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date
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2001-03-15:19:27
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music
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"Rediscovered" my boxed set of vinyl Smithsonian recordings of Bach's Six Sonatas for Violin and Harpsichord and Two Sonatas for Violin and Basso Continuo, James Weaver at the ancient harpsichord. Just hadn't felt like playing them for many months. They sound different to me now. Maybe it was just how worn and staticky they're getting now, in comparison to the Harpsichord Concertoes, which I value as much for its crystal clear quality as the outrageous music and arrangements. If one harpsichord is orgasmic, what are four? But I digress. I'm not really hearing the static as I listen now, but rather getting lost in counterpoint. |
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now in bloom on my patio
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Of all the miraculous things! The feijoah ("Pineapple Guava Tree") is sending out buds! I didn't expect it to bloom this year. It's really just a 10-foot stick with a few branches in a 22-gallon tub. But it's only lost a few silvery leaves and now it will bloom! I'm considering letting it make fruit, as I know I won't have the heart to eat the adorable red-and-white bow-shaped flowers. But I know some other little creatures who would! If those rats climb that tree and eat the flowers I'm going to make rat pie.
The wisteria has finally reawakened, and it looks like there are 3 fat flower buds on the naked branches. Since it's in a pot and I cut it back hard last fall, it probably won't bloom much more than that this year. It's turning into a nice little deciduous patio tree.
The boronia's buds positively smother the branches and they've begun to show a deep magenta. The flowers are supposed to be fragrant; in the meantime the leaves are extremely pungent.
After making a poor display last year and getting kicked off the porch onto the pool deck for the summer, the pittosporum has several hundred buds! This is a great boon for me. It will bloom just in time to replace the magnolia's fruity fragrance and the delicate scent of the camellias. It's a bit late in comparison with the pittosporums around the neighborhood, but I'm glad because I've been congested with a lingering head cold for the past three weeks, and I wouldn't have wanted to miss it.
The pink jasmine is still going full-steam. My outdoor office chair is placed so that it sits behind me and the perpetual breeze pushes the sweet perfume all around my desk.
The dwarf pomogranite that I bought last year in a one-inch pot and transferred conservatively to a one-gallon, is now 8 inches tall has 10 stems and a big fat orange flower bud on each. I don't know how it's going to hold itself up when those buds open, but I don't think it will be possible to let such a tiny plant keep its fruit.
All the camellias, azaleas, and cyclamens are in full bloom with plenty of buds still to open. The alyssum took a month off and is once again filling the air with the scent of warm honey. The fuchsia, also just coming back from a short break during which it carried no more than 3 flowers at a time is growing wildly and putting out buds again.
The red and white tea trees are just winding down after a spectacular winter. They should finish up just about the time the first of the cistus blossoms--which are 3 or 4 to a stalk this year--start popping.
I'd have to give the prize for tenacity to the pink kalanchoe, the primroses, and the San Diego Red bougainvillea this year. They've all been in bloom persistently for the past five months and show no signs of slowing down.
I don't know if my treasured stephanotis is going to make it. It doesn't seem to be recovering from having its bark chewed. |
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accomplishments
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I know I'm forgetting things. That's what I do, and why I feel so far behind no matter what I do. How can I rebuke someone for resenting is own non-omniscience, when I rebuke myself for my own forgetfulness? But this is better than nothing.
Last 30 days
published 18 new treatises on Enlightenment
finally got the Aristotle eudaimonia essay scanned and edited
released ladybugs several times
made copious notes for the book
visited for 8 days with Tom
planned the First Annual Meeting
sick for three weeks
This week:
organized book notes
wrote about 15 book pages
took notes for racism essay
took notes for sexism essay
answered three Enlightenment visitor questions
engaged in three separate email debates, one of which involved defending my ward-freedom once again
finally decided what to do with Enlightenment: profit or non? (PROFIT!)
Enlightenment fictitious name
Enlightenment business license
Enlightenment credit card setup
set up membership sale links
Peace of Mind glossary
choosing a phil. cons. advice
aparagus article
scheduled and announced First Online Conference
corresponded with approximately 40 friends (!)
collected more info about "Judging Amy"
sorted the stacks of "done" papers (I detest paper)
made new shade systems in the garden
made a strawberry and cranberry pie
made biscuits for breakfasts
grocery shopping
paid the bills
started reading another Cocchiarella paper for my propositions paper
began plans for Enlightenment Camp
began plans for Endowment fund |
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in progress
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new Earth brochure
Objectivity
newspaper ads
more ladybugs! the aphids are just horrendous
list server programming
FAQ and Q and A
message board
membership benefits list |
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wildlife
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A mousie got in the house a few days ago. It was adorable. it revealed itself by unabashedly digging through the dried soy beans stored under the stove--right while I was storing some soup. I set the live traps, but it was too smart for that. It sprang one trap, then snuck past me into the living room. I sat at my desk with the office doors open to the garden so it could go back out, but gave up when evening came and closed the doors. Ten minutes later, there came the mouse tiptoeing by me and looking cunningly up at me. It clearly knew exactly what it was doing: taking soy beans one by one outside to its nest. So I opened the door again and it eventually slipped out. Gotta keep the screen door closed more!
I'm still glad the mice are out there, though, given the way I've seen them attacking snails and slugs and cleaning up the litter from my plants. I make it clear that they aren't allowed in the house by keeping the floors very clean and keeping food (except soy beans!) where they can't reach it. When they come in, they get bored very quickly and leave. Unlike birds and bugs, they know exactly how they got in and exactly how to get back out. |
