meowmensteen | Reading

My swim was luxurious this morning until the last 5 minutes when the sun came out and blinded me. I had thought about lowering the shades before I got in but it was so cloudy. Lesson learned. I just quit 5 minutes early. Then I got back here and Biggie would not let me at the computer. But now he's otherwise occupied and here I are.

I spent a fair amount of time yesterday organizing my now totally dirt simple finances. It was mostly moving inactive accounts out of sight and setting up some targets for the others. I do not track every penny, but I do want to be able to look at a glance and see where my money is going. Mostly I want to ensure I know where the truly discretionary hot spots are in case I need to trim back for some reason.

Yo, Biggie, so far you are not discretionary but keep up that annoying behavior like this morning and that could change!

I've got nothing on the agenda for today and I'm not feeling very people-y. I have the second half of yesterday's lunch for today and enough for dinner so I might not even leave here again today. Oh wait, I need to take the trash out.

I did watch the new Dick Wolfe show CIA last night. I'm giving it one more episode. It sucked but maybe that was just the groundlaying. His stuff is usually so painless and easy to watch while knitting.

And that's it. That's my action packed, fun filled, crazy old lady life. It may not suit everyone but it's really nice for me.

taz_39

And it was snowing when we woke up.

That's the Broad St. view. Here's City Hall from my hotel room, and a close-up of one of the statues that I liked:

I know it doesn't look like it from the photos, but as of 8:45am this morning they'd gotten 13 inches (33.02 cm) of snow! And at time of typing this, it was still coming down. Despite this, our travel plans had not changed. The thought was that once we got out of Philly and start heading west, conditions would improve. I ate breakfast and waited patiently for the charter buses like everyone else. Went down to the lobby at the scheduled time...and the buses had cancelled on us!!

The minute I heard this, I went straight back to my room and got online. There is a Budget rental office just a few blocks from our hotel (it's where I rented my car for the masterclass last week.) I called to make sure that they were open and had cars to rent, then walked over. On the walk I observed that the roads and sidewalks were well cleared. So WHY had the buses cancelled?? A mystery...

I got a one-way rental car for $140. One-ways are always more expensive than if you return the car to the same location, plus I wasn't returning it to an airport which jacked up the cost even more. But I didn't care. This is not my first rodeo, and I could see in my mind's eye what would likely happen next. There would be no buses available to charter today. The company would probably be able to get buses tomorrow, but the drivers would still be required to make at least one stop. Meaning a 6-7 hour trip, meaning even if they left early in the morning they wouldn't get to the hotel until past noon. And that meant arriving in Pittsburgh only an hour or two before sound check and the show. I have experienced this same scenario on other tours.

Not only is this not my first rodeo, I am also inherently selfish, an individualist, and driven by logic and survivalism. There are times when staying with the herd will protect you and save you money...then there are times like now when you yell, "Every man for himself!" and reach into your own pocket to save your own butt :p

This was one of those times. Took my newly-obtained rental car back to the hotel, retrieved my bags, threw them in the back, and off I went. The roads were extremely well cleared and I had no problem or delays. It was a lovely drive. Pennsylvania can be pretty scenic. Here are some pictures:

The snow fell only on one side of this mountain, I thought it looked beautiful!

Around the time I stopped for gas and a break, an email went out with the new travel plan. Which...not to be a snooty booty, but it was exactly as I'd thought. An early morning bus ride but with two required stops, meaning the Pittsburgh ETA was 3pm. And that's with the assumption of no additional travel delays. Sound check is typically at 5pm for a 7:30pm show. I felt bad that the majority of us would be feeling rushed tomorrow...but also, everyone else had the power to make the same choice that I made today, if they wanted.

I pulled up at the hotel a little after 3pm. Check in was easy and my room was great. Dropped the luggage and took the rental car to Whole Paycheck for groceries. Returned the rental car, got back to the hotel, put everything away, unpacked, ate dinner, and was in pajamas typing this post up by 6pm.

Worth it.

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TUESDAY

It was squalling when I woke up. Good morning, Pittsburgh.

Watch on YouTube

I visited the hotel's free breakfast, which is "just ok" again but I got some peanut butter and bagels. Back at the room, breakfast and working on Foodie Finds. I got an email that I'm confirmed to do a masterclass at my alma mater, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, on Thursday. Yay! I ran through the presentation and did all right time-wise (48 minutes) considering I've had several days away.

Walked to Target for paper towels and a few household items, popped into Burlington just for funsies. Back at the hotel my Amazon order of a PPT clicker and a backup black fleece jacket had arrived. Unpacked those, ate lunch and packed myself a dinner and snacks for the theater. The rest of the afternoon was spent tweaking my K-12 presentation because that one's coming up too, and reserving a rental car for Thursday.

A little after 3pm I walked to the theater. It's the Benedum and I was here before with My Fair Lady in 2024 (part 1, part 2). I did a lot over that visit including shopping on The Strip; eating at Bae Bae's Kitchen, Gaucho, The Speckled Egg, and Mancini's; and visiting Phipps Conservatory.

The ceiling has a unique octagonal design (photo from my visit in 2024.)

