Tiring.

(also, I was just fiddling around on Flickr and found this picture. My new job is to recieve, price and shelve all the books on the carts in that pic and about a dozen others. The old guy pictured is one of the squadron of folks* who literally follow me around whenever I emerge with more books and lean way into my space. Being big and a little rough-looking, I can usually get them to back off with just a look, but I don't like doing that since this seems to be the highlight of their days, so I'd feel bad about taking that from them)

*there's also the Captain who wears a filthy Mr. Howell hat, Rip Van Winkle with his long beard, and a statley, dapperly dressed old black man I call 'The Duke.' They must think of me as the Easter Bunny or something.

Crazy.

I ran a free nightime theatre event at a historical site on Saturday with people performing by the pond, dancers by an old train station, that sort of thing. About 50 artists total. A massive downpour in the afternoon sent the artists scrambling to rehearse in the rain spaces and people running into the woods to unplug 70 feet of cable and turning off the power. Yikes. It cleared up in time for the event, but I thought most audiences would've stayed away because of the rain. I was hoping for a turn-out of 300 or so, and now with the rain maybe half that. Well, at 6:30pm there were about 50 people onsite. By 7pm when some performances started there were about 100. By 7:30, we had run out of parking. By 8pm, we ran out of programs (350 printed). Every venue and site was beyond full. Some of these locations, little nook by a pond, readings in historical houses could only hold 35 or so. Audiences didn't care, squeezed throught doorways, they looked through windows, listened when they couldn't see. My meagre little staff was seriously overrun. In the end it all turned out okay and the site staff estimated 2000 people came through. It was fun, if stressful.

On Sunday, I pretty much collapsed and slept all day. Then I woke up, ate some ice cream and went back to sleep. How was your weekend?

My weekend either sucked or was awesome, depending on how you look at it. Thursday I was sick with a fever and a scratchy throat leading to a cough; Friday I came to work in the morning to do the monthly data quality reports for each region, which were due Thursday and which I felt unable to put off until today (dedication and fear are a heady mix). By about noon my fever blossomed, and I left work around one, unable to concentrate.

I felt good enough after a long nap to head down to St. Marks Bookshop, where I bought six books, and to the guitar shop on First Ave and Tenth St, where I bought guitar strings; I stopped off at my favorite ramen joint for a big bowl of sutamina (stamina) ramen, packed with garlic shoots and egg and ground pork and miso broth: everything a sick boy needs.

Then I went home to Queens and spent the rest of the weekend reading, playing guitar, dozing, napping, resting, sleeping, and conked out. Oh, and talking to my brother on the phone and listening to his new EP on my stereo.

Also, I had a phenomenal crap on Saturday morning (sutamina ramen will do that for you) which took my fever right away; I could feel it slough away, my poop the empty, crackling chrysalis of a butterfly newly formed. I sat in an armchair, damp wings slowly uncurling, and wondered if a butterfly knows when he's been born a locust, foregoing a chance at meandering beauty to be the plague of all nations.

Oh, and the rock was good. I like my new strings. Anyone wanna be in a band?

My weekend was too short, my week too long, last week being my first back at work after three weeks away. As for my month: it was the best of times (the vacation itself); it was the worst of times (a death, a funeral, mourning)...

Got a massage for my bday Friday. From my old friend Karen, who I (unknown to my wife) went out with about 20 years ago. It's never been a deep secret, but there has never been a good time to bring it up either. It ended badly but we are friends now. The lovers-episode never gets mentioned.And she's a top-flight massage therapist. Wife is giving me one a month for a year. Nice gift, no?

The rest of my bday was fine. .went out for thai, having a dish called "White Angels on Fire," which is a spicy squid dish. .very good. Came home, and daughter had baked my birthday cake, which was good, then she and I passed the guitar back and forth, trading songs, which was VERY fun. She also gave me a new capo for my bday, since the one I had was older than she is.

Saturday, spent the day sore as the result of too much working out (even with the massage). Saturday night went to a couples party which was boring. Had another couple over for dinner last night which was boring. We can't find any couples we click with lately. Our friends in Kona, we do but they are there and we are here.

Days were spent doing chores, including me changing a washer in the kitchen faucet, which does not sound like a major deal but it has been dripping for months and I had not been able to get to the washer and was not even sure that there WAS a washer but I persevered and got to it and changed it so it's nice to not have the drip.

This morning, volleyball early which brings me here again.

This month has been quiet. Money is tight, but I've now made the final bail-out payment to my sister. She's on her own now. So things have been quiet for me, not going out much. Work is busy, our half-year ends on 30 September so there's a lot to do in the next few weeks.

My fitness plan stalled in August because I had a chest infection and couldn't work out as much as I wanted to. I'm prone to lung problems, the legacy of growing up with two chain-smoking parents in a tiny house.

This weekend has been good and bad in equal parts. My sister stayed a couple of days but went home yesterday.

