My Fair Lady - Omaha, NE Part 2
Thursday I set an alarm for 9 but was awake at 8, which is just as well since I'll be back on east coast time next week.
After breakfast I decided to try my Asian beverages.
I know that people were curious about the swallow's nest beverage so we'll do that one first.
It's a pale golden color, and is gelatinous (you can see the air bubbles and pieces of nest suspended inside.)
Incidentally, if you were looking to try this, you can buy it at CostCo!
I was a bit intimidated RE: that texture, but still had to give it a go...I mean this drink was $6, and the nests themselves are often hundreds of dollars, so this could be my one chance to try it, ever. I opened the bottle and took a nervous whiff...and was pleasantly surprised. It smelled sweet and floral, sort of like one of those elderflower sodas.
Encouraged, I took a sip. If you've ever had aloe juice (which is also pretty gelatinous) the texture is very similar. And the flavor was fine, just a mild sweet and earthy/floral thing going on. To sum it up, I was surprised to like this lol. I'm going to drink probably 1/4 of a bottle at a time for the rest of the weekend just because it IS high in sugar, and also when trying new things it's good to consider potential allergic reactions imo. But otherwise, this was surprisingly enjoyable!
The other drink was a mulberry, black rice, black sesame, goji, rye malt herbal tea.
This one was quite good. If you like genmaicha--green tea with toasted brown rice--you'd like this as well. It has that lovely toasted grain flavor, combined with juicy berry flavor from the mulberries and goji. I liked this one a lot and drank the whole bottle, and would buy it again.
That done, I had a nice lazy morning of meal planning, planning a mini-vacay with my siblings for February, and worrying about whether my luggage will be overweight at the end of the week. I'm sure it'll be fine...somehow or other it always seems to work out.
In the afternoon it was sunny, and tomorrow was not looking as nice, so I decided to bite the bullet and do a mini-load of laundry now (again, because I only have two black shirts and I really need a third which has been ordered from Amazon and is waiting for me at home.) A mile walk to the laundromat, and it didn't take long because I had a small load, so a nice two-mile excursion to get some vitamin D and fresh air.
The evening show went well, and afterward there was a birthday party for Andrew who is our clarinetist. Since our show ends close to 11pm I didn't go...I hate starting activities late at night because I naturally wake up early, plus I was just not feeling a big group gathering.
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Friday was my "chill day." I was awake at 8 against my will, and had breakfast and did quiet things like write letters to grandparents, pay bills, chat with friends online, watch anime and LEGO Masters, and snack on things that I don't want weighing down my luggage.
I also decided to day-drink my unpasteurized sake. It was very good, sweet and fruity and flavorful.
I first learned about "nama," unpasteurized, sake in Minneapolis earlier this year. It's difficult to preserve compared to regular sake, and the technology that went into the can I had today is pretty fascinating! The can is designed to impede light and heat, and also is filled to the very top with no air bubbles to avoid oxidation. This sake is not only "nama," it's also "genshu", meaning undiluted. Typical bottled sake is diluted with water, and the alcohol content is around 15-16%. This is closer to 19%! Not that it mattered that much to me personally, but a great buzz is always appreciated :p
After drinking the sake I had a VERY lazy day, and enjoyed it very much. Sometimes it's good to just dive under the covers again and watch a movie, and appreciate having a quiet hotel room all to oneself :)
In the evening I went to Modern Love for a nice vegan dinner. It being a cold winter night, I got the acorn squash curry. Coconut curry, roasted acorn squash, adzuki beans, sautéed spinach, apricot chutney, jasmine brown rice, cayenne candied pecans, "pickled red onion", aleppo pepper, cilantro.
The curry was spicy and had a lot of wonderful complex flavors going on. The apricot chutney was sweet and warming, and the candied pecans also gave sweet heat. The rest of the ingredients were simply seasoned, which meant they provided wonderful textures and a perfect palette for all of those sweet and spicy flavors to mingle together across everybody on the plate. I think they either forgot or ran out of the pickled onion (it's supposed to be a garnish-topper-thing) and also I don't think the squash had been roasted, or it was roasted VERY lightly.
But the TL;DR is this was REALLY good. And really healthy. Lots of good fiber and nutrients and complete plant proteins.
I walked back to the hotel with about an hour to spare, giving me time to digest and all that before heading to the theatre.
Our show went well although it was one of those wonky days in the pit, where everyone makes at least one strange mistake that they wouldn't normally. Like, there was an early entrance over there, a cracked note over here, a dropped mute, etc. Little things that the audience probably doesn't notice, but that are supremely annoying for us! No matter, those days will happen, and tomorrow is a new day :)
Tomorrow my sub gets here and I'm SO NERVOUS ABOUT IT
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Saturday, normal morning and breakfast, then I wanted to go for a walk to work out some nerves.
