GAH

Hello everyone!

Ok, so there may only be one or two of you, but still, that constitutes an "everyone" doesn't it?

Look, don't argue semantics, alright?  Geez.

I'm just stopping by to tell you I'm still here. Kind of, anyway. Nothing of true interest has been happening lately, but not by choice. If I had my way, I'd be dressed in a big, poofy, sequined evening gown, walking four adorable corgis, while dancing down Jefferson Street accompanied by a marching band.

But, since it's Pride month, I'm afraid I'd get mistaken for a drag queen. Plus, where would I find a marching band right now?  SIGH.

Nah, I'm just a little blah at the moment. There's just so much ugly and scary stuff going on.

Each day feels like it weighs a thousand pounds and it's sitting on my shoulders. It's heavy and smothery and as oppressive as a humid southern summer day.  I do my best to stay away from what is going on, because it just feels like too much at times, but it seeps in, ya know?  One day I went to bed at 6:00 just so I wouldn't have to hear about anything anymore.

I hate to admit it, but I think the muggles have finally gotten me down. Probably not forever, but for now, yeah.

Weirdly, this doesn't feel like a depression setting in. It feels more like incessant noise, only you can't put your hands over your ears to keep it out. I even feel kind of like an jerk for complaining, but it seems like no matter what you're watching or reading (out in the world, at least) something bad is happening. It's...it's a lot.

The worst part is that most of it comes from people I know on social media. I had no idea I knew so many, and forgive me for being this blunt, assholes.  Honestly, otherwise lovely people are just being THE WORST right now. Surprisingly it isn't even just on one side of the political spectrum, it's on both! People are not being rational, or reasonable, and some are being racist, and some are being pig headed, and others are being willfully ignorant, and it's just overwhelming.

Stay off social media, you say? Well, if I wanted to be cut off from everyone I know, I could do that, of course. However, since I can't see people, or go out for lunch, or stop for a chat or any other kinds of social interactions at the moment with people I really want to see, social media is kind of my only way to do that.

Sorry, this is not a "Feel bad for me" post, because I'm sure a lot of people feel like I do right now. It's just a state of the union, if you will.

I wish I could see my friends. I wish I could hug people. There are some people I want to punch in the face and some I want to kiss right on the mouth. It's a weird time, is what I'm saying, so I feel very weird right now.

At any rate, I hope you (whoever you may be) are doing well and not letting the muggles get YOU down.  Have a great day!

SO, I DID A THING

Don't get too excited, because it was ultimately not successful, but I didn't want to say anything about it until I was sure one way or the other.

Earlier this year there was an open call to be a part of a real, live movie that is coming out this year. I auditioned for it! It wasn't for a speaking part or anything like that, but it was one step up from being an extra, at least! I had to send in a video of myself doing the audition piece of it, which I did, but unfortunately I didn't get chosen.

As silly as it sounds, it was still a pretty fun experience, even if didn't work out!

So no, I will not be appearing in Bill and Ted's Face the Music movie, but I did try!  Just pretend that I'm in there, if you ultimately go to see it. :)

RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING. AGAIN.

2020. Day one-thousand and twelve. Yikes, doesn't it feel like this year has been a thousand days long?

1) We had to have the rest of the trees cut down last week and I'm sad about it!

The big ass tree that fell a couple of weeks ago (a hackberry rather than a persimmon as I reported earlier) actually cracked the trunk of the other big hackberry tree that stood next to it when it fell, so we knew it would have to be cut down as well before it fell.  Steve hired someone to come and cut it down, but because of where it was leaning, he had to cut down the three trees next to it. Our yard looks weird  and way too bright now.

I feel guilty, somehow. I know it's dumb, but I feel like God gave us these amazing trees for all these years, and we must have done something wrong for them to fall/break/have to be cut down. The worst thing I can think of was having a brief, smug thought that I bet a lot of people didn't have such nice trees in their yard, but I was glad we did. I'd like to think that God isn't that vengeful, but pride and destruction and all of that, so who knows?  Anyways, I really do miss our beautiful trees.

2) Heehee, I know I don't have to admit this, but in light of full disclosure, I will. The guy that came to cut down our trees was one of those guys that is tall, fit, and looks like the kind of person who climbs rocks without safety harnesses, rides a bike everywhere and drinks craft beer and may be a vegetarian. Hipstery, if you'll allow me to use the term. Cute and beardy.

Anyways, I was home when he and his coworker knocked off for the day and I looked outside to see if they were gone yet and saw the tree guy had taken off his shirt before getting into his truck. He had a lot of tattoos on his arms and chest, and I was originally looking at them before I noticed he was kind of buff. I caught myself staring and realized that I was acting like a desperate housewife looking at the pool boy!  Steve was home by then and saw me looking out the window, and I said "I'm sorry I'm looking at the handsome, shirtless man in the backyard!" He said "That's ok. If a topless woman was in our backyard, I'd be looking at her!" Touche, Steve. Touche.

3) Friday night Steve, Anthony and I drove down to Jasper to attend a trivia game! We have really missed our Monday trivia nights, and have been playing online trivia hosted by one of the guys who appears on the "It's a Southern Thing" videos. He talked about a live trivia event he was hosting in Jasper at a brewery, now that a lot of the restrictions have been lifted, so we decided to go on a little adventure so we could attend it.

Now, I'm sure you've heard about the COVID-19 numbers in Alabama and that they aren't exactly going down right now. We might not have gone, but the event was basically called "Social Distance Trivia" and was going to be held outside, with tables spread far apart, no contact payments and the trivia was played on our phones instead of on paper. We also had our masks for any inside stuff we needed to do. It was about as safe as going anywhere these days. Except for the fact that we got rained on, and had to play trivia in wet clothes, we had a lot of fun! It was a lot harder than we anticipated, and Steve is a slow typist, so we didn't do so great at first.  However, once we got to the second round, and I started typing, things got better. The hardest part was when he played two songs over one another, the words from one song and the music from another, and we had to tell him the artists (not the song) that were singing/playing. Luckily, Anthony knows every song ever recorded, almost Rainman style. In the end we came in second, and we won a Nerf gun and a Harry Potter coffee mug! Whee!

It was so late when we left, and we still had a long way to drive. We also hadn't eaten dinner, so we had to find a place in Back Forty, Alabama late at night that was still serving food, which wasn't easy. By the time we got home, we were so tired. I had some stuff I wanted to do, but I fell asleep before I could. Being old sucks.

4) We were supposed to be on our trip to Germany, Austria, Prague, and London this week. I'm a little sad, but not nearly as bummed as I thought I might be. I mean, the band is going to attempt to go next year, so there's that. Oddly, this trip never really felt "real" to me anyway, so maybe that's why I wasn't more upset it got cancelled. Who knows? I wouldn't mind a real trip somewhere, though. I know it won't be possible for some time yet, but I would love a nice change of scenery!