My team won yesterday with a fabulous goal from a new player, followed by a great goal celebration. Our first win in the Premiership this season, and about time.

Today is a holiday in England, so I met a friend at the gym, and I did 40 minutes fast walk on the treadmill, followed by a swim, steam and hot tub, then a shower and a coffee.

Supermarket after that, and now I'm just chilling, enjoying the rest of my day. I cooked a piece of gammon (ham) and will have some later when it's cooled. Life is quiet, dull almost, except that I'm not easily bored, there's always something I find to do that interests me.

My weekend was tiring. Too much social stuff and not enough sleep time and on top of that I think I'm battling a cold. I also am trying to resolve a possible romantic issue with one of my friends that has been plaguing me off and on for months now (Do I dare cross the line into romance? Am I sure it just isn't a crush? All I know is that the prospect of this person leaving and moving on with his life, sans moi, is quite unpleasant.)

My week looks to be a bit quiet, which is ideal, I need to finish a knitting project for a friend so I can concentrate on a crocheting one for another friend. Also still need to figure out what to do with previously stated friend-romance issue. Causes many butterflies to start rocketing around my gut and is ruining many a meal.

Month looks to be quite chaotic what with the defense of previously stated friend, the party that will go on for a week afterwards and the impending return of the icky undergrads. Also have to manage to get some science done so I can leave, write up an application for an editorial job for the local science journal and figure out what I have to do to apply to this chemistry program at UCSF and do I really want to go?

In summary, I have too much thinking, not enough brain cells and too many butterflies. Eep!

Great from start to finish!

Friday: beer & relaxation in the cave.

Saturday: We had a blast at mrs chewie's boss's house! They have a pet turkey named Turbo that is hysterical - it's like a prehistoric creature, and he followed us everywhere just like a dog. He does this weird humming thing where he puffs all his feathers out and his whole body vibrates. You can hear it and feel it in the ground. He was really cool.

They also had some chickens that were cuties and have just started laying eggs (they were settling in to their new home). They're gonna give us some eggs!

He had an awesome wood shop - he builds his own ocean kayaks that are beautiful. The guy's pretty amazing - his day job is a veterinary surgeon. The zoo calls him in to look at the elephants and giraffes when they have problems b/c the zoo vet doesn't have much surgical expertise.

They had 2 whippets that were very docile - they didn't bark or run or jump up on us. They were adorable, especially Noel, who had a paisley collar. (!!!) And they have 4 cats too! 3 outside, 1 inside. The outsiders come in at night to sleep - they just zip right into their crates and snooze away.

Oh! they also had a small fountain/pond thing with a coy in it. It's under some trees, so hopefully the herons continue to opt for whatever's in the pond across the street.

We got mildly lost going home but it was nice.

Sunday: Got nice & buzzed at a fundraising party down the hall for a neighbor who's running for city council. It poured for once and was nice to watch while we all pickled out. I love being able to walk a few feet to get home.

Hugh, I think you may need to see a doctor or entomologist for your, uh, fever.

It was a smoky weekend. My throat hurts and I'm all spaced out and mellow today; that kind of pleasant hangover buzzy thing, not so bad. Friday, I went over to a friends' and she and another friend persuaded me to go to this party that I knew was going to be bizarre as all fuck. And it was seriously, seriously weird but not really in a good way. Parties hosted by deeply insane people in trailers on the edge of Leicester so seldom are. At least nobody got sacrificed to the apron/seed goddess. While we were there anyway. And it did give us something to talk about! Also, when we walked up - past the chickens, across from the six dump trucks, into the carport where our nuts but fun friend was slowly, slowly grilling something on a tiny fire - the crazy hostess came out and said "Oh, look, three random chicks" and I wanted to but did not say "Actually, its THE three random chicks!"

Saturday, went with two friends to an opening at the park - outdoor sculpture. It would have been a great opening except for the small fact that I screwed up the dates and, uh, it's actually going to happen next Friday. So we walked around the park and looked at the concrete slabs where the sculptures will go and then went back to friends' house and made burgers, yum.

Yesterday we - me and three good friends - went tubing down the Green River in the rain for a couple of hours which was awesome fun and then all came back to my house where we made this big collaborative feast and ate it and drank beer and it was lovely.

Now I'm at work where I should be busy as hell. Oh, and my fucking home internet got turned off AGAIN despite all the phone calls and etc. of two weeks ago. Jesus wept.

*sigh*

Very good in some ways, sucky in others.

we went to the beach, to mr. gaspode's friend's place in Rehoboth, DE. It's a beautiful beach, a lovely place etc. and we were there with the friend, L., and our other friend M. I have maybe mentioned L. before (I know I definitely have in my blog): he's quite the asshole when it comes to money and tipping and all that. Petty control issues. He also has a number of other aspects to his personality that I find distasteful, not the least that he's basically a verbal troll, will say anything to get a rise out of anyone even though -and I'm his usual target- people tend to just ignore him now.

