Category: Blog

Well, it’s mid-September. I’m getting really, really bad at writing this, mostly because of work and the baby. I don’t have a lot of time at work to write journals, and when I’m at home I’m taking care of the baby, cleaning, running errands,or flying my kite. Time is flying like the wind-the baby is almost 8 months, is pretty much crawling, and is really noisy. We’re starting to get the house ready for crawling & walking baby, and redecorating (we’re going to do some Feng Shui stuff, too…)

In the news-we’re going to AKA grand nationals in October-I came in 3rd in the division, which means an invitation to compete. I’ve been trying to practice every week, but I need to practice every day, now. The routine is coming along very well-most times I can nail most of it. More work is needed to nail all of it all the time-I’m not sure if I have the time to do that, though…

Uhhhh, lessee, we’re moving the office 1st of October to Irvine Spectrum. I’m really busy working on the project-it looks really nice. People will be happy. We had a visitor this last week-I was in meetings all the time.

What we’ve done since June-lotsa shopping, TV watching and baby care. We visited my parents a few times, and they visited here, too. Some kite flying-we went to Berkeley end of July-I DQ’ed because the wind died. We had fun and went to Napa, so the weekend wasn’t a total loss. I got rid of most of the stuff I had for sale-no one was buying, so we gave it away. We went to the Long Beach Renaissance fair-I bought a didgeridu for travel. We went to the Orange county fair and I got a didge there, too. I can play it pretty well. We had several people over for Labor Day, everyone had a great time and I did the usual masterful job of grilling. We went to a stupid homeshow and I snuck in-we did see a nice camper van. My car died-needed clutch stuff-it also needs fuel injection stuff anda radiator and oil pan-the joy of an aging machine…We went to a La Leche League breakfast and walk-I helped make pancakes and we saw the midwife we fired. We went camping in mid-August by Ojai-it was nice but Erika hated it. We gave Erika’s best friend’s daughtera bike for her birthday-she’s 4. I got a ultralight kite for my birthday.

We changed the computer set around-Erika has her own email and we switched to MSN for access (it was $40 for 3 months, unlimited access). Her email is iamthewindwidow@hotmail.com …Next week is the 1st competition for 2000 in San Diego, wish me luck-I have to compete masters… That’s just about it-my parents are in Turkey and we’ve got their car & we’re going up there to check in on things.

Well, it’s the end of June, and I haven’t written this since March…Whatever-I’ve been rather busy, what with a new baby and work.

Lesseeeeeee-cack, I’ll try to work backwards-wife & baby are sick right now-colds. Busy flying my kite & getting ready for next week’s competition and Berkeley at the end of the month. Took the baby to a new peds Dr.-Dr. Sears. The boy is 16#4, 26″ & healthy. Went swimming at my parents’ last week. Erika got new pots & pans. Week before that was Father’s Day-I got to go to the beach alone & got a pair of sunglasses. Then there was the Cajun festival (we had backstage passes). Memorial day was at the Ren fair. I started a new job on 5/24-programming in Delphi for Quest Software in Newport Beach. I like it. Before THAT, I really can’t remember exactly. Did the gamelan concert, visited my parents, worked a lot, flew my kite, won the competition at Huntington. Took care of the baby, went to little fair, saw Glass do Monsters of Grace again. Went to a few parties, had some dinners out w/the baby (Mother’s Day at Christie’s-the baby was great), saw Sidecar play really late at the studio with Dolores Haze. The boy is growing rapidly-he’s really strong & moving ahead nicely-his teeth are on their way, he babbles a lot, he can almost sit unassisted & stands with support. He can push up just a little. Not much else, I’m working away at Quest, looking forward to Berkeley. If I continue to do well, I might go to Nationals!

March-more time flies by…I’m tired all the time, as is Erika. It’s a lot of work taking care of a newborn-and I don’t have the half of it. Busy working-going to NY at the end of the month. Getting stuff done around the house-flying more-there’s a comp at the end of March too, and a wedding. Not a lot else-gamelan tonight.

Almost halfway through February-it’s been a really, really busy few weeks-both Erika and I have been very tired-I come home & we collapse. I wake up a few times a night when she’s feeding him and take him occasionally to quiet him down. We’ve been out to lunch twice with the baby & he’s been nice & quiet. We visited my dad Sunday-the Harrell’s were down & we had brunch. We also went to a bridal shower for a friend of Erika’s. Saturday we walked to an Italian restaurant & the visited the studio (to show off the baby, of course). They had a cute young dog that they found. We went to the doctor’s on Thursday, the boy’s fine-he weighs 7#2 & is 20″…I’m finally done with the big install-time to relax. Not much else-time to get back to work.

