1/12/11 – It’s been quite a quiet few weeks at home relaxing, walking, hiking, jogging, taking care of loose ends, and preparing for my spring semester, which looks a bit dauntingly crammed. I’ve been given a full-time schedule of four classes to teach in the spring, so, on top of the new English 44B class, which is a survey of world literature from 1650 to the present, I have two 1C advanced composition courses focused on nature, civilization, and multiculturalism, and a 1A class, which is focused on California and the Americas. On top of that, I’ll be taking two classes at USF, a class on leadership methods, and the dissertation proposal seminar, in which I’ll be writing my propsal to defend at the end of the spring. With Jen getting back from Bangladesh (scroll down for her blog) on Friday, and school starting the same day, things are firing up. 2011 will be a busy year and by the end of it I should be almost done with my dissertation, working full-time at City College, and just hace a few stray classes to take at USF. After a few weeks of regenerating in San Rafael, I am ready to start it up and am really going to focus on not burning myself out too much.
We had a nice Christmas at mom and dad’s house with Nana, Grandma, Judy, Jacquie, and Marty over on Christmas day for a turkey feast in the afternoon. We were missing Eric and Laura, who spent little Mags’ first Christmas at home in Portland, and Mags’ first birthday on 1/1/11 on the coast with friends. Magnolia has gone from crawling to walking and is turning into an amazing little girl!
I also missed Jen, who celebrated at the Bhaga Club in Dhaka, though we had some celebrations with gifts from her family before she left in November, and more celebrating to do when she arrives, so Christmas has been an ongoing affair this year! I had a mellow new year’s eve eating and drinking with Branko, and attended a big party with Fely at an Ivorian friend’s house in Brentwood with about 100 or so guests, mostly from the Ivory Coast: delicious African food and drink for all, and live music. Lot’s of fun!
I’ve also been playing a new gog the last couple of Sundays at the Revolution Café in the Mission, which has music every night and draws a crowd. It’s a revolving lineup that drummer Michael Smith arranges with some great musicians. Here are some links to an audio recording of one of the gigs with Peter Ild on trumpet, Carl Herder on bass, and Dick Crook on piano.
Set A – Stella; Beatrice; My Little Boat; Silver’s Serenade; Pure Imagination; Saga; In Walked Bud;
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6810054/Rev%20010211%20A.mp3
Set B – Simone; Manha De Carnaval (Gee); A Paz;(Marty – It Cld/ Fried; Cheesecake); Broadway; Outra Vez; Voyage;
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6810054/Rev%20010211%20B.mp3
Set C – (Joe – Blue In Green; Dolphin Dance); Four; Forest Flower; I Wish I Knew (Billy Taylor); Easy To Love; ”will play blues for tips”
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6810054/Rev%20010211%20C.mp3
I was in a couple of scenes in Jen’s brother Peter’s music video for his band, Sonny Pete, which will be released in March. Peter is a great composer, singer, 
and guitarist, and it was fun to hang out with hime for the day. We did a great early morning shoot of six of us in black suits and hats in really thick fog, walking down the road.
I got in a great hike with dad last week. We started at Lake Lagunitas, walked around Alpine lake, and up to Cateract Falls, which were beautifully full in the winter fog and encircled by lush ferns. I also enjoyed seeing Bhutto, a new documentary, with Mark at the Clay in the city. We heard the director, who lives in the neighborhood, speak about his experiences filming and also working as a political advisor for Benazir Buttho. It was a great film with interviews with her daughters, and Zardari. Thad, Michiko and I had a huge meal at my place, beef Bourgignon with peppers, and taked by the fire last week, and also visited Branko and our friend Hashim’s new bistro on California and Divisadero called SF Grill Bistro, which serves incredible gourmet burgers made of Kobe beef, veal, lamb, elk, ostrich, and trout. Check it out if you are in the area!
