"The Room"

Looking in at our room.

Hurricane Cledin

We are trying our best to keep it somewhat organised, but we are failing.

Locker room - 6:30 am.

From left to right: Sir Edin, Andrew, and Casey

Hey everybody. Ive been trying to upload pictures/get the internet to work on my computer so I've been sort of pre-occupied. I also am trying everything to get the blister situation better. I heat-molded the skates tonight with a huge lump of mole-skin over the spot to exaggerate the lump on my bone. I actually feel better about it after this round of heating. I skated Friday and the blister/bone was just not feelin that - noo. It got all red again and much more sensitive and the scab that is forming is all untidy and messed up. I thus did not skate in the club race Saturday but watched instead. Edin has moved into the house and is in my room. It is tight - comically so - and I have been taking pics and trying to post them but I keep on getting distracted with something or having something stop working. tomorrow it'll happen, though I am not holding myself to a promise. It has been so hot here. Today it was in the high 90s and tomorrow we are entering the 100s I hear. The house gets so hot, it's impossible to concentrate on anything much. haha. That's part of my problem. The room is a very dark blue and  this does not help, as Edin pointed out, as the sun comes in and both makes the stuffed small room even hotter and insulates it greeeattt for the night.

  I am out now. More tomorrow. U all are asleep anyway in New York. goodnight.

Oh and just another funny thing: I was at the baggage claim, which was impossible to find by the way, and while I was getting my cart, I missed one of my bags coming out. I thought I was watching closely, but I didn't recognize it. So I had everything except the bag. I approached a security lady about it twice and looked for it among the bags unclaimed on the belt twice. Then I sat down and waited for the belt to start again for about ten minutes. Then I found the bag. Just sitting on the belt. I'm a shrewd one, you know?

Back in Cali - September 23

Ahhhh, i have been uprooted again, just as I am getting situated. I am becoming good friends with the people in the sky as I shlepp across the country time and time again. This morning when I got on the plane, the captain or co-pilot recognized me because of the cello. He said " heeey, he's flown with us before!! I remember the instrument!" They kept asking me to play for them, but I refused, as I had no meals for free! The flight was alright. To Washington, I was next to a young woman from Arizona who complained of a boring Husband. To Long Beach, I was next to an old woman, who offered me plenty of tasty peanuts. I sort of like being in a plane with all those people. Somehow, it seems cool if it goes smoothly.
  This morning, was not exactly smooth, as I woke up just after six, but then after I closed my eyes for " a second" it was just after seven - when I wanted to leave by!

  Thank you sooooo much to those who have been donating. I mean, you just can't imagine how encouraging it is, not to mention how much it helps. ah! Ur Awesome.

what is this Donate button?

Well we put this in so that anyone who has a cent or two to spare can help me out. What goes around comes around, I guess. Any donation helps and I know people always say that, but even a dollar or two can pay for a power bar or what not. lol. Anyway, I just thought I should describe what the button does. If you click on it, it will send you to a page where you can choose the amount and then if you have a PayPal account you can log in and pay, or if not you can enter the credit card info.
  So there you have it

Going Back to Cali - Miss D. is the best.

Well it's official - I am returning to the west side next Thursday leaving JFK at 9 something with a stop in D.C.  It is soooo soon and I have so many people to see before I leave. The tickets were actually paid for by Miss Diesslin, who besides being a great cello teacher, is one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I have ever met. Miss D. had extra sky miles points on Jet Blue and they would have expired today so last night she gave the call that she could fly me and my cello out to L.A. with the points.Miss D. is also writing me a letter of recommendation for a grant I am applying for. I mean, there are no words for that amount of kindness. WOW. Thank you again so much Miss D!! Ur the best as usual.

Well not much is new around here. I am training very hard still and practicing and reading and thinking of ways to make money. I am starting my workouts earlier and earlier every day - today I was up before eight. lol. I can't believe that is early already after waking up at 5 almost every day.
  Cal is gone to college, which is crazy - I remember playing baseball in his backyard in like second grade. My cousin Sam is in college too and I remember (via a picture on my fridge) taking baths together as infants! Man, time flies. Life is short so you gotta make the most of it.
  Ummm, what else... OH! I learned how to drive stick-shift the other night, although my dad laughs at me when I say I "learned" because I haven't perfected it by any stretch of the imagination. It is a pretty sweet car too - a red, Toyota Mr2. I heard something about it being collector's edition...? not quite sure. It's my grandpa's old car - he always had sweet cars. This morning I did a hill workout on the bike. 3 sets of  3x10 sprints up this hill - each sprint varied from 30 seconds to 52 seconds - always had a rest of 1:30. My heart rate never went above 189. It is a very steep hill, I think 10-11% gradient, getting steeper as it goes. That is a super hard workout. Oh, and I did a ten mile warm-up and 5 mile cool down. In total I did 27 miles (but remember, half of the hill workout is coming down and circling around the dead end) with 4,000 feet of climbing. I did this workout last week and it was easier this week - one time I passed a lawn care truck that was going up the hill. I looked at the driver as I went by, but he didn't race - oh well, it still was cool. I was using my dad's top of the line Look bike and it is truly "an amazing piece of machinery" to quote my dad.