CDs listened to today:

• Fine Young Cannibals: The Raw & The Cooked
• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• John Cage: Music Of Changes
• Janet Jackson: Rhythm Nation 1814
• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
• Donald Erb: Ritual Observances
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Symphony No. 2, "Cello"

CDs listened to today

• The Annuals: Be He Me
• Hebert Vázquez: String Quartet No. 1
• Bela Bartok: Concerto for Piano, No. 2 (Yefim Bronfman, soloist)
• Café Tacuba: Cuatro Caminos
• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
• Dafnis Prieto: Absolute Quintet
  
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 1 (Sir Roger Norrington conducting)
  

CDs listened to today:

• Muddy Waters: His Best, 1956-1964
• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• Hebert Vázquez: String Quartet No. 1
• Ellen Taaffe Zwilich: Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra
  

CDs listened to today:

• Anthony Plog: Concerto for Trumpet, Brass Ensemble, and Percussion
• Supreme Beings Of Leisure: (eponymous)
• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Arnold Schoenberg: String Quartet No. 2 (String Orchestra version)
• Various Artists: Heartbeat Soukous
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Hebert Vázquez: String Quartet No. 1
• Igor Stravinsky: Octet
  

CDs listened to today:

• George Michael: Listen Without Prejudice, Vol. 1
• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
• Charles Ives: Symphony No. 3 (Michael Tilson-Thomas conducting)
• Pearl Jam: Vitalogy
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
• William Thomas McKinley: Piano Concerto No. 2
• Rooney: (eponymous)
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
  

CDs listened to today:

• INXS: Listen Like Thieves
• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• Donald Erb: Concerto for Violin
  

CDs listened to today:

• Fine Young Cannibals: (eponymous)
• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
• John Cage: Four

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra
• Jeff Buckley: Grace
• Norma Wendelburg: Sinfonietta
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 5 (Herbert von Karajan conducting)

CDs listened to today:

• Arnold Schoenberg: The String Quartets, disk 2
• Various Artists: Hardhop & Trypno
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Igor Stravinsky: Apollo
• Muddy Waters: His Best, 1947 to 1955
• Marilyn J. Ziffrin: Symphony for Voice and Orchestra
• The Annuals: Be He Me

CDs listened to today:

• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
• Charles Ives: Symphony No. 3 (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra)
• Pearl Jam: vs.
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
• Nicholas Maw: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra
• Julie Roberts: (eponymous)
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• Walter Piston: Symphony No. 6
• Sugar Ray: Lemonade and Brownies
• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
  

CDs listened to today:

• Fastball: All The Pain Money Can Buy
• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
• William Byrd: Suite
• The Interpreters: Back In The U.S.S.A.
• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• Antonin Dvorák: Concerto for Cello
• George Michael: Faith
  

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• Bela Bartok: Bluebeard's Castle
• Dave Brubeck: Time Out
• Norma Wendelburg: Sinfonietta
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 4 (Herbert von Karajan, conducting)

CDs listened to today:

• Various Artists: Freezone 2: Variations On A Chill, disk 2
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Richard Strauss: Sonatinen
• Washington Social Club: Catching Looks
• Iannis Xenakis: Pléiades
• The Annuals: Be He Me
  

CDs listened to today:

• Arnold Schoenberg: The String Quartets, disk 1

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Ives: Symphony No. 2
• Pearl Jam: Ten
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
• Nicholas Maw: American Games
• Ride: Nowhere
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• Allan Pettersson: Symphony No. 8
• Sugar Ray: 14:59
• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
  

CDs listened to today:

• Family Stand: Moon In Scorpio
• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
• Zbigniew Bujarski: Quartet for a House-Warming
• Hüsker Dü: Metal Circus
• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• Pascal Dusapin: Time Zones (Quartet II)
• Metallica: (eponymous)
• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
  

CDs listened to today:

• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915
• Clifford Brown: Brownie Lives!
• Norma Wendelburg: Sinfonietta
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 3 (conducted by Herbert von Karajan)
  

CDs listened to today:

• The Annuals: Be He Me
  

I got back from visiting A late last night. I set a new best time for the drive back from her town, but it was still a brutal drive. She's doing well from her surgery, but it was a quiet weekend since she needed to take it easy. Hopefully, next time will be more fun and her health will be more stable. It's going to be tough to figure out when our next visit is going to happen, given my work demands and her lack of leave time. We'll figure it out!

