steven yi :: music

When we first moved back to California and had moved to Berkeley, we had a few weeks of time to search for an apartment.  The apartment we found was above a restaurant and our initial impressions were good.  With only a few days left to find an apartment, we ended up going with the apartment we are in today.

At first it was alright in the apartment, with most of our concerns simply just adjusting back to life in America, as well as sorting out all of our stuff from storage as well as setting up the apartment.  After quite a lot of cleaning and some furniture purchases, things were mostly alright.

Over time though, the restaurant downstairs would start to play their music louder and louder, longer and longer into the night.  During the day became the worst time to be around as they played their music easily five times louder than they would during the evening when the restaurant was open.  During that day time when the restaurant was not yet open and preparing food for the evening, the music would be loud enough that you could not only feel the bass through the floor, but one could feel it in the air itself.  The first few times happened here and there, over time becoming a regular occurrence, the only variable being whether it would be very loud or unbearably so.

The incessant pattern of the bass over hours and hours of exposure (I would have to endure quite a bit as I work from home), made us both quite exhausted. Feeling at times tired, at times angry and frustrated, our misery over the situation made for an environment impossible to be either focused or inspired in.  Besides the music, the family which owns the restaurant often argues amongst themselves (very loudly).  Just being around that kind of tension tiring and nearly impossible to do any

So a couple of months ago we decided to move.  At first we had been so distressed we were set to break our lease and simply find an apartment and move immediately.  After a couple of weeks of apartment searching, and applying for apartments, an apartment we found quite ideal and one we really wanted to get worked out!  We signed the lease a few weeks ago and in just a few more weeks we’ll be moving out from here and into a slightly smaller, cozier, and much quieter apartment in a very different part of town (moving from South Berkeley to North Berkeley, up by the Gourmet Ghetto). 

So each very loud day that passes by, I look more and more forward to moving.  So many days here where no music could be worked on, no peace of mind could be had.  I have accepted in my mind for the past couple of weeks that I would not be able to work on music but would only work on programming and other tasks that don’t require so much quietness.  I am looking forward to getting back to composing, reading quietly at home, and just enjoying life and peaceful quietness.

A few days ago, having the thought to take a last-minute trip somewhere for this weekend, Lisa and I decided to rent a car and find a place to go.  Luckily, being the Bay Area, there were a number of options to choose from.  We had originally thought to go visit Calistoga yesterday, but after doing some checking we found that we would really need to reserve a place to stay to do the things we thought we would go try to do.  We did drive around town to a few places we never managed to get to since we don’t own a car, but yesterday was largely a quiet day.  We did however make plans to go to Big Sur today, and the trip work out beautifully.

Waking up a little later than we had originally planned, we took showers, ate breakfast with some coffee, and managed to get on the road a little past 8:15 AM.  We started off the trip listening to Bjork’s Homogenic, an old favorite for both of us, driving down the highway, the sky a bit overcast and gray, excited to be on the road.  After a brief stop to pick up some coffee, we continued on our way listening to another favorite album, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s album Shahen-Shah.  The sheer ecstasy of the music was welcome, especially as we continued along and saw such beautiful landscapes that were always a couple hours away from us and that we never knew were right there.  (Listening to this album in particular reminded me of the long drives I had taken back in college to visit John in Wake Forest, as well as all the many times I used to listen to this album on Minidisc while walking around campus…)  It had been too long since I had listened to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and I had certainly made a note to spend more time with his music in the coming weeks.

We had missed a turn in our directions, but luckily Lisa had realized and we were able to catch another way to get to Highway 1 without losing much time at all.  When we got to Highway 1 and driven along for a few miles, we were surprised to suddenly see to our right the Pacific Ocean so close!  Beautiful… As we drove along, it all became only more and more incredible.  Stopping by the side of the road often, we took picture after picture of the many incredible views of the ocean, the rocks in the water, the formations of rock which the the highway wrapped around, and more. The sky was still a bit dark at this time, the wind strong and chilly, but beautiful nevertheless. Listening to Joni Mitchell’s Ladies of the Canyon was wonderful accompaniment as we continued on, taking in the wonderful views before us.

Arriving in Big Sur at about 11:30 AM, we listened to John Adams’ The Dharma at Big Sur (though, I must say, much of which is difficult to hear while driving in Big Sur as the noise of the road often drowned out the music), and made our way to the Big Sur Tourist Center.  After asking for some information, we decided for our day two waterfalls mentioned on the list of things to do: Pfeiffer Falls and McWay Falls.

Driving back North a short half-mile, we entered into the park, parked the car, and then walked over to the trail.  A mile or so of fairly easy hiking through a beautiful forest filled with Redwoods, we made our way up the path to see the small waterfall at the end, enjoying the fresh air and taking in the beauty around us. Walking back, we took a small pause to simply sit on a bench and to just take it all in.  I sat there savoring the sounds of the trees, the leaves rustling in the wind and creating such a soft but strong sound.  The sound reminded me much of a wave of water, how it seems to move slowly but with carrying such volume of water as to be a very large force…  Ten or so minutes later, we proceeded back the way we came and stopped by the lodge there at the beginning of the path to have a small bite to eat. Afterwards we got back in the car and drove on to the next stop. 

