goofball on a train

On Monday my eyes popped open at 6am, partly because I remembered, "It's a day off!" and partly because I realized, "I should have shipped my trombone stand back home like EIGHT cities ago. Dammit!"

Shipping the trombone stand to Florida from Washington State or California costs more than the damned thing is worth. I've had it since college, and it's certainly not in the best shape any more...maybe it's time to leave it behind? Anyway, you don't care about all that :p

Today was a golden day..a true day off with no shows and no travel, the last one of the tour.
Let's see how much I got to check off my To-Do List.

First, breakfast and laundry. Since I was up so early and no one else was insane enough to be awake yet, I had the laundry room to myself and was done in no time. Then DCR modules and coursework. I didn't actually get to check off any modules, but did a big chunk of reading and videos for about 90 minutes. That done, I allowed myself thrifting.


No, I didn't buy those FABULOUS $4 golden pants. But I sent the picture to my siblings and was rewarded by my sister quipping, "I dare you to wear those during the eclipse. REPLACE THE SUN." Lol! What a goober.

Speaking of the eclipse, I didn't see a whit of it. Partly because it was cloudy but mostly because it was nowhere near Washington state. Everyone here went about business as usual; no eclipse parties or overpriced eclipse merch to be seen.

I did walk by the falls on last time, and didn't record it because I wanted to just look. For me. To keep in my heart.

From the thrift store to Cochinito, a relatively new taco spot downtown. My two tacos were (left to right): North African lamb sausage with Oregon hazelnut salsa, queso fresco, tomato, mint chutney, and herbs; and Oregon rockfish marinated in honey and chili, fried, with cabbage, radish, crema, cilantro, and chili mango gel.


Of the two, the lamb was my favorite. The sausage was full of rich spices, the salsa had a beautiful roasted flavor from the hazelnuts, the stewed tomatoes were sweet, and the queso brought every bite together with creamy goodness. The only thing missing was the asparagus, for the life of me I couldn't find it anywhere. The fish taco was also very good, but that one was more about texture. Light and crispy, not greasy at all, and the paper-thin radish was peppery, and the mango gel had such a cooling texture and made everything sweet-and-salty. This is another place where, if I lived here, I'd eat here once a week until I'd tried everything on the menu!

Next I got groceries to bring to Yakima, since grocery options there are extremely limited. I will be doing mostly nonperishables and smuggling food from the free hotel breakfast, but picked up yogurt, berries, water for the tea kettle, and eggs. On the way back I made sure to swing by Looff Carrousel in Spokane's Riverfront Park.


This carousel (or carrousel, as they spell it) is significant to me in a roundabout way.
Charles Looff was a master carver, who carved many carousel horses throughout his life, including the horses here.
He ran a shop employing apprentices, one of whom was Charles Carmel, an immigrant from Russia.
And Charles Carmel carved the horses for the Grand Carousel at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, PA.

Which happens to be where I had my very first job, at the age of fourteen.
And where I palmed this carousel ring, 26 years ago. And have carried it with me ever since.


It felt somehow full circle...to be holding this ring from a Looff/Carmel carousel on the east coast, and looking at a carousel by the same maker on the west coast.

For the uninitiated, many carousels in the late 1800s featured a "brass ring game" in which riders on the outer horses could grab iron rings from a mechanical arm as the ride spun past. They could then throw their collected rings at a cloth or wood target, usually an open-mouthed circus animal or clown. A single gold-colored brass ring was included among the iron ones. If a rider was lucky enough to grab the brass ring on their go 'round, they'd receive a small prize (at Knoebels it was a pack of ride tickets.) CLICK HERE to see a short video of what this is like.


As an employee of the park, of COURSE I rode the Grand Carousel many times, and of COURSE I palmed one of the rings to take home as a souvenir :) Never thought I'd get to see a sister carousel, on the opposite coast for that matter!

I didn't ride the carousel because I had groceries with me and that would have been awkward. Only watched for a bit and enjoyed some memories from my own childhood, before heading back to the hotel.

The lavender honey hard cider that I picked up at Huckleberry's last week. It was pretty good! Not overpoweringly floral. It made for a nice chill-out drink after all of my walking around (4 1/2 miles!)


And that was everything on my To-Do List, you guys!
Laundry, classwork, thrifting, groceries, tacos, the falls, day drinking, and the carousel.

While I was plugging away at more court reporting training, two things happened.

One was that I heard back from the transcription job that I tested with last week; they DID send a nightmare 3-hour transcript assessment AGAIN, and this time I flatly refused to do it. Clearly if it takes me three hours to transcribe a 10-page deposition because I'm THAT incredibly unfamiliar with the formatting, I am not qualified for this job. Surprisingly, the recruiter wrote back to say that she appreciated my honesty and hoped I'd reach out in the future once I felt I could tackle it. I'll save their info.

The other was a call from the manager of Disney's Main Street Philharmonic, letting me know he'd gotten approval to officially sublist me with the band! This means I'll be fitted for a costume, attend some rehearsals, and receive a copy of their set list to practice.

(Main Street Phil, stock image)

This does NOT guarantee me any actual performances in the park. It just means that if someone needs a day off, calls out sick, or takes a vacation, I am to be on call and ready to fill in as needed. BUT I will be paid for the fittings and rehearsals. And the odds of regulars needing a day off, for a variety of reasons, are going to be HIGH. I am optimistic that I might actually get to perform as Disney musician this summer!!

And remember: this all came about because I took a chance and sacrificed two weeks of work with My Fair Lady so that I could substitute for Candlelight this past Christmas. I'm reiterating this because at the time I got some raised eyebrows and gently-voiced concerns from musician friends around me, who thought I was nuts for giving up two weeks of pay. But the value that I saw, was that by accepting this one tiny, seasonal substitute job, I'd be added to Disney's employee roster for an entire year. Which could open so many doors. That's why I chose to play the long game. And it's working out!

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Tuesday (it feels weird to be traveling on a Tuesday!) I was up too early and used the time to do more court reporting stuff. There happened to be a live Zoom class, and I got to participate! There were about 30 people there, which was heartening.

It was a short bus ride to Yakima, so we didn't leave the Spokane hotel until 11. I watched out the window a lot because I've never been to this part of the country before. It's very interesting and weird scenery here. Like if you took the flat farmland of Texas, threw in patches of rolling hills and desert scrub brush from California, some marshes and wetland lakes from Florida, and random clumps of tall pines and mountains from Colorado. It came across as kind of a mish-mash...but maybe I've been to too many places. Oh, and these interesting plateau-like boulder formations, some big and towering and some so small that you could mistake them for a stone property fence.


Checking Google Maps while surrounded by "crop circles" :D


We saw very majestic scenery as well, valleys and mountains and lakes with big impressive bridges spanning them. No pics because pics from a bus suck. We stopped at a Love's partway there. I have a habit of making short Instagram stories to share the bizarre stuff I find at these rest stops. Today's weird things: tiny 2"-long knives shaped like keys, guns, bullets, and deer; and this hilarious trinket box shaped like a sow with BEDAZZLED TEATS!!


The pig was $20 unfortunately; had she been $10 or less I'd have bought it no question.

After dropping luggage at the hotel I went to my one and only special meal in Yakima: a Chinese buffet!
I am such an absolute sucker for a good Chinese buffet, and this was a REALLY good one. They had steamed buns, whole heads-on shrimp, a large sushi selection, and a huge dessert bar! Jameson can't eat at these because of his Meniere's Disease (he has a bad reaction to MSG) so this was my last change to enjoy this guilty pleasure.


I ate more than usual but not stuffed-to-the-gills levels. Afterward I walked around and explored surrounding shops until I felt less full, then came back to the hotel and unpacked and chilled.

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Wednesday after breakfast (in which I stole an English muffin, banana, and peanut butter) I worked on finishing court reporting module 1, which ended with a small quiz. I was annoyed to miss three whole questions (= 88%), I need to re-read the material and not rely so heavily on the mock quizzes and flash cards.

Took a break to pack dinner and do misc work on Foodie Finds and listening to Main Street Philharmonic music, then walked to a craft store for a foam cone for my trombone (to protect the bell from being crushed when it gets checked for the final flight home) and then to a mall hoping to find one last tiny travel candle, to make these last few hotel rooms smell nice. I discovered a little plant store that had adorable mini-Mason jar candles from a local maker. This kind of thing gives me a deep, bittersweet nostalgia for my childhood in Pennsylvania...the Amish shops and hardware stores always had hand-poured candles like these. The most nostalgic of all are the Christmas and fall scents.

I got a "Log Cabin" scent, and a "Latte" scent, and lit one as soon as I got back. It made me sad and happy at the same time, which is how I feel most of the time lately. Lighter pictured for scale.


We bused to the theatre. It's an older one, and is a little run down perhaps, but still beautiful.
The ceiling:


This guy up there looks like he has a migraine. I feel those feels, my dude.


To my delight, the stage was shallow and there was no overhang, meaning I'd FINALLY get to see most of the show!!!
So glad that this happened before the tour ended!!
I couldn't take footage of course, but there are several parts in the show where I'm not playing for between 5-8 minutes, and during all of those times I stood with my back pressed against the pit wall, staring up at the stage. Got to see a LOT, it was wonderful :)

Also of interest, because the pit is sort of the shape of a narrow orange segment, the drums have been remoted to a separate room and I am now where the drums would normally be. I have a lot of space to myself (ironic as it's such a small pit) and also, I'm next to these massive screw-like pillars, covered in oil, which are part of the mechanism that raises and lowers the orchestra pit to the desired height.


A short 15-second video so you can see how massive this piece of equipment is...and how far down the drop would be.
As far down as this is, believe it or not I've seen farther. (CLICK HERE to watch)

The show went well and was well attended. I had a pretty solid headache afterward from staring into the stage lights all night! But it was worth it. What a wonderful, unexpected treat to actually see the show I've been providing music for.

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Tomorrow is mostly free, with one more show in the evening and load out to Eugene, Oregon.
I will do lots of boring stuff like court reporting study, packing my suitcases, and perhaps a little thrifting.

**This is a long post and if you're reading this in a Friends Feed/on DW there is a cut for the 88 Marketplace part.**

I woke to thunderstorms early Thursday morning. I'd planned to get up early and do grocery errands anyway, but was hoping the rain might let up by the time I was ready to head out.

It did, so I walked back to Eataly to get another bag of mezzaluna for the band, choosing a pistachio-filled bag this time. Also got them a bag of soft fruit gummies (texture similar to Sunkist Fruit Gems.) Then since Whole Paycheck was nearby I walked there and spent the rest of a gift card on supplementary veggies and proteins for the weekend.

Back at the hotel I got dressed in my only nice outfit to go to Jinsei Motto, then walked to the theatre to drop off the treats at the pit, then walked to the restaurant. It was small and not very busy, just a few people sitting at the bar. I was seated right away, and was the only person there for the lunch omakase...so it felt VERY exclusive.

