goofball on a train

**Disclaimer** The views and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and do not reflect the views or opinions of my employer. DO NOT RESHARE ANY PART OF THIS POST WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thank you.

This post covers the weekend.

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FRIDAY

It was a frustrating Friday for me. Up early with Jameson and felt ready to post about our lovely night at Disney and then make some cookies...but first facebook froze on my post while it was loading, then after the second time I typed it up I accidentally hit the AI assist button and it rewrote my whole thing with no apparent option to go back to the original...then I typed the whole thing out again and it finally posted...only for me to see that the one I'd thought was initially lost had posted too! GAH. This is how you know you're old and losing it.

Jameson left for rehearsal so I had breakfast and frantically typed up my blog...and had a similar experience where some bizarre html code was preventing me from changing the font from Normal to Bold unless I went in and manually removed the wonky html code. There were SIXTY-THREE instances of wrong code, but it was either find and delete all of those, or copy the whole thing into Notes to get the plain text and then re-insert all of the links and media one by one. It was hell no matter how you slice it.

Suffice to say, my whole morning was wasted because I was so insistent on doing my usual online oversharing. I'd meant to finish Houston Foodie Finds but it was 10am and I HAD to get started on the cookies. I made the Christmas Crack and I think it turned out all right. While that was setting in the fridge I rolled out the magic window cookie dough and made those.

And guess who accidentally bought SUGAR FREE CANDY for the window cookies!! ME!! I'm an idiot!! Had to run out and re-buy all of the candy, hurriedly crush it and get the cookies finally in the oven. And all the extra time it took to do that meant that I would not have time to practice the trombone before Jameson came home...and then I realized as well that I'd forgotten to bring my practice mute home, so couldn't even muffle myself for him.

At this point I was so flustered and disappointed and angry with myself that I was looking for anything at all to feel like I had accomplished something for the day besides ruining everything I touched. I remembered that I hadn't wiped the ceiling fan blades when I'd dusted, so grabbed the stepladder and did that. It only took about 3 minutes. When finished I folded the ladder and propped it against the back of the couch, as I've done many times before.

But when I came around the corner of the couch with the vacuum to clean up my mess, my sandal caught under the edge of the ladder that was sticking out...and the leg of the ladder went right through the back of the couch, leaving a big hole.

I screamed in anger and punched the top of the couch until my hand hurt. When I calmed down, I took a photo and sent it to Jameson, explaining what had happened. I said I'd pick up a patch kit and/or do whatever was needed to fix it. He wrote back to say that the couch is 20+ years old and is well past needing to be replaced, and why don't we go look at couches together after he was done at work? I was relieved that he wasn't angry, but also had another flash of rage at myself...now my whole evening was gone. Everything else I'd planned to do for the day would have to be pushed to tomorrow. But it's entirely my own fault. And clearly The Universe, having treated me so sweetly and generously for most of this year, has chosen this day to humble me and remind me that I'm just a tiny ant. My screaming and crying has as much impact on events as an ant's. Clearly, there was no point in trying to do anything else today since literally everything I'd done since waking up this morning had been a disaster.

So, ok. When Jameson got home from work we drove to a furniture store 30 minutes away. Put our butts in a bunch of couches and loveseats, and found one that we agreed was comfortable and perfect for us. For US. It means a lot to me to be included on these major purchase choices (never mind that this major purchase was my fault, sigh) We aren't married, it's Jameson's house, and I'm barely home because of touring. But we've been together for 11 years. I love him. I want to be a part of his life, and contribute to US as a couple and as a team. So when he includes me in these choices, and wants to get my opinion, and will split the cost of the thing with me, it does make me feel happy, and like he understands and appreciates MY need, to be a team, with him.

The couch can't be delivered for like a month, but Jameson's going to get a friend to help him move the old one out. We picked up dinner at our favorite Greek place on the way back, and watched the first episode of the new season of Fallout together. And I typed up this post to get this all off my chest, hoping that tomorrow will be a significantly better day.

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SATURDAY

TL;DR: It was thankfully just a normal day and not a repeat of Friday. Good god. What kind of karmic spiral was THAT.

I was up early, determined to finish my cookies, and I did. It took until noon, but it was finally done.
Here they all are: Christmas Crack up top in the bag, then in the box there were Apple Butter Snickerdoodles, Stained Glass Cookies, and Peanut Butter Blossoms (kisses intentionally smooshed to make them easier to store.)


And literally just as I had packaged them in tins for the neighbors, our doorbell rang...our neighbor, bringing us cookies!!
You see? The timing was meant to be! We exchanged and then walked together over to our other neighbor's house, but they seem to be out of town and will be back tomorrow. No worries.

The rest of the day I spent being nervous about Candlelight. Packed myself dinner and some snacks, and practiced the bass (I don't need the bass until tomorrow but have never played Candlelight on it and wanted to check it out.) While I did that Jameson started assembling a new desk in his office. It's specifically for keyboardists/music programming, so it's very large and shaped to fit a keyboard plus a whole bunch of gear. It looks really great! The living room is aclutter with the old desk and much of Jameson's stuff while he works, but that's ok, we ate lunch around his guitars lol.

At 3:30 I drove to EPCOT, clocked in. Brought my Christmas Crack (the recipe made A LOT) and set it on the table backstage along with many snacks from other members. Had a little time to chat with the other trombones and some trumpet buddies before it was time to line up and go perform!

Tonight's narrator was Brendan Fraser, who is very popular, so there was a huge crowd and it was standing room only in the back. I was working so obviously could not take pics or record, but will post when something becomes available.

Jeff Thomas is the principal trombone for Candlelight, and he's also principal trombone for the Orlando Philharmonic. Playing as the only trombone in a Broadway pit is very different than forming chords with an orchestral trombone section, so I have to change how I play for Candlelight :) I listen very carefully to Jeff's articulations, note lengths, dynamics, and style, and try to match that as best I can. Apparently I did a good job because he was very pleased, and our local AFM president (who plays trumpet and was sitting directly in front of me for all three performances tonight) exclaimed many times over how well Jeff and I locked in together. This made me feel really good about my performance tonight :) :)

Brendan did a great job as narrator. He didn't expound on his own career or showboat (which some other narrators will do), he had excellent pacing, and told the Nativity Story in a contemplative, emotional way that had some audience members tearing up. The audience roared for him when he took his bows. All three shows were really excellent.

After the last show, we took a low brass photo in front of the Christmas tree on stage. From left to right: Harry (bass trombone), Me, Jeff, and Robin (Tuba).


We also realized that we had an unusual number of WOMEN in the brass tonight with both Robin and I there, so we took a ladies-only photo too (I don't know everyone's names yet so will redact lol):


Tomorrow, Sarah is supposed to be filling in on trumpet, meaning we'll have one woman in EVERY brass section!! So we are DEFINITELY taking another photo tomorrow!!!

