Whenever I talk to Steve Coolidge, the first thing I ask him is, "How's the [violin] concerto coming?" Today he showed me how it's coming. 

In the affluent Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks, chickens are as plentiful as songbirds. They congregate around the park next to the Fair Oaks Amphitheatre. 

In case you were wondering just what they want. 

As always when I visit Jerry and Laurel, I stay in their basement. Books line the walls. Between the two shelves is Jerry's tiny office, where he does his geology consulting and also edits and prints his award-winning photographs. 

The French horn section during a break.

The engineer's desk in the chapel. I sat to his left reading along in the score and trying to turn pages silently. If you happen to turn a page during a quiet measure you can ruin the take.

Beyond the desk you can see the podium where Wendell conducted the session. He let me conduct the very end of the session, where the orchestra recorded some "risers" --- orchestral sound effects.

Me sitting in the chapel. Wendell is on the right instructing his son on how to be quiet during a session. 

The control room for the 1stCom session.  

In the Bastyr cafeteria is this long piece of butcher paper that students can draw on. 

Tom, a piano tuner I met in the hallway just before the session. We have tuner friends in common in Seattle. 

Setting up for recording in the chapel. I had my laptop and printer set up in the chapel but later moved it back to the control room. 

Bastyr University used to be a seminary and now is a school of natural medicine. It looks like the kind of place rich liberals send their kids.

The brilliant and erudite Claudia Fitch and me at Trattoria Mitchelli near Pioneer Square in Seattle.  

The tin family at the Crossroads Mall in Bellvue. 

Entering Seattle, where going to Starbuck's isn't just a good idea --- it's the law. 

In the Sacramento airport, studying the scores. Really bad Chinese food. 

Wendell's state-of-the-art studio is well disguised by the mess outside. 

Proofreading the scores for the Seattle session. Wendell plays his original MIDI files, track by track, simultaneously with the files from the scores I've made. I follow along on my laptop and make any corrections on the fly, holding the small keyboard in my lap. Today we spent 5 hours proofing the last three scores. 

Rachel absorbing some important lessons about show business.

Monday at 9 am

Ugly beauty
Originally uploaded by mstivers.

From the top of Duane Street in Silver Lake, you can see the reservoir and hills behind it and, in the foreground, the line of cars heading downtown to work.

Local relic

HPIM2446
Originally uploaded by mark47.

According to Jennifer's brother Russell, these shin guards have been in this tree for weeks.

Kienholz

Kienholz
Originally uploaded by mark47.

Also at LACMA, this Edward Kienholz assemblage of a couple making love in a car. Music of the 40s plays softly from the car radio. When this piece was first shown it caused an uproar.

Our favorite piece of the day was "The Central Meridian," a walk-through environment by Michael McMillen which tells a life story through the objects in an imaginary garage.

Downhill Derby

Downhill Derby
Originally uploaded by mark47.

This bulletin board at the Silver Lake bakery/cafe advertises the Silver Lake Downhill Derby. That would be a pretty exciting race, because Silver Lake is full of really steep hills.

Tiny elevator

Tiny elevator
Originally uploaded by mark47.

This is part of the permanent collection at the LA County Museum of Art. It's a tiny two-door elevator. All the lights work like real, the doors open and close, and you can even push the buttons on the outside.

Privacy cubicles

Privacy cubicles
Originally uploaded by mark47.

Right after picking up Rachel from Union Station, we ate dinner at Phillipe's, a Los Angeles institution (and where the French dip sandwich was invented). They have these ingenious "phone booths" where you can talk on your cell phone without bothering everyone around you.

We did lunch

We did lunch
Originally uploaded by mark47.

Me, Amy, and David. We (plus spouses and Rachel) ate at Cheebo on Sunset. Please send lots of money so David can produce his great play, "Uncivil Unions."

He also made the Batmobile

He also made the Batmobile
Originally uploaded by mark47.

Jennifer's mom Faye (right) lives in Silver Lake, which is lousy with show business worker bees. Her neighbor Daniel (left) is a model maker. He built the original Stargate. Right now he's working on the new King Tut exhibition.

Priorities

Priorities
Originally uploaded by mark47.

We are staying the condo of Jennifer's brother Russ. He used to have a tidy two-car garage. Now he has a tidy pool room. He spent $3k on a tournament-quality pool table and balls. (Russ once won a college pool tournament, but had to return the trophy when he confessed that he wasn't a student.) In the lower left are all his trophies, mostly for baseball and wrestling.

Spring break flip-flops

Spring break flip-flops
Originally uploaded by mark47.

They have a built-in bottle opener.

We don't have change
Originally uploaded by mark47.

Please, please, PLEASE don't ask us for change.

This plaque is a treasure to railroad lovers and a nightmare for punctuation lovers.