Wow, it’s been an intense few days. The spectacular show I’ve been involved with had performances Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, and Saturday afternoon. It was just spectacular — easily the most ambitious show I’ve ever been involved with. And it was huge amounts of fun.

Except for a day’s work on Friday — during which I passed out during a coughing fit and fell off my chair —, all my other time was spent with my poor sick plumtreeblossom. She says she was sicker than she’d ever been before in her adult life, and I can believe it. She’d have periods of not really being lucid, although she’d also have periods of being completely conscious of all the misery she was in. And she felt utterly terrible about having to miss the performances. (Actually, I was ill enough that if she’d been completely well, I’d have at least considered backing out of the performances because my cough was so bad. But I managed, and since all the coughing was away from the mikes I don’t think it distracted the audience too much.) On top of all this, she heard of an unexpected and tragic death in the family (her niece’s mother, who was still very much a part of her niece’s and her brother’s lives, died at 37 due to an undiagnosed congenital heart defect), so she had that to deal with too. Poor my honeywuzzle.

This was the first time I’d ever done Foley (sound effects), and it was a huge amount of fun. In fact, it was the first time for all four of us out on stage, but plumtreeblossom (Foley captain) had done such a fabulous job of training us and forging us into a team, and Sarah (Foley coordinator) did such a good job of figuring out how to adapt to plumtreeblossom’s absence on-stage, that it all flowed really smoothly.

I wish I’d been able to stay for strike and the cast party, but I wasn’t really feeling well enough for the labour (wouldn’t have wanted a repeat of my fainting experience earlier that day while I was carrying a heavy expensive speaker!) or for a late night of debauchery, and I needed to go see plumtreeblossom, who’d been a little concerned about being alone through the day’s two performances.

I can’t say enough about how wonderful the experience of being in that show was, and how proud I am of the entire group and how lucky I am to be able to do community theater and live radio drama with such a wonderful, talented bunch of people.

As far as our health, plumtreeblossom and I both seem to have turned a corner. Friday evening all my free thoughts were devoted to figuring out how I could get medical attention quickly after the show was over, and whether plumtreeblossom needed to go back to the ER. But Friday night something seemed to shift, and Saturday morning I was feeling not well, but much, much better. And plumtreeblossom was having a rough time on Saturday when she woke up, but after she got some calories in her she was doing a lot better than she’d been in a while. We were actually hopeful for a while that she might make it to the theater to watch the last performance, but she didn’t get better enough for that. But she was definitely better, and today she’s better still. So we’re both still coughing, aching, and exhausted, but I’m pretty sure we’re both over the worst of it and on the road to recovery.

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this before now! I blame illness, extreme busyness, and not enough time for LJ. Anyway, by now this event is not news to very many of you because it’s been all over LJ, but in case you haven’t heard about it or didn’t know I was involved:

I’m involved with a live radio drama presentation of an adaptation of The War of the Worlds, with four performances at the end of this month at the Somerville Theater. I am doing Foley (i.e., sound effects). Among other things, you will get to see me fall down. My beloved plumtreeblossom is Foley-team captain; she’ll be onstage making lots of noise too, as will surrealestate and Laurie and Emily, whose LJ names I don’t know (if they have them). And the voice talent is very nearly as awesome as we are!

The War of the Worlds show is part of The Big Broadcast of 1938, and you can follow that link for reservations or more information. (In case anyone is confused, you use the switches and lights on the right hand part of the page to navigate the site; they turn into icons for the particular function when you mouse over them. The bottom one is for reservations.)

The War of the Worlds is loosely based on the famous Orson Welles broadcast adaptation of the novel, and tells the story from a Boston perspective. The other part of the show is an episode of the Frank Cyrano Byfar Hour.

Music is provided by the amazing Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band, so it’s guaranteed to be incredible. The whole shebang is put on by the Post-Meridian Radio Players.

Performances are Thursday the 29th, Friday the 30th, and two performances on Saturday the 31st. You should come see it!

Hi! plumtreeblossom took a bunch of pictures of Festival@First 6 with my camera, and I’ve just finished selecting and uploading them to Flickr. (She had previously cropped and posted a bunch herself.)

The photos I’ve uploaded are available as a set in my Flickr photostream as well as in the Theatre@First Flickr pool; the ones plumtreeblossom uploaded a few days ago are also in the Theatre@First Flickr pool as well as posted to her journal.

