hotel california.

Well that didn't take long to sort out. You would not believe the amount of technology I've been failing/cursing at for the past two weeks.

But finally, finally. Some of the good news about where I am right now (Oakland, CA) is that my walk home from public transportation today looked like this:



























The more bittersweet news is that I spent my entire day inside doing this:

And was so totally obliterated by the nonstop effort involved in reading/rehearsing a beautiful if not-so-efficiently-notated piece of music for 8 hours and then carting my way-too-heavy gear home that when I finally got back to Oakland and saw this street full of just-opening-for-dinner food trucks:

I couldn't even stop for longer than it took to take a picture. I simply had to get rid of everything I was carrying and wearing. Improperly dressed, I was. For a while I've harbored this idea that San Francisco's weather is kind of like Amsterdam's. A slight but significant difference is that a day that starts out in Amsterdam at 8am being 45°F generally only goes up to 55°F or so. This morning's Oakland 45°F garment choices proved unwise at 4:30pm when it was almost 70°F.

If it sounds like I'm complaining...well I'm just totally physically and mentally destroyed. But the great, great news about where I am right now is that the person I'm staying with could not be one iota more pleasant, considerate or helpful, and those are not even remotely sufficient words to describe how much better she's made everything.

And the day's long-dreaded music reading adventure was improved 10,000% by the person I'm sharing sheet music with (we're sharing due to the onstage logistics of 100 music stands plus 100 guitarists) being an utter professional and painstakingly trying to endlessly correct the score into a more useful form. And ultimately I didn't suck anywhere near as much as I'd expected to anyway due to semi-careful preparation.

So that has all been awesome. Plus I have a couple more stories about amazing lengths of trouble that complete strangers went to in order to assist me with something or another. Plus I now have a camera that works. If I weren't so superstitious I'd say "May it all please continue like something in that vein," but no way am I saying that.

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