And on the way out, my friend Jacob came to say hello! We only had a brief moment, but it was so cool that he attended our show and that we got to see each other. Quick selfie (he's all the way on the left and I'm all the way on the right and everyone else is photobombing lol)


One last thing: my Christmas Crack is GONE! Those musicians DEVOURED it and were begging for the recipe (it's literally sugar, butter, chocolate, and saltines haha.) I'm secretly glad it's gone, we have more cookies than any other year prior and it's been too much for just two people! In fact when I got home my stepmom had sent a box with cookies and candy! Sheesh!

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SUNDAY

I was up at 8:30 which is late for me, but I could have slept longer. But I have so much to do all the damn time on this layoff. It feels like there hasn't been a minute to stop.

Breakfast, typing up this post, working on Houston Foodie Finds and finally effing finishing it, oh my god it should have been done a week ago. Wrapping one of the last of Jameson's presents that showed up yesterday. Practiced bass, playing through the Candlelight stuff twice because I'm a bit nervous. The new tenor trombone case that I ordered (because a latch broke on my other one) showed up, and I spent some time transferring the stickers over to it. And I'd meant to finish finding stocking stuffers for Jameson, but just wanted an hour to lie still. So I did.

When it was Candlelight time I grabbed my packed dinner and drove over. The first show was a bit wonky for me as it took my ears some time to adjust...I don't know how to describe this for non-musicians, but when you switch instruments even if you're playing the same music there is an adjustment. Some people can adjust instantly, but switching is still rather new to me. I've played tenor for almost 30 years, and have been doubling/switching back and forth between bass and tenor for less than a year. And so adjusting for the way the bass sounds and feels, and what to listen for in the context of playing a different part with these musicians, takes me longer than it might take other more skilled/experienced musicians.

Anyway, during the second show I was able to lock in better, and by the third show I really had it down...but then we were done! LOL. Everyone seemed pleased with how I'd done, and that's all that matters. I've successfully played bass for Candlelight. Yay!

We also took our Female Brass Section photo because Sarah was here, but no one has shared it just yet. Just think...in the 65-year history of Candlelight, there has probably never been one female brass musician in EVERY section on the same night, until now. After the picture as we were walking back, we discussed this, and how it felt both good to be making progress as a sex, and also how embarrassing it is that 2025 is the first time this has happened.

Additionally, if (and ONLY if) I were to be called to sub on Christmas Eve or Day, we'd have TWO women on trumpet, two on French horn, myself on trombone, and Robin on tuba, for a majority-female brass section, which DEFINITELY has not happened in the history of Candlelight. Truth be told I'd rather not be called on the holiday...but if it happens at least it'll be HISTORIC!

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Monday: An actual free day, but I have a lot to do. Last minute Christmas errands, prepping for Epic Universe, laundry and house chores mostly.

Tuesday: Full day at Epic Universe. We will see how much has changed.  

This setup did work well, though all week I will have to move deliberately and carefully to avoid hitting my instruments against each other or the wall. As if that weren't enough, it's also a really loud pit. Tim (trumpet) has asked me to play more quietly in this city, and I don't want to give him hearing damage so of course I'll try. Maybe in the next few days I'll get over it/get used to it. 

The opening night show went well regardless of all that. It sounded like a nice crowd.

This post covers Thursday night + the weekend.

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THURSDAY NIGHT

Around 5:30 Jameson came home and fetched me to go see ENCORE's preview rehearsal of Hunchback of Notre Dame.

ENCORE is a local nonprofit performing arts organization known for recruiting from the very substantial local talent pool. The organization used to be affiliated with Disney pretty directly, and as a result anyone wanting to see or be seen for hiring purposes shows up to participate. ENCORE is also known for putting on massive, gorgeous stage productions with 200-voice choirs and 150-person orchestras and incredible set pieces, which is another excellent reason to participate; it's not often that artists get to perform in ensembles of that size!

This photo is from Hunchback rehearsals. There are so many people involved that they couldn't even get everyone in frame.

(photo courtesy ENCORE facebook)

Jameson and I got downtown, parked, had an "ok" dinner at a pizza place. We walked to the theater and spent some time in the lobby so Jameson could connect with misc friends who were either seeing the show or involved in its production. I still don't know a lot of people in his circle, so just smiled politely and listened most of the time.


I DO know many people in the orchestra, and made a point to post to socials to let people know I was there in case they wanted to interact. As a result Adam, who is one of the trumpeters at Epic Universe with me, came over to say hi and catch up during intermission! He seems to be doing well and I'm glad we got to meet up!


The show was impressive and beautifully done. The orchestra was on stage, with the choir lofted THREE levels above! WOW!!

(photo courtesy ENCORE facebook)

The actors performed on set pieces at every level of the stage and balconies. And the lighting was phenomenal. Don't even get me started on how emotionally moving a 200-voice choir sounds with a full orchestra. It was honestly a privilege to hear them. A lot of the women around me were crying. I'm not a weeper myself, but definitely had goosebumps.

It's a 3-hour show but there were no stops or holds, and it ended right on time. We hung out in the lobby a bit to congratulate performers and so Jameson could say hi to a few more people, then left because we both have an early morning tomorrow. Got home around midnight.

This cicada was guarding our garage door. Isn't she beautiful!


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FRIDAY

I was up at 7 for breakfast before a dentist appointment.

The dentist's was boring, they tried to spring x-rays on me but sadly I can't afford them right now (nor do I really need them. My teeth are crooked but well-behaved otherwise.) After that I put air in my tires and gas in the car and went to the grocery for taco salad ingredients. Back home Jameson was gone to Disney corporate to do some work, but came back by lunchtime and we ate together. Then I practiced bass for a long time and enjoyed a little chillax before throwing together our taco stuff for dinner. I love taco salad because all it involves is cooking some ground turkey in spices and chopping some veg. Minimal actual cooking and super easy cleanup.

Before bed we noticed that there was more traffic on our residential street than usual. A LOT more.
Turns out the city had blocked off the main road for construction, and had put up a sign to detour traffic through our neighborhood...but then also blocked off the exit to our neighborhood. Sigh. We went outside to check out the fiasco and found some community HOA members already on top of it, calling the cops to come help. As of right now there are still people trying to cut through but at least everyone seems to be able to get out. This doesn't really bode well for traffic this week.

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SATURDAY

Up at 8am for no reason. Coffee and quiet while Jameson slept in.

