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We dance once more, I feel your hands are cold, within your heart, a story to be told

It's Tuesday and I'm debating on the Farmer's Market as always. I really want some good Maryland Tomatoes, and I don't know how many more chances I'll have. With fall getting ready to come sneaking in, my mind is turning to Thanksgiving and where we want to get our turkey from. And what we want to do with it. And how big it should be. It's something to consider.

Jess' surgery is exactly 30 days away now. They have their preop this morning, and will get bloodwork then. They're young enough that all they need is bloodwork in order to get it. Then we shall prepare for the long wait. The world is on fire enough that it's causing serious stress. Jess is having a hard time, full of "but what if" catastrophizing. , and I wish that I could help. Hopefully, their Therapist can help with some stress-managing ideas. All I can do is give hugs and remind them that even if Ogberfell falls, Maryland ratified same sex marriage a full three years before the supreme court. And if it is outlawed, then Hopkins has had partner benefits for 26 years, so really we're okay. It'll be okay.

And maybe I'm channelling my innner Tobias (from Ghost) and his occasionally wildly optomistic view of the future, but I feel like we can still pull back from the precipice. And if we can't, I can always make plans to move to Portugal or Germany. It would suck, but if we need to, we can.

Yesterday was very busy at work. I was calling patients and filling in appointments most of the afternoon.

I'd also like it noted, I did not go full supervillain and punch someone through the internet. While I comb schedules for places to work people in, I frequently find fuck ups. Most are nothing major, and I just fix them, but some...

Our grid, which is basically the holy bible of scheduling, states that if a patient has anything but a cardiac stent, they have to go on the 1.5 T machine. There's a little yes/no question that specifically asks that. And yet, my dude answered no to everything. And then made a little note that he had a brain stent. And put it on a 3.0T machine. And then, I who had a sooner appt on the 3T call the pt to see if he wants it. And I start going through the questions. And find the bullshit note and am like "oh, noooo." It worked out fine, I found an opening on a 1.5, but for that one *best case* scenario is that he gets there and they can't scan. Worst case, he gets scanned and those stents heat up and do damage.

Then, there was another dude, whose dr told him he needed a 3T. And he has a Cochlear implant. Which is fine. It's one that can be done on a 3T. But, he also has a lumbar spinal fusion that goes into S1. And the picture is of his prostate. So I send back to clarify, and the radiologist agrees with me--he needs a 1.5. So, I call the doctor, and let him know what's up, he calls me back and long and short of it, I look super smart and good and conscientious about our patients.

I'm pretty sure Peg was on that email, too. I mean, I still fuck up, but not as often as some people.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get my ass in gear. Gotta figure out what I'm having for breakfast this morning. Everyone have an outstanding day!

Even now when you're here you are moving, hysterically seeking out what needs improving

And somehow, way too quickly, we're back to Monday. I did not want to answer the alarm's call. I did, because it's fucking annoying, but I wanted to go back to sleep for a few minutes.

I didn't really sleep great. I was excited after game and I had a hard time settling down, so I was a little late dozing off. We listened to Shmanners (which is a podcast--my favorite) and that didn't do it, so then I listened to Ghost--what I've termed my "emotional support Papa"

Speaking of Ghost, Jess sent me the best TikTok where the lead singer had the best quote about why his music is the way it is. "I want to try to let people who might be lost for hope tap into my sometimes, maybe, quite over-optimistic outlook on the future.” I think it hits on why I enjoy Ghost so much. Yes, the songs are about the darkness, but overall, it's about surviving the darkness and maybe even finding beauty in it. And they have one banger after another. They've really worked their way into my brain. I'm really grateful that last year Jess said "If Ghost tours again, would you go to a concert with me? And then they got excited when their Mocumentary/concert video Rite Here, Rite Now came out, so I downloaded it, watched it with them. That started it, but the concert definitely solidified it. There were people wandering around and trading bracelets and just such a sense of community, like I hadn't felt the likes of since Season One of Supernatural. It was nice.

Today is sure to be very busy, and then I actually have to cook this fucking chicken. I put it off one more night, but tonight's gotta be the night. I will probably cook the chicken separate from the stuffing, so I can get the chicken in first. Hopefully, I'll have that all done in time to eat at a reasonable time.

For now, I shall hop off and maybe grab a nice shower. Everyone have an outstanding Monday!