As I was exploring, filling my water bottle, setting up, etc., I saw cast members and management hurriedly setting up their stations. Some of them had brought their luggage with them to the theater (not a good sign!) I found DAR setting up his dressing room and asked when the bus had finally arrived. "Twenty minutes ago!" he exclaimed. Sheesh! I moved on to digging through my trunk until it was time for sound check.

The pit is pretty large, especially with the drums remoted (the drum booth will be in the trap room this city, if I get a chance I'll take a pic so you can see.) Sound check was just fine, and the show was just fine. Audience was really great, and during intermission we had a lot of visitors like we've gotten in some of the Texas cities. Lots of kids asking questions, parents exclaiming over the instruments...it's nice! :)

I dragged all of my trunk stuff to the hotel while other people dragged their luggage. At least everyone got here safely, management was able to pivot in a very difficult situation and get everyone here on time. No one likes to cut it that close, but they couldn't have predicted our buses would be cancelled. Which by the way I discovered had something to do with an ordinance/city government requirement that there be no buses on the street during the blizzard? I don't know the details but on reflection I didn't see any buses when I was leaving, so that must have been it.

Anyway it's over now and we're here! Yay!!

I should also mention that on Monday night, our own Belle (Kyra Belle Johnson) performed at EPCOT in Florida for a special Disney on Broadway concert series event!

They had not only Kyra (the current Belle,) but also Susan Egan (original Broadway Belle) and Ashley Brown (another longstanding Broadway Belle) present, and they sang a specially arranged version of "Home" together!

(both photos from WDWNewsToday)

I can't embed video from Instagram, but please click HERE to hear part of *our* Belle's rendition of "Home." Her voice is AMAZING.

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Wednesday: One evening show. I'll get up early to do laundry and will do my usual computer work, but otherwise no plans.

Thursday: Driving to IUP to give a masterclass! Then one evening show.

days_unfolding

Hmm. Should I get a ticket for Stars on Ice in Chicago? It's on a Friday though, so I'd have to leave work early or take the day off. I'd enjoy it though. I'd also have to overnight in Chicago.

Overslept and got up at 7:30 AM. I’m feeling sad. I don’t know why.

At work now, explaining to Gracie that the cats don't want to play with her. She can't seem to grasp that.

I had a brief telehealth session with the sleep doctor, but because I haven't had my sleep study yet, there wasn't much to discuss. The telehealth session worked well though. I'll have to keep it in mind.

Gracie is flaked out cold in the guest room. I want to join her. It's gray and gloomy. Overslept my nap (in the bedroom).

My boss okayed my participating in a program sponsored by the university that teaches you about how to be a better volunteer in the community, the role of non-profits, fundraising, etc. I've been thinking about what I'll do when I retire, and this will help! I also am thinking about volunteering at a cat shelter.

Bella is whining because I'm not downstairs yet. I told her "two minutes".

I ordered the pet gate for Zara’s room with the coupon.

I checked into how to replace my Global Entry card. I want it for my trip this fall. Ordered.

Gracie is being difficult and not coming in. She almost did but changed her mind. Everyone’s now inside and fed except for me. I’m nuking food.

I got the prairie seeds.

Hmm. I read an article about heated drying racks, and wonder if I should get one. It might be a big help and save money. I need to get the large bathroom cleared out though. Ordered.

Time to post and crash.

hafnia

what book(s) have you read only once that have stayed with you so long that you can never stop thinking about them? (Good and bad)

Ha, I'm a compulsive re-reader, so it's more like, "what have I read only once?"

Two come immediately to mind:

1). Atonement. If you know, you know. I don't know that it is possible to read this book considering what the ending reveals — I mean, perhaps people do, but...lord.

2). A Fine Balance. It's a historical fiction novel about The Emergency declared in India in the 1970s. It's a brutal book. You end up caring for all the characters and, well. Given the time period and who they are socially, nothing good happens. It's not bleak per se (looking at you, A Little Life), but it's realistic in what was likely to have happened to each of them given considerations like caste, etc. It's a lot. I don't regret reading it, but I won't reread it. Once was enough.

I will say that for the most part, I don't finish stuff I'm not enjoying — life is short, there are many books, if I'm not into something I usually don't make it all the way through.

With that said, though, I absolutely loathed Blindsight by Peter Watts, and I am still annoyed that for a few years there it was held up as the piece of Science Fiction For Scientists.

(These days it seems to be stuff by Andy Weir, which I by and large haven't read, because The Martian was aggressively fine, and I could not get into Artemis.)

greghousesgf

I just got an e mail from my bank saying my new credit card will be showing up in the mail in a week. They originally told me four days. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do till then. I also have a bunch of wet laundry sitting around in my bathroom.

Current Music: "Inagaddadavida"

susandennis

I knew/hoped I was over paying my estimated taxes last year. With the selling of the house, particularly, and the semi flaky CPA I had to work with - who didn't even give me the estimated tax amount until I had to ask twice, I was in a better safe than sorry situation.

Last night I got an email from a different CPA at the firm (I haven't had to deal with flaky at all this year), asking how I wanted to handle my $5000 refund!! Whoa. The email explained that it is enough to cover estimated takes for this year with a $1,300 overage - did I want to just pay up and then get the overage into my checking account?? FUCK yeah!!!! So. Taxes paid for this year's return. Taxes paid for next year's return. Enough cash to pay the CPA and still some left over? At least enough to pay for a couple of Biggie's vet visits. Yafuckinghooooo! What a load off. No details yet. I expect they will come today but that is a big relief. And from here on own my tax situation will be totally simple Simon. Nice.

