Haikus: November 2008

HAIKUS: November 2008

By Peter Y. Chou
WisdomPortal.com

These haikus were written as exercises in mindfulness—
an attempt to catch the fleeting moment in my daily walks,
while reading, listening to music, and pondering about life.
(Underlined words are not for emphasis but to web links.)
This web page best viewed with Times font size 14.

Saturday, November 1, 2008, 12:06-12:12 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Swan Lake: Dances, Op. 20 (1876)
Listen, CD, YouTube

Dance of the Swans—
symbol of the soul in flight
to heavenly realms. Saturday, November 1, 2008, 12:06-12:12 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Alexander Borodin
Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances (1887)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Fly away on wings
of the wind to our homeland
where we sang freely.

Saturday, November 1, 2008, 4:30 pm
San Jose Montgomery Theatre
271 S. Market Street, San Jose
Winged Angel Dancing Sculpture

The wingèd dancer
leaps up in flight from earth
to heavenly delight! Saturday, November 1, 2008, 4:40 pm
Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market Street, San Jose
Bronze Horse designed by Leonardo da Vinci

Horse is gigantic
by Leonardo da Vinci
drawing the crowd here.

Saturday, November 1, 2008, 4:45 pm
Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market Street, San Jose
Leonardo: 500 Years into the Future

Heavy rain today—
may Leonardo's genius pour
down and flood my mind! Saturday, November 1, 2008, 5:00-8:00 pm
Tech Museum of Innovation
201 South Market Street, San Jose
Leonardo: 500 Years into the Future

Mirror image handwriting
so straight and spacious
from a lucid mind.

Sunday, November 2, 2008, 10:24-10:30 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Joshua Bell
plays Jules Massenet,
Thais: Meditation (1894)
Listen, CD, YouTube

Calmness of mind in
meditation where action
flows smoothly as air. Sunday, November 2, 2008, 11:15-11:20 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ottorino Respighi
Botticelli Triptych "Trittico Botticelliano:
The Birth of Venus" (1927)
(listen), CD, YouTube

Standing on clam shell
out of the sea— Venus,
Goddess of Love is born.

Sunday, November 2, 2008, 4:00-10:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Formatting 39 digital photographs of
Leonardo: 500 Years into the Future
from yesterday's visit to San Jose Tech Museum
using Canon Power Shot A590 without flash.

Photos came out well
without flash on this great
Leonardo exhibit. Sunday, November 2, 2008, 10:00 pm-11:50 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford Flicks:
Ben Stiller's "Tropic Thunder" (2008),
starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey, Jr.,
Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson
Nick Nolte, and Tom Cruise

Prima donna actors
left in the jungle to fight
out with real drug lords.

Monday, November 3, 2008, 10:52-10:30 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Amilcare Ponchielli,
La Gioconda: Dance of the Hours (1876)
Listen, CD, YouTube

The hours are dancing
away— they are the planets
spinning 'round the sun! Monday, November 3, 2008, 2:00-3:00 pm
Gentle Dental, Palo Alto (see June 10, 2008)
Dr. John Glerum glues back crown
from tooth #10 that fell off again

Chemical bonding
didn't keep this tooth in place
so let's try again.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 12:10-12:19 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Sarah Chang
plays Antonio Vivaldi (Listen), CD, YouTube
"The Four Seasons: Winter", Op. 8 #4 (1723)

One by one— snowflakes
drop in my mind giving me
six-folded vision. Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 12:18-12:22 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Robert Ward,
Concertino for Strings (1973), Listen, CD
"Home for the Harvest" (3rd movement)

Home for the harvest.
Where is my home?— in the stars
or here in my heart.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 1:03-1:36 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Evgeny Kissin
plays Ludwig van Beethoven
Piano Concerto #2 in Bb, Op. 19 (1798)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Tickling the ivories—
Kissin plays piano at 2—
child genius is born! Tuesday, November 4, 2008, 3:00 pm
Bus #22 on El Camino Real, Palo Alto
French-speaking 3-year old boy with
Mom board bus. He sits in front of me
and glances back. He looks so angelic!

Boy and Mom board bus—
adorable cherubim
painted by Rubens.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 12:11-12:23 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Gioachino Antonio Rossini
William Tell Overture (1829), (Listen), CD, YouTube. Schiller wrote drama (1804) in six weeks:
William Tell hits apple on son's head with arrow.