There is a scourge in the guise of sanctity, a perpetrator with a quill

It's Sunday! Today, we have some games, and in between, I'm going to make dinner. I'll probably do as much of it as I can this morning. If I need to slice and reheat the chicken tonight, that's fine. My sister kindly got dinner last night, so I didn't have to stand (still a bit sore) so I am not making the spinach lasagna today. I might prep it between games so we'll have it to just bake tomorrow. That would get some enormous containers of spinach out of my fridge.

Yesterday was mostly quiet aside from going out to lunch. We got some excellent Mexican food from a place in Towson called Mucho Gusto. Very tasty food, and a super sweet waitress. After that, we came and lazed, and eventually, I did some prep work for our first game. I need to go looking at my maps, and find some maps for the feywild, which is one of their options of places to go. Went to bed early and passed out pretty quickly. Of course, that meant that I woke up at 6:30am, which is not my first choice. I was hoping for 8. Oh well.

Today, we have Arvandor, which I DM and Prophecy of the Nine Omens which is all

poisontaster .

I had taken yesterday off, so that I could go get our cow share, but apparently, it's still aging at the butcher. We went to this place last year, and they give you a nice big duffle bag of frozen, aged beef. It was so freaking good. You get an email, and you get to choose what you want in your bag. It's entirely worth the long ass drive to get to the farm for pickup. It's about an hour and a half drive.

Before then, I need to get a nice cooler, so that we transport our meat easily and safely.

We're t-minus 13 days from the fandom get together. It'll be 9 fanpeople at an all you can eat steak buffet for brunch. I'm looking forward to it.

It should be loud and raucous and I hope the restaurant is ready for us. lol

Okay, I'm going to hop off here and start working on my chicken. my herbed butter is not going to make itself. Everyone have a stellar Sunday!!

There stand our gods before us, do you hear them saying, that the road that leads to nowhere is long

My god, I'm exhausted today. If I didn't ave a Saturday shift, I'd definitely still be in bed.

Yesterday's meeting went pretty well. I got up half an hour early and got myself together to go forth down to the city. I looked very business appropriate in a pencil skirt, a teal blouse and dress shoes. (Remember those dress shoes.)

I got down there fine, GPS is actually very good for downtown, and I left just before 7, so I was before a lot of traffic. Before I knew it, I was pulling up to the hospital. My plan was to valet, but in my invite package, they mentioned that the conference center was right by the one bridge from the parking garage, so I gave it a try. I found a pretty close spot, so I was like "okay, I can do this." And sure enough, the conference room was *right* there.

I had 60 min before my meeting officially started, so I figured I'd try to get my badge, and did hike one, which was about a mile all totaled. Nothing horrible, but yeah. Dress shoes.

I couldn't get my badge, because I needed a paper from HR, which I in no way had time for. So, I went back to the conference room and figured I'd try after we were done.

On my walk there, I heard my name, and found the director of Radiology addressing me. She recognized my picture from the article and paused to say hello and introduce herself.

They had a light breakfast--bagels and pastries. I had half a bagel, not wanting to be greedy. Then we had the meeting. It was good. Just your basic "welcome to Hopkins." It was interesting to find that we had scheduled over 300,000 exams just for the outpatient centers alone. A chunk of those the pt scheduled via mychart, but we did a good number. I do wonder how much money we bring in. It's gotta be fairly steep.

During the meeting, we were encouraged to participate, and the head of radiology singled out the story I had online, about the sweet patient. She was very complimentary and held it up as an example of something that was top of the line customer service, and would drive brand loyalty. So that was nice.

Afterwards, we got a tour of the hospital. It was about 2 1/2 miles of walking. In dress shoes.

I did it, but goddamn.

I did get a good view of the famous Hopkins Dome and took a picture.

Finally, our tour was almost over.

We stopped in our fifth building to get our box lunches, and swag and came back through the building where I needed to get my badge. Peg let me beg off the rest of the tour so I could get my badge at that point, and I did so. After 18 months, I finally have my Hopkins credentials! I don't technically need them, but I wanted them.

Then, I gimped back to the sky bridge, stopping at the gift shop in the Children's Center. On an end cap by the door, I glimpsed a pile of rainbows, and thought "surely they don't have gay pride stuff prominently displayed in the gift shop in the Children's center! Uh, dear reader, they had a FUCKTON of gay pride things displayed. I got a mug for Jess that says "Queer AF."

Then, I toddled off to my car. Right around ten minutes from home, the leg cramps started to hit.

