So yes, I made good use of Patriots’ Day Weekend to get my home office/goddess room in good order. I’ll toss in one glossy “After” shot right here.
For the “Before,” you can just go back to my whiny post from Friday night. However much courage it took to post that picture 4 days ago, I do not have enough extra bravery lying around to post that embarrassing picture again….
So: rather a big change. I’m a little bit proud of myself for pulling it off.
I did finish my “goddess room project” during today’s day off from work. And I was all stoked to post my before-and-after pics in a celebratory post tonight.
But that celebration will have to wait, because I am one among the throngs of humanity heart-broken over today’s catastrophic fire at Notre Dame de Paris.
I was just finishing up my cleaning when the news alert came through on my phone, and then I spent about 45 minutes glued to the livestream as the spire fell, as the flames continued to build and billow int he wind. Finally, I turned off my video feed, heartsick, and tried to distract myself with other things.
Now that I’m back some hours later, I am relieved to see the news that much of the stonework has survived, including the two emblematic stone towers and the interior vaulting of the cathedral. Still, I’m gutted to think about how much has been destroyed, and how this has occurred at the start of Holy Week for most Catholics and Protestants.
There’s a famous quote by Marcel Proust that (ostensibly) says:
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
Remembrance of Things Past has never been on my reading bucket list, so I don’t expect to ever learn whether the most accurate translation of this quote is the popular one or the alternate choice postulated by Craig Thompson, as linked above.(1)
It doesn’t really matter, I suppose. Especially since today’s linkage to that quote is very tenuous indeed: I’m pondering the status of my adjustment to those bifocals I mentioned a few months ago. And thinking about seeing through new eyeglasses reminded me of that quote about seeing through new eyes. That prompted me to look up the Proust quote, whereupon I discovered this slight controversy about its correct wording….which I couldn’t resist from sharing here, in my own pedantic way.
But yeah: I’m really just posting tonight about having new eyeglasses. Nothing more.
Words can scarcely describe how grateful I am to be home again. Over the last week, I covered 1,500 miles and 4 big cities (if you count my Boston originating and end-point). Every leg of the trip was worthwhile, but add all those miles and unfamiliar residences together and a girl just gets tired, you know?(1)
So I’m glad it’s the weekend, and also that the unique Massachusetts tradition of Patriots’ Day means I can stay mostly in nesting mode for the next 3 days.
And I know exactly what I want to do with the time.
It may seem odd to learn that I am building myself quite the collection of wigs.
Or maybe that doesn’t seem odd at all, given my theatrical pursuits. It’s almost inevitable, when you contemplate the number of B’way musicals that take place in various historical times and places. Cross-reference that against my stubborn insistence that I don’t feel like myself without a super-short pixie cut, and wigs become de riguer for faking my way into the settings of most musicals. 1920s, 1860s, 1890s…they all require wigs.
Luckily enough, I’m able to recycle some of these for different shows: the top record thus far is 1 wig that has been used for 3 different shows set in the 19th century. I haven’t even bothered to take it out of its snood between productions. Still, new roles and new concepts mean I keep adding to the collection here and there.
So maybe this growing wig collection of mine strikes you as odd, dear reader, or maybe it doesn’t. What I know for damn sure is that this growing wig collection strikes me as somewhat ridiculous.
I know I said I was gonna write more about my trip tonight than I did about my suitcase.
But I gotta give the suitcase itself a little bit of love.
I mean: how can you not love this suitcase? Look at those polka dots! Very distinctive and easy to find on the baggage carousel, but not so out there in design that I have anxiousness taking it on work trips.
Which is lucky, because this trip is part work and part personal.
QUICK HIT: Still deep in deadline-land.
I’ve posted now and again about the general clutteredness of my life: too many interests, too much indulging of those diverse interests with too much shopping.(1) Mix in some mild hoarding tendencies with not nearly enough free time to dig in for a full “Kondo-ing,” and you can probably get the picture from there.
Obviously, I ain’t been doing any decluttering whilst traversing deadline-land. In all honesty, it’s gonna be a mother-forking miracle if I get laundry done and my suitcase packed before I leave town next week.
But I have been getting an inordinate(2) amount of pleasure from one small victory in this area.
Well, it turns out I didn’t go to yoga last night. But it wasn’t because I was feeling self-critical or anything like that.
Instead, late afternoon/early evening yesterday found me a really good work groove, making progress on the several hundred tasks that need doing in order to meet the half-dozen-or-so important deadlines I have between now and next Wednesday. And that momentum was momentum worth keeping up.
It’s funny how these deadline seasons at work make me act more like a college student than I ever did when I was actually in college.
I’ve been seeing lots of friends posting about World Theatre Day today, which makes it a little extra fitting that I “played hooky” from work stuff this evening to watch some friends perform in Mamma Mia.(1) It’s a show I was almost in—-for one hot second—-so I very much wanted to make sure I came out to support everybody.
I’ll admit I was a little worried that I’d have some wistful sad feelings about it all. Sorry for what I’d missed out on, desiring to be up on stage again. After the bows and the drive home, I’m glad to say that wasn’t an issue for me.
QUICK HIT: Approaching all-nighter territory, so it’s a super quick post and then a brief nap before I dive into the to-do list.
Self-Love: It's Just Another Lifestyle Change 