As of this past Wednesday, we’ve been in this house for two weeks. There are still boxes everywhere, though there are fewer than there were two weeks ago, and as I type this (on Thursday evening), I’m sitting here listening to some tunes (a new record from Worm Quartet, mostly) and the new LG WashTower thing that got delivered today washing the clothes that have been piling up for the past week since I last went to the laundromat. Since last weekend, I’ve stacked a bunch of boxes in the attic, hung some guitars on the walls of the office, and weirdly, discovered I own a shed.

Yes, there’s a shed on the property that wasn’t readily apparent, for a number of reasons. It’s way in the back of the property that’s deceptively large (most of an acre), painted the color of autumn leaves, and hidden behind an area a few dozen yards deep that’s thickly covered by underbrush and young (2-3 inch diameter) trees. Based on the vintage Skippy peanut butter jars holding rusted screws inside, it’s probably been abandoned for twenty years or more. The particle board walls are in rough shape, though the framing is solid and it was dry inside, if covered with cobwebs and weeds and things.

I had been planning on putting up a shed soonish anyway to hold my bikes and stuff (rather than keeping them in the finished basement that is in the process of becoming the tv/media room), but I’m now planning on replacing the walls and doors of the existing unit, cleaning it out, and using that after clearing a path (using my trusty Lidl chainsaw and newish weed trimmer) back to it. It’s likely to take a while, but it’ll get done.

Otherwise, apart from the work around the house, I’ve been busy at work, co-leading a virtual program management center workshop, and facilitating the transition of one of my old not-really-my-job-anymore responsibilities to someone new. It’s exhausting, because the workshop requires me to be “on” most of the day, and the transition involves dealing with one particular guy who has serious asshole tendencies. But, it’s getting done, and I’m heading into a long weekend. I kind of wish I wasn’t so busy and could take Friday off, but stuff’s gotta get done.

Also, I’m not at Dragoncon this weekend in ATL, though S&K are there as two-piece Humdingers (on a romantic getaway), plus I’ve got a tune in the annual songbook and have recorded a short set for the ’23 Fresh Filks 2x10s that’ll run at 8pm eastern on Friday night at the link I just posted, so I’m still involved on some level.

I’ll miss all my friends I don’t get to see so often, but it’s not like I’m not scary busy at the moment, so I’m not as broken up as I could be, and I’ll almost certainly be back next year.

As it stands, we’re planning on spending the weekend shopping for bookshelves so we can unpack a few more boxes, and hanging out with our friend Kevin for a bit. I think that’ll work out okay.

As is usual, here’s some tunes that Spotify and my hard drive spit out:

1. “Demogorgon” – Jeff Whitmire
2. “Do Your Balls Have Names” – Worm Quartet
3. “Holiday Road” – Lindsey Buckingham
4. “Candy Apple Road” – Annabelle Chairlegs
5. “Every Saturday Night” – Vandoliers
6. “Mr. Holland’s Locust” – My Son The Hurricane
7. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” – JJ Wilde & The Glorious Suns
8. “The Pit” – Mouse Rat
9. “Shoegaze” – Alabama Shakes
10. “Doombop!” – The Toxhards
11. “Jackson” – Trixie Mattel w/ Orville Peck
12. “No-No Song” – Ringo Starr
13. “Movin’ Right Along” – Fozzie, Kermit