That became a theme for the next three hours. My legs and feet were NOT happy.

I got home and unpacked all my swag, which included a nice tote bag, a cool automatic umbrella, some sunglasses, lip balm, lens cleaners and a nail file/mirror combo.

I took a little nap once the leg cramps eased up, and then ordered dinner. We had game after dinner, and that was a lot of fun.

Today work, then nothing scheduled. I'd like to go get my pills, but aside from that, just relaxing and recovering. My legs are just sore as hell today. But since I walked somewhere between 3-4 miles in totally non supportive flats, I'm not shocked.

Okay, time for me to get myself together for work. Everyone have an amazing Saturday!

Every new generation hails a grand usurpation, devoid of treason

Meeting day! I am very nervous. And again, I'm kind of wondering what the endgame for this is. The purpose stated to me is to "get me face time with Peg". But I don't know to what end. I'm apparently just supposed to go and be me at her? Which is not comforting. I'm waiting for my Vyvanse to kick in, maybe that'll help settle me down, since right now I'm a bit nervous. I'm just not sure I'm very good at being a schmoozer. Work has set parameters that I need to follow, that makes sense to me. This is freeform. Ugh.

Oh well, all I can do is my best. None of my managers are going to be at this meeting, so I'm basically being tossed to the wolves. It's an orientation meeting, so at least I won't have to do full time schmoozing. The thing is, Patient Access Specialists like me do not get an orientation like this. We get an online orientation with all the other secretarial people. Thus, I'm assuming that I'm being thrown in with the doctors and nurses. I'm not sure how I stand out among that.

Again, I'll deal, but wow. It's only half a day, I can do this. I'm just going to blast Ghost all the way down, and I'll be good. At least I can finally get my employee badge.

Tomorrow, we don't have anything planned. A friend had invited us over to their apartment for fajitas, but I'm not sure I want to go out at all. We'll see.

Tonight, since I'm only working half a day, I'm going to either make a full roasting chicken with dressing and mashed potatoes and gravy or alternately, I'll make spinach lasagna.

Sunday, we have a shitton of games, so we'll be ordering dinner, or eating leftover lasagna.

Okay, time for me to go forth and start getting ready. Everyone have an stellar Friday!

Two starcrossed lovers reaching out to the beast with many names.

We're sliding into the weekend! Two and a half more days (for me).

Yesterday was very busy. Yet I was triumphant at getting someone in for a Cardiac MRI, so it was a good day. The patient had called earlier and gotten one at the end of the month, which is SO rare. these normally are booking out to October. But the spouse called back to ask about the wait list and got me. And I'll admit, I tooted my own horn a bit, telling them that they got the right person, as I am nominally in charge of cardiac slots. The order had been put in incorrectly, as it was from an outside doctor and the person who put it in failed to notice the STAT on it. I fixed it, and promised that I'd keep an eye out. And sure enough, there was a cancellation within 2 hours, and he went from end of the month to tomorrow. And I felt superior and smug.

The rest of the day was pretty busy. I called a LOT of patients back, and sent a lot of messages.

Tomorrow, I presumably have the meeting with the big boss. I still question the motive behind this. It's technically an orientation meeting for new radiologists and techs, but my top two managers in my dept feel like this could be important, so off I go, down to the city and the big hospital. At least that's my current plan. I still haven't gotten an invite, so I don't know a ton of when, where etc. I just know it's on the Zayed concourse. I'm going to run out tonight and get some gas in my car, just to have a full tank, and maybe get another $40 out so I have some extra cash.

I'm not really a city girl. I like the things a city holds--good, diverse food and entertainment, but I hate city driving. Fortunately, the hospital is near the Russian church I go to every fall for their festival, so the route is pretty simple.

Saturday, I'll work, and then I shall have a nice weekend. I had blocked Saturday off to go get our cow share, but since I haven't heard from them, I'm assuming that they're not done dry aging. This is sad, as the next few weekends could be tough to find time drive the hour and a half to pick them up. They'll be 100% worth it, mind you. Those were some of the best steaks I've had. It's not a huge share, just like a tote bag full, but it'll keep us for a few weeks.

Okay, time to finish up and go forth and get ready for another busy day. Everyone have an excellent Thursday!

I might only have one match but I can make an explosion

Welcome to Wednesday! It's gotta be less frustrating than Tuesday was.