Do not blink or flinch—
Dad will split apple on your
head with his arrow! Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 12:49-12:55 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Pieter-Jan Belder conducts
Johann Sebastian Bach (Voted #3 Music Piece)
Brandenburg Concerto #6 in B-Flat, BWV 1051
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Allegro, Adagio), (1710)

Waves always churning
like Bach's oceanic mind
turning out music.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 5:40-7:12 pm
Stanford Cummings Art Building, Room AR4
Jeffrey Hamburger, Harvard University,
"Openings" (Book of Hours)

Keep your mind open—
Ideas will flow to you when
you open a book. Wednesday, November 5, 2008, 7:30 pm-1:00 am
Green Library, Stanford University
Composing web page: a pictorial essay on
"Mythological Themes in Hitchcock's Vertigo"

Orpheus and Eurydice—
Scottie visits florist and
Madeleine returns from the dead.

Thursday, November 6, 2008, 12:43-12:48 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Johannes Brahms
Symphony #1 in C minor, Op. 68 (1876)
(Listen), CD, YouTube: 3rd movement

Intimidated by
Beethoven, it took Brahms
ten years to write this. Thursday, November 6, 2008, 2:20-3:30 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me
gracery shopping at Wal-Mart,
Milk Pail and Fiesta Super Market

Roma tomatoes,
baby carrots, strawberries,
green onions, black grapes.

Friday, November 7, 2008, 12:18-12:22 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: George Frederick Handel
Water Music: Suite #2 in D major, HWV 349 (1717)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Everyone dressed up
for the courtly ball dancing
the Virginia Reel. Friday, November 7, 2008, 1:03-1:30 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Felix Mendelssohn
Concerto for Violin in E minor, Op. 64 (1844)
(Listen), CD, YouTube: Janine Jansen

Memorable melody,
refined romantic feeling—
Mendelssohn's masterpiece.

Friday, November 7, 2008, 3:00-5:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Finished web page: a pictorial essay on
"Mythological Themes in Hitchcock's Vertigo"

Go vertically
like Dante— transcend time
and soar to Paradise. Friday, November 7, 2008, 7:45-8:00 pm
Friends' House, 957 Colorado, Palo Alto
Waverley Writers' Reading: Featured reader
Maureen Epstein reads poem "Black Angels"

They need no audience
to watch aerial acrobats—
soaring black ravens.

Friday, November 7, 2008, 9:30 pm
Friends' House, 957 Colorado, Palo Alto
Waverley Writers' Poetry Reading
I read poem "What Will You Do
with the Rest of Your Wild Life?

Wrestle with Angel
with flaming sword to claim fruit
from the Tree of Life. Saturday, November 8, 2008, 1:15-1:18 am
KSFO 560 AM: Coast-to-Coast AM
Caller tells George Noory story about
forgiveness. Killer died 30 days later.

Standing behind him
in the store was the guy
who killed his Dad— He saw through him
body full of light— and said "I forgive you."

Saturday, November 8, 2008, 9:43-9:46 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Jean-Joseph Mouret
Symphonic Suite #1 (1729)
(Listen), CD, YouTube (Masterpiece Theatre Theme)

The trumpet call in
Mouret's music finally
woke me up today. Saturday, November 8, 2008, 10:13-10:21 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for 2 Trumpets in C major, RV537 (1720s)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

He was heaven-sent—
the day Vivaldi was born
earthquake struck Venice!

Saturday, November 8, 2008, 7:43-8:05 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)
Symphony #9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral" (1824)

A symphonic first—
the human voice breaks through
with Schiller's Ode to Joy. Sunday, November 9, 2008, 11:18-11:22 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Frederic Chopin
Étude #3 in E, Op. 10 "Tristesse" (1839)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Chopin's mind must be
serene to compose music
that is so restful.

Sunday, November 9, 2008, 11:38-11:42 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Hong Nan-pa & Brahms
Love/Contemplation (Listen) (CD) (YouTube)
Brahms' "Wie melodien zieht es mir", Op. 105, #1

Contemplation— where
one merges with the object—
Rilke did just that. Sunday, November 9, 2008, 11:51-11:59 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Roman Hofstetter,
Serenade in C (Quartet for Strings) (1777),
(Listen: Haydn Op. 3), CD, YouTube

It's festival time—
Dryads, elves, fairies, dancing
under the moonlight.