By this time, the gray sky was beginning to lighten up and the sky and water begin to better define themselves.  We drove 10 miles or so South to the next park, parked our car, then took the short walking path to McWay Falls.  The scene was absolutely gorgeous! We could not walk too far along the path due to some renovation work they were doing, but from where we could walk to, we could see the falls from a distance pouring into the ocean and waves of water from the ocean coming in and out of the little cove.  The sky was brightening and the water–a dark, murky color when we first saw it in the day–had turned a beautiful blue.  Standing there we took many photos, talked quite a bit about what we were seeing, listened to the waves, soaked in the sun, and generally just marveled at it all. 

We walked back to our car and drove back North to our final stop of the day at the Henry Miller Library. A quirky but very charming place, we enjoyed a cup of coffee and tea there, perused the books on sale, and enjoyed looking around the library.  Close to 4PM and needing to get back to Berkeley, we got back in the car and started our way back.

Driving back along the same roads, it was amazing to see the views once again in such brilliant light.  It really felt as if we had gotten to see two completely different landscapes and was really just delighted at how well the timing of the trip had worked out.  My original worries from the morning that the trip would be dark and even rainy ended up turning into the opportunity to see such a beautiful view in two completely different lights. 

The drive back was met with some traffic, but overall was not bad at all.  The 3 hour drive back felt like it went by fairly quickly as we enjoyed listening to the CD’s we had brought once again and listening to NPR on the radio, as well as simply chatting about everything we had seen and enjoying each other’s company.  The trip worked out excellently and was really rejuvenating and inspiring.  Our first time there has proved to be a wonderful experience, and I think we’ll both be looking forward to another trip to further explore all that is there.

Yesterday after our Saturday morning Tai Chi classes and usual brunch routine, Lisa and I walked over to Downtown Berkeley to to watch a movie. I hadn’t been following movies at all lately so at the theater we had to take some time to decide which movie to watch.  After some coin tosses and discussion, we ended up choosing Persepolis, a movie which Lisa had heard good things about and which the ticket person had also heard good things too. 

What a fantastic movie!

I was unfamiliar with the story as well as the historical context of the Iranian Islamic Revolution and the wars with Iraq, and found the story of the person growing up there and abroad quite touching. I was also grateful never having to have grown up under such difficult social and political conditions.  I though the movie illustrated the challenges of life there and growing up in general very well.

Beyond the story itself, I found the animation quite stylized and expressive as well as just completely effective in supporting the story. I could imagine such a style easily overpowering a lesser movie, but here I felt it very strongly worked to accentuate and bring out aspects of the story that could only be done with animation. 

A beautiful movie with such a touching story, I would heartily recommend it to anyone I know.

Yesterday Lisa and I went to Kabuki Spa in San Francisco. We had gone for the first time just a day or two before we left San Francisco to go to Warsaw, and since moving back to California last year we have gone twice now. The trip from Berkeley to the spa is little long but not too bad, and if anything it is completely worth the time spent to get there. What a wonderful place! We’ve only gone to the communal baths where there is a dry sauna, a steam room, a cold plunge, and a hot pool.  I love that the baths are very quiet and peaceful, sometimes with quiet ambient, new age like music that was on at a very low volume, but more often than not just silence.  We drank ample supplies of water flavored with cucumber or lemon or hot tea between sessions in the dry sauna and the steam room, and used the salt as a gentle scrub while in the steam room.

I think it’s quite a luxury to be able to go to a spa like Kabuki Spa, but it is such a enriching experience that I feel that going there is well worth the time and money spent. I really felt quite relaxed and appreciated the opportunity to rest in such a quiet and peaceful environment.  I am looking forward to the next time we can go to Kabuki Spa and hope to make it a more regular event in our lives.  In the future, wherever we may go, I hope that these kinds of peaceful baths will be something we can find and continue to enjoy.

I was reading this transcript of a conversation with Warren Buffett today and read this wonderful bit:

We did an informal office survey by looking at the total tax footprint versus the total income. I earned 46 million and paid a tax rate of 17.5%. My rate was the lowest, the average was 33%, and my cleaning lady paid 40%. The system is tilted towards the rich. The Forbes 400 total net worth has gone from 220 billion to 1.54 trillion, an increase of 7-to-1. You see in legislature that there is lobbying carried on by the powerful over issues such as the estate tax and carried interest for private equity investments. We need to flatten income and payroll taxes, and those making under $30,000 shouldn’t be bothered.

 Let’s imagine that 24 hours before you are born, a genie comes to you and tells you devise a social and economic system. The only catch is that after you designed the system, you would choose a paper from a barrel which would determine your demographics. What objectives would you want? You need to devise a system that creates prosperity. It needs to be a meritocracy, to put the right people in the right place. It needs to have a strong education system, and throw off lots of goods and services. It also needs to not discriminate against women or minorities. Even though the per capita GDP is $47,000, 20% of the population makes less than $20,000. We need to eliminate that fear of sickness or old age. A tax code is the codification of a country’s values. But you can’t kill the golden goose of prosperity.