On the way in you could see the dry-aging cabinet, with beautiful tuna steaks waiting to be sliced.


Here's the menu so you can follow along with me! Things with asterisks were for the premium option, which I did not take because I didn't think I could eat that much today.


I chose a glass of Amabuki black rice sake, which not only had a lovely rose color but also a fruity, floral, and nutty flavor.


The first five nigiri, served to me one by one by the chef:
- Sea bream with citrus and sea salt


- Ora king salmon, aged 8 days, with fresh grated ginger
- Ora king salmon, aged 8 days, seared, with marinade and chives


- "Hiramasa" kingfish, with a mildy spicy and citrus-y seasoning (I forget what the chef called it but it was awesome)
- "Kanpachi" amberjack with grated cucumber and sesame


The chef handed me each piece individually immediately after making them, and I had a moist towelette in a bowl to wipe my fingertips after each piece. I asked if photos were OK and he was totally cool with it. The vibe was very chill, probably because it was dead in there; the servers came over to chat, and we all ended up talking about where we were from, traveling, the commute for them today in the rain (my chef rode his bike 20 miles, in the wet cold!!), all sorts of things. I asked some questions about each piece of nigiri, or commented on the flavors (for example I'd never had aged fish before and exclaimed over how rich and smooth the texture was.)

The next five pieces:

- "Hotate" scallop with black volcanic salt and lime zest. Scallops are one of few foods that I consistently do not like, but I didn't say anything because I've never had RAW scallops, and wanted to give myself a chance to like it. And I did! It had a smooth, soft texture and the flavors of lime and earthy salt were incredible. The reason I hate cooked scallops is because they have a texture like greasy, nasty meat gristle. This was NOTHING like that.


- "Akami" lean bluefin tuna with morel mushroom
- "Chutoro" medium-fatty tuna with fresh ginger


- "Unagi" grilled eel with fried shallot. I love grilled eel and this was fire-grilled, so it was wonderfully crunchy and smoky.
- "Tamago" sweet Japanese omelette with honey


Each bite was perfect; not the huge nigiri that you get at a typical restaurant, but a perfectly mouth-sized bite that I didn't have to unhinge my jaw to eat. You're supposed to pop each one in your mouth whole, and I had no trouble doing that. I felt perfectly full after ten pieces, the kind of full where you feel refreshed and energized, not tired.

The sake was absolutely wonderful and went well with each piece of fish no matter what kind it was.
And the simple citrus, herbal, salt, and spice seasonings on each nigiri were so delicate, balanced, and enhanced the unique flavor of each piece of seafood. This truly was an experience!

My favorite bites were the seared aged salmon, and the scallop. The aging process made the fish rich and smooth, and actually made it less briny/fishy somehow. I was amazed at what a difference it made to the flavor and texture of salmon. And in addition to being happy to discover that I enjoy raw scallop, the lime and volcanic salt were such a unique flavor combo and I absolutely loved it.

In closing, this adorable tiny nigiri and green tea that were hiding in the corner near my seat. Cute little hidden art, I see you!


I thanked everyone and left a large tip (there was only $7 left on the gift card after a 25% tip and it was so slow, I felt they should have it)
I walked back to the hotel where I relaxed, typed this up, watched anime, and waited for my laundry to be returned (it was dropped off right at 5pm!)

The evening show was good, we had a guest in the pit who had formerly been an MD for some production of Cats. OF COURSE I messed up my small trombone solo while we have a visiting MD. Of f*cking course! I was so annoyed with myself. During intermission I was huffy backstage, and suddenly a local stagehand popped out of the Trap Room and gestured for me to "come here." I did, and she handed me this small magnet:


Wow! It's....exactly what I needed. Thank you Mysterious Trap Room Woman.
Sometimes I think the universe just GETS me.

After the show there was a meet-and-greet at a nearby bar with the cast/crew of Pretty Woman, another Crossroads show that's playing a theatre right next to ours this week. Their show ended first, but for some reason we all got there before them?? Eileen (French horn) and I went together, did not drink alcohol, and agreed to leave by 11pm at the latest, neither of us being interested in such a crowded noisy scene.

I almost got a Coke but then Eileen said something about a Shirley Temple, and it brought back memories from childhood. My mom was like me in that she never had a good, secure, high-paying job. After my parents got divorced, she worked at the nice bed-and-breakfast in our small town as a server. Sometimes I'd be dropped off at the restaurant for our visitation, and she'd have me wait in a small lounge/bar area while she finished her shift (the bartender would be preparing to OPEN the bar for the evening so no patrons were ever there.) I'd sit quietly at the bar and read a book, and the bartender would give me a small Shirley Temple sometimes.

I haven't had one since then. Until now.


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Friday, oh my goodness. Jameson's Disney interview was at 10am, 9am my time!!
I got up at 7am not only for that, but to get ready for a day in Chinatown!

Ate breakfast and wished Jameson luck, making sure to completely leave him alone when 10am rolled around.
Walked to the subway(?) train(?) and took the Orange line to near-Chinatown, then walked the last mile or so to reach 88 Marketplace as it's not in Chinatown proper.

I won't waste space here on what the building looks like; it's very unassuming and you can look it up online if you're curious. The basement level is a housewares store that didn't open until 10. The level above that is some restaurants (bubble tea, hot pot, etc) and a knick-knacks and souvenir shop, and some Japanese-style vending and gashapon machines. Then you go up an escalator to reach the grocery and the food court.

Forgive me, I didn't take many pictures of the food court. I avoided it, to thus avoid temptation. But they had a bakery with everything you'd see in any Asian bakery (sweet bean buns, custard buns, pork floss buns, mochi donuts, etc); a chilled dessert area with custards and roll cakes and puddings; a seafood and sushi bar; a street food stand; a BBQ/Peking duck stand; a hot pot/noodle stand; a liquor store; and probably other stuff that I'm forgetting or didn't see.

It was a normal Asian grocery, but with a LOT of product. I was in shelf-shock for a while, and spent the first 30 minutes in the front of the store walking dazed through rows and rows and rows of snacks, candies, cookies, pastries, crackers, tea cakes, jellies, chocolates, noodles, sodas, teas...you get the idea.



They even had an island dedicated to Disney snacks!! Like, ASIAN Disney snacks!!


The produce was behind all of the snacky things. Their produce was nice, but there was not the selection you'd see at a large 99 Ranch or H-Mart. This store seems more focused on shelf-stable goods. That said, what produce they had was fresh and lovely, and there were big meat and seafood counters in the back of the store against the walls, and of course dairy and eggs and all that.



I didn't go to aisles where I knew I wouldn't be able to get anything: the freezer aisle, sauce aisle, canned/pickled things aisle, etc. No point torturing myself. Plus, most of what I wanted to get was souvenirs for family. So like a typical Caucasian tourist I wove up and down the aisles of snacks, shelf stable goods, teas, and drinks to find gifts to send to people I care about.

I like to look for interesting food items that I've never seen before. Here are some:

Dragon fruit noodles! Dragon fruit doesn't have much flavor, so I wonder if it's added just for color.


A huge sheet of dried squid. Most Asian grocery stores have dried squid but I've never seen a PLANK like this.


This porridge looks colorful, I wonder what it tastes like!


A bag of premium kumquat, each one individually wrapped, and much larger than those I've seen in American stores. Look at the price...ouch!


A peach drink with chunks of real peaches inside. I especially like the design on the bottle, which is reminiscent of the foam netting that is wrapped around fruit for transport.


Chicken floss meat buns. Perhaps if you've never encountered Asian "meat floss" before, you're thinking, "GROSS!" But let me tell you: pork floss is DELICIOUS. It's sweet and savory, crispy and also melts in your mouth. So I did buy a box of these. The nutrition was good, and I wanted to give it a try.


Ok NOW we're getting weird. "Explosive Juice Cakes." What on earth...? I didn't look at the ingredients but found out later they're usually filled with a lining of mochi + some sort of fruit or nut paste. So they're probably pretty good.


Sometimes things get lost in translation, and it's good to avoid judging (certainly a laugh is justified here, but to make a scene or curl your nose over another culture's food, out of your own ignorance...that's what's GROSS.)

I found this drink on an endcap and was intrigued by what looked like a big olive-shaped black seed inside, and a whitish filament or fungus running through the whole drink. Reminded me of the bird nest beverage that I tried at another grocery. But my translation app wouldn't tell me what this was, so I didn't get it this time. More research needed.


Fully cooked duck heads, ready-to-eat! There was a whole series of fully cooked meats from this company which included whole chickens, other parts of the duck (neck, breast, etc), beef tripe, pork belly and loins and ears, chicken feet, etc. All were stamped "Product of USA." I looked for one that I might be able to buy but in general the portions were too big for just me, and the sodium too high.


While I was shopping Jameson texted to say his interview was over, that they'd asked many of the same questions over again, and that they'd be in touch for the third interview (which, I wonder if that's where they make a job offer?) He said he felt kind of "down" or disheartened afterward...but we talked about it and figured it's probably because he had TWO WEEKS of lead-up time to stress and speculate and make a bigger deal out of it in his head...and then it ended up being just a normal interview that was over in like 15 minutes. And it perhaps felt sudden, or discouragingly short. I don't know. The point is, he got through it well, and hopefully the only thing left to do is get the verdict. Personally, I was glad the actual interview wasn't nearly as stressful as the hype he'd built up for himself.

I killed an additional 30 minutes retracing my steps in the snack aisle, putting a few things back (Orange-flavored Kit-Kats because you can order them online) and picking up different things that I hadn't noticed on the initial "aisle shock" part of shopping. At checkout, I was shocked that I'd only spent $75!! That's about a third of what I spent at Eataly.

Here is what I ended up with for myself:


- Chicken floss buns: These were SWEET, which was strange, but they weren't bad. Michael (assistant MD, keys) says they taste just like a chicken pot pie without any vegetables.


- Pumpkin corn porridge: Delicious. A thin soup with sweet corn, chunks of orange squash, kidney beans, and rice. It was sweet but not overly so (probably had some artificial sweetener.) I'd eat it again.


- Grapefruit Jasmine tea: The flavor was wonderful, floral and citrus, but it was WAY too sweet. There was some sugar but mostly Stevia (I couldn't read the label but it was clearly Stevia.)
- Hawthorne soda: This was very good! And no artificial sweeteners either. It tasted a lot like sorrel drink.
- Soy milk banana boba: Trying this on Monday
- Scallop and soy sauce Pretz: These were really good, because how do you distinguish scallop-flavor from any seafood flavor? So it was fish and soy-flavored delicate tiny pretzel sticks. Really tasty :)
- Dried sea bass snack: I finally have to admit that I'm done buying Asian jerkied fish. It always tastes good...but it is RANK. I could smell this sealed across the hotel room. It tasted good, very very very fishy, mildly sweet and spicy and salty. But no more jerkied/dried fish. It is just so stinky that once the package is opened it's overwhelmingly fishy and stinks up the whole room.
- Hi-Chew premium melon gummies: These were a creamy cantaloupe flavor, very good indeed. They do have milk powder so I have to be careful eating them but it's worth it. Texture is still just like a regular Hi-Chew lol.
- Melon-flavored toothpaste: Will try this at some point in the future when my current toothpaste runs out.
- Fig-flavored Oreos: Yummy! They taste like Oreos, what's not to love. Can't really taste the fig, the chocolate cookie overwhelms the cream.
- Sakura(?) gum: Strongly tastes of cherry, and the flavor lasts a surprising time. I added a piece or two to my family gift bags.

