What did you do today?

[jinp6301]

wow awesome pic Ric.

[Craig Sawyers]

Here's a link to the (easy) Dont:

http://www.scorage.ru/view.aspx?id=17ADA42217F5431A9DD321D57CB66DB1

I just love the endless variety on these lists. There is whole musical subset that operate at a level I could only aspire to. I did look at that exercise linked above, and it brought back the grind of learning the clarinet. Mind you, having mastered a bunch of exercises, it never failed to amaze me that a horrible sequence of notes in a real piece would magically just fall under the fingers, with one part of the brain thinking "I wonder where that came from?". Of course it was buried somewhere in an exercise and had got hard wired into the wetware.

[boomana]

I'm sitting on a plane waiting to go to Dallas for the weekend. Happy holiday everyone! Stay safe and happy!

[MexicanDragon]

I'm sitting on a plane waiting to go to Dallas for the weekend. Happy holiday everyone! Stay safe and happy!

You stay safe too, V! Happy Holidaze. Say hi to Jeff if he's in town.

**BRENT**

[jvlgato]

As some retreated from the Midwestern cold back to the Bay Area, I headed to Ohio.

Cool, I'm a Buckeye, too! Driving to Cleveland tomorrow! Woot!

[luvdunhill]

I actually bought a copy of the Fiorillo a few years ago but never used it. I'm going to go look for it and will let you know how it is when I find it.

I think I have a plan. My goal would be to play one (or both) de Beriot pieces:

or

I'll also brush up:

Bach: Sonata No.1 in G minor – Presto

Bach: Sonata No.3 in C Major – Allegro Assai

I'll do Hrimaly for scales and Dont for etudes

[Absorbine_Sr]

Accomplished a mission today. As of today the top has been down on the Miata at least once in all 12 months of 2010. Today was in a light snow and it was amazing. And generated a few astounded looks from people.

[aardvark baguette]

lol nice.

I took an epic powernap after mcdonalds breakfast w/ my dad.

Rest of the afternoon will be ripping music and playing w/ kitteh.

[mypasswordis]

I think I have a plan. My goal would be to play one (or both) de Beriot pieces:

or

I'll also brush up:

Bach: Sonata No.1 in G minor

[Absorbine_Sr]

i bet you did! i also bet that was a lot of fun.

Crazy laughing like an idiot fun.

[VPI]

Got guilted into attending a X-mas service by my mom.

At least they have a cool pipe organ.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[swt61]

On the downhill side of making 12 batches of Texas Trash to give away.

[Salt Peanuts]

Drove to my in-laws place, and the traffic wasn't as bad as we expected.

[mypasswordis]

Finally got the Placid BP working lulz (not that I tried to get it working before today), and did more research on tubes. Specifically cascodes, more on mu and rp and appropriate gain, input, and output resistance equations. Practiced a bunch.

Hopefully will figure out a way to cram a fricking 6 conductor Koss cable into the ESP6 strain relief which is only meant to hold 4 wires. May just have to cut out the strain relief completely.

[Aimless1]

Crazy laughing like an idiot fun.

Grats Mike

[Wmcmanus]

I did it!!! Eleven Christmas Eve appearances, and not one was more than 15 minutes off schedule, despite traffic that didn't always cooperate.

Just now getting home after a LONG day and night! On my 10th visit, I was invited to come back for the after hours party. It would be an hour later by the time I could get back (at 11:30pm), but I promised that I'd try.. and in fact did! Had a couple of quick rum and cokes and did my last Santa chuckles for the night, then excused myself before their kids woke to see that I had returned.

I don't think I've ever felt so appreciated for anything I've ever done in my life before. Everywhere I went tonight was a great experience. They were all so well organized and determined to make my stay comfortable and thankful, telling me how great I looked and how convinced the kids were, etc. Then when I opened all of the envelopes, I was surprised to see that 9 out of 11 had tipped me at least 20%, and in one case it was a 100% tip!!!

I've got 3 more to do tomorrow/this morning, and then that's it. Exhausted, but really pumped at the same time. I couldn't have imagined it going this well without doing any advertising whatsoever. Next year will be twice as busy but there's no way it can be twice as fun.

