Lyrics for Thursday, Indigo Girls and Melissa Etheridge

Kid Fears 

By Amy Ray 

Pain from pearls, hey little girl

How much have you grown?

Pain from pearls, hey little girl

Flowers for the ones you've known

Are you on fire from the years?

What would you give for your kid fears?

Secret staircase, running high

You had a hiding place

Secret staircase, running low

They all know, now you're inside

Are you on fire from the years?

What would you give for your kid fears?

Skipping stones, we know the price now

Any sin will do

How much further, if you can spin

How much further, if you are smooth

Are you on fire from the years?

What would you give for your kid fears?

Replace the rent with the stars above

Replace the need with love

Replace the anger with the tide

Replace the ones, the ones, the ones, that you love

Are you on fire from the years?

What would you give for your kid fears?

Are you on fire from the years?

What would you give for your kid fears?

-------- 

Much of my Thursday was about unexciting things like folding the finally-dry-on-the-rack Renfaire laundry and sorting and uploading photos from the Yes We Are tour last night. I also did some reading, ate some acai, and went on the porch twice because we could hear the Blue Angels practicing for Seafair nearby, but we couldn't spot them. In the afternoon we walked to the beach, where there were lazy ducks and a couple of eagles complaining at each other in the trees. I tried to keep up with all the baseball trades happening before the deadline this afternoon, which included some of my favorite Orioles; at least the Mariners got Suarez and clobbered the Rangers. 

My Thursday night chat group discussed our week in entertainment, after which Cheryl and I watched the first two episodes of the current season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, after which Paul and I watched the newest episode (it's not my favorite holodeck story, but I would give Paul Wesley an Emmy for playing Kirk as Jim Carrey from In Living Color)! Now we're watching the bonus episode of The Sandman, whose cast is a delight (Colin Morgan!) and thus far is a strangely hopeful take on death. Meanwhile, I wanted to save some more photos from the concert last night -- Melissa Etheridge, the Indigo Girls, and Lucy Wainwright Roche:

Greetings from Marymoor Live

Quick post after seeing Melissa Etheridge and the Indigo Girls on the Yes We Are Tour at Marymoor Live with Paul and Chris, which was awesome. We ate dinner from the cheesesteak (in my case cheesetofu) truck Split Open and Melt and walked along the river before the concert and it wasn't as hot as predicted, so it was a lovely evening! Earlier I talked to Linda, Hildy, and Kay plus Linda's sister Alice, and Kristen and I watched the second half of the first Hunger Games movie, so most of my day was entertainment -- State Farm was even at the concert making bobbleheads of people. A few pics, more tomorrow! 

Lyrics for Tuesday and Renfaire Falconry

The Stranger 

By Billy Joel 

Well, we all have a face

That we hide away forever

And we take them out and show ourselves 

When everyone has gone

Some are satin, some are steel

Some are silk, and some are leather

They're the faces of the stranger

But we love to try them on

Well, we all fall in love

But we disregard the danger

Though we share so many secrets

There are some we never tell

Why were you so surprised

That you never saw the stranger?

Did you ever let your lover see

The stranger in yourself?

Don't be afraid to try again

Everyone goes south

Every now and then,

You've done it, why can't someone else?

You should know by now

You've been there yourself

Once I used to believe

I was such a great romancer

Then I came home to a woman

That I could not recognize

When I pressed her for a reason

She refused to even answer

It was then I felt the stranger

Kick me right between the eyes

You may never understand

How the stranger is inspired

But he isn't always evil

And he is not always wrong

Though you drown in good intentions

You will never quench the fire

You'll give in to your desire

When the stranger comes along

-------- 

Had a quiet Tuesday -- dyed my roots, watched the first game of the Orioles' double header (they had a great day, won both games against the Blue Jays, the leaders of the AL), did some work, ate lunch, walked to the park. Everyone in my DS9 group made it onto the Zoom call this week, so we finally got to watch "Duet" which is one of the best hours of television I've ever seen and holds up perfectly, both the performances and the story. 

We had a small dinner with our leftover donuts from the Renaissance faire and watched this week's episode of The Buccaneers, which covered divorce in the same era as The Gilded Age with a lot more grit and less melodrama. Now we're watching more of the excellent Billy Joel documentary on HBO, both funny and sad, especially his family history. From the raptor show at the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire:

Greetings from Krypton

My Monday morning was unremarkable -- laundry, chores -- and I rushed to get things done after lunch because we'd decided to go see the new Superman movie. I really liked it -- Corenswet is likeable, Brosnahan is great, Hoult is suitably detestable though I'm a little confused why Lex Luthor hates aliens so much, Krypto may be my favorite character in the movie. I'd been advised that there was an Israel-Gaza parallel story but I think that interpretation's an extreme overreach; it's not even a solid Russia-Ukraine or Turkey-Armenia parallel, and it's annoying enough when people go on about how the Penguin in the old Batman movies is a Jewish stereotype when there are actual Jewish stereotypes all over movies no one complains about. I'll take a Jewish Superman actor as a win. 

