Done last week (20150816Su - 0824Mo)

[mdlbear]

I didn't post Sunday because I was still at Worldcon. And yesterday I was just too wiped out. But here I am, days late (and thousands of dollars short, but that's another complaint).

Sasquan made a pretty good filk con. That's literally all the programming I got to. The concerts, mostly; not even much open filking. I had a half-hour concert slot; it went well. Riverheart, For Amy, The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of, Where the Heart Is, Windward, Toolmakers, Keep the Dream Alive. Most of my most intensely emotional repertoire; my voice broke a little on everything but Riverheart and Toolmakers, but not so much that I couldn't keep singing.

If you have a recording of it, I need a copy. Thanks. I'll mail you a thumb drive, or you can share it on Google or Dropbox. No processing necessary -- I can handle raw .WAV or (better) .FLAC files.

Until this year I rarely did much more than choke up a little. The last time I remember really having trouble making it through a song without crying was 1986. (See last song in the set.) I seem to be more open to my emotions -- my grief, anyway -- and that's a good thing. It's worlds better than being numb.

The smoke -- much of central Washington is on fire -- was particularly bad Friday night. Saturday was almost clear, but it came back Sunday.

I spent a lot of my time, including most of my time sitting in concerts, writing. Mostly, the Rainbow Bridge page, and Curio's page under it; the latter is still in progress, so I won't link to it yet. It's hard.

Links and more details in the notes, including a couple of Wikipedia dives and the preliminary setlists.

0816Su
  * up 6ish; W=196.4; laundry
  & Wikipedia dive including unicorns, the FSM, aurochs, omnipotence, and Borghes.
    Browser history claims it started at Omnipotence paradox;
    it's not clear why I looked that up, but it may have been a reference in LJ.
    @ Yes:  Irregular Webcomic! #3413
  * grits and bacon for breakfast.  (plus two halves of a brat from last night)
  * Updated and printed Colleen's cards.  Need blanks for the others.
  * Barbecue for dinner.
  * feedback for Anthony


0817Mo
  * up 5:30; ; 
  @ ‘NeuroTribes,’ by Steve Silberman - The New York Times history of autism
  @ Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis and Gay Marriage - The Atlantic 
  : Never rains but it pours - g has flu, and Emmy's cough has gotten bad enough to
    require urgent care.  Gaak!
    -> ended up at Franciscan, because the clinic we wanted to go to didn't open for
       urgent care until 4pm.  Longish wait; should have brought both computers.
  * Office Max - business card stock
  * 1:30 Dr. Chopra
  * 2:00 Anita Brown - good conversation.  Turns out she's been to a worldcon, though that
    was decades ago.
  * change start date of Sasquan hotel 1-888-918-0282 -> email -> done
  * visiting cards
  * Order UB checks -- for some reason that doesn't seem to have been done on time.
  * Finished Things a Computer Scientists Rarely Talks About.  Still trying
    to find my copy of 3:16

0818Tu
  * up 5:30; W=196.4;
  * 5184.90 to Green Planet Plumbing
  : The shower in our room is leaking, apparently through the grout, and the wood
    underneath is rotting.  Ugh.
  @ How a Kitten Eased My Partner’s Depression - NYTimes.com f(Mary Anne Mohanraj)
    f(Cats are wonderful therapy creatures.... - Stephen Savitzky)
  % 9:30 sleepy.  In a handbasket.
  : My netbook seems to have vanished.  Grump.  Misplaced it somewhere, but WHERE?
    -> don't ask me what it was doing on top of Colleen's clean pants.  I have no idea.

0819We
  * up 06:15; ; laundry
  x if netbook hasn't showed up, call UW Shoreline to see if I left it there.
  @ Does West Seattle need a ‘Village’? If you think so – here’s how to help plan it! 
  * 10am meeting
  * PACK

0819We - 23Su - Sasquan hotel reservation - Best Western
  " This is a friendly reminder that you have confirmed hotel accommodations for the
    convention taking place August 19-23 (individual reservation dates will vary).  Should
    you need to change or cancel a room reservation, or need a reminder on your
    check-in/check-out dates, please contact us as soon as possible. We can be reached at
    reservations@visitspokane.com or by phone at 1-888-918-0282/1-509-321-9460. "
  " From: The west. From I90 West, take the Newport/Division Street Exit, Number
    281. Follow Division Street north about seven blocks until Spokane Falls
    Boulevard. Make a left onto Spokane Falls Boulevard. The BEST WESTERN PLUS City Center
    will be on the left. "
  x 1-hour setlist: (From 0524 LgF band meeting)
    This is mostly from the upcoming album Amethyst Rose.
	Riverheart
	Toolmakers
	Bigger on the Inside
	Eyes Like the Morning
	Stolen Child
	For Amy
	Stuff That Dreams are Made Of
	Where the Heart Is
	Windward
	?Paper Wings
	?Ship of Stone
	?Millennium's Dawn
	Keep the Dream Alive
	Quiet Victories
	The River
  ~ half-hour setlist:
     	Riverheart
	Toolmakers
	For Amy
	Stuff That Dreams are Made Of
	Where the Heart Is
	Windward
	?Keep the Dream Alive
	?Bigger on the Inside
	?The River

