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taz_39Woke up later than intended on Friday.
Feeling a little down. I guess that's going to come and go for a bit.
Breakfast was egg whites with herbs and balsamic, the leftover rustic bread I'd made, almond butter, high-protein milk, and ground cherries (goldenberries, whatever you want to call them).
Jameson got cursed out by a student first thing in the morning, so that put him in a mood, poor guy.
I worked on data entry for a bit and finally placed my Amazon order for tour items.
I always b*tch about spending for tour prep, but considering I blew a LOT more money on last year's prep and almost everything turned out to be absolutely essential, I shouldn't complain. The only things that were a waste were the immersion coil (it would not heat to boiling) and the 6" electric skillet, which only lasted half the tour before breaking and it never worked that well to begin with.
Oh, and the stupid neck pillow. Idk why I thought I'd ever sleep on a plane.
I bought a Coffeevac container (if this doesn't protect my coffee, I give up!!); extra detergent sheets (I have some left over from last year so these will be for me to pick up over Christmas break); a travel-sized can opener and mini whisk (I wished for these many times last year); a new kind of face wash (I'm cursed with large pores); and a portable phone charger.
I still need to get a white bra (I only have one and it's falling apart).
Jameson also mentioned that he'd like to try silk pillowcases, so I picked up two of those ($$!!).
We both have acne especially bad this year, so we're hoping this will help a little.
After lunch I did more data entry, then decided to dig through some of my things and gather my ticket stubs, wristbands, letters, stickers, programs, and other mementos gathered over the years into one place.
There was more than I had realized. Also, a lot of it was damanged because while with the circus I'd decorated my fridge and the back of my door with a lot of these.
Here are a few paper mementos of Ringling.
I have many more mementos of my time there, but in the form of non-paper objects like shirts, cups, bags, keychains, etc.
I am astounded at how many ticket stubs I've kept.
There are 52 total, and this isn't even one from every place I've been and every show I've seen.
For example I only have one Queen ticket, and I know we've seen Queen at least three times.
And I hardly have any stubs from my time with Tootsie, because more and more places do digital tickets.
I want to go through them and make a list of the places, to put in the box with them.
Then there is more recent stuff, like my Tootsie programs and bag check tags and hotel keys and such.
I also kept this official-looking letter, which was given to me at the start of the pandemic, giving special permission to travel to and from work during travel bans (this was back when some states were considering road blocks and curfews and such).
I have done a lot of things!
I wish everyone could do these things, too.
On the way to pick up dinner for us I stopped at Publix for a lime and two small single-shot bottles of rum, for to make popsicles.
The lady at the counter was absolutely flabbergasted that I was 38 years old.
No joke, she looked at my license and yelled, "84! That can't be right!"
She even called her coworker over and they both made a huge racket over my ID, holding it up to the light and bending it a lot before finally just scanning it (they REALLY didn't believe it).
It was kind of ridiculous, but of course it felt good to get the "compliment", which I'll file in my memories for later enjoyment in the nursing home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, breakfast and data entry for a few hours.
Lime coconut rumsicles!
Nothing complicated here.
A can of full fat coconut milk, juice and zest from one lime, 2-4 Tbsp maple syrup, and rum.
Into a blender for a bit, then into the freezer for 40 minutes to firm up so I can add shredded coconut at the base.
I did half with toasted coconut, half with untoasted. This one is untoasted.
The texture was lighter than ice cream, milky and very refreshing.
I was annoyed that a lot of the zest settled into the tips of the molds, but there was lime juice throughout so it didn't really matter flavor-wise.
They were indeed not as sweet as a commercial popsicle, but I didn't mind that. Because RUM.
Also a slight bitter aftertaste from zest and rum.
I liked the flavor of the toasted coconut, but the texture of the untoasted (it was kinda chewy).
In fact next time I may blend the shredded coconut in. I was worried it would ruin the creamy texture but I think it could be nice.
In the afternoon we went for a walk, chatting about this and that like we always do.
We realized that Jameson might leave for a trip to Vegas on the same day that I go back on tour. Cool!
I'm glad he's taking a solo vacation. I wish he'd take like five more, haha. He's past due on relaxation time.
For dinner I continued the coconut milk trend with one of our standby recipes, coconut curry chicken meatballs.
Served over brown rice, topped with mango salsa and toasted coconut.
I've made this many times and am always pissed at how dry the meatballs turn out.
This time I tried baking them surrounded in chicken broth, and that didn't work either.
I think the people who wrote the recipe decided that since coconut milk is so fatty, they'd use a lean meat (chicken or turkey), but the result is really unpleasant. I want to incorporate some fat into the meatballs next time. Maybe I'll add an egg, or milk and bread, or just use some pork.