Here's what I got for family:


- Scallion radish rice cakes: These were awesome! They were sweet and savory umami, absolutely delicious. Glad I didn't shun them because the flavors sounded a little weird, these are so good that I'd love to get them again just for me!
- Brown sugar twists: Really good, super hard/crunchy twisted dough brushed with a brown sugar glaze. They are not overly sweet, would be really good with tea.
- Mango gummies/jellies: Did not try these but I've heard they're really good!
- Egg yolk crackers: Loved these too! They're delicate and addictive, umami but leaning more salty than sweet, with a beautiful crisp texture. I could easily eat a big bag of these.
- Plum drink (herbal tea): Didn't try, will wait for family reviews.
- Tom & Jerry “cheese” gummies for the kids (These do indeed seem to be cheese-flavored! Did not try)
- “Lottery” mystery assorted candies for the kids (did not try)
- S’mores kits for the kids (Did not try)

These items may seem less generous than what I got myself, but remember that my family is also getting treats from Eataly which were far more expensive and which I did NOT buy for myself. Also, I didn't buy them drinks or jars of things because heavy items cost more to ship, bottles can break or leak, and larger items means a larger box and more difficulty packing. Sorry to be selfish but judge away because I could also choose not to send anything at all.

I went back downstairs to the basement to check out the homewares store, and so glad I did! Asian homewares are aesthetically pleasing, functional, and CHEAP. There was so much that I wanted to get!


In the back was a big section of hair accessories, and another for stationery, both of which were SO TEMPTING. I badly wanted to get adorable barrettes for Kayle's girls! But I felt shy to try and guess what they might like. Avoided the stationery too because I'd definitely want some sort of lovely expensive pen or notepad...nope, don't even look! I did pick up one can-shaped tupperware with a sealing lid. I had an American tupperware version at the start of tour but it broke pretty quickly; the Asian ones are made from a less brittle plastic so I'm hoping it'll last longer.

After two hours of going up and down aisles and picking and choosing I was tired and hungry. I walked 1/2 mile to MCCB (Modern Chinese Cook Book) in Chinatown proper, where I had hoped to get a whole grilled tilapia with a savory, peppery pork and vegetable sauce. But the server deterred me from that because each fish is two pounds!! That's enough for 4-5 people! I asked if there was anything he'd recommend for one person, and he kind of cringed. I asked about another fish dish, which he said was "somewhat better" size-wise, so I ordered it.

I also got an order of spicy pork dumplings, which is one of the items they're famous for. These were absolutely incredible. They were spicy but not overly so, the seasoning was perfect, the meat inside was juicy, the wrapper was SO delicate and lightly chewy. DAMN.


I ate four of those and packed the rest to take home (ate them for dinner.)

My entree was this HUGE bowl of Sichuan peppercorn tilapia with bok choy, bean sprouts, celery, woodear mushrooms, misc peppers and chilis, cilantro, garlic, other herbs and spices, and a little bowl of rice on the side.


I had never had Sichuan peppercorn before, but have heard that it causes a "tingling and numbing" sensation. My first bite felt like I had licked a battery! I'm sure my eyes must have bugged out with surprise. It felt like an electric current in my tongue and throat, or like pop rocks with warm heat like you get from ginger. Apparently there is a compound in Sichuan peppers that triggers a nerve reaction, and that's what causes the sensation, not the actual "spiciness." Interesting!!

And in addition to the sensation, the food was DELICIOUS. It was a light and tangy broth with a hint of pickled things and citrus. The mushrooms were chewy and wonderful, the fish tender and melt-in-your-mouth flaky and soft. It was herbal and tingly and flavorful; I ate more than intended and enjoyed it very much.

The server packed up my leftovers in a massive tupperware (I looked around and everyone had massive servings whether eating alone or in a group, so I guess that's just how this place is) and I struggled out the door with my bags of souvenirs and still-steaming food. I'd intended to stop at Chiu Quon Bakery, the oldest bakery in Chicago's Chinatown, but my phone battery was dying and I was already at my limit for what I could carry. You can get a good steamed bun anywhere, right?

Rode the train back to the hotel and crashed, then took some time to separate out the souvenirs and try a few.
It was a huge privilege to spend the day in this supermarket, and eat Sichuan food for the first time in Chicago's Chinatown.
Soon tour will be over, so I'm appreciating these moments and experiences even more than usual.

The evening show was...ok. A lot of things went wrong. I'll probably do a Friends Only post about it. We got through it all right, but all of us went to bed hoping that Saturday will not be as stressful as Friday was.

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Saturday I was extra-tired and slept extra-long. Stomping around Chinatown will do that to ya.

I should have gotten up early to get my gift boxes shipped, but was so tired and we had two shows to do. So I had a slow morning instead, and posted in our company chat about needing a small box or two...and someone actually did give me one, complete with bubble wrap inside! My hero! It'll save me buying a box anyway.

Both shows were all right. Between shows I ate leftover "tingly fish" lol. There was so much, I brought the rest to the theatre and offered it to people. No one else wanted any :(

I can't think of anything special that happened, except that after the second show we had St. Patrick's-themed SNOTS (Acronym for Saturday Night [something] Theater Shots) which were green jello shots with a bit of whipped cream and a gummy rainbow on top. I didn't take one but they looked cute!

Also, the river was dyed green! It was chaos downtown, tourists everywhere, so I didn't even try to go see it (the river is the opposite direction of the theatre) but our drummer got a short clip (I stole a screenshot so her text is on the image, sorry):


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Sunday I got up early because after trolling around online, I'd found one single UPS store that was supposedly open on Sunday!! I packed up all of my souvenirs and got there...and they were closed. ARGH.

But! As I was googling around to see if any other options at all were available, the lights came on and a woman unlocked the door. She'd been caught in the Saint Patrick's chaos and was running late, that's all. Lucky! Because I ship very often with UPS all of my addresses are stored in their system, so it took no time at all to get everything labeled and added to the outgoing pile. Nice! One less chore for the Golden Day.

Instead of going back to the hotel I found a local bagel place but there was a line around the block(!) so I went to Gotham Bagels instead (a chain but a small one and they make their own bagels in-house.) Got my Travel Bagel for Tuesday, and got my steps in for today.

We had our last show at 1pm. The streets were a lot quieter than they'd been on Saturday; I think a lot of people need to fly home today. We had a good audience. After the show I snuck the souvenirs for Kayle's family and Raven into my mute bag, and brought my mutes to the hotel with me to go in my luggage. They're bulky but a lot lighter than the souvenirs; this is all about luggage weight for the flight out of Chicago. When we get to Amarillo I'll swap everything back to normal.

And then...blessed NOTHING. Nothing to do this evening, nowhere to be.
I showered, put on pajamas, made a cup of hot tea, ate dinner eventually, watched Seven Deadly Sins.

Ah...the joy of introversion.

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It is now exactly one month until the end of this tour.

As always when this happens (what a blessing, to be able to say that!) I am wondering what happens next.
Will I get to go on another tour? Will I go back to the nursing home job? Will I be able to find full time work this time?

Tomorrow is our Golden Day. I was going to visit a museum but may instead make it a lazy, restful day because next week in Albuquerque I won't have a single day to myself for the whole week (family visiting and local friends too.) I'll do laundry, and maybe it's late enough to start applying for jobs. For dinner I want to get omurice with Laura (drummer.) If I feel up for an adventure I'll have one, but the truth is I've been to Chicago many times and have done quite a lot here over the years! It's OK to have a staycation :)

LONG post. You've been warned.

I had set an early alarm for Thursday knowing there'd be limited time to do things before our understudy rehearsal, but was so tired that I went back to sleep for an additional hour.

No matter. It was still a productive morning. I managed to make an appointment to get some testing done while we're in South Carolina; it's always a pain to do/schedule medical things while traveling for work. Then I sent a portfolio and resume to an opportunity I'm interested in. The opportunity isn't until 2025, but I want to be in consideration from the start because you never know what people will need and when. Maybe I'm being an annoyance, but I'd rather get my hat in the ring early than hear later, "Oh, we've already picked someone for that job."

Then, rehearsal. The call time was 12:15 and it ran until 4:30pm. The purpose was for the understudies--not just actors but also our assistant MD--to be able to do a whole show. Since it was for such a good cause I was happy to be there, but near the end my goodness we were getting hungry.

That pretty much took the whole day. I had time to go back to the hotel, shower, eat dinner, and decompress a bit before it was time to do the show.

Also, Jameson has applied to another corporate opportunity with Disney. I don't know if he has good odds of getting it, and after what happened last time (a string of interviews ending in no job offer and literal silence) I don't want to get hopes up. But still, a chance is a chance.

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Friday, my stepmom and sister drove into town to visit!
After getting them settled into their hotel room, we walked over to Bae Bae's Kitchen, which is kind of mod-Korean plates and cocktails.

My pandan cocktail (with house-made pandan syrup!) and Kate's plum sour.


For the plates you could choose a protein and two sides. I did panko shrimp and two pickled dishes, white kimchi and yellow radish. Everything was fresh and delicious.


From there we took an Uber to Phipps Conservatory, a sort of botanical garden/greenhouse.



For the winter they have an orchid and bonsai tree display. There was also a miniature train set that was cute (didn't get a pic of that), a desert plants area, and many fruiting and spice trees/plants. We had a good time walking through and looking at as much as we could see!







We finished up earlier than planned because the outdoor sections were closed, and also frankly the displays were not as extensive as we had expected overall. I mean, orchids are lovely and everything, but after the fourth room of them or so it's kind of like...ok more orchids...got it...haha. But we did enjoy the experience :)

To kill time I suggested hitting The Strip for window shopping. The initial plan was to go to Prestogeorge's for coffee or tea, but the Uber dropped us off right in front of an Asian grocery and I knew Kate especially would lose her MIND in there!

An hour and a half later we marched out with all kinds of goodies to try! My sister and stepmom are from a rather small PA town, and while it has a small Thai/Asian grocery, there's not nearly the selection that you can find in a large city. I was so happy that they'd enjoyed new and exciting grocery items just as much as I did! We opted to walk back this time as it was only about a mile to the hotel.