I typed up a Huge Long Rant...but deleted it...but here's the short version because I've still got residual annoyance: 


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( CLICK HERE for A Rant )

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Ironically, Saturday and Sunday were indeed a sort of forced "vacation" because I had absolutely nothing planned and no one giving me any work. Jameson has worked very hard at his two(!) jobs all week, so he took this opportunity to relax with some Outside Xbox and gaming while I did some dinner prep for us, practiced bass trombone, booked some flights for upcoming layoffs, and packed things for returning to tour. We went for our neighborhood walk in the afternoon and came back hot and sweaty but at least we got some exercise. Jameson watched a horror movie while I dozed or read my book.

Dinner was a homemade bolognese that I'd made and frozen before tour started. I reheated it on the stove, made a salad, boiled some wheat spaghetti, and made garlic bread. Basic but good. Ice cream for dessert.

As we were winding down my bosses at Epic Universe reached out to see if I could do a rehearsal day, and I said yes (they've HALVED the rehearsal pay since I left but money is money and I should keep my hand in.) Now at least I've got a crumb of work to look forward to next week.

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SUNDAY

When I was younger I could sleep until noon and spend all day in bed.
As an adult I find it really hard to do nothing for an entire day! How did I do it back then??

After breakfast I made iced tea, shuffled a few more things around in my suitcase, helped Jameson take our pool string lights down (they are 6 years old and have started literally crumbling.) While we were doing that Jameson noticed what appeared to be a tiny baby snake floating in the pool. I love baby snakes and ran to scoop him out.


All the time that I was admiring him and before letting him go in the backyard, I was thinking that he looked kinda "off." His head and body had an odd angular shape, and his body near his neck was thicker than usual for a snake. I dropped his photo into iNaturalist and found out that this was not a snake at all, but an Eastern Glass Lizard! It is a "legless lizard," which sounds pedantic until you learn that he has non-snake features like eyelids and external ear holes. Neato! How cool to meet a new creature today :)

After that I sauteed some button mushrooms left over from making our salad last night. I cooked them in a little avocado oil, seasoning salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, leftover minced onions from the taco salad, parsley, and a bit of cooking wine. Didn't use a recipe, just looked up what to season them with and tried to eyeball it. They ended up a bit saltier than my preference but still very delicious, and will probably be eaten quickly :)

We watched Happy Gilmore 2 (slapstick is up Jameson's alley, not mine) and I very briefly practiced my Epic Universe music to make sure it was still floating around in my brain (it most definitely is.) Lunch, Jameson watched the Cubs game while I watched anime or read my book or felt restless. 

Seriously, how did I do so much nothing when I was younger??

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Monday: practice, some form of exercise, possibly cooking dinner for us.

Tuesday: Jameson's at Disney corporate so I'll have the house to myself, but not sure that'll change my apparent layoff routine.

I've recently both added and removed friends here, and am about to go on tour again, so figured it's time to throw this out there again.

Here is a small summary-update, to introduce myself a little and share what kind of stuffs are in my posts.

INTRO

Name: Megan
Age: 41
Married: No, BUT my partner Jameson and I have been together for over 11 years. We met while performing in the circus; he was the keyboardist and I was the trombonist. You can read about my circus life starting HERE or on any post with a "circus" tag, i.e. "circus: elephants" or "circus: train"


Occupation: Commercial musician + random other stuff to fill the gaps between gigs. I am good at and enjoy tedious work like data entry and transcription, so am always on the lookout for jobs like that.
Residence: Orlando area, United States. Florida has a tropical climate so you will hear me talking about the heat, alligators, reptiles, strange plants, etc pretty often.
Hobbies: Reading, going for walks, amateur gardening, amateur cooking/baking, being a foodie especially while on tour, watching anime.
Family: I have four siblings (in order of age: a stepsister, a sister, and a half-brother and half-sister. This is because my parents married, had my sister and I, and then divorced and both remarried resulting in my other siblings. Hope that makes sense.) Both my mom and dad have passed away, my mom from pancreatic cancer in 2001 and my dad from COVID in 2021. My grandparents are also deceased, so all I've got for blood are some aunts and uncles, most of whom I don't keep in touch with, and my mom's sister whom I love very much and is very special to me. Because my parents had a bitter divorce when I was very young, and because of how some things went during childhood with my dad and stepmom having majority custody, you may sometimes see me write with residual bitterness about family things. I try to do this only rarely or in Friends Only posts.

(me and 3 of 4 siblings)

Questions: If there's anything you'd like to know about me feel free to ask! My social media and my journal are generally very open, and I post about most aspects of my life.


WORK HISTORY

MUSIC: I went to school for music, majoring in trombone. Some music gigs I've had include Knoebels Amusement Resort band; Busch Gardens Williamsburg band; Princess Cruises house band; Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Red Unit band (for five years); Tootsie the Musical National Tour (two years); My Fair Lady National Tour (one year); Elf the Musical holiday tour (a few months); Disney's Epcot Candlelight Processional, Disney's Main Street Philharmonic (as a substitute); and a variety of local theater, big band, and orchestral performances. My big orchestral claims to fame are The Florida Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic as a substitute trombonist. You can see pictures and evidence of pretty much all of these gigs on my socials (IG and Facebook)


NON-MUSIC, PAST: I've worked a lot in music retail (Music & Arts Centers) and have been a retail manager, and also excel at administrative work, especially editing, data entry, and transcription. Some of my favorite recent jobs have been CapTel Service Specialists, which was voice-transcribing live phone calls for the FCC; and TSOLife, which was data entry for nursing homes in order document the life stories of the elderly while also compiling information to enable a better quality of life. I've had a HUGE variety of jobs throughout my life, including movie theater projectionist; janitor; confectioner; kennel associate; courtroom hearing reporter; Director of Sales for a music retailer; assembly line worker; and probably loads more that I'm not remembering right now!

PRESENT: Currently I'm working several jobs. I'm a substitute musician with The Florida Orchestra and the Orlando Philharmonic, which means if one of their regular trombonists needs a day off I am on call to fill in. I'm a substitute trombonist with the Main Street Philharmonic and the Epcot Candlelight Processional, both of which hold regular rehearsals that I attend and am paid for whether I get called to play or not. Thanks to those jobs I am a Disney Castmember, and have free access to Disney World.


As of June 2025: I have just finished five months of working as a musician/actress/"streetmosphere" entertainer for America's newest theme park, Epic Universe! I was part of a group called Place Cachee Jazz (PCJ) consisting of a trumpet, clarinet, and trombone busking in 1920s Wizarding World Paris. My character's name was Phillipa. You can still catch this show if you visit the theme park, I just won't be back in it for a while.


My other job is working on and off as a contracted transcriptionist for the Department of Justice, processing federal hearings remotely.

(UPCOMING/FUTURE): In just a few days, I am joining the 30th anniversary production of Beauty and the Beast! I have done lots of touring with non-equity shows, but this is my first true Broadway production and I'm extremely excited (and nervous) about it! This is an all-new rendition with new costumes, orchestrations, and choreography. Stay tuned!