Update on the bank situation: Wells Fargo can eat a dick. As of this morning, I can actually see the check in the account again, though I have not gotten an update regarding the closing of the account. I was on the phone with three separate levels of customer service yesterday trying to get things straightened out, as well as Jess calling. The big sticking point was that because they locked the account, it was overdrawn, because it wouldn't let me transfer money in to cover it. So I called to ask about that and got singularly unhelpful people. They were threatening that if it wasn't brought up to date (how?) I would be charged $35/item. I finally told them that if I was charged a single cent, we were going to have a problem and hung up.

All of this left me feeling shitty and sad yesterday. Like I said, today I can see the check, so that's something. I will be transferring the money out of the account as quickly as possible, and putting it into a different account with the plan of closing this one asap. I'm not dealing with their shit again. We've got a minimum of 3 checks yet to come, and I'm not going to have them do. this again.

Add to the bank clusterfuck, we got a note that they're doing a pest control sweep on Thursday. Which should be thrilling, what with Yoda and Boodle. Not looking forward to it. Plus, I'm going to have to stop working for the time they're here because HIPAA.

Today, the pupper is going to get his day of beauty. I'm dropping him off during my lunch break, and picking up after I get off work. He will of course, be a little angel for her.

Though he was super good for his walk yesterday. I was very proud of him. There were three dogs, including one who barked at him and five people and the worst he did was a little gruffle at the dog who barked, but he turned away and walked like a good boy. I think the increase in prednisone is helping him. I was also a little proud of me, since for the first time, I walked the full circuit around the neighborhood. I'm a little sore, but I need to increase my stamina, since I'm going to be in charge of walks once Jess has their surgery in 5 weeks.

Work was busy yesterday. I did 41 calls, plus some extra curricular schedule filling and calling patients back. Friday I have my meeting with the big boss, so we'll see how that goes. I'll figure out what time I need to leave to get downtown in time. I'm definitely valet parking, because fuck that shit. I figure I'm going to have to hike the hospital as it is. I'm cautiously extending my walking ability, but that's in tennis shoes, not dress shoes.

Okay, I'm going to go forth and see how much the bank will let me transfer at once. Probably about $5k, so that's going to take at least six days. We'll see. Everyone have an awesome Wednesday!

Pieces of what we could have been, pieces of a shattered dream

I am so tired today and fully annoyed with my bank.

So I had started the account in may, knowing that I needed a brick and mortar bank to deposit the checks from Dad's account into. I deposited one, which as you may remember was an ordeal. They were treating it like it was fraudulent, and I spent 2 hours on the phone. Cue yesterday when Jess got the first payout from her father's death. They deposited the check, and four hours later, I got an email that my account was being closed, because they suspected the check was altered. WTF. I called, and they wanted to talk to Jess. They went over things, and gave them the customer service number of the company the check was drawn off. Since it was 7:30 pm, they were closed, so they couldn't do anything. Jess has to call again today and wait while they verify shit. In the meantime, I don't know whether if it's verified, they'll rescind the closing, or if I need to pull the money as soon as it clears. It's just fucking annoying and I'm rethinking Wells Fargo as my bank. Jess has several more checks coming off their father's accounts, some of which are quite a lot of money, and I don't know if we're going to have to go through this every single fucking time.

As a result, I didn't sleep well last night, and today I am headachey and cranky. We'll see what the morning brings. Either way, once this is settled, I'm going to be calling customer service and ripping some supervisor a new asshole. I'm just thoroughly frustrated and angry. I'll be nice, but I will explain why it was a bad idea to fuck with us.

Aside from the last couple of hours, yesterday was a good day. I worked. It was busy. I made dinner. I didn't get any cleaning done, but I did get my nails painted?

My last manicure was a gel manicure, which fucked my nails the hell up. They look like shit, just beat to hell, and thin. They've been cracking and chipping and I had to cut them all down to nothing. Some are less than nothing. I've been painting them so I don't have to look at them, but it still doesn't look great with all the nicks and dings on them. Whatever polish they used just would not come off. I soaked and used oil, and I still ended up scraping it clear. Never again. Now I just have to wait for them to grow out.

In related news, I've really been enjoying Lakur nail polish. It goes on very smooth, and only a couple of colors have required a second coat. They also have a couple topper polishes that I like very much. One is moonstone, which is a faintly iridescent blueish tint, the other is a clear with little sparkles. Both are adorable.

