Alarm Clock and Meds Mess Up

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I set an alarm for 7am to make sure Doug gets up. 

He sets one for himself but sometimes cancels on accident, instead of snoozing. Most of the time he's up. I I know he's up if the dog isn't in the bed with me, he'll be in the living room with Doug. 90% of the time. 

This morning, my alarm went off and I could hear the shower, so I knew he was all set and getting ready. The dog was in the bed with me. So we were super deep cozy. Great. I went to reset the alarm for myself for 8:15 and. Somehow. Didn't. I woke up at 8:45, after Doug was gone, Geoff had not come upstairs yet. And this time is usually when I'm already up and at least drinking coffee if not already working. 

Thankfully, things are a little slow today. Several meetings have been reworked this week, and folks know I was going to leave for a dentist appointment at 4, so it wasn't chaos. I managed to get to work before 9, and took my shower at lunchtime since I didn't have any morning meetings. 

Speaking of the dentist, I like my dentist, I like going to the dentist. I love having my teeth cleaned. This dentist does a good job and doesn't make me feel like I'm failing or I suck. He wants to redo two of my very old fillings, next visit. 

We said that last visit. 

So I'm going to schedule that appointment for August, probably the week after I get back from Maine.

Geoff doesn't have dental insurance right now, so he wanted to go in for a cleaning but thought it would be thousands of dollars. Dr. Dentist said he'll give him a discount rate, and it'll be about $150, possibly less. No X-rays for that visit. So that was nice of him. I feel like he's good with people who are living without insurance and still want to do maintenance level care. 

I walked there and back, we picked him because of his location, so it is about 12 minutes each way. The weather today was perfect, so I actually left early and took a longer route there, just to do some steps and some pokemon catching. 

When I got home, I was really looking forward to taking my blood sugar. I mean, I did so good with carbs today and getting such a good walk, burning sugars! I was sure the high reading of this morning would be 100 points lower. 

Nope. It was higher. The hell? 

Then I looked at the spot where I keep my pills. Every morning I set up the pills for the day. And there was the pill that usually gets taken at lunchtime. 

How'd I miss that? Gah. I quickly took it at 5pm, and thought about getting some protein in my system (can of tuna, protein shake, nuts, cheese) but I had let the dentist put a fluoride treatment on my teeth today. Stupidly. I was not allowed to eat or drink until 7pm as a result. Doh. I should have said "hey, when I come in for the next cleaning in November, let's do that!" but I wasn't really paying attention. 

So when people are not treating their diabetes, and they actually just try and eat okay, and have numbers in the mid to upper 200s just from sitting around. Well then, now you see why taking meds is important.

Don't forget yer meds, kids! For any of your ailments! 

After I got home, I did some plant care (I will post that all tomorrow because it is super fascinating!) 

Oh! Here's a fun picture. A while back, I somehow found a person on Twitter who is a Taylor Swift Super Fan. Not sure how I connected to her but it had something to do with Dogs. Anyway, she's a TS super duper Swiftie, and I'm not. But I like her. So I started to follow her. She was making bracelets for Swiftie concert attendees for where she lives and said something like "Does anyone want something specific?" so your wiseass friend messages her "I'm not a Swiftie, won't be at the show, but I'd love a bracelet! Can you make me one that says "ONWARD" from a guster song? 

"It's simple, so says the captain,
Face forward, move slow, forge ahead...
Onward." 

She said she would. 

Today, I got a package in the mail with the ONWARD bracelet, and 2 extra little bonus bracelets. I'm over the moon with this. So beautiful. The best colors. Perfect for the upcoming On The Ocean shows. I am in love. I need to figure out a return of the perfection to do something for her!  

digits:

exercise: 12 hours of 250 steps, 2 dedicated 10s plus some (to and from the dentist!) so yay!

blood glucose:

8:45am: 208
5:15pm: 249 (whaaat?!)
10:30pm: 155

food:

coffee, water 
9:30am: Protein Shake
12 noon: large bowl of chicken salad
12:30: metformin Ooooooops,
12:45: another large bowl of chicken salad (could not resist!) 
5:15: Metformin (the lunch dose!)
7:30pm: 4 grilled bratwurst, small scoop of potato salad
10pm: ramekin of mixed nuts; metformin+jardiance (that I usually take at dinner)
10:45pm: chocolate chip cookie a la geoff

wine.

