Autumn Leaves [in the key of A major]

 

So this is what you call sushi?

Autumn is upon us! This is one of my favorite times of years because it represents the changing of the seasons, the Four Seasons, like the famous Vivaldi piece. This is a good time of year. It always reminds me of childhood and growing up in the Midwest. Memorial Day and this tie dye shirt I always wore. It represents to me schooling, learning, coldness, newer and more crisp air around me. It's also my birthday at the end of the month. 

At this point in the pandemic if you haven't become used to quarantine and haven't found a new way to live within this new paradigm, then you're very far behind. It's a time of healing, renewal, learning, growth, spiritually, mentally, physically, all of it, it's kind of a big deal! Get with the program if you haven't heard that the bird is the word.  

I've become entranced in my own activity. Although I have friends and hang out with them, it is really only within myself that I feel the Muse at its strongest and best. The muse is simply what keeps you going in your life. What do you really enjoy? Do that thing a lot. And find other things like it. And so on until you find what you find fulfilling in life. It could take 10,000 hours, it could take forever, or it might never happen if you don't search for your own meaning. 

I've been playing a lot of jazz guitar and have found some improvement in the jazz playing genre. A steep learning curve was simply just playing different chord voicings over the same chords as substitutions. Nothing fancy but it keeps the beat going and sounds super straight ahead. In a guitar/saxophone only duo it works really well and keeps us grounded within the saxophone solos. 

I've been reading a lot as well. My goal for this year on Goodreads [https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/56122996-og-space] was to read 50 books, but a las, it's getting nearer and nearer the end of the year and right now I'm only at 34 books. We'll see what happens. I recently finished reading Ulysses by James Joyce and right now I'm reading Plato Dialogues selections, an old copy from an old man, a customer I met at work. He gave me his copy of this Plato book [as well as my copy of Ulysses, which I specifically asked him for], it's from 1927, the Modern Student's Library, Philosophy Series. I've been getting a lot out of the book and I've been spending time ruminating on the various ideas within the dialogues. Sitting beneath the warmth of the fire.  

I've also been eating very well but also making sure to eat and live in a healthy way. Food has been one of the best things in the world to me [lol] and I've been very lucky to live in California where the cuisine is literally everything and anything I want, reasonably within affordable price ranges. 

Another great place for food was Chicago, I used to love Chicago hot dogs, polish sausages, hot Italian beef sandwiches, and pizza Chicago style with real bulk sausage instead of diced sausage. It makes a big difference folks. 

Last night I had a superb meal at our favorite Korean restaurant, I had the ginseng chicken in hot broth. You add salt to the broth for flavor or you can eat it as is, which is pretty bland, but very delicious. Not only that but a customer gave me a Persian dish the other day at work and I ate it for my lunch. It was small pastries with meat inside them, they reminded me of pate, which my great Aunt used to make when I was a youngster. The stories within food is incredible and it'll keep you inspired till the end of time. 

Keep hitting those high notes! 

31 de Agosto

Good evening, ladies and gents. 

Today is the last day of August and it's been one of the best weather days of the summer. Its only 67 right now, cloudy, cool, and not humid at all. In all aspects, it's just perfect. It reminds me of the Midwest, especially Chicago. Here I'd just like to jot down some general thoughts on life. 

First, work under covid has been stressful per usual but I have a good spirit. As those raggedy Andy dolls from Liverpool sang, "it's getting better all the time." In most respects it is getting better. For me, the store, and other coworkers. 

The work hours are grueling but it's nothing that I can't handle. Nobody at the job has caught covid recently and my cashier station is pretty boxed in, keeping me socially distant from customers. It's strange working in a box for eight hours, but hey, c'est la vie. 

I've been spending a lot of time reading classics of the western canon and philosophy. As well as playing guitar. And the daily hangouts with friends, mostly one or two at a time to keep things small and socially distant. I've met some new friends here and there, and I've been getting out of my gamer shell more and have begun to meet more people.  

However, the main event here is how are we all really doing under the new reality, el nuevo realidad? Are you adjusting to this new life? Covid has taught me many things about life and the world in which we live in. The most important lesson being that you have to find a new way to live and do just that---live. 

You can't just go on living life the way you did before covid. Everything's different now and you have to adjust your mind, body, and spirit to really enjoy life to the fullest now. Simply put, it's different now, and if you can't readjust to that difference, you're going to get left behind. 

