In the parking garage after the recital I discovered that someone had crunched my rear bumper while pulling out. They were nice enough to leave a note. Free car wash! 

Evan and his wife Catherine after the recital. Evan had been working on this degree, off and on, for fifteen years. 

The lovely and talented Vicki warming up in the green room before Evan's recital. 

The CSUS music building looks more like a State Bureau of Cubicle Design. Still, this is where I was playing piano for Evan Gage's senior composition recital.

I have been a member of the local Returned Peace Corps Volunteer organization for over twenty years but never gone to any of their functions. Last night I decided to go to one of their monthly dinners. It turned out that the woman to my left was a tuning client and the woman across the table (pictured, with a photo of her daughter) was the new wife of Steve Blum, one of Jennifer's former coworkers. And a woman at another table (not part of the Peace Corps group) was another tuning client. It was fun to sit down with total strangers and have an instant special bond. 

I hadn't looked at the Fair Oaks Castle in about a year, and the owner has made a lot of progress. Too bad there are so many trees in the way. 

I didn't get a chance to check out this business, but I certainly hope they are removing hair from computers (I recommend a canister vacuum with a small crevice attachment) rather than adding it (neither hygenic nor aesthetic). 

Back in the days of the Aztec empire, this structure celebrated the powerful elite who enjoyed obscene luxury atop a mountain of human misery. Today it is a home for financial services. 

It's called a pit because it's down low. 

From a refrigerator backstage at Mamma Mia! 

My favorite cards from Post Secret this week

Martin Axe (left) is the conductor for the Mamma Mia! tour. After the last show, I said, "Come back soon! I'm sure you will... this show will run forever." He replied, "It already has." 

On the last Mamma Mia! performance in Sacramento, the company lined up to say goodbye to an actor leaving the tour. They sang "Happy Trails" and ate cake. 

Last night I played with the George Bruno big band on the Delta King riverboat. Wayne Baxley usually plays piano with them, but he was so depressed over the recent death of his wife that he asked me to substitute for him.
Wayne has always been a workaholic. His work was mostly alone or with his son. Other than that, his wife was the only person in his life, so her death must have hit him particularly hard. 

We decided to paint over the wallpaper in part of the kitchen. This is what we found under the refrigerator. 

My last stop of the day was Trader Joe's. As I was driving away, I saw something stuck under my wiper blade. Did I accidentally park in a handicapped space? I wondered, and when I saw the word CALIFORNIA on the slip, my heart sank. Fortunately, it turned out to be an ad for California Chill, a yogurt place.
I learned some new slang today:
1. "Chill-lax" (chill+relax)
2. "Ball-arty" (balloon+party)
3. "Stop icing my grill." The young lady who told me this insisted it meant "stop interfering with me," but Rachel thinks she has it wrong. According to Rachel, "icing" is a good thing, signifying decorating or improving, as in putting on diamonds ("ice"). "Anyone who's still using 'chill-lax' doesn't know what she's talking about." 

Only one minivan can survive. May it be the Highlander. 

This is from a documentary show on German TV. It shows my cartoon on the reverse of a Premium Cola label. You can see the entire video here.

This woman (my customer) has practically an entire living room set up on her front porch. Yet she claims that she hardly ever sits out there. 

th This is me and Tim, who plays Guitar 1 in Mamma Mia! He knows Valerie Gebert.
After the show today, I told Emily that Sacramento was "the Midwest with better weather."
"and fewer fat people!" chimed in Trish. She played five seasons in Branson, MI, and saw a lot of really fat people — so fat that their bellies flowed out over the armrests and they had to put up their hands high to clap. She calls them "high clappers." (like "high talkers" in Seinfeld).