One last thing, a "negative" about me that you should be aware of:

Peeves: As a 41-year-old woman, a musician for more than two decades, and someone who has traveled extensively and worked many MANY different types of jobs, I am deeply annoyed by people who feel the need to mansplain me on how to do this and that, or who use the comments section of my journal for unsolicited advice. If I did not explicitly ask for help or input, I do not need or want help or input. It's a journal; I often write to vent just to get things off my chest and move on, NOT to solicit life-critiques from the Peanut Gallery.

If you are one of those people who just can't help themselves, who NEED to instruct others on how to live their lives according to you, be advised that I WILL respond curtly/bluntly/rudely to advice that I did not ask for, ESPECIALLY if it's written using command language (i.e. "You SHOULD do this," or "DO THIS") or written to criticize past actions that I cannot undo (i.e. "You SHOULD HAVE done this" or "Why didn't you do X"). If you can, please refrain from using my journal as an advice dispenser to hear yourself talk.

TL;DR: I generally don't ask for or want advice, so if you feel a need to advise me, consider A) ASKING if I've tried/thought of doing something instead of assuming that I haven't, and B) Choosing your words carefully, remembering that you're talking to someone with a lot of life experience, not a child who was just born yesterday.

OK that mostly brings ya up to speed, thanks for reading!

Thursday at Epic.

I was up early working on Foodie Finds, then had intended to stop at Sprouts on the way in to work but missed my exit because I was distracted/tired so decided to skip it.

At work after getting makeup and costume on I practiced bass, but only for a bit because I felt tired.
I'm about to have like a week off here anyway, so there'll be lots of practice.

Our sets were mostly just fine.
For one set, our puffskein Plume was "dead"...that is, her battery died unexpectedly. So when we revealed her to the crowd she was perfectly still, eyes closed, "in repose," LOL. We continued on with the show because what else could we do, but during my very first break in the music I casually slid back and forced her eyelids open so people could at least get pictures of her.
Sorry b*tch, but if I gotta work, so do you hahaha

Someone from Wardrobe sent me this picture later (Plume is presumably alive here haha)


It was very hot out, with temps in the high 80s and a heat index above that (31C+). The 70-degree days and cool nights are behind us...from now until November, we will not see temps below 80 again.

Traffic getting home was horrific, it took over an hour.
I scraped my makeup off and chatted with Jameson, showered and had a snack, and chilled.

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Friday. I hadn't realized that I've got FIVE days off in a row!
Now that we're past Easter, my schedule is suddenly very light.

There is still a lot of work to do, though.
With the tour in mid-June, I have to practice daily and gather equipment (mostly for the bass as I've never toured with one before.)
This is also a time to clean, cook, and spend time with Jameson.
Selling things that I don't need and then taking what I don't sell to a donation spot.
I've got an all-female Chicago tribute band gig to practice for, and transcription is supposed to start up again in May (fingers crossed.)

After breakfast I was twitchy waiting for Jameson to wake up so I could start on chores, but with five free days ahead of me I could stand to be more patient. He was up soon enough and went for a walk, and while he was gone I cleaned our bathrooms, vacuumed, and mopped the tile floors. Then practicing bass and large tenor. Switching between the two isn't "hard" per se, but one instrument gets cold while you're playing the other and that makes it tough to sound good sometimes. Simply remembering to switch is probably the hardest part...and then on top of that I'll have to learn when to use which mutes.

Since I'm an old lady I felt tired and low-blood-sugar after that, so chilled until lunch and then even after lunch, just figured out what to cook for the week, read my book, watched anime and some luggage reviews, and emptied the dishwasher. Updated my resume with the Epic stuff.

For dinner we went out for once, to Lazy Dog. Jameson needed a break, he had a frustrating week at work culminating in the probable loss of 5 months' worth of his efforts due to the carelessness of his bosses. I don't want to put so much weight on his Disney interview on Monday but...he wants and needs it real bad.

We had fried deviled eggs for the appetizer, and he got a flight of beers while I tried a lemoncello basil cocktail that was ok-not-great (which is why I usually default to wine at chain restaurants.) For entree I got the bibimbap, which I've had here before and is rather inauthentic but flavorful and one of the healthier options on the menu. My favorite part is the carrots, which are spicy as heck.


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Saturday, after coffee I packed up a mixer that sold on Reverb and took it to UPS.
Kind of goofed off until Jameson was up and about...I can't exactly practice or do chores while he's sleeping.

We went to brunch at First Watch! Just because!
Jameson had a bloody Mary, I had a cinnamon toast cereal milk with rum and oat milk. Both were great.
And we both had French toast, he had a tres leches one with strawberries and I went for the seasonal lavender cream + berries.



Isn't that a pretty sight!
Most people would NOT like the lavender cream. By itself it was "soapy" for sure.
But spread evenly on the toast with the blueberry compote, I thought it was delicious.
I don't usually splurge like this. A great treat with my sweetheart :)

(Also when I DO splurge like this, I look up the calories ahead of time, add them to MyFitnessPal, and focus on staying within my normal daily caloric range based around the splurge. In this case, the whole plate of French toast is about 720 calories, the drink was 230, for a total of 950 calories, mostly from carbs and sugar. That left me with about 650 calories for the rest of the day, most of which ideally should be from proteins and veggies to offset the carby and sugary breakfast.)

After our lovely indulgent meal Jameson went to get a haircut and I stayed home to practice.
I played both tenor and bass, practicing switching between them, and also practiced mute changes for the first time. Most of them are tastefully written, i.e. I won't have to hold three damn mutes in my lap like I did on Elf.

After that I had to lie down a bit because playing trombone on an overfull stomach had been a Bad Idea.
But after some water I felt better, and went for a walk to earn myself 100 calories back. Sweet.
The rest of the day was chill and not worth noting.

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Sunday, I am still getting up too early but oh well. After breakfast I went out for ingredients for "white lasagna."
Back home, Jameson went on a walk and I practiced, then while he was having a dip in the pool I measured out and chopped up the veggies for the lasagna.

After lunch we didn't do much...this is Jameson's last day off for a while so he spent most of it trying (and failing) to stay calm about his interview tomorrow. I bought a few stupid things on Amazon, planned what to eat at Epcot on Tuesday when I go to see Jameson play, and turned away some people who came crawling out of the woodwork to frisk me for tickets / entry into Epic Universe.

In case anyone reading this is thinking of trying that:
     - I'm not a Universal employee. I do not receive any of the benefits of a Universal employee, including entrance to the parks.
     - Even if I WERE a Universal employee, employee previews are over. They ended around April 15th. Even employees no longer have free access to the park.
     - The best way to get into Epic Universe before opening day is to stay at one of the hotels: Terra Luna, Stella Nova, or Helios. The hotels are currently offering a limited number of single-day tickets to guests.
     - The second-best way to get into Epic Universe before opening day is to beg an Annual Passholder to get you in, or to purchase an Annual Pass yourself.