Also, the mango salsa is just mango with finely chopped jalapeno and lime juice/zest, and it is SO GOOD.
I want to eat it every day.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday.
After breakfast I went through the items from my Amazon delivery, which had shown up the previous night.
Everything arrived intact. I charged up the external battery and dumped everything else in the spare bedroom.
A few hours of data entry, lunch, and we went for a walk as it wasn't raining for once.
Afterward I was sweaty and disgusting so settled on finally fertilizing the banana trees.
I always put it off because it's a pain. It's hot, it's stinky, you have to dig down fairly deep around the roots to place the pellets.
You're supposed to water afterward but at this time of year I just leave it, because it's sure to rain in the afternoon or evening.
My copse of banana trees. Gaggle? Posse? Gang? Something like that.
Reminder that I bought two, and now have SIX.
The little offshoots are doing well because they're leeching off mama tree.
While digging around the base of each tree, I startled up this house spider (or maybe it's a wolf spider).
She is very large, perhaps 1.5"-2" if including her legs. In fact I thought she was a lizard at first.
Here she is next to a prong on my "chicken foot" for scale.
(Idk what this hand tool is called and I don't care. Chicken foot.)
Of course I left her alone after taking the photos, I probably frightened her pretty good.
Finished up my work and got inside for a nice cool shower.
Rest, a snack, more data entry.
Pizza for dinner.
------------------------------------------------
Now it is Monday and I've finished breakfast, sipping coffee and about to start data entry.
I woke to a text from a friend, a bassist on The Lion King, who said he'd put in a good word for me with the MD of Beetlejuice.
That's kind of him!
It boggles me how many musicians that I know who are on stable, union gigs. Yet I myself have not been able to land one.
That is on ME of course, on my neglected abilities or my refusal to be social or live in New York.
And also (I can probably thank my stubborn, self-sufficient dad for this), I HATE having to have others vouch for my abilities.
It's common and expected and absolutely acceptable, but in my mind it's not right to do.
In this case, since my friend spoke up on his own, I'm not upset. Just squirming a little inside, like now I must owe him a favor.
Tonight Jameson has rehearsal, so I will clean and take myself for a walk and prep for discount court reporting tomorrow.
Feeling a little down. I guess that's going to come and go for a bit.
Breakfast was egg whites with herbs and balsamic, the leftover rustic bread I'd made, almond butter, high-protein milk, and ground cherries (goldenberries, whatever you want to call them).
Jameson got cursed out by a student first thing in the morning, so that put him in a mood, poor guy.
I worked on data entry for a bit and finally placed my Amazon order for tour items.
I always b*tch about spending for tour prep, but considering I blew a LOT more money on last year's prep and almost everything turned out to be absolutely essential, I shouldn't complain. The only things that were a waste were the immersion coil (it would not heat to boiling) and the 6" electric skillet, which only lasted half the tour before breaking and it never worked that well to begin with.
Oh, and the stupid neck pillow. Idk why I thought I'd ever sleep on a plane.
I bought a Coffeevac container (if this doesn't protect my coffee, I give up!!); extra detergent sheets (I have some left over from last year so these will be for me to pick up over Christmas break); a travel-sized can opener and mini whisk (I wished for these many times last year); a new kind of face wash (I'm cursed with large pores); and a portable phone charger.
I still need to get a white bra (I only have one and it's falling apart).
Jameson also mentioned that he'd like to try silk pillowcases, so I picked up two of those ($$!!).
We both have acne especially bad this year, so we're hoping this will help a little.
After lunch I did more data entry, then decided to dig through some of my things and gather my ticket stubs, wristbands, letters, stickers, programs, and other mementos gathered over the years into one place.
There was more than I had realized. Also, a lot of it was damanged because while with the circus I'd decorated my fridge and the back of my door with a lot of these.
Here are a few paper mementos of Ringling.
I have many more mementos of my time there, but in the form of non-paper objects like shirts, cups, bags, keychains, etc.
I am astounded at how many ticket stubs I've kept.
There are 52 total, and this isn't even one from every place I've been and every show I've seen.
For example I only have one Queen ticket, and I know we've seen Queen at least three times.
And I hardly have any stubs from my time with Tootsie, because more and more places do digital tickets.
I want to go through them and make a list of the places, to put in the box with them.
Then there is more recent stuff, like my Tootsie programs and bag check tags and hotel keys and such.
I also kept this official-looking letter, which was given to me at the start of the pandemic, giving special permission to travel to and from work during travel bans (this was back when some states were considering road blocks and curfews and such).