After a brief rest and prep we walked to Gaucho, an Argentinian steakhouse where I'd made reservations for us.
Despite being a steakhouse it wasn't super-upscale; the food was certainly steakhouse-quality, but reasonably priced and there were small plates as well as the expensive wood-fired premium steak entrees. Oddly enough, I was the only one who got steak! A sliced steak sandwich with roasted veggies and chimichurri on HUGE fluffy ciabatta. Everything wood-fired and with a beautiful smoky sear to it, even the bread.


Kate got the seafood special which was seared scallops on a bed of pureed potato and turnip with crusty wood-fired bread (nobody took a pic somehow.) My stepmom got a roasted eggplant with roasted carrots, onions, beets, couscous, lemon ricotta, and pistachio gremolata. All of us tried it and honestly, I think it was the best dish of the three. The flavor was just incredible, between the smoke and the rich spices and the creamy lemon ricotta.


For dessert we had coffee and shared a banana dulce de leche bread pudding (as you can see, it was ALSO fire-roasted!)


Everything was amazing. I saved half my sandwich but everyone else crushed their meals. Good job us!
We walked to the theatre and picked up the tickets at the box office, then I left them in the lobby and went to the pit to do the show. It went pretty well, though I made some total weirdo mistakes, probably from being nervous with family there and also from being tired (socialization is draining on me no matter who I'm with or how much I love them.) After the show I found my fam in the lobby and we walked back to the hotel together. They had a great time and said they absolutely loved the show. Yay!

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Saturday I was up early to work on Foodie Finds for Auburn because it's recently been pointed out to me that we DO have time to explore there. I wanted to add some downtown options in case people find the time/money to Uber there and check things out.

I met my stepmom and sister in the hotel lobby, and we walked to The Speckled Egg for breakfast. I was very thankful to have made reservations because we overheard the hostess say that there would not be open tables until 1pm!!

We were seated right away and enjoyed catching up with each other while eating bagels with lox, a crab and lobster roll, and "Hen's Hash," which was over easy eggs on potato, sweet potato, brussels, mushroom, and onion, with sourdough toast and a drizzle of house-made pineapple habanero vinegar. That was my dish, and it was simple yet the seasoning was perfect and it felt healthy to eat :)


When we were done eating we took time to appreciate the architecture (the restaurant is located inside the Union Trust Building which like many skyscrapers in Pittsburgh is historic and beautiful.)


We made sure to get selfies in the lobby!


I am extremely grateful for this time with family. Because of my lifestyle it is difficult to coordinate visits with family; time home is brief, so much needs to be done when I'm NOT moving all around, and then when I catch them during tour like this our time is limited. Which is why I'm so grateful that they drove four hours just to spend time with me, and see the show. And yeah, eat some great food!

Back at the hotel I walked them back to their room, then we hugged goodbye. I'll see Kate again soon when we do the sibling trip to Mexico! Then it was time to type this post and digest that exquisite breakfast before the 2pm matinee. It went well, and our assistant MD got to conduct the show for the first time and did a wonderful job.

(photo courtesy Laura, drums)

Between shows I finished fixing the Auburn Foodie Finds sheet, and tried to chill and drink tea because I was feeling a little yucky. Our French hornist has a cold (she says it's a cold anyway) and she'd BETTER not have given it to me.

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Sunday was my birthday! The big 4-0!

I spent the morning responding to a barrage of well-wishes on social media. People are so kind! But today is certainly the day that I hate facebook the most haha.

Then, to my surprise, I got a message from one of the trombonists who sat next to me for Candlelight.
He was the musician from The Florida Orchestra, on the gig where I ran to my seat with only two minutes to spare before downbeat. He wanted to know if I'd sub for the orchestra on Trombone 2, for an upcoming Pops concert in May (Disco-themed!) I have nothing lined up so of course I said yes!

Here it is, you guys! The payoff! All of that finagling last year, and I actually get to sub with an established symphony orchestra. It may not seem like much, but to me it's the fulfillment of a dream (and also an absolute strategical win; my inner INTJ is CACKLING)
A fantastic birthday present!

Soon it was time to walk to the theatre.
There's an art installation on the way. It seems eerily meant for me.


I shared it to my socials, with the following caption:

"Today I am 40, and spending the day being a trombonist with My Fair Lady at the Benedum Center. Which is next to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where I performed with the All-Eastern Band as a high school student in 2001…hoping to become a professional musician.

"In a way, it’s a full-circle moment. I’m surprised, happy, and maybe even a little bit proud…that in the end, I really did get to be a musician after all. And on some pretty amazing gigs too. How wild is that? Looking back, it feels like a miracle.

"Today I’m playing two shows. And the fact that that’s “normal” to me is incredibly special.
————————————
"Edit to Add: It’s special because this wasn’t just my dream. It was my mother’s dream too. She passed away before she could see me realize it.

"She never once discouraged me from music.
She never once tried to bar my path.
She never once suggested I try something “safer.”

"She supported my dream of becoming a professional musician with no reservations.
And I have felt her love, and her unconditional support, every step of the way."

I don't feel particularly older, today. But giving my first masterclass last week made me realize that I AM older...and as a musician, I'm now considered to have "made it" in music. As I'm still struggling to find work and get gigs, this is surprising to me. And yet, from the perspective of a kid in college with no experience, I have done a LOT. I am surprised to look back and see so much. Life is strange. I'm grateful to be here.

The show went well. All of our shows here have been very well attended.
Between shows I partial-packed and did more responding to b-day wishes.
The evening show also went well. At intermission Company Management called me into the office to receive this loverly card from the cast! How nice! Several people took this time to thank me for doing Foodie Finds, which made me feel extra warm and fuzzy.


And then, the show was over. Did the usual pack up, typed up this post, and went to bed.

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Tomorrow we fly to Atlanta, and from there it's a two hour bus ride to Auburn, Alabama.
I've never been there before, and we do get a little time to explore so I'm hoping to see the downtown and visit a restaurant.
But I also REALLY need to do laundry!

On Thursday morning I woke up early because my body is still semi-east coast time.
Knowing this would happen, I'd planned a trip to Goldy's Breakfast Bistro.

This wasn't a restaurant on my Foodie Finds list because their menu is pretty basic, but someone else in the group (I'm now up to an even 30 members) recommended it, and I thought, why not take someone else's suggestion for a change.

I was fortunate to get there before it got slam-packed, and was able to sit in an upper floor overlooking the dining room.
It was a pretty cool view!


You could clearly see the griddle and register from here too. Employees did not look like they were pretending to smile; they legit seemed to be enjoying their day every time I looked :) And the food was coming out quickly, efficiently, and beautifully plated.


I hadn't planned to get a drink, but they had their own specialty mimosa made with orange, guava, mango, and cranberry juices, so I got it. And it was GIGANTIC. Whoops! Happy mistake, heehee.


I glugged that and enjoyed people-watching until my food came, Andalusian eggs; Two "poached" eggs over house-made marinara, chopped ham and chorizo, peppers, and asparagus. Fresh and relatively healthy, and the eggs (although not truly poached as advertised) were perfectly runny, adding richness to the stew of veggies. In fact it was a lot like a rough-chopped shakshuka.


My meal came with "choice of bread".
I asked the server: "Does that include the muffins and biscuits?"
"Yes!" he replied.
"Are your muffins made in-house?" I inquired.
"Yes, all of them!" he replied proudly.

Well!
In that case my "choice of bread" became a house-made bread pudding muffin, which I can't WAIT to eat later!
Because why get plain toast when you could have THIS


Everything was delicious, I'm glad someone recommended this great breakfast spot!
In fact the person who had recommended Goldy's had also insisted, INSISTED, that I pick up their house-made seasoning blend. I normally travel with an assortment of spices and seasonings on tour anyway, and right now I only have salt and pepper. Into my take-home bag went my leftovers, the muffin, and Goldy's Seasoning.


Afterward I walked off my meal (well, the giant mimosa really!) by strolling to the Idaho State Capitol.
We've had so little time to explore here because of rehearsals, I wanted to see at least one iconic spot.

It was a cold crisp day, and a clear blue sky, with the capitol building looking nice and imposing.


A half hour walk back to the hotel, where I promptly got back into pajamas and spent the rest of my day goofing off online and packing for the bus ride to Salt Lake.

Our evening show went well. My little solo in "I'm An Ordinary Man" was better than it has been all week, and I'm convinced it's because I kept my hand on the cup mute and pulled it partway out before playing the solo. Hopefully the new cup mute (arriving in a few days in Salt Lake) will be a good solution for this issue. And if not maybe I could try just not sucking :p

After the show was our first load out. Joel and I are new so we had to figure out where our stuff would fit in the band road case. My instrument and case are fairly large, so there was kind of no other place for me to put it than this shelf, and stuff my mute bag on top. The trumpet and French horn then put their shared mute bag at the base of the trombone. They both say they'll carry their instruments with them often, so I'm hoping to be able to throw a few small-yet-heavy items into the band box as well, like my black boots and my umbrella. We will see what everyone's space needs are.


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After a lousy sleep due to anxiousness about the travel day and my upcoming Disney overnight rehearsal, had a good breakfast and some computer time before the bus call at 8:30am. And off we went.

The scenery started out with rolling, hilly mountains brushed with a fuzz of dead brown grasses and tough high-mountain shrubs. I munched on my bread pudding muffin and contemplated the strange world we live in, where a trombonist from Florida can be on a charter bus in the vast punishing wilds of Idaho, eating a carefully crafted pastry that would make kings and queens and Depression-era ancestors green with envy.


At one point, staring out the window and thinking of nothing special, I saw a herd of sheep (pretty sure they were sheep and not goats) running. I wasn't fast enough to catch their short sprint, but if you look carefully you can see one in the middle doing an energetic jump-and-kick as the herd moves down the mountain (CLICK HERE to watch)

As we crossed into Utah the Rockies appeared, imposing and jagged and snow-capped.


I felt intimidated by them even this far away. A similar feeling to looking at the vast, dark, monstrously beautiful ocean, and knowing that here is a place that could snuff out your life as though you never existed in the first place. Made me feel as tiny and insignificant as an ant. And yet, they are wondrous and beautiful and inviting all the same.

Anyway, fiveish hours later we were in Salt Lake and pulling up to the hotel.
She's a ritzy one, folks! Very modern, very clean.


Per my normal tour routine, I had a look at the hotel fridge to make sure it was working, then hoofed it to the nearest grocery which this week is a fabulous chain called Harmon's. And in fact, I instantly remembered visiting this exact grocery while traveling with the circus years ago. I hope to take a walk down to our train yard and feel the nostalgia.

But before that, groceries. I got my normal things, and ogled at the fancy goodies that I couldn't afford.
My, look at that marbling...and that price tag!


A Buddha's hand citrus, which has not been purchased because it is rudely flipping off anyone who comes near!


