Schermerhorn & Random Good Thoughts

Wow -- I almost forgot that today was the Premiere Performance in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center here in Gnashvegas... a concert space said to rival or surpass Carnagie Hall (where Schermerhorn conducted the NSO in their final performance on an east coast tour in 2000, to rave reviews) for its acoustic design. I flipped on WNPT (local PBS affiliate) when I got in at 6:30, and damned if they aren't livecasting it. I must've missed the intro piece, but then, they bring out Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer and a tabla player whose name I'm sure I ought to know, as I'm sure these guys have all worked together, before (ah -- Zakir Hussain! Thank you, WNPT!), and they premiere a piece written for the occasion that includes the full Nashville Symphony Orchestra. Holy Shit. This is a great town, I tell ya. If they make a DVD of this performance (and I'm sure they will), I'm going to recommend that y'all snag a copy, by hook or by Jeffraham, as the case may be.

Kenneth Schermerhorn did break ground on the project, but sadly didn't live to see this day. From what everyone is saying about the new concert hall, I'm pretty sure he'd be very proud to have his name on the place, and to see it open on time (under four years), and on-budget. It was designed to stand for 300 years, believe it or not. It's a fascinating architectural and acoustic engineering achievement -- go check out the symphony's website about the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Check out the crazy floor system. Man, that's some serious shit.

This here dude got to see the dress rehearsal "preview performance," if you will. I would have loved to go to this thang tonight, but I fear I would have been a tad underdressed (it looks "black tie only"), and rather underfunded. :)

Randomness...

Well, what did I do tonight? NMRed doesn't know it yet, but she bought me (via some giftcards she sent, months ago) some shredded wheat and soymilk from Target, this evening. It's what I intend to have for dinner, no kidding -- I've craved it for too long. I was shocked as anyone that the Target nearest me (on White Bridge Rd.) has expanded to nearly SuperWallyWorld proportions, and has full grocery stocks, now. Day-um. Of course, they can't beat Aldi on the staples... but I had the MTA daypass, so I got as much use out of it as I could. I also stopped by Radio Shack and Staples, and got applications for both places, as well as an app for Target.

I looked at a lot of crap that would've been easy to pick up on someone else's dime, but I passed it all up -- a bigger memory card for the camera? Nah; don't need it right now. The camera and computer are too easily kept together, so there's no excuse. DVDs? Heh -- the library has a bunch I need to see, first, and I reserved several today before I left Cafe Coco (including Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck). I ended up getting a toilet bowl brush, some groceries, some dishwasher gel, and a beard trimmer (since mine has been broken for a while, requiring me to use its eyebrow trimming guard to do my beard, etc... depressing!). Total hit? $30.

I think I'll buy an MTA 7-day pass (only $17! Less than what my liability insurance would cost!), and hit every place on the bus routes this week in search of employment. I dunno why I didn't think of this before now. I'll get a haircut, and carry my bottle of Oleg Cassini for Men with me, and walk in, prim an proper, and I am GOING TO LAND A JOB THIS WEEK, DAMMIT, JIM. With what I know about electronics and 'puters and parts and stuff, there has to be a $10/hr. job at one of these places along the bus route just waiting for me to walk my smilin' ass in and snatch it up. That's the good news: For whatever reason, I believe in myself, again, and I guess I really haven't in a while. I know I have a lot to offer a variety of employers, and I don't really need a lot in return -- just respect, and enough to pay my meager bills. Even when I was making $12/hr. at Dell, I was paying back my landlord at a rate that was quite respectable, if he's to be believed (he's a friend, but I think he's been pretty straight with me on the situation, so far).

I'm going to get this done. This week. YES.

I'm feeling like MTA may be a VITAL key out of the mess I'm in... and I can see it working. I feel like I can work with paying a fellow condo resident a little bit to work out a ride to the bus stop every morning, at a minimum... maybe the faith-based charities will help me with the carpooling part, should nothing else work out, but I bet I can post something at the laundrette that fixes that part. I mean, it's gonna be tough showing up to work sweaty and weathered... but with a little brainwork, maybe I can bridge that gap on a lead-up to fixing my problems with the local courts on the insurance problems, right? I hope so... I think I can make it work. I can offer a reasonable amount of cash for gas, or services-in-trade, such as computer consulting, etc. I am going to build some little bridges. Little bridges are good. I am going to do it.

Unfinished business: UNE asked me today how far from home Cafe Coco was for me, and I overestimated it. Using Microsoft MapPoint's measure distance tool, it's exactly 5 mi. from my condo to Cafe Coco, using the route I'd consider shortest. I really should know that, since I live less than a mile from my foreclosed house, and that was ~4 mi. from there to my former employer's (which is maybe four blocks from Cafe Coco). Of course, there's a 1-2 mile stretch of Charlotte Ave. (say, between 25th and 46th St... not much of a trafficked area, bad neighborhood -- it's the southern border of Boardeaux, which is not a good place to be for a homey that looks like me -- I'm often told I look like a cop, imagine that) that I'd want to walk after dark with a laptop bag slung over-shoulder, unless I were packin' a 9mm.

It's probably going to sound funny, but I kinda like this uneasy access to the Innertubes. When I'm offline, I have a chance to think and write for the blog. When I'm online, I tend to not get too wordy, because I'd rather read what others are saying. This forces me to contribute more of what I'm thinking, and what's going on in my mundane life... even if it's a bit masturbatory. :) I don't feel like I have a lot to say, but I do hope it makes for Better Blogging, in any case.

I'm really looking forward to the Open House tomorrow afternoon that Mrs. McKennon invited me to, today (yes, I will go, and yes, I will blog about it). Will it lead to my being Harold Ford, Jr. (or Al Gore)'s official blogger? Probably not. But there's probably someone there who will play a role in getting me in touch with some future employment in the Davidson County Democratic machine, I will hope. It's awl about who you know, boy. In fact, I'll work on getting my Jeff Needs A Job Now blog up to snuff (I started it last week), and print up some cards (ooh, I have bidness card blanks!) with the URL before I go, so I can hand out something simple to anyone who's interested in putting out some feelers for me.

Well, that's all I have for tonight... 'cept for the obligatory Curly! Now, I'll go online, and chat with y'all.

Thank you -- yes, you -- for being a friend.
♥