Tuesday, house cleaning day. Yeah.

I've been rewatching Season 1 of The Pitt, before I watch Season 2. I'm still reading Dark Ride by Lou Benney and it's a great read. It has not gone where I thought it would which makes it even better. I'm a little more than half way through and already thinking I want to slow down the read to make it last longer.

The Mariner game is on TV today which will be fun.

I am so relieved about those damn taxes. I didn't even realize how stressed I was.

hafnia

favorite tarot card (whether for art, meaning, or something else)?

(As per usual, I will do the writing ones when I get my shit together, preferably on a day when I'm not dealing with a migraine.)

I have a few favorite cards, less because of art, and more because of meaning. As per usual, in no particular order:

The Magician: The Magician represents ambition, manifestation, resourcefulness and inspired action. I have a lot of fondness for this one simply because it was one of the major arcana I used to pull most frequently when doing readings for myself. One of the potential interpretations of the Magician is that it represents balance and having the ability to do things because you have all the resources at your disposal — and, yeah, I liked that. Ha. In my favorite (goblin) deck, he's a juggler and it's quite pretty art, but it doesn't appear to be online (boo), so I suppose you'll have to take my word for it.

Death: Not literally about death; also the card I tend to pull the most these days. Er, hmm. Death is about change, transformation, endings — it's a pretty positive card and it is only rarely about literal death. One of my favorite books about tarot talks about accepting Death as part of life, and I think about it a lot in that context — there are constant deaths in the form of endings around us every day, and part of finding meaning and purpose in life is learning to accept this.

The Ten of Cups: Cups as a suit are meant to represent relationships and connections, both romantic and not. The Ten of Cups is specifically about having those relationships/connections in abundance and feeling connected and cared for — it's basically "happiness: the card".

At one point, one of my very good friends, who does tarot, offered to tell each of us what cards in her deck she associated with us. She left it to us to figure out the "why". Most of my friends were major arcana — I still remember being mildly jealous of the person who was told theirs was 'the Star' — and I was sort of upset at the time that I was the 10 of Cups.

Now that I do tarot, I think it may be one of the best compliments I've ever been given. So. Yeah.

days_unfolding

I'm so freaking tired. The cats are being manic.

Bella and Gracie were chewing on my hand brace. Dogs :)

I woke up around 6:30 AM, but I didn’t want to get up before my alarm. So I overslept it by a half hour. At least I can run a little later because I’m going to Physical Therapy at 9:50.

I rescheduled my PT appointment. I forgot to turn on the dryer and Gracie is refusing to come in and this morning is a mess. Well, Gracie came in. That’s a start. I'm learning that "self-care" often involves not scrambling. I went to get Oliver to feed him, but he gave me a sleepy look, so I guess not. He really likes it in Zara's room.

Hmm, I think that I want to wear my hand brace to work. I tend to curl that hand up when I'm not typing.

I can't stop yawning. And today is my long day because of choir rehearsal.

Gracie is going nuts over something out the window. She has no idea that she's a smaller dog. She thinks that she's tough.

Lily is giving my hand brace the onceover. Oliver decided that it was time to eat. He was a "lover boy" over lunch and attended my shower. He thinks that it's curious that I stick myself under water though.

My prairie seeds are on their way. Cool. I'm wondering if I should get some woodland seeds for the side of the garage, but I think that I'm getting too ambitious. Plus, I need to clean out that area and mulch it. Plus, I'll need to plant the lilac and crabapple and set up the vegetable planters. I'm looking for cheap dirt for the planters.

Ack about the temperature tonight, but at least I have a car with a heater. Sometimes it's the little things.

I tried to get a bit of fuzz off of Lily's fur, but she got annoyed and left. I just told Oliver that I don't want feline-managed acupuncture.

Huh. It was a bad day for the stock market but my stocks are up, except for Eli Lilly, which I'm considering dumping for Novartis.

Lily cautiously started to go into Zara's room, but she turned around as I went to leave. I want to get that gate (a gate to keep the dogs out with a cat door) soon.

The window in the guest room has a million dog nose prints in it. I just bought some great glass cleaner, so I should use it!

Ran around like crazy getting ready to leave for choir: letting the dogs out, feeding everyone, putting my makeup on, and grabbing my music. I managed to get there way early, which is what I had planned to have time to organize my music. It’s all together now. I was clearly missed while I was gone by the critters. Oliver is curled up on my lap. The little thief Bella stole a sock and grudgingly brought it to me. I explained that I need socks. She is not convinced.

My dad said that it sounds like I’m doing something right with my stocks and to “keep it up”. My big problem is finding time for research.

I’m kind of attracted to a young black cat who’s been in foster care for two years. Apparently, he doesn’t go up to new people, but that’s okay. But I’m a little worried about shaking up the status quo.

Sold some stocks and bought some stocks. I have time to do that only at night and weekends.