I was so pumped that when I finally got back home, I jumped on my Vespa and rode up and down my block to see if anyone still had lights on... at 12:45am. Just one house, and they all came pouring out to the road, wondering why I was so late this year!?!? When I told them that I have "gone pro" the 14 year old neighbor girl said, "Well, it's about time!" Indeed. I'm hooked.

[Voltron]

Congrat Santa! Don't forget you have a few more tomorrow. Merry Cristmas!

[shellylh]

Cool Wayne!

I celebrated Christmas yesterday with my family (mom, dad, brother, niece, and the dogs). It went as well as could be expected given the situation and my brother and father's usual personalities. I did most of the cooking and cleaning since my mom is still recovering from her surgery (she is not supposed to lift anything heavier than a shoe for another 2 months) so I was pretty tired at the end of the day.

On a plane right now. Had to wake up at 3:45am to get on a flight to Baltimore (via Houston). Luckily I have been upgraded to first class on both flights so I will be able to get some sleep.

[agile_one]

Congrats on a successful season, Wayne. Glad it worked so well, and for the good feelings you gave and got.

Shelly, you are a saint.

[morphsci]

Congratulations to Santa Wayne and Saint Shelly for surviving the holidays so far. May the rest of your holidays be more restful.

[Wmcmanus]

Done! At least for the business end of it.

But I'll suit up again tonight and probably tomorrow as well just for an hour or two each day. I want to check in again at the hospital. I've been going about every 2nd or 3rd day, whereas in past years I would just go on Christmas Eve.

Not much was happening this week in Pediatrics but one of the nurses called this morning and said that they admitted a 9 year old boy in ER who suffered multiple knife wounds. How and why that would have occurred I have no idea. She said they've patched him up (not exactly her words, but my interpretation) and that he'll be heavily sedated for most of the day, but that maybe he'll be alert enough tonight for a visit.

Man, just when you start feeling like you're on top of the world! My girlfriend is off Island at the moment but I'll be having dinner with her mom and several of her siblings. Two of her younger sisters came along as Miss Claus and Mrs. Claus last year on Christmas Eve, so I just called them and they want to be my helpers again, except one of them wants to be Rudolph. Should be errrr, fun? I just can't imagine what a 9 year old boy could have possibly done on Christmas Eve to deserve this fate?!?!?! Fucking sick world we live in.

[n_maher]

You're a good man, Wayne.

[Aimless1]

Nice gesture Wayne. Sure the young fella will be surprised.

Day two of our Christmas festivities. Last night we had our children and grand children over. Today was most of my wife's family. Tomorrow we travel about an hour to be with most of my family. Work is beginning to sound like a vacation ... well, almost.

[Wmcmanus]

You're a good man, Wayne.

I don't know about that, Nate, but it sure makes me feel good to see little kids staring in awe. Sometimes their mouths are open so wide you think they're going to hurt themselves! This happened again last night when I was doing a late late night run on my scooter (in truth, just to have some fun and be "seen" on Christmas Eve).

Here's an excerpt from an email that I sent to a friend last night when it was still fresh in my mind. He was one of my college roommates and now (among other things) is providing full time (24/7) care for his mom who has Alzheimer's and is always asking him what Santa has been up to. He's been reading all of my Santa emails first, he then reads them out loud to her, skipping any foul language!

...

"... Old St. Nick just got back in tonight. Checked in again the hospital late this evening after doing all of my scheduled Christmas Eve visits...

There was an 11 year old boy who is autistic and developmentally more like a 6 year old who I spent some time with.

His parents were there, mom being a cop and dad being a security guard, both in uniform and would have otherwise been working tonight. He was on an IV. Not sure what was wrong with him tonight outside and whatever is wrong with him to begin with. Kind of sad, but he's now a real believer (if wasn't still a believer to begin with, and he probably was). He seemed/talked just like a normal kid, but more innocent than he should have been for his age.

I've got this stuff called "Snow in Seconds" which comes in a white powder that looks like sugar or salt. Add cold water and it puffs up and looks and feels like snow. So I had him make some of that, and then showed him the rest of the tricks in my bag (Santa's magic key, Rudolph's calling bell, and the red light on my thumb that makes Rudolph's nose so bright). The kid was in awe and his parents were delighted.

