A friend is going apartment hunting and posted a potential floor plan. I thought I'd post ours. 

I'm using the big bedroom as a photo / painting / workshop / studio (though it's still a wreck of Too Much Stuff). The small bedroom is big enough for a queen bed, a cat tree and hopefully soon a bureau or some kind of wardrobe. There are quite a few closets, and though I'm not a fan of the "hallway" it does allow for some separation between the bedrooms and the rest of the unit/building.

The kitchen cabinets and layout are relics of the original construction of the building decades ago and frankly suck, but we're making do, and some wall-mounted shelves to come should deal with the worst of it. 

The balcony is lovely with a smoked glass knee wall instead of a metal railing, and the living room wall is floor to ceiling windows with vertical blinds. 

The walls are very solid, either solid concrete or heavy plaster over lath, with very occasional drywall. There's silent venting in the kitchen and bathroom, through which one can occasionally hear snippets of life from other units. But by and large the only noise comes from the door or the balcony, or the occasional dropped or heavy item rolling across the floor above.

No AC -- but we do have adjustable steam powered radiators around the building perimiter (so heat is "free"). Fixture electricity is also free, as is cold and hot water. Which comes out very hot almost instantly. Such a treat after living in a house! The only metered utility is our usage of electrical outlets.

It was freshly painted (though not competently) and the parquet floor had been completely refinished before we moved in. We also got a new fridge and dishwasher. The stove seems to be older but was either cleaned by magic or never actually used.

We're on the north wall at the western corner (our unit is actually a mirror image to the plan above), so while we don't get much sun, we also don't get much sun. And for painting and photography, the indirect north light is gorgeous. And, it's on the 3rd floor, and we usually treat it as a walk-up, which is great.

We're reasonably happy with it, rent notwithstanding.

Home Alone...

Matt is in NYC right now with BT, seeing Phish from super-fancy box seats at Madison Square Garden.  He sent me photos... ooh la la!

It's weird having the house to myself.  This afternoon I was working on some new songs that Durkin sent me in prep for our house concert we're having in NJ Saturday night, and these new songs are heartbreaking and wonderful.  Durk is flying to NJ tomorrow, and we're gonna get together Friday to work on these tunes and then present a joint house concert on Saturday night; 30-ish minutes of Sunnyvale tunes (Sunnyvale is the name of the Durkin/Knapp/Casarino project), and 30 minutes of Hot Breakfast!  I'm excited.  

Anyway, just as I was wrapping up working on these tunes for the afternoon, my pal James texted me to tell me he was back home from his solo cross-country-finding-America jaunt, so I invited him over to sit in the backyard and eat cheese sticks and grapes on the swingy-chair.  It was such a perfect day out... maybe 82 degrees, not a lick of humidity, light breeze, no bugs... just glorious.   I love James so much. 

Guest DJs

Matt Casarino and I are going to be the guest DJs on Hometown Heroes on 93.7 WSTW tomorrow (Sunday) night from 8-10pm.  We're filling in for Mark Rogers who goes on vacation for these two weeks every year.  It feels really great that he asks us to fill in for him.  I guess that FCC Radio License I got in 1991 is actually useful for something. :-)

Anyway, if you're in the Delaware / DelCo / South Jersey listening area, you can tune in to 93.7FM.  If you're not, you can listen in on the web: go to wstw.com and click the huge, blue LISTEN LIVE button.  And if you can't listen live, you can listen to the podcast at which is usually up around lunchtime on Monday (download it from  wstw.com/hometown-heroes/ ).   

Hometown Heroes spins local, original music from Delaware, south and central NJ, Maryland (Baltimore and closer), SE PA, Philly, and even into the Lehigh Valley.  

If you do listen live, feel free to text in to say hello (text 56221), or comment while we're on the air via the Hometown Heroes Facebook Page.  

Or not.  We're not the boss of you. ;-)

That's it for now!  Gonna work on these songs a bit more.  OK bye.

Who's got two thumbs and just booked a flight on Southwest Airlines specifically to watch the eclipse from the air?

THIS CHICK.

Here is my elaborate system of alarms to wake myself up in the morning. 

I started sleeping through songs such as Bowie's "The Stars Are Out Tonight," so now I have songs alternating on different days. The 5:15 alarm is just to cut through heavy sleep, and make sure I actually hear the 5:30 alarm enough to get up. The 5:45 alarm is in case I sleep through the 5:30 alarm. The later ones are to keep me from forgetting that I have to walk out the door at 6:30, dressed and packed or not.