Additionally, if we haven't talked in years and you suddenly show up in my PMs pretending to be all chummy, then immediately hit me up for free stuff, you're clearly not my friend and you're definitely not getting shit :)

Anyway. It was a slow day that should have been relaxing but both of us have things on the horizon to be tense about, Jameson especially, so it just felt like a day of annoying waiting. For dinner I made a half-recipe of the "white lasagna," which is supposed to be a copycat recipe for Stouffer's Vegetable Lasagna.

(photo courtesy Sweetly Splendid which is where I got the recipe. Mine looked similar.)

Jameson described it as "A chicken pot pie lasagna," and I think he is right! I'd never thought of it that way but the process to make it is almost exactly the same, just with noodles instead of a crust. He liked it a lot so I'd make it again, but here are three notes for future me:
1) Make double the sauce.
2) Saute the veggies a little instead of throwing them in completely raw.
3) Check your dang noodles for doneness lol

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Monday: Jameson has his Disney interview, then he's got sound check for his gig with Hooligans at Epcot. I'll have a boring day of practicing and scrubbing the shower with bleach, which I only do when I know Jameson is gone so he won't have to suffer the fumes. Might take myself to a luggage outlet store as my tour luggage has taken a lot of damage and won't last much longer.

Tuesday: Normal morning, going to see Jameson play at Epcot in the afternoon/evening. This will be his first performance since getting surgery on his arm.

Wednesday and Thursday: Work at Epic.

Monday, I was up just a little before Jameson for breakfast and to feel nervous about the Steamboat Lillie rehearsal.

After Jameson went to the gym I practiced bass and packed my meals for Epic tomorrow.
Ate lunch in the car on the way to the musician's union building near downtown, which is where rehearsal would be held.

I haven't been to the union building for ages. Bad memories. When I first moved to Orlando Jameson lived in an apartment so I couldn't practice there without disturbing the neighbors. I'd practice at the union building whenever I could get a reservation for it...but 9 out of 10 times my rehearsal was halved by assholes (men) who insisted on rehearsing past their assigned time, or who would bust in in the middle of my time slot to banter and guffaw and use the space as a hang, and would glare at me for being there (even though I had more right to be there than any of them considering it was MY time slot.)

This was one of the reasons I left the union soon after. And then we moved to a house in Kissimmee anyway.

It all looked pretty much the same, maybe slightly cleaner but not much.


Three ladies were already there practicing. I introduced myself and got set up. Others were running late (people have kids and real jobs) so we used that time to try on our flapper dresses from Amazon. Our bandleader had wisely ordered multiple sizes, knowing that sometimes clothing online is not what it seems. My dress fit perfectly, and it is pale purple, almost the same color I wear as Phillipa in 1920s Paris at Epic Universe. Go figure!

When everyone else arrived we buckled down and plowed through the music piece by piece.
None of it is particularly hard, but some arrangements were pilfered online and are kind of "not the best" as far as making sense. Overall, though, people will have an easy time recognizing familiar Disney classics played in an old-timey jazz style. My favorite arrangements were the ones our bandleader did herself, you could tell she knows what she's doing as an arranger.

Overall this rehearsal went much better than I'd anticipated. Jazz is my biggest weakness as a musician, and improv jazz is worst of all. Playing it makes me feel inadequate and self-conscious. But this was a good group of patient people. And fortunately a lot of what was marked "solo" improv in my part turned out to be optional or for anyone to solo, not just trombone. Phew. It was a big relief not to have to improv much!

Back home I thanked my Morning Self for packing the Epic stuff so I wouldn't have to do it after a long day :p

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Tuesday. Halfway through April, wow.

They've moved our Epic sets by about an hour so I was able to get up an hour later, still 6:45am.

I argued with myself about bringing the bass trombone to Epic because with the schedule change I may actually have time to practice. Decided to bring it and at least have a try.

It was a normal day, quite hot and sunny. I did indeed find time to practice, only 30 minutes but way better than nothing. I was incredibly tired today, but so were a lot of other people, so maybe it's the heat or the alignments of the planets or something. Nothing else to report except that leaving work an hour later (5:30pm instead of 4:30pm) really, really sucks.

This was the "best route" according to the Googs:


What kind of squiggly-snake BS nonsense is this?!
Just horrific. And Epic isn't even open yet. Ugh.

By the time I got home I was truly exhausted, and thanked my Morning Self for insisting that I bring the bass to Epic because Evening Self had absolutely no energy for it. The morning version of me sure is stepping up this week! LOL

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Wednesday. Jameson had to get up at 8 for a doctor's appointment, so I just got up when he did.

Had breakfast and went out to get myself bagels and coffee but otherwise stayed at home and felt nervous about tonight's gig.
Practiced parts of the Steamboat music that I'm uncomfortable with, and tried to relax the rest of the time because I feel stressed and tired. Our third party has been getting our pay wrong, multiple weeks in a row, and it's stressing me out on top of misc other things.

When it got to be time to go I packed some snacks, trombone and music stand, trombone stand, mutes, in-ears, music, and dress shoes, then put on my Phillipa makeup and stockings (I had smuggled my makeup bag and stockings home from Epic for this haha.)

The venue was easy to find. Dragged all of my stuff inside and got set up.
From here, everything kind of went off the rails.

Problem 1: A child--I'm talking Gen Alpha--came running out from somewhere to do our sound setup, already on the phone with someone for help and with a panicked look on his face. Oh, lord. Sound check was supposed to be at 4pm and we did not play one note until 5pm. We found out later that the actual sound guy's grandfather had died and that's why he wasn't there...and we are all sympathetic to that. But the venue also could have told our bandleader that, so she could have had us come earlier, or made arrangements for us to warm up elsewhere while sound got their sh*t together instead of wasting an hour sitting on stage.

Problem 2: The bassist's bass started BREAKING. I don't exactly know how, but suspect that since it was hot outside and she'd had a long drive, she'd brought the car-warmed bass into the absolutely freezing theatre and it had started to crack (this is a VERY common problem with wooden instruments including clarinets, and is why unionized musicians insist on specific temperatures in performance spaces.) We all jumped on our phones and frantically started asking around for any bassists in the area to help...within the next hour.

Problem 3: Our trumpet player's audio pack died immediately meaning she'd have to do the entire show without the click track.

Problem 4: There were four songs that we didn't get to at rehearsal, that we were planning to cover at this sound check. Which we now couldn't do because due to the theater's audio crew (a child) not knowing what they were doing, we were now an hour behind schedule.

We did end up getting an emergency upright bass from a local bassist, god bless her.
And we did get our mixes together. But had absolutely no time to warm up or run any tunes.

And hey, the dresses were nice. Here's mine.


