So Long
Saturday was surprising in a nice way, because it was not traumatic. I picked up an exercise machine from someone at work who is moving, and now I have to make room for it. I'll haul it into a temporary storage spot, and plan to set it up in the next couple weeks.
I cleared a couple storage shelves. Not much of a dent in overall storage space, but a huge psychological step. I filled three moving boxes with paperback books and took them down to Half-Price Books. Books were once my life. I read an average of a novel a day, and could never imagine giving up a book I'd read. Needless to say, this was a small dent. I still have another ten or so boxes to go through, but they are stacked deep in my garage. Just knowing I can get rid of the books without second thoughts was a tremendous step. Anyone who has known me well for more than four years understands how important my books were to me. The only hard part was the pittance from the bookstore, when I know the markup will be well over 1000%. The next couple boxes will go to another bookstore. I don't mind a huge loss but thirty bucks for several hundred books in near perfect condition seemed a bit of an insult. Didn't fuss though, this time around it was more important to simply get the books out of my life.
As I was sorting the books, throwing out well over 90% of the books I realized I could easily find many of them in the library or other used book stores if I want to read them again. I realized too, what good friends they were for me. Here's a partial list of my friends, or rather authors of my friends. All of these represent multiple books, quite a few ten or more, to whom I said farewell yesterday. My reading tastes are eclectic. Thank you my friends.
J A Jance
Robert Ludlum
Robert B Parker
John D MacDonald
Fay Kellerman
John Kellerman
Star Trek Series
Roger Zelazney
W.E.B. Griffin
Lillian Jackson Braun
Louis L'Amour
Len Deighton
Stephen King
Ken Follett
T J MacGregor
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Dana Fuller Ross
Ton Clancy
Piers Anthony
Aaron Elkins
Patricia Cornwell
Harry Kemelman
Anne McCaffery
James Herriot
James Clavell
Frederick Pohl
Michael Crichton
Tim Allen
E E Doc Smith
Jack Higgins
Robin Cook
Dick Francis
Frank Herbert
Clive Cussler
Robert A Heinlein
Terry Brooks
James A Michener
John Grisham
Ursula K LeGuin
A few like McCaffery, Card, and LeGuin represent authors for whom I kept some and tossed others. All in all a terrific start. I've decided to keep the proceeds from things I sell instead of toss or give away for conservatory/grad school days. Not for tuition or expenses if I can help it, but for having fun. Like having Sunday dinners with friends.
Saturday evening we saw an amazing production. Paula and I went to see Seattle Public Theater's production of Three Tall Women, at the Bathhouse, the same theater where I'll be doing The Cherry Orchard with Exchange Theatre. Amazing show, Albee supplied a wonderful script, and Betty Campbell who I have worked with before was amazing, as was Tracy Repep whom I saw in Shock Brigades, and again in Playboy of the Western World where I helped with the auditions, and worked in a promo scene. I was very surprised she remembered my name, and flattered. Erin Day who I do not know was a perfect complement to the others. I'd put this up there with Proof, Rhinoceros, and Our Town, as being one of the best shows I've seen this year, and while I'm not keeping track, I'm averaging over one a week, probably on track to see about 80 shows this year, like I did in 2000 or 2001.
Afterwards we met up with Steve for a late dinner at The Bleu. Fantastic food. We talked about the show, Steve and Paula's wedding plans, and mostly about the recording session the next day, for which Steve had been preparing all day. It was a culmination of a film scoring class which lasted all year.
Sunday morning I rose a little late, but still made it early to rehearsal. As it turns out, I wasn't needed so I hopped on my motorcycle and a couple miles later I was at Music Works in Bellevue. A forty plus piece orchestra was playing the scores the class had prepared. What an amazing privilege. I sat in the studio, where the composers and a few other people sat and were greatly outnumbered by the orchestra. The orchestra was all volunteer, mostly professional musicians. They rehearsed each piece in turn, which ranged from 7 seconds to 2 minutes in length, a time or two then recorded, usually two takes.
There was a feeling of having your own private orchestra. I'm still amazed by the whole experience. The music was all wonderful, and Steve's was among the best, my personal bias aside. He had the only piece over two minutes long, and another longish piece, a bit over a minute and a half. Not only were they lovely, they served the film. I moved to where I could see the monitor even better for Steve's pieces. The music was perfectly timed and appropriate for the scenes. I did not see anyone who did so well, especially on both fronts.
It was an eight hour day for them, six for me. Like I said, it was a magical experience, and I felt incredibly blessed to have been there. Steve, on the other hand, was extremely happy and flattered I came. After the show we had dinner down the street at Thai Ginger. Dinner with terrific friends is still my favorite way to finish the weekend. It followed a day in which we each felt gifted by the other. Perfect.