Though she be but little

I had a whole other entry written but today I'll post this picture instead. My niece graduated from college on Sunday. And she posted this photo on FB. 

Top is obviously her mortarboard is a quote from Midsummer Night's Dream. She's not a tall human, she's about 5' maybe 5' 2" tall. So I've always liked this quote for her, and years ago I sent her a custom made plaque with the quote and the picture of a lion on it. The bottom photo is one I took of her watching Jess in Midsummer with Rebel all those years ago (12? 13? I can't remember, I'd have to go look it up). I can't remember who gave her the fairy wings, if she came with them to the show, if my father and mother in law bought them, if I got them, I can't recall. 

But. There ya go. I stole this from her FB saying I'd send it to Jess. This hit me hard today. So sweet. So lovely. 

Congratulations, Little 'n Fierce.

digits:

exercise: 12 hours of 250 steps, no official walk today

blood glucose:

7:45am: 171
4:45pm: 172
10pm: 212

food:

coffee, water 
9am: 2 eggs, sautéed peppers, bean salsa, shredded mexican cheddar cheese
11:30am: 2 good yogurt (cherry); melted pizza cheese (Geoff made pizza bagels and always over-cheeses them, and leaves the "burned" cheese on the tray just for me).
12:30: Metformin
1:45: 1/2 chicken breast of chicken parm left over from the other night
5pm: trail mix assortment (tex mex/asian spicy/monster all thrown together in a bowl)
6:30pm: large bowl of mac & cheese w/hamburger
9pm: protein shake

Clothes, Sneakers, Jeep

For a very long time, none of my clothes have fit me. My pants are all too big. I have jeans that are size 20 that I've been wearing just because they're here. I was out recently with my friend Sara and was holding my pants up, because in addition to my pants being too big, I don't own a belt or LIKE belts. I hate them. I can never find one that doesn't just suck. 

Sara said "girl. we need to go shopping for some pants." She was entirely correct. A lot of people may say "well Chris, why don't you just order some clothes online?" To whit I say, meh. I want to see the clothes, try them on, decide if I like them or not. So in person is the way to go. 

The last clothing I bought was two blouses and a pair of khaki dress pants for my brother in law's dad's funeral back in August. I was happy to get into a size 16 pant, but, was also feeling like these were still a little too big. Maybe just the "relaxed, women's cut" of it all. 

Geoff wanted some new dress pants and shirts, for his graduation and job interviews. And because he is not a procrastinator like I am, we jumped on a free moment together post-exams and clinical and academic requirements to go shopping. 

I managed to find two pairs of shorts, kind of "dressy" if you can say shorts are dressy. They aren't grey athletic shorts, and they aren't capri pants, they're .... cute shorts. 

I was in the fitting room and there was a blouse hanging on a hook there, and it looked cute too. Marked XL I was sure it wouldn't fit but it did. A little tight around my gut - I look pregnant as usual - but it fit everywhere else, so I decided it would come home with me. It's yellow and white. I found another shirt in the same area. I went to the men's department with Geoff and almost bought several flower shirts (little tiny flowers, lots of colors...) but passed. Now I regret it. 

The other thing I needed was a new pair of sneakers. Glad I went to try them on in person. My feet have gotten a little larger, and wider. So trying on was a good plan. My current sneakers are a mess. In 2020, I moved the fire pit with my foot and the wheel had actually melted, and my sneaker got covered with melted black plastic.

Good thing I never need to go anywhere in person. 

I have plenty of flip flops and hiking sandals so it isn't like I'm barefoot. And in the fall/winter I've been wearing hiking shoes. So poor sneakers - they're going to be relegated to doing dirty outdoor work. Thank you for your service. 

Geoff picked out one shirt and I told him he could pick out more. "They're kind of expensive," he says. 

"It's okay. It isn't like we buy clothes every other week or even twice a year. Last time we went shopping for you was 2015 for your Eagle ceremony and Graduation so, feel free. Get some shirts. 

Worth it. He's ready to go, ready for interviews, graduation, and looking good. 

Funny thing is, he'll dress up to interview for jobs where he'll be wearing scrubs. Next purchase, whatever color scrubs he needs for work. He's been wearing khaki for school, and every lab or hospital is different. So we'll see what he needs. At least he knows exactly what size, he can shop on line. 

