| Thanksgiving |
[25 Nov 2009|04:59pm] |
Well, it's been a difficult year. Accidents, deaths, surgery, imprisonment, hospitalization, joblessness, debt, breakups, sickness, housing problems...
But. I'm lucky. Only a couple of those things happened to me. And I have other troubles, but there are so many things I also have.
I have a roof over my head, a job, food to eat, people who love me, and a guiding passion for beautiful music. My mother and sister are doing better. I'll be with friends tomorrow. I'm in loving, supportive relationships. I have health insurance. I have heat and internet and down comforters and a cellular phone and hot running water. There's a washer and dryer right across the hall. I can afford the nice toilet paper. I live in a country where I'm allowed to speak my mind. Hell, I'm allowed to go outside, strip down to my undies, do the chicken dance, and declare that chocolate pudding is my lord and savior if I want. (though the police might want to do a breathalyzer if they were driving by...) I've got my health, my arms and legs and eyes. I've got a good sense of self. I can read! I've got perfect pitch, I can touch-type, digest lactose, fix plumbing problems, make a delicious chocolate cake, sew a button back on, tap dance, tell a good joke, and enjoy a roller coaster.
When I'm sad, I put on my warm sweater and shoes without holes in them, I pick up my phone, and I call someone and talk to them while I walk the way to the convenience store, where I buy a candy bar.
I did that today. I was feeling sad. But then I got home and remembered there are so many luxuries in the above sentence that I take for granted every day. Don't get me wrong, the candy bar helped me remember. 8)
So, on Friday when I go to my job, along with any Black Friday items I decide to pick up, I'll make a small donation to some of the following charities:
-Feeding Pets of the Homeless, who do just what they say;
-One Laptop per Child, which has given out more than a million laptops but has so many more children's lives to enrich;
-and the Women's Prison Book Project.
What charities do y'all donate to? And I don't just mean money. Time, or a kind ear, or that can of garbanzo beans that's been sitting in the back of your cupboard for six months, or an unused dictionary. A care package, clicks on their websites, a quilt, a cup of coffee. Or consider donating a pint of blood, or sponsoring a donkey, or buying one of those bags of food at the grocery checkout line, or other things I'll add here as you guys make suggestions.
I hope tomorrow is good for all of you, whether it's a holiday where you are or not. And I'm thankful for you guys. Just so you know.
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| "Dervish" with Tom Smith! |
[17 Nov 2009|09:26pm] |
There's a recording available of Tom Smith's awesome Friday WindyCon set here: http://www.tomsmithonline.com/albums/liveshows.htm - a whole live Tom Smith concert for $2.99! And yes, PQR is there, and Rocket Ride - both with tasty drums! And 307 Ale and Two Guys Kissin' and Peter Lorre and Tom Tom Tomtastic goodness.
And also? Dervish. Dervish, the beautiful, whirling, visceral song which I can never quite capture when I'm doing an instrumental-only version. Dervish, the song I've listened to Tom do for ages and never had the courage to pick up my fiddle and play along with. Dervish? With me and Tom playing together? For the first time, and very nicely? Is there. So, once again, it's less than three bucks, it's an hour Tom Smith concert, I'm on it, and it's here.
The song -and indeed, the whole concert - has its flaws. It's live.
But, on the other hand, it's live! So there's performance energy, there's witty repartee, there's audience reactions (including a particular 'sigh' after PQR that I did not contribute to, no, not at all...), there's the ever-popular updated intro to "I want to be Peter Lorre," there's a Sound Check song, there's everything. Also available on that page is Tom's other Windycon performance, and a combo deal for the two. Check it out!
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[10 Nov 2009|08:09pm] |
My mom is out of the hospital!
Why yes, this does neatly clear up any possibility the low probability that I might not make Windycon because of Yet Another Family Emergency!
Now, all I have to do is figure out where I'm sleeping. . .
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| Good news, Bad news. |
[03 Nov 2009|02:34pm] |
Good news: OVFF was a success!
Bad news: I got one heckuva dose of flu there. Four days of fever, seven days of coughing, but they gave me antibiotics for my opportunistic ear infection and codeine cough syrup.
Bad news: Mom's in the hospital. Long story.
Good news: I got a seasonal job at a bookstore!
Who has a job? I have a job! Who has a job? I have a job!
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[23 Oct 2009|09:17am] |
I have arrived! I got here yesterday morning, went to breakfast with my parents, went with my mom to give blood (her, not me - but she failed the hemoglobin test), went to the hotel, met ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) autographedcat and kitanzi as we were going in the door, and they looked on very warmly and tolerantly as I argued (as good-naturedly as possible, but OMG) with my Mom about the five grocery bags of random stuff she wanted me to have/use/distribute for/at the con.
Then, wonder of adventurous wonders, I showered, napped, and stayed in the room all evening. Well, that's not true. I did venture out to get a bag of chips. And cadhla showed up - the airline had lost her suitcase. And I went down to practice with tollers for tonight. And hsifyppah came up and watched TV. Seanan, drugged, in back pain and grumpy sans-suitcase, me, recovering from my parents and sleep-dep, and Brooke, airport-worn, lying on the bed, watching the Disney channel. Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana were about our speed.
Then, we slept. And since we're in the Eastern time zone, I awoke before Seanan! Which is really odd. Actually, being up before nine I think legitimately counts as insomnia for me.
Anyway. Point is, I'm here in the computer room with mike46 and sdelmonte, all of us clicking and typing. It's a warm homey feeling, particularly with folks walking by and saying hello. 8)
It's gonna be a heckuva con.
