Pending some calendrical alteration, this is the last year that the date of my birthday will coincide with my age. That makes today numerically significant.

The guitar lesson went well. The teacher seems to encourage a thorough understanding of the instrument and puts an emphasis on improvisation, so I think it’s a good fit. Technique is being address already (yay scales), but there’s also the task of understanding what’s going on at any given time. The method seems to be both holistic and – so far – practical.

As an added bonus, I’m getting what amounts to a translation between the distant cousins of Classical Theory and Guitar Theory. For someone who used to teach college level music theory, looking at a guitar theory explanation of something and remaining entirely bamboozled is not the greatest. I found myself wanting to pipe in with “Oh yeah, I know that’s…” a few times, but I’m dedicated to keeping my mouth shut, maintaining a beginner’s mind as much as possible, and letting him do his thing in hopes that I’ll be shredding sooner, not to mention better.

Previous years: 2005 | 2004 | 2003

I took a lunch trip down to Harvard Square, took some pictures, and spent the rest of the day working. I have a guitar lesson tomorrow.

I’ve got clipless pedals on both of my bikes now. I bought a pedal wrench, hoping to get the pair on the Allez switched myself, but they were too tight for me to remove. I’m so fortunate to have an understanding local bike shop that can encourage me in my efforts; a few minutes’ work and I was on my way.

A quest is underway to find a guitar teacher. I’ve just now notched over the “rank amateur” hill, and I’m finding myself thrashing a bit on where to go next. I’ve called a few people, and hopefully I’ll receive some responses and get back on the pedagogy train. I haven’t had an instrumental lesson in 7 years now; at a beginner level I have to go back 10 years to a quarter credit of cello lessons I daydreamed my way through. I owned – or perhaps rented – “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”

V is continuing to recover, and is making the transition from crutches to a cane. This entire experience makes me grateful for even the very basic things we are able to do as people. Soon she’ll be less dependent on me for daily stuff, which will undoubtedly make us both very happy.

Continued taxicab woe abounds. After Friday’s 2+ hour wait with thoroughbass for the cabs that never came, V and I waited 45 minutes for a cab set to arrive in “5 to 10″ minutes. The location of her office is a bit confusing, but given that she’s used the same company for the past 2 months, and that she’s explained it to them nigh on a dozen times now, one would think that they’d be able to somehow store this information and communicate the location to the drivers on subsequent pickups. This is an area just aching for the application of technology.

In a similar and admittedly less irritating vein, one of my two favorite local pizza places knows my address from the incoming phone number, so all i have to do is confirm the address. The other, I have to give them my address and phone number; I’ve had to do this every time I’ve ordered a pizza. For 5 years.

Another long ride this morning, and domestic shuffling this afternoon. It’s been restful. I’m fairly certain that my gradual conversion into a bike maniac has reached a new level of mania. I’ve also managed to gain and keep a bit of muscle weight, which is dreamy.

Friday night was a Baroque Concert which included thoroughbass on harpsichord. Lesson learned: don’t expect any taxi to come to you on a rainy day, especially if you are moving a harpsichord and need to get somewhere – say, to one’s own concert – on time, or perhaps at all. The show went on wonderfully despite the both figurative and literal Sturm und Drang beforehand. A few pictures of the concert were taken.

Whilst darting through the rain to the venue after the (many) cabs forsook us, thoroughbass created the concept band “The Aerosmiths,” which plays covers of Smiths songs in the style of Aerosmith, and vice versa.

Last night a friend and I went out to see a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise in its entirety. 24 Lieder about a lone traveler braving winter’s chill to escape a lost love wasn’t perhaps the most in tune with the balmy and pleasant outside, but it was a superb performance, in particular by tenor Gerald Seminatore who sang with poise and nuance.

Winterreise was completed in 1827, and like most older things it creates a bit of a headspin for my modern ears and cultural conditioning. I don’t spend a lot of time in the early 19th century sensibility, so there was a good bit of negotiation as to what felt right. The poetry relies heavily on nature analogies, as the hero finds in his travels objects in nature that reflect his internal turmoil, and combined with Schubert’s music makes for some truly powerful and touching moments.

Then, the more postmodern part of my brain summed up the entire piece as “man feels sorry for himself for 23 songs before falling in with a mendicant hurdy-gurdy player.” I suppose that no one generation has a corner on expressions of angst, and the fact that I recognized my own experiences in more than a few of the Lieder reaffirms that feeling alone and unloved is more or less part of the human condition. Sometimes angst is the order of the day, and sometimes it can be beautiful.

It’s too hot to be clever. Outside the bedroom enclave the house is a zesty 90 degrees with the windows open and fans blowing in attempts to create a draft. I did manage to get out and run a few errands today, and even a leisurely bike ride. Everything was fine until I stopped, and it was then that the fully oppressive weight of the weather landed. Keep moving, and it’s fine. I don’t think that my body is suffering any less, but there are other things to keep my mind off of it.

The central point of today was a 25-mile ride on the fixed gear. The bike handled wonderfully, as did I, though my tookus is not used to being on the saddle for quite that long. I took a few pictures.

Upon arriving home, I got back on the bike and picked up groceries and beer. The rest of the day involved a nap, some guitar strumming, and general recreation. It’s been most pleasant.

I’ve brought the old, small window AC unit up from the basement to cool the bedroom, so there’s at least one part of the house that’s not baking.

This weekend is the Somerville ArtBeat festival. I nipped down for a while this afternoon and took a few pictures, picked up a few goodies, and did my best to keep from wilting in the sun. The wonderful quirkiness of the whole thing reminds me why I love this neighborhood.

Hot! I’ve been sneaking down to the coffee shop for an hour or so every day, as a combination “beat the heat”, “have social interaction,” and an “excuse to ride the bike” exercise. A few miles of running perked up the afternoon, and all told I seem to have gotten a lot done today despite myself. There’s some testing I need to do over the weekend, but it can wait until Sunday.

I’m drinking limeade like it’s going out of style.

July is not my favorite month. I tend to be down for most of it, retreating into my inner world where there’s lots of things I don’t want to hear. I’m making efforts to be more outward, but it seems to follow me like a gloomy cloud. There’s certainly a lot of weight around my birthday, which I’ve always figured has to do with expectations, but I wonder if there’s something more than that. Nevertheless, we all get by as best we can.

I finally got my hands on a fixed gear bicycle, and have been riding it lots. I wasn’t expecting the experience to be so different from riding a bike with a freewheel, but it is. For some reason, there’s a much stronger sense of connectedness with the machine. I’d imagine it must feel this way all the time for people who are naturally movement-oriented; it feels like dancing.

There are a few skills specific to riding fixed that I’m going to have to develop, most of them revolving around starting and stopping gracefully. I’ve got a hand brake, and while I’ve only used it twice in the past two days, I’m very glad I had it on both occasions.

It’s time for a brief pause to contemplate the beauty and complexity happening all around us.

Duchampions shirts are now available. Green or grey for men, and sky blue for the ladies. You can buy them here if you are so inclined. I’ve also added a ladies’ cut for the Mr. Davis shirts.