Sunday, November 9, 2008, 12:15 pm
Home in Mountain View: Rudy phones and says
Sunnyvale Library is closed. I tell him to go
to Stanford that's open Sunday and Monday

Rudy phones and thinks
junk DNA holds the key
to our afterlife. Sunday, November 9, 2008, 1:15-2:00 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me shopping
at Safeway— Quaker Instant Oatmeal
& Florida Natural Orange Juice on sale

Quaker instant oatmeal—
raisins, dates, nuts, and berries,
orange juice and milk.

Sunday, November 9, 2008, 4:00-10:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Composing web page on Tech Museum visit
"Leonardo: 500 Years into the Future"
and seeing 11 Leonardo's paintings

A Leonardo quote—
“The noblest pleasure is
the joy of understanding.” Sunday, November 9, 2008, 10:00-11:52 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford Flicks:
David Gordon Green's "Pineapple Express" (2008),
starring Seth Rogen, James Franco,
Gary Cole, Danny R. McBride, Rosie Perez

Action comedy
film— lots of chase scenes
and violent fights over drugs.

Monday, November 10, 2008, 12:07-12:14 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony #5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1804)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Karl Bohm, Toscanni)

Fifth Symphony of
Beethoven opens with four
notes— "Wake up. WAKE UP!" Monday, November 10, 2008, 1:00-1:34 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Piano Concerto #24 in C minor, K. 491 (1786),
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Mozart's music— so
relaxing to listen for
it is so peaceful.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 11:40-11:50 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Johann Sebastian Bach
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube), (1725)
Anna Magdalena Bach Notebook: Little Suite

Nice sweet melody
that Anna Magdalena
wrote instead of Bach. Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 1:05-1:41 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven,
(Listen), CD, YouTube: Von Karajan
Symphony #6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral" (1808)

Beethoven's love for
nature's beauty is expressed
in his Pastoral.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 3:00-4:20 pm
Foothill College Middlefield Lab
Finishing web page on Tech Museum visit
"Leonardo: 500 Years into the Future"
Restoring "Last Supper" to photo; adding
web links to Vincian Knot & Vitruvian Man

Last Supper image
changed when photo was taken—
now restored in Photoshop. Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 7:10-9:10 pm
Stanford University, Piggott Hall, Room 008
Professor Adrian Daub's Berlin Movie Series
Billy Wilder directs One, Two, Three (1961)
starring James Cagney (8th best male actor),
Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin, Arlene Francis

Cagney snapping his fingers
in rapid-firing
one, two, three orders.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 1:05-1:27 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Joaquín Rodrigo,
"Fantasy for a Gentleman" (1954)
(CD), YouTube

What's your fantasy?—
Experience Buddha's insight
when he was Awake! Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 1:36-1:43 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky,
Symphony #5 in E minor, Waltz, Op. 64 (1888), (Listen), CD, YouTube

Despite his despair
Tchaikovsky had so much joy
composing this waltz.

Thursday, November 13, 2008, 2:00-2:50 pm
Gentle Dental, Palo Alto
Checkup with Dr. John R. Glerum
(see April 1 & November 3, 2008)
Assistant cleans & polishes my teeth

Recommends highly
Dr. Azeem Lakha for
implants when needed. Thursday, November 13, 2008, 7:40-9:00 pm
Stanford University, Building 200, Room 002
Alan F. Segal, Barnard College,
"Life after Death in Judaism"

Martyrs want resurrection—
a fresh new body, but scholars
desire the soul's immortality
for continuity of consciousness.

Thursday, November 13, 2008, 7:40-9:00 pm
Stanford University, Building 200, Room 002
Alan F. Segal, Barnard College,
"Life after Death in Judaism"
8-12 million Americans had NDE
Video of Ned Dougherty's NDE

After his NDE,
hedonist Ned changed his life
and became a Christian. Friday, November 14, 2008, 1:14-1:30 am
Palm Drive, Stanford University
Fell asleep in Green Library & missed
last Shuttle Bus to Cal-Train Depot.
Communication Fellow from China gave
me ride as I hitchhiked on Palm Drive.

Caught Bus #22
on time because a kind man
picked me up hitchhiking.

