In any normal year, I’d already be in Atlanta, hauling gear up hotel stairways, dodging Deadpools in the habitrails, and guessing which cast member of Battlestar Galactica I’d end up next to at the urinals.

But, as we all know, this isn’t a normal year.

Although I’m fully vaccinated, even with the generally good procedures DragonCon is attempting to put in place (especially my beloved filk track); there’s no way I’m heading to a state that’s still under 50% vaccinated and hanging out with 100k of my closest friends inside a few square blocks. Personally, I’m just not down with the odds on that calculated risk, and neither is the band, who’s opted to skip this year (though S&K are doing a smaller duo gig elsewhere).

That said, I do have a lot of friends who are there (many of whom depend on this sort of thing for their livelihood) and I’m missing the pleasure of their company. It’s a crazy, exhausting weekend, especially if you’re constantly hustling to sell merch and put on half-a-dozen killer shows for the fans, but nonetheless, it’s kind of a rush, and when you do get to slow down and catch your breath, it’s a great pleasure to just sit down to crack wise, sing silly songs, and share a drink or three with friends.

I’m honestly not sure I’d have the energy to really be my best this year anyway. This week has been a definite slog, with way too much C-Suite exposure, too many broken test routes, and way too many hours logged (seriously, I had more than 35 in the books when I started on Friday morning) for me to give the event the level of effort required to do the job.

I did sneak out last night to play the Art Factory open mic and do a couple of geeky tunes to maybe fill the hole, but honestly, my set was middling and it didn’t do the trick, because frankly, I was just too tired after all the work stuff and keeping up on my cycling/workout regimen (which is just as much for my mental health as it is the physical).

Oh well. I’m going to take this Labor Day weekend easy. Maybe a couple of bike rides, sure, and there’s talk of a lunch date with the Eldest, but I’m mostly going to work on getting some rest and a little distraction from the reminders of what I’d normally be doing in the Before Times™.

So…tunes. Spotify’s still got me in a left-of-the-dial classic rock mode, though there’s some definite variety in there; #1 brought back some pleasant high school vibes, and #12, which I didn’t dig in it’s original context, has really started to grow on me as the performers invovled ended up maturing and the years rambled on. Also, there’s always a place for extraneous umlauts:

1. “Hole Hearted” – Extreme
2. “Synchronicity II” – The Police
3. Helter Skelter – Mötley Crüe
4. “Back to Paradise” – .38 Special
5. “Heavy Metal – Take A Ride” – Don Felder
6. “25 or 6 to 4” – Chicago
7. “The Voice” – The Moody Blues
8. “Fire” – Jimi Hendrix
9. “Rebel Yell” – Billy Idol
10. “School Days” – The Runaways
11. “My Favorite Headache” – Geddy Lee
12. “Hunger Strike” – Temple of the Dog
13. “Jet City Woman” – Queensrÿche