Problem 5: I have to apologize if this sounds snooty or rude, and I have loads of respect for our bandleader, who worked very hard to make this band happen. But truth is truth, and every musician on that stage with me would agree: most of these arrangements were simply NOT GOOD. Even during intermission our reed player was frantically making changes to her part to try and make it sound reasonable. There were so many times that I, a low brass instrument, was written to play ABOVE the trumpet and saxophone. That just doesn't sound good, which is why people don't WRITE that way :/

Problem 6: The click track was difficult to hear, and one of us (trumpet player) didn't have the click at all and so couldn't hear any count-offs. I tried to give her the count offs when I could, but *I* barely knew them either as we'd only had that one rehearsal and one run-through of each song (well, most songs.) The result was that we'd start with the click and quickly migrate away from it. So imagine trying to sing a song while another completely different song is playing loudly in the background. That's what it was like, and it was horrible. I stuck with it for a while but when we hit the Monsters, Inc. medley it's very syncopated AND I have a solo. I locked eyes with the drummer and we simultaneously reached out and yanked out our ear buds, lol. At least that was comedic, because the rest of the situation really wasn't.

Problem 7: Our poor bandleader had paid a professional photographer/videographer to come and take footage of this set, to use for media promotion to hopefully get the group hired for corporate events or weddings or whatever. Yikes. He probably got some decent visual footage...but I doubt much of our audio was usable the way things were going. Between the bad arrangements and not following the click track and the bassist being on an unfamiliar instrument and all of us having to play in a very cold space...it just didn't go very well.

Was it terrible? No. Every woman on that stage is an excellent musician. But circumstantially, we were screwed.
Even without the sound check issues, having a gig based on less-than-ideal arrangements, with only one run-through rehearsal, and using a click track when we had a perfectly excellent drummer, is what did us in. It's a shame. I was grateful that Jameson had NOT come out to support me for this one.

I do think that the idea of an all-female 1920s Disney jazz band is awesome!
But tonight it was too rushed, too unorganized, to come together.
Maybe in the future the parts can be refined, we can talk the bandleader out of using a click past the count-off, and we can have more rehearsals. I think all of that would make this a great band.


(but the odds of me playing with this group again, after that experience, are slim.)

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Thursday: I was supposed to have a bass lesson but Will is still recovering from surgery so it's a day off. Practice, some chores, the usual.

Friday: Another day off, I'll cook dinner and probably find other things that need to be done. Still have a lot of crap to list for sale online.

Saturday: Day at Epic.

Sunday: Easter, Easter church gig, eating candy all day with Jameson hopefully, making us a nice-but-basic Easter dinner. Thinking of my mom (Easter was her favorite holiday.)

Addendum: Someone made a video of our full set at Epic a few days ago! I didn't play my best (this was the last set of Tuesday and I was ungodly tired and unfocused) but now you can hear ALL of the lines and see Plume's big reveal, the percussion number, etc!
(and yes, we know we need to be miked, we've been asking for mics from day one and will continue to push for them!!)

Watch on YouTube

Up very early again for Epic.

30 minutes to do the hair. I am pretty annoyed because I just got it cut on Monday, and they did not cut it short enough to avoid a potential bun, so now I have to pay to get it cut AGAIN. I've written in this blog many times about never being able to get a good haircut, and once again here I am with the simplest ask in the world--"Please cut it 2 inches shorter"--no special layering or styling or anything--literally just remove two inches of hair--and it's like I've asked for the stylist to bring me the sun, moon, and stars on a platter. I got home and tied up my hair and had to ask what the hell I'd just paid for. Maybe I should invest in a self-haircut 101 course, if there is such a thing, because I am tired to death of the scam that is hair salons.

Anyway. Breakfast and off to Epic.

We had our prop for most of the day...it broke once but in a fixable way, so we only had to do one show without it.
There were good crowds, and we saw Mariah (trombone) with her boyfriend, and I was surprised to see some Main Street Philharmonic people and other musicians that I know around town, who texted later to tell me how much they'd enjoyed our show and to explain that they have spouses or other family working at Universal (hence how they were able to get in for previews.) It was fun to see familiar faces out there :)

Curious to see what people think of the new park after their previews? Reddit thread HERE (Mild spoilers, nothing to ruin a visit.)

The strangest part of the day, for me, was being contacted by almost every single employer/gig on my roster!

Transcription job wrote to say there's a hold on government court cases, and would I like some civil cases instead? Sure, I said.
Easter gig sent more music, and the coordinator asked me to pick up some music from her and bring it to the gig.
My Main Street Philharmonic boss texted to try and get me to fill in as an emergency (literally within the hour), and I had to say no.
An all-female Chicago tribute band that I'd signed on with and completely forgotten about messaged to send music and coordinate a rehearsal.
My third party boss for Epic wrote to offer reimbursement on the junk trombone I bought, if I'd create him an invoice.

And the coordinator for the Steamboat Lillies (usually known as the all-female band Hourglass) sent more music, and put up an ad for our gig which I promptly shared.


In fact the only job/gig that I didn't hear from today was the tour, but I heard from them just yesterday!

Did the stars align in such a way that compelled people to communicate today, for once?
I love it! If only people were this informative and on top of communication ALL the time! :D

Partly because of this bombardment of music and scheduling, and partly because I felt it was the right thing to do, I cancelled my bass trombone lesson this evening. I couldn't picture Will and I doing anything except the same handful of exercises I've been half-neglecting while all this tenor trombone work rolls in, and also felt I'd be distracted thinking about how I need to practice all the new music I'd just received. Didn't want to waste Will's time nor mine. We can resume again on the 17th, after the busiest week in April is out of my face.

Back home Jameson was out to dinner with friends. I washed myself up, changed our sheets, downloaded the new music, made the invoice for my boss, and practiced bass for about an hour, then crashed. Dancing around in 90F / 32.2C weather drains you quickly, no matter how much water you drink.

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Slept poorly and was up too early, but enjoyed the quiet time to myself anyway.

Once Jameson was up and off to the gym I practiced bass trombone for an hour and ran a few small errands before lunch, then after lunch got my stupid hair cut a stupid second time. This time walked in with it up in the ponytail already and showed exactly where I wanted it cut, and she just angrily lopped it off. So now it looks ridiculous, like a little squared tassel, and no shaping at all was done so it looks terrible when it's down as well.

Whatever. I clearly have bad hair karma, and there have been so many bad cuts at this point that I can't afford to expect a good outcome anymore. I can still tie it back and it's certainly not long enough for a bun, so mission accomplished.

I was supposed to practice tenor trombone in the afternoon but felt tired and unmotivated. It's probably because I'm not looking forward to the Steamboat Lillies gig any more...seeing that EVIL JAZZ IMPROV in my part was a big turn-off. I can't tell you guys how much I hate improv, I find nothing enjoyable about it at all and feel like a fool every time I attempt it. Well...at least the other 80% of the gig should go just fine!