0820Th
  * up 4:30; W=205.4;
  @ Americana Gets Huckleberry Soda Right | Serious Eats
    (The Wordsmith's Forge - Huckleberry Soda)
  * last-minute packing.  Drugs, hairbrush, neti pot, CPAP
  * pack guitar stands and music stands.
  % may have overused my back a little.  It could be a difficult weekend.
  * wake Colleen 8ish
  * gas on the way back from taking j to the bus stop.
  * 10am plan on leaving -> 10:15
  * arrived about 3:30; checked in.
  * Dinner at Chili's -- they use way too much salt.  Overdid it somewhat.
  * Con suite.  Evidently there was a lot of good food earlier.  Was almost all gone by
    the time I got there.
  * Some good conversations in the Doubletree lobby
  * Open filk; chaos in the secondary room.  Sang "The October Country".  Some great
    performers, including the Suttons. 
  % Can't find my computer glasses.  Grump.

0821Fr
  * up 6:30; ; 
  * Breakfast in the Best Western, second breakfast in the con suite, and brunch in the
    Doubletree.  
  & chorded out River (which I didn't sing) and For Amy (which I really needed).  Nolly
    let me use the printer at the info desk; managed in spite of a paper jam.  (hp :P)
  * Friday 13:00 - 14:00, Conference Theater 110 (CC) Sound check
  * Friday 14:30 - 15:00, Conference Theater 110 (CC) concert
     	Riverheart
	For Amy
	Stuff That Dreams are Made Of
	Where the Heart Is
	Windward
	Toolmakers
	Keep the Dream Alive
    Voice broke on Amy, Stuff, Where the Heart Is, Windward, amd Keep the Dream Alive; not
    enough that I couldn't go on, though.  Several people said it went well.
  @ The Mystery of the Origin of the Rainbow Bridge
    Bifröst - Wikipedia
    Rainbow Bridge (pets) - Wikipedia - starting to write r-e.net/Bridge
  * Dinner with Colleen at Spencer's (the usual - soup and sides)
  & spent spare time mostly writing the new Rainbow Bridge page.  Not linked from the main page yet; it wants some formatting
    changes (dl -> table) and at least some work on Curio's page.

0822Sa
  * up 6:09; ;
  * Breakfast in hotel, second breakfast in Doubletree.  
  & Lunch in Spencer's with Mike and Lucy Stern, Colleen, and Emmy
  * Concerts.  The first up was Sassafrass.  I teared up on the last chorus of "Somebody
    Will".  Not surprised.
  . write Curio memorial web page.  Worked on it much of the day, until my laptop finally
    ran into the red on power (15%, which is where you git push and go to sleep).
  * picked up my music and guitar stands after the last concert (Vixy and Tony)
  * Open filking; the small room filled up completely; we went into the larger one, which
    was nearly empty.  Not all that much fun.  Sang Uncle Ernie's and The River.
  % Right knee went out.  That'll make tomorrow interesting.

0823Su
  * up 4:55; ;
  * found knee brace without too much trouble.  May survive.
  @ 2015 Hugo Awards | The Hugo Awards  tl;dr the puppies lost big.
    2015 Hugo Stats: Initial Analysis | Chaos Horizon
  % No back problems loading out; knee mostly about 2.5-3.5
  * Checked out by about 10am.  Checked in with Friends of Filk 
  $ 65 from Friends of Filk.  2 albums sold on consignment, 4 purchased for stock.
  @ Who Won Science Fiction's Hugo Awards, and Why It Matters | WIRED
  % N. says that the offending knee component is a ligament.  Which is both annoying (she
    says they take a long time to heal) and unsurprising.
  % knee got worse over the course of the evening

0824Mo
  * Up 6:35; W=197;
  % No noticable pain in the knee; put a brace on anyway.
  : It seems we are getting a piano.  N found one -- the owner inherited it and doesn't
    want it anymore -- that only has to be transported.  Former player piano; the finish
    is in bad shape but it sounds marvelous.

Comments

[amaebi]

Wow, what a lot of beautiful work you've been doing.

I wonder why people think that not feeling what they feel is a good idea? It's like imagining that physical shock is a healthy permanent state.

[mdlbear]

Thanks! (Not sure which work you're thinking of -- I'm guessing the Rainbow Bridge page -- but thanks anyway.)

It's difficult to distinguish between the numbness that was a side-effect of my previous antidepressant, and the numbness that was a coping mechanism -- and a pretty effective one.