happy Yule to all, and to all a good night.

Guilty

Brian sure looks guilty about something. Maybe he is guilty of wanting to snack on the lizard.

Willow is spending Christmas Eva at her mom's house this year. Greg is spending it here. In true "war on Christmas" spirit, I wish you all happy holidays.

Metal

This is the little metal guy who lives on our hearth. I guess he's kind of a steampunk house hob or something...

We've never actually had a fire in our fireplace. Jeanine's not a big fan of fires, mostly due to the smoke. As for me, whenever I've lived in a place without a fireplace, I've wanted to have one, but whenever I've lived in a place with a fireplace, I've more or less ignored it. I'm not sure why.

Keys to the Underdogworld

Yesteryear's utilitarian objects become today's decorations. I've always had an affection for old, rusty objects. I've also always had an affection for the underdog. I can trace this all the way back to early childhood. When I was in preschool, while on the playground, I could always be found riding the oldest, most decrepit tricycle. Missing wheel? Check. Loose handlebars? Check. More rust than paint? Check.

Nobody needs to speak up for the new and the shiny. Give your love to those who need it most.

Website

A smart spider plans ahead, making a web near an outdoor light where insects are sure to congregate.

Are you a smart spider?

So it begins...

Windows to Other Worlds

Today is a lazy Sunday, with gray skies occasionally sprinkling us with rain. I actually went to a Christmas party last night, where good food and good conversation was had. It was up in the hills of Oakland, and I had to brave rush hour traffic (on a Saturday? What the hell?) to get there, and later got stuck in traffic behind a couple of accidents on the way to drop Greg off at another party.

Willow is back from her girl scout camping/sleepover. Not sure what else we'll do today.

Here is a picture of a collection of ideas. Books are windows to other worlds.

While We Sleep

Despite not having to work, I more or less stayed awake all night last night, first reading and then tossing and turning until a rainy sunrise glowed through the gaps in the curtains. Then, I slept until noon.

Sometime while I was sleeping, Jeanine took these pictures. By the time I had gotten up, she had left for work, but the photos awaited me in my inbox.

On an unrelated note, here's a close-up of the freezer door. Magnetic surfaces sure end up cluttered.

A leaden blanket of clouds was visible to the north before sunset, and rain is promised. I didn't get out of bed until 5:00 PM today, and I feel like I'm coming down with a cold. I'm done with work until after Christmas.

I've been working on the caramel flavored coffee that Jeanine got me for my birthday, using a mug that she got me sometime earlier, all while bathed in the harsh light of my desk lamp.

It's already time to go lock the chicken coop for the night. I should have gotten up earlier, especially since I'm going to be on a daytime schedule for at least a couple of weeks.

Yule Be Sorry, Or Maybe Not

When I was young, it was always important to me to find the biggest Christmas tree possible (my reasoning went something like: bigger tree = more room for presents), and that notion stuck with me for much of my adult life. I was somewhat cured of it when I lived in a studio apartment, since a big tree meant that not only was there less room for presents, but less room to get in and out of the front door and move around the living space.

For the last couple of years, we've just been using Jeanine's little plastic tree, and strangely, it doesn't bother me. It's cheaper and easier, and when it's lit up, it looks just fine. Expediency trumps tradition. The holiday season seems shorter every year, although if one bases the beginning of the season upon when the advertising starts, it is actually getting longer and longer.

Tonight is my last night of work for the year (barring a little bit of work as site supervisor for a meditation group renting our site between Christmas and New Year's Eve).