2005


First of Second

I went to work with Dad this morning… barely. We left after 11. I spend the workday doing some filing related work. Dad wanted patient discharge dates in a patient spreadsheet to he can selectively inquire attorneys about patient case status. This involved going through every unsettled case on file. I worked on it until we left a little after five, I got about halfway through. After Don left the office for his usual visit, Dad took me to Tulane for my first class of the second semester, Review Writing with Julia Houston, who happens to be my student advisor. It was an interesting introductory class. She of course discussed what was the class was about. We read parts of various movie reviews, good and bad, discussing each. There was a 'speed dating' exercise after the break in which we discussed various innocuous topics with a classmate for a few minutes; the other person would then grade certain personality traits. At the end we had about 10 people’s opinion about how we perceived in various respects. Before class ended, rather late I might add, she literally tossed a random book at each of us so we could read it and write a review on it, due in two weeks. Class ended around 8:45. Dad had waited for me to finish as he wasn't expecting this fist class to last very long. That obviously was not the case and I kinda felt bad for him, waiting in the car so long. On the way Dad and I stopped at Wal-Mart so he could pick up some groceries for the house and the office. After I got home I was on the computer on and off for a while before going to bed around 2 AM.

Comments Off on First of Second

Sunday

Today passed rather quietly. After church I spent the rest of the day at home. I played Half Life 2 for a while and spoke to Ami and Khadijah on phone in the evening. I also caught up on some log entries.

Comments Off on Sunday

Quiet Saturday

The rest of the family left the house early this morning to take Andrew to his first basketball game of this season, he played in a jamboree in two games versus Karr and another school. Between it simply being Saturday and having the house so quiet. I didn’t get up too early. They came home around one o’clock in the afternoon. I didn’t really do much today. Dad grilled some hamburgers for dinner. In the evening I watched The Assignment and Yojimbo before going to bed around two.

Comments Off on Quiet Saturday

Ellis Marsalis ‘Quartet?’

I went to work today with arguably barely sufficient cause. I did a couple reports but I played more FreeCell than anything else. We left the office around four, late for a Friday. A little before six, Dad gave me a ride to the quarter, as I had a date with Melanie this evening. He originally intended to drop me at the ferry landing but there was a chance I’d be late and he could drive across the river and back about as quickly as he could lumbering through old Algiers. I was dropped off on Conti, a stone’s throw from the Old N’awlins Cookery, we were having dinner at. I got dropped off around six, about a half hour early. I didn’t really feel like walking around at the moment so I decided to just take a seat in the restaurant. I had a glass of orange juice, the menu and a cell phone to occupy myself, sufficient as I don’t bore easily. Melanie showed up a few minutes late and quite quickly decided on what she wanted, jambalaya, which I also picked out for myself a while earlier. We didn’t wait long for our food, which was quite good. The dish was a little drier and not quite tasty as Dad’s jambalaya, which I’ve become accustomed to. Following that, we had a serving of bread pudding. This particular place arguably makes the best in New Orleans. Melanie had said she didn’t like bread pudding, but had also not tried it in quite a while. I think her opinion has been altered in this matter. I believe we left about an hour after she arrived. Having left the restaurant we walked down to the far end of the French Quarter to Frenchman St. and to Snug Harbor. We went to see the Ellis Marsalis Quartet perform. While we were here last week, Melanie expressed a desire to see Ellis Marsalis so we went. We arrived shortly before seating began at eight for the nine o’clock show. I was somewhat surprised at the line which formed over an hour before the show starting. We were at the head of the line, as I originally went up to the counter for a reason I can no longer remember. Being at the front of the line afforded us the choice of any seat we wished. We picked a back corner at the stage lever of the rather small venue. We had an hour before the show stare, affording us time to talk and such while we watched the club quickly fill up. Ellis Marsalis, Jason Marsalis and a base player whose name escapes me took the stage at nine. After some applause and the first number, Ellis made a joking remark about how the bandstand seemed crowded for only three people. Delfeayo Marsalis and a talented sax player whose name I can’t remember then took the stage for the remainder of the performance. Delfeayo seemed merrily confused throughout the performance as though he had no idea as to what songs would be performed. He seemed to pick on things rather quickly though. Later on, a Xylophone player and a new bass player took the stage, replacing the gentleman who was manning the Bass. The performance ended shortly after 10:30. It was a fantastic show with more talent on the stage that I thought I would see. Melanie was especially pleased with the show. After making a tedious exit of the crowded club, we walked down Decatur to Cafe Du Monde for beignets. We came here last week but it was far too crowded. We had no trouble finding a table this evening. We shared an order of beignets and then made our way back to Frenchman St. to meet my dad at the Spotted Cat. He had agreed earlier to provide us a ride home. When we arrived the Jazz Vipers were about to conclude a set. We waited outside briefly as a couple folks were dancing and taking up a lot of precious floor space in this tiny bar. Dad walked up while we were waiting outside. I thought he would have already been there for a while but he had just arrived. The musicians took a break and the crown inside thinned out considerably. After taking some seats we got some drinks and waited for the music to resume. I believe the Vipers took a 30 minute recess. We remained for a short while afterward for a couple more drinks and to hear the band. I think we left around midnight but I’m not sure. As we were about to leave, we saw that rain was pouring rather hard. The large umbrella I was carrying all evening was finally given purpose. We waited at the door briefly but that didn’t make the rain stop. Dad took my umbrella and went to retrieve his car while we waited at the door. He pulled up a few minutes later and we quickly got in the car to go home. We took Melanie home first. Luckily the rain had largely stopped by the time we got to her house. After saying goodbye, Dad and I drove back home.