And here are links to the individual shows (by Flickr tag):

• Cupid’s Beau
• Breakfast with Warhol
• The Usual
• Not Funny
• Helluva Poker Face
• Canyon’s Edge
• Season’s Greetings
• Dan in the Lion’s Den (plumtreeblossom’s play)

Sorry they aren’t cropped or colour-edited; I just haven’t had time.

(Cross-posted to my personal journal and theatreatfirst.)

I’ve had a lot stacked up to post about lately, but the only thing to talk about right now is that plumtreeblossom’s cat Rowley is dead.

( Cut for those who can’t deal, but I’d love it if those who can read do. It’s not gory. )

I love you, sweet Row-Row. And I love you, dear plumtreeblossom, and I am so glad that the logistics worked out so that I could be with you so quickly and stay with you through this.

Had a wonderful, if fairly quiet, New Year’s Eve. In the afternoon I took cathijosephine and m_c_t to a nearby mall so m_c_t could get boots. It was snowing heavily out, and the plows hadn’t had a chance to clear the streets, so getting there was kind of an adventure, and a slow one.

We had a great time at the mall, including a yummy meal from a Johnny Rockets in the food court. However, I had hurt my foot pretty badly overnight (scratching a really bad itch), and towards the end of our time at the mall I was feeling feverish and looking flushed. (Zeph and I had thought at the time that it had turned into a systemic infection, but considering how immediately I got better when she had me put some antiseptic/anaesthetic on it, I think it must just have been the pain.)

Anyway, because of the snow, it took us a lot longer than anticipated to get to and from the mall. When we got home cathijosephine took great care of me, plying me with all sorts of useful OTC drugs. (Wow, that anaesthetic/antiseptic spray was incredibly effective.)

plumtreeblossom and I had plans to go to what was by all accounts a stunningly awesome New Year’s Eve party, but unfortunately we would have had to walk there from the T through unplowed streets, and with my injured foot and the snowstorm, that was a non-starter. plumtreeblossom was incredibly understanding about the change in plans. As it happened, she got so cold walking the couple blocks to Sound Bites for dinner (where we both had very yummy food and wine) that she was just as glad we hadn’t tried to make it to the party. Instead, after dinner, we put a rather odd Gary Cooper movie in the DVD player and snuggled on the couch with the cats for a while before toasting the New Year as cued by her Blackberry.

This morning, I started 2008 2009 with pancakes, bacon, and Jell-O made by my beloved plumtreeblossom; that has to be a very good omen. (The Jell-O is because I’d had a sudden craving the previous night, due to her singing the Jell-O jingle from the radio show we did.) She also sewed some buttons on my coat.

When I got home today, I had a rather disturbing surprise. First of all, the cat was out of food; she had tried to get into the bag of food in the closet, but only succeeded in knocking it over with the opening folded under it so she couldn't get in. Second of all, it was 35° Fahrenheit in the house. Our boiler occasionally randomly shuts itself off for no reason, requiring a button press to turn it back on. I did that right away, but I am still wearing a coat and hat; it takes a while for the house to warm up from that temperature. Poor kitty! I hope it wasn't that cold all night.

Anyway, I was delighted to spend the last afternoon of 2008 with cathijosephine and m_c_t, and to spend the last night of 2008 and the first morning of 2009 with my beloved plumtreeblossom. That left me with a warmth inside that mere temperature can’t touch.

Oh, and I just a few minutes ago got a nice New Year’s phone call from sionnagh. (She says everybody in Hawai‘i is complaining and wearing sweaters because it’s gotten down to 68°F. Remind me again; why do I live in New England?)

I am blessed with many wonderful friends (many of whom I wish I could see more often [*casts a glance towards northern England*]), a spectacular family (of origin and of choice), and a life full of love.

Breakfast with my parents silverlibre and ka9sqb, as well as cathijosephine, at a nearby hole-in-the-wall diner. Then came back to the house for a bit. Then my parents and I went off and explored the commercial district near Quincy Center for a while, culminating in a ramble through the 18th-and-early-19th-century cemetery near the T station, before having a late lunch at a Taiwanese booth in a food court. (Actually, it’s pretty much the only occupant of the food court. There’s a sushi place and a little place you can buy beer and wine, but I never see them open.) Very good Taiwanese food, and the charming, friendly, and constantly happy-seeming woman who takes orders there alerted us to the August Moon festival on Sunday in Chinatown. (There’s also one in Quincy the following Sunday which I hope to go to, but my parents will already have left by then.)

