I am completely aware it’s cliché at this point, but four day weeks always feel longer than typical five day weeks. I even managed to log off on time most days this time around; didn’t matter. After a con weekend of late nights, a work week of both rushing to complete scads of documents to close a big deficiency and banging heads against hard things trying to salvage a test cycle in the face of data environment failures, a house still in the throes of an active remodel, and bad hiking posture so as not to slip and fall in the mud after the week’s irregular rain?

I’m absolutely drained.

Still, as I’m an adult and a goddamn professional, I got the things done, though not all the things were, in all honesty, my best work, but <<insert further cliché about ‘being sufficiently approximate for public service’ here >>.

…and now I’m going shut up, because I have four more MFRs to knock out and a test review meeting to get through before the day’s out, and if I’m not careful, I’m going to exceed my allotment of HTML symbol codes for the day.

But tunes…lots of indie and some fun twelve-bar blues, and I legitimately laughed out loud (but quietly, because most of the rest of the house is still asleep) at #8; seriously, seek it out, because it’s a fun one.

1. “Another One” – Scott McMicken and the EVER-EXPANDING
2. “Ængus, The Prize-Winning Hog” – The Toxhards
3. “Summertime Mama” – Becca Mancari
4. “Grump” – Yucky Duster
5. “Hammer To Fall” – Queen
6. “Hot Patootie – Bless My Soul” – Meat Loaf
7. “Future Version” – Nana Grizol
8. “MILF Song” – The Puddleducks
9. “Super 8” – Jason Isbell
10. “Do Unto Others” – Pee Wee Crayton
11. “The Analog Kid” – Rush
12. “Take Me To The River” – Talking Heads
13. “All In My Mind” – Love and Rockets
14. “Dont You Go Forgetting About Me Now” – Har Mar Superstar

As has been mentioned previously, I was not a guest at Marscon this year, though attended with my family as a civilian. This convention, what I consider my “home” convention for various reasons, had gone through some changes heading into this year, in terms of management and venue, and I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect; there were some causes for concern in the weeks leading up to this weekend.

I really needn’t have worried. While there were a few hiccups, things mostly ran well enough, and for me, the people matter more than the venue or management. Plus, the new venue was actually pretty nice, and the lessons learned from this year will certainly improve next year’s events, assuming the venue remains the same.

Being badge-buying attendee for the first time in forever did free up a lot of my time, which allowed me to enjoy the experience a bit more than usual. I got to sit down at the gaming table for more than half an hour at a time, rolling some dice and spending a couple of hours roleplaying as a “murder maven” old lady detective in my friend Jonah’s Brindlewood Bay session, which was a definite pleasure. Lacking a guest’s schedule was wonderful for just slowing down and taking things in and visiting with friends.

Of course, this didn’t entirely keep me off the stage; I played a few tunes on Friday night in the ad-hoc filk circle, making music with friends and responding to requests for some of my stuff that I hadn’t played in *years* (and getting to hear some of my former bandmates do some wonderful harmonies!), singing some karaoke on Saturday night, and being added as a performer for the traditional con-ending “Round Robin” musical performance, getting to play a few of my own tunes on stage, as well as backing up and jamming with my friends Mikey, Madison, and Leigh (who I met in person for the first time, which was an absolute pleasure!)

And, on Sunday night after much of the regular rabble went home, a bunch of us stuck around, had a nice dinner down the street, and just hung around sipping cocktails and craft beer and enjoyed the company.

It felt good.

…and we’re back.

I never managed to put up anything like my traditional year-end wrap up post, but honestly, I’m not that worried. It’s more work than it’s worth most of the time. I put almost 2200 miles on my bike tires and/or boot soles, which isn’t bad, and I think I’m a net five pounds lighter than I was this time last year.

Otherwise, I put in way too much time at work, played a couple of good gigs, and was on the whole a little more depressed than usual. Let’s just leave it at that.

The holiday break was fine. Low-key Christmas at home, new year’s trip to Muncie, Indiana to spend time with friends, drink too much beer, listen to some tunes, and visit The Bob Ross Experience, which was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

I started up work again on Thursday, which involved mostly digging out of email and planning upcoming test efforts. Beyond that, it’s continuing to try to satisfy auditors by tightening up business case documentation (or, ideally, getting the folks whose responsibility it actually is to tighten up the documentation).

The house is currently in a state of flux, as we start the new year off with some significant interior redecoration/renovation, including paint, new trim, and replacing the ancient carpet with laminate. Currently, a lot of the living room is in other parts of the house or in the trash cans outside, but the paint looks nice so far.

I also got my first bike ride of the year in yesterday, since it’s flirting with the low seventies in terms of temperature again. 11 miles up and down the single tracks at Pocahontas, where I met a few friends on my final descent:

Hoping the weekend’s quiet; I need it, as next week the office work really begins in earnest, as everybody else ought to be back, and that’ll lead into Marscon next weekend, which should be fine, if interesting, as the new management is bound to piss some people off, though I’ll see friends, and will have limited responsibilities, as they didn’t bother to book me either solo or as a Humdinger (that second bit has already pissed some folks off), and I’ll be attending as a civilian unless somebody invites me to sit in in a way that makes sense. We’ll see.