Comments Off on Ellis Marsalis ‘Quartet?’

Work at Mid-City and East… Or At Least Mid-City

I went to work with dad this morning. We were at the Mid-City office for a few hours. During that time I did the two reports that were waiting. We went to the east office after I finished those. I didn’t have much to do at the east office. I vacuumed and updated a patient database file. That was the extent of my work. I typed up some back log entries and listened to music. A while later we learned of some problems with the electricity at the Mid-City office. We left around six o’clock to check things over. After that we went home and had dinner. Shortly thereafter we learned the power problem was resolved. Later in the evening, I watched Ran: Masterworks Edition before talking to Khadijah on the phone for a while and going to bed.

Comments Off on Work at Mid-City and East… Or At Least Mid-City

Haircut – Decision on Laptop Wireless connection

I didn’t go to work again today, but I did get out the house for a short while to get a haircut. I left with dad this morning. He was willing to wait so I wouldn’t have to take the bus home. The haircut didn’t take long. Immediately after that I went next door to the grocery store to pick up some things for tonight’s dinner. Groceries in hand, Dad took me back home and then went to work. The MiniPCI socket I ordered came today so I could pursue having an internal WiFi card installed in my laptop. I had long decided not to try and solder it in myself and hire someone to do it. I called McCann Electronics again to inquire about the repair, but they said they would not take the risk in trying to install it. Another establishment was willing to try but they do not have the proper equipment. I decided to put this little project on hold until I can find someone earnestly capable of doing the work. In the mean time, I purchased a little 3Com PCMCIA card that has a retractable antenna on eBay that I think I can live with. Later in the evening I played Half Life 2 and finished watching Madadayo, Akira Kurosawa’a final film.

Comments Off on Haircut – Decision on Laptop Wireless connection

Madadayo

I was at home today having not been needed at work. I don’t really recall anything going on today. I started watching Madadayo in the evening but I got too tired to finish.

Comments Off on Madadayo

Half Life 2

I went to work with dad today, barely still in the morning hours. There were a few reports to do which didn’t take very long. Later in the evening, a friend lent me a copy of Half Life 2 and I played that for a while after I got the sound for the game working. I told myself I wouldn’t start playing the game before I got a new video card but oh well.

Comments Off on Half Life 2

Home With Andrew

My parent’s and Jeff drive back to Natchitoches this morning to return Jeff to school after the Christmas break, so I was home with just Andrew for company most of the day. I was in no hurry getting out of bed, as I was up rather late last night. Generally speaking this was a remarkably unproductive day, little of which I really remember. I’m sure it involved a lot of internet surfing and TV watching. My parents returned some time after eight o’clock. Later in the evening I finished watching Ikiru, one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Comments Off on Home With Andrew

New Year's Day

Nobody was in a hurry to get up today. I got out of bed around 11 I think. Khadijah was in town today before she returned to Ruston tomorrow. Grandma came by the afternoon for a late lunch and to return Andrew. Dad made cabbage rolls and black eyed peas, some sort of tradition. We ate around three o'clock. A short while afterward, Andrey picked me up to go to his house with Khadijah. He had mentioned wanting us to play DDR, which we did. This was y first experience with the game, and it might as well have been my first experience with dancing of any kind. Andrey and his little brother played a few rounds. They both are pretty adept with the game. Khadijah and I played a number of tracks as well with considerably less skill. Even so, it was pretty fun and good exercise. After a few hours of this, Kali and I playing with our laptops and Khadijah snapping a bunch of pictures, we eventually managed to make a decision and left the house to go get some dinner. We would have gone to see a movie afterwards but Andrey really couldn’t be gone that long. We went to Bennigan’s for dinner, which is decent and close by. I had a combo plate of sorts with buffalo winds and something else with a name that escapes me at the moment. We were there for a good while, we left around 10:30. Khadijah and Andrey needed to have a private little chat and did while I sat in the car. It got rather irritating after over 15 minutes. Since Andrey kinda had to get home, Khadijah and I elected to watch a movie at the house she was staying in. I stopped by my house for a second to pick up Ikiru. We started watching it a little while after we got back to Ms. Belinda’s place. Khadijah clearly had something on her mind so I paused the movie to ask. We talked for a few hours about a handful of subjects. I restarted the movie around 3 AM. Realizing it would be quite late before we’d finish it, I decided it would be best not to try. We were both tired anyway so I called a cab home. I went to bed shortly after getting home.

Comments Off on New Year's Day