Here it is the end of January. It’s been rather eventful, and it isn’t over yet. Lessee if I can remember what went on. The BIG news is that we had the baby-what an amazing and intense experience THAT was. He’s named Mathias Winfield, and he’s healthy and hungry (6#7, 19″, 1/23/99 2:30, L.A-for those who like that stuff). He’s really cute-I’ll post pics when I get my scanner up. We had a bit of a scare, too-Erika was starting to push & the boy’s heart rate dropped alarmingly-we rushed to the hospital-and for the next 5 hours it only dropped when Erika was having contractions. It turned out to be that he had a very short umbilical cord which stretched when she pushed and slowed his blood flow. Anyways, everything turned out OK, and we have a baby! I am SO tired and have been for the past week. It’s also been hectic at work-two separate installations are going on at the same time-I’ve been working way late-not good on Erika, but lucrative (well, sorta lucrative.) What else-saw Koyaanisqatsi at Royce with the Glass Ensemble playing-it was really good. Visited the studio-messing with my computer-Ken wants his old one back-it’ll cost him some $$$, though. Saw Baraka, too-really good-definitely see it if you can. Cleaned out the attic-dirty and tiring, but more stuff for the sale, and a lot of trash.

It’s a New Year! Well, I guess it is, but not in caps. We’ll see. I’m already sick of hearing Prince’s “1999”-I liked it in ’83, but no longer-Prince has much stronger work elsewhere…whatever, I’m still sick of it. So, the nooz is: Erika is effaced & 1 cm dilated-Jeanie (the midwife) doesn’t know when, but it’ll be soon. The holidays went OK-both sets of ‘rents visited on different days, got some good presents, went to some good parties, spent New Year’s like last year (except for the Vegas trip), and the usual laze. I did make up the on sale list, which will appear here soon-I also moved all the stuff into my moribund office. Not much else-waiting for the baby-and all associated with that.

Winter solstice today-got a card from the Derry’s. Not much else-the run up to Christmas. Busy working, shopping. Work is testing new interface & squashing bugs, though I’ll be making enhancements this week. Shopping is now done-we were so good & got most stuff 2 weeks ago, sent out cards & everything. Went to two parties so far-Erika’s work & a friend. Getting the place clean too-cleaned up the onsale stuff-look for a list of them in the next few weeks. Lotsa lights up & the tree-got all the presents wrapped, too. Looks like a busy week. Found out the Monsters of Grace is coming again-got tix (v4.0, though they should call it v1.1-whatever). Erika’s been going to a physical therapist & chiropractor-she messed her back up working & her right arm was going numb-the chiropractor has helped a lot. The baby is busy cooking-he’s a whirlwind-it’s an exciting time. It looks like the ‘rents on Christmas-both sets at different times. New Year’s looks like Merlin’s…That’s all-happy Solstice & New Year!

Sitting, waiting for a call-hope it’s soon-I wanna go home. Working, working, working. Last day of gamelan class last night-Erika came with me. She actually liked the music! Surprise, surprise. I’m getting better and more in sync-I can hear all the instruments now, and come in much better. I’ve been doing this now a little more than 3 years, and I might move into the beginner’s class for reong. We’ll see…What else? Erika left her job yesterday-her back is really hurting, and work just makes it worse. She’s sort of sad about leaving, though. We did most of our Christmas shopping over the weekend, and sent out Christmas cards, too. Glad to get that out of the way. Next is the day itself-we’re having it at home-we’ll see who shows up-more to come. We saw Wolf on Saturday-their Xmas party is 12/26… We got the tree up Sunday-it looks nice. That’s it for now-bye.

A month since the last report-I’ve been busy. Busy writing C++ code, busy traveling, busy, busy, busy. I need a break bad. What’s happened-not much-I went to Kauai for a week and a bit, went Ojai Thanksgiving for our honeymoon, gamelan, lunches & dinners, and not a lot else… The baby’s getting Erika down-she’s tired, and the baby’s very active, and her back hurts from sitting at a desk all day. Not much-I got a notice for my 15th college reunion-getting old, I’d say.

Another week half over. I am SO tired. Erika is too-fallout from the wedding, I guess. It was very nice-it’s weird to get all these people together-most of whom don’t know each other. I’ll prolly post pics… Anyways, not much else-working, went to gamelan last night-I’m a little slow, but I’ll get back into it quick. That’s it-I got email from Alan Watt last week, & it’s Erika’s birthday today.