In the meantime, I’ll just keep watching to see how many more votes Kevin McCarthy can lose…

Today’s algorithm-driven Spotify playlist definitely shows the influence of having my youngest child DJ on a couple of drives recently; the beginning definitely has some showtunes energy, but by the end, mostly settles back into the americana and indie we’re all used to:

1. “Old-Fashioned Love Song” – Paul Williams
2. “Taste the Biscuit” – Vincent Gargiulo, Toasters ‘n’ Moose
3. “Princess Andy” – Petrojvic Blastinc Company
4. “Let Her Dance” – The Bobby Fuller Four
5. “Some of My Lives Are True (Sooner Or Later) – Huey Lewis & The News
6. “I Can Hear Music” – Freddie Mercury
7. “So Says I” – The Shins
8. “The Room Is Filled With People Who Love You” – Foresight
9. “Indianapolis” – The Bottle Rockets
10. “Didn’t Have Time To Think” – Math The Band
11. “Mainstream Kid” – Brandi Carlisle
12. “I Wanna Be Your Dog 2” – AJJ

Today, with any luck, is my last work day of the year 2022. I say “with any luck,” because the last couple of months have been awfully crazy and given where I am in the organization (basically management’s back-up brain and copy editor these days), I can’t rule out the odd phone call about where some document some auditor needs is hidden, where some parcel of money lives, or where some body is buried.

That said, I mostly expect to be left alone (unless the spending bill gets wrecked and I have to do temporary shutdown paperwork…again), and my general plan for the holiday break is to mostly stay offline, enjoy the quiet, rest, recharge, and refuel. We have very few official plans apart from a welcome couple’s retreat for NYE, and that’s exactly the way I like it. It’s possible I might open mic here or there at any of the various events around town, but maybe not? who knows. I expect I’ll be wandering my usual parks and trails, and probably sidle up to a familiar bar rail or three, but those of you who need to find me know how regardless. It’ll be a welcome unplug.

I usually try to do some year-end wrap-up sorts of posts in the interim, and I probably will, but who the heck knows…it’s not like I have a lot of readers in any case.

I should make mention, because it’s on-brand (as my VeryOnline™ friends would tell me), that I took 40 minutes or so after work yesterday to vote in VA-04’s “firehouse primary” for the Democratic candidate ahead of the special election in February to fill the late Rep. McEachin’s seat. It was quite crowded at my nearest polling place (the quickly-established, party-run event had relatively few locations), which in this form of government is never bad news. For the record, I voted for State Senator Jennifer McClellan, who’s got a great progressive record and is the odds-on favorite; she’ll be an excellent representative for the district.

So yes, exercising my responsibilities as an active citizen (as opposed to just asserting rights) is a thing I get good feelings about. You should as well.

Anyway – happy holidays, whichever you feel like celebrating.

After a day at the desk doing final edits on business case documentation, a walk out along the marsh is a nice way to shake the track changes markings off of your perception. It was a little cold out there yesterday afternoon, but the geese didn’t mind, and my camera caught the clouds doing some interesting things.

Another little win to carry me through this time I often struggle with.

Another week, another series of December surprises, office drama, one or two little wins, and for whatever reason, not a lot of sleep.

But, it’s almost over. I’ve got the balance of my forty on Friday, a weekend with very little planned, and a handful of days left to work for the year before I take the holiday break.

And, those days ought to be quiet, because as the public servant habit, eight-tenths of the entire workforce are already burning their use-or-lose, and with the one week extension that got passed Thursday means that leave won’t be disturbed until at least next Friday.

Shutdown Blues.

Still, the end is in sight, and I managed to burn off a little stress Thursday evening at the Art Factory open mic my friend runs, and while it wasn’t my greatest set ever, I did get to avenge the murder of Joni Mitchell’s “River” at the Kilt last week by backing up a ridiculously talented young vocalist singing it this week.

I’ll take the win.

Like I said, not a lot on the agenda this weekend. Holiday prep I’m really not invested in anyway has the energy level and the bank balance low; maybe a mind-clearing hike in the woods and a grocery store bar beer to offset the laundry requirements, but honestly not much else.

Tunes this week? Kinda everywhere, but I do dig that last one, mostly because it’s half Waxahatchee, and I’m always a sucker for Katie Crutchfield…:

1. “Never Been To Spain” – Three Dog Night
2. “The City” – Mark-Almond
3. “Expectations” – Lo Moon
4. “A Million Miles Away” – The Plimsouls
5. “The Light of Day” – Kacy & Clayton
6. “Don’t Mind (feat. Robert Plant)” – Patty Griffin
7. “You & Me & The Bottle Makes 3 Tonight (Baby)” – Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
8. “Jesus, etc” – Nora Jones
9. “Dreaming My Dreams With You” – Bria
10. “Run It” – My Morning Jacket
11. “Sugar” – Amethyst Kiah
12. “Dry in the Sun” – Daryl Hall & John Oates
13. “Problem With it” – Plains

The last couple of weeks have been rough on me, and given the time of year, the next few will maintain that pattern. That’s just the reality of the holiday season for me, and I cope the best I’m able.