Friday, November 14, 2008, 11:13-11:21 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Aaron Copland,
Appalachian Spring (1944)
(Listen), (CD), YouTube

Appalachian Spring
wakes me up this morning—
I think of Martha Graham. Friday, November 14, 2008, 11:39-11:55 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Felix Mendelssohn,
Hebrides Overture in B minor, Op. 26 (1832), (Listen), CD, YouTube, Notes

Fingal's Cave with waves
raging inspired Mendelssohn
to compose this piece.

Saturday, November 15, 2008, 10:02-10:10 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven,
Symphony #8 in F, Op. 93 (1812)
(Listen), (CD), YouTube: Von Karajan

Finished in four months
Beethoven called his Eighth
"my little symphony". Saturday, November 15, 2008, 10:17-10:28 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,
Scheherazade, Op. 35 (1888),
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Faced with death, she wove
a tale for the King every
night to stay alive.

Saturday, November 15, 2008, 7:32-7:39 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Jules Massenet,
Thais: Meditation (1894)
Listen, CD, YouTube

Massenet's music
opens my heart and lifts my
mind to paradise. Saturday, November 15, 2008, 8:14-8:48 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven,
Symphony #5 in C minor, Op. 67 (1808)
(Listen), (CD), YouTube: Von Karajan

Leaving Beethoven
to catch the last bus tonight
for ballroom dancing.

Saturday, November 15, 2008, 8:45-11:55 pm
Palo Alto: Cubberley Pavilion
Ballroom dancing: James Kleinrath
teaches intermediate waltz.
Enjoyed dancing with Olga

She learned quickly the
"Sufi Spin" once I showed
her how in the hustle. Sunday, November 16, 2008, 11:47-11:59 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Alexander Borodin,
String Quartet #2 in D major (1881)
3rd movement, Andante "Nocturne"
("Kismet" 1955 film), (Listen), (CD), YouTube

Borodin's music
played in the film Kismet
"And this is my Beloved".

Sunday, November 16, 2008, 2:30-3:30 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Looking for Gian Giacomo Caprotti's
"Virgin & Child with St. Anne"
in books at Stanford Art Library

Can't find Caprotti's
painting in three art books
on the Uffizi Gallery. Sunday, November 16, 2008, 10:00-11:40 pm
Memorial Auditorium, Stanford Flicks:
Nanette Burstein's "American Teen" (2008),
starring Hannah Bailey, Colin Clemens,
Megan Krizmanich, Jake Tusing, Mitch Reinholt

Documentary film
on five high school seniors
as they struggle through life.

Monday, November 17, 2008, 10:15-10:19 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Antonio Vivaldi,
Flute Concerto in D, Op. 10 #3 "Goldfinch" (1729)
Listen, CD, YouTube [Goldfinch symbolism]
[Recall: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo,
"Madonna of the Goldfinch" (1760)]

Madonna and Child
with Goldfinch— symbolizes
the Passion of Christ. Monday, November 17, 2008, 10:24-10:29 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Erik Satie,
Poudre d'or "Gold Dust" (1901)
(Listen), (CD), [Recall: Jan Gossaert,
Zeus as shower of gold falls on "Danae" (1527); More paintings of Danae and shower of gold]

Zeus falls through the roof
as shower of gold on Danae
who bore him Perseus.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 12:04-12:12 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Karl Maria von Weber,
Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 (1841),
Downes Notes on Dance, (Listen),
CD, YouTube

Nice upbeat music
of Weber invites us to
waltz around the room. Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 12:31-12:41 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: I Solisti Veneti plays
Tomasso Albinoni / Remo Giazotto
Adagio for Organ & Strings in G minor, (1945)
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube)

Found in the ashes
of Dresden, this music rose
phoenix-like soaring.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 3:00-4:00 pm
Mountain View, Grant Road
Friend takes me grocery shopping
at newly opened 99 Ranch Market

Bamboo shoots, bean curd,
cauliflower, watercress,
bok choy, tofu, shrimp,
green onions, wheat gluten,
fish balls, veggie dumplings. Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 5:00-6:15 pm
Stanford Cummings Art Building, Room AR2
Lecture by Maria Panayotidi
University of Athens, Greece,
"12th Century Paintings in Cyprus
and Problem of Local Workshops"

Byzantine art in
Cyprus spreading all around
the Mediterranean.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 11:32-11:48 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Johann Sebastian Bach,
Keyboard Concerto in G minor, BWV1058 (1739)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Like ever-flowing river
this Bach concerto
rushed on to the sea. Thursday, November 20, 2008, 12:40-12:47 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Cécile Chaminade
Pièces humoristiques, Op. 87 #5,
Consolation (1897), Listen, CD, YouTube, Bio

Piano playing in
the salon where artists meet
to inspire each other.