I'm debating on what color I want to paint them for Friday, when I have my delayed meeting for work. It'll involve going down to the main hospital and spending half a day with my bosses boss. I'm both nervous and looking forward to it. I should be getting my invitation soon that'll tell me where to go. I know I need to stop in the badge office and get a new badge, as mine got lost in our move from one location to the other. It was sent to the old, and no one was every able to retrieve it.

I've got my outfit picked out, a cute secretarial dress and a nice top with flats. Hopefully I'll make a good first impression. I'll make sure my makeup is on point, and try to look good. Then, I just need to turn it on. Definitely need to remember my Vyvanse that day.

Okay, time for me to go forth and get dressed. Everyone have a wonderful Tuesday!

You've been playin' around with magic that is black...

For music Monday, I bring you Ghost (I know, really? How shocking!

Watch on YouTube

I originally wasn't that fond of this song. Then I saw it in concert, and it's played so playfully and with such joy that I couldn't help but adore it.

Watch on YouTube

This is the audio from the MSG concert. It's not the greatest audio, but it's still pretty entertaining.

Yesterday was a busy and and I am rather tired and sore this morning. I did everything I said I was going to do, except I wasn't so good at protecting my back from the vacuuming, and thus am a wee bit sore.

Brunch and dinner turned out reasonably well. I wasn't an enormous fan of the homemade stuffing, but it wasn't bad. Next time, I may get a food processor to chop the onions, and celery so they're not such large chunks. IT had a good flavor though. I've got actual man made stuffing coming from Sam's club tomorrow, I think. I'm going to use that to stuff the chicken that I'm making. The rest was pretty good.

Special mention of the Dutch baby that has only failed to rise once. Yesterday, it rose beautifully, and was delicious. Recipe can be found right here.. All you really need is a seasoned cast iron pan. I have a 14", so I double the recipe, but the single batch was perfect for an 8" that I started making them in. IT makes a somewhat eggy batter, but not so eggy that Jess doesn't like it. They are the one who requested it, and had two helpings.

I love our new vaccum, it 100% is awesome at getting shit like litter up. I just know that cleaning one small room at a time is my limit. As a result, our room is lovely, No little to then track into our bed.

Today, I shall work, and then I shall figure out dinner. I need to get something out to cook. I'm leaning towards the faux snow crab legs. They were delicious last time, and I could go for something with a little spice. I saute them with old bay abd butter, and they're so tasty.

I need to clean out the big pyrex container so I can put in the leftovers.Right now, it's full of onion soup. I need to get a container of crab meat, so I can make some cream of crab as it gets colder.

But for now, I shall go forth and get myself together. Everyone have the best Monday you can Monday!

The autumnal reaper, the stains of this creeper will last, the shine and the sham entangled

Yet again, I woke up at 7am, and could absolutely not get back to sleep. I tried! Ah well, it'll do. My back was a wee bit sore, so I took some ibuprofen and am waiting for it to kick in. The joys of being 53.

Today shall be relaxing and some cleaning and cooking. First up, shall be brunch. Then, I will relax and then clean, then dinner. I'm debating on making sourdough stuffing for the pork chops. The ones from Sam's club are usually pretty thick and I could slice and stuff them. Might be good. Add in some honey roasted carrots with a tiny bit of chili powder and salt, and it should be delicious. I got the big loaf of sourdough, and sage, thyme and parsley, so why not?

Yesterday was a good day. I did mostly nothing. We got dressed and went to the post office so Jess could mail out some forms, and then came back and had breakfast and then played a game.

The game ended up being super fun, as I had a big boss battle set up. Good lord those were a lot of characters to keep track of! Next session, we have a ton of wrap up to do, and then the players will be deciding which plot hook they want to pick up on. I've got two options, either of which would be good with me. I shall spend time uploading a few maps, so that either way, we're covered. Debating pulling some of the Witchlight maps out of storage and reusing them for good, since they're good depictions of the Feywild. Definitely will reuse the castle maps, as that was super detailed.

After game, we relaxed for a bit, and then we ran out and grabbed dinner. As per usual, we got way too much food, and now I have a Chinese pork "hamburger" for lunch tomorrow, nom nom. Also braised beef and potatoes and plain handpulled noodles, which I can add a little soy and gochujang as a treat.

Tomorrow it's back to work. I need to ask if the meeting for Friday is still on or if it's getting bumped again. Either way, I have my clothes ready. I just need to decide which skirt to wear. Full business, or slightly funky. I love both options.