Standing at work, my back is killing me. I was laid out all day yesterday. I think I got it folding clothes Monday night, but my back has been hurting for a while-a combination of no exercise and sitting all day. This has happened before, so it’s not like I can’t deal with it, but it is a pain. Oh whell.

So, what’s happening? The wedding is coming up-we did some more shopping over the weekend, got our first gifts yesterday. Went to Wayang Listrik Saturday-the usual gamelan suspects. It was quite good-more like a movie than a regular wayang. Went to gamelan last Tuesday-it’s split into advanced and beginner-so I can go later-that makes me quite happy. There’s also a Java class, but it’s at 3, so I can’t go-damn. Got a new Rev II Sunday-my current one is falling apart. Erika had a pre natal last night-everything’s OK…Not much else-walked Ken through converting WAV files for the third time-I hope he gets it this time. Their web site is up-Sunday is doing the coding. That’s it-next week I’ll be married!

Sitting at work, waiting. Same as always. Whatever. So, what’s new? I’m getting married Nov 1. Erika decided this a few weeks ago-we’ve been busy getting everything together. Otherwise it’s: work, shopping. I went to the Whirling Dervishes Saturday & flew kites yesterday. Not much else going on-the usual…

Sitting at work, waiting. I really, really dislike this system just for that. Another week passes, so what. Not much went on-got my car back-hadda spend $700 on maintenance & wheel bearings. I’m now overdrawn until I get paid on Friday. Went to an air show on Saturday-cool to see aerobatics, the B2 & its predecessor. Lotsa kite people there, too-flew with the quadline guys in a team-well, sort of. I’d like to geta pair or team together-we’ve got enough good fliers in the area… Gamelan started this week-I didn’t go-next week for sure. Not much else-waiting…

Sitting at work, listening to Ravi Shankar…-not much going on-busy working. Getting to the end of this project. I’m tired.

Not much has happened-went to Laurie Anderson on Friday, it was a clone of the show she did at the Terrace a few years ago. OK, if a bit loud in places. I’m waiting for her next big production. Went to the last Dodgers game of the season on Sunday with my ‘rents-not very exciting… Took my car into the shop-lots wrong-shot bearings are the worst of it. Had to get a shitty rental car. Went to Bergstroms for baby registry. Ack.

Well, here it is the end of September-I haven’t touched any of my web stuff since the end of ’97, & I’m starting again (well, maybe…) I’ve put up some new pictures, changed my bio a bit, & I’ll update the rest soon.

So, what’s happened in 9 months, you ask… Quite a bit. Erika moved in with me, we’re having a boy in February, I’m working in Anaheim (not for long, I hope). I haven’t done much for Jabbz lately, I spend most of my time at home or shopping.

Lessee, as far as events go, I’ve been in 3 kite competitions, won one, came on 2nd in one, and 6th in another. Went to Berkeley for the festival there end of July, Vegas at New Years, Sta. Barbara wine country Memorial Day (Erika got pregnant there), San Diego for a kite competition. We’ve been to several Hollywood Bowl concerts, OOSoul a few times, the new Glass/Wilson opera. I’m going to Laurie Anderson Friday. Visited my parents a bunch, got rings, ate out a lot, shopped a lot, flew my kites some, slept a lot, worked a lot, drove a lot, not much else.

As far as everything else goes-I’m pretty happy (all things said). I’m not really happy working, as I’m getting paid squat, but I’m working to change that. I’m looking forward to the baby, THAT’LL be a new and exciting experience. Thank GOD Erika has experience with babies…I still love flying kites, and I’m good at it. I haven’t exercised in forever, and I’m gaining weight. That’s gotta change. I’ve still got a ton of stuff in my living room that’s gotta go-this weekend. There are other larger problems that remain unaddressed as well… I suppose I should get back to work, too.

Whew, it’s the end of the month, the end of the year. Where did it go? Why am I still here? Who knows, who cares, why bother… My non-attachment increases. At least I’m not giving away all my stuff… Next.

What’s happened since the last??? Lessee. The journal sez: made CD’s for Jabbz, destroyed my Mac & hadda start from scratch (I made a CD when I got it back and wiped it clean-a good thang to do occasionally…), went to New Mexico on work-missed 2 flights!, Xmas parties-Erika’s work & Jabbz, found a kitten outside, Christmas with both sets of parents (not at the same time), some kiteflying, and the usual-work, sleep, laze, driving, Erika…

What else—not much. It’s nice to have a girlfriend-even though it’s sometimes a bit nuts-we’re friends too, which makes it OK…I finally got a check from ACLU-waiting on 2 others-I need $$$ bad… We’re going to Vega$ for New Year’s…

Again, time is flyin’. A month has gone away-and it’s almost the end of the year! Oh, whell. At least I have a girlfriend, so the time passes a bit better.