Here's the playlist of tunes: 

Abigail, Belle of Kilronan 

Mozart's Concerto for Piano & Orchestra #23 

Sh-Boom 

When The Saints Go Marching In

Mr. Sandman (lyrically counterintuitive, but peppy) 

Say It Again 

Alyda 

Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying 

Needle In A Haystack 

You're No Good

Come And Get Your Love 

Zig Zag Wanderer

A song that I have promised never to use as my alarm ever again is the Postmodern Jukebox bluegrass version of Blurred Lines. It opens with a shout of, "EVERYBODY GET UP!" 

Which sends both Vince and me through  the roof. Not in a good way. 

We'll see how this works out. 

Added, only for Friday at 5:30: Peg, by Steely Dan. 

Well, that explains/confirms a lot.

Have you ever felt like crap but you had stuff to do so you wouldn't allow yourself to really BE sick, and then when you get medical confirmation that you are, indeed, sick, you suddenly feel 73,000 times worse?  So, that.

I admit I'm about due for an iron infusion, but I've worked so little this year that I figured, "Meh, I haven't been flying around the country every week, so maybe my iron is better than the calendar implies it should be." So I ignored it, like an idiot.

And last week I got the always annoying and "Holy shit it's now serious" angular chelitis, which is when the corner of your lip rips and no amount of lip balm, neosporin, or other ointments in the universe will heal it. It is caused by iron deficiency and/or its good friend Vitamin B/folate deficiency.  As soon as my lip ripped, I thought, "OK, no more fucking around and trying to ignore this. Get your damn bloodwork and get fixed, Knapp."

I only had my period twice in 2016, so I assumed my ol' body was doing the menopause thang (my Mom went through it early, too)... but in 2017 it's been back with a vengeance. As of July, I've had 4 periods already, and they've all been 10 days long (as always) and ridiculously heavy. So yeah, even though I haven't been traveling as much this year and using up my iron reserves by running through airports, instead I'm exhausting my iron reserves by being a freakin' female. (A female who would love to have her ladyparts removed, thx... but noooooo, good heavens. "We don't just go removing perfectly good organs," says my OB/GYN.  Nice. Yank it out, please. And no, I don't want an endometrial ablation... good lord, it sounds awful.)

I went for my double-bloodwork on Monday... which means I had 2 vials of blood drawn for my anemia labs, but I also had *11 vials* drawn for my "big bloodwork" which tests everything from protein, calcium, PTH, zinc* and everything else that could ever be tested.   I got my anemia labs back this morning (my "big bloodwork" results will take longer because they're so much bigger) and HOLY CRAP I am in the shiiiiiitter. Like shit-ter. SHITTER I SAY.  Not only did some results show "Low" (though if the target range of something was, say, 11-30, my value was 5), there were others that had a bold, italicized ALERT next to some which is to say "Daaaaaaaamn, girl."  So this definitely explains the desire to stay in bed 16 hours a day and also explains why I sound like shit in Lizzie rehearsals, and why at our last Hot Breakfast! shows I couldn't get through a damn phrase without taking extra breaths. (And people thought that was performey "faux exaustion."  Nope. Genuinely gasping, folks. Just trying to play it off so nobody calls the paramedics at a gig.)

I suppose the good news is that insurance won't have any problem paying for an iron infusion or two... though the dumb news is that an iron infusion costs $500 if I were to pay out of pocket (which is a bargain), but costs $3000 when billed to insurance.

At Labcorp, they said I owed $18.00 out of pocket for my anemia labs, and $83.00 out of pocket for my big labs. I have an $8500 deductible.  Only $8399 out of pocket to go!  Plus $490/month for the honor of having this "insurance."  I am SO mixed on the ACA. On one hand, I am so happy I can even qualify for insurance (hello, pre-existing condition), but I have to mentally budget $490 x 12 + $8500 a year for healthcare. I don't feel $14380's worth of sick... especially when an iron infusion costs $500 out of pocket. I have to keep telling myself this insurance is there in case I get hit by a truck or get that cancer diagnosis that is lurking around the corner.**

In other news, Matt and I were supposed to head down to the beach today until Thursday morning, but we just found out 20 mins ago that Matt's friend Lisa's dad has passed and his services are tomorrow... so we'll be home instead.  It's kinda funny how we've had this beach trip on the calendar for two weeks, but I never really "felt in The Force" that we were going. And boom-- there it is. I feel awful about Lisa's dad... that poor girl has had waaaay more bad shit happen in her life than anyone else should. She's a friggin' math teacher, ferfuckssake. Bad shit shouldn't happen to math teachers. 

Does anyone here watch Stranger Things ? Matt subscribes to Entertainment Weekly which helps us pretend we have a vague idea about what is happening in pop culture (though it just reinforces that we really don't)... but EW makes a compelling case for Stranger Things. So do a few of our friends who all say "Out of everyone, we can't believe YOU don't watch it!" (Geez, you do a Total Eclipse of the Heart cover and all of a sudden you're stuck at 17.  Eh, nah... really... I guess we wear our trapped-in-the-80s-dom loud and proud on our sleeves. Why fight it?) I admit I haven't binge-watched a show in eons, and it is kinda fun... so I'm thinking that might be something to do on this staycation.