And we are finding ourselves in need of replacing the Jeep. Geoff drove it every day to Virginia, for the last 2 years for school. This week, the shocks went on the front right tire, the brakes are just ... no. Done. He'd had a small fender bender in it last year and the hood won't close, so it's been kind of a mess for a while. A great beater. Served us well. Doug and I went to take it to Home Depot and turned around and came home, it was that concerning. I'm glad it survived getting Geoff to school. 

That said, Doug is doing his shop for a good deal on a car thing. He's always wanted a mini cooper Countryman and found one for sale for a good price at a dealership in Virginia. 

He took off Thursday, Friday, and Monday for Geoff's graduation things. We found out that the thing Geoff received an invitation to for Thursday wasn't meant for his group. Certificate program kids don't get pinned, the Associates Degree kids do. So now he thinks he'll take a trip down to go look at this car. Not sure if I go too? Well, if he buys it someone has to drive a car home, eh? 

I took Friday and Monday off, I was thinking we'd have Doug's mom/sister here at the house starting Thursday but that's not happening. My sister arrives on Sunday. So now we find ourselves with some free open time. Kind of a gift from the universe in some ways. So maybe we can leave early on Thursday and go pick this car up? I kind of want him to buy a car in Maryland, because the dealership is responsible for making sure vehicles pass inspection here, not us. If we buy a car anywhere else, we could be in trouble. And I don't want that. 

He's not finding what he wants in Maryland though, sadly. Hmmm. Well, We'll see what happens.

Alright. Digits below!

 

digits:

exercise: 12 hours of 250 steps; lots of house walking and a trip to target

blood glucose:

7:45am: 195
5pm: 195
9:45pm: 167

food:

coffee, water 
10:30: left over salad w/tuna and mayo
noon: metformin
2pm: peanut butter on 647 white toast
wine
6:45pm: burgers on lettuce, 2 stray hotdogs. no buns. metformin+jardiance

The Foxening and the Plantening

First, a tale of our morning. But be forewarned, lots of pictures below.

Phin woke me up at 5:15 to go out, too early to eat, I encouraged him back to bed after he peed. At about 6:15 he was up and that's a good time for brekkie. I let him out, went to the bathroom, fed, watered him, brought him in, and went back to bed myself. 

I usually get a good hour before he wants to go out for post-meal doings, but at 6:40 he was up and pacing, panting. Upset.

And I could hear the crows.

We had the windows open, and I was in the guest room by the back yard, and there was a hell of a conference happening out there. 

I sat up in bed and looked out the window to see a fox, just sitting there. So I grabbed my phone to see if I could catch a shot of it before it ran off. 

Only, it was not running off. It was hunting in the overgrowth and not yet mowed area under the crepe myrtle.

The crows though. Wow. 

Those guys did not enjoy having a predator just hanging out. They don't fuss at Phineas, they know he's no harm. But this guy? Trouble! 

Caw! Caw! Caw! And the entire neighborhood was on alert. Other birds were joining in. And the entire corner was screaming the alarm.

I went and woke Doug up because I figured he wouldn't want to miss this (and I was right!). He said he heard them and wondered why they were just going on and on like that. He came to join me, and we sat and watched.

My picture isn't great because of the screen, but, it is a healthy looking specimen,  shapely and healthy. Tail is a little mangey but that's okay. We're not all perfect.

The fox was jumping up in the air and pouncing on something, over and over. It was actually funny to watch. I've seen pictures of foxes doing this, jumping up and pouncing. There are famous pictures of a fox doing this in the snow. A musician I'm friends with has one on the cover of one of his albums. 

We saw it pick up something small and black and toss it like a cat would a mouse. And pounce on it again. Over and over. Doug figured it was a mole or something small, and that the fox had killed it, and was doing what they do. After a while, it sat down and was just looking up at the trees where the crows were, somewhat perturbed by them squawking at him so much. By about then, it decided that the time to leave had arrived, so .... how to get out?

It couldn't figure out how to get over the fence. It couldn't fit through the gap in the gate. Friend, you got in here - you can figure out how to get out, right? 

It ran around the yard several times. Fast! Ran over by our back steps, around the patio, around front! Right about then I was very happy I had not let Phineas out when he was antsy. I'm glad I decided to look out to see what the crows were all about. Phin has a routine. He goes out, pees and whatnot, goes to the side of the house, and goes around back on patrol to check out the scene, comes around front, and lets us know he's ready to come in. 

They would have met, and I know Phin would have engaged. 

