Salt Creek Beach

A group of us went to Salt Creek Beach. The weather was gloomy, but that made for nice pictures. As always, the water is really cold. Anyways, we all had a good time.

Farewell at Yang Pass

This evening, I recorded another piece: 陽關三疊 (Farewell at Yang Pass). Since the Han dynasty, Yang Pass served as China’s westernmost administrative center near the end of the Great Wall. The poet Wang Wei wrote of seeing his friend off to Anxi. Here, they part ways. His friend pauses here…

Guqin music recordings

The first piece is 梅花三弄 (Three Variations of the Plum Blossom Theme). Its earliest source is thought to be around the 4th century, but this rendition is based on motifs transcribed in 1425. Ten sections make up the piece. The first part begins with the evening moon over mountain streams,…

Northern California

I just got home from a trip to Northern California. The first day was spent driving to Angwin, arriving quite late at night. The next day, we went with Auntie Plerm and Uncle Michael on different tours—The Castle, Sepay olive oil company, Budweiser factory, and Jelly Belly. After some shopping…

Guqin Completion

Day 144, and I’m finally done with the guqin project. On one, I used modern steel/nylon strings, and on the other, I used silk strings. They sound very different, and I’m pleased with how both instruments turned out. Now, I have to try the pick-up system in the jiaoye guqin…

Guqin adjustments

On the luoxia guqin, I carved some off the nut and lowered it so that the strings would be closer to the surface. This proved to be a good adjustment. Playing the instrument has been absolutely delightful. I refreshed my memory on some of my old repertoire. The first piece…

Residency Graduation Banquet

This year’s graduating residents are Peter Elsissy, Sidney Jones, Ryan Moore, Barth Riedel, and Gregg Schellack. Like every year, we had it at the Redlands Country Club.

Tuning the guqin

I’m basically done!!!!! And the experiment with the compound radius worked out well. The main aim in making the new instruments was to try to eliminate string buzz, and indeed, it’s gone. Making the tuning cords required some trial and error. I bought tread, and for this luoxia guqin, I…

Inscribing the guqin

When I started this guqin project in February, I had no idea it would have taken this long. If I did, I most likely would have not embarked on it. For much of last week, I took a break from working on the instruments, since I was in San Diego…

Guqin naming

Progress in the guqin building project has been steady but slow. I had made and set the pearl inlay, and they all ended up looking very nice. Then, I applied many clear coats of finish. Also, I drilled holes for the tuning cords. This all took place last week. I…

South Fork Trail

Starting from the South Fork trailhead in the San Bernardino National Forest, a group of us hiked up passed the meadow and up to the avalanche area. After that, we turned around and headed back down the mountain.

School of Medicine Graduation

Commencement this year, like most years, took place on a sweltering spring morning. It was great to see the students graduate after having accomplished so much through school. Scott Nelson was the honored alumnus of the year, and Lenny Werner gave the commencement address.

Zhang and Zheng

Today, we had Dr. Zhang and Dr. Zheng over for dinner. They are both from the Number 2 Hospital of Tangshan, which is an orthopaedic referral center for that entire region.

Guqin pearl inlay

This past weekend, I worked on staining the second instrument. Because the shape of this second guqin is known as 落霞 (descending crimson clouds), I decided to color it brilliant red tossed in dark and stormy skies. Under the sunlight, some parts are like a rich burgundy. After getting the…

Safari with Joan

Months ago, Roger Hadley bought the Safari with Joan event at the Children’s Hospital Gala fundraising event. We all had a nice dinner at Joan Coggins’s home. Sean Bush was the guest speaker. The food was wonderful, and I also enjoyed seeing all the animal trophies from her past safari…

May Birthdays

For Andy’s and Aimee’s birthdays, we had several celebrations. First, it was at Cherry’s house. Then, we also had a surprise event at Delhi Palace.

Guqin sanding

I reached another major step in the guqin construction project this past Sunday. While both of the instruments have been put together, I decided to sand and finish one of them first—partly to experiment and make sure it turns out well. Applying color was tricky, because it was easy to…

Mothers’ Day Grill

There were all sorts of things from our garden that we put together for this grill event celebrating Mothers’ Day. The lettuce was fresh from the field, as was the rosemary for the potatoes.

Applying the guqin coating

I finally finished all the sawing, routing, planing, and chiseling for the guqin parts—except for the tuning pegs. It feels good to have reach this stage, as the next steps mainly involve assembling and finishing. Most luthiers adhere to the traditional technique of applying coats of lacquer from the varnish…

Black Canyon Kayaking

The past weekend was spent kayaking the Black Canyon just below Hoover Dam—the first day upstream for almost twelve miles and about four miles back to camp, and the second day all downstream pushed by a nice current and a tailwind.

Legislative Leadership Conference

A contingent of students and attendings went to Sacramento for the California Medical Association’s Legislative Leadership Conference. After a morning session of speakers, we spent the afternoon visiting with various members of the State Assembly. Photographs are courtesy of Linda Stratton.

Huntington Beach

We all had a great time just lounging around at the beach, enjoying the cool weather and the bright sunshine.

Buds and Blooms

So many plants are blooming or budding at this time. Our garden has come to life, after some dormancy during the winter months. Spring is in full swing now, and there is so much color all around.