September 13 - What Dreams!

Off to Sacramento's



Arden Fair



Apple Store



for a One-to-One session (connecting the Mail of old laptop to Harriet's account -- and it actually works [never did on that computer] -- getting new Mail connection to gmail [now IMAP as well as POP... did not know the difference last week, yet now seems essential], learning a workaround to iTunes' insistance on renaming audio files with track names, finding no answer to why searches do not lead in alphabetical results). After this, Rob finds a way to schedule a Genius Bar appointment right away to find out why the iPhone is not recognized by the Mac, but temporary disaster strikes: updates fail and the word is that computer will need to be left for several days. Not exactly the scenario imagined in the morning, and an agreement is ultimately reached that the work will be done within a few hours; so off to lunch and paper grading at the



El Torrito



bar, picking up the restored new laptop with the help of Sophia,



heading back



through the



gray. But the light shines again upon return finding that, yes, the iPhone now communicates with the computer -- once again, amazing as the phone syncs with the address book, calendar, and begins to function as an iPod as well, but one with perhaps a better interface, plus the option to hear music without benefit of earbuds/headphones -- all this while watching a program on sunny



Death Valley with Harriet. Later, writing up recommendations for Indre, the printer no longer responds to the computer, but actually figure out how to fix this by looking at settings on the old laptop (for a while, thought the only solution would be to email attachments from new to old and then print). Only glitch: Photosmart scanner now does not work (might have to do the email ballet after all, but in reverse). On the other hand, google "importing photos from iPhone to Mac" and successfully learn how to do that, too.



Finish the orchestration of The Gospel According to St. Matthew: IX. The Two Builders and begin same for X. The Miracles.

August 22 - Pilgrimages

More orchestration of John and Salome: II. "You Snakes!", and off to Berkeley, after computerless night,



for second (first or third, for some other participants) Goat Hall Productions / San Francisco Cabaret Opera rehearsal of Patrick Dailly's Solidarity, at



Chamber Arts House.



Production meeting and a walk




(east on Russell Street




towards the



Claremont Hotel) follow,



swinging around on the Boulevard, before jumping autowise on



Route 24 towards Mt. Diablo, rendezvous'ing with a composer at our place, then heading in the



strangely dark skies across the



Yolo lowlands



towards Sacramento to pick up computer.



There's downtime at Starbucks, while Apple folks attempt to finish up the transfer of files (they succeed re programs but not content...yet...), then return through



the evening sky. Successfully get back online, pull files over from external storage unit documents, plus picture and sound files. Encore works, but only from LaCie disk, iTunes playlist organization not apparent. Nice features (including preview pictures for many types of files and a slightly better slideshow) on the new computer but problems as well, such as iTunes' insistent imposition of useless track numbering; Finder now insisting on preserving extensions when highlighting, and apparently forgetting how to alphabetize in search mode and slide shows.

August 21 - Sick Leave

Finish, with Harriet, the draft of the Goat Hall / San Francisco Cabaret Opera 2009/2010 Season X brochure on the suspect laptop. Try playing an internet video, and sure enough, computer suddenly turns itself off again just as it did twice when dealing with the computing-intensive Encore program, confirming need for repairs. So off to



Sacramento, exiting at



Arden Way to



Fair Mall and the


hopping



Apple Store.



Steve (center, gazing at screen) diagnoses and -- after my deciding to get MacBook fixed, purchase new one, and have data copied over to latter --



Zach assists in purchase and setting up the transference (which requires leaving both overnight here -- gad...), then I transfer back towards



the Sacramento River,



a lonely Davis tree,



and the Lagoon Mountains again, reconstructing the first two orchestrated pages of John and Salome: I. Turn and doing three more to finish it, plus beginning same for



John and Salome: II. You Snakes.

August 12 - Everything in Place

Coffee at Augie's with



John amidst a clientele



studious and



chatty.



On way,



resupply,



before velocity above the Verdugos



up the La Tuna divide, down into the



big deal of Tujunga.



The big cone Douglas fir of



Newhall/Gavin Canyon point the way toward



Violin



Grade and



Ridge,



Canton



Canyon and



Piru Gorge,



firebreaks,



Pyramid Lake,



Hungry and



Peace Valleys,



Gorman



Ridge



Ranch,



and Tejon Pass,



then downslope to Frazier Park,



mysterious Castac,



Tejon



Ridge and



Valley,



plummeting into



Grapevine bound for the



Central



Valley.



Miles past Coalinga, the



grim-fumacious feedlots of Harris Ranch,



Joaquin



Rocks,



Panoche,




Little Panoche,



San Luis Reservoir Forebay (hmm) Dam,



Santa Nella,



a lone ranch,



Newman,



Shane P. Donlan's glory,



Ingram Creek, and



Westley --



the dappled sky presages



Sacramento and the turn west to



Davis, Dixon (with a distant Diablo in view),



and the Vaca Mountains and



Valley.



South, and this should be it, but no, after pinking up the digital projector, off again beyond



Cordelia Junction's Sentinel Peak,



the pastels of the Sulfur Springs



Range,



U.S.A. 40 Today Hill,



the elusive environs of St. John Mine Mountain,



Vallejo Cliffs,



cattails over Refinery Canyon and



Valley, all the way to



Albany Hill,



Emeryville, and scenes from



San Francisco Bay to



another Salon at Tom and Lisa Scola Prosek's, with music of Lisa, Davide Verrota,



Loren Jones, Martha Stoddard, plus



Elijah Rock: X. May (Jezebel and Elijah),







XI. Elijah (God and Elisha), and







XII. King (Benhadad and Ahab).








San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra board meeting (with aforementioned composers + David and Erling -- wherein E announces big news re Lynn [standing]) follows at



Erling's, then home. Once again, whew, albeit for different contexts....