I cleared a couple storage shelves. Not much of a dent in overall storage space, but a huge psychological step. I filled three moving boxes with paperback books and took them down to Half-Price Books. Books were once my life. I read an average of a novel a day, and could never imagine giving up a book I'd read. Needless to say, this was a small dent. I still have another ten or so boxes to go through, but they are stacked deep in my garage. Just knowing I can get rid of the books without second thoughts was a tremendous step. Anyone who has known me well for more than four years understands how important my books were to me. The only hard part was the pittance from the bookstore, when I know the markup will be well over 1000%. The next couple boxes will go to another bookstore. I don't mind a huge loss but thirty bucks for several hundred books in near perfect condition seemed a bit of an insult. Didn't fuss though, this time around it was more important to simply get the books out of my life.
As I was sorting the books, throwing out well over 90% of the books I realized I could easily find many of them in the library or other used book stores if I want to read them again. I realized too, what good friends they were for me. Here's a partial list of my friends, or rather authors of my friends. All of these represent multiple books, quite a few ten or more, to whom I said farewell yesterday. My reading tastes are eclectic. Thank you my friends.
J A Jance
Robert Ludlum
Robert B Parker
John D MacDonald
Fay Kellerman
John Kellerman
Star Trek Series
Roger Zelazney
W.E.B. Griffin
Lillian Jackson Braun
Louis L'Amour
Len Deighton
Stephen King
Ken Follett
T J MacGregor
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Dana Fuller Ross
Ton Clancy
Piers Anthony
Aaron Elkins
Patricia Cornwell
Harry Kemelman
Anne McCaffery
James Herriot
James Clavell
Frederick Pohl
Michael Crichton
Tim Allen
E E Doc Smith
Jack Higgins
Robin Cook
Dick Francis
Frank Herbert
Clive Cussler
Robert A Heinlein
Terry Brooks
James A Michener
John Grisham
Ursula K LeGuin
A few like McCaffery, Card, and LeGuin represent authors for whom I kept some and tossed others. All in all a terrific start. I've decided to keep the proceeds from things I sell instead of toss or give away for conservatory/grad school days. Not for tuition or expenses if I can help it, but for having fun. Like having Sunday dinners with friends.
Saturday evening we saw an amazing production. Paula and I went to see Seattle Public Theater's production of Three Tall Women, at the Bathhouse, the same theater where I'll be doing The Cherry Orchard with Exchange Theatre. Amazing show, Albee supplied a wonderful script, and Betty Campbell who I have worked with before was amazing, as was Tracy Repep whom I saw in Shock Brigades, and again in Playboy of the Western World where I helped with the auditions, and worked in a promo scene. I was very surprised she remembered my name, and flattered. Erin Day who I do not know was a perfect complement to the others. I'd put this up there with Proof, Rhinoceros, and Our Town, as being one of the best shows I've seen this year, and while I'm not keeping track, I'm averaging over one a week, probably on track to see about 80 shows this year, like I did in 2000 or 2001.
Afterwards we met up with Steve for a late dinner at The Bleu. Fantastic food. We talked about the show, Steve and Paula's wedding plans, and mostly about the recording session the next day, for which Steve had been preparing all day. It was a culmination of a film scoring class which lasted all year.
Sunday morning I rose a little late, but still made it early to rehearsal. As it turns out, I wasn't needed so I hopped on my motorcycle and a couple miles later I was at Music Works in Bellevue. A forty plus piece orchestra was playing the scores the class had prepared. What an amazing privilege. I sat in the studio, where the composers and a few other people sat and were greatly outnumbered by the orchestra. The orchestra was all volunteer, mostly professional musicians. They rehearsed each piece in turn, which ranged from 7 seconds to 2 minutes in length, a time or two then recorded, usually two takes.
There was a feeling of having your own private orchestra. I'm still amazed by the whole experience. The music was all wonderful, and Steve's was among the best, my personal bias aside. He had the only piece over two minutes long, and another longish piece, a bit over a minute and a half. Not only were they lovely, they served the film. I moved to where I could see the monitor even better for Steve's pieces. The music was perfectly timed and appropriate for the scenes. I did not see anyone who did so well, especially on both fronts.
It was an eight hour day for them, six for me. Like I said, it was a magical experience, and I felt incredibly blessed to have been there. Steve, on the other hand, was extremely happy and flattered I came. After the show we had dinner down the street at Thai Ginger. Dinner with terrific friends is still my favorite way to finish the weekend. It followed a day in which we each felt gifted by the other. Perfect.
1 Comments:
As my partner is a librarian, I'd be remiss if I didn't stamp my foot and note that you could ensure that those titles are at the library by making a donation of those books to the library. You can then write them off on your taxes. The library will take what they can use - either replace worn copies or take in new titles - and then sell the rest at their fund raisers.
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