I went to a Salvation Army and poked around, they didn't have a great selection so I started walking to a local ice cream shop but changed my mind partway as it was cold and what I really wanted was hot tea and a more substantial snack. Back to the hotel for said hot tea and rice cake with peanut butter :)
The afternoon show went just fine, I was still nervous nervous but my sub got on his flight just fine, got here safely, and got checked into the hotel without issue. Phew! 50% of my anxiety is evaporated. Then after dinner I met him in the lobby and we walked to the theatre together. I showed him as much as I could and introduced him to everyone that I could, trying not to overwhelm him, and showed him his spot next to me in the pit. He audited the show very attentively, taking notes in his music and asking a few questions here and there. I was nervous to have someone watching intently while I played, especially another trombonist, but if suffering through that means he'll do as well as or better than me then it's worth it.
----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, I woke up early and checked in for my flight home. Once again my Known Traveler Number was not attached to my boarding passes, this time it was because someone had moved it to the Redress Number column. It certainly wasn't me, and American Airlines says it wasn't them, so I had to write an email to company management asking them to check my upcoming bookings for accuracy...and they said it wasn't them either. How does this keep happening? This tour has only been going on since November and twice now I've had this issue, I'd really like for it to stop :/
Anyway. After breakfast and partial packing I walked to a bagel place to fetch Travel Bagel, and to a convenience store for one lean protein to supplement my lunch of random leftovers. I wasn't feeling great because my period has started + the stress of being responsible for my sub, so took it easy for the rest of the morning until it was time to do a show.
I was extra nervous playing in front of Jonathan this time, probably because I wasn't feeling great. But it was fine, I just played more or less normally for me. Afterward I packed up as though I was loading out for my last show and took the trombone to the hotel. It felt weird!
For the evening show, Jonathan played and I just watched and took notes.
Which I thought would be relaxing for me, but instead it was nerve-racking because all I could do was empathize with how nervous HE was! Every mistake he made, or hesitant note, I felt in my very core. Because I have made ALL of those mistakes too. I wanted to tell him, it's ok, you're doing great! But I couldn't (not until afterward, anyway.)
He really did well, though I will toot my figurative horn and say not as well as me. But that's because he doesn't have ANY theatre experience; there are so many subtle stylistic things that he just doesn't have under his belt yet. And hopefully, subbing for me will give him some new perspectives and abilities that will help him in the future! That makes me feel good. I wish I'd had that kind of opportunity at his age (and it feels weird to say that and be on the other side of that line of age + experience now. Wild.)
Of course I had to take some photos, since I didn't have to play and my hands were free.
I sent them to Jonathan for his portfolio, or just to enjoy.
Afterward I helped him pack up, then got back to the hotel and typed this up and did my packing, too.
Tomorrow I catch a 4:30am airport shuttle. My flight leaves around 6:30 with a layover for lunch, then I get to Orlando around 2pm, probably not home until 3pm or 3:30. But it should be a quiet night. Jameson will have Jollywood, so I'll get groceries and unpack and do a little cleaning to prepare for having his dad as a houseguest the next day.
On the 6th Jameson's dad and I go to see him play at Jollywood.
On the 7th I start my nursing home data entry job back up again.
Thus the December layoff begins!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Other stuff:
Like most older theatres, this one has several unique and confuzzling features!
The stairs are original to the building (1920s) and are severely worn, so you have to watch your step backstage lest you take a tumble.
At the stage door entrance, near our call board, there is this absolutely massive, silver, WEIGHTED door. You can see the weights dangling there to the right. I shared this image to facebook and someone who Knows Things told me the following: “The silver door is an old school fire door. the ‘rope’ holding the counter weight is made out of lead IIRC and would melt in a fire thus allowing the door to roll closed.” How cool is that! (the rope seems not to have been made of lead, but cotton or fiberglass. Still super cool.)
En route to the Green Room is this weird little antechamber with nothing but a couch and this ladder leading up to a door in the sky labeled "open pit."
Obviously I HAD to investigate!
The door was open! And it led to nothing more than a storage space holding sound and light equipment.
Our cellist, Elen, got each of us a personality-matched rubber duck!
The drummer got a drumming duck; our bassist got an aviator duck because he's in aviation school currently. Our French hornist got a weightlifting duck because she bodybuilds. I didn't get to see everyone's, but my duck is a little chef, because I'm a foodie!
