So I think pretty quickly on my feet... JD and Eric arrived at our meetup point near the Castro. JD's face was grumpified because he still needed to run errands. First, sun glasses. We went to the nearest shop and ended up at the Maui Jim display.

JD grew attached to a hot looking pair. He was not however attached to the high price. Nor was I. I suggested that sugardaddy and I each throw in $20 to help out. A short bit of negotiation later, I opened it up to the saleswoman. "So remind me what you said today's deal was?" "$20 off if you buy two pairs." "Ah, what about $10 off one pair?" "Oh, I can't do that(!)." "How about 10% off then?" "Oh, I can give you 20% off!" "Oh, ok great!" [A wink wink to Eric who could not believe what I was saying.]

Moments later, we legally left with a $44.50 discount.

Moral of the story, throw a simple math problem at people who will possibly feel too awkward that they cannot perform simple equations. You'd be amazed!

-blog title credit goes to Eric

One of the party-goers last night was a definite Mr. Yuk. So much so that his vibe seeped into my dreams in the form of nosy relatives. Impressions from childhood and adolescence are quite strong, it seems. This fellow pressed for conversational conflict, and executed accusatory questions. More tamely put, with each of his interactions, he "tried to get a rise out of someone." That phrase does not give his toxicity levels justice. If software could create images of his interaction patterns, they'd be bleak.

When the world quiets and the layer of otherwise interrupted sound comes above the surface, the cat laps water, walks away, and the highway hums. A plane cuts the sky as the other cat moves across the floor. Her pads are in neutral and her stealth mode is off. Both cats' ears sponge for sound. Mine aren't the only ones.

Hey there, San Francisco. Happy Pride! May we all always be able to find love where love resides.

Tonight, Thomas and I had a relaxed violin lesson. Thomas has been teaching me for a number of years now and he has such a zen approach to life and lessons. He knows that his adult students have serious day-time commitments and he offers something at every lesson without fail.

Thanks, Thomas!

We picked out some new repertoire and I will play part of a Bach Partita as an étude. The Bach Partitas are unbeatable.