I can't resist buying a few local and/or unique items, as usual.
This week I chose maple brown butter pretzels (they also had garlic parm, dill pickle, and Mexican street corn flavors);
V Chocolates truffles which are made right here in Salt Lake City;
Caffe Ibis cinnamon hazelnut coffee, which is also Utah-local;
and Harmon Grocery's own challah rolls, which they make in-house.


Back at the hotel I put everything away and started unpacking, and noticed that it was still very cold in my room and the thermostat would not get above 65 no matter what I did. Called maintenance and they were there super fast, and within minutes it was nice and toasty, and soon after that I was all unpacked and ready for a week-plus here in SLC.

It's been a while since I've seen this setup! Cooking at the desk this week!


I was tempted to crash for the night, but it was still early and I had promised myself gelato!

I walked a few blocks to Capo Gelateria Italiana, which was actually recommended to us by a company manager over on Hadestown. The gelato shop is attached to an authentic pizzeria, and both were HOPPING at 8pm on a Friday night. In fact it was standing room only inside, so I ate my treat outside even though it was cold. The last thing I need is to catch covid or the flu from some rando in a gelato shop.

Capo makes their gelato in-house the traditional way, and it was incredible.


I got the stracciatella, which the server told me is made with caramelized vanilla and dark chocolate shavings; and the pistachio, which had the most vibrant pistachio flavor I've ever had from anything other than an actual pistachio. The nut pieces inside were somehow still crunchy too! The pistachio was good, but the stracciatella was sublime. I don't know what "caramelized" means in this context--like what they did to get that flavor--but it was far more complex and smoky and rich than your usual vanilla. Very, very glad I got to enjoy that.

In fact, I went to bed feeling very spoiled indeed.

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Tomorrow (Saturday) we somehow have a day off(!) followed by a two-show Sunday, followed by ANOTHER day off on Monday!
I'm extremely excited. I've been here before with the circus, but our show schedule was always tight and there wasn't a lot of time to explore. Plus, we are here in SLC for more than a week!

Because of the wonky scheduling, and because I plan to do a lot while we're in this city, I've decided to post today instead of on Monday.

Tomorrow I want to eat at a local vegan restaurant, then visit the natural history museum, and that will certainly involve a lot of pictures!

Thursday was fairly normal. I did a bit of worrying about my new transcription job...mostly I just hate waiting on that background check! It makes me feel I don't truly have a job yet. Impatient!

So I distracted myself with finishing the Minneapolis Foodie Finds sheet,
and a list of to-do's for post-tour life,
and a list of post-tour to-buy's on Amazon,
and a list of my personal Top 10 Tour Eats to share later.

Are you seeing a trend here? Lists and lists :p

I wanted to explore Madison's famous State Street lined with quaint shops, and take a walk around the Capitol building.
But every time I tried to get dressed and get going, my brain was like..."nnnnnnnOOOOOOOoooooo thank you."

So it turned into a very lazy Thursday of slumming around in pajamas, drinking tea, steaming some broccolini for dinner (which stank up my whole hotel room), and watching anime. Outside it was hazy and yellowish; the smoke from the Canada wildfires has finally moved into this area and it's definitely apparent. Not as bad as New York, but certainly noticeable. It is supposed to clear up tomorrow, so perhaps it was better to stay inside today anyway.

The evening show was just fine.
Our mascots collaborated on their poses this week.


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Friday turned out to be a very lovely day, one of those rare in-the-moment adventures that I will miss badly once this chapter of my life is over.

( CLICK HERE for Friday Adventures )

After finishing my walk back and putting my bagel and scone and fruit and rocks away, I walked the few blocks to Paul's Pel'meni for lunch.

Paul's is one of the top-rated restaurants in Madison, yet they only sell one thing: Russian dumplings called pel'meni.
They have two flavors, potato or beef. You can get one or the other or a mix of both.

I got a half-order of both flavors (about 20 dumplings.)
The available toppings were curry powder, butter, cilantro, sweet hot chili sauce, and sour cream.
For me it was everything but the butter, and I asked for the hot sauce and sour cream on the side.
The dumplings were super small, about half the size of a potsticker.


Here are the fillings:


I liked the beef best, it had a rich flavor like the meat had been simmered in broth and herbs.
The potato ones were yummy too though, and both of them were awesome with a dip of the sweet hot sauce and a little sour cream.


And since I ate them at the restaurant, there was the additional condiment of sweetened vinegar at each table.
That was REALLY good with both types of dumplings, although it did sting my stomach later on. Worth it!

I ate half the dumplings and took the rest home to eat for a snack later.

Chilling out in my hotel room, I reflected on what a beautiful solitary day this had been.

When the temperature is just right for walking;
and the local bakery has freshly baked scones;
and there are flowers in bloom everywhere you look;
and there are magical discoveries to be made in stores and on sidewalks...
it was the kind of day that comes rarely,
That makes me feel present, and alive.

I felt so grateful.

Who knows what will come tomorrow.
But for now, I had today.

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The show in the evening went well.
Of course I brought the glowyrocks for show-and-tell, and everyone oohed and aahed over them.
Taking pictures and videos of glowing rocks under black light is DIFFICULT, btw.

I managed to get just a few good shots
(CLICK HERE to see, use the arrows to right and left to scroll between media)

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Saturday I had a very slow morning, and finally practiced all of Spamalot Act 2 (it's been tough because I am tacet for a lot of it, so it's hard to pay attention when you're not playing.)

We had two shows, and both of them went pretty well with a full house and enthusiastic audiences.
Can't think of anything special to report; it was a normal two show day.

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Sunday, the usual pre-packing.
Prepping a tote of snacks and supplies for the 6-hour bus ride to Milwaukee tomorrow.

Both shows went well. Jameson's parents came to the evening show, so I got to chat with them briefly afterward.
It's been nice spending time with them while in Wisconsin; hopefully they'll come visit us in Florida or Jameson and I will get to visit them together soon.

We now have only eight shows left before the tour is over.

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Other Stuff:

Pictures of the Capitol building, at night and during the day.
I never did do that tour, but it was nice to just look at the building.



Peaches, my childhood favorite stuffed animal, who I brought on this last leg of tour to keep me company.
I built him a pillow fort, but he looks annoyed. Perhaps the thread count isn't up to his standards.


The final Megan's Foodie Finds restaurant recommendations sheet can be found HERE.

It's been really fun making these and running the group, and I think people have enjoyed it :)

I woke up at 6am. Ready for ADVENTURE dammit.

A quick breakfast and walking to pick up a rental car.
Started to drive it to the Arboretum but decided to stop at Walmart on the way for some annoying necessities: a new sponge, my protein shakes for next week, and packing supplies because I know I'll be sending souvenirs from Eataly.

That done, onward to the FUN bits!

The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is supposedly one of the top in the world, so even though admission was expensive I felt it important to see it while I can.

( CLICK HERE for Flowers )
This was a beautiful way to spend the morning, and I was grateful to fill my eyes with color and beauty for a few hours.

Next up, Eataly!

Eataly is like an Italian supermarket specializing in both imported goods and house-made authentic Italian foods.
This one in Dallas opened very recently, I think during the pandemic.
It's smaller than the more established locations in Chicago or New York, but still has an awesome selection and is well worth browsing.

I started with lunch at the pasta bar, where they were making fresh pasta and either putting it in the display case or cooking it up for guests.
There were many great options and it was hard to choose just one, but I landed on the tagliatelle alla bolognese.

Ribbon-like premium Italian semolina noodles made in-house with local Texas eggs, with a delicious bolognese.


It was SO good. Chewy ribbons of pasta, the texture was insane, and the bolognese was perfectly balanced and you could see the chunks of vegetables in it along with the ground sausage. I savored every bite.

Then I did my shopping, mostly for souvenirs for select family (those with kids) and Jameson.
Everyone got some sort of authentic Italian pasta.
I added some traditional savory Italian snack crackers to the boxes for Jameson and my Aunt, and a big chunk of torrone for Jameson.

There was so much good stuff.
Aisles of dried pasta of course, all direct from Italy, but then there was the fresh pasta bar with the stuff they make in house using imported Italian semolina. I could eat this all day!
(CLICK HERE for pasta!)

Aisles of imported crackers, breads, cookies, chips, and snacks.
Here I found tarallini in cacio e pepe (cheese and pepper) flavor, truffle-dusted toasted corn and nuts, and a variety of crisp breads.


There were also aisles with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tomato products, fruit jams, nut butter spreads (including pistachio spread), preserved fruits, salts and seasonings, and an endcap devoted to truffles (black truffle salt was $30!!)

In other areas of the store were cheese islands with imported cheeses and house-made mozzarella and parmesan; a cured meats section with sliced and whole salami and prosciutto and all the others; smoked meats and raw beef products both imported and Texas-local.


The seafood counter had an amazing selection including a WHOLE octopus, and some incredibly beautiful (and $$$!) scallops.



There was produce as well, and imported Italian drinks (most of which you can actually buy in the US so I didn't bother with it), and a wine section, and a beautiful bakery churning out big round boules of country bread and focaccia shining with oil and dried herbs.

I didn't photograph as much as I wanted because A) camera full of flower pictures and B) there's a really good walkthrough HERE that will show you pretty much everything that I saw today :)

Highlights from the counter service end of the bakery, which had mini cakes and pastries and drool-worthy pizzas:




And more aisles and aisles of sweets, like truffles, chocolates, gummies, hard candies, biscotti, cookies, cakes, sweetbreads, dessert aperitifs, and more that I'm probably forgetting.


Here I grabbed some gummies for my sister's kids, and hard candies for my Aunt, and truffles and chocolates for everyone.
There was a full-service LaVazza cafe downstairs but I didn't even go to look...I didn't want to be tempted!

Checking out was painful for my bank account, but it makes me happy that my family can enjoy some treats "with" me!
Money comes and goes. Experiences are well worth it!!

So that was Eataly.
Next up: Asian grocery stores!

I had found out that there was an H-Mart and a 99 Ranch just about 20 minutes northwest of Eataly.
And I had a rental car for the day, so why not!

Truth be told, the H-Mart was far superior to the 99 Ranch for quantity of products, but I couldn't know that without visiting both.
Plus, I saw interesting things at both locations!

At this point I was feeling pretty dang tired, and didn't want to over-buy, so mostly just looked for the enjoyment and picked out a few things for myself.

Here are some interesting foods that I found.
A whole silkie chicken. They have blue-black skin and grey flesh, and I've heard they taste gamier than regular chicken too.


Actual white eggplants, which I've rarely seen in stores:


Fresh durian fruit! (yes, the stinky one. if it's not cut it won't stink.)


As usual with Asian grocery stores, ALL the drinks on the planet. Most of these are so insanely high in sugar, or full of powdered milk product, that I won't get to try them, but I do try to pick out one drink every time.


Some very gorgeous sashimi. I already had dinner plans or I would have bought some.