CDs listened to today:

• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Arnold Schoenberg: Serenade
• Various Artists: Freezone 2: Variations On A Chill, disk 1
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Richard Strauss: Parergon
• Was/Not Was: What Up Dog?
• Iannis Xenakis: Keqrops
  

CDs listened to today:

• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
• Charles Ives: Sunrise
• Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
• Colin Matthews: Sonata No. 4 for Orchestra
• The Tony Rich Project: Words
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• Vincent Persichetti: Parable for Band
• Sugar Cubes: Life's Too Good

CDs listened to today:

• Fall Out Boy: Under The Cork Tree
• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
• Van Hunt: (eponymous)
• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• Pascal Dusapin: a quia, disk 2
• Metallica: …And Justice For All
  

CDs listened to today:

• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love
• Richard Strauss: Concerto for Oboe
• The Wallflowers: Bringing Down The Horse
• Olivier Messiaen: Saint François d'Assise
• Iannis Xenakis: Pléiades
• The Annuals: Be He Me
• Leonardo Balada: Torquemada
• Dollar Brand & Archie Shepp: Duet
• Norma Wendelburg: Sinfonietta
• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 2 (conducted by Herbert von Karajan)

Tomorrow, I drive after work to see A! She's nervous about the surgery, but excited to see me.

CDs listened to today:

• Benedict Mason: String Quartet No. 1
• Damien Rice: O
• Tom Scott: Bebop United
• Vincent Persichetti: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra
• Sugar: File Under: Easy Listening
• Johan de Meij: T-bone Concerto
• Arnold Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire
• Various Artists: Essential Selection, Vol. 1, disk 1

CDs listened to today:

• Hothouse Flowers: People
• Rami Levin: Anima/Breath Of Life
• Pascal Dusapin: a quia, disk 1
• John Mellencamp: The Best That I Could Do
• Dave Holland: Seeds Of Time
• Charles Ives: String Quartets
• Pavement: Slanted and Enchanted
• David Maslanka: Symphony No. 7
  

CDs listened to today:

• Arthur Blythe: Lenox Avenue Breakdown
• Havergal Brian: Symphony No. 1
  

It's all set. A needs surgery for her gall bladder (maybe it's better to just say it's being removed!). She'll have it this Thursday and I'll be driving up to take care of her after the out-patient surgery. She's a little scared, but I'm confident it'll go well. This is where I have to be careful to respect her very real anxiety. We also had troubles working out the dates for the surgery. She kept trying to get me to commit to a date so she could schedule the surgery. But I was focused on her surgery and pushing her to get a date as soon as possible (I didn't want her to delay it one minute for a workable date)--then I would work around it and simply be there for her. It's a weird conflict for me.

Still, it's exciting to get to see her and I'm pleased and proud to be able to help take care of her after the operation.

CDs listened to today:

• Ludwig van Beethoven: The Symphonies, disk 1 (conducted by Herbert von Karajan)
• Faith No More: The Real Thing
  

Well, the vacation with my niece was cut short. It was great while it went, but we had some terrible luck. My niece got sick and after a couple of days of hoping she would get better quickly, we decided to cut things short. She was really a good sport about that, and I know she was bummed about missing out on some of our plans.

At least we had a little fun first! We visited the Royal Gorge Bridge, Great Sand Dunes and Durango--in addition to the rafting fun. As typical for rafting tours, a photographer snapped some action photos of us in one of the rapids. One look at my niece's expression in the photos and I knew she had a great time--pure joy and delight! We even had a bit of goofy fun: visiting the Alien Watchtower in the San Luis Valley, where she got to learn more about the alleged Alien Cattle Mutilations. I love that kind of stuff; it makes the flavor in our world!

CDs listened to today:

• Leonardo Balada: Columbus: Images for Orchestra
• Blur: Parklife
• Norma Wendelburg: Sinfonietta