I should go to sleep soon so that I don't oversleep.

greghousesgf

Well, I got the phone bill taken care of, the lady who worked for the phone company was very nice and helpful. I still have to get ahold of the phone company and give them the new numbers when I get my new credit card, and DSL too but my DSL bill isn't due for about a week and a half so I'm not worried about that.
I AM worried about this asshole who works in my apt bldg. I reported a theft (not my credit card) to him and he said he reported it and he didn't. I'm getting real tired of this fucker.
Also I had to do laundry and I only had enough on my card to wash it and not dry it because I have to use my credit card to put more $$ on it. If I could run into one of my neighbors I'm on friendly terms with they might be able to help me out but they seem to be out.

Current Music: ACDC (there's no lightning bolt on my keyboard)

susandennis

I had the best swim this morning. I woke up ready to go and just enjoyed the heck out of it. Funny how some days are don't wanna and some are Move Over Katie!

Steroid shots make my foot feel instantly better for a couple of days and then there are about 3 days of back to ouch before it starts working for good. Then in about a week, it will turn black and blue and stay that way for about a month. We are back to the ouchy part. But I was able to walk to the pool and back so, not horrible.

When I redid all my mp3's, I dumped them into folders - 30 files in each folder. Zero curation. I think Karen Carpenter had a beautiful voice but the current batch I'm listening to is about 25 Karen Carpenter songs and that's really more than anyone needs in a row. So I'm now swapping out for the next folder of 30. This batch has no clues. The files are named 1.mp3 and 2.mp3 so no telling what the fuck is on them. Come Wednesday - the next lap swim day - I'll probably be begging for more Karen Carpenter.

spacefem solved my Hazelnut coffee problem. Syrup! Amazon is bringing me a small assortment of small bottles of sugar free coffee syrup - Hazelnut, Carmel and Vanilla. I put the Hazelnut k-cups out in the elbow with a sign that says FREE. They were gone before I got back from my swim.

I have a plastic shoebox full of batteries. I have a few C's. a few D's. A fuckload of AA's. Some buttons - various sizes. A couple of really weird ones and 1 AAA. What do I need right now? 2 AAA's, of course. Sigh.

Another Paramount+ treat. One of my all time favorite sit coms. No one watched it but me, I think so it only lasted 2 seasons but now both seasons are on Paramount+. Superior Donuts. Good cast - phenomenal writing. Still very fun. I'm treating myself to an episode a day.

I've never put together a Lego set. I've thought about it but resisted knowing that it's likely a rabbit hole for me. Plus now I have bunnies to make 3 a day and I'm on track so far. And then I have to sew pockets onto my swim robes. I have projects. I don't need more. Plus, there are all those hours that

spifikins stole from me when she introduced me to that fucking arrow app.

low_delta

I was going to write about something this weekend but then I put it off until today so I could include the whole weekend, and now I don't know what it was.

I made pancakes for supper on Friday, and the house still smells like pancakes. I have no idea why.

I'm still sorting and shelving the LP's. I'd like to get the turntable working and listen to them all. I wonder how long that would take. I feel like we could average one a day, but I'm sure I'd get tired of it, so it would probably take twice that long. And I don't know how many are there. I think we're talking about years, and that's with skipping all the ones we have on CD and listen to all the time. This explains why we'd get tired of it - because we already have most of the good stuff on CD, so this would be a couple of years of mediocre 70's rock music.

D&D yesterday. One more session in April will close out the storyline. Not sure what will happen after that.

Today I went to Chicago to buy whisky. I had them all located at Binny's but stopped at Discount here in Milwaukee on the way (Binny's has their inventory online, and Discount doesn't), and found five of the six whiskies, and for less money. Still had to go to Chicago to pick up that last one.

While there I stopped at Delilah's for a whisky. Ended up talking with the owner for a while. He gave me his card and said to let him know the next time I was in town so he'd be in and we could chat.

greghousesgf

I miss when I didn't have to worry about this shit. I have autopay on my phone and they usually take the $$$ out on the 23rd. I tried to call their office to warn them about my card having to be shut down and that I will give them the necessary info about the new card when I get it but that office is closed on the weekends. I hope to fuck they won't cut me off, I will try to call them tomorrow.

Current Music: "Golden Teardrop"

days_unfolding

Overslept and got up at 7:30 AM. I have a strong impulse to go back to sleep, but need to get the dogs in first. There was a light dusting of snow. Where is Oliver? I called him and he appeared. He determined that there was no food and left. Lily doesn’t want to eat for reasons known only to her. She seems okay though. The dogs came in on the first try. I’m leading a charmed life :) Got us all fed. Nap time.

Ordered some vegetable seeds (lettuce, spinach, carrots, and peas).

Dog wrestling time. Gracie is shorter than Bella, and Gracie will stand over Bella, and then Bella will get up, leaving Gracie’s legs dangling in the air. Pretty funny.

Napped. Woke up before my alarm. Oliver is lying on my lap. Ate lunch. Took another nap.

Success! My car has a battery that works! The guys at Advance Auto Parts are always so nice. The battery that was delivered was the wrong type, so I had to return it and get another one that’s even cheaper. That’s a win.

I celebrated with dinner at Culver’s. Now I’m sleepy, but I need to wait for the dogs to come in. It’s snowing and very cold (20F/-7C with a wind chill of 1F/-17C), so maybe they won’t stay out long. All the weather forecasts say that it’s not snowing. Hello, I was out in it, and it definitely was snowing. Maybe we won't get much snow then.

