You're Doing It Wrong

This is Vancouver hometown gal, Jordan Chiles, silver medalist on the women’s gymnastics Olympics team. She got a parade and bagpipes and the Mayor gave her the key to the city. It was the most wholesome, wonderful Vancouver moment.

My photos are the biggest mess. I have so many I intended to post and now so much time has gone by. Plus I need to go through them but it’s too overwhelming — I have a terrible system so there are duplicates and more duplicates. And I’ve saved so many critter videos that I think I will want to post later that those are out of control, too.

Probably for November this year I will just do photos so maybe I can get a grip then.

Speaking of getting a grip, at the moment I am reading a book on my nightstand, a book on my ereader, listening to an audiobook, critting a novel and I’m thinking about, and taking notes for, three different long writing projects.

I normally never do this. I’m not going to lie. I get the stories a little bit mixed up sometimes. I don’t know why I’m doing it now. That’s just how it worked out.

When I go to Orleans I always use boxes in the car to help me organize my stuff. Oakey liked this box a lot. When I got ready to leave he glared a lot which he does anyway but I could tell there was extra glaring.

I guess I never posted it here but a couple of weeks ago it was my 25th wedding anniversary.

Wow, hard to believe.

We have never had a serious cover stealing situation in all this time. Until recently.

I don’t know what Bob does but somehow he manages to get a big armful of covers and then he turns over to his side of the bed. Night after night I am clutching the corner of the duvet, angrily yanking it back or waking with only my pillows to keep me warm.

No amount of whining has changed this. He says he can’t help it, he’s asleep.

I finally got out a blanket that is folded and only on my half of the bed.

If that’s the worst problem after 25 years, we’re doing just fine.

I always think that this word is: foilage. That’s how I say it in my head, “foil-idge.” Whenever I want to write it out, I have to think about it.

Something happened last week that never happened before and I received an email for another Pamela Rentz.

It was about this Fall Foliage Prediction Map. The other Pam wrote an article about it once.

Here’s the blurb: The 2021 Fall Foliage Map is the ultimate visual planning guide to the annual progressive changing of the leaves. While no tool can be 100% accurate, this tool is meant to help travelers better time their trips to have the best opportunity of catching peak color each year.

I am going to be driving to Orleans in the middle of October. Looks like partial to near peak range. I love doing the drive at that time of year.

When I was in my 20s, rock music was my life. I have told a few tales before like this classic post from 2004 and this one when Heidi and I went to see The Cult in Las Vegas.

Last Sunday I did something that I haven’t done since, urgh 2001, and went to a big concert in an arena. Yes, I realize that during the Plague is a strange time to break my resolve to never go to a big concert again.

My cousin kind-of tricked me and next thing I knew I had my credit card out and soon had two tickets to see Guns N’ Roses.

I now own a $75 t-shirt. After I wear it, I fold it in tissue and put it in a velvet-lined box in a special moisture-controlled room.

I have only seen them one other time in 1989 at the Cathouse. They played It’s So Easy three times and turned it into this video (mature audiences only.)

It was *amazing.*

I loved every minute.

So many memories of going to concerts when I was younger. The interminable wait for the band to come on. After awhile, whenever one of the warm-up songs ends, everyone starts cheering and then stops when another song comes on. The smell of pot as soon as the lights go down. The feel of the drums in my chest. It was a good crowd. Everyone was there to have a good time.

It was the first arena show at Moda Center since Covid.

They played 3 hours, 25 songs. Matt showed me his phone when it got past 11. “We’re getting our moneys worth.”

We did.