But first, another day to relax and plot out future outings. The lovely

poisontaster has agreed to join us in November for a brunch at Brunch at Amoora which is a semi-exclusive event. They only hold one brunch per month, and I'm determined to get in for November. I'm just going to haunt those reservations until they become available.

At some point between now and then, I'd like to go for their dinner menu, just to taste the food. I adore Middle Eastern food, so I'm very excited to try it.

Okay, time to go forth and work on waking the hell up. Everyone have a stellar Sunday!

We are leaving this city so this is farewell, goodbye Seven Sisters and Saint Jezebel

It's Saturday! And as usual, I managed to sleep til about 7am. Go team me. I was up at 5:40am because the cat demanded breakfast, but I went back to sleep for a while.

Yesterday was a good day. Work wasn't crazy, I was able to get some people in, and when it was over, we got to go out.

Well, first I did have my psych appointment, which went fine. I'm doing well, no notes.

Then, we went out to celebrate Jess' graduation. I don't know if I mentioned that, but they finally finished the medical transcription program, graduating with a 97.8%. I'm so very proud of them. We decided to go to Fogo, and had a lovely time eating way more than we really needed to. They had a pork belly with lime and honey that was especially tasty, as was the filet wrapped in bacon. I always say I'm not going to fill up from the market table, but then I get up there, and there's the roasted garlic and marinated mushrooms and artichokes, and I end up getting some every time. Honestly, I should just go for lunch from the market table now and then. I could 100% make a meal out of that.

Today, we're going to go forth and visit the post office to mail some stuff back to one of the many places that Jess' dad had accounts. Maybe I'll make some breakfast. We'll see. I might do it tomorrow when we don't have a game. I suppose I could make it 2 times, but that seems excessive.

Tomorrow, we have nothing planned, and it's definitely going to be a blend of doing nothing and some cleaning. Vacuuming will need to happen.

Maybe I'll make a pool trip, I don't know. We'll see.

Okay, on that note, I'm going to wrap up and consider what I want to do as far as food. Everyone have an excellent Saturday!

It's the words that were never spoken that echoes through the times

It's Friday!! One more day of work, then 2 glorious days off. I'm going to sleep til at least 7 (no matter what the cat says) both days! I know that doesn't sound like very late, but I normally get up between 5:00am-5:30am, so it's actually not bad. And I'm going to relax and have game on Saturday and do some cleaning on Sunday.

Tonight, unfortunately, due one of my player's cancelled flight with all the rain and storms yesterday, our game tonight had to be cancelled. Both Jess and I am sad, so we're going to go out for dinner. Where we're going out to dinner is up in the air, because I am indecisive and want Jess to have the best time because this was their favorite game that got cancelled. I'm waffling between Fogo de Chao or Venetian Italian Eatery. Both sound good. I will see which Jess would prefer.

Tomorrow, barring calamity, we have Arvandor, which I'm looking forward to. I left them at the beginning of battle, that they should be able to win easily. But, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that should make things interesting. I'm looking forward to springing it on them. It'll probably be the near-end of this arc, but there's more to come. I've got some more maps to source and upload for the next part.

I love sourcing maps. I mostly use https://www.czepeku.com/ for my maps, with assists from other map makers and sometime google search when I have a very particular map that I need.

Sunday, I definitely need to vacuum, in small stages so my back doesn't get pissy. And do some tidying. The house is a little raggedy right now, and I want to pretty it up a bit. It's nothing overwhelming, just need to pickup and put shit where it belongs.

Yesterday was busy. I did a lot of calling people and trying to work them in at places. It worked out well, at least. I got a lot of people in. I expect today to be more of the same. Usually my counterpart is off, so I get all the callbacks.

I'm still on my Ghost kick. At some point, I'll stop randomly singing snippets of their music. I showed Jess the frankly weird video for Dance Macabre. It's kind of wild, setting up the original lore for Ghost--Sister Imperator and the first Papa Nihil's meeting. The romance is kind of sweet in a weird way.

Watch on YouTube

(Some weird imagery and vampiric violence.)

And on that weird little note, I shall go forth and get dressed. Everyone have a fantastic Friday!

It's the words that were never spoken that echoes through the times

Well, that sucked. Yesterday I woke up with a bit of a headache and it just never really went away. I ended up leaving work at 12, and napping to no avail. I still have a little headache this morning, but it's moved to the other side of my face, so hopefully this one will go away through judicious pain reliever use.