Then I had to rush off to get the car and drive to plumtreeblossom’s to meet her after work and drive her and her cat Rowley to the vet’s. The vet visit went very well; we got seen right away and the vet was great. He was very good for the exam, and he got blood drawn and got subcutaneous fluids since he was dehydrated, and we took him home with some meds plumtreeblossom is going to be giving him. We don’t yet know what was wrong, but the vet was very helpful and seemed not to think it was terribly urgent, and more importantly, he seemed much better when we got him home! We wonder whether he just got so dehydrated that he was too lethargic to eat and drink, which kept him dehydrated, and the subcutaneous fluids helped a lot. Either that or the ordeal of the vet visit gave him a taste of what horrors might be visited on him if he didn’t start acting like his normal self. :-) Anyway, my beloved plumtreeblossom is much relieved.

Then I came home to homemade pizza (with amazing roasted garlic!) that cathijosephine had made using garlic pesto that plumtreeblossom gave me a few days ago, and which I got to share with my parents. As plumtreeblossom put it to me as I was leaving her place, I was having my belly filled with love from all directions. And darxus was here, and while I didn’t get to chat with him before he crashed, it was nice to see him briefly and know he was here.

My life is in pretty good shape, I would say.

After cathijosephine and darxus went to bed, silverlibre and ka9sqb and I stayed up chatting for a while, and I showed them the photos I posted from the Theatre@First one-acts and silverlibre showed me that video of lightning in slow motion that’s been going around the net but that I had missed, and I walked them back to their room so we could enjoy the night air together.

Now it’s way before my bedtime, but I might actually go to sleep. I ought to clean and straighten, but it’s been a rich full life day, and some extra sleep is probably a good idea, particularly since I think our plan for tomorrow involves the Aquarium and a tall-ship cruise.

EDIT: And I came home to an enticing package from sionnagh, which I probably would have waited until my birthday to open if I had any willpower. It had a lovely big very detailed atlas of Hawai‘i in it (a scientific atlas, with lots of information on weather patterns, flora and fauna, and the like, and plenty of text with the maps), a copy of Brokeback Mountain, and a lovely little miniature Japanese calligraphy set! Thank you, sionnagh!

Having a wonderful time in DC with plumtreeblossom — and bcat1 and spacechicken for much of the time! Yesterday we all went to the zoo, and then to Meskerem Ethiopian restaurant. Today we had brunch with bcat1 and spacechicken before they took off for Raleigh, and then plumtreeblossom and I wandered down the Mall and spent a couple nifty hours in the National Air and Space museum (which has the Apollo 11 CSM, the Friendship 7, and the Gemini capsule from the mission with the first US spacewalk, among lots of other impressive stuff). Then we headed for Dupont Circle, but decided to check out Chinatown on the way and ended up at a Burmese restaurant for dinner. (Neither of us had had Burmese food before. It’s yummy!) Then we went to Dupont Circle and had a lovely time wandering around. We ended up at Afterwords, a cafe connected to a bookstore, for very inexpensive and yummy dessert and coffee. The bookstore was neat, too.

Pictures will follow; we got some great ones at the zoo, and I think some of the ones from the Mall and the Air and Space museum came out well, although I haven’t had a chance to look at them. (I also owe y’all some pictures from Topsfield Fair.)

Just wanted to let folks know I’m doing much, much better today. I think the sciatica is gone and all the (considerable) aches I have left are muscular side-effects of that. I felt groggy and crummy all day yesterday and am pretty sure I had a fever and slept about 18 out of 24 hours, but that unpleasantness (except for the sleeping; sleeping was very pleasant!) seems to be behind me too. And plumtreeblossom’s coming over to remind me other humans exist tonight, and cathijosephine’s going to meet us for The Best Pastrami Sandwiches East of the International Date Line and West of Kiribati, and I'm alert and functional and awake enough to be working usefully from home today, so life is pretty good.

