A Numbers Game

It’s Sunday afternoon evening and it’s entirely too hot for September after Labor Day so come on in before you get too hot and have a seat. I’ll get us some drinks and we’ll have a marvelous chat about the week that was.

I realized after posting last week that I forgot to show you my selfie from last Saturday while I was out on a grocery run. I had planned to then not go anywhere for two days, what with the long weekend, but I ended up having to make a few more short errands. All in all, though, it proved a perfectly reasonable arrangement.

In addition, it seems there was an unsettling development at Cook Out so devastating I forgot to complain about it last week: the takeout trays have changed from white to black, and I’m not sure how I feel about this, not because of the color itself, but because eating in the dark by the glow of the television is now going to be considerably more difficult.

It’s as if Cook Out doesn’t even care about the systems I have in place.

Now, I may have mentioned last week that I was planning to make salmon and Brussels sprouts for supper. Is it happened, a friend came over for supper, and so after a quick run to the grocery store for an extra piece of meat, I got to do something I really, really enjoy doing: cook for other people.

I’m told it was a resounding success, which I’m inclined to believe based on the empty plates I cleared away.

Monday was a true do-nothing day, and it was glorious.

Tuesday was Ampersand Day, and I found it to be bittersweet this year.

I am still here (always a good thing, I think), but it was also the day I discovered that a friend’s social media account had disappeared.

Now, full disclosure: they passed away about four years ago, but I’ve periodically sent messages to their account because in the grand scheme of things, it helps. But on Tuesday I got an “account not found” message and they were no longer in my following or followers lists – and somehow, it felt like losing them all over again.

I’ll admit it feels strange to share that – almost like maybe I shouldn’t say anything about it at all and just get on with things – but I suppose I just want my friend to know I still care or remind myself that I do or something along those lines.

All I wanted to do was send them a link to a song we both liked, one the band had finally played live for the first time.

Perhaps it was appropriate at I woke up with a Gerard Way.My Chemical Romance quote in my head:

Never let them take the light behind your eyes.

On the more positive side of things, Tuesday was also the day I took my now mostly-tarnish-free vase into work, where it got several compliments and at least one “threat” at theft.

On Wednesday morning I woke up much earlier than usual, and realizing we were almost out of sweet tea, decided to make more. It was then I noticed some crud in the bottom of the pot, and attempted to wipe it out.

Chunks of enamel came away with it.

After roughly seventeen years together, my beloved pot apparently decided to part ways without even consulting me to see how I might feel. To make matters worse, when I tried making tea in another pot, it turned out tasting faintly of fish, despite having been nowhere near the fish and all the dishes being cleaned (some of the multiple times) since Sunday.

I ran the other pot through the dishwasher, remade the tea, and this time it turned out as expected.

On Friday morning I went outside and found a very small feather on the roof of my car. I thought it was beautiful and meaningful in some way, and so I took a picture of it:

I’ll admit I have no idea what the meaning was supposed to be, but I’m choosing to believe it was something nice.

Friday night I watched Constantine several times in succession, because sometimes one needs a little supernatural enhancement of Keanu Reaves, Tilda Swinton, and Peter Stormare.

Saturday morning Krystal and I went thrift shopping, where I found some music from Alison Krauss and Union Station as well as Emmylou Harris and Krystal found a cast iron ladle made at Tryon Palace sometime in the mid-to-late 1990s. Krystal recognized the work immediately when she picked it up without even looking at the label, which to paraphrase Pippin Took, is the sort of knowledge one wants on this type of mission . . . quest . . . thing.

We had Panera for lunch, and later for supper I made a white-base pizza with green peppers, onions, and pineapple.

Then Sunday arrived, bringing with it the flash tattoo event I talked about last week. Just as a reminder, this is what I wanted:

I got there way, way, way too early.

So early that no one else was there yet, so I chose to sit in the car because I was not about to stand outside a strip mall alone at 6:30 in the morning when even the parking lot seemed surprised to see anyone out and about.

I scrolled my phone and saw that at last night’s MCR concert, Gerard Way had teased a new album to be released at some unidentified point in the future.

I’m Not Okay (I Promise) !!

Soon enough other cars arrived and the line started forming around 7:00, with me and my friends being 3rd, 4th, and 5th in line, respectively.

At 10:00 sharp, IDs began beeing taken and forms were being completed.

I was super stoked for stabby fun times, even more so when the stencil was applied.

I suppose I should point out this is my left arm; Krystal helped me figure out the placement and she was 100% correct.

And then it was time!

This makes my 7th tattoo: my fourth from this annual event and my first time being tattooed by the artist who goes by the excellent social media handle of commitment_stickers.

I have hims.

Now I must name hims.

Afterward, we saw owls from the wildlife sanctuary the event was benefitting, I bought a shirt for Krystal, and then acquired pudding and a drink from two separate food trucks. The pudding was “Speculoos Delight” and the drink was “Lavender Coffin” – which was green thanks to the matcha while tasting much like lavender – – in other words: my kind of drink.

I came home (picking up lunch for Krystal on the way) where I drank two glasses of water, then went to a friend’s house and spent some time talking tattoos and life. I got to say hello to their cat Morris, who both said hello and then kindly gave me space to keep cat hair away from a fresh tattoo, and then my friend gave me two cupcakes themed for Dolly Parton and Tim Curry.

I walked back home, drank more water, and took a nap while Scooby Doo and the Goblin King played in the background. It was the closest Tim Curry movie at hand, and I make no apologies for that fact.

So now here I am typing this post, telling you about my week and wondering if I’ll have leftover pizza or the last of the hot dogs for supper – all while Scooby Doo and the Goblin King plays (again!) in the background (followed by Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf).

Oh, I forgot to show you a photo of the hot dogs from the other day:

Ok. I think that catches us all up.

So:

What about you?

What have you been up to?