I took two weeks off in September, just because. Just because I thought I was never going to be able to take a real vacation and go somewhere before the end of the year. I didn't want to leave vacation days behind, so I did a staycation. And here's what I did, organized in honor of the Jimmy Cagney movie One Two Three (1960).
One
- Vet appointment for boy kitten (antibiotic shot)
- Eye appointment: selected a new eye doctor based on neighborhood recommendations and his website's acknowledgment of his love for Earth Wind and Fire. He was great, and the EWF stuff was no joke. He also loves Lionel Ritchie and Con-funk-shun. His office was next to a famous shoe repair place, so I brought along my clown shoes to get a spa treatment. When I told my beloved trainer about the doctor she said "Is it Dr. X? I've been seeing him for 20 years." Of course you have, friend!
- One hour or so transcribing Freedman's Bureau records.
- One end of mourning period gathering on zoom. My friend's mom, who became my friend also, was a long-time member of an ashram, and so a lot of the folks who shared their memories filled in the gaps, a bit, on the time when my friend was raised in the inner circle of this religious community and which community it actually *is* so I could do a little followup research. Now I get it. Remember the cleanse of 2021? All of those folks were part of that community, even the ones who didn't present as hippies. They were all from the ashram. Popping back up to the top, this event was one of the most enjoyable and best curated memorials I have ever attended. I was so impressed.
- Made one mackerel mousse. So delish.
- Made a cheese ball. Also delish.
Two
- Genealogy workshops: Irish and Familysearch. Learned a few things and got a bit more information about my Irish ancestors. Turns out that two of my grandfather's siblings died in early childhood in the workhouse in Navan.
- Writing workshops: my regular third Sunday writing group and a special workshop on self-love and forgiveness. Fun fact: that second workshop was hosted by a person whose famous novel took place in the religious community that my friend was part of. Didn't know that until my research after the memorial.
- Sumo viewings with a girlfriend (one of them in person, with outrageous snacks and cold sake in cedar cups)
- Batches of deviled eggs.
Three
- I communicated with three different people from work who Slacked me to do handoffs of archival material while I was on vacation.
- Movies: I watched One Two Three, starring Jimmy Cagney, which I'd liked in the past. Favorite line? "Put your pants on, Spartacus". Also saw The Inventor (in a theater!), and Piramida, which follows the band Efterklang, as they gather sounds at a former Soviet coal mine in northern Norway to use in a recording. This film was a download from years ago that was given freely with the requirement that you could do a viewing with five people. I could never get five people to watch it, so it languished in my list of dumb things I feel guilty about for ten or so years. The film wasn't what we thought at all, and the most interesting parts ended up being about the parallel story of a former Piramida worker who narrated vintage footage that he'd shot while working there.
The end. Two weeks off, and another vacation -- this time out of town.
