thebruce

I've migrated over to dreamwidth now, from LJ. I'll be probably just as quiet now as I was there for a while. I've a happy life with music, travel, exciting work that pays well, and I'm just loving it.
Best to all; write when you can. More current events over on fb, of course :)

My kids had planned this wonderful early b'day/Father's Day thing for yesterday evening, they brought the grandkids to go swimming and we all had a great time and went through family pictures and reminisced...

...But I had forgotten something. I had actually prepared for no one to bring anything and me to be feeding everyone out of "stock", so I had the full complement of burgers, franks, buns, steaks and ten ears of fresh corn on the cob.

I'm gonna grill/roast/smoke them Sunday evening starting about 6-ish running until 11-ish. Who's in?

Thanks to everyone who helped make our CD Release parties this past weekend a success!

If you didn't get a chance to get a copy at the parties, and want to order online they're now available at CDBaby.com. There's also a track listing and sound samples at our website, http://www.queens-gambit.com/samples.html.

Love you all, and thanks!

I just got this in my email this morning from my oldest daughter:

So, Pat had a heart attack (ed. last night)and had to have 3 stints put in. He had been complaining of chest pressure, pain in his throat and across his back for 2 days and finally got him to go to the Urgent Care. He got an abnormal EKG and they sent him to the ER at Saint Francis Hospital. He is doing better, but the house renovation has been delayed. All we have left to do is stain and hang the cabinets and put the temporary counters on and we can move in. I told him he wasn't allowed to have a heart attack, but I guess his heart was already in bad shape. I will keep everyone posted on his progress. I love you guys. Pray for Pat.

Backstory: Alicia and Patrick were married (by Tim) at the Castle year before last, and they bought, together with Pat's mother Katie, a "fixer-upper" house out on 71st St. at 256th E. Ave., a ways out East of everything in Broken Arrow (ETA: here near Tulsa, OK, about 5 miles due North of my house). Since then, Pat has been literally killing himself working on the place, renovating and getting it fit to move into. Meanwhile, he was laid off by the contract company (for Cox Communications) he was working for, and Alicia gave birth to a baby girl, Aeryn Mae, on August 12th. So their resources are limited in the first place, and now this.

Of course I called Alicia first thing, and she just called back and assured that help will be welcome. I've got her compiling a list, dictated by Pat, as I suspect that "staining the cabinets and putting in the temporary counters" is just a part of what needs to be done yet. I'm going to meet her out there at the house this afternoon and do a quick assessment of what needs to be done yet, for them to move in, checking that against Pat's list.....

And then I'm going to need help. Esp. Carpenter, Cabinet-maker and plumber type help, I suspect, as well as painter and heavy-lifting (that's the part I cannot do myself).

Preliminary plan is for the work day to occur Saturday next, the 13th of December. I will have it organized into lists that I can hand to people so there's no confusion, and the work can be done in a few hours of concentrated effort.

Bless you all...the need is great.

ETA: I'll be building a filter of those who have expressed a desire to help, and posting specifics to that filter, as well as a general "how it goes" post unfiltered here later this evening. Thank all of you very much for the support. I'm deeply touched. --Bruce

I just finished mixing/mastering "Saffron's Wedding Dance" for the compilation CD "An AfFaire of the Hart". fithelere and Queen's Gambit collaborated on this, recording it just before Boare's Heade Feaste back in November.

Sweet mother of the goddess....

That tune alone will be worth the price of the CD. It's a friggin' orchestra, I tell ya...

Beautiful. I have goosebumps.

Browncoats....

There will be a master going to duplication tomorrow.

Edit: I gave out at midnight with 4 tracks yet to record and two to mix and master. I'll get it tonight.

Thanks to Gloria and Dan for bringing a load of split oak to us yesterday. It would have been a long, cold night without it. Bless you!

Power still out as of this morning. Minor generator woes yesterday were due to low oil, which I filled after speaking with the beastie's owner and learning that there's a safety interlock on it which prevents the thing from running with low oil. Smart. Smarter than me :)

Plans for weekend cancelled, at least for me. Susi will still come up to White Hart for the meeting on Sunday at least, or that's the plan at present.

Regrets to those in KC/Lee's Summit. We were supposed to come up today to play at the memorial service for George K's dad, who passed away a few weeks ago, but without power/heat at the house, someone has to stay home and keep the place warm so the pipes don't freeze. In other words, life intervened, as life is wont to do when you have other plans.

Snow predicted for tonight/tomorrow, and it's sure a snow sky out there, and the kind of moist cold that chills one to the bone regardless of how well you're dressed for it. Hoping they get the power on before it hits, but thanks to the above mentioned load of wood and generator, we're prepared for it, as well as one can be, if they don't.

Busy day tomorrow in the yard, regardless of weather....

First, the news that Mike O'Reilly passed away shortly before 1 p.m. this afternoon. I was grateful for one last opportunity to hug him in the lanes at KCRF opening weekend. A fantastic man, fellow White Hart performer, and gentle soul that will be sorely missed at the many faires he loved and visited.

Second, the news that Tatiana has left us. Sweet, young, smart and an outstanding dancer, dance mistress, and performer, I first met her in '98 at OKRF when she was in Kate's (Jane Seymour's) court there; she and Sally took my daughter under their wing and got her hooked on Renaissance Faire. The news came via LJ, in performingdude's journal, relayed through lys1022. Tati was one of my original inspirations for becoming a "rennie".

I wish peace and strength for the families and friends of both.

Sweet gods, I'm gonna quote itzwicks and say "Live like you mean it, people". It's over before you know it.

Meet Kris, malinear a dear (and *beautiful*) friend of Susi's and mine from Kansas City who's recently moved to your neck of the woods.

We'd consider it a huge favor if you would help get her acquainted with the Scarby circles. She's been on cast and part of a stage show at KC for some years, and is into Anime in a huge way as well, and yeah, she's a gamer :)

...And while you're at it, come see us up at White Hart. The DanceMaster up there rocks :)

Love you all...and damn, we miss you!

To all who made my birthday such a loving and wonderful weekend, I offer my undying gratitude. At an early age I learned to "not care" about birthdays and such, a story with which I won't bore my flist. Maybe someday a private journal entry.

Slowly I learn to accept the love and sharing that others willingly give. I beg your indulgence while I learn. Thank you and bless you all.

Reminding myself here to post my thoughts on the classic "squandered youth" thing at some time in the future, prolly also a private post.

The crazy amount of busy in my life continues only slightly less. Colleague is getting up to speed on the system, taking some of the load off me, especially this past weekend. Still, between job (which I really do enjoy, despite the negatives) and faire building and preparation, there's no time to mow grass; neighbors are bound to complain at some point. No time to open the pool yet, and prolly won't be until after White Hart.

Speaking of which, looks like there'll be 4 of us for WHRF, Becky, Julia, Amber and myself!

And that just rocks.

Must call Mom this day...

Stupid phone has ceased sending pics via the Intarweb. Rats.

Intarweb was down at my house and required a reboot of everything from the cable modem back when we got home...now gonna have to reboot again as my apostrophe key brings up the "find" bar in Firefox...and MyYahoo will not load.

The Sun (that hot thing in the sky that was absent all week) was back with a vengeance yesterday and we all felt it. Managed to keep Amber cool, but still we had a huge WIL...when it is that hot we blow lyrics. Causes me to have bizzare nightdreams.

Supposed to be 90 again today.

We are beginning to be discovered down behind the wall so life is good. And the music is amazing.

It is another day for building bridges and solving problems.