F*ck the Peace Creeps

 I practiced some last night. These days I have ukulele stuff and shakuhachi stuff coming up on my YouTube feed and I found a Japanese channel that can only be described as very cutesy and bouncy and "genki". It's so damned cute! But it's also really neat. The first "lesson" the guy emphasizes the importance of holding the flute right, having an "anchor" finger that keeps you having a good hold, so you keep tension out of your playing - or least it helps to do so. 

The 2nd lesson was showing how, to be comfortable blowing the shakuhachi, try blowing into all kinds of things. The guy was getting a note out of tea cups and all kinds of things. Fun! 

The technique of keeping my chest "up" and really using the diaphragm seems to result in "more air" and a bit longer long notes so I think this is a good direction. 

For the ukulele, I need to get the tuner out and make sure I'm really tuning it because some chords sound awful. Also, I thought I'd have to go out and buy a knob of some sort to put onto the tail end to attach the strap, but there's enough hardware on there that I can tie that end on with a piece of string. 

I didn't wake up until past 5, and the guys next door are holding a party with loud music, as they're perfectly OK to do, as it's an industrial area. 

I turned on the radio and the Peace Creeps(tm) are certainly afoot. Now they're hollering for a cease-fire in Gaza so the Palestinians, a group whose name has become synonymous with terrorism, can regroup, re-dig their tunnels, etc. The same deal as the cease-fire they want in Ukraine so the Russians can re-group and reinforce. 

I was just having my coffee and thinking about my evening when Ken called; he wanted to bring some stuff over. I was just heading out to Walmart, I told him. He said I should call him when I get back - OK. I finished my coffee, just about, and he called back, asking if I was now back. I got a bit exasperated and said I had been finishing what was my breakfast and was about to head out, and just because he wants the laws of physics to change, doesn't mean I can do a half-hour trip each way into 5 minutes each way. Ken eventually said he'll just plan to come by at 8 and start in. 

I rode for downtown but I didn't go to Walmart. I dropped off some trash and then went over to the civic center where I did my little chin-up routine on the exercise stuff there. There's a light rail station right there, but whatever bums are around seem to just want to infest the light rail benches and not the exercise stuff. Good. 

I rode past the post office and through the car-free area at San Pedro Square and to my amazement, Leroy was there. I stopped and put a couple of bucks in his tip box and we talked a bit. He'd been inland taking care of his mother who moved in with his sister and busy with that for a couple of years, but he's back out here now. I congratulated him on being the last busker in San Jose and we had a good old time talking for a bit.

Then I rode over to Whole Foods. I was hoping Pee-Pee Lady and her friend were going to be there, as I'd brought a ton of pens and some other stuff for them but they were not there. There were no buskers or botherers at all.  

I went in and got one of those little salami slice snack things and went upstairs for a near-beer and sat and enjoyed those. I ended up talking with a Vietnamese guy who's live here for 30 years or something and is trying to learn Vietnamese but "it's hard". He had a neat T-shirt from Los Angeles' Japantown which he said is really small. I said that's like our "Microscopic Italy" here. 

I went back downstairs for olives and cheese, as I'd decided the Walmart stuff can wait another week and really all I'd wanted to go downtown for was olives and cheese, and to give the pens away but I'll have to catch Pee-Pee Lady another time. 

Then I rode back here, a nice uneventful ride. Ken was here, and at least it wasn't a huge pile of stuff he'd brought. Mainly he wanted to explain what things were, how to list them etc. Plus we talked about the usual science bullshit. It was a lot more agreeable than things had been on the phone... 

Which points out to me something I've seen too many times to ignore. If I tried making up with my older sister by phone or by mail or email, it would probably not work. It's obvious the internet wants people to hate each other and to fight, but the telephone and even physical mail has this effect. This is why in both the government and the business world, so much time and money is spent just so people can talk to each other in person. 

As I type here, Xi and Biden are meeting up in San Francisco and they'll probably do inane things like go golfing or eat at some mundane restaurant but that mundane shit keeps the world out of war. I love the idea of being in touch with my older sister and having some arrangement ahead of time when I move back home but that's simply impossible. I'll have to actually be back there, run into her by chance or through a mutual friend, arrange to have a mundane, overpriced lunch at the Art Academy or something, and then diplomacy will happen. 

I got my check from Ken and after some more talking he took off. He's got tons of relatives coming over which is the reason he came by today. He had some computers and stuff he had to get out of the house (now they're here) and wanted to take care of my pay check so he won't have to worry about it during the week.