Misc flavors of Kit-Kats! Here are red bean, melon, peach, and some Halloween-themed flavor which I think was either flan or creme brulee.


Near the front of the store was this potato roasting oven!
It was plugged in and on...I'm pretty sure it's meant to either roast your own potatoes, or the store roasts them and you can buy them.
I've never seen this before. Very cool!


Just goes to show that once you've seen an H-Mart, you definitely HAVEN'T seen them all!

Now I really WAS tired, and needed to get the heat-sensitive Italian candies back to the hotel.
So I drove back, returned the rental car, and took a much-needed hour to hydrate and rest before walking to Billy Can Can, a saloon with an upscale menu featuring game meats.

I sat at the bar because it was just me, and the bartender was greeting people like he knew them.
Sure enough, the people to my right and left were both local and regulars, which was good to see (because that means this place is probably awesome).

I ordered the venison tartare, which was an appetizer, and the happy hour red wine which was a TX-local cabernet sauvignon.


Venison tartare with dried cherries, capers, juniper, egg yolk, sea salt, fried onions, and mayo served with toasted ciabatta.


It was incredible. Minced finely but every piece was still identifiable...you can see bits of onion and thyme and such in this pic.
I ate and drank slowly and enjoyed every bite, listening to the conversations around me and just appreciating the ability to be here, and to do this, and all the things that I was able to do today.

I can run around botanical gardens, and crouch to take close-up pics of flowers, and climb big hills and endless stairs, because I am blessed to have good health right now and I am still medium-young.

I can rent cars and drive through unfamiliar cities, and navigate public transit, and walk through any kind of neighborhood, because I'm old/experienced enough to be independent and rely on myself, and have had past experiences that make me confident enough to do these things.

I can buy treats for my family and for myself, and try new foods, because I've saved money, and have a good and exciting job, and because my experiences have taught me to be excited by the unfamiliar rather than afraid of it. Many people decades older than myself are terrified to drive in a new place, or eat something they've never had before, or enter a store where they don't know what they'll find. And that's understandable, but it also makes me sad, because there are some amazing, low-risk things to experience in this world, and people are missing out purely because they are afraid. There are people who'd give anything to have adventures, but can't for reasons they can't control; but these are people who COULD have adventures, but choose not to.

Sitting at a random saloon in Dallas where I don't know anyone, after seeing one of the most beautiful arboretums in the world and eating some of the best food money can buy.......it made me deeply thankful.

I tell you what...there are worse ways to have a mid-life crisis.

Thursday was our day to tour The Fabulous Fox!

( CLICK HERE for the Fox )

What an incredible tour. We all thanked Carl profusely.
Also, I'm extra-glad that I recorded my personal promo videos here!
What a cool thing to be able to say, that I played in the pit orchestra at the Fabulous Fox for two whole weeks!

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Friday was a weird day.

We had one show at night. I woke up with a headache and a sharp pain in my wrist (slept on it wrong? idk) so had kind of a 'meh' day of air-tromboning along with my audition excerpts, walking to the grocery for travel foods for Monday, chatting with Jameson, and posting my deluge of pictures from the Fox theatre tour.

We were supposed to get a strong storm with potential hurricanes, but fortunately it swung south...not so fortunately for the people of Little Rock, AR :( There have been a lot of catastrophic storm systems lately.


The show was fine, and I tried to practice my excerpts a little during the half hour before showtime but it was hard to concentrate.

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Saturday, a slow morning of breakfast, coffee, packing a little, making calls to try and get a space to record my audition in Fort Myers.
So far no one has so much as called me back, which is very disheartening, but I've got to keep trying.

Both shows went well and seemed to fly by...I felt very distracted with worry about making the audition recording, and with questions about submitting the material, until I finally caved and emailed the audition coordinator some of those questions.

The other thing is PRACTICING the audition materials between now and Thursday.
Pretty much the only time that I can do it is today right before each show, and tomorrow the same.
Monday is a travel day, Tuesday is loading in.
I'll be able to "air trombone" so I can get muscle memory down and solidify articulations and such, but that's not the same as actually playing.
These are the problems with playing a LOUD instrument.

All of this is why I'm hunting down a space, rather than crossing my fingers that the next theatre will have somewhere that I can do this.
It WILL work out--I mean if I have to record outside for pete's sake, I will--but as an INTJ leaving things to chance is like my kryptonite :p

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Sunday. Slept pretty poorly, but that's kind of been the case all week!
Breakfast and reaching out to more churches to ask about using their space.

Getting to the theatre for our last show at The Fabulous Fox.

I was thrilled to sign the completed wall tag!
It's way back in the labyrinth of the basement, but that's ok. It's awesome that it's there.


There are OTHER wall tags too! Everyone wants to leave their mark in this historic theatre :)

Wardrobe made one for themselves in their room:


And here is one in the Laundry room (photo taken by Katie, I had no idea this had been made):


A shiny arch for Production! (photo courtesy Molly)


This small one is above a hallway on the 5th floor, left by "The Pants"...that is, the men.
I was an idiot and didn't see that, and left my initials because the band dressing room is also on this floor. D'oh!


Our last show was just fine. We had a pretty big audience too.
A nice sendoff to Fort Myers!

When we got out it was only around 4pm! But we have a 5am bus call tomorrow, so a lot of people will probably want to pack and get to bed early (I know I do!). It's gonna be toasty in Florida, around 92 degrees!

Random things that I forgot to mention from last week:

There was a restaurant down the street that made an entire TOOTSIE-themed menu! How cool is that!
A few people tried some dishes and said they were delicious.


I also uploaded a recording that I made of myself playing some circus music.
This is part of my portfolio that I send out when auditioning and such, but I felt it might be interesting for people to kind of visualize how the cuts, vamps, and jumps in the music work according to what's happening on the arena floor, and in each act. So I added little captions explaining what's happening or who's performing (and why they are awesome)

CLICK HERE to watch

And then a little sad news: I've decided to let go of my nursing home data entry job for the remainder of the tour.
There are two reasons.

Reason One is that for the entire two weeks in Cincinnati I was unable to do my work for more than a few minutes at a time. I spent HOURS on the phone with tech support every day for the first EIGHT DAYS of our stay, wiping my caches and running virus/malware/disk scans, reinstalling VPN and support software, and fighting with the hotel front desk to the point where an engineer had to come up and see for himself that internet truly was not working in my room, even for him, and then I ended up switching rooms at 1am which gave me a poor connection but STILL did not resolve the core issue.

Reason Two was that according to hotel staff I was the only one experiencing this issue, and after one of the many scans and updates things did sort-of go back to normal, which tells me that in addition to the poor internet I could have had a virus or something that compromised the information on my machine. I'm talking about a nursing home resident personal information. That is NOT OK. I have done everything that I can to protect the sensitive data that I work with as I travel, but the bottom line is that every week (and sometimes every few days) we are in a different city at a hotel with a different IP address and different security protocols, and ultimately ALWAYS on a public network.

This whole ordeal was incredibly stressful, demeaning, and ultimately did not resolve the problem, so I got no work done for two weeks. This is not the first time that this has happened, just the longest period of it. It's not fair to the employer, and it's become way too much stress for me to struggle with on top of travel and looking for full time post-tour work.

I've sent a letter asking to either be "put on hold" until June if for some reason they still want to keep me on, or if not, to consider it my two weeks notice and big thanks for letting me work with them this far. I feel sad, it's not how I wanted this to end, but we will see what happens.

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On Monday we had an uneventful travel day, which is the best kind of travel day!

We got to the hotel as scheduled. This hotel is one of those "artsy" ones with a "theme", which is "art", and so the "entryway" is an "art gallery". Lol.



In addition to paintings on the wall, there was a functional piece of art involving little doors that you could open to reveal misc abstract artistic statements (I suppose?). I've seen other folks playing with it and will take my turn with it eventually :)

Each floor of the hotel also has color-themed rooms, which is kinda cool.
The colors are red, yellow, green, and blue.
It looks like one of us is staying in rooms of every color except blue (or the blue room ppl ain't sharing haha)



The blue image is stock from the hotel's website.

The red room is the room I initially had, but unfortunately there was food in the fridge and something nasty in the trash, so I was quickly relocated to a smaller room that, ironically, has exactly the same layout as the room I had in Cincinnati. Once again there is limited counter space, so I'll be using the ironing board as a table. The ironing board is NOT red, if you were wondering ;)

After getting settled in I walked to the nearest grocery which was called Fresh Thyme Market.
Located in an old foundry near a college, I figured it had to be some hipster co-op or something.

But once I saw the logo I knew exactly what this was.


Does it look familiar to you? When we were in Grand Rapids earlier this year, there was a grocery called Bridge Street Market.
Which turned out to be a Meijer in disguise as a hipster co-op:


That's right, Fresh Thyme is another disguised Meijer.
So I was not surprised to see Meijer-branded products on the shelves.
It was a bit pricey, but the quality was good and they had a mix of everyday products and unique local finds.
I got some interesting things to try which I'll detail later.

Back at the hotel I unpacked and spent the rest of the night resting.

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Tuesday, I woke up too early because Central Time.
I used a laundry service because I am feeling flustered and stressed this week, and really wanted to use today for cooking and job applications. Once the laundry was sent off I fired up the Itaki and made the dried herb and tomato risotto that I'd picked up at Jungle Jim's, cooking it with chicken broth and cracked black pepper. It turned out fantastic, creamy and delicious despite the lack of cheese.


Then I did two tilapia filets, which cooked up perfectly in just 15 minutes and were flaky and tasty with the risotto and some green beans.


Then it was job applications for a while, and chores like finding a dry cleaners nearby for my coat, working on Foodie Finds for upcoming cities, trying to find a PCP back in Florida, and making plans with my friend Elliana for Wednesday.

The Fabulous Fox here in STL is right next to our hotel, so it was a short walk to get backstage.
This theatre is amazing.

(stock image)




These photos don't do it justice...there is so much going on. So much filigree, decor, history, etc.
Not to mention every square inch of the backstage is covered in signatures and wall tags from both famous and unknown bands, shows, and artists.

We are getting a tour of the entire theatre next Thursday, so I'm going to hold off on more pictures until then.
I'm very excited to learn more about this historic and incredibly beautiful theatre!

And, I'm going to be recording some portfolio materials here.
The sound isn't "the best" for that sort of thing, it's a big gaping space that feels kind of like playing in a barn.
But the timing seems right.

Anyway, our opening night show went well I think. Good crowd, and it was good to get used to the space.

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Wednesday, adventures with my friend Elliana!

Here she is:

(photo from NPR)

Elliana is circus-born; that is, she was one of those children literally born into the circus, on the road, and made her stage premiere before the age of three, riding into the ring on the back of an elephant. When I worked for Ringling, she was a Human Cannonball (that should tell you something about her bravery levels!) and now she's a circus arts instructor for several facilities here in St. Louis.

She expressed interest in having a foodie adventure together, so off we went to The Foundry Bakery!