Thursday, November 20, 2008, 4:15-6:00 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony #7 in A, Op. 92
(Listen) (CD) (YouTube: Karajan) (1812)

Beethoven's music
always heroic inspires
me to creation. Thursday, November 20, 2008, 4:15-6:00 pm
Stanford University, Building 50, Room 51P
Prof. Pinchas Giller, American Jewish University
"Kabbalah and Mysticism"

He mentions scholars
and rabbis whom I've met in
my spiritual quest.

Friday, November 21, 2008, 2:10 pm
Giant California Live Oak chopped down
at 550 Ortega Avenue, Mountain View next
to Avalon Towers on the Peninsula (photo)

Sentinel of this place—
you stood taller than
the towers around you. Friday, November 21, 2008, 2:15 pm
Giant California Live Oak chopped down
at 550 Ortega Avenue, Mountain View next
to Avalon Towers on the Peninsula (photo)

O California Live Oak—
you've uplifted me
for years. Now you're dead.

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 10:13-10:22 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody #10 in E major
Listen, (CD) (YouTube) (1853)

Overslept an hour—
even this stirring music
of Liszt didn't wake me. Saturday, November 22, 2008, Noon
Mountain View, Showers Drive
Rushing for Stanford Shuttle Bus,
I stop to take photo of clouds

Sky artist with splash
of white paint catches
bird-cloud leaving tree for sky.

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 1:00 pm
Stanford University, Bookstore Fountain
Cal Bear Mascot impaled at fountain top;
"BEAT CAL" bedsheet covers Meyer Library

Voodoo at Stanford—
Cal Bear Mascot impaled on
top of the fountain! Saturday, November 22, 2008, 2:30-4:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Notes to "Hitchcock Revisited in Vertigo",
Poem with 24 Hitchcock film titles

Themes of Vertigo
may be found in many film
titles of Hitchcock.

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 7:20-7:26 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Jean-François Paillard
conducts Johann Pachelbel,
Canon in D major (1680)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Pachelbel's Canon—
music for levitation
soul soaring higher. Saturday, November 22, 2008, 7:50-7:58 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Ying Quartet plays
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Andante Cantabile,
String Quartet #1 in D, Op. 11, (1871)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Perhaps our universe
is made up of strings—
so music from strings is soulful.

Saturday, November 22, 2008, 8:45-11:55 pm
Palo Alto: Cubberley Pavilion
Ballroom dancing: James Kleinrath
teaches intermediate rumba.
Enjoyed dancing with Rose

She wants me to buy
a car— I tell her about
Dante learning to fly. Sunday, November 23, 2008, 11:17-11:23 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Joshua Bell
plays Antonin Dvorak,
Rusalka: Song to the Moon (1900)
(Listen) CD, YouTube

The Moon— first step to
heaven so Chagall's painter's
feet is off the ground!

Sunday, November 23, 2008, 11:48-11:56 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: English Chamber Orchestra
plays John Barry,
The Beyondness of Things (1998)
(Listen), CD, YouTube, Bio, Notes

Success writing scores
for James Bond films— now he writes
Beyondness of Things. Sunday, November 23, 2008, 12:00-12:20 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Jon Nakamatsu
plays George Gershwin,
Rhapsody in Blue (1924)
(Listen), CD, YouTube

Gershwin's jazzy tunes
composed in contemplation
while on the railroad.

Sunday, November 23, 2008, 1:00 pm
Palo Alto, El Camino & Charleston Road
On Stanford Shopping Express Shuttle Bus
I see a giant blimp in the clear blue sky
News: 246 feet zepplin (YouTube)

Airship blimp Eureka
floats high in the blue sky—
Ah! I have found it! Sunday, November 23, 2008, 5:00 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Google's Logo honoring Magritte's 110th birthday
reminds me of René Magritte's "Golconda" (1953)
which I added to Levitation Themes in Art

Everyone floats in
René Magritte's Gonconda—
no more gravity!

Monday, November 24, 2008, 10:52-11:04 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Janine Jansen plays
Antonio Vivaldi, (Listen), CD, YouTube
"The Four Seasons: Winter" (1723)

My favorite piece of
music but Jansen plays it
too fast for my taste. Monday, November 24, 2008, 11:48-11:56 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Santiago Rodriguez plays
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Listen, CD, YouTube
Piano Concerto #2, Op. 18 (1901)

Took Rachmaninoff
a year to write this
with help from a hypnotist!