Would the fox leap over the fence? I am not sure. Relieved that he was sitting on the carpet behind us, we watched him pace around, trying the fence while his adversaries voiced displeasure. Eventually, it went behind the crepe myrtle, found a tree stump from a previous time, covered in ivy, jumped on it and cleared the fence. I cheered a little for it. 

We watched it stroll up the street, sniffing at my neighbors' gardens, strolling through their unfenced properties. Crows on the wing flying up the tree line and keeping everyone alert to the goings on. 

Well. Adventure. Doug went out to look to see if there was carnage or a mess or anything, and the only sign of trouble was some weeds and grass dug out, and he didn't see any hole or a nest or anything that the fox was onto that would indicate critters to watch for. 

It was 7am. And we were up for the day. While Doug surveyed the fox scene, I made coffee, and a quick pbj sandwich because I woke up hungry. And Phineas got to go out and do his thing without incident. 

As promised, pictures from yesterday. 

First, on the shelf in the veggies department outside there was a cool rock. I don't use Tik Tok so I can't go look up who the rock project is, but I do appreciate the good wishes for an amazing day.

Top picture: 3 garden plots in dire need of turning.
Bottom: all the veggies waiting for their new homes.

Flowers and Herbs ready for their new homes.

F

Front porch pot, out with the old, in with the new.

Busted crock, one of many! We'll find a repurpose for it!

Top: Rosemary, and Thyme. You can see the thyme that overwintered, and the bit we added.
Bottom: Oregano. Some came back this year and like the thyme, we added a plant.

An alternate view of yesterday's Phineas on the porch shot. Little bugger refuses to look at me for pictures!

I think Doug made a mistake, the blue/purple is (I think?) ground cover, not flower pot material. It's called Lithodora but we'll see how it does. I think it is going to need a bigger pot.

The maroonish purple one is Celosia. There were three plants in one big pot, so I took two out for other pots and left this one here in the yellow pot it came in. Looks like it will be happy there, but will miss its friends.

Phineas photo bombed when I tried to take pictures of the jalapeno peppers.

morning coffee today

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; lots of steps inside Kohls when I took Geoff shopping. 

blood glucose:

7am: 185
5pm: 165
9:45pm: 190

food:

coffee, water 
7:15am: pbj on 647 bread
11:30: 2good yogurt. Metformin
3pm: 1/2 apple w/pb
5pm: left over curry sauce w/onions and peppers
6:30: chicken parm (1/2 a chicken breast) w/ about a cup of ziti.
7pm: metformin+jardiance
8:30pm: ramekin mixed nuts

wine

The return of Farmer Chris, 2023 style

Doug and I went to the Home Despot today and got ourselves some garden stuffs. It's officially the return of Farmer Chris for this year.

We got too many peppers, some zucchini, tomatoes, many of which Phineas will just eat off the vine so we need a strategy. We also got flowers and herbs. 

I took care of setting up the flowers and herbs. Doug turned the garden beds, and planted the garden veggies. 

Tomorrow I'll go out and do sunflower seeds, and see if we can't have a better go of it with those this year. 

A couple of our crocks outside didn't weather well and the bottoms fell out. On one of them, it's actually great because last year I didn't know there wasn't a hole in the bottom of one, and every time it rained the flowers in that crock got flooded. No way to drain. 

I took a bunch of pictures, and I'll take some more tomorrow and post a full round up of the plantings. But for tonight, my sore ass is ready for some tylenol and bed! Blood sugar has been high, today disappointingly so. Even though I've eaten pretty well. But then we had chinese food for dinner so that's not the answer to get the numbers down even with a LOT of movement.

Here's a picture of Phineas and herbs in dappled evening sunshine. More tomorrow. Digits below!

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; dedicated 10 plus around the garden department of home depot! And then a lot of work in the garden!  

blood glucose:

8:45am: 200
5:45pm: 192
10pm: 171

food:
coffee, water
8:45am: bacon
11:45: grilled ham & american cheese on 647 white
12: Metformin
1pm: apple & Peanut butter
6:30pm: chinese food. spicy wings, red curry shrimp, spring roll, peking ravioli, a little lo mein. Metformin+jardiance. vodka & lemonade
8pm: mixed nuts

Painting Lines

It was 1am. The dog, per his usual, needed to go out so I walked into the living room to open the door. The living room was flooded in flashing yellow and orange lights, so not emergency vehicles but utility or something. Curious. 

