Hello again. Since I’m typing this it must be another Sunday. The sky is overcast and there are severe storms close by but the rain isn’t supposed to start here for another four hours or so as of the time im typing this, which probably explains why my back and neck are hurting so much. So let’s use the time I still have left in the day in which I’m capable of remaining mostly upright and get caught up on the week that was.
Work was a mostly typical work week. It was the last week of our summer hours, which means that starting tomorrow we’ll be back to working Monday-Friday instead of Monday-Thursday and if I’m being perfectly honest this summer is the first summer since I started at my workplace five years ago that I’ve wanted summer hours to stay longer. They say all good things must come to an end, but why can’t they stay longer than they do?
I’d say that’s a question for the philosophers, but I don’t really want an answer – I just want others to agree with me.
I determined to make the most of my week and stared off on Monday making leftovers for supper since rehearsal for Laramie Project was canceled. You might not think that’s appealing until you realize that this was my leftovers:
Steak and potatoes and a sautéed mushroom-heavy vegetable mix and homemade steak sauce? Hell yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.
The steak was just right, too, since when I cooked it the first time I knew it would be leftover and so undercooked it then so when reheated in the pan with the veggies it ended a nice medium-well doneness (sorry, but this is one area where Hank Hill is wrong about steak).
I made my own steak sauce because I couldn’t find the bottle I would’ve sworn I had in the fridge, and indeed I found it later and you know what? I liked mine better. It was a simple mix of Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, ketchup, and a bit of salt. Next time I might add a pinch of instant espresso and see what that does.
And speaking of Hank Hill, I’ve started watching the King of the Hill reboot. I understand some of the voice actors have passed away, but Dale’s voice actor is so close but not quite there that it’s maybe more jarring than if it sounded nothing like him at all. I’m only two episodes in, but I’m loving it.
Anyway, work went well. There were multiple times this week where guests to our department tried getting my attention by calling “ma’am” – which I’ve never had happen in person before and so I’m ashamed to say I ignored them at first but then realized they were talking to me and both apologized and felt really good about myself. I know most folks will never default to they/them pronouns for me, but this week one other guest did just that: after I began helping them and needing to step away to work on their file, a coworker asked if they were being helped, and I heard “Yes, they’re helping us and said they’d be just a few minutes. Do you mind if we stand at the counter while we wait for them?”
With a new colleague noticing my pronouns in my email to guests referring to me by both genders to others noticing and using my pronoun pin on my lanyard, it was a gender-affirming week. It almost made me forget that our current federal administration wants me removed from society for existing.
Hm. I guess it’s time I call and leave my daily messages for my congressmen. I don’t think I’ve missed a day since the election. One would think they’d get tired of making excuses for supporting Trump-branded authoritarianism, but 2/3 of them are fully within the MAGA cult. The other, a Senator, still votes 99% with the GOP agenda but is not running for reelection after disagreeing with Trump on one of the versions of the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” by which Trump intends to exert his will on the American people. Anyway, I’ll be right back.
See, I’m back and for you it’s like I was never gone. How amazing is that?
Anyway, back to happier things.
Rehearsal for Laramie Project is going well: we’re off-book for Act One and have Act One and Act Two blocked and the set is mostly designed and we’re doing really well – our ticket sales are also doing fairly well from what I’ve been told, which is kind of surprising given the culture of our town and the topic of the play. I’d actually expected more protests, if not actual threats (which has happened to other queer-friendly productions before). Not that I want those things, I just find it curious it hasn’t happened.
I received a new scent from Mad Labs Studios: the “Mira” fragrance based on the hit Netflix movie KPop Demon Hunters.
I was pleased to hear one of their songs has been entered into consideration for an Oscar; I was less pleased to hear it was “Golden” and not the far superior “What It Sounds Like” – though I’d far rather have “Golden” than, say “Takedown” or – may it never happen – “Soda Pop”.
It’s true that I complain quite a bit, but when I have to complain about something that is no one’s fault it makes me feel some kind of way.
This week I discovered that one of my new pots was actually deformed in the making, such that the lid could not sit properly on the lip – I’m talking about a good quarter-inch offset. I was so tempted to just eat the $30 but then what would I do with a pot that could never be covered? So I rewrapped the lid in the paper and found my receipt and went to the store.
The cashier agreed that the imperfection “just wouldn’t work” and then thanked me for having everything ready for them to make the return quick and easy.
Now it’s been almost 20 years since I worked retail, and I never had to work a register, and I’ve seen the horror stories online – but customers must really give those service workers a hard time if my simply following the policy printed on the receipt results in a profuse “thank you”
So right now I’m out an 8-quart stock pot, but I’ll find a way to make do.
Saturday after rehearsal Krystal and I had a bit of a date day. We went to a local comic convention and, after eight years of going to this particular event, actually participated in the group photo in the afternoon. They haven’t posted the picture yet, so enjoy these selfies:
Krystal had planned to enter the cosplay competition but things just didn’t work out, but definitely next year for sure. Based on what we saw of the competition this year, she would likely have placed quite well, partially for prop crafting. Not that winning is everything, but validation is also nice, you know?
Speaking of which, several hundred miles away our friend The Calico Queen was participating in FanExpo Boston and earned/was awarded Best in Show Runner Up in the Masters of Cosplay: Bay State Qualifier. Check out their Instagram and send your appreciation!
Some of the vendors we’ve come to love weren’t at this event for various reasons: some moved prohibitively far away and others committed to other events, but that just meant we got to make new friends, like those at One Stop Dragon Shop and Sea Bear Art and Trinkets & Toadstools.
At Sea Bear Art I found a jack-o-melon inspired by Gravity Falls, and at One Stop Dragon Shop I found the perfect representation of a young version of my current D&D character, Leaf of Autumn. At Trinkets & Toadstools, I found a bookmark with a quote from Good Omens by Terry Pratchett (and Neil Gaiman, but he no longer matters in my life because of his choice to be an abuser).
You might’ve noticed that I haven’t had any TTRPG updates in a while; it’s been a busy time of year for most everyone and so we took a hiatus until after August 20th. Now I may still need to miss some games what with rehearsals and productions for The Laramie Project, but I’ll make things work as best I can.
After the convention, we stopped at Mellow Mushroom for supper. I was disappointed they were out of their “lavender groove” mix for a seasonal mocktail, but that in no way took away from our enjoyment of the pretzel bites with spicy beer cheese and the Merry Prankster pizza, which (according to the restaurant) “starts with an herb aioli base layered with chicken, Italian sausage, garlic roasted red peppers, green bell peppers, mozzarella, Wisconsin aged white cheddar, and finished with an herb aioli drizzle”
When we got home I ate a pint of Caramel Cone ice cream from Aldi while watching the Alien prequel Prometheus and then falling asleep to Pacific Rim: Uprising. Not that the movie was so bad it put me to sleep, but that I was tired and that’s what happened to be on when I entered SlumberLand.
This morning I’ve done a bit of cleaning and had some Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. There’s leftover pizza in the fridge for either lunch or supper, not sure which it will be for or what we’l do for the other, but it’ll all work out.
But what about you?
How have you been?
What have you been up to?
Running In My Head 