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Saturday was my preview day at Epic Universe, and it was absolutely wonderful!
So much happened that I decided to make that it's own post, which you can read HERE.

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Sunday, I was up early to type up that massive Epic Universe blog post. Uploading photos, resizing them, embedding videos, adding links, and remembering how the day went sure does take a lot of time and effort! In the process I found many lovely clips and footage of Place Cachee Jazz featuring Mariah (trombone), Adam (trumpet), and Adrian (clarinet).

Here is a 6-minute clip of our show:



After Jameson got up and around we went to Publix together.
Back home putting groceries away, doing laundry and running the dishwasher, eating lunch, packing for Epic tomorrow, and darning my Chain Chomp shirt because last night I'd found a hole in it!! It was such a clean cut that I think it must have happened when an employee was cutting the merch box open. Jameson suggested that I take it back, but I can't go to the other worlds while working so I'd have to ask a Universal employee to go all that way and switch it out for me. I decided it'd be easier to sew it up myself. I watched a YouTube video and it seemed easy enough...and it was! Except...I wasn't paying attention, and did it backwards, so the bulge-y part was on the OUTSIDE. Lol! I don't mind, you can barely see it anyway and it'll be a cute reminder of this moment :)

Practiced bass for an hour but once again couldn't drum up the motivation to practice tenor.
My plan now is to practice things during the breaks between Place Cachee sets at Epic. We'll see if this actually happens.

The rest of the night was quiet. Jameson made us hot dogs on the grill and we watched anime or gamed respectively.

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Monday and Tuesday: Working at Epic Universe. I wonder if anyone will record our shows? I hope so!

Wednesday: Subbing in at the Magic Kingdom.

Thursday: A "day off" that would have been a lesson with Will, but he's got surgery so we've cancelled.

I'm also supposed to be learning how to do civil court cases for my transcription job, but add that to the list of things I'm unmotivated to do right now.

Monday, good lord I was tired.
I'm a 90% sedentary person, so all this dancing around and tromboning in the sun for 8 hours a day + 12,000-17,000 steps feels like a lot. But it's gonna be eight days of it so I'd better adjust.

A little extra coffee was helpful.

Today was special because we got to rehearse in our actual performance spot!
Which of course I can't describe, womp womp NDA.
Also, it is in direct sun for the entire day from about 10am to 4pm, and that is going to be...tough. Because we have to be period-appropriate, and there weren't sunglasses in the 1920s in Paris (well they existed, but only as a treatment for syphilis.)
But we did fine, we just had to take breaks from the sun. When we are doing shows and not rehearsals, we will be outside for shorter periods of time......though it'll be hotter then too. Can't win haha.

I had a special thing happen: I might have made a change to the show!
While watching some of our actions/acting, I decided to have my character do something that *I* would do. It was just a small thing, but due to the timing it made everyone laugh uproariously. And to our surprise the show director didn't tell us to leave it out, so the next two casts copied it, and THEY weren't told to remove it either. So maybe it's in now? I'd love it if we could keep it. If so, it would be my own little contribution to this creation. And if not, it'll be a lovely memory.

We were released a little early, partly because it had been a hot day and partly because a lot of us have other gigs going on this week and the show director didn't want us "blowing our brains out" by which he means overplaying and injuring ourselves. I got home before 7pm (so rare!) and packed breakfast-lunch-dinner. practiced bass, all the usual.

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Tuesday, we had a slow start to the day because there was a lot of activity in our part of the "world."

We did rehearse in Our Actual Spot, but only briefly; there was a lot of painting going on and this time instead of fumes we could actually taste the paint in our mouths each time we finished playing. Like, there were particles in the air. It was totally gross and after a while between that and the dust we couldn't stand it and ended up moving. But then in the other spot we kept having to move for the cherry pickers, then a helicopter came and essentially sat on top of us making a big racket (and also probably getting footage that they shouldn't have of us rehearsing!) so our show director got exasperated and were dismissed to lunch early.

I used my lunch break to hit Whole Paycheck for my usual treats, since there is no day off for me this week.

When lunch was over we were able to do a few show run throughs, and we also enjoyed our first wand/spell tutorial!
Another show director (Pishta? Pasha?) came over from the Fantastic Beasts stage show to teach us (our director doesn't know Harry Potter lore.) We learned that there is a specific way to handle your wand involving three steps, which can be learned by reading the Cast-a-Spell Handbook.

Step 1: "Holster." The wand is in its holster and you grasp it.
Step 2: "???" I forget what this one was called but it was something obvious like "prepare to cast a spell" haha. Removing the wand from the holster and holding it in an upright position, not pointing it at anything/anyone.
Step 3: " Prime." Choosing your target and pointing your wand at it. You also have to consider the size of the thing you're casting the spell on, and whether you want the spell to effect the whole target or just part of it, because this determines how large or small your wand gestures are.

Then, you cast your spell. Make the gesture as described or illustrated, making sure to say the words in time with your gestures. It's also kind of a "swish, swish, flick" motion involving much wrist, and you only get your whole arm involved if you're trying to cover something big.

We broke into pairs and practiced casting offensive and defensive spells, making sure to follow the holster--???--prime pattern both before and after each spell. I can't share which spells we cast in our show, but rest assured that they're REAL Wizarding World spells that do exist in the lore of Harry Potter, so it's important that we get it right. We have to at least look like we're aware of the basics.



Then we took another field trip to Dark Universe!

This time we were inside the burning windmill, which is a restaurant called the Burning Blade Tavern.

(image directly from Universal website)

It's a small, dark, cool restaurant with low ceilings and low lighting. Again, going to be very popular in the Florida heat solely based on those things. There are additional artistic/immersive details about the building itself that are REALLY cool, that again I don't dare share as it could violate my NDA. We all looked around and exclaimed over the thoughtfulness of these little details, and I think guests observant enough to catch these things will appreciate them too!

It was pretty crowded, as other entertainment departments were there to be an audience, too.
Cannot share what the performer experience was like, and we don't even know if they'll actually take place in The Burning Blade or if we were just doing it there for convenience/construction purposes today. I can share that it was the same type of performance that we got to see last week, same performers, only now they've had more practice and everyone seemed more comfortable with the materials. It was quite fun :)

Back at the employee hub, we thought it would be nice to get a group photo at the Epic Universe countdown clock.
This is pretty much the only "backstage" area where we had been told we're allowed to take photos.


(other Entertainment Department group photos currently up on UOTMLife IG account)

Unfortunately, there was a security guard there preventing anyone from taking photos at the clock.
We showed him the existing, public, Universal-sanctioned images above, and he did not care.
So I guess we're not doing that. A shame, but at least the groups pictured above got their feet in the door before it closed.

