Tag Archives: sound of music

Hey

It’s been another long stretch of time since I updated this here blog. I do in fact visit it periodically to look at memories or pictures when something triggers it, but my motivation to actually put something new here has been basically gone. Why remember this period of time? Almost all the posts I’ve done before were because I wanted to try to capture the fun, the joy, the travels, the moments… but when you don’t have those all that much anymore, and every day feels exactly the same as before, that’s when it’s harder to come back to this blank screen and type something up.

You’d think maybe Big Brother was what brought me back, and no, not really. But I will say that I’ve really been enjoying BB23 this season so far (entering week 3 and I don’t consider the season a dumpster fire so yay). It’s nice to have it around to look forward to during the summer.

Honestly what brought me back is a conversation I have with my therapist periodically, which is writing is good for me. I’m good at writing. I like writing. Maybe I just need to get back on the wagon and try. So here I am, writing again.

Some quick hits:

  • Vaccinated? Hell yeah I am, having got my 2nd Pfizer shot back in April. Reminder: it’s not a HIPAA violation to talk about your vaccination status.
  • Employed? Yeah, still employed. I actually got promoted as of July 1 to Senior Manager. It was bittersweet as obviously I had no one to really celebrate it with. Maybe somewhere in the ether they’re proud of me.
  • Roof over my head? Still at the place Larry & I bought in the Valley. I’ve been making small changes here and there. The featured image here is me at the new dining room table I bought. It replaces the dining room table Larry & I bought when we first moved back here to LA in our swanky pad in Santa Monica – let’s look at pictures:
  • I got rid of Larry’s car back in March. Yeah, it took me a year plus to get rid of it. Some of the delay was due to auto title and registration nonsense Larry hadn’t taken care of for 10 years. Anyway, I called a local DMV-authorized small business that helped me get the rest of the way, and soon enough I was able to sell it to a pick-a-part. So the garage stopped being a constant reminder, and that was good.
  • We had mom’s memorial in May after it seemed a good majority of people could have gotten vaccinated that would likely attend. We held it in Royal Oaks Park in Duarte, which was near her house. It was a very nice event and Stacie and I think it would have made mom happy.
  • Physical health? Yoga was what I earnestly started last year after Larry’s death and continued doing it nearly every day as the pandemic continued. I’m thankful I did so, as I know it has helped my back (by strengthening my core) and it has helped as a way to meditate and chill every morning. I bought a Peloton this year and that has also become key to my fitness. I ride nearly 3-4 times a week and add in strength Peloton workouts as well, and I am feeling good.
  • Mental health? My grief group has been part of my life for the last year or so. It wraps up this week, and I’m sad about that, but it’s always been a year program. The hope is that our group continues unofficially meeting up, like going out to dinner or others’ homes every 2 weeks. The others in this group are the only other ones who have the same shared experience and can really understand the utter despair and heartbreak the others feel. It’s quite a thing to have them in my life. I also started seeing a therapist one-on-one earlier this year when things just weren’t good. It’s been a good decision to take part in that. By no means does it solve anything but it does help me have perspective and tether me back to something.
  • My friends have kept me alive this past 18 months. What else can I say? Nicki was my pandemic pod and one of the very few people I saw in person for much of 2020. It’s hard to imagine making it alive without her last year. Like Nicki, Michancy has also visited when she can and we make sure our bitchy levels stay in the red. I’m visiting her in Vegas soon, and maybe that’ll be my first “hey, pics I took” post in a while when I get back. Sveta and Mila I’ve finally been able to see more regularly now that we’re all vaccinated and I love them so much. We all were able to get together and have our own Sound of Music Sing-a-long at my house back near Memorial Day weekend. It was wonderful.

I think that’s enough for now. I know that if I let myself go I can end up writing an endless post and I don’t feel I need to capture everything that’s happened since when I wrote about mom’s death.

Maybe I’ll be back to this more regularly. It did feel nice to highlight some of the good stuff and acknowledge the painful things too in this post. I’m sad and lonely still, most days, but I’m trying to do what I can to make it not so bad. I see friends, work keeps me busy, and maybe I’ll start dating soon. I don’t know. I say that out loud and it just feels really weird to contemplate that. But that can be for another post.

A Good Day

Yesterday was a good day.   Unexpectedly a good day.  I had made a plan to do a slow-cooker recipe for carnitas, and that honestly was the expectation for the day, in addtion to playing Railway Empire and Horizon Zero Dawn (which both are awesome and I’m obsessed).   I got the morning started off right with some yoga (I’m honestly past counting the days anymore as it is a daily habit now, and I intend for it to be that way from here on out), and then I got the slow-cooking started.

Slow-Cooking Carnitas – Aug 16, 2020

Larry would’ve been proud.   Used a pork butt that ButcherBox had sent to me (I’m still not sure what else to do with a pork butt besides carnitas), then got the mise-en-place done and about 8 hours later, I had delicious carnitas for dinner.   SOOO GOOD.