I put pants on, opened the door and went out with him. There were three giant trucks with big flashing lights and I could hear a machine running. I couldn't see the insignia on the truck with the flashing lights and wondered if this was the water company, if something was broken/clogged. Phineas did his business, and thankfully didn't bark at anything what with it being 1am and all. 

He went back inside so I walked to the corner.

There was a machine, kind of like a roto-tiller, with flames shooting out of it. Actual, factual FLAMES. One guy was pushing it, three guys were guiding him, and another guy had a leaf blower and was walking around behind the entourage. Oh, and there was a guy supervising. 

This is quite a surreal vision, such a weird thing to see. 

They're painting lines for the crosswalk and the stop line. Only I have no idea why flames are involved. 

After a while, they finish up. Leaf blower guy and supervisor guy are still there checking the lines and cleaning up the dust of whatever the painting machine is doing. The flaming painting machine. The supervisor walks over to me, and says "Hey, how's your night going?"

"Well, it's going alright, certainly has become interesting what with this all," I said. He asks if they woke me up, I confessed no, the dog did but my curiosity was piqued by all the fun happening out here. 

I asked him what all the flames were about, do they heat the paint so it dries faster? He said no - it's not really paint. It's plastic, they heat it up, it comes out of the machine, it dries very fast as it cools. They do this at night with cooler weather and a lot less traffic. And they were moving up the block to the next intersection. 

This process fascinated me, and once he confirmed to me that this wasn't some kind of fever dream of weirdness with fire belching equipment running all over our neighborhoods at night I felt a little more mentally put together. How cool is that. Learning at 1am. 

They walked up the street to follow their team, I went back inside to a very concerned dog who then ushered me to bed quickly. 

I slept pretty well after that, Geoff was exceptionally quiet and I didn't even hear him leave. I smelled the coffee brewing at 5:30, and Phineas woke me up at 6 to eat, which is much later than he usually wakes me up. He usually wakes up when he hears Geoff and then pesters me until I finally capitulate and feed him at 5:45. 

People wonder why I like to sleep in on the weekends.

Anyway, I ended up awake and got up to play on my phone and goof off. I had an early meeting, and there was an urgent client thing that I helped out with that ate my morning. 

It's actually gorgeous out, I am thinking of packing up and going outside. The leaves have come in, and it is shady. We haven't put our gift umbrella out (mostly because I want Doug to weed whack between the pavers on the patio before we put the 900 pound base down, and then have to move it again!

And because I have not taken pictures of food lately, here's lunch, which was so perfect I wanted a second sandwich but. 

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps not a real dedicated 10 but a short pokemon walk

blood glucose:

8:00am: 200
5pm: 166
10:30pm: 213

food:
coffee, water, iced coffee
9:45am: the last of the chicken salad (approx 1.5 cups) before Doug could get it. ha.
12noon: tuna melt (2 pieces American cheese, basically a whole can of tuna+mayo, 647 italian bread); metformin
5pm: crackers, hummus, 3 baby bell cheeses
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
7pm: sandwich from deli: super grain bread, turkey, avocado, bacon
Beers at Babycat
9:30pm: roast beef, baby bell cheeses, nuts

Oh I am a weak monkey

Geoff bought Oreos. And I think I just ate about 15,000 of them. I do so well through the day with eating, monitoring things to eat that will impact my blood sugar and avoiding all the bad things. No bagels, no high-carb breads, keeping it low down.... And then oh look something I shouldn't have but I am going to have. And have a lot of because I am a weakling.

It's always good when he buys food I do not like or need. I don't need potato chips or Nutty Buddies, Zebra cakes. I can avoid all of that and be completely awesome. Weird flavored chips or crackers? naaah. I can pass on that.  

But a package of Oreos? 

Murder. 

Anyway. Did super well today with the good food behaviours, overall. I can be happy for that. 

Looking forward to the weekend and kind of thought today was Friday but. It isn't and I'm glad it is not. I think I'll take Geoff to the store for some dress pants for graduation, and I will look at getting me some jeans that fit. I have khakis, and dress pants, but I need jeans that are not 3 sizes too big. We have cleaning and work to do, we haven't decided if we are going to reserve a room at a restaurant or something next Sunday or just hang here and invite some friends over. I'm torn, I kind of want to tell everyone to show up at a local thing, but also just want to hang out here Sunday next week, and go to graduation on Monday the 15th.

