The steroids have certainly lowered the intensity of my hives. I still have swollen arms, legs, and ankles which is no fun. I was unhappy with the way I led last night’s choir rehearsal. Fortunately, most if not all, of the members seemed very understanding. I think the drugs are probably affecting my concentration. And the constant whine of the itch and stinging doesn’t help. But it’s getting better.

I finished Alan Jacobs’ In the Year of Our Lord 1943. I got a lot out of this book, learned a bunch of stuff. I typed up my notes on it but will spare you at this time.

I just interlibrary loaned How to Think: A Survival Guide for a World at Odds by Jacobs. I like the way his mind works.

I seem to be studying Jazz. I’m working my way through a Jazz Piano book that is teaching me standard Jazz Harmonies. I’m getting it better than I ever have before. I think Chinen’s book, Playing Changes, is influencing me, opening me up to seeing that other musicians conceive of music in ways that I do.

Eileen spent the day with her family. She came home saying that her Mom was doing much better today. She said the spark had returned to her eye and that her appetite was coming back. The hospice people are helping a lot I think.

I’m feeling so much better that Eileen and I going to out to her favorite restaurant tonight (El Rancho).

Hillary Clinton: American Democracy Is in Crisis – The Atlantic

I don’t totally agree with Clinton’s views, but voted for her and am sorry she’s not president. She makes some good points in this article.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump’s Battering Ram  | The New Yorker

Interesting to read this alongside Woodward’s Fear and the Anonymous staffer who recently wrote in the New York Times.

“Drank a Lot” | The New Yorker

Leonard Cohen is dead, but he has a poem in the new New Yorker.