Month: October 2011

Friday at TriBeCa Blues

There are many places I love in SL: Fogbound, Carriage Trade, my homes, the various other blues clubs and many more. But come Friday night there is only one place I want to be: TriBeCa Blues in MidState New York. Callipygian Christensen DJs there at 8pm SLT (actually, I think next week we move to 7pm SLT – all the clock changing silliness). There is a small nucleus of regulars but there are always new people stopping by. There is no set list – it’s not necessarily the Blues, not necessarily jazz. There is a LOT of local chat and interaction among the attendees. As we talk about the music and reminisce and share stories, we steer the song selection. This past Friday Calli was playing duets. Since she usually closes Friday nights with some version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah“, I teased her that of course she would play a duet version of that. *grin* You can’t faze Calli. She did indeed find a duet cover of Hallelujah: Tim Minchin and Geraldine Quinn singing Hallelujah.

Stop by and join us some Friday. Come alone, come with a friend. Come as a stranger and leave as a friend. I guarantee you that Friday nights at TriBeCa are a perfect way to end the week and slide into the weekend relaxed and with your soul nourished.

Heat – Canned and Virtual

Ahhh. Decompression time. You know that time. It happens AFTER you survive the commute home from the office, check the mail, the phone, feed the pets, check the emails that arrived while you were driving and BEFORE you have dinner and talk to other family members in a calm, civil manner. Some days decompression happens more easily than others. When Ziffy Zarf is playing the blues, decompression time almost turns me back into a human being. *grin*

Ziff was at Key West the other evening, playing solo. Sometimes he partners with Guitar Southpaw or others. But he was at Key West, I was basking in the heat of the virtual setting sun and Ziffy was playing Canned Heat. I probably should have rezzed either a cool ale or some fruity rum drink to complete the picture. It never occurred to me because Ziffy was more than sufficient to put a smile back on my face and still the inner frenzy.

Key West is a lovely venue and Ziffy Zarf is a fun entertainer. Check them out. /me hums Going Up The Country

Siri Gives Advice

I have been laughing since the new iPhone came out. It has an AI assistant named “Siri”. Hah! One of my CATS is named Siri. Siri (“seryi”) is Russian for gray. And my beautiful 10-year-old Siri is gray. Somewhere in her lineage there must be a Russian Blue cat, because Siri has that plush thick gray fur typical of a Russian Blue.

Hamlet Au posted his dissatisfaction with how Apple’s Siri answered the question: What is the meaning of life?

MY Siri doesn’t like EITHER answer that Hamlet showed. MY Siri says the meaning of life is very simple: Food. Naps. Cuddles. More Food. Purrrrrrr.

Summer in October

It’s October. It’s time to celebrate autumn. Build my harvest booth, more commonly known as a sukkah. I’ve been doing that, battling mosquitos and time and heat. It’s 85 degrees F out there. Many years we sit bundled in jackets and gloves outside. Not this year, apparently. So Bamboo and I came in to cool down and visit the ducks.

Wow. Did Bill, Drake and Mallory have a major complaint. Seems our neighbors have started having some sort of racing (honestly, there was so much quacking going on I’m really not sure WHAT they are racing). But I DID see the HUGE Finish line with checkered flags. Sigh. Hey Rodvik – WHEN are you going to implement the feature that lets me NOT SEE my neighbors????????

So I put up a hedge to make sure that the ducks had some privacy. Then the five of us settled in to enjoy the soothing sounds of waves and seagulls. Ahhh.

If it’s not AnnMarie’s cars crashing off the road into my front yard, it’s the neighbors incompetent guests creating huge wake for resting ducks. 🙂 /me scribbles indignant letter to the editor

5772

It’s the new year – 5772. I’m glad to say goodbye to 5771. 5771 was not the worst year of my life. It’s probably not even in the list of the five top contenders for that dubious honor. But as years go, it wasn’t very good, either. From little annoyances like windows shattering during the dark depths of winter to the scorching heatwaves, earthquakes and flooding hurricanes and ceaseless rain of the summer (/me waves bye-bye to the basement) through the year-long economic issues to the true tragedy of death in the family, 5771 does not have many happy high points. It wasn’t all gloom and doom, of course. There were LOTS of joyous occasions, love and laughter and friends. Even so, I’m not going to miss 5771.

Here’s to 5772! I resolve to do all that I can to make it a year of change for the better. Yom Kippur is this weekend. It’s customary at this time to try to clear the slate with anyone I may have hurt or harmed in the past year. I perform this ritual with most of my close friends and family. But this year I’d like to reach out to all of you who are a major part of my life, even if we do not interact daily, or even regularly.

I apologize if I have hurt you by what I have done, or have failed to do, by what I have said, or what I have failed to say, in the last year. I promise to improve my ways and I ask your forgiveness as we enter this new year.

May you be sealed in the Book of Life!