The main thing though that made the day surprisingly good was that I was taking some supplies over to the home where my mom is living.  It has been off limits for visitors so I expected I’d just get to drop the stuff off in the lobby but when I got there, guess what, apparently I should’ve read my emails from them as visitors are allowed again as long as you have a mask.  So I got to see mom again for the first time in over 5 months.  Even typing that just makes me sad.  She didn’t even recognize me at first as she obviously wasn’t expecting me there either – I had Gatorade in hand and she asked me to put some in the refrigerator and then asked a nurse for her phone to call me and then she realized it was me.   We hugged but I kept the mask on as it’s still an issue.   We spent some time together but neither of us are long-term visit folks, so I left and we knew that I’d come back the next weekend.   I took some pics of us together but she asked me not to post anything so I won’t.  But I really was glad to get to see her.

The evening was good as I had an amazing dinner and then I went and set up the rooftop cinema for another movie:

It felt appropriate to watch it as it was definitely one of those movies that my mom and I watched endlessly when I was growing up.  The soundtrack is still the best.  Footloose was already in my head to watch again as the Number Ones article series this past week was in 1984 when “Footloose” the song topped the charts.  Anyway, it was a fun way to end a good day.

What Else is Going on Besides Yesterday?

A lot of not much?   But I’m passing the time.  Most importantly and awesomely, Big Brother is back.  I’ve of course been posting about this All Stars season as it’s just something new but also something I have loved for so long.   I’m sad Larry isn’t able to enjoy it with me (despite his annoyance it he always would get sucked in).  I do have my friends Mel, Nicki, and Sarah to text about it while episodes are going on, so that’s fun.

With Nicki visiting frequently on weekends, we’ve taken to playing the hell out of Ticket to Ride, and so I’ve gone and bought some of the board game expansions for it.   We will have our enjoyment, dammit!

I re-discovered this picture of Larry from when we lived in Santa Monica (March 2013).  It was when Stacie and Trent had come over for the day and he was cooking dinner.   Larry looks so handsome here and has a great big smile while doing what he was amazing at, cooking and entertaining.

It’s my phone background now.  It makes me happy.

I’m going in reverse-chronological order through my pictures since my last post and while if I was better about frequent posting the pics would make it, now it’s like, eh, no need.   But I did try another recipe in mid July that was a Larry special:  the cajun chicken pasta recipe modeled on what Chili’s makes.   It’s soooo good.  Larry had the recipe in Paprika and I decided to go for it.   Honestly, it was really good, but not as good as he made it.   But I can always try again.  I was really happy to play with cooking chicken breasts though – butterflying them and then frying them on the stove makes them taste so delicious with a proper seasoning on them!

Cajun Chicken Pasta via Me – July 19, 2020

BTW, when Jon & Alyssa were out for last Thanksgiving, Jon, Michancy, and I went to pick up supplies.   One of the stops was Mission Wine & Liquor and thank GOD for that journey as it really is one of those fantastic liquor stores that actually carries a ton of wine with many options and always always has the MONTEPULCIANO.   I don’t think I need wine.com anymore although I did make sure to get my money back on that membership that gets your complimentary shipping!

I love Mission Liquor

Superman & Sound of Music – July 16, 2020

Watching movies on the roofdeck is awesome.   It’s a little bit of work to get the screen up and the projector and sound all put in place, but it’s just so worth it.   One night, I had it in me to want to see Superman up on the roof, because it’s awesome.  It’s also long, and I made an intermission for myself as I was getting a little tired.  I had posted a little about that online and Wendy brought up that maybe I could have The Sound of Music on the roof this year?   Part of me reeeeally wants to have that singalong here, but part of me is also like, is that irresponsible?   I don’t know what the best answer is.   I could see having a few people, maybe?  But it’s like, I think we could wait too.  I don’t know.   But for a moment I was excited and I decided to watch a few scenes from TSOM to make sure it worked up there!  I also discovered you really can’t go up and watch anything until it’s actually dark.  lol

I guess one last picture set to put up is actually what I ended up doing the night of my last posting, which was back on July 12.  I set up the movie theater again for myself (knowing how to do it was half the battle!) and watched The Empire Strikes Back which was having its 40th anniversary and amusingly was the #1 movie in the nation that weekend because everything else is shut down.  It’s quite awesome to watch on a big screen!

The Empire Strikes Back – July 12, 2020

One weekend when Nicki was here, we watched The Goonies up on the roof deck, so it’s been fun to watch some classics in that venue!

Those are the main pictures I’ve got.   Everything else?   Work is work, so that’s good.   I dream about Larry every now and then, and it’s nice.    Sometimes I want to post about those dreams so I can remember them later, but I usually don’t.   Some have been funny – a while ago I dreamt about us trying to get a table at brunch and it was so vivid.  Sometimes I can vaguely remember that he’s actually dead while in the dream and it makes it that much more surreal.  Like, do I tell him?