How thoughtful and cute!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
After breakfast I decided to try my Asian beverages.
I know that people were curious about the swallow's nest beverage so we'll do that one first.
It's a pale golden color, and is gelatinous (you can see the air bubbles and pieces of nest suspended inside.)
Incidentally, if you were looking to try this, you can buy it at CostCo!
I was a bit intimidated RE: that texture, but still had to give it a go...I mean this drink was $6, and the nests themselves are often hundreds of dollars, so this could be my one chance to try it, ever. I opened the bottle and took a nervous whiff...and was pleasantly surprised. It smelled sweet and floral, sort of like one of those elderflower sodas.
Encouraged, I took a sip. If you've ever had aloe juice (which is also pretty gelatinous) the texture is very similar. And the flavor was fine, just a mild sweet and earthy/floral thing going on. To sum it up, I was surprised to like this lol. I'm going to drink probably 1/4 of a bottle at a time for the rest of the weekend just because it IS high in sugar, and also when trying new things it's good to consider potential allergic reactions imo. But otherwise, this was surprisingly enjoyable!
The other drink was a mulberry, black rice, black sesame, goji, rye malt herbal tea.
This one was quite good. If you like genmaicha--green tea with toasted brown rice--you'd like this as well. It has that lovely toasted grain flavor, combined with juicy berry flavor from the mulberries and goji. I liked this one a lot and drank the whole bottle, and would buy it again.
That done, I had a nice lazy morning of meal planning, planning a mini-vacay with my siblings for February, and worrying about whether my luggage will be overweight at the end of the week. I'm sure it'll be fine...somehow or other it always seems to work out.
In the afternoon it was sunny, and tomorrow was not looking as nice, so I decided to bite the bullet and do a mini-load of laundry now (again, because I only have two black shirts and I really need a third which has been ordered from Amazon and is waiting for me at home.) A mile walk to the laundromat, and it didn't take long because I had a small load, so a nice two-mile excursion to get some vitamin D and fresh air.
The evening show went well, and afterward there was a birthday party for Andrew who is our clarinetist. Since our show ends close to 11pm I didn't go...I hate starting activities late at night because I naturally wake up early, plus I was just not feeling a big group gathering.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday was my "chill day." I was awake at 8 against my will, and had breakfast and did quiet things like write letters to grandparents, pay bills, chat with friends online, watch anime and LEGO Masters, and snack on things that I don't want weighing down my luggage.
I also decided to day-drink my unpasteurized sake. It was very good, sweet and fruity and flavorful.
I first learned about "nama," unpasteurized, sake in Minneapolis earlier this year. It's difficult to preserve compared to regular sake, and the technology that went into the can I had today is pretty fascinating! The can is designed to impede light and heat, and also is filled to the very top with no air bubbles to avoid oxidation. This sake is not only "nama," it's also "genshu", meaning undiluted. Typical bottled sake is diluted with water, and the alcohol content is around 15-16%. This is closer to 19%! Not that it mattered that much to me personally, but a great buzz is always appreciated :p
After drinking the sake I had a VERY lazy day, and enjoyed it very much. Sometimes it's good to just dive under the covers again and watch a movie, and appreciate having a quiet hotel room all to oneself :)
In the evening I went to Modern Love for a nice vegan dinner. It being a cold winter night, I got the acorn squash curry. Coconut curry, roasted acorn squash, adzuki beans, sautéed spinach, apricot chutney, jasmine brown rice, cayenne candied pecans, "pickled red onion", aleppo pepper, cilantro.
The curry was spicy and had a lot of wonderful complex flavors going on. The apricot chutney was sweet and warming, and the candied pecans also gave sweet heat. The rest of the ingredients were simply seasoned, which meant they provided wonderful textures and a perfect palette for all of those sweet and spicy flavors to mingle together across everybody on the plate. I think they either forgot or ran out of the pickled onion (it's supposed to be a garnish-topper-thing) and also I don't think the squash had been roasted, or it was roasted VERY lightly.
But the TL;DR is this was REALLY good. And really healthy. Lots of good fiber and nutrients and complete plant proteins.
I walked back to the hotel with about an hour to spare, giving me time to digest and all that before heading to the theatre.
Our show went well although it was one of those wonky days in the pit, where everyone makes at least one strange mistake that they wouldn't normally. Like, there was an early entrance over there, a cracked note over here, a dropped mute, etc. Little things that the audience probably doesn't notice, but that are supremely annoying for us! No matter, those days will happen, and tomorrow is a new day :)
Tomorrow my sub gets here and I'm SO NERVOUS ABOUT IT
--------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, normal morning and breakfast, then I wanted to go for a walk to work out some nerves.