Geoff has one day left of his clinical placement tomorrow. He has passed all his classes and academic requirements. He had an in person exam at the lab yesterday for 4 hours and got an 86. He thought he didn't do as well. So he was thrilled to get his results. 

They sent him his tassel for his hat, we're super close to being done with this first phase of his academics. 

One week, basically. One week. Gotta make it. 

No picture today, just digits.

digits:

exercise: 11/12 hours of 250 steps ... missed the 2pm steps by literally 10 steps because I lost track of time and was writing helpdesk documentation.

blood glucose:

8:30am: 166
5pm: 143
10pm: 231 (doh)

food:
coffee, water
12noon: large bowl of chicken salad; metformin
2pm: some more chicken salad whilst putting it all away
6:30pm: one baked stuffed pepper with chorizo, onions, cheddar
7pm: metformin+jardiance
8pm. pepper strips & hummus
9pm: Oreo Cookies. Beers (hockey night)

RIP fish tank

Monday night, while we were at the Coheed and Cambria show, both my kids texted me at the exact time. It's weird to hear from Jess, but I was expecting Geoff to check in, and when I clicked what I thought was his message, it said 

"RIP Fish Tank" with a picture of a drained tank, fish in a bucket and 2 metal stock pots full of gravel.

I thought it was from Geoff, but it was from Jess. After some conusion, they called me and said "it's probably just easier to talk to you because you seem confused." 

Well, yeah. Basically my responses were "wtf happened?"
"Get the cooler from the yard and put the stuff in the cooler. Be sure to close the drain before you pour water in it though"
"Use all the towels, there's a clean basket on my bed."

I should have recognized our fish tank is not a normal fish tank, it's more of a pond with a couple fish and a lot of aquatic plants, and no gravel. So. 

I jumped to the conclusion that Geoff (or Phineas?) had busted our tank when it was Jess'. Ha. I should have looked at the picture to see there were actual fish, and I know our fish tank doesn't have fish. 

Anyway. Jess had a good laugh at my expense, with me thinking that Geoff somehow busted our tank. 

After the death of the fishtank, Jess and Liz went to the pet store, bought a new tank. They thought this tank was 50 gallons but it is more like 30. So they messed up the size and got that 50 gallon tank and a stand. The babies are all in the new tank and doing well. So hooray. And our tank is fine. 

Digits, below.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps; no real dedicated solid 10 but more like a couple solid 7s through the day

blood glucose:

8:30am: 151
4:30pm: 177
10:13pm: 143

food:
coffee, water
9:45: 2 good yogurt
noon: large piece of chicken parm left over from the other night
1pm: Metformin
4:30pm: apple w/peanut butter
6:30pm: metformin+jardiance
7:30pm: 2 hotdogs (no buns) big salad, scoop of potato salad
wine

just the digits

Because i didn't get to fully write up the Jess discussion, and it is worth it, and I want to go to bed, I'mma just do digits for now. 

More to come.

digits:

exercise: 12/12 hours of 250 steps. no Dedicated 10

blood glucose:

8:30am: 166
5pm: 142
10pm:  180

food:
coffee, water
8:45am: left over bratwurst, peppers and onions. 
12:30pm: Metformin, turkey & cheese sandwich on 647 bread
1:45pm: 2 baby bell cheeses
6:30pm: a cheeseburger with bacon over a salad
wine
8:30pm: cheese and crackers

Children of the Fence - Coheed and Cambria at Fillmore Silver Spring

After seeing me check into the event on Facebook, a friend of mine wrote to me "Are you a Child of the Fence?" And I knew exactly what she meant. 

Coheed fandom runs deep, and way beyond the music. There are storylines, characters, adventures, and history that you jump into, pick up, learn. And I'm still in the process of learning. Prog rock metal scifi, adventure. Of course this appeals to me. How could it not? What's not to love! Claudio's voice (and hair), the soaring guitar work, the short interstitial songs that build into the next song. Fantastic. 

Children of the Fence is the name of the fandom, see info on the 2008 full performances of their Amory Wars albums, recorded live.   Songs off of the albums that they performed stand alone, and can be enjoyed out of context for sure. That's how I learned of them. I think it was Rock Band or Guitar Hero where I first heard of them back in the day. 

This was a full performance of one of the albums, Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV: No World For Tomorrow followed by a short break and a few more songs. 

