Well, dear readers, before we continue on our look back at 2024, may I please ask that you send your most excellent vibes and xylophones for the arrival of payment two – we need ‘em and we need ‘em now. We left off in June of this year and the celebration of life Kritzerland concert for Richard Sherman. I can’t remember when exactly, but I directed a short play by Doug Haverty for the Group Rep and that was fun. I finally righted the wrong that was my first novel’s design and what a treat it was to finally have it look perfect. I also got to fix one whopping error that in 2001 wasn’t really researchable. I didn’t really care if anyone re-bought it, although a couple of folks here did, it was for me. In July, David Wechter and I got some great news regarding a project of ours, which I still cannot talk about but will when I can and hopefully that will be early next year. Digits always crossed. We did our annual all young people Kritzerland show in August, and our fourteenth anniversary show in September and those went very well. The Darling Daughter came for an unexpected visit and that was grand. I had my first physical in thirty-five years and did pretty damn well, had an eye exam, had another eye exam with the doctor who’ll most likely do the surgery to fix the issue, I turned lucky sevens and the rest you know because it’s just happened. So, a busy year but not as busy as usual. I like busy.
Yesterday was okay. I got ten and a half hours of good sleep, got up, answered e-mails, ordered food from LaLa’s Argentine Grill – haven’t been in over a decade probably – used to go quite often – prices seem to have doubled, but the food’s still of high quality and I had the chicken breast champignon, kind of a very light cream/wine sauce – very good. After that I just puttered around the house, doing a little organizing, and then finally sitting on my couch like so much fish. I started to watch an early Brian DePalma movie called Hey, Mom, starring Robert DeNiro, my old pal Gerritt Graham, a really young and not hefty Charles Durning, and lots of other young actors. I dozed off, had the oddest dreams, woke up, dozed off, had more odd dreams, woke up, dozed off, had more odd dreams and then I just gave up on it. I took a brief break and had some cottage cheese for a snack, then I watched a very good documentary on Maria Callas, directed by Tony Palmer, who’s made some of the best music documentaries ever. It was done very well, with great archival footage, and nothing lurid or sensationalistic about it. It’s on Prime for free.
After that, it was almost time to write these here notes, and since I can’t have a haircut before the Do, I did a little chopping off the egregious parts. And here we are.
Today, I’ll be up by eight and out the door by eight-thirty – PLEASE do send those strongest most excellent vibes and xylophones early for payment two to arrive – it will really help me get through Christmas without going berserk. I’ll go have a very light breakfast somewhere nearby, I’ll do the small amount of shopping that’s left for the Do, and then I’ll come home. I’ll get the house ready for the Do and then at six I’m being picked up and whisked away for a dinner at a nearby jernt. Once I get home, I’ll make the two batches of tuna pasta salad and do the chopping, dicing, and mincing of the onion, garlic, and mushrooms for the spaghetti sauce. Then I can watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow is the day of the Do and I’ll be preparing the sauce and getting ready for the festivities to begin. There’ll definitely be photographs. Christmas Day, the Darling Daughter will come and we’ll do our usual thing – eating and going for a drive of some sort – then the rest of the week and weekend is mine all mine.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up by eight and out the door by eight-thirty, I’ll have something VERY light for breakfast, I’ll do the last of the Do shopping – just a handful of items – get the house ready, have a nice meal out, make two batches of tuna pasta salad, chop, dice, and mince, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your favorite things of 2024? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, praying payment two arrives and getting ready for the Do.