( CLICK HERE for Foodie Adventures )

Thus ended our foodie adventure! We hugged and parted ways for now.

Back at the hotel I put my exciting food finds away and gave the duck a try. It was salty and sweet, the skin was not as crunchy as I expected but the flavor was amazing and I can see why duck cooked this way is so prized. I'll definitely enjoy eating this for the rest of the week!
I tried to look up nutrition info for my other food items as well, and think I got some pretty good estimates so I can do my calorie counting.

At the theatre, Elliana came to say hello at the edge of the pit :)


We had a good show. It was our 400th! A company photo was taken which hasn't been shared yet, I'll put it up in the next post.

Paul (our drummer) helped me to set up some recording equipment, so I messed around with that throughout the show and will be interested to see how my footage and audio came out.

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It's Thursday morning, and I just finished a podcast interview with Heidi Herriott for her "Animal Tales" podcast.
She interviews animal specialists, or just people like me with experience alongside animals, to try and get different perspectives on animal care, welfare, husbandry, etc. The interview was fun and engaging, so hopefully it will be a helpful addition to her content.

I got up very early for that, so now I'm going to take a look at my footage from last night and make notes on any changes for the next recording. Then I hope to check out a nearby Goodwill, pick up a jug of water and some oatmeal from the grocery, and enjoy some of my tasty Asian treats for lunch and dinner!

The plan for Friday is to eat at Fountain on Locust before watching Elliana perform at City Museum.
Saturday and Sunday, no plans because they're two show days.
Monday is a Golden Day, so I'd like to visit the art museum and adjacent park, then have lunch in Little Italy/The Hill.

**It's a long post, sorry!
A lot of stuff is hidden under LJ CUTS so please look out for those to see the entire post.**

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Early morning for the bus. Ride to the airport was normal.
Flight was delayed a bit, but whatever. The nice thing about earlier flights is it doesn't matter as much if you get delayed.

As we flew out from Denver I tried to get a picture of the mountains.
That dark patck, below the line of mountains and to the left, is Denver.


Landed and loaded onto the bus in Sioux Falls, and the temperature was 3 degrees Fahrenheit with a -16 windchill, which according to my weather app somehow equaled "feels like -16". I guess after a certain point it doesn't really matter.


It was brutal, bitter cold. I had planned to walk to the Sioux Falls co-op, even at 5 degrees, but did not feel comfortable doing so with the windchill. Even with my layered sweaters and coats, my legs and hands and face only have one thin layer of protection, and the co-op was more than 20 minutes away. I know when to admit I'm not equipped.

Instead I Ubered to Natural Grocers, where I didn't get much because this one was not nearly as interesting as the one in Colorado Springs. I got a different flavor of sheeps milk yogurt, and some chicken spinach sausage...oh, and they had sporks that matched my UCO mess kit! I have been wanting one for a long time because my spoon has gotten really scratched up somehow and needs replacing.

There was a Walmart right next door so I went over there for my actual groceries (see? I can shop at Walmart too. I'm not a prude, just like to buy stuff I can't afford!). We are only here for a few days so there wasn't much to get, just fruits and veggies and protein and distilled water for the kettle. Back at the hotel I was very tired, having gotten only four hours of sleep last night, so ate a simple dinner and relaxed until I fell asleep.

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Friday morning was wonderfully chill.
I woke up at 7:30, had nice warm cereal and the sheeps milk yogurt (vanilla. Very good!), and did a load of laundry in the hotel's facilities.
Since it is too cold out to walk around, I am using the hotel stairwell instead of the elevator to get some exercise.
Laundry is on the 2nd floor and I'm on the 5th. So I went up and down three flights, three times this morning. Not bad.

By the time lunchtime rolled around it was a whole 2°F outside with a -10° windchill, so I bundled up and walked to Sanaa's Gourmet Mediterranean. It was only about a 6-minute walk, but in that short time my nose and eyes felt painful because of the cold, and my pinky fingers had gone numb. Crazy!

(I am wearing three coats in this picture lol)


( CLICK HERE to read about Sanaa's restaurant )

After that I packed my dinner to bring to the theatre later because I don't think I want to walk back and forth in single-digit temps after the sun goes down tonight. I have big plans for our 35-degree Golden Day here, so that's when I'll get my exercise.

This theatre is pretty. Nice lighting.


Sound check was fine, and I ate my dinner in the Green Room. A bunch of the cast did the same, and we chatted a bit as we ate.
The show went well. For some reason during preshow there was a spotlight pointed at the pit, so I wanted to play with it.
Kevin (reeds) offered to take a picture.


Bill (trumpet) also offered to give me a headshot for my birthday!
He's a really good photographer, so I took him up on it.
Here is the result:


I've made it my profile pic on social, and may indeed use it for headshots to go with my portfolio as well.
Hopefully that's all the photos of me for a while...I'm fairly camera shy and all this attention made me nervous!

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Saturday, my birthday!

( CLICK HERE to read about my birthday )

The evening show went well also. After each show here the audience has applauded specifically for the band, which doesn't happen even half the time, so it's REALLY appreciated :)

And with that, our shows are finished here in Sioux Falls!
We load out of the theatre tonight, but will be in Sioux Falls for a day off tomorrow!

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Sunday. A Golden Day!

It was strange to wake up and have "nothing" to do. And nice!

( CLICK HERE to read about Falls Park )

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Tomorrow's travel day is going to be a little rough.
Our flight LEAVES at 7am. Which means we are riding to the airport around 5am. Which means waking up before that :/

But. The reward is a whole week in West Palm Beach.
Temps in the mid-70s! Beaches! Rental cars!
A Whole Paycheck and an outlet mall right next to the hotel!

I have many exciting plans for this week:

- aioli restaurant for avocado toast and a pastry
- Dr. Limon for ceviche
- Visiting Manatee Cove
- Picking green peppers as part of charitable outreach, organized by Brian (cast)
- Some minor outlet mall shopping

In closing: you are never too old to own an icicle sword :)

**Disclaimer: The content of this post reflects my own personal views, opinions, and experiences.
This post does NOT express the views or opinions of my employer.**

The venue: SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center
(It's so new that all I can find are the concept renders)

(stock image)

Covid Tests To Date: 90

TL;DR TikTok: Click HERE

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I slept terribly because I was constantly anticipating my alarm.
When it finally did go off I hopped up right away and got dressed, grabbed my luggage, and out the door to the waiting cab.

At the airport I had a little time for a snack before we boarded and took off.
A short layover in Salt Lake, and one last leg to Sacramento.

And just like that, I'm back on tour!

I got to the hotel way before pretty much everyone, and as a result my room wasn't ready yet.
They asked me to kill 30 minutes, so I dropped my luggage and was heading out when Adam (our new bassist) arrived.
He's from Salt Lake so it's not surprising that he showed up around the same time as me.
I told him that I was off to find Osaka-ya for Japanese treats, and he decided to tag along.

We chatted on the way about this and that, then found the little shop on a street corner.
It was even smaller than the one in San Jose had been, and it being a Monday they didn't have a big selection.
But what they did have looked beautiful, and it was hard to narrow down which to take home!


I ended up with these three, and Adam and I also munched on some peanut butter-filled mochi as we walked back.
This was his first mochi/manju experience, and he seemed to enjoy it.

In following days I ate all of these, and unfortunately they were kind of disappointing...the strawberry mochi was very artificial and left a bitter, weird aftertaste; the white bean-filled baked bun was salty rather than sweet. The purple one had cherry leaves and juice and a red bean filling, and that one was my favorite, but the bean filling was dry and it was kind of an unpleasant texture. I gotta say, the "wagashi" shop in San Jose was better by far. Sorry I couldn't give this one a better review :/

By the time we got back it had been almost an hour, and our rooms were ready.
I did my usual of dropping the luggage and having a look at the fridge before rocketing back out the door for groceries.

Along the way I noticed a gaggle of men standing on a street corner and taking turns gawking at their phones and then up at the sky.
Three construction workers in orange vests and hard hats, one homeless guy pushing a shopping cart, and a sleek-looking dude in a full suit, uncharacteristically clustered together and pointing excitedly upward. I looked and didn't see anything, but one of the construction dudes saw me looking and told me to take a picture of the sun using my phone. So I did.


Whoa. What is this witchcraft??
I didn't know at the time what would cause that, so I was a little freaked out and a LOT curious, and kept glancing up at it as I walked.
Turns out it's called a 22-degree halo, and it's a fairly common phenomenon that happens when there are cirrus clouds containing hexagonal ice crystals high up in the atmosphere. Wild! I was happy to see something so neato.

Anyway, I walked two miles to the Sacramento Natural Food Co-op.

(stock photo)

It was lovely! Nice big store, lots of organic produce, great selection of locally-grown and locally-made foods.
I got some coffee beans which smelled fantastic, and a loaf of bread from Grateful Bread.
There were many local bakery offerings to choose from and I was having trouble narrowing it down (soooo much sourdough) until this dark "Algonquin bread" caught my eye. Any unique or unheard-of flavor is a must-try for me!



I have no idea what makes this bread "Algonquin"; if anybody knows please fill me in. It's likely just some reference that I'm ignorant of. The bread is a dark brown and looks like maybe a rye or pumpernickel, but it tastes more like a Borodinsky bread. It has malted flour, wheat bran, and molasses, which give it a rich sweet flavor that is very enjoyable.

For my primary groceries I walked another mile to Safeway and just got my usual boring stuff.
Having walked nearly eight miles since arriving in Sacramento I decided to Uber back with all of my goods.
Unpacking took longer than usual both because I kind of forgot how to do it efficiently, and because there's limited counter space in this hotel room. It reminds me of the hotel in Kansas City actually; kind of a vintage, Deco theme with a lot of brass trim and aged furniture, but not a lot of actual surface area to put things out. No matter, I'll manage.

After unpacking I wolfed down a big piece of salmon with rice and broccoli for dinner, then spent the rest of the night typing this blog up and trying to remember how to do my job.

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I woke up right at 7am on Tuesday, which is of course 10am eastern time. Sigh.
Made myself some of the local coffee I'd bought (it's REALLY good) and some oatmeal with raspberries.
Took a quick walk to Target because I'd forgotten that I'm out of dish soap.
Washed the dishes, and just tried to chill.

It worked, I got in a nap before sound check, which went well.
This theatre is extremely new, and while that generally means a clean space and a good design it also means some kinks being worked out, like wifi is sketchy and there are doors with keypads that refuse to open for love or money.
Anyway, it was nice to be back and both cast and admin expressed that they had missed "their" band :)

Here's my stand, music on my iPad, and my little monitor for watching Soto (our MD) with.


Our show went well, I think we had some intonation issues from being apart, but in my experience as a musician that's pretty normal.
A good crowd, too.

