"All the Stars in the World Couldn't Help Me Steer My Way Out of This Kiddie Pool"
And just like that, I’m 39:
That’s a crappy snapshot of the “home” cake taken at probably 4:00 this morning. I also made a pineapple upside-down cake for the office. It still feels weird being paid to make my own birthday cake, but hey, I can always use a little more cash.
Life of late has mostly been work and weather. We had that crazy-big snowstorm last week, which shut down most of the city for a day (all three of us had a snow day on Wednesday, which was nice because I had to shovel for three and a half hours), and Anya’s school was closed on Thursday, too. By the time the snow had finally stopped falling and I’d cleared the driveway, there were three piles taller than me. In Arlington we got at least 18 inches. Wouldn’t be so bad if we hadn’t gotten more since then, including four inches the day before yesterday just before the temperature rose, which meant I got to spend about an hour and a half shoveling slush in the rain. And yesterday I was 45 minutes late for work because I had to break a solid inch of ice off of every surface. Right now there’s a new layer of ice (it snowed again in the night, after a melting day) and I’m out of road salt, so with the sun currently beating down and making its slick, I’m just waiting for our mailman to slip and kill himself.
I’m hearing five more inches of snow tomorrow. I’m really starting to worry that my plan to drive to DC in two weeks will unravel because of the continuing bastard weather.
But there have been good things, too. Friday’s Brownie meeting went surprisingly well, considering how ill-prepared I was for it. The girls enjoyed making masks out of paper plates and had fun playing charades, and now they’ve qualified for the “Let’s Pretend” badge. The brownies and blondies I baked went over well, and I was thrilled that my first attempt at gluten-free vegan brownies worked as well as it did; I have plans to refine the recipe, and if I have time, I might be able to get Vess ‘n’ Val to bring some to New York next week in case Petaluma shows up to their Vivaldi gig.
This past weekend also marked a return to live music. On Friday night I sat in the audience for a taping of The Steve Katsos Show, on which Sarah Rabdau and Self-Employed Assassins were appearing. The studio’s practically around the corner from my house, so even with the ugly weather, it wasn’t too hard to get to. The band played two songs and did a brief interview, and after the taping I handed Sarah some of the leftover brownies and blondies-the same kind I baked for her wedding, actually.
On Saturday I saw them play again at Rosebud, but that place is still hovering near the top of my most-hated venues list; the sound quality in the room is awful (brick walls, low ceiling, terrible layout), the sound staff are usually terrible (though the guy at this show was doing pretty well with what he had), and the room is just poorly-lit, gloomy, and depressing. But lots of people I knew showed up, most of whom I hadn’t seen in at least a month or so, so that was nice. And Sarah’s husband Peter is playing keyboards, now, too, so it was interesting to see Sarah sing without playing on some songs, something I don’t think I’ve witnessed since the very first (a capella) song in her set the first time I saw her perform six years ago. (Meanwhile, the other bands on the bill did nothing for me.)
And then on Sunday night I was slated to pick up Vess ‘n’ Val after their gig at the Arisia sci-fi convention (with the weather and the crowds, they assumed parking would be dire), so I wound up deciding to buy a day pass for $30 to check out the convention after dropping off Katie and Anya at rehearsal. I wandered around the dealer floor, mostly, looking for interesting stuff to buy, and also took a stroll through the art gallery. The most interesting art was made entirely out of dryer lint. I left the show at 6:00, picked up a pizza at Bertucci’s, got Katie and Anya at 6:40, and then zipped us home for dinner. Then I headed back downtown to Arisia to catch Goli’s set and man the merch table. Maybe it was karmic realignment after the Rosebud show, but the sound in that hotel conference room was ridiculously good and had no right to be. Goli played a really lovely set, and apparently the sound guys recorded it, so with luck I’ll get a copy of that sometime. Post-shmoozing, the girls managed to stuff themselves, the Marimba Lumina, and the cello into my car, and I got everyone home safely.
That’s pretty much that. This weekend: trampolines after ballet on Saturday, maybe Kristen Ford Saturday night, and definitely the Monsters of Music By Women I Know tour on Sunday night: Goli, Box Five, and Molly Zenobia at Passim. I’ve already ordered tickets, so Matthew and I will be at a table up front.
