all that's past is prologue...

Today was the last day of classes at SPA for seniors. There's a tradition of decorating the kids cars, so all the senior parents gathered to do so (I have no idea when this tradition started, I think I just left and hopped on the bus). There was also a big lawn sign photo display, which everyone took advantage of: And a goodbye where they walk through the main lobby, with all the parents and teachers lined up to cheer them on. But you see, in my mind we're still here in our SPA journey: first day of 6th grade Or maybe even here:      first day of kindergarten I have a lot to think about and say about her education right now, but we have a circus opening night to get her out to. So more on that later, and I'll lave it with — I'm very proud. And a little teary.

The magnolias are blooming, so it was a great day to get some yard work done at Summit, trying to prep for a summer full of fun events! We got the stub of a lilac killed off by the landscaping terminator dig up and relocated to an area by the sideyard lilacs. I'm not sure if it will come back, but at least we won't have to look at it as much as I would when it's by the back gate. We also took out a couple of terrible weed trees (why couldn't dude have killed those off?), and moved a small juniper that I had wanted to move to the front yard for years now. Nothing like getting something off your to-do list after that long! And Tami has spread some grass seed as well, plus I have some straw that can go over it to keep it from blowing away. The highlight of the day though was running into our friend Mattie, who we had not seen for quite some time. He was working with the incredibly talented gardener that keeps up John and Laura's beautiful cottage garden next year. It ...

Yesterday and today I've been to several very different art events! It started out yesterday by hearing SPA's choirs sing on their mini-tour. Beatrix will miss the big spring concert coming up due to circus performances (though I'll be singing in it as part of Community Chorale), so this was our last chance to hear her sing in a choir, maybe ever (yikes!). I think the people at Marvella and the Arbor liked hearing them too. We also stopped by SPA to see the Senior Show for her Art Seminar class, all based on Creole traditions (You can stop and see it too! At the Drake Gallery at SPA, open school hours through the end of the month). Last night, Patrick and I went to the opening night of The Mind Has a Hundred Thousand Gates , by Pangea World Theater at the Southern. Based on the 15th century writings of the Indian poet Kabir (with some recent influences), I was not sure what to expect. What I got was a beautiful, meditative work the gave me some hope that the world has been...

It's been quite a week for seeing some of my favorite artists, whose music was seminal to my development but who I last saw live when I looked like this: As mentioned before , it started out with Jane Siberry on Sunday (last seen at The Blooomsbury Theater in London in November, 1989). I still have a special place in my heart for Bound by the Beauty and When I Was a Boy , but after the concert I'm finding myself listening to her more experimental stuff with a new ear. Like Laurie Anderson, she's at the cutting edge of what music and performance art mean. Her work is beautiful and liminal and I'm so glad she is still making it! Last night, thanks to my friend David giving me his ticket (and his friend Ed transferring it to me!) I got to see Robyn Hitchcock at the Turf Club (last seen in 1988 in London, I want to say at the Hackney Empire but I honestly think it was a smaller club than that, maybe Ronnie Scott's?). I ran into our friends Troy and Rebecca who say th...

If you know me, you will know that about 99.9% of my wardrobe comes from clothing exchanges. This means that, though I love my clothes, very little is actually the latest in fashion — or even intentionally chosen. However, I am absolutely in love with these pants , which are truly incredible and also more than a mortgage payment (though if anyone is reading this and wants to send me a pair I would not turn them down). By all accounts, they are life-changing. But then, there's college tuition looming around the corner. So I read about these dupes at Old Navy and thought I would give them a try. They're not a perfect match, but it's a reasonable attempt, and they were only $19.99 so both Beatrix and I are sporting a pair today (and let's put it this way, she care a lot more about fashion than I do). And it feels fun to have something new to distract me.

We're not exactly church types. But we celebrated today with some Easter baskets anyway, and then went to see the llamas at Forgotten Star Brewery. Ernie was very excited, he had never seen a llama before. Then we went to Broken Clock Brewing. Tonight, Patrick and I went to See Jane Siberry at the Dakota. I had last seen her in London in 1989.  It was like no concert I had ever been to, free-flowing and beautiful and courageous and exploratory and curious. And her eyes are just as incredible as they were 37 years ago.

Though we're not exactly religious, it's Easter tomorrow, so we did Small Project SATURDAY instead of SUNDAY. The focus was on the dining room: Where we set the puzzle table back up: Where I got some new chairs off FB Marketplace to replace the rickety old ones: They're  little low though, so they needed new cushions. I *finally* repainted the ceiling where we had had to repair it when the billeting Fringe artist massively destroys our toilet a couple of years ago and destroyed the dining room plaster. Before: After: Patrick touched top the living room ceiling too, where some stray 18th birthday party decorations had marked. Before: After: I fed the orchids and cleaned up the woodwork, surfaces, and floors throughout (plus dose wall and art dusting). And I used some prints I had to make some new light switch covers (though the placement on the Ingres is not ideal). It's all small progress, but the house feels clean and bright and nice, so I'll take it!