I have done a lot of things!
I wish everyone could do these things, too.
On the way to pick up dinner for us I stopped at Publix for a lime and two small single-shot bottles of rum, for to make popsicles.
The lady at the counter was absolutely flabbergasted that I was 38 years old.
No joke, she looked at my license and yelled, "84! That can't be right!"
She even called her coworker over and they both made a huge racket over my ID, holding it up to the light and bending it a lot before finally just scanning it (they REALLY didn't believe it).
It was kind of ridiculous, but of course it felt good to get the "compliment", which I'll file in my memories for later enjoyment in the nursing home.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, breakfast and data entry for a few hours.
Lime coconut rumsicles!
Nothing complicated here.
A can of full fat coconut milk, juice and zest from one lime, 2-4 Tbsp maple syrup, and rum.
Into a blender for a bit, then into the freezer for 40 minutes to firm up so I can add shredded coconut at the base.
I did half with toasted coconut, half with untoasted. This one is untoasted.
The texture was lighter than ice cream, milky and very refreshing.
I was annoyed that a lot of the zest settled into the tips of the molds, but there was lime juice throughout so it didn't really matter flavor-wise.
They were indeed not as sweet as a commercial popsicle, but I didn't mind that. Because RUM.
Also a slight bitter aftertaste from zest and rum.
I liked the flavor of the toasted coconut, but the texture of the untoasted (it was kinda chewy).
In fact next time I may blend the shredded coconut in. I was worried it would ruin the creamy texture but I think it could be nice.
In the afternoon we went for a walk, chatting about this and that like we always do.
We realized that Jameson might leave for a trip to Vegas on the same day that I go back on tour. Cool!
I'm glad he's taking a solo vacation. I wish he'd take like five more, haha. He's past due on relaxation time.
For dinner I continued the coconut milk trend with one of our standby recipes, coconut curry chicken meatballs.
Served over brown rice, topped with mango salsa and toasted coconut.
I've made this many times and am always pissed at how dry the meatballs turn out.
This time I tried baking them surrounded in chicken broth, and that didn't work either.
I think the people who wrote the recipe decided that since coconut milk is so fatty, they'd use a lean meat (chicken or turkey), but the result is really unpleasant. I want to incorporate some fat into the meatballs next time. Maybe I'll add an egg, or milk and bread, or just use some pork.
Also, the mango salsa is just mango with finely chopped jalapeno and lime juice/zest, and it is SO GOOD.
I want to eat it every day.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sunday.
After breakfast I went through the items from my Amazon delivery, which had shown up the previous night.
Everything arrived intact. I charged up the external battery and dumped everything else in the spare bedroom.
A few hours of data entry, lunch, and we went for a walk as it wasn't raining for once.
Afterward I was sweaty and disgusting so settled on finally fertilizing the banana trees.
I always put it off because it's a pain. It's hot, it's stinky, you have to dig down fairly deep around the roots to place the pellets.
You're supposed to water afterward but at this time of year I just leave it, because it's sure to rain in the afternoon or evening.
My copse of banana trees. Gaggle? Posse? Gang? Something like that.
Reminder that I bought two, and now have SIX.
The little offshoots are doing well because they're leeching off mama tree.
While digging around the base of each tree, I startled up this house spider (or maybe it's a wolf spider).
She is very large, perhaps 1.5"-2" if including her legs. In fact I thought she was a lizard at first.
Here she is next to a prong on my "chicken foot" for scale.
(Idk what this hand tool is called and I don't care. Chicken foot.)
Of course I left her alone after taking the photos, I probably frightened her pretty good.
Finished up my work and got inside for a nice cool shower.
Rest, a snack, more data entry.
Pizza for dinner.
------------------------------------------------
Now it is Monday and I've finished breakfast, sipping coffee and about to start data entry.
I woke to a text from a friend, a bassist on The Lion King, who said he'd put in a good word for me with the MD of Beetlejuice.
That's kind of him!
It boggles me how many musicians that I know who are on stable, union gigs. Yet I myself have not been able to land one.
That is on ME of course, on my neglected abilities or my refusal to be social or live in New York.
And also (I can probably thank my stubborn, self-sufficient dad for this), I HATE having to have others vouch for my abilities.
It's common and expected and absolutely acceptable, but in my mind it's not right to do.
In this case, since my friend spoke up on his own, I'm not upset. Just squirming a little inside, like now I must owe him a favor.
Tonight Jameson has rehearsal, so I will clean and take myself for a walk and prep for discount court reporting tomorrow.