By the way, “You need to see a doctor immediately” is not a very helpful comment unless it’s accompanied by contact information for a doctor I can get to who is free or whom my insurance will reimburse me for even without them being my PCP or me having a referral, or instructions on how to get an immediate appointment from my highly overbooked doctor or nurse practitioner or the other doctors in his group without pointing a gun at the receptionists. I love my doctor and he’s responsible for my sleep apnea and hormonal problems being diagnosed and treated, but he’s very hard to schedule with and the place he works is kind of disorganized and claims not to have emergency appointments (I’ve tried in the past). And this was clearly (in retrospect) not an ER thing (although maybe if I’d gone to the ER they would have given me some nice muscle relaxants and analgesics that would have made Monday less unpleasant). I do appreciate everybody’s care and concern, though!

The bad is that I am in serious pain and can barely walk.

Saturday during the day I noticed a mild twinge in my left hip joint, the kind of thing I notice from time to time which normally goes away on its own in an hour or so. Saturday night I sat down at the computer for a couple of hours. When I got up, I was quite sore and limping. I have no idea what if anything actually happened to cause this; to my knowledge I didn’t do anything unusual. I had a hard time finding a position that worked for me to sleep in, but I found one (on my back, knees together and slightly bent on top of a pillow). When I woke up I felt a lot better and thought “Great! Maybe I’ll be over it.” Then I tried to get out of bed, though.

I was seriously hobbling yesterday, but able to make my way around. I bought myself a cane at the drugstore, on the theory that recently I’ve had two twisted ankles and a bad hip, and plumtreeblossom has had occasional minor knee and ankle trouble, and her mother visited and could really have used a cane while she was here, and it seemed like an investment with excellent returns. And I drove to plumtreeblossom’s instead of taking the T, despite the fact that that means I have to pay $20 for parking at work tomorrow, because I didn’t think I could handle the walk to and from the T station.

It’s a good thing I have that cane; I don’t know what I’d do without it.

I was mostly OK for my date with Mare, limping with the cane and occasionally in pain but functional. When we went to bed (around midnight) I tried to duplicate the position that had worked for me the previous night. I woke up once probably around 1:30 and had to get some Aleve. At 3:00 I woke up moaning and couldn’t stay in bed because I couldn’t find a position that didn’t hurt. Even with the cane, I couldn’t pick up my left leg to take a step and I couldn’t put any weight on it, so I had this funny shuffle where I’d scoot my good foot forward on the floor, balancing with the cane, and then slide my left leg along the floor. Sitting hurts a lot less than lying down, so plumtreeblossom set me up in the living room with my laptop. (I don’t normally carry that with me; it’s fortuitous that I had it with me today.) I’ve been sitting for an hour, and I’m feeling a lot better. With the cane I can take steps; even a few small steps without it. (I tested this just now by going to the kitchen for a cupcake and some water.) An hour ago I was debating whether I needed to go to the emergency room right away, but now (if I don’t get worse) I think I probably won’t even have to tomorrow.

This is weird. Nothing happened to cause this. It definitely feels like a joint thing; it feels like it’s right in the ball-and-socket joint (although I don’t know if that’s the sort of thing I can tell). It’s definitely not muscular. And although even small movements hurt, it seems like it’s very seriously aggravated by long periods of immobility (like my couple hours sitting at the computer or my three hours in bed tonight), and it seems like using the joint (however gently and gingerly) helps.

*Sigh.* I hope this is just a weird thing that goes away and doesn’t come back, and not the first discovery that I’m developing arthritis or something. The last thing I need is another major medical adventure to embark upon.

Anyway, I think I’m going to try sleeping in this chair shortly. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable now.

Sorry for bending your collective ear!

PS — The other bad is that the wireless here seems to be really sporadic. :-)

First the good:

For the past few days I’ve been (I’d been? See next post) pretty productive around the house, cleaning and reorganizing.

My flowers are gorgeous.

I GOT MY BIRTHDAY KILT and it’s wonderful and perfect and exactly the length I wanted and it looks great on me! I’m so happy! Thanks so much to all of you who contributed, or wished you could. Pictures will eventually be forthcoming.

I had a lovely evening with plumtreeblossom; she made me yummy chicken pie (first time we’ve cooked in a while) and we ate it while watching Robots with vanguardcdk. And I got to briefly and unexpectedly see joyeous on my way over.