I went to a Salvation Army and poked around, they didn't have a great selection so I started walking to a local ice cream shop but changed my mind partway as it was cold and what I really wanted was hot tea and a more substantial snack. Back to the hotel for said hot tea and rice cake with peanut butter :)
The afternoon show went just fine, I was still nervous nervous but my sub got on his flight just fine, got here safely, and got checked into the hotel without issue. Phew! 50% of my anxiety is evaporated. Then after dinner I met him in the lobby and we walked to the theatre together. I showed him as much as I could and introduced him to everyone that I could, trying not to overwhelm him, and showed him his spot next to me in the pit. He audited the show very attentively, taking notes in his music and asking a few questions here and there. I was nervous to have someone watching intently while I played, especially another trombonist, but if suffering through that means he'll do as well as or better than me then it's worth it.
----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday, I woke up early and checked in for my flight home. Once again my Known Traveler Number was not attached to my boarding passes, this time it was because someone had moved it to the Redress Number column. It certainly wasn't me, and American Airlines says it wasn't them, so I had to write an email to company management asking them to check my upcoming bookings for accuracy...and they said it wasn't them either. How does this keep happening? This tour has only been going on since November and twice now I've had this issue, I'd really like for it to stop :/
Anyway. After breakfast and partial packing I walked to a bagel place to fetch Travel Bagel, and to a convenience store for one lean protein to supplement my lunch of random leftovers. I wasn't feeling great because my period has started + the stress of being responsible for my sub, so took it easy for the rest of the morning until it was time to do a show.
I was extra nervous playing in front of Jonathan this time, probably because I wasn't feeling great. But it was fine, I just played more or less normally for me. Afterward I packed up as though I was loading out for my last show and took the trombone to the hotel. It felt weird!
For the evening show, Jonathan played and I just watched and took notes.
Which I thought would be relaxing for me, but instead it was nerve-racking because all I could do was empathize with how nervous HE was! Every mistake he made, or hesitant note, I felt in my very core. Because I have made ALL of those mistakes too. I wanted to tell him, it's ok, you're doing great! But I couldn't (not until afterward, anyway.)
He really did well, though I will toot my figurative horn and say not as well as me. But that's because he doesn't have ANY theatre experience; there are so many subtle stylistic things that he just doesn't have under his belt yet. And hopefully, subbing for me will give him some new perspectives and abilities that will help him in the future! That makes me feel good. I wish I'd had that kind of opportunity at his age (and it feels weird to say that and be on the other side of that line of age + experience now. Wild.)
Of course I had to take some photos, since I didn't have to play and my hands were free.
I sent them to Jonathan for his portfolio, or just to enjoy.
Afterward I helped him pack up, then got back to the hotel and typed this up and did my packing, too.
Tomorrow I catch a 4:30am airport shuttle. My flight leaves around 6:30 with a layover for lunch, then I get to Orlando around 2pm, probably not home until 3pm or 3:30. But it should be a quiet night. Jameson will have Jollywood, so I'll get groceries and unpack and do a little cleaning to prepare for having his dad as a houseguest the next day.
On the 6th Jameson's dad and I go to see him play at Jollywood.
On the 7th I start my nursing home data entry job back up again.
Thus the December layoff begins!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Other stuff:
Like most older theatres, this one has several unique and confuzzling features!
The stairs are original to the building (1920s) and are severely worn, so you have to watch your step backstage lest you take a tumble.
At the stage door entrance, near our call board, there is this absolutely massive, silver, WEIGHTED door. You can see the weights dangling there to the right. I shared this image to facebook and someone who Knows Things told me the following: “The silver door is an old school fire door. the ‘rope’ holding the counter weight is made out of lead IIRC and would melt in a fire thus allowing the door to roll closed.” How cool is that! (the rope seems not to have been made of lead, but cotton or fiberglass. Still super cool.)
En route to the Green Room is this weird little antechamber with nothing but a couch and this ladder leading up to a door in the sky labeled "open pit."
Obviously I HAD to investigate!
The door was open! And it led to nothing more than a storage space holding sound and light equipment.
Our cellist, Elen, got each of us a personality-matched rubber duck!
The drummer got a drumming duck; our bassist got an aviator duck because he's in aviation school currently. Our French hornist got a weightlifting duck because she bodybuilds. I didn't get to see everyone's, but my duck is a little chef, because I'm a foodie!
How thoughtful and cute!
-------------------------------------------------------------------