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Wednesday, still up way too early.
Noticed that there was a post from Ringling's social media, announcing the reopening of the show (again) and with several AP articles and interviews and videos to pick through. There still aren't many details about what they plan to actually DO, but there will definitely be no animals, no train, and possibly no clowns. There's also a big emphasis on audience participation. Some of my circus friends are speculating a sort of "America's Got Talent" tour, and I think that's not a bad guess, but that's also not very "circus".

Anyway, the main "update" here is that they've apparently decided on a new logo.
This interview from Today has the most detail, but there are more videos on the Ringling site if you're interested.


Anyway, this announcement unfortunately took up a lot of my morning as there are people out there who think I'm a one-stop shop for Ringling info. The only reason I had All The Info while the circus was active was because I was upkeeping the blog, and the company supported my efforts with that. I don't know why people still think I'd have some sort of super-secret insider information when I haven't been employed by Feld for five years, and never even mention them unless it's to reminisce or share a news article.

Getting bombarded with questions and commentary just because I shared a link this morning was kind of a final straw for me.
Because I do "interesting things", or perhaps because I'm female and they feel they are entitled to my time and attention, over the past year I have garnered and unwanted following of specifically white men, between the ages of 25-65, who feel that they MUST send a private message for EVERY post that I make. Because just liking or leaving a comment is not enough; they require MORE. I'm supposed to take time out of my day, every time I post something, to individually respond to their private messages, usually asking a question about the content that has already been answered (i.e. "Is Ringling coming back?") or making some inappropriate remark about my abilities as a musician or as an amateur baker, or even about my appearance despite the fact that I rarely post pictures of myself (which is WHY I rarely post pictures of myself).

To sum it up, receiving six unwanted PMs this morning, all from men who can't be bothered to read what I posted or have any consideration for my time, was finally too much. I have tried to be gentle, I have tried to be polite, I have tried to be responsive despite the idiocy of the questions and the time it takes me to spoon-feed responses to these people one by one. But with Ringling coming back, there are plenty more announcements to come, and with a second tour of TOOTSIE on the horizon, I am just not going to be able to handle more and more private messages from this demographic. PMs are fine, when we are actually conversing. But that's not what this is.

So I made a short, kind of whiny TikTok, in which I begged anyone engaging with my content to please think a minute before asking a question that could possibly already have been answered by the very content that I posted.
Now, that is VAGUE considering the actual issue that I'm dealing with, which is PMs from a specific demographic.
But I am still trying to be gentle. I am still trying not to pick a fight. I am still hoping that some people are capable of changing their behavior.

Plus, I absolutely reamed out several of these men via PMs yesterday so those should have gotten the "hint" now that I'm not so cutesy and subtle. I doubt anyone will actually stop messaging me with stupid questions, or stop expecting me to dedicate chunks of time to their neediness each time I post something. But at least now I can say I've tried.

After dusting my hands of that, I took myself to the State Capitol.


There was some kind of administrative press conference thing going on on the lawn, so I couldn't get the distance I needed for a decent photo of the building. But it was nice to wander around. There's a garden attached to the capitol grounds with lots of very large trees and interesting flowers.

They had a small rose garden; most of the roses are about spent, but there were still some looking fresh.


There was a desert plant section, where some of the cacti were in bloom.


This cool little orange flower is called Lion's Tail, and it's related to mint.


I had never seen a "Chinese lantern" like this!
They were growing all over a large bush.



These pretty red coral flowers grow on the branches of a big stout tree:


But my favorite flower of all was not a part of the garden: a milk thistle standing proudly at an intersection, spiky and good.


It was getting to be around lunchtime, so I took myself to Solomon's.

(photo courtesy Visit Sacramento)

This used to be an Empire Records store, and the restaurant is now a tribute to that legacy.
It was unfortunately rather depressed-looking, perhaps because it was a weekday, but I got 1/4lb of house-smoked lox to take home and enjoy with my Algonquin bread and some egg whites and some chopped bok choy.


The evening show was just fine, we had a large crowd.
There's a line in our show, "I don't think you should be telling me what I can do with my body", that is getting a LOT more applause than usual thanks to current events.

Covid tests are now taking place after shows on Tuesday and Friday, so I got those and then walked home.

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Thursday, we had matinees.
I managed to sleep in until eight, woohoo!
A slow breakfast and the realization that I'll have to go get groceries again, I'll be out of protein and fruit soon.
I'd like another jug of water too as it's so hot here.
Vegas will be even hotter, with daytime highs above 100F.

I decided to walk to Target before the matinee, and got my groceries and the water.
On the way back I figured, why not hit Frank Fat's for their famous banana cream pie?
It's a Chinese restaurant but for some reason they have the best banana cream pie in Sacramento.


Oh yes, it was just as good as it looked!
The bananas were somehow magically perfect, not over or under-ripe.
There was enough custard to coat the bananas and not much more, giving them almost a candied or glazed appearance and texture.
Topped with a big fluffy mountain of real whipped cream, sitting on a flaky yet strong crust (it HAS to be strong to hold all that!)
Man it was good!

I ate half with lunch and half with dinner.

Both of our shows went well, I didn't do anything else special between shows.

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Friday, I woke up a bit nervous because of a job interview later in the morning.
I had breakfast and scheduled a laundry pickup with SudShare; I have tried to use this app before but the particular hotel that I was staying in would not let me leave items at the front desk for pickup. There are many cities where laundry services are not readily available, so I want to get used to using this app once in a while, and this seems like a good week to test it out.

My interview was at 10:30 and it went shockingly well.
It only took about ten minutes, and it was basically to ensure that I'm a Real Person who really can do some data entry.
MY concern here was to confirm that the job was fully remote, and that the work can be done at any time of day, as long as it actually gets done, and the answer to both of those was a strong "yes". This means that it's a job I can do both during the twelve-week layoff AND while on tour. Yay! I've never done remote work like this before, but it sounds like it could be a good fit.

While I was in the interview a Sudster picked up my laundry at the front desk, so now we wait and see what it's like to get the clothes back!

To celebrate supposedly getting a job, I took myself thrifting!


First to a Goodwill that was not on the map as "boutique" but was definitely boutique.
I was surprised to see such nice stuff in a Goodwill; prices are higher, but you also don't have to paw through a warehouse-load of clothing to find your hidden gems. I tried on several things but in the end nothing was a keeper.

There were two more vintage/thrift stores nearby so I visited each, where I found many fabric patterns that I absolutely adored but just my luck, everything was either the wrong size or wrong style. Plus their dressing rooms weren't open, so there were lines of women in front of the mirrors, all of us struggling to cram blouses over our t-shirts and try to guess if they fit well. I did find one nice blouse, a shiny black with red flowers, that I think will be good for post-tour work. Ten bucks.

By then it was well past lunch time and I was very hungry, so walked back to the hotel.
I got a message from SudShare:


That was quick! The next message was from my Sudster saying they'd drop it off in a few minutes.
I had just enough time to throw my bag in my room and scoot back down to the lobby before he showed up with my laundry.


Look how nicely folded! And the underwear was separated neatly in a smaller bag inside.
This service was WELL worth it.

Without using SudShare I would have paid $20 to Uber to the nearest laundromat (or alternatively, spent 30-45 minutes walking in 90-degree weather carrying all of my clothes to get there, then paid $7 to wash and dry, plus spent the next two hours trapped at the laundromat getting harrassed by random men while I waited. Then another $20 Uber back to the hotel (or alternatively walking back in the heat with all of my clean clothing against my sweaty body). The total cost would have been $27 plus 2-3 hours of my time. Just for one load of laundry!

But instead I paid $20 for someone to pick up, wash, dry, fold, package, and drop off my laundry while I went thrifting.
That's a good deal!

I will definitely keep this app and use it again.
Typically I have no problem walking to a laundromat or spending a few hours at one to save some money.
And a lot of hotels do have laundry facilities.
But every once in a while you have a city like this where paying someone with a car and a washer to help you out really is the best option.

Anyway you get the idea. I put the clothes away and ate lunch, then was going to take a nap but a live band started rocking out in the park across the street, go figure. Instead I watched a little Netflix and did a little Vegas research.

The evening show was nice. Our trumpet chica Yael volunteered to do a "Tootsie Takeover" on Insta, so she was making little stories throughout the day and as the night went on. I was briefly in one, awkward as usual, which you can see on this week's TikTok.

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Saturday, I woke up earlier than I wanted to. Weird dreams about baby quail kept me up. Sounds cute, but it wasn't.

Breakfast, a little internal moaning because I'd intentionally "forgotten" to get some small grocery items and would now have to walk to Target...I do this kind of thing to myself on purpose because without a reason to exercise, I often won't, and "Unless you go get that food you're going to be very hungry today" is a good way to bully myself into a walk.

So the morning was spent savoring the quiet cool of my hotel room, then huffily walking to Target for literally just a banana and some protein, then cleaning up and heading to the theatre for the matinee.

The show went well, both shows went well, nothing to report except that for the first time on this tour I had to run to the bathroom in the middle of Act I because I'd chugged a coffee right before the show started (so amateur, I REALLY should have known better!). But it didn't impact anything thankfully, and it happens to literally all of us at least once. Once in a blue moon matter does trump mind.

On the way back to the hotel I chatted with Adam (bass) who said he'd been back to Osaka-ya to try more of their manju, and that he really enjoyed it. I resolved to give them another chance tomorrow morning.

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Sunday, only one show today!

I ate breakfast and started packing, then walked back to Osaka-ya.
They did indeed have a better selection, and some fresh sushi as well, so I picked up two manju and a bento.

The manju were chocolate-filled chocolate mochi, and a sort of dorayashi (sweet pancake) wrapped around a piece of peanut mochi.
Both were quite good. The sushi was "futomaki", which is a type of vegetarian sushi roll containing picked vegetables and seasoned egg pieces. That was also really good, the flavors were sweet and sour and nostalgic. I'm glad I went back to try more of their food!

We had our one show and it went by quickly.
Really lovely audiences here in Sacramento, lots of laughter and each night a handful of people stuck around to applaud the band, which doesn't happen often and makes us feel special :)

I was happy to spend the rest of my night packing more, eating a dinner of random leftovers in my room, drinking tea, and watching anime.
In Vegas, the food situation is going to be "rags to riches".

On one hand, I have some exciting restaurants to visit including a taiyaki stand in Chinatown; a new Italian restaurant in the Arts District serving handmade pasta; a bar in Container Park that sells Hot Cheetos sliders; and an old favorite cafe, Makers & Finders, that has a really exciting and eclectic menu.

On the other hand, we are staying in Old Vegas and will have nether refrigerators nor microwaves in our rooms, meaning the rest of my meals for the week are going to consist of delicacies like canned meats and vegetables, shelf stable fruits, dry goods like nuts breads and jerky, and single-serve meals cooked in my electric skillet. Yum, yum. Going without a fridge sucks, and I'm bummed, but will make the best of it like everyone else.

Let's ROLL them dice!