Then I moved down the hall and there was a young boy about 7 or 8 on some sort of cooling oxygen. He was wearing a mask over his face and sitting there in his room alone, no bed or TV, some sort of waiting room I guess. His mom apparently had stepped but didn't return when I was there. It was pretty awkward trying to talk to him because he couldn't talk back with the breathing mask on and I had no idea what was wrong with him.

I called a nurse over just so that there would be another adult in the room because you never know what you'll be accused of these days, but it was very sad, him being there and looking lonely and scared. He did take some candy and I patted him on the head after the nurse arrived and told him that Santa pats help little boys heal.

As I stepped out into the hallway there were 3 or 4 little girls in the 2-5 range, all of whom seemed to be children or grandchildren of hospital employees (one lady in a custodial uniform claimed a cute little 3 year old Jamaican girl with long braids as her granddaughter). A dozen cell phone pics from a half dozen different phones with people jumping in and out between taking pics and being in pics, and I was headed for the elevator to see what was happening in Pediatrics upstairs.

Not much happening, actually. Just a couple more kids who were running high fevers, but nobody deathly ill. One little boy seemed more interested in pointing out the fish in the big fish tank to me than telling me what else was on this mind. He was about 2 and a half, I'd guess, and was nervous at first but then warmed up a bit. I showed the nice looking Jamaican nurse behind the counter the extra special secret button that I wear on the inside pocket of my royal robe that reads, "What happens on Santa's lap stays on Santa's lap!" She chuckled ever so slightly but otherwise seemed unimpressed and definitely uninterested. She then quickly went back to the computer screen I had interrupted her from.

Upon leaving there, I cruised back toward West Bay and made a quick stop to meet the 7 year old son of a friend who had helped me out last night as my stand-in Mrs. Claus. I had promised that I'd "meet" her son Nicholas tonight, and so I did, at Treasure Island on SMB. He's a gas, that kid. He actually grabbed my Santa wallet out of the pocket in my robe (little pick pocket) and asked, "What's this? Can I have it?" His mom told me that he was kicked out of school a couple of weeks ago for calling his teacher a bitch! Gotta love it, this kid will do fine life, at least after he serves his time in the joint.

After that, I headed back to West Bay and figured I'd call it a night. But Subway was closed and so was Dominos, so I headed home and popped in the door just long enough to empty a bunch of miscellaneous junk from my Santa pant pockets and grab my Vespa keys. Then off I puttered at about 15-20mph back down the road past the Caribbean Bakery to this place I've been meaning to try, to get some jerk chicken and pork.

The old Jamaican guy there was happy to serve me but in the 7-8 minutes I sat on the scooter while it idled and I waited for him to do his bit, he didn't once make a single comment about me being Santa. I wonder if he missed that somehow, if maybe nobody ever bothered to tell him about Santa. Some of those old Jamaican guys are hard to read.

CI$20 was the damage, so I handed him a CI$25 bill and told him to keep the change and Merry Christmas. He then proceeded to tell me how I'd definitely come back again after I tasted his chicken and pork and how it's better than all of the rest of them. I told him that I only come once per year, and that's always on Christmas Eve, but he still didn't seem to get it.

Then off I motored, now with a plastic bag wrapped around my right/throttle hand with 2 styrofoam containers inside, swinging back and forth but secure enough for the short trip back home. My left hand, in the meantime, was free for any Santa waves I might need to make in the meantime.

Sure enough, as I was again moving rather slowly for the main road, several cars began to pile up behind me, so I motioned them on with my left hand when I got to a clearing and knew they would have room to pass. The first 2 cars passed without event, but when the third car went by I knew that I had hit pay dirt! Honk, honk, honk, and all kinds of little voices screaming out to Santa!

There must have been 4 faces pressed up against the back glass of this little hatchback, so I figured it was my late night (on what was now Christmas morning) duty to follow them, and thankfully they lived just off of the corner from that last big turn in the road as you've heading for my street, maybe 1/4 mile from home, if that.

So I just pulled onto the edge of their driveway right behind them and then all sorts of kids poured out. Must have been 7 little girls between 2-7 years old and one 13 year old girl, along with a little 2 year old boy. I learned quickly that they were all cousins and then guessed correctly (based on their manner of dress) that they had just come from Church. I just made the assumption, and asked, "Did you have fun at Church tonight?" What awe! What shocked looks! "How did you know?" To which I replied, "Why, I'm Santa! I've been watching you! I know everything you do, and you girls have all been very good this year!"

