My pal Linda K. posted this list on The Facebook, and I saw it, and I thought "Cool! I'm gonna make a blog post out of this!" Feel free to play along, on The Facebook, on a blog post, on a Twitter thread, or however you see fit. Here we go! 1. First concert - Ravi Shankar. It was also my first date! I was 15. The next night the same boy took me to... Read more →
Recovery from Covid Neither of us had bad symptoms; in fact, I tested negative almost immediately. Joe tested negative after a week, but he never got terribly ill. Some Delsym for the cough, ibuprophen for the body aches, NyQuil to sleep and he coped well. So we were both double-tested negative right after Christmas. Speaking of which... Christmas Even though we were all by ourselves, Christmas was still lovely. We gave each other great gifts... Read more →
You find the damnedest things when you open an old photo box. Y'know, like old ticket stubs. From the 90s. Those were some great shows, every single one of them. Let's start with the non-rock shows. Five Guys Named Moe celebrated the music of Louis Jordan, the great jump blues sax player and bandleader. We saw that show at Ford's Theater, home of the most uncomfortable theater seats ever. (If you go to a show... Read more →
Joe loves vinyl records. When we moved here to Pennsylvania, we found a couple of great record stores - one in Doylestown and one in Phoenixville - and boom. The store in Phoenixville closed, but apparently when God closes one record store, he opens another one. So we had to go and check it out. Now, Joe is the one who usually buys the records, but I do flip through the offerings and occasionally pick... Read more →
Wednesday night we saw a wonderful, terrific, fantastic concert by The Chieftains! I am really, really glad it was on Wednesday, because everything in Philly shut down in response to the corona virus on Thursday! This concert was part of The Chieftains 58th anniversary and Irish Goodbye tour. Both Joe and I have loved them for years, but neither of us had ever seen them live. So it was now or never, and we chose... Read more →
Back when we lived in the DC area about a million years ago, Washington National Cathedral held a free organ recital every Sunday afternoon. Joe went nearly every Sunday; I accompanied him every so often. I enjoyed the recitals, but Joe loved them. Recently we got a brochure in the mail from the arts program at Ursinus College in nearby Collegeville. Lo and behold, there was a free organ recital scheduled for Sunday afternoon! Joe... Read more →
For many years now, I've had this vision of how I want to die. It goes like this. I lie in a beautiful, white canopy bed in my lovely lace nightgown. I'm propped up by fluffy pillows. The bed is surrounded by friends and family, all crying quietly, knowing that my end is near. A choir sings Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. I gaze at my loved ones, occasionally whispering some words of love and wisdom.... Read more →
Friday was going along just fine. I was working on a document that was coming together nicely. I'd done a lot of it on Thursday, so Friday was nice and relaxed. I finished up the content, then tackled the formatting and layout. I knew that would be tricky, because my authoring tool can be cranky. Sure enough, it was. It looked just fine in the source, but the PDF output simply would not behave. It... Read more →
My pal LA did this meme - it originated with her friend Dawn - and she challenged all and sundry to hop on the bandwagon. So here you go! Waiting for Columbus (Expanded Edition) - Little Feat If I were stranded on a desert island, this is the album I'd want to have with me. I was at one of the concerts where Little Feat recorded this live album; it was the. best. rock. concert.... Read more →
I love the music of George and Ira Gershwin. I love big bands. So when we signed up for our Lively Arts series this year, we jumped on this concert: Michael Andrew is the leader and singer for the Gershwin Big Band, and he is fabulous! He's the epitome of the big band singer, so suave in his tux and groomed to the nines, his baritone rich and full. He even has some great steps!... Read more →