What’s happened the past month? My PC crashed after trying to install Riven, my notebook crashed twice. Busy working at Fabco, not getting much done. Erika’s birthday was the 4th-we went out. Saw Susan Simpson-wish Erika had met her… Saw an interesting dance piece. Saw a taping of “Dharma & Greg”. Caught the flu. Saw Stereolab. Had Thanksgiving dinner with my parents & Erika. That’s about it.

What a crazy life-I’m really wrapped up in Erika & she in me. What a change from even two months ago. My cashflow sucks-waiting on checks-again. Whatever-I’m really not attached to any of it. We’ll see what happens…

Phew, what an eventful 2 weeks!!! I’ve met a nice woman-we’re fast friends and lovers-and I’ve only known her a week! Wow-after all I’ve written and thought about love and relationships over the past year or so-since Marybelle, actually. Hey, what can I say-things always change.

Event summary-the usual-lotsa work to get PII done on time, ACLU a few times-no Susan-oh whell. I’m going out only on weekends-except for Gamelan. Saw Philip Glass’ “Les Enfants Terribles”-a dance/opera. Went out for Halloween dressed as a Balinese monkey-fun… Went to the Foothill the next night-lotsa people dressed up as well…

And then there’s the girl-her name’s Erika-I met her at the bar Diane works at a week ago Friday. We went out Halloween and saw X-Files last night. We’ve also had some short visits and meals. It’s amazing-I’m totally infatuated with her-what’s up with THAT? In some ways, we’re going way too fast-we’ve talked a few times in some depth, but we hardly know each other, maybe slowing down is the right thing to do-maybe we should just get married and get it over with…tm…Whatever. In anycase, it’s a great feeling-the l-word keeps making appearances…As do other things It’s nice to have someone to think about-who I know returns my affections-not like the ones before. Diane is SO happy for me-now we need to find her someone…

And now October isalmost half done-oh, where does that time go? Nowhere, fast…

Factual rundown-the usual, went to Que Sera for Sat Lounge-that & Fennel & Hops-dancing-Peggy, Diane. Saw Porcelain Mary at Coconut Teaszer. Made up a buncha cassettes into CD’s. Saw “Intimate Immensity” by Morton Subotnick-modernist multimedia stuff-Wenten was dancing & I chatted with him after the show. Gamelan started-I’m playing chalung until things settle down, Westwood Brewery after-Tom Moser is back, there’s one nice young female (with a boyfriend-not that it matters)… Worked at ACLU Fri & Sun (no Susan :-(, saw Mention Fri., chatted w/Adi-him & Diane are over-I hate to say yay, but, YAY!!! Vietnamese Water Puppets Sat., saw Diane at work, party at Joe Negro’s that got shut down by the police. Exciting, no?

Anyways, that’s what’s happened. Time is time-I’m not sure if the fact that it passes so quickly is good or bad-maybe just neutral. I sleep SO much, that might have something to do with it. I hope Diane & I get together soon-she’s at school, but she’s the closest thing I have to a real friend, so I want to see her more-at least I got her computer working so we can exchange email…

Here it is, September is gone…I’m still here. I just got mail from somebody who read my essays-killer! I finally got the check from NABT, and promptly spent most of it on bills. Oh, whell. Next.

Here’s the rundown since last time-the gang went to Sunset beach-flew my kite, swam some. Took a bunch of photos of the light in my room and at the loft-some of ’em are good-we might use them for Sidecar. Saw the DeLaHoya fight, Porcelain Mary. More Sidecar tracking. Some thoughts about who I really am-a dreamer, planner and theorist. A slogan-“no need to breed”. Went to that hot club-bass player for Jane’s-another room-hip, hip, hip-SUSAN SIMPSON was there!!!!! Yay-I love her SO MUCH-wish she was available… Visited the ‘rents-the usual. Worked on Diane’s computer-partially fixed & I delivered it to her. Went to ACLU to help Glen out-no Susan-maybe next week-I have to go back. And the usual sleep, laze, TV, work, party-late nights.

I can’t think of anything relevant to say-I’m not sure what’s up and I think: whatever. It bugs me sometimes, and I have so many financial and work worries that it’s messing my body up. Again: whatever-I really don’t care what happens anymore-I’m losing my attachments… It’s OK, but troubling at the same time-I’m not really ready to be a sannyasin. I’m looking forward to gamelan…