Ouch. I won't be singing with Novi Cantori this spring due to a conflict with my trip to Arizona and Texas with the kids. The trip's more important, but what a loss.

We're having wonderful light, long snows these days. It's peaceful.

Sometimes coffee can be just the ticket. I stopped at Esselon (somebody else's photos) this morning in between ferrying kids around.

Still Here

I haven't posted anything for a while. A brief rundown: Jean and the kids spent a couple of days on Cape Cod visiting with Grandpa Zimmer; Jesse's had a tough cold; I've been working on linux software, LFS and parted. I keep waiting for my apartment to clean itself, but it's very stubborn. Well, so am I. ;-)

Yet another glorious sliding day! And still no photos! I'm catching cold, but Lynn and the gang were kind enough to let me join them for an incredibly good roast chicken dinner with all the fixin's, followed by a bittersweet Valentine song by Livia.

Ice skating on Paradise Pond (Bruce's photo) with the kids and Jean. Oops, didn't take the camera.

Valentine Blizzard

We had a blizzard for Valentine's Day. Bruce took this photo.

Spot Light

Jesse is helping with spot lights for the high school play. What fun!

Jan

My beloved cousin Jan sent these hearts. Click on them for more detail. Forgive me for saying, and it's more than a pun, she is an artist with heart!

I spent the day in the hills at Red Gate Farm with Linnea and Tor in a kind of preschool farm program. Beautiful, cold day. I took my laptop and got work done in a chilly back room. Linnea and Tor helped "train" a sheep dog name Cuzco.

Marji took this picture at the valentine-making gig last Saturday. Tor, me, Jesse, Linnea. Thanks, Marji!

Delicious dinner and good company at Lynn's with Livia, Nancy, and Susan. Livia played a couple of her songs--soul-soothing.

Bruce

Bruce is upset that I haven't mentioned him in my blog yet. He's my buddy here at Eastworks. We look out for each other. He's a photographer with a magical touch.

Open Studios

It has been open studio night for the 2nd floor here. Very fun. Food, art, interesting people in interesting studio spaces. This is one of Denis's works, called The Bomb.

Old-Fashioned Valentines

My wonderful friend Marji gave a workshop on making old-fashioned valentines this morning. Boy was it fun! She has so much cool stuff! It was like raiding a treasure trove. Jesse, Linnea, and Tor and I made valentines, with lots of neat people helping. Oh yeah, it was at Wistariahurst, a great 19th century mansion in Holyoke, where I often participate in musical events. Some friends are performing there tomorrow. I'll probably go.

Oh, this is the valentine I was working on. What with helping the kids, I didn't really finish. I think it'll be for my favorite neighbor, Lynn Hoffman. Uh oh, what if she reads this? ;-)

SuperTux

Okay, I have to admit I've gotten pretty darn good at SuperTux, a jump'n'run game for Linux.

Tom

My friend Tom Friedman was mentioned in a New York Times article yesterday that talked about art selling before a show even opens, via e-mailed images. Tom had a fabulous and fabulously received show at the Gagosian Gallery in Beverly Hills. I didn't get to go, dang it, but I provided computer programming for two of his works.

Raphy

The opening reception for Raphy's show at the A.P.E. gallery in Thornes is tonight, but I'm too wiped to go. I'll stop by another time, when I can linger and appreciate his work. Raphy cashiers downstairs at Blue Moon and works his art on the 2nd floor at Red Horse Press.

Cold and windy outside, but Linnea and Tor and I had a blast sliding down a snowy little hill, while we waited for Jesse to finish his violin lesson.

I'm trying to use Google Documents. It's much slower than programs running on my own computer. I tried to share invoice documents with Steve, but he said he couldn't access them without creating a Google account. Bad, bad, bad. I like the idea of working on documents on the Internet. That way I can use whatever computer is at hand. Maybe I'll try some other online software.

I am so sleepy. Carpool time.

My Kids

Tor, Jesse, and Linnea on their hops, in the apartment. Click to take a closer look.

Eastworks

I live in an old mill building in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Will Bundy has transformed this place into Eastworks, a community of artists, artisans, yoga and meditation centers, funky warehousing operations, and a myriad of other businesses and individuals. The top floor is all residence/studios. The 1st floor is all commercial storefronts. It's a great place to live and to explore. To see where we're at, you can go to Google Maps and search for Eastworks, Easthampton, MA.