Anyway, so we were with him all weekend. So there was that. And you can't be an asshole to someone who is your host, even when they are being one. Or at least I can't. So I just sit there and fume at his ridiculousness, which is probably worse, and definitely ungracious. Oh well. The beach was nice, though.

My family used to vacation in Rehoboth. There were a few good restaurants there, a Lebanese place and an outdoor Italian joint I liked. I got stung by jellyfish and my dad had his collarbone broken by a wave, but the beach is nice and clean and teh gay keeps the drunk high-schoolers away.

Sorry you hadda put up with a dick host. Did you drive back? Take the Lewes-Cape May ferry and drive up the Garden State? Makes for a longer, more pleasant trip.

Friday night: two different parties. Late night.
Saturday: sleeping in. Hot date.
Sunday: at dads. Chainsaw.

It's been a long month. My SO was on vacation for most of it... I missed him. I got panic attacks after my roommate's seizure, which are terrible but which I also feel guilty about... she has to have surgery, so her situation is worse than mine, right? Then I went on vacation and attended my cousin's wedding, at which I faced my parents for the first time in two years without communication. I couldn't stand to talk to them and I didn't.

However, I did get to take a road trip with my brother and sister, be in Los Angeles for a week, walk on the beach, and see some of my friends. We all miss each other. I promised a lot of people that I would see them at Christmas, and I hope I do.

Friday evening I arrived in Seattle, after a fantastic three-day roadtrip across the Great Plains and the Rockies, and discovered the moving truck with 90% of my stuff is going to be arriving a week later than I thought. So the weekend was spent scrounging up a temporary supply of life's daily necessities (underwear, coffeemaker, skillet), catching up on sleep, and saying to myself at intervals "OMG! I live here now! How incredibly cool is that!!"

The last week was not so great. I felt depressed and bored pretty much every minute. Even thinking about upcoming fun things in my life, like my cruise in two weeks, stresses me out. I have too much on my plate. So- I turned over all cruise excursion planning to Marc, I'm following through on my desire to not join handbell choir this fall, and I'm going to lay out my whole plan for work delegation before I leave on the cruise. I'm sure my boss will change things while I'm gone, but, eh, what can ya do. Couldn't sleep last night; was awake until 5:30 a.m. Took the day off at 8:30 a.m., which didn't make my boss too happy. But as ColdChef pointed out to me later, it's better they be unhappy when you're gone than unhappy when you're there!!

not too bad.

Friday: kayak
Saturday: roller skate & eat rich foods
Sunday: surf

The roller skating was for a birthday party for an 11 year old. The roller rink knows its target demographic is: Gen X parents. The music, the disco lights, everything- still the same as when I had MY 11th birthday party at the rink. They tossed some Britney Spears and some R&B modern stuff in, too, but mostly it was Final Countdown &tc.

I didn't fall down, but I'm sore in muscles I didn't know I had. (And only on one side, since you only ever go counter-clockwise.)

Things are looking up. J and I have embarked on a cooking through the alpahbet project, so this weekend we went to the Greenmarket and cooked C. It was amazing. We're both trying to quit smoking, so we've been spending a lot of time cooking, drinking beer at home and watching movies. I forsee us getting fat. Oops.

In other news, I finally got a consulting job so that keeps me busy. I'm working at a pretty swank building near Grand Central and the team I work with is pretty cool. Weekly trivia nights are kicking back into gear. Concert season is starting up. The weather is cooling down. It's not bad.

Welcome to Seattle, katallison.

My weekend was mighty fine. Given how shitty the previous week was, however, that wasn't too difficult to pull off.

Saturday involved making a run to the hardware store for some supplies for a couple of projects. Now that we have the supplies, we may even get the projects started. Eventually. Saturday night, we saw You're Gonna Miss Me - A Film About Roky Erickson. Very good, if somewhat sad. (Although Roky has together enough to be touring again - yay for that!)

Sunday we spent hiking around Cougar Mountain. I improvised dinner, which is always fun. We had spinach fettuchine with grilled chicken breast and a sauce of fresh tomato, carrot, and fresh basil (with the obligatory oinion and garlic, of course, and some red pepper flakes), and a nice Stama zin from Lodi.

Friday is in TPS's post.

Saturday: Finally connected with my friend whose wife had the baby and went to see them. Strong little thing--ten days old and already turning her head! Drove up to Saratoga; it was Travers day, but I went to the Historical and racing museums, then walked around the Yaddo gardens. One of my classmates at Emerson said she wanted to get married there--it's pretty, but my choice would still be the garden of Longfellow's house in Cambridge MA (if it's allowed). Ate fried chicken at Hattie's.

Sunday: Wanted to go to the Shaker site, but it's closed Sunday and Monday. Went to army museum in Saratoga, then walked around the park where the mineral baths are--all the tubs were booked that day. Mediocre beef at an inn.


I really don't want to go back to NYC...hassles await (kitchen, rugs, spoiled prince, bathrooms, having to be dependent on the building staff).