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| Preparations |
[21 Oct 2009|04:11pm] |
I'm half-packed for OVFF. I leave reaaaallly early tomorrow morning, and arrive in Ohio still fairly early. Hopefully, my mom will pick me up, feed me breakfast at the place with the best Eggs Benedict in town, let me stop at a grocery to get some con foodstuffs, and then leave me at the hotel.
(Hopefully.)
Then, I will have a quiet afternoon unpacking, arranging, and showering off the psychological tang of the airport. Then all the Thursday people will start arriving.
At the con I will play along at least four songs for the Pegasus Awards Concert, one song for the songwriting competition, one Super Secret Saturday Night song, and one recording project. My electric violin, distortion pedal, and amp are coming with me. Beware.
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| The Meme of Yay |
[02 Oct 2009|11:46am] |
This is hsifyppah's:
1. Leave me a comment and I will pick one of your LJ interests and illustrate it in MS Paint with my l33t mouse sk1llz.
2. You have no say in what I draw! mwahaha. If your interests are boring I may make something up.
3. Optionally: repost this in your own journal, along with the picture someone drew for you.
I'm terrible at drawing, so I'm going to stop at the first ten people who comment.
Edit: I am actually having too much fun to stop right now...
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| Randombits |
[02 Oct 2009|10:10am] |
Home safe!
Slept like a rock last night.
Rehearsing with Wild Mercy was, as usual, a joy! Evil Plans for OVFF are progressing very well, including evil plans of fiddly goodness.
Next weekend, harebrained schemes with dapatty.
Belated birthday wishes to jodimuse!
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[30 Sep 2009|02:38pm] |
Safely in Indiana, I have several things to report:
-Family Crisis is muuuuuch better. There's Good News.
-I survived breakfast and lunch with my parents.
-So did my sister. Who was bombarded by first her father, then me, then mom and Steve. Poor girl. And mom and Steve are still there. Mom is currently subjecting her to Grocery Shopping. Mom pays exacting attention to the prices on the shelves, but doesn't necessarily pay attention to things like, "you have to buy two of those," or "with a mail-in rebate" or "only for the caramel ranch flavor" or "the price tag doesn't actually say what you think it SHOULD say," so when she makes a big shopping trip at an unfamiliar grocery, there's sometimes a... difference of opinions between her and the scanner, and she's happy to make a big stormy deal about it.
-quadrivium and I can rock out and get down with our bad selves!
-This has led to Evil Plans for OVFF! Muahahahahaha!
-I'm currently causing trouble in tollers's office. But I'm trying not to cause much trouble.
-Tonight, I get to rock out and get down with myself and the bad selves of Wild Mercy! Not only will we be awesome, but there is going to be delicious home-cooked food by Sally. Including baked apples. I adore baked apples.
-Damn, but this has been a Musically Useful trip, Family Crisis necessity or no. I am a well-practiced fiddler.
-If you're going to OVFF, I highly recommend going to the Pegasus Concert. Because not only will I be there, I will have rehearsed with people ahead of time! This is nearly unheard-of.
-Also, people who put me up with a day's notice deserve sainthood. I'm just sayin'. Thank you, tollers and quadrivium.
-This trip has been brought to you by pictures of me with animals. Debbie's got one of me with a Komodo dragon, my sister has one of me with her super-sweet cat KB, I've got pictures of cats and dogs and lizards and giant giant walruses... If I ever gather them together, I'll post 'em here.
-Tomorrow, I get to see my benet. Hopefully in time for dinner. As impromptu trips go, this has been awesome, but it was unplanned, and I miss my boy, my kitchen, and my own bed.
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[23 Sep 2009|04:01pm] |
Ohhhh, today is going verrry slowly. News tomorrow makes today crawl. I am trying very hard not to twitch. Much.
Things that are making my day go faster and/or be improved:
-Edits to process!
-Songs to study!
-Bearsharktopodes!
-Odes of love like, "Delicious ganache of pearlescent saturated fat! You clog my arteries with joy and/or bacon!"
-Actual ganache, lazy style: Get a little dish. Put in a nice handful of chocolate chips. Heat in microwave for one minute. Pour half an inch of heavy cream on top. Stir, and then stir some more. Eat with spoon. Feel much better.
-The return of the ever-so-charming Richard Castle!
-Making grandiose bed tents for my tired husband (this one is held up with hooks, strings, the top drawer handle from the dresser, and rope, has a kite shape, and incorporates five sheets)
-Looks of surprise from said husband upon arriving home from work.
-Fiddling late at night on my unplugged 'lectric fiddle (thereby being quiet and playing as much as I like) Which brings me to...
-Getting 'The Hurricane' up to 108 bpm. Which brings me to...
-My new metronome! All hail Berkeley, land of the unforseen Wittner Super Mini! In black, even. (This is my favorite metronome. My last one died a while back. I hate electronic metronomes.)
-My awesome support network. I love you guys.
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| *facepalm* |
[18 Sep 2009|05:56pm] |
So today my plan was to go to the grocery.
( Right. )
Sometimes I forget how stressful stress is.
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| Let's pack up and go to California, she's got lots of friends out there... |
[10 Sep 2009|11:53am] |
( Hwaet. )
...Wow, this post got really long. Other things happened, including a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, some awesome jamming, a trip to WholeFoods, some blessed sleep, some laundry, and some tearful goodbyes, but let's take those as read, shall we?
G'night!
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[27 Aug 2009|02:17pm] |
Have you ever seen a television ad for some channel's sports coverage?
Watch this video. And laugh as hard as I am.
In other news, back from a really great trip to Cedar Point, and on my way to San Francisco. Details later.
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