Lily is making a fuss over me because she’s hungry! Fed us all. The dogs came in quickly, probably because it’s cold.

I need to get my music organized in the morning, so I plan to go to bed soon.

grail76

1. Scrounge for change (couch, ashtray, etc.) to make a purchase?
Hunting around for a quarter so I could get a cart at ALDI.

2. Visit a dentist?
This past January. About 6 weeks back.

3. Make a needed change to your life?
I've been trying to add 10 pushups to my daily routine.

4. Decide on a complete menu well in advance of the evening meal?
It's been a while.

5. Spend part of the day (other than daily hygiene) totally/mostly naked?
I've spent a lot of time in t-shirt and briefs, but the closest I have to spending a lot of time mostly naked would be at Camp Crucible.

taz_39

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

--- --- --- --- --- ---

First, Thursday evening's show was "ok-but-weird."
For some reason, every single one of us in the pit was struggling. Even DAR, even the drummer!
I remember there were days like this on the circus sometimes...it was like we all hit a cosmic stumbling block and struggled for no discernible reason. It's a thing that happens on tours, I think? Where you're playing the same thing over and over again, and idk what causes it. It's very mysterious and weird.
DAR actually apologized afterward, and we were like, "No, don't apologize, it's us too! Join the club!"

But other than that, the show was still just fine, so....*shrug*

--- --- --- --- --- ---

FRIDAY

I fell asleep early. Woke up once to pee and saw that Jameson had finished his third/final overnight with Disney around 3:30am(!)
Congratulated him via text so he'd see it in the morning, and slept again until 7:30am.

I was up early to do laundry. My throat feels bad from postnasal drip, but whatever, it still feels like a mild thing brought on from stress. I am SO GLAD that I managed to reserve Friday entirely for myself to rest and recharge.

Some of you will think I'm being a baby / overly dramatic by needing a whole day to recover from extroversion like it's some big deal. And maybe I AM being a baby? But my anxiety used to be a LOT worse than it is now, and has gotten much more manageable over the years. When there are weeks like this one, where every day is non-stop go go go--outings, interactions, performances, events, evaluations, every single day--I may be able to HIDE the fact that I'm stressed, but ultimately "the body keeps the score." Long-term fight or flight activation for days in a row often results in physical symptoms and a need to intentionally withdraw so I can rest, recover, and convince my subconscious to calm down. I don't WANT to have to do that, but haven't found a better solution that doesn't involve dependency on some sort of drug.

All that is to say that I did laundry and then stayed in my pajamas for the entire day. After lunch I walked to MOMs Organic Market for another tube of that fantastic chai lotion (I never want to run out of it!) and some oats. Wrote to O'Malley Brass Instruments, who is building my trombone, and was dismayed to hear that the timeline is now 6 months or so. In other words I won't have a trombone until the end of this year at the earliest. That isn't the timeline we'd discussed by far, but at the same time I understand they're literally five people building horns from scratch and they'll take as long as they take.

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SATURDAY

TMI Warning, highlight white text to read: ( Around 2am I woke up with painful abdominal cramps and had to rush to the bathroom. And that's pretty much how the rest of the night went, all the way up to 8am or so :( It was diarrhea and nausea but no vomiting. I have no idea if I ate something bad, or if it's a virus, or what. Around 7:30am after I'd been dealing with this for 5 hours, I tried to eat breakfast and found I was too nauseous for it. Forced myself to drink half a cup of coffee just to avoid a caffeine headache later. Texted DAR to simply say I wasn't feeling well and could we make sure that the pit door would not latch behind us (it has an auto-lock function, as we found one intermission when it locked us into the pit!) I'd hate to have a bathroom emergency and be TRAPPED in the pit!! He confirmed and sent condolences. I then texted Raven, who was supposed to arrive around 10am, to let her know that I was sick and might not be able to follow through with our plans for the day (which were Liberty Bell and lunch at a nice restaurant.) She said she'd gotten delayed anyway and wouldn't arrive until 11ish. In lieu of breakfast, I found sugar and salt packets in the hotel room and mixed them with water to create a nasty sort of electrolyte-thing, sipped that, and curled up in the bed trying to ride out this nastiness. END)

When Raven arrived I was still feeling bad enough that I didn't want to come get her. Instead, I suggested she swing through Reading Terminal Market because she's like me and I knew she'd be captivated by everything in there. Asked her to find something nice for herself for lunch and bring it to the hotel, where she could either risk being in the room with me or I could give her a key to the lounge on the lower level and she could eat in warmth and with a TV. While she was doing that, I dragged myself out of bed, got cleaned up and dressed for work, and straightened up the hotel room for company. AND wiped down all the touch points, AND put on a mask.

Being my sister, she wouldn't hear of anything but coming to my room, and not only that she picked me up a Gatorade and a big hot bowl of homemade Amish chicken soup!! I could have cried. It has been a long time since anyone "mothered" me and it was very much needed today.