We got there very late, deliberately missing the opening act in order to have dinner. That's all fine and good, but of course, by the time you get inside, the place is packed to the gills and there's nowhere to be. M&M worked their way forward to get into the middle of the crowd. 

Doug and I were in the way back, no line of sight to the stage, and people just bumping into us the entire time. That's not his jam. Not mine either. If I can see the performance I can tolerate the traffic and bumping. He went out exploring the venue, and found a ledge to sit on, texted me, invited me to come hang with him, so I did. 

If I didn't have Doug's ticket on my phone I may have gone in early, bypassed dinner, and found my friend Deb on the front rail to hang with her and her friends. They are all true Children of the Fence. But I decided since I can't get up front no matter what, I'll hang with Doug. He bought me a beer. A $15 beer. How, expensively kind of the venue. 

Before the show got underway I moved over to the soundboard and asked the tech if I could take a picture of the set list (everyone knows basically what it's going to be, because it's a full album, right?) and he was kind enough to let me take one, and I promised I wouldn't share it until after the show. 

"You know the rules!" he said, smiling. "Of course!" 

Any person in a fandom wants to know the setlist, even if they're not there, so they can get psyched over what they're missing. Oh! They haven't played this one in ten years! I've never seen this one live!  

Even though for this show, we knew they're doing a whole album, so you knew what you're going to get. The break between the album and the rest of the set list is where things get unique, different.

And, it is super bad form to post the playlist before the show. Don't do it. Ever. Happily I thanked him, and walked off to find Doug again.

We enjoyed people watching. There was a staircase down to a basement lounge where you could get beer and sit for a while, but it was crowded and busy. So we were able to watch all the for real Children of the Fence come and go. 

I have to say I was truly impressed with how diverse this crowd was. I'm kind of used to going to Guster shows and they don't pull in a very diverse audience. But here, there were all stripes of humans, drawn together. It was wonderful to see so many people pulled into this one band's art. Doug eventually went outside because he just needed a break. 

After he got up, two people came out who needed to take a break from being in the concert. There was another kid there, somewhere in his 20s, I'd hazard around Geoff's age. He struck up a conversation and told us the opening act is his favorite, he added "and I thought I should stick around for Coheed."

Yes, yes you should. Good choice, young man.

When they played "Shoulders" the girl in the couple next to me jumped up and ran. "That's her favorite," her partner said. That left me with this kid, who sat down and continued our conversation. 

"How long have you been going to shows?" he asked me. 

Oh honey. 

"My first concert that I remember was the Outlaws, I think I was 12 or 13? I'm old." He told me he loves living close to the venue, because he just looks at the upcoming shows, and buys a GA ticket and goes by himself. Easy walk to and from, no problems, no drama. I thought, yeah, he should be friends with Geoff.

He put his phone number in my phone and told me to have Geoff get in touch. 

"I have a few friends here in town, we play board games, drink beer, listen to metal." Okay. There ya go. Friends. 

When the show was over, I went back to the soundboard in hopes of getting a copy of the set list. The tech smiled at me, and said "I saved it for you. I knew you'd come back!" 

I was super psyched to get a set list, I mean, that's a prize. Baby's First Coheed and Cambria show and look - you got a set list!!! I located Debs and her pals, and somehow just knew. I gave the set list to one of her friends - he was astonished. He told me he'd had a GREAT day. His favorite race driver won a big race, he had a great dinner in town, did the meet & greet with the band and an acoustic set, enjoyed the show with all his good Coheed friends, and here we were at the end of the show with me handing him the set list. He said he's never gotten one. 

Someone took a group picture, and I'm in it, so I guess it's official. I'm a Child of the Fence after all. 

For sure want to see them again, but want to SEE them, and be able to see, and really soak it in.

Check this live video out, love the crowd, love Claudio pointing to them to sing out. What fun. 

Good eye, sniper. Here I shoot, you run. Bye Bye Beautiful.... 

And pictures, Today's digits will be in another post I'll put up separate from this one.  Too far away for a good band shot but, this'll do. 

Here's Deb's friend with the set list I gave him. As you can see, he's really happy. Felt good to share this with someone who is obviously such a fan. 

Me and Debs! She drove home 4 hours after the show because she had class today. Saw 3 shows in 4 days (Norfolk, VA. Pittsburgh, Silver Spring) And got to see me!