Alright, I think I’m caught up.  It’s close to September.  It’s crazy to believe Larry’s death was over 7 months ago.  I can’t really understand that 5 months have been lost just being stuck at home.   It’s fucking stupid and I hate it because if our nation had had a coordinated response that made the pain last just 1-2 solid months, we’d likely be in a position now to be rolling things out properly.  But no, that’s not this country.   We’ve got “freedom” to act as selfishly as we want and god forbid your “freedoms” are infringed upon by being asked to wear a mask.   People are just so fucking dumb.   We deserve all that we are getting.

Sound of Music Singalong, 2019

Note:  I’m writing this from April 2020 – I did not post much of anything at all on my site during 2019 as Larry’s illness, my mom’s issues, and just general malaise kept my website motivation low. 

The Sound of Music Singalong has been a California tradition for Larry and me since moving here in 2011.   Some years the attendees aren’t all the same, as one year I was in Dallas so I didn’t make it – this year, Larry was still in Fort Lee recovering from his hepatic pump surgery, so I was allowed to let Nicki take Larry’s place.   The horrors:  Nicki had NEVER seen The Sound of Music before.  Like, what?   I don’t even understand that.    The regular crew was there of course, with Sveta, Nicki and I being the first to arrive.   It was weird – it was my first time going by myself to the Bowl.   Remembering now, Larry and I did make it to a few Bowl shows this year, but not as many as hoped as he just didn’t feel well for a lot of them and we’d not go.  I wasn’t sure if he had gone at all since having moved to the GlenLA, but yeah, we did.  I’ll get to those I guess, soon enough, as I work my way backwards in time doing these posts.  It’s nice to park at the Cahuenga or Annex parking right there, as the ride is much quicker than the one from the LA Zoo.

ANYWAY, Mila, Ilona, and Sonny were also there and we of course enjoyed the pre-show fun with Melissa Pederman as host.   I don’t know if I paid as much attention to the costume contest this year as I think we were yenta-ing it up with our food and drinks, but still, it’s just such a fun atmosphere.  Nicki enjoyed the movie and the experience, and I know we’ve bought tickets for this year’s sing-a-long, including Nicki, but a lot will come down to if this pandemic gets under control.   Ugh, this is just too much.

Sept 21, 2019 – Sound of Music Singalong at the Hollywood Bowl

Cabinets & Sound of Music for a Great Weekend

We just got back from visiting our in-progress home.   Yes, we’d been there just 2 weeks ago and saw that there was some major progress made as drywall had been put up!

Two Weeks of Travel & Stress, But We Made It

In two weeks time though, a lot has changed!     First thing we noticed once we were there was that the drywall had been pretty much sealed up.   If you look at the pictures from the post above, the drywall was up but it didn’t look finished yet.   It looks finished now.   What got us over here today though was that we had confirmation that all the cabinetry was up!!!  And boy oh boy, finished walls and cabinetry up in all the rooms makes this place look that much more finished.  It’s fucking fantastic.  Look for yourself!

Cabinets & Finished Drywall – Sept 23, 2018

You’ll see in those last few pictures that we ended up going for a long walk.   Larry’s commute will be markedly improved once we move, as he’s no longer going to have to cross the 101/170 interchange or the 5/134 interchange – both of which are terrible and soul-killing.  Mine though?  It’s going to take some figuring out.   For going into DTLA, I do have plenty of options but none of them are like, super easy.  There’s an Orange Line stop about a mile south of the house, so Larry suggested we walk it to see how it goes.   The day was right for it, so off we went.  Saw the pretty Valley Glen Community Park before getting to the Orange Line stop.   Definitely a do-able walk, but I’m thinking some kind of bike or scooter would make this easier.  Anyway, on the walk back to the house, we walked up Coldwater Canyon and saw the Great Wall mural of California History.  It’s pretty cool.   Walking through the neighborhood was a nice way to get a better feeling for the area, and I think we’re gonna like it here.

YESTERDAY was the Sound of Music Sing-a-Long at the Hollywood Bowl, and it was wonderful.  I don’t have to explain it again, do I?  It’s what we do every year and we’ll continue to do as long as they keep having it.  Based on yet another sold out crowd, I doubt it’s going away any time soon.  Melissa Peterman was the host (for her 14th time in a row!) and is just fabulous and glorious and so quick on her feet.  Love her.   There was a marriage proposal this year, which was new!  Anyway, The Sound of Music is just as glorious as it ever was, and I love it so.

Sound of Music Sing-a-Long, Sep 22, 2018

Sound of Music Sing-A-Long vs Me on Jeopardy!

Larry edited my chat with Alex and we tweeted it over to the flamazing host of the Hollywood Bowl Sound of Music Sing-A-Long, Melissa Peterman….and she responded!

So yeah, I’m ready for my second round of fame due to my Jeopardy Experience.  It’s gonna happen.  My body is ready.  Regardless of any of that, still very excited to go again this year.