We ate together...well, she ate, and I took a few bites and sipped some broth before feeling nauseous again and having to stop. We chatted about everything that sisters talk about, as much as we could, before it was time to walk to the theater for the show. And before anyone asks: yes, I had two shows to play today while sick. This is the downside of a life in music (and many of the arts, while we're at it.) It's a selective skill to begin with; only so many professional-level trombonists are in the area, even in a big city like Philly. And then, even among professional-level trombonists, there are few who could sightread a Broadway show requiring doubling on tenor and bass trombone, to the level required for the show. I'm not even sure that *I* could do it if asked. So unless it is a REAL emergency, i.e. your appendix has ruptured or you cannot stop puking or something, you MUST play the show no matter how badly you feel (or whether your peers might also become infected.) Womp WOMP sad trombone, but that is the price of doing what you love.

I walked Raven to the box office where we retrieved her tickets, then to the lobby where we parted ways. I went backstage and steeled myself for a rough show, and it WAS rough for me. It is hard to blow air through big tubes when your stomach is a mess and when your body is exhausted and aching. But my personal issues aside, the show went very well. I was glad that nothing wonky happened while Raven was there! She came to the pit at intermission to say hello, and also after the exit music so that I could introduce her to my coworkers. DAR and Tim (trumpet) were so sweet, they took the opportunity to butter me up and say how they enjoyed working with me :)

Raven is not much of a one for pictures; she took a pic of the program and that's about it.

On the way out the door I saw that our presenter (the theater reps, I think that means?) had brought a huge goodie bag full of Pennsylvania specialty treats: TastyCakes, Herrs potato chips, Keebler cookies, Utz pretzels, Asher's chocolates, and more!

I grabbed one with the intention of giving it to Raven but Ryu (violin) said she didn't want hers, so I took that one to Rave instead! We walked back to the hotel...slowly, because now I had a low-grade fever and body aches. Uuuugh :( When we got back we decided to just DoorDash something. Raven ordered tacos and I got some al pastor tacos knowing I couldn't eat them now but maybe they'd come in handy tomorrow. When the food arrived she ate her burrito and I warmed up the chicken soup. I was pleased to be able to eat half of it this time, along with half a bagel and half a banana (why all these halves lol.)

Soon it was time for Raven to catch her bus, and I had to walk to the theater. We hugged and parted ways in front of the hotel. Although I really wish I hadn't suddenly gotten sick and ruined our well-laid plans, I am so, so grateful for my sister and for being able to spend any time with her. And I really, really hope she doesn't catch whatever I've got. C'mon universe, don't repay her kindness with yuck!!

The evening show was good but we had one show hold when Maurice's invention broke (that thing, I swear! Crew must be having a meltdown over it!) I had taken some painkillers with dinner and they got me through the show, but by the end of it I was very much ready to lie down. On the way back to the hotel I met some of Tim's (trumpet) family, who had come out to see the show. They were all adorable and pleasant, and I made sure to butter Tim up as he had done for me with my sister!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUNDAY

Thankfully, oh thank goodness, I was able to sleep through the night (or as much as I normally would.) I did not have a fever when I woke up, or anything else going on except (TMI highlight text to read: still having the runs and starting my period and ) still feeling under the weather. I decided to try a normal breakfast, and although that went well, digestion made me feel too nauseous for a full lunch. I managed half a banana and the last dredges of chicken soup. Packed snacks for the theater and started packing for the bus ride to Pittsburgh.

Forgot to mention that yesterday we found out that there's a nor'easter moving in. Being from Pennsylvania, I have been through several of these storms. They are essentially a winter hurricane. And as such they feature heavy snowfall, high winds, whiteout conditions, and are overall extremely dangerous. Forecasts were conflicting on Saturday, but as of today they're saying between 16-22 inches (40-55cm) in Philadelphia between Sunday night and Monday, plus 45mph (72kph) winds. We have a 6-hour bus ride to Pittsburgh on Monday, and we're all kind of wondering how that's going to go.
(remember that you can click on the image to open it in a new tab, and click it again to enlarge it.)

But the other issue was my that sister Kate and her family were to come see the show on Sunday. They would be driving 2.5 hours to get here, then 2.5 hours back in the initial phases of this incoming storm. I wrote to her to reassure her that it was totally OK to cancel if she didn't feel safe. And ultimately after watching the forecasts for a while, she decided she'd rather not risk it (and I don't blame her one bit.) I am bummed that she won't get to see our show and we won't get to visit...but on the upside I'd much rather she be safe, AND I was able to get a refund for her tickets, which I was not expecting (there's usually a no refund policy.) Huzzah!

And that's why I got to have a slow morning with time to settle my stomach and pack before getting dressed and walking to the theater for our final show here in Philly.

It was a totally normal show and a good audience, though clearly weather had been an issue for more than just my family as there were several patches of empty seats. I could FEEL everyone's impatience to finish the show; many people are involved in loading out in this blizzard, and many are driving their own cars and were anxious to get out of dodge ahead of the storm. But we all still did an excellent job, and soon enough the show was finished and we were hurriedly packing up.

While I was packing, a little girl waved and yelled down to me: "How does Chip get on that table?"
It's the first time I've been asked that! I finally got to give the classic answer: "It's DISNEY MAGIC!!"
She put her hands on her hips and gave me a questionable look while her parents laughed. Sorry, no spoilers, kid! :D

(photo courtesy QPAC/Queensland production. Chip is in the center of the table.)