What does finding a new way to live mean for me? 

It means finding yourself, finding out who you are as a person and developing that inner self, enjoying nature and solitude, enjoying Beauty in the world, good books, good music, good people, good conversation, good food, good friendships, good relationships, etc. How do you get to that level? Practice, practice, practice. Mucho practico todos los dias para divertirme. Remember to live life in every moment as opposed to the same old, Sein und Zeit existiert im Moment. 

Sometimes I feel as if all I need is a garden and a library [as said by Cicero]. Of course there's more to life than that but being content for a little while is okay. To have the capacity for happiness. To truly love and be loved. To enjoy Beauty ad infinitum. To find joy in solitude as well as in the company of others.

These are a few of my favorite things. 

Photo uploaded by BlueBlackRose on Pinterest

Summer's Almost Gone [Quarantine 2021]

Hello world, 

It's been a bit of a hiatus but now I'm back and hopefully will resume my regular scheduled programming, aka the blog and keeping up to date with things via blogging. First off, I'll describe the scene in regards to covid and work. 

Things have been going pretty well at the store although things could be better of course. My one complaint is that we lost the $5 increased pay and now I feel ever so sad that my paycheck isn't what it used to be. Yes, we deserve that $20 per hour and I hope we get it back considering that we're still in the midst of the pandemic. 

In terms of covid and everything there's been no new cases at the store. However, in terms of social distancing in the lines there's none of that. In addition, there's hardly any cleaning of any kind except for when customers ask us to clean the register belts when they look dirty. However, most customers are wearing masks so at least there's that. But there isn't much social distancing of any sort. 

I've just been coping with the sustained quarantines. I've been reading a lot per usual, chilling with friends, and enjoying life in general while social distancing. 

Right now I'm reading Ulysses by James Joyce. This is an amazing work of literature. It reads like an off the cuff stream of consciousness. Like a jazz song. I can't go into all the details here but it's something of a monumental work in the western canon. It reminds me of Coltrane sometimes, that sheets of sound mentality in the words and phrasing. 

The direction of the company at work has become a more severe one, in which the workers get exploited just a little bit more. I believe its because of the pandemic that this has happened. The fact that we only got the hazard pay for three months is a shame, we should be getting that pay during this entire period of the pandemic, considering we are frontline workers, around hundreds of people each day, putting our lives on the line to make groceries sales, beholden to the company to give us hours and paychecks.

The name of the game for me since covid has been finding a new way to live and I believe I've succeeded in that. I have friends, family, my job, my reading, my games, my guitar playing, everything seems to be falling into place despite the pandemic. I'm the kind of person who never gets bored so I've found this entire quarantine experience to be highly enjoyable and I've been able to spend time doing a lot of different and new things. 

For example, I started working on a lot of language learning, particularly Spanish, but I've also been learning French, German, and bits of other languages. I'm not saying I can become a polyglot but it is quite fun, entertaining, and something different to do rather than my usual. 

I've also still been jamming once a week with my saxophone player friend Jason Thomas. It's been going quite well and I've learned a lot about comping [accompaniment on guitar, rhythm] through our duo jam sessions. My sense of guitar chords has become vastly more interesting. 

Lastly, I've been reading a lot. My goal for this year is to read 50 books and I've already read 32. Check out my goodreads account https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/56122996-og-space to see all the great works of literature that I've been reading and/or have read. In a world of chaos, reading is the one solace I that puts my mind at ease. 

Want to read more about what it's been like working grocery retail during the pandemic? Check out my plague journal, where I've documented my version of events starting from the day before the pandemic was announced, check it out https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html.

Gracias por leer 

Bonne Nuit

Sacramento Vacation trip

I took a my first hippie road trip in California. I took the Greyhound bus from LA all the way to Sacramento. It's a long ride, eight hours away from my house, my friends, family, and job. It was a big undertaking because it's literally eight hours of being on a bus, but hey it's nothing I can't handle. My usual work shifts are eight hours, and this is supposedly for fun!

Anyways, the first day I got home from the bus and I was pretty exhausted. We had dinner at a hip sushi place. There were these fried sushi rolls that were delicious. And the place was super hip in the main part of town in Sacramento. Lots of hot girls on dates, all young people there. 