That’s a crappy snapshot of the “home” cake taken at probably 4:00 this morning. I also made a pineapple upside-down cake for the office. It still feels weird being paid to make my own birthday cake, but hey, I can always use a little more cash.
Life of late has mostly been work and weather. We had that crazy-big snowstorm last week, which shut down most of the city for a day (all three of us had a snow day on Wednesday, which was nice because I had to shovel for three and a half hours), and Anya’s school was closed on Thursday, too. By the time the snow had finally stopped falling and I’d cleared the driveway, there were three piles taller than me. In Arlington we got at least 18 inches. Wouldn’t be so bad if we hadn’t gotten more since then, including four inches the day before yesterday just before the temperature rose, which meant I got to spend about an hour and a half shoveling slush in the rain. And yesterday I was 45 minutes late for work because I had to break a solid inch of ice off of every surface. Right now there’s a new layer of ice (it snowed again in the night, after a melting day) and I’m out of road salt, so with the sun currently beating down and making its slick, I’m just waiting for our mailman to slip and kill himself.
I’m hearing five more inches of snow tomorrow. I’m really starting to worry that my plan to drive to DC in two weeks will unravel because of the continuing bastard weather.
But there have been good things, too. Friday’s Brownie meeting went surprisingly well, considering how ill-prepared I was for it. The girls enjoyed making masks out of paper plates and had fun playing charades, and now they’ve qualified for the “Let’s Pretend” badge. The brownies and blondies I baked went over well, and I was thrilled that my first attempt at gluten-free vegan brownies worked as well as it did; I have plans to refine the recipe, and if I have time, I might be able to get Vess ‘n’ Val to bring some to New York next week in case Petaluma shows up to their Vivaldi gig.
This past weekend also marked a return to live music. On Friday night I sat in the audience for a taping of The Steve Katsos Show, on which Sarah Rabdau and Self-Employed Assassins were appearing. The studio’s practically around the corner from my house, so even with the ugly weather, it wasn’t too hard to get to. The band played two songs and did a brief interview, and after the taping I handed Sarah some of the leftover brownies and blondies-the same kind I baked for her wedding, actually.
On Saturday I saw them play again at Rosebud, but that place is still hovering near the top of my most-hated venues list; the sound quality in the room is awful (brick walls, low ceiling, terrible layout), the sound staff are usually terrible (though the guy at this show was doing pretty well with what he had), and the room is just poorly-lit, gloomy, and depressing. But lots of people I knew showed up, most of whom I hadn’t seen in at least a month or so, so that was nice. And Sarah’s husband Peter is playing keyboards, now, too, so it was interesting to see Sarah sing without playing on some songs, something I don’t think I’ve witnessed since the very first (a capella) song in her set the first time I saw her perform six years ago. (Meanwhile, the other bands on the bill did nothing for me.)
And then on Sunday night I was slated to pick up Vess ‘n’ Val after their gig at the Arisia sci-fi convention (with the weather and the crowds, they assumed parking would be dire), so I wound up deciding to buy a day pass for $30 to check out the convention after dropping off Katie and Anya at rehearsal. I wandered around the dealer floor, mostly, looking for interesting stuff to buy, and also took a stroll through the art gallery. The most interesting art was made entirely out of dryer lint. I left the show at 6:00, picked up a pizza at Bertucci’s, got Katie and Anya at 6:40, and then zipped us home for dinner. Then I headed back downtown to Arisia to catch Goli’s set and man the merch table. Maybe it was karmic realignment after the Rosebud show, but the sound in that hotel conference room was ridiculously good and had no right to be. Goli played a really lovely set, and apparently the sound guys recorded it, so with luck I’ll get a copy of that sometime. Post-shmoozing, the girls managed to stuff themselves, the Marimba Lumina, and the cello into my car, and I got everyone home safely.
That’s pretty much that. This weekend: trampolines after ballet on Saturday, maybe Kristen Ford Saturday night, and definitely the Monsters of Music By Women I Know tour on Sunday night: Goli, Box Five, and Molly Zenobia at Passim. I’ve already ordered tickets, so Matthew and I will be at a table up front.