A few friends have contacted me wondering if I was affected by the explosion in New York on Thursday. Fortunately, I wasn’t. The accident was in my neighborhood but far enough away that my entire experience of it has strangely been through the news media. Investigators have tracked the cause of the explosion back to volatile chemicals being improperly stored in the basement of the building. Scary stuff.

I was at work when it happened, along with my sister Monica, who was attending Take Our Daughters to Work Day at my office. She was oblivious to the happenings and had a great time touring the different departments at the company and learning how to put a computer together from its parts.

Later she came with us to our volleyball game, where we lost all three games. I worry that I rubbed people the wrong way with critical (meant to be constructive) comments during play. A frustrating match. Monica served to temper the frustration though, with hand-made signs of encouragement (“Nice Serve”, “Go 61”, etc.). She’s convinced that we just need to focus.

James hosted a barbeque last night, where I learned that John D. is an even better BBQ chef than he is a systems administrator! It was relaxed and fun, and good veggies, guacamole, and garden burgers made for a good early summer dinner.

Afterwards, I went downtown to meet Dylan and his dad at The Living Room, where an Atlanta band fronted by Jennifer Nettles was playing. The show was great, impressing me far beyond the recordings I’d listened to. Dylan and I calculated that we hadn’t seen each other since my high school graduation, which seems unlikely but true. It had been way too long, and it was great to see both of them.

I’ve stayed up late the last two nights recording stuff. On Wednesday night, actually, Monica and I recorded a song that she wrote. I’ll post just as soon as my DSL is fixed. [grumble] Now I’m working on “Hang On Blue Skies” as a project, but not really to move towards a finished product, just to experiment at this point. I’m learning my software, playing with bass lines, and getting better at playing with a click track. And having a good time — it’s a great way to end the day.