The second day we went to Effie Yeaw Nature Center, which is a giant open land of sanctuary. We saw a lot of animals; an owl in a cage in the visitors area [my favorite, the true mvp], a coyote [which everyone went gaga over], a falcon on a trainer's arm [that scared me], a mother deer and her young, turkeys, small birds, and even the Sacramento River. We stood near the River for quite a while, I may have been mesmerized by the rushing waters. I don't usually spend much time outside in the Valley, and when I do, I'm just walking back to and from work. So to be able to enjoy nature that much was quite something indeed. Almost metaphysical, magical, in a way. Zen. 

That night we had dinner at a traditional Korean place. I got a meal my father would eat, in fact I got it because it's usually his favorite meal at the Korean place we eat at in the Valley: ginseng chicken [cooking] in hot broth. This meal was so delicious. It was the best meal I had throughout the trip. On top of that the meals came with about a dozen sides; everything from pasta, kimchi, noodles, anchovies, tiny crabs, and more. I actually don't think I could find a better or more traditional Korean restaurant in the Valley near me. On top of that, at some point while eating my meal, I looked up and the place was packed, and we were the only non-Koreans!

The third day we went to Sutter's Fort and studied up on the history there. I bought a cheap bamboo flute souvenir there at the gift shop. Hard to play but fun! We had lunch at a terrific Mexican place nearby my friend's place here. I got a carnitas burrito and it was the best carnitas burrito I've ever had. We had cheap Chinese food for dinner and I got the hot tofu with pork, not bad, but this place was Chop Suey all the way. 

On the last day, today, 7/8/21, we went to the California History Museum, which is located inside the state's main government building. We spent a lot of time there. There were many posters in which I read everything from women's rights, Japanese internment, Chinese railroad workers, natives peoples of California, the missions, Spain and Mexico's connection to California, and more. It was quite a fun learning experience and just learning from that small taste has me more interested in the history and culture of America's greatest melting pot of a city, and it really is/was/shall be!

Our final meal was at Angry Chickz Nashville Hot Chicken. This was another hip place with mostly young people eating there. The chicken was very good. I got one chicken slider mild and another medium but there was like six spice levels, and I chose the lowest for safety reasons [lol!]. I thought the chicken tenders were very tasty but as my friend said, "you can taste how unhealthy this place is," that being said, the place was probably either my second or third favorite meal of the trip. 

A healthy meal we had was lunch today. We ate at a place called Pita Q, a Mediterranean place. I got a gyro pita. Vegetables, sauce, and gyro meat. Healthiest thing we ate and also one of the best meals [yes I say that about every meal]. 

The weather throughout the trip was 100 degrees. Which made the Effie and park trips more tiring. It should me mentioned that on one of our parks visits we saw a giant group of young men [all white] larping. Perhaps their moms or grandma's were there too as we saw a lot of older women sitting with them there too. Which is kind of funny. I guess if you're larping maybe you don't have a hot girlfriend to bring with you. So you could bring your grandma instead. My friend took pictures because it's really rare to see a big group of people larping.  

On top of that we went to a used book store and I finally found a physical copy of Kant's Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic Of Morals. It's quite a hard book to find in the Valley area so it was awesome to find it and I even read the entire thing in one sitting. It's a short introduction to his categorical imperative, morality/ethics, as well as the introduction to his ideas into the critique of pure reason. Worth buying and owning, and its a small book that can easily fit into my luggage. Philosophy, even on vacation!

It's been a pleasure. My friend is happy and safe. As am I. The trip gave me a lot to think about and a lot of time to think about it. Life is good and this is probably the cheapest and also one of the best vacations I've ever been on. I didn't do anything extravagant but sometimes you just need a few days away in Sanctuary. This was it. 

Thanks for reading and if you haven't gone yet you need a vacation. Take a few days off and go somewhere nice. Treat yourself. This trip gave me the reset that I probably needed years ago. My mind is refreshed and I'm ready for work on Monday morning.  

Minor note: I listened to a ton of jazz music and some classical over the trip, everything from Telemann to Bird to Miles to Trane to Bill Evans to Monk, pure bliss. At one point I think Monk's music transported me into the heavens. The picture used is of Fort Sutter. 

Live performance 6/30/21

 Had a good jam session today with my friend. Check the video here.

