New and Old

This has been another summer of big changes for me. Once again, I've completed a major relocation. It is back to the west coast after a one year stay in Pittsburgh. I can't say Pittsburgh was a good match for me. The job I left Maui for didn't turn out to be anything at all like I expected and I am sure that in itself has colored my impressions of the city. However, living in Pittsburgh did afford me the opportunity to catch Patrick Stewart perform Macbeth in Brooklyn as well as see Emmanuel Ax perform with the Pittsburgh Symphony at Heinz Hall. I met some nice people, made a few friends, but overall, I'd characterize my time in Pittsburgh as disappointing. Sometimes you just know when a city/place isn't right for you.

Rather than fly out west, we drove across the country in the Miata. What a fun drive! The weather was awesome, we got to listen to some great music and best of all, got to unwind a bit. It also gave me some time to think, about what I've done, what I'd like to do etc. I've posted a few pictures like the one below to my flickr account.

One thing that is staying, is this site, at least for the foreseeable future. Our decision to move came shortly after giving this site a new look in March and as anyone who has ever moved before knows, moving has a way of discombobulating even the best laid plans. Blogathon 2008 became the Day of Blogs and this year I participated as part of team Starbase Karma raising money for the US Campaign for Burma. It is events like these that give me a new resolve to continue blogging, or at the very least, set a goal to blog more often. I think the content/subject matter will remain about the same, although I will probably sprinkle in some more posts about music.

During my absence from blogging, some cool things have been happening for Patrick Stewart. I was very happy to see him nominated for a Tony award for Macbeth, but disappointed he didn't win. I didn't catch any of the awards show hosted by Whoopi Goldberg as we were already starting our drive at that point, so I'm not sure if he was on hand or not. Since then, he's moved on to playing Claudius and the ghost of Hamlet's father, in the RSC production of Hamlet. I'm glad to see the production is getting decent reviews. There is also an excellent interview with Patrick Stewart in the Birmingham Post. I think i'd finally gotten used to the mustache he grew for Macbeth, but he definitely rocks the clean shaven look with suit/tux.

Patrick Stewart in RSC production of Hamlet

Now Playing: Stand By Me from the album "The John Lennon Collection" by John Lennon