Church of the Big Sky

Back in the Saddle Again… August 6, 2007

I’m the first to admit, I hit a creative dry patch. Keep in mind, I had an insanely large pile of tasks on my desk at work, a car in need of repairs, a back that was killing me, and an MRI bill that wouldn’t go away. Yes, July was a total blast, kids!

But now, it’s August, and I’m starting to get back in the groove, even if my crazy eyeball isn’t cooperating. I had an eye emergency early this morning. My face was swollen and painful and it felt like my eye was about to pop out of its socket. One “wait and see” and a handful of ibuprofen later, I’m back to the eye patch for a few days (and lemme tell you, when it’s 100F+ outside, having a black polyester eye patch on your face is a bitch.) I actually started bawling like a baby at one point this afternoon when the pain got too bad. There I was, hunched over at my desk, sweaty, miserable, and looking like a sad, fat desk pirate. Fat Desk Pirate? Not a good band name.

Before the eye went all wonky this ayem, I actually had a pretty good weekend. Spent much of Saturday playing catch up with myself, napping, reading, lounging. Life was good. Went to an online “virtual baby shower” for my friend Lunesse in Oregon in the afternoon. She’s near Portland, but many of us who love her are scattered around the globe, so, in honor of the kiddo she and her husband will welcome in just under two weeks (if he’s on time), I organized a shower where folks sent me their cards, gifts and goodies. I boxed it all up, shipped it out, and then we gathered online in a chat room to talk and celebrate. It was nice. And no one had to clean up after we were done. This was an old tradition in Alloy, the original Thomas Dolby fan mailing list. We had a handful of showers back in the day (about 10 years ago, more or less) and it felt good to revive this for a good friend.

Sunday, I went to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix up in Gaithersburg. First shows at the Rio are $5 (!!) and I had a coupon for free popcorn. Score! The Rio is one of the local cinemas that rents out space to a church on Sundays, so I saw Potter on a smaller screen, but hey – only five bucks and there were, maybe, ten other people in the whole room – all grown-ups, and not a cell phone to be heard. Bliss!

(Also, no rats, drunk smelly guys or lesbian handpuppet sex.)

Spent the afternoon at Mayorga in King Farm with the Sasquatch – he studiously and furiously worked on his graphic design projects for his MFA program, and I wrote pieces for WAMU. Believe it or not, I have a list of ten (TEN!) radio pieces that are nearly done – I wrote the first drafts for two over a jet-fueled cafe mocha. (I wrote another one at the 15th & M Caribou last Friday evening – that one I wrote so quickly and on so much caffeine, you’d think the text was actually the ramblings of an unmedicated schizophrenic.) The first one I finished a couple of weeks ago – about my weird squirrel attack – I’ll be editing with the fab host & producer of “Metro Connection” tomorrow. If I can swing it, we might even get it recorded on Wednesday. Whoo-hoo!

So, yeah, I’m back on a roll, guys. Radio stuff, delving back into the writing of The Book… It’ll take me a little while to get really warmed back up here on the keyboard at the Church of the Big Sky. Doesn’t help that it’s ungodly hot in my apartment right now, despite the a/c. Being sticky (and having one eye obscured) is simply not conducive to happy rambling. I think a nice cool shower might be order. That, and a few minutes of squinting at whatever is on Adult Swim right now. Man, I’m so looking forward to the season premiere of Robot Chicken on Sunday! Bring on the tasteless celebrity and superhero parodies! Yeaaaah!

Neither here nor there, but I’ve embedded my Last.fm radio station over on the right side of the blog. Just click play and you can hear the music I listen to myself. And if you loathe a song, you can click to hear the next track. My tastes ramble, just like I do. Enjoy.

Before I head off for some nice cool water, a word of thanks to the lovely Janet of On Rush Hour in D.C. – she accidentally procured an extra copy of the last Harry Potter book and gifted it to me. Janet is a damn fine woman and generous human being. She is one of the real gems I’ve met through blogging here in DC. And again, I thank her for her kindness. Now, if only the dang eye would settle down so I can enjoy all those lovely pages waiting to be turned…