Thank you very much for listening. Please share, listen, critque, feel free to comment, like, and subscribe to my YouTube channel. Check out some of my other videos on there as well. 

guten Abend

Covid Retail Experience, One Year Later

Wie gehts? Guten Abend.

This is compare and contrast post. To start, begin by reading the covid retail experience one year ago when it first began. You can find it here. In addition, please check out my plague journal, which you can find here. That links to all my written documents documenting life during the pandemic, starting as early as the day before the pandemic initially began. I was at a punk rock concert then. Anyways, without further adieu, here's a rundown of the COVID retail experience, one year later. Also, feel free to checkout my virus science fiction short story, which you can find here. The story is inspired by working at a grocery store during a pandemic of all things. 

First, customers AND employees are no longer required to wear masks. This is huge! Most of the staff have wisely chosen to continue wearing their masks, including myself, because safety first and we're around many people each day on the job. About 1/4 of the customers are coming into the store maskless but the majority of customers are indeed wearing their masks. Smart. 

Second, I've been given the main role of morning cashier dude. All my shifts are mornings, same times, same days off, every week. It's  hard gig to get, and a hard gig to hold. The early mornings are something I'll never get used to. With great power comes great responsibility.

Third, most of the staff is vaccinated and the incentive to do so was a payment of $100 by our store director. A shot to be safe from COVID and money from our employer. Not too shabby! 

Fourth, at this current stage of the pandemic there's no messages to the employees from upper management or the store director or from low management to employees. So it seems they're taking the route of the city of LA, that COVID is down, and that it's almost nearly over for the most part so they don't have to say anything. They didn't tell us we could ditch the masks, rather it's just something I've noticed. I've noticed certain managers not wearing their masks, which is bad because it sets a bad example for their employees, that our workspace is safe from COVID still, despite the fact that we're on top of people all day long in small enclosed spaces. Yadda yadda yadda. 

Fifth, the work at the store has become easier and more smooth. My position just involves working with customers, ringing up items, cash handling, that's it. Meaning work is pretty easy although it gets old quick. C'est la vie. 

Finally, it should be noted that at this current stage of the pandemic the work environment has proven safe, with or without the mask. I occasionally take off my mask as I walk through the store and I feel safe. Upper management could've done a better job in regards to making sure the staff got vaccinated, [there are some who refused or still haven't been vaccinated, despite the $100 reward] and in addition they could have been more open with us regarding the rules and timings and days when the masks mandate was uplifted not only in LA but in the store, mask wearing as regards employees, etc. 

The way I found out was that my manager just one day wasn't wearing a mask. Is that the way the leadership is there nowadays? The manager takes off the mask while his employees keep wearing their masks? Questions there for sure. But for another time under a different sort of philosophical gestalt, if you will [isn't that what all of these are]. 

Thanks for reading. Keep calm and read on. 

Gute Nacht

Summertime 2021

How is life treating you? Well, things are getting better all the time, as the Beatles sang. It's summer, 2021, and life is pretty grand. I was left unscathed by COVID my whole time at work, and now I'm vaccinated as well, getting it early via my employment. 

Sometimes life feels like a jazz samba tune. You could say this is one of those times. 

I've been spending a lot of time reading books. A lot of science fiction, classics, philosophy, western canon. Jane Austen, Hegel, Hemingway, Sartre, Huxley, Joanna Russ, Robert Silverberg, Keith Roberts. The good stuff. Checkout my goodreads, https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/56122996-og-space.

I still jam once a week, playing electric guitar, with my friend Jason Thomas on alto saxophone, you can find some of our recordings https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIrIXpTdHVM0VLWMB7Y84Hw. 

I've been on hiatus on writing lately because of the pandemic, and focusing more time to life, work, and people irl. 

Compare this post with summer of COVID post from last year, https://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-summer-of-covid.html.

Crazy enough, I've made my own recorded documents about life since the day before the pandemic began, where I attended a punk rock show at the Maui Sugar Mill Saloon. You can find all the blogs, http://ofigueroamusic.blogspot.com/p/blog-page.html. At the time I jokingly referred to it as my plague journal, as I was reading books such as The Plague by Camus and The Decameron by Bocaccio. 

Now that COVID is supposedly ending soon in the US, I can't help but feel that things will never be the same. 

I listen to a lot of jazz and classical music nowadays. 

Peace and Love