WFH: DAY 73. 8.30 am: A communion. 9.00 am: I looked once more at the final paragraph of the writing, while searching for information on how musicians play together in lockdown. (In the background: John McLaughlin, Cindy Blackman Santana, and Carlos Santana’s Quarantine Blues — which was made under these conditions. Wonderful!) (Oh! And happy birthday Carlos, too!) Of course, the technology for remote multi-authorial recording existed long before the pandemic broke out. However, I suspect that when the current crisis is over, this mode of ‘togetherness’ will be the ‘go-to’ option rather than a ‘Plan B’. This will be particularly the case — in the light of climate change and international collaborations between musicians and sound artists — when we start taking seriously the need to curtail our air travel.

10.00 am: Perplexed (as ever):

11.30 am: The final paragraph completed (for now), I returned to the studio to prepare for software updates, downloads, and installation. Trepidation: so much can go ‘not-right’ with these operations. And, even when the installation succeeds, it may as a result have stymied other software by rendering them incompatible with the ‘latest version’. ‘And where’s the blinking folder that I’m told I’ve just downloaded?’ One could get a little stressed doing this for too long. There were several computers that needed the same attention. (Sigh!)

A reflection of compatibility, connection, and commitment:

House (detail) #40:

4.00 pm: Mission accomplished, but not after some digging around in the authorisation software for information that ought to have been clearly evident in the manual. On, then, with clear-up – readying my rooms for Monday’s business. On a productivity scale of 0-5, today’s efforts scored ‘3’. (‘Could do better with a little more effort’, as my school report would often say.) Taking a dim view of myself:

4.30 pm: The latter-day sunshine beckoned. Press ‘Esc’!