We ate both nachos and popcorn at the movies, so we weren't at all hungry for dinner. Instead, since we were near downtown Redmond, we went for a walk on the Sammamish River Walk. There were lots of blackberries -- I ate some but we didn't bring anything to collect and bring them home in -- and many ducks and geese in the water, so we walked in sunshine and admired the salmon sculptures. Then we came home and saw the Mariners beat the As, munched some hummus, and watched the last two episodes of the second season of Poker Face, which I enjoyed though the show remains uneven for me (there aren't many shows that end with a stray dog getting rescued where I'm wishing the dog would run away). Now we're watching the Billy Joel documentary, which is great. From the riverwalk:

Greetings from the Washington Renfaire

We spent Sunday at the Washington Midsummer Renaissance Faire! It's in Snohomish County, so not as long a drive as we used to have to Maryland's Renfaire, and lots of the people who attend camp on site, so there's a huge sprawling campground adjacent to the fairgrounds and nearly everyone who attends makes some effort at costume even if they don't spring for full garb. It was pirate weekend, so there were lots of Jack Sparrows and Blackbeards around. 

We had crepes and mini-donuts for lunch between the equestrian show, the strong woman-aerialist, the falconry demonstration, numerous musical acts, a puppet show, some crafts demonstrations, and lots of looking at art, garb, and musical instruments (I bought a little bottle to strap to my belt and a forest-themed mini-bodice that goes with a lot of dresses). Here I am with the Queen, the Archbishop, Admiral Bunbun, and Paul, who almost got me boiled alive!

Greetings from Seahurst and Bellevue

I was out most of a beautiful cool summer Saturday, starting with a morning trip to Seahurst Park to see the beach at low tide. We saw lots of starfish, many anemones, several sea cucumbers, some chitons, a few crabs, and a bunch of snails and waterfowl, and some beachgoers here and there, including a few dogs. The water temperature is only a bit colder than the air, so it was fun to wade. 

Then we drove to Bellevue, where we met Daniel and Cahaya at the Bellevue Arts Fair around Bellevue Square mall. They had arrived before us and done a bit of shopping, so we ate lunch together on the fly and looked at jewelry, glass, pottery, sculpture, greeting cards, and home decor. When it got too sunny, we went into the mall to enjoy the air conditioning and look in the arty stores there.

 

We stopped at CVS and Safeway on the way home for the week's supplies and saw most of the Orioles' delightful afternoon (18-0 over the Rockies), followed by the Mariners game around dinner (7-2 over the Angels). We're getting rid of Paramount Plus because of the Trump settlement and their horrible behavior, but since we have it till the end of the month, we're watching Strange New Worlds.

Poem for Friday and Fantastic Four

A Dream 

By Christina Rossetti 

Once in a dream (for once I dreamed of you)

  We stood together in an open field;

  Above our heads two swift-winged pigeons wheeled,

Sporting at ease and courting full in view.

When loftier still a broadening darkness flew,

  Down-swooping, and a ravenous hawk revealed;

  Too weak to fight, too fond to fly, they yield;

So farewell life and love and pleasures new.

Then as their plumes fell fluttering to the ground,

  Their snow-white plumage flecked with crimson drops,

  I wept, and thought I turned towards you to weep:

  But you were gone; while rustling hedgerow tops

Bent in a wind which bore to me a sound

    Of far-off piteous bleat of lambs and sheep.

-------- 

Most of my Friday was about entertainment! I did a bunch of computer work in the morning and we watched the South Park episode that's getting all the attention (Trump sleeping with Satan, having a micropenis, humping a sheep, admiring Andrew Jackson, ignoring Jesus, and the White House thinks the first three are worse than the last two). I did some chores, we ate lunch, and I caught up with a friend from before our trip. 

Then we went out to see the new Fantastic Four movie. I don't think it's spoiling anything to say that it felt the most comic-book of any Marvel movie: the visual style is fabulous, the story predictable (and I still don't get the villain's motivation), and while it doesn't pass the Bechdel Test, I'm excusing it because nobody blinks at a pregnant woman going into space and the practicing Jewish characters are played by Jewish actors. 

Both the Orioles and Mariners had late games with late miserable endings, though I missed the start of the former and end of the latter. After dinner, we watched the current ending of The Sandman, which is well acted and atmospheric though also messy. Now we're watching the end of this week's Resident Alien (sadly canceled earlier today) and are about to put on the new Foundation episode. From the movie today and the Marvel exhibit in 2018:

Poem for Thursday and Cogshall Park

Dream 

By Eileen Myles 

Close to the

door in

my dream the

small signs

I saw a brown

sign with wisdom

on it

I saw a brown

one leaning

with wisdom

on it

fringe of a mirror

my mother

leaning over a pond

cupping water

leaning against

the moulding

cardboard or

wood which materials do you

does your wisdom prefer

which a-

partment in a summer

with someone

I felt brave to

have touched

her love the screen

door and the dogs

and the cats always

getting out. That

was the fear

two signs

fading but recalling

they had faded like words

fade in stone because

of the rain and the days

and waking and the dream

is leaving with every

step leaning over the meat

because I do not want

you to have died in vain

kissing the turkey and

the neck of  my dog

all animals am I.

all dreams, all stone

all message am I. 

-------- 

The Orioles played early on Thursday, so I watched them in the morning while getting some work done and they beat the Guardians. Then we had lunch, I did some laundry and tried to fix what's left of my post-wedding manicure, and we walked to the beach in gorgeous mid-70s weather. The Mariners beat the Angels, too. 

Cheryl was the only one in my usual Thursday chat group who made it on tonight, but since I missed last week, it was great to talk to her. Afterward, we started watching the second half of the second season of The Sandman, which I'm enjoying though I wish Loki were a bit less evil. Cogshall Park in Fitchburg: