Tism the Season

So here we are on day two of a three-day weekend and we’ve got a lot to talk about so pull up a chair and I’ll pour some cool, refreshing drinks and then we’ll sit and chat about the week that was.

First of all, can you believe it’s September already? I can’t – particularly since even though the calendar says “ber” the thermometer still says “hoa hoa hundred degrees”.

I wish I could take credit for that joke, but I saw it on a Twilight meme page.

That said, I finished watching Gravity Falls on August 31 so that September 1 could start my cozy fall watches: even more Scooby Doo, Over the Garden Wall, and lots of Studio Ghibli. So far I’ve watched My Neighbor Totoro about three or four times in various language/subtitle settings – even the ones I can’t speak or read. Having Japanese as the spoken language with French subtitles is certainly new way of watching it for me as an English speaker with a fair-to-passable understanding of German.

Also with school now firmly back in session, I was reminded that I need to be a bit more exact about the time I leave e my house; leaving even just three minutes late can mean I’m rolling just “on time” but of course, leaving my house on time also means arriving at work almost 20 minutes early – and that’s fine by me since I’d rather sit in the parking lot than in traffic and feel frustrated.

Now there was a false start on September 1 when one of our local tattoo shops promised to drop its flash for the third annual Tats for Tails event and then had to walk it back; apparently, they meant to type 9/5 and typed 9/1 instead. This is the same place I’ve gotten three of my six tattoos, and I’m looking forward to adding at least one more next weekend.

I also hope this isn’t another false start, but since the person in charge has commented on my Facebook page and others involved have told me they also heard I’m doing a particular thing, I don’t think it’s a secret.

What am I doing?

I’ve been selected as a writer for the 24 Hour Theatre Project in October!

What is the 24 Hour Theatre Project? I’m glad you asked. Here’s how it works:

• At 7:30 PM on Friday, October 16, five writers will gather and, by random draw, each will receive a genre and a quote for inspiration. They’ll then have just 12 hours to write an original 10-minute play.
• At 7:30 AM on Saturday, October 17, the writers and directors reconvene at New Bern Civic Theatre. Scripts are randomly assigned to directors, auditions begin at 8:00 AM, and the shows are cast on the spot.
• From there, it’s a race against the clock! Casts and directors rehearse all day, and by 7:30 PM, the finished productions are performed live for an audience.

You can already get your tickets now (if you’re in my area or planning to be in the vicinity).

I think that bring us up through Tuesday?

Wednesday I had a telehealth appointment and I thought I was technologically ready for it, but it turns out I wasn’t as thorough as I’d thought. I had planned to use my chromebook, but brought my phone tripod and headphones just in case. When I went to join the online waiting room, I couldn’t verify I was a person using the front camera since it just showed a black screen. No big deal; I went to get my tripod . . . and couldn’t find it, despite testing it the day before. Okay . . . looks like I’m doing this meeting holding my phone? Not ideal but it’ll work – – and it did.

Of course, once the meeting was over I realized that my Chromebook has a teeny tiny privacy slider that was blocking out my front camera and sliding it to the right put things to right. As I sighed and went to put up my laptop, I found my tripod (and yes, I’d checked there).

I guess it doesn’t so much matter what the setup was so long as I got my results. After spending four months on the wait list to my initial consultation, then two months of various online and in-person testing (which required driving 1.5 hours each way) I wasn’t going to reschedule. And so the results are finally in:

’tis the ’tism, m’lord

In hindsight, there may have been signs . . . okay, several signs . . . fine . . . LOTS of signs . . . look, nobody was keeping count!

okay, maybe I was

I get the official written results sometime in the next week or two that will shed more light on things, but the long and short of it is, under autism as it is currently understood, I fall under Level 1, which means that while I have many autistic traits, I can be largely self sufficient and while I can and do benefit from certain supports, I don’t need the same type of supports as those who fall under Level 2 or Level 3.

And honestly, it’s a relief to finally have this be official. For years now it’s been “oh we know there’s something there but a doctor hasn’t put it on paper” so while the results aren’t necessarily a surprise, it’s definitely a weight off my shoulders. Or maybe that weight has shifted? Let me explain:

I’ve been told (either directly or indirectly) that because I’m smart (for a given definition of smart) that I shouldn’t struggle. If I struggled, I was expected to figure it out. If I couldn’t figure it out, then I simply wasn’t trying hard enough. If I wasn’t trying hard enough, then I was being lazy, and that was a moral failure.

And so I learned to compensate by building scripts and learning systems and trying to perform as a competent person – and from the outside, it may have looked like I succeeded.

The problem is that functioning and functioning in a sustainable manner are not the same thing, and the last several years have become internally exhausting.

So my hope is that knowing, being half the battle, after all, will help me map out new, better, and more sustainable ways of continuing to embrace the unique forest cryptid that I am.

All that said, work this week was filled with projects both expected and unexpected, but they made the workweek fly by and I feel confident that when work resumes on Tuesday it’ll be as if the long weekend hadn’t even happened.

Friday after work I did most of my grocery shopping.

Friday night Krystal and I went to a local production of Murder by Poe which featured several of our friends in the cast and crew. It was so very well done that I could hardly believe it when intermission came, let alone the final scene.

I also made casual acquaintance with the people sitting behind me, who loved Krystal’s themed outfit and then asked me about My Chemical Romance. I was wearing the shirt I got at the concert and they recognized the name but not the music and asked why they should listen to them.

The best answer I could give was “because they speak to your soul and what it means to exist in the world” and they loved that answer before following up with “but what if we listen and don’t like it” and I said “that’s okay too because why does anyone like any particular piece of art? If you don’t like it that doesn’t mean it’s bad, it just means you don’t like it. And I probably like them enough for several people” – and that answer delighted them as well.

We talked more about music and when I mentioned I liked southern gothic they recommended the band Drive By Truckers. In turn, I recommended Paris Paloma (based on their like of Phoebe Bridgers).

On Saturday we went out of town to visit a used bookstore and the nearest good mall to us. At the bookstore I got two (Dixie) Chicks CDs that I’ve been trying to pick up for a few months, but even when I’ve seen them at the goodwill, they’ve been too scratched up to play. All told on our excursion I got a MCR vinyl (I Brought You My Bullets, Your Brought Me Your Love) new at Hot Topic and a little spider charm from a blind box, a used DVD of The Fifth Element, an orange cap with a Pottsfield pumpkin head on the front and the phrase “Folks don’t tend to pass through Pottsfield” on the back, and a pair of Kiki’s Delivery Service stickers.

Saturday night we went out to a local place where one of our friends was providing the live music via singing and acoustic guitar. They serve good drinks and gourmet toast, and as one of the sponsors for Murder By Poe they had specialty drinks and toasts. I’m glad I took pictures of the menu since there’s now way I would have remembered them today.

The Masque of the Red Death – Dark, dramatic, and hiding a delicious secret beneath the surface. A dramatic gin cocktail with blood orange, elderflower, hibiscus, and a mysterious dark layer hiding a popping surprise beneath its crimson surface. Sip through the oversized straw to uncover its dark beauty.

The Purloined Letter – You hold the final clue…inject whenever ready. Our signature espresso martini with a hidden twist. Finish the mystery by squeezing the accompanying-filled pipette into your cocktail whenever you choose.

The Raven – Savory, creamy, sweet, and just a little mysterious. Tangy sourdough schmeared with creamy goat cheese layered with prosciutto, blackberries and fig glaze, topped with fresh basil and flaky salt.

Bourbon Berry Bird Bomb – Succulent turkey and crisp bacon collide with tangy feta over a tasty house-made cranberry-bourbon jam. Topped with balsamic glaze, scallions, and parsley. A flavor explosion!

Rue Morgue – A haunting twist on an Old Fashioned you’ll never forget. A bold bourbon cocktail kissed with blood orange and layered bitters, served over a single large ice cube. Smooth, rich, and mysteriously timeless.

Havana Kubano – Ham slices, crunchy dill pickles, shredded pork and swiss cheese, warmed up and finished with yellow mustard. A Cuban delight!

Brie and Spice Delight – Avocado topped with fresh arugula, thick slices of brie, walnuts, and cranberries. Finished with a drizzle of honey sriracha for a touch of heat and a hint of sweetness.

There was also a brief time when we were blocked in by a passing train, so we used the opportunity to have some bread pudding.

We didn’t take a picture of that.

Our friend even played a song he thought’d I’d like: “Give Me Novacaine” by Green Day – needless to say, he was correct, and I applauded loudly.

We made it home and then I remembered to look to see if the flash for the tattoo event was posted – and it was! There’s currently 33 designs with a hint that more might be coming, but number 13 really speaks to me for representing my beloved D&D PC Garrett and one of my favorite indie artists, Rabbitology.

My friends Amanda and Kai, with whom I’ve gone for flash before and who went with me to get my MCR and Medieval Cat tattoo back in December, are also planning on going and we’re starting to coordinate our day . . .

This morning I went back out for some groceries that I’d forgotten, as well as Gatorade that was on a buy-two-get–three-free sale.

When I got home I made breakfast for me then started a batch of baked beans in the crock pot, two pitchers of sweet tea, and brunch for Krystal (which was also lunch for me). I made a breakfast bake with bratwurst removed from the casing, sausage gravy, eggs, cheese, and cornbread mix.

Since then I’ve been working in the kitchen putting away all the groceries I bought and working on cleaning up the hummingbird bud vase I bought a few weeks ago, using a baking soda and lemon juice concoction shared with me by a friend who’s no stranger to thrift stores and estate sales. It’s been slow work due to the thick layer of green buildup, but the beauty is starting to shine through.

I takes between 20 and 30 minutes per round of cleaning, and it’s 1:30 as I type this. I think I’ll hold off on posting this until 5:00 or so, or until the thing is clean – whichever comes first – and either show you the finished product or a “here’s where it is now” update.

Oh! And while we’re waiting, I just remembered that on Sunday I tried to make Sloppy Joe. I say tried to make because for whatever reason I made a tremendous amount of sauce – much more than I needed. How much more? Well let’s just say that the original batch of Sloppy Joe could best be described as wet and smooth. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I usually make.

So I decided to try to use the rest of it up the following day by making another batch of sloppy Joe. I went and bought another pound of hamburger, started it, and then when I got to the mixture, I poured my sauce over it and I still had half as much sauce again left over!

So what have I done with that sauce?

Well, that’s now the base of the aforementioned debate beans. I have no idea what I was thinking or what recipe I was following when I made that sauce last week.

THREE AND A HALF HOURS LATER

Ok so here’s where we are.

I ended up bringing in the ketchup baths to get in the more stubborn bits, and what’s left I’m calling character.

And now we’ve got a friend over for movies and supper – I’m making salmon, yummm.

What about you?

What have you been up to?