Part of that coping is finding and embracing pleasures where I find them. Yesterday after work, I took advantage of a sunny afternoon to hike a few miles at the local park along the river; enough to keep my fitness up, but mostly to clear the head and take in some vitamin D from the all-too-rare sunshine. I varied my usual route a bit and ventured down one of the lesser used spur trails and managed to capture the above image with my camera.

I’m going to call it a win, and celebrate it by sharing.

I haven’t heard this song in more than 35 years, but when my friend Chris mentioned it on social media and I saw said mention this morning, I heard it all before clicking play.

You did too; admit it.

Got some stuff done this weekend. Took off early on Friday and hit IKEA for present acquisition. Had lunch with friends from NoVA on Saturday who were passing through town. Got some cleaning and some shopping done. Made my annual donation to the local volunteer rescue squad when the nice fundraising lady stopped by and had a nice chat. made a really great pot of chili.

This week? No idea; we’re hitting that point where half the organization’s on leave for year-end already, and Thursday’s big briefing was really the capper of the whole business anyway. I woke up to a whole bunch of meeting cancellations; I think the next week and change (before I depart) is going to be a slow slog.

Have a good week. Eat some cannibals.

So, I thought last night’s show went pretty well.

I thought I sounded pretty good; sold few CDs and pulled in some tips in addition to my fee, and, probably most important to the venue, brought in some friends who ordered lots of food and beverages. The staff (who I generally get along with anyway) were very complimentary, and all told me they’d enjoy having me back.

We’ll see, though conversations are ongoing on a couple of fronts.

I’ll be honest, I was a bit more nervous than usual about this one; it was, as I’ve said, the first time I’ve gotten paid to play for the muggles in quite a while, and dug way back in the archives to build a solid roster of more mundane tunes that’d fit the occasion. Didn’t stop me from playing a lot of the usual original stuff, but I worked in some interesting covers to fill the three hour slot, and apart from absolutely murdering Joni Mitchell’s “River,” I think I nailed most of ’em.

That said, after about twenty minutes behind the mic, I shook off the ennui leftover from another “forty hours in the can before Thursday’s workday is done” week and started to find my energy, which I really needed, especially after the four hour online quarterly process review meeting with the CIO I’d wrapped just a little while before heading over to the bar to set up.

I really needed that last night.

So thanks for all for coming out or wandering in, thanks to Tom and Tori and the staff for having me in; let’s do it again sometime!

Not sure about the weekend plans; should be a short workday today (see previous comment), and if that pans out, I might take a run up 95 to grab a certain child’s Christmas present. There are plans to meet up with friends visiting from out of town on Saturday maybe, and then the usual stuff like groceries and bills.

This week’s playlist isn’t exactly random (but it is shuffled); I just set loose the playlist I made up to run through the P.A. while I was on break between sets – lots of rootsy alternative rock, a friend or two, and flashback tunes to the Central PA 90s music scene:

1. “Angeline is Coming Home” – The Badlees
2. “Good Kisser” – Lake Street Dive
3. “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – Pat Benetar
4. “Banditos” – The Refreshments
5. “Buried Alive” – Kyle Davis
6. “Sorry, Mom” – Mikey Mason
7. “8 Miles Down” – Big Back Forty
8. “Dark Lord Sleeping on My Sofa” – The Blibbering Humdingers
9. “Wanted Dead or Alive” – Bon Jovi
10. “Love You Forever” – Rob Cheatham
11. “Endless Summer” – Superchunk
12. “My Dad Is Rich” – Draco and the Malfoys
13. “Worry With You” – Sleater-Kinney
14. “Penny on the Floor” – The Clarks

Oh, and speaking of the 90s Central PA music scene, The Badlees have a new, self-titled record out this week, the first with the original five-piece lineup since 2002! And it’s pretty damned good, as one might expect.

I’ve mentioned this before, but tomorrow night, Thursday, December 8, I’ll be playing a solo acoustic show at my favored local watering hole, Dancing Kilt brewery here in my hometown. I’ll be playing several sets between 6pm and 9pm; I’m digging way back into the archives for enough tunes to fill three hours or so, stuff I used to play 25 years ago at the Sun Ray Cafe in Harrisburg, and stuff from my two albums, and stuff I’ve never recorded!

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a real paying gig for the Muggles; I’m hoping a bunch of my con friends come, then I can probably play a bunch of the weirder stuff; I’ve never been good about songs about girls and bars…

Anyway, if you’re within spitting distance, why not come out and have a pint or a glass of wine, and enjoy some tunes?