So they dug into my candy bag after I pointed it out to them (pinched tight against the bike by the front luggage rack which is spring loaded and works perfectly so long as the candy bag isn't completely full). But by this time, I was down to my last pound or two of candy (good riddance because I've been eating a lot of it myself), so I told them they were lucky since it was the end of the night so they could have as much as they wanted. Some of them had to press it against their dresses to hold it all because it was overflowing from their hands.

We did some of the usual tricks, Rudolph's calling bell, Santa's magic key, the other set of bells that I ask them to guess what they're used for and then after all of the guesses, I tell them, "Actually, these are just extra bells. They don't do anything special except make noise." For some reason, that's always a big hit.

I gave them some of my calling card, some reindeer buttons, and $1 million each of North Pole currency, and then rode off, figuring I was done for the night.

But when I got to my driveway, for some reason even after midnight, I was urged on... so down my own road I went. Only one house with people in the living room, and they saw me right away. It was easier for me to just stop at the edge of the road rather than on their driveway. A couple of moms and two 14 year old girls, cousins, as well as a little boy, 2 years old if that.

Not ideal ages, either too old or too young, but we chatted for a while and out came the cell phones again. Jada, the 14 year old who lives there (or so I'm now told, had never seen her or her mom before to the best of my memory) told me that she always knew that the real Santa lived on her block but had never actually seen me.

She said that the kids at her school have been telling her that for years, but she always had her doubts, but now she'll have pictures that she can show them to prove that it really is true! I gave her me email address and she promptly inputted it to her Blackberry and promised to send along the pics. We'll see if she does, but it's unreal how quickly she blazed her fingers across that keypad! Wish we had Blackberries back in the day.

My last stop was the house right next door which is where my friend and former student Theresa lives with her 13 year old son (she's a single mom). I drove up her circle driveway, pointed my headlight right through her full glass front door and began honking and shaking my jingle bells for all they were worth.

Her son, who she's talked about every time I've seen her for the past 13 years, came out first. A slim and handsome young man. Last time I talked to him (as me), he was maybe 8 or 9. Couldn't remember his name for the life of me and still can't. Obviously a non believer, but we found common ground and chatted about all sorts of things for 3 minutes solid before we both were getting bored and then she appeared. She's such a nice woman, and ever so thankful for my stopping by to see her and what's his name, and for making her Christmas extra special this year... yada yada.

Ok, so now I'm thinking, 'I've been in this suit for what must be 12 straight hours now, so I really should go home and get off of my high.'

But as I was leaving their driveway, just 3 doors down from home, I suddenly had a great idea. So I stopped quickly and motioned them down the driveway to see me for one last thought.

I said to him, "Young fella, do you know that girl next door?" He seemed confused, and said that, no, he didn't. I asked him if he was sure. He seemed confused. So I told him, "Well, there's a girl who lives right next door to you, and her name is Jada. She's 14 and she's beautiful. If Santa was a young man like you, he would find a way to get to know her... and... do you know what?" He paused, so I asked him again. "Do you know what?" He just said, "No." I told him, "Well she seems to know you, and I think she really likes you! That's what!" Then I let my voice trail off a bit and said, "But I suppose maybe she's too old for you, I mean you being just 13..."

Then he piped up and said, "That's Ok, I can deal with that!" So then I said, "Well, maybe you do know her then, huh?" Now he was getting really shy, and said, "Well, I've seen her around, but I don't really know her." So I told him, "Well, when I was a boy, a long time ago, all we had to do was go out on the street and throw the football around for a while, me and my friends... and the girls would all come out to talk to us... you do have a football, don't you?" He said, "Ya, I do actually. I'll have to give that a try."

Of course, I made up all the shit about Jada knowing who he was and liking him, but if he thinks she does, then she probably will.

As I was leaving, I told Theresa that I expected regular updates on the progress of this matter with him and Jada, and that I'd be back next year to see how they were doing. Who knows, maybe he'll get that football out and give it a try..."

[shellylh]

Jeez, that is sick Wayne (about the 9 year old).