In the evening there was some sort of special event for which music was wanted, so "the PR Trio"--that is, the three of us that have been most consistent with performances--were asked to stay late to give a performance. The rest of us bopped back home.

Jameson has been in a low mood lately and may be coming down with something.
I packed breakfast-lunch-dinner and practiced bass and we had a quiet night as usual.

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Wednesday, I felt pleased because this is the last day that all of us will be together at rehearsal. From today on, we've all got other gigs and commitments, and Friday will signal an end to full-time rehearsals. Yay! Don't get me wrong, I've appreciated the work and the money, and I have learned SO MUCH. It has been well worth the experience, and I'm looking forward to actually opening our show in the park!


BUT I am so incredibly behind on other parts of my life. I've barely spent any time with Jameson. I haven't cooked a single meal for almost a month. I've had to eat dinner WHILE driving every night for OVER a month. Not to mention the house chores being all backed up, and ACTUAL practice for my other gigs including Disney and the upcoming tour getting neglected. There is so much else that I need to do, and I am very much looking forward to not having every moment of my time defaulting to Epic Universe.

Anyway, today was a weird one because there were Warner Brothers executives in the park. We rehearsed indoors for a little while, then took it outside to dodge some cherry pickers and do some full runs.

After lunch the executives had made it to our part of the park, so the "PR trio" of musicians was asked to put on a show for them. They did an amazing job especially with the sun beating down on them. After that show was over the execs kind of took over the area where we play...it's an excellent photo op. We waited for a while to see if they would leave, but they didn’t seem to want to go anywhere else and we couldn’t really rehearse without disturbing them. So we went back up to the break room, had a little powwow, and at that time we presented our show director with a small gift: a tobacco pipe imported from France! I have no idea if the guy smokes or not, but it was one of our clarinetist’s ideas and we all went with it. Regardless, the show director seemed happy with the gift. We said our goodbyes and parted ways, leaving about 30 minutes early.

There are still several days of full-time rehearsal left, but this is the last time that all of us will be together. I wish that we’d been able to take a group photo, have a cast party, or memorialize the occasion in some way. But it’s OK, I’m sure that we will all see each other again in passing!

Even though they let us go 30 minutes early, all it meant for me was sitting in traffic for an additional 30 minutes. Driving in Orlando is absolutely horrific. I was looking forward to having extra time to pack my lunch and relax, but got home at the same time as I would have on any other day. Figures.

Got caught up with Jameson, packed breakfast-lunch-dinner for Disney, and did not practice bass because Jameson was talking to me while I was packing meals so it took me way too long to finish. No big deal, I usually take one night a week off from it anyway.

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Thursday: Magic Kingdom with the Main Street Phil

Friday: Last day of full time rehearsal with Epic Universe + starting transcription again

Saturday: God bless that day off + going to see Alton Brown's show at Dr. Phillips!

Sunday & Monday: Back to back Main Street Philharmonic days.

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PS: 
A Beauty and the Beast casting announcement teaser post from Disney Theatrical...IYKYK

(CLICK HERE to see)

Ooh, Monday.

Like most who didn't vote for Trump, I spent the day avoiding media/socials and trying to pretend it was just another day while a bunch of tech billionaires watched their president get inaugurated.

All I can say is the same thing I said last time: I hope that four years from now, those who voted for him can look around and see how "great" America is "again" and feel satisfied.

Some of you seem to be expecting that things will get "better." That Trump will wave some sort of magic wand that lowers the cost of your groceries or something. Personally, I'd LOVE for things to get better for all of us poor cogs. But continuing to empower one of the worst humans on the planet and expecting him to do it for you, doesn't seem like it's going to work.

I mean, it definitely didn't work the first time.

I heard a quote this week from a Chinese person on social media: "Americans think they are free because they get to have opinions, but they don't get to have choice."

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What was I saying? Oh, Monday.


(A scale model of the entire Epic Universe park. It's so big that you can't get the whole thing in frame. CLICK HERE for a video of the model.)

Early morning, breakfast, rehearsal. We were supposed to be outside in our rehearsal space but it was cold even for Florida (54 with a windchill) plus they chose today to jackhammer the exact spot where we'll be performing, so that plan was ditched. Instead we got music/guidance for an interactive bit, and worked on that until lunch. Then we did a few play-throughs and more drumming stuff.

Afterward I went to Whole Paycheck for the hot bar since traffic was 5 minutes lighter than usual due to the national holiday. Back home, of course I was tired but packed lunch and dinner for the next day and then buckled down to do 30 minutes of bass trombone practice. Tomorrow I'll do both bass and Universal memorization (by packing dinner as well as lunch I hope to save some time getting home but we'll see.)

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Tuesday, the same routine. It rained all day so we were indoors and worked on a lot of blocking. In fact it was so much new blocking that by the end of the day my brain absolutely felt like it was melting out of my ear. After a point it feels like one cannot retain any more new info, and I was definitely at that point.

Packing dinner did save me a little time, only about 15 minutes but sometimes every little bit helps. At home I took the recycling out, practiced bass, did a load of laundry, downloaded some new show files from our Dropbox, and packed my lunch for tomorrow. I did not try to do more Universal memorization, recognizing that my brain was fried for today. I can see some improvement in the bass by doing these little 30 minutes sessions, which was cheering :) And I didn't pack dinner because tomorrow I'll get the egg white avo sandwich from Panera and call that dinner.

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Wednesday wash rinse repeat, except we started the day with a French diction/accent coach (I think it's no secret that the Ministry of Magic part of the park is set in 1920s Paris so there ya go.) She only got a little time to work with us today but it was quite helpful.

Most of the day was spent playing through our full set multiple times, taking turns, which was a best case scenario for me. Having one group perform gave other groups time to air-play along and memorize, which is exactly what I've needed to do. As a result I've definitely got more than half the music memorized and am in good position to reach my goal of having everything memorized by February.

It was cold enough that it could have snowed (39°F which could have given us a wet mushy snow) so we were indoors all day. I wonder if this storm system will be past by Friday so we can spend some time in our performance spot.

At home I did the same thing, packed lunch and dinner for tomorrow and took the trash out and practiced the bass and then slammed through about half of my Main Street Phil music at double speed just to make sure it still resides in my brain.

Flyover of the current construction at Epic Universe, taken about a week ago (I'd turn the sound off, it's annoying.) Can you tell which world is which? I think How to Train Your Dragon world and Super Nintendo world are the most visually impressive.



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Thursday and Friday: More of the same I assume.

Saturday: Hoping to take Jameson out to celebrate him having his stitches out! And chores and practicing.

Sunday: More chores and practicing, possibly making caramels and a visit to my friend Bill who repaired my bass, to return the case he lent me and give him some caramels.

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