I am always very fast to load out. As I was leaving, I could see that crew were FLYING to pack up...they're always fast but this time they were HUSTLING. And once outside I could see why. It was already snowing heavily. Big wet flakes falling from the sky so fast and thick that I was soaked in minutes.

Video w/sound.

Watch on YouTube

I walked quickly back to the hotel and typed this post off while my coat dried. And then...sweet rest.
A hot cup of tea and the tacos that Raven had gotten me yesterday (managed them without too much stomach complaints.)
Curling up under the covers with Priory of the Orange Tree.

Bye, Philly.
Maybe next time I'll actually get to SEE you!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday: A riveting 6-hour bus ride to Pittsburgh, and settling in.

Tuesday: Opening day in Pittsburgh.

inchoatewords

Movies: None

Television/Streaming: a couple of episodes of Buffy and Farscape.
Buffy:

"Faith, Hope & Trick" - first appearance of Faith (she's an interesting foil to Buffy)

"Beauty and the Beasts" - Angel comes back. Oz might have mauled some kids out in the wood when he escaped his cage.

"Homecoming" - Both Cordelia and Buffy are annoying as fuck in this one, but I am watching this through adult eyes and that's probably coloring my attitude with some of these episodes. (Use your words)!

"Band Candy" - this one had some pretty funny bits; especially Giles being an absolute fool. And Principal Snyder!

Farscape:

". . . Different Destinations" - they end up going back in time at the memorial and change the path of history.

"Eat me" - they come upon a damaged Leviathan and find all the Peacekeepers turned feral and cannibalistic. Also some of the Moya crew get split into two. Crichton's double makes it back on board ship with him. That would be freaky! It will be interesting to see what happens with the two of them.

Books: It has not been a great week for books! I had two books I stopped reading: T. Kingfisher's Hemlock and Silver and Ben Greenman's Emotional Rescue.

The Kingfisher book was a book club read for January that I never got in time. It just recently became available as I was finishing The Reformatory. I got about twenty percent or so in and I was just kind of annoyed at the book, so I stopped reading.

The Greenman book is essays on music. I thought it would be more like Rob Sheffield's Love is a Mix Tape or Talking to Girls About Duran Duran. No. Greenman's book was rather boring and also felt a bit misogynistic, so I had to quit reading that one, too.

I'm now reading Pylon by William Faulkner. It's a bit different than the other fare of his I've read, but I'm interested to see where it goes. It's set in a fictionalized New Orleans during an air show, so lots of talk of planes and pilots.

Listening to: only one Rolling Stone Top 500 album this week. Number 488 is The Stooges self-titled album from 1969. On the 2012 list, this album was at 185. Rolling Stone blurb:

Fueled by “a little marijuana and a lotta alienation,” Michigan’s Stooges gave the lie to hippie idealism, playing with a savagery that unsettled even the most blasé clubgoers. Ex-Velvet Underground member John Cale produced a primitive debut wherein, amid Ron Asheton’s wah-wah blurts, Iggy Stooge (né James Osterberg) snarled seminal punk classics such as “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” “No Fun,” and “1969,” bedrock examples of the weaponized boredom that would become a de rigueur punk posture.

This one is not really my cuppa, but I didn't outwardly hate it (like the Suicide album). It's a pretty short album, too. I can see the influences they had on other bands. Of the songs here, I like "I Wanna Be Your Dog," which I've also heard covered by several bands, as well.

Playing: I finished Assemble With Care; this is by the same studio that did Alba: a wildlife adventure. It's a visual novel with puzzles; you are Maria, who repairs electronics and such, and you've come to a little town for their festival. Various folks want your help, so you take apart and reassemble game systems, tape decks, watches, and more as you learn about issues in these folks' lives. It's a short but sweet game. The controls were occasionally a little frustrating (you can use your mouse on PC, but sometimes if I clicked too quickly, I'd put the piece I was working on to the side and then would have to hover over and pick it up again).

somedayseattle

I made a promise a couple weeks ago about posting more often. Instead of honoring that promise I did the opposite and turned inside myself. The truth is PlanetChip isn’t the vacation paradise it once was. I have been fighting this ridiculous Crud for well over a week now. Most of The Cruddiness(TM) is gone, leaving just this chronic coughing/hacking. It keeps me up all night and bugs me most of the day. In the last four nights, I doubt i got four hours of rest per. I’ve got this ridiculous situation with my feet which I will get into soon. It basically knocks my recovery back to the beginning and I’m not too pleased about that. It’s just Da Universe handing me another deafening blow. I’m still fighting the mental letdown of being abandoned by everyone around me. I’ve read that’s pretty common when someone suffers a catastrophic event. As always, I'm not interested in everyone else. I’m only concerned about me....and me don’t like this nonsense.

All of this and more tomorrow on another thrilling episode of “Waah, waah. STFU, loser.”

susandennis

My foot still hurts but it hurts WAY less and is on the mend. It's always surprising to me, the absence after something has hurt for so long. It's like a little gift. Or a big gift, if you are my foot.

I love a little Hazelnut flavor in my coffee now and again. The other day, at Safeway, I picked up a small box of Hazelnut flavored coffee pods. I brewed one yesterday for elbow coffee. I think I knew this but had forgotten. Those Hazelnut pods are HAZELNUT!!!! I wanted a hint and they are like a tsunami. BUT I drink my coffee black so, honestly, only wash my mug once in a great while so this morning's coffee had the perfect hint of Hazelnut. Win?