I cancelled game and just relaxed last night, because there was no chance of me concentrating.

After I napped for a little while, we watched the concert/lore movie Ghost put out last year. I'd watched it with Jess when it came out on video last year. It was my first real introduction to the band, because I figured if Jess wanted to see them live, I should know what they did. Most of it went over my head last time, but I was very engrossed this time. And of course, I knew most of the music, which helped.

So part of the mystique is that there have been five lead singers (all the same dude, in different makeup or a mask). They each are the Pope of a shadowy unnamed Satanic Organization. Normally, after an album or two, that "Papa," as he's called, will die, making room for a new somehow related Papa. The last one, who was forced to be Cardinal for a cycle to prove his worth was Copia. He was eventually promoted to Papa Emeritus, and finished out a second cycle. Everyone expected him to die at the end of the movie, but instead his mother died, making way for him to ascend to the head of the shadowy organization, becoming Frater Imperator. The new Papa, V, is Papa Perpetua.

Perpetua is who we saw. The last few Papas sung in full face masks, which the lead singer says is like trying to play soccer in flip flops. Perpetua wears a half mask and makeup, which he finds to be much better. Perpetua is supposed to be Copia's twin brother, who only their mother knew about. Copia hates him. He popped the V key off his computer so as to avoid his brother's symbol.

Anyhow, there's footage of the twins playing in the movie, and one is dark haired and one is tow headed. So it is now my headcanon that Perpetua wants to be accepted so badly that he dyed his hair to look more like Copia. And that makes me happy.

Today, I just have work, and then I may make some cookies. I could really go for some soft baked snickerdoodles.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. We have Frostmaiden on Friday, then I'm off on Saturday, and then Arvandor at 12:30. It's been weeks upon weeks since we played either.

And on that note, I'm going to go forth and put on pants. Everyone have an outstanding Thursday!

You are cast out from the heavens to the ground, blackened feathers falling down

I slept like a rock last night. It was lovely, and I feel much better today.

It's kind of surprising, since yesterday afternoon, I was ready to claw my face off. First, I had a bad call. I fucked up getting info at the beginning, and had an auto fail. I have done it a couple of times before, and I fucking hate it every time. It feels like a personal failing. Then, the dog wouldn't go out for me. Then Jess was upset with themselves for not knowing how a notary works, even though they've never done a notary. And the dog was barky and it just had me on overstim anxiety. I took some meds and they got me through the rest of the day.

Of course, then in the afternoon I discovered a new thing. Hopkins has a concierge service for important/rich people, called a concierge service. And I've spoken with the doctor over there a few times when she called in to get a patient scheduled. And once I had to see how I could work things, and when pressed, I gave her my direct number. And the motherfucker gave it out to a patient! I'm sitting there on the phone with a patient when I get another call. I call back after I finish doing my actual job, and yup. It's a patient calling me directly. According to them, Dr. Clever says I'm "the only helpful one in the call center, and she wished I scheduled for more depts." Which, great compliment, but no thank you. I'm not your personal flying monkey. I did not sign up to be a concierge radiology scheduler.

I'm debating on letting my manager know. I may wait to see if it happens again or if this was a one off. Concierge is a big dept that makes a lot of money, and if it came to a throwdown, I don't know that we would win.

I'd prefer to keep it as not my circus, not my monkeys, but I fear that I do know the clowns.

After that, I made dinner and went to bed, seeing as I was still tired from not sleeping two nights before.

And I realized that I misquoted Brennan yesterday. The full quote is ""In the same way your heart feels and your mind thinks, you, mortal beings, are the instrument by which the universe cares. If you choose to care, then the universe cares. If you don't, then it doesn't." I need to get that tattooeed somewhere. It's a bit long, so I don't think they could do the forearm. Oh well, I'll see what the artist says once I book a consult. Sometimes, DMs pull the best quotes out of thin air while they're DMing.

Tonight, we have a game, assuming everyone is able to play. The heat is really kicking everyone's asses, especially our player who takes public transportation to work. Though when I take Yoda out, it's like instant migraine, so it's not doing me great either.

I am looking forward to cooler weather soon.

We'll have been in the apartment for 7 months tomorrow. That's a little bit bonkers. It feels like we've been here forever. It's just home now. The house is a distant memory. It cost us 10k to get rid of it, but it was worth it.

Okay, time to go forth and get myself together. Everyone have an amazing Wednesday!