Monday, November 24, 2008, 2:30-5:45 pm
Mountain View: Friend takes me grocery
shopping at Smart & Final, Walgreens,
Nob Hill, 99 Ranch, and Safeway

Supermarkets are crowded
already three days
before Thanksgiving. Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 4:00-5:00 am
Home in Mountain View: Found Blake's
"Lucia Carrying Dante" & Magritte's
"Clear Ideas" for Levitation in Art

Magritte's "Clear Ideas"—
Rock floating under a cloud—
Inspiration flies!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 12:16-12:25 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Johann Sebastian Bach,
Brandenburg Concerto #1 in F, BWV 1046 (1717) Listen, CD, YouTube

Bach's music flows on
slowly like a brook into
the mighty ocean. Tuesday, November 25, 2008, 1:20 pm
Palo Alto: Bus #22 on El Camino Real
When I heard what he said, I looked up
from my reading & saw that it was true

Old man gets on bus—
sees small Chinese girl— "You're
a Princess— gift from heaven!"

Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 1:45 pm
Serra Grove, Stanford University
Prayer to Boo-Qwilla Totem Pole
to say thanks despite the rain today

Thank you Boo-Qwilla
for the blessings and goodness
that rain upon me. Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 2:00-5:00 pm
Stanford Art Library: Scanning images from
two Boston Fine Arts Museum catalogues—
Dürer's "Nemesis" & "Bodhidharma on Reed"

Nemesis seems heavy
despite her wings. Bodhidharma
feels light despite his body!

Thursday, November 27, 2008, 12:00-3:00 am
Home in Mountain View: Cooking pan-fried noodles
with shrimps & vegetables for Sally's potluck

Bean curd, bok choy, broccoli,
cauliflower, garlic, peas,
green onions, lotus root,
water chestnuts, watercress. Thursday, November 27, 2008, 1:05-1:35 pm
KDFC 102.1 FM: Antonin Dvorak,
Serenade for Strings in E, Op. 22 (1825)
Listen, CD, YouTube

Serenade for Strings—
Give thanks to the beautiful
and bountiful life.

Thursday, November 27, 2008, 4:00-9:30 pm
Los Altos Hills: Sally's Potluck
Thanksgiving Dinner Party

Lots of people,
lots of food, and lots of fun
at Sally's potluck party. Thursday, November 27, 2008, 8:00-9:00 pm
Sally's Party: Chat with Barry Feldscher,
author of "Between Two Worlds" (2008)

His Curtis-Jenny plane
plunges in the arctic ice
and he's rescued forty years later.

Friday, November 28, 2008, 10:10-10:22 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Christoph Willibald Gluck,
Orfeo: Dance of the Blessed Spirits (1762)
(Listen), CD, YouTube
Recalling Dante's "Inferno" IV.88-102

In the Poetry Grove—
Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan
ask Dante to join them.
Friday, November 28, 2008, 11:32-11:42 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Franz Danzi,
Fantasy for Clarinet on a Theme by Mozart (1818)
"Là ci darem la mano" (Listen), (CD) (YouTube)
Recalling Matthew, XIV.29-31 (Ghiberti)

"Let me take your hand"
Christ tells Peter so he too
could walk on water.

Saturday, November 29, 2008, 10:10-10:30 am
KDFC 102.1 FM: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Horn Concerto #4 in Eb, K. 495 (1786)
Listen, CD, YouTube

Music from strings keeps
me sleeping but the blasting
of horns wakes me up.
Saturday, November 29, 2008, 11:45 am
Showers Drive, Mountain View
Waiting for Stanford Shuttle Bus
Watching cloud-shaped horse in sky

Is that a horse cloud
galloping in the sky—
It's Pegasus flying!

Sunday, November 30, 2008, 8:15 pm
Art Library, Stanford University
Found Alchemy texts from
Bibliothèque Alchimique

Searching for prints on
alchemy, I find a trouve
of alchemical texts. Sunday, November 30, 2008, 10:00 pm-12:40 am
Stanford Flicks: Christopher Nolan's
"The Dark Knight" (2008), starring
Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart

Superhero Batman fights
his nemesis the Joker
to save the city.