This morning I got up and put the comforter and pillow cases into the washing machine and changed the sheet with the help of Biggie which made it, of course, way more of a chore but it is done. And the comforter will be done in another hour. My washer has this lovely heavy bedding function. It probably does nothing special but I love having it.

Then I went to the pool and had a wonderful swim.

I have nothing on the calendar this week at all. There are baseball games every afternoon on the radio. Yesterday, they had a 'new' announcer for a few innings. I thought we had all of the worst baseball announcers already but wait, there's more! This guy was, apparently, a Mariner pitcher for a minute just before the pandemic. He talks way too fast and says absolutely nothing interesting. It hurt my ears. He said that he would be on the TV broadcasts for some games this year. Fine by me since I mute those anyway. Geesh.

I have 20 more bunnies to make before Saturday. Shouldn't be a problem. There are 2.95 done already.

I have my good book to read and tons of stuff on TV. There is a new (to me) Dawn French comedy on Paramount+ called "Can You Keep A Secret". I have two more episodes to watch. It's kind of hilarious in a very Dawn French way. She gets me.

When my brother was here, we got rid of a lot of shit and shifted and organized the rest. I could not have done it without him and it's still reaping such rewards. It's just a joy to be able to find stuff, to easily put stuff away and to have it all look so nice. My utility room went from a claustrophobic mess to a joy and the storage room... perfection. Yesterday, I shifted some stuff around so easily. I do love this apartment. But even more so now.

When the closet got redone, I took down the cat cam since I moved their beds but now Biggie has a new spot so I think I need to put it back. EASY to do since it's just on the shelf in the storage unit with the correct cable and wall wart. Soooooooo organized am I.

liv

I want to talk about the education privilege meme that's been doing the rounds. On the one hand I love old-school memes that encourage lots of cool people on my d-roll to talk about their experiences growing up. But at the same time, I'm kind of frowning at this particular iteration.

( thinky thoughts )

Anyway, hopefully this is an adequate substitute for the meme and you don't need me to tell you in detail how absurdly precocious I was in reading and maths.

Current Mood: cynical

days_unfolding

Hmm. Chewy sent me a coupon for $15 off an order of $49 or more. The gate that I want for Zara’s room is $45. Maybe I’ll get it plus some toys. Oliver and Zara were snoozing near each other during my singing lesson. I wonder if I should get a cat tree for there to make it a kitty playground. Hmm. Maybe I should wait until they send another coupon.

I forgot to put the brace on last night. I was already in bed when I remembered, but I just rolled over and went to sleep. I need to put it in my bedroom.

Slept until 11:30 AM. Holy cow. Oliver is on my lap and closed the news that I was looking at on my phone. Pay attention to meeeee!

We have a routine. I go in Zara’s room to get her food dish, and Oliver goes in. I leave him there when I get the dogs in so that he doesn’t run outside. Apparently, I left the piano on last night. Lily is happy to be an only cat for a few minutes. She is showing me her belly. “It’s empty, Mommy. Fill it!”

I got Bella in, but Gracie doesn’t want to come in. Gracie was barking at Oliver, who was lounging in the window in Zara’s room.

Ugh. The grocery delivery guy came while Gracie was still out, so I took the items over the fence. I was bringing groceries in when Bella ran out. Shit. I got a new fresh donut for them and Bella snatched a bite of it. They decided to come back inside to get more. Whew. I’m going to leave the rest of the soda out there until later. I don’t want them to run back out. I fed them and need to feed Oliver and Zara after I rest for a few minutes. Okay, everyone’s inside and fed. Nap time after I take my meds.

Okay, I bought the grass seed and some wildflower seeds. And a book on growing plants from seed.

Now it’s apparently dog wrestling time on the bed. I’m telling them that they had been running around and should be tired. Take a nap! They finally did.

Napped. Patched the hole that Gracie made in the mattress with duct tape and put the new “bed in a bag” on the bed. It’s not bad. We’ll see how long it takes Gracie to destroy it. (I had to hustle to get it done while the dogs were outside. Lily was on the bed, however, and got in the way.) Fed the hordes and am making food for myself.

My dad said to figure out why I'm getting carpal tunnel. I think that I need to move the two-monitor setup for work closer to the center of the desk, but that means that I have to clean off the desk first. I also need to move the power strip under the desk.

Hmm. There is a sale on cedar planters with legs. That would be cheaper than the ones at which I was looking, for which I’d need a fence.

I need to get up early to go get the car's battery fixed. So I need to get to bed soon.

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meowmensteen

February 2023

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Page generated Feb. 25th, 2026 06:14 pm

Ohs Hit

A Self-Healing Prophecy

Reading

Blocked by Biggie and the Sun

Pittsburgh, PA 2026 part 1: Blizzard Travel; First Show in Pittsburgh

Stars on Ice?

Talking Meme Month - day 24

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Tax Man

Talking Meme Month - day 23

Choir Night

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Monday

boring weekend stuff

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Success!

Last Friday's 5

Philadelphia, PA 2026 Week 2 part 3: So Much for Recharging

Media Post

challenging the call

Clicking into place

Education privilege

Watching for Stuff on Sale

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February 2023

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