In other news, I want to shoot myself in the fucking face for missing Lindsay Harris-Friel ​​​​​'s big reading this past weekend. It's been in the back of my head as something I had every intention of doing, and boom... I just didn't. I kept thinking July had one more week left, and I just never put it on my calendar... blah blah blah. I can't blame anyone but myself. I'm a fucking idiot.  But I am really, really sad I missed it. Not only selfishly because I really do like that play and I wanted to see someone else's interpretation of it... but also because I love Lindsay and want to support my friend. (Don't worry, I emailed this to her already... but I'm still kicking my own ass VERY HARD over it.) 

I mean, I do expect to miss out on a large percentage of things in life because I'm not on Facebook, and some people only communicate events and life happenings there (which is cool).  But I take my "if I'm not gonna be on Facebook then I will listen very carefully on OPW/DW/Email/meatspace" obligation very seriously. But I fucked up. Ugh. I'm a schmuckface.

OK, I'm gonna go figure out what to do about my hairz. (Dye it at home? Go back to The Land of Triple Processing Overpriced Brillo? Try somewhere new? I have to have presentable hair by Friday, cause I have a new client meeting and blue/green/gray hair isn't gonna cut it.)

Ok, I got stuff to do.

----------------

*  (Is it just me? I cannot type or say "zinc" without hearing the Simpsons fake school science movie bit with "Come back, Zinc!" Anyone else?)

** (I'm a Knapp. I've got tons of cancer on both sides of the family... plus never having been pregnant increases my chances of breast cancer bigly, and only being on hormonal contraception for like 20 minutes in fits and spurts also increases the risk of ladycancer. Whatever. Bring it.)

Folks to follow here on One Post Wonder:

You should check out Rebecca Metraux Canna and her delicious baking skillz. Also Anne Mollo for her storytelling. And Matt Lichtenwalner for his artwork and tales from the road. General excellent-human-ness goes without saying.

Matt and I were supposed to go to the beach to enjoy a little change of scenery, but Matt's folks forgot they told us we could use the beach place and instead gave it to Matt's aunt. (Totally no biggie.)

So earlier today I had to drop some stuff off in Philly for a client, and on my way home I got a frantic call from Jeremy. Apparently the Moskosteins are heading out of town tomorrow and so they brought JD to the dogsitter today-- it's the same dogsitter they've used for 8-9 years, whom JD loves and vice versa. But today JD just did not want to go. He was angry when they put him in the car, and once they drove to the dogsitter in NJ, JD was really not happy and didn't want to get out of the van. Eventually JD was coaxed out of the van and then bit the dogsitter on the arm and also snapped at and just barely missed a small dog whom JD normally gets along with.  JD has never bitten anyone/anything before (not that we can remember anyway), so this was scary, upsetting, confusing, and a zillion other adjectives one uses along with worried eyebrows. So the dogsitter said she couldn't risk not only her own safety but the safety of her other clients' dogs, so Jeremy was asked to get JD out.  It was a scary and awkward and sad situation for everyone involved... but Jeremy was also in a bind because he's trying to get his family on a plane and now he needs an emergency dogsitter for a dog who is now biting people he supposedly loves. I said "Bring him here, please... he'll be fine, and so will we."

Nicole and Jeremy brought JD over and he as soon as they pulled into our driveway, JD's tail was wagging and he was perfectly fine... clearly much much happier to be at our place.  If I had to guess, I'd say that JD is hurting and just didn't want to be someplace where he'd be annoyed by 5 other dogs and not where he's totally comfortable... so JD figured if he misbehaved at the dogsitter he'd get to go someplace else. Smart dog!

ADDED MONDAY the 24th:

So we had JD all weekend, and everything was perfectly fine... absolutely noooo sense of  doggie weirdness.  It is sad to see how often he'll be walking and BLAM his back legs give out. He doesn't seem to be "in pain," but when his rear legs just fail, it is kinda awkward and inconvenient for him when it happens. But when he's laying down he's still very much a happy, good, playful dog... so having end-of-life discussions seems premature right now. 

But JD was picked back up this morning and brought back to Chez Moskostein, because Laura and Audrey are back home from their trip now. (Jeremy will be away for a little while longer.)

In other news, Lizzie rehearsal is going well, and if the voices involved are the litmus, this is gonna be one hell of a show. 

OK, that's enough outta me.

Xo

When I built OPW, I never meant for folks to feel like every post has to be Shakespeare. But — and this is a testament to the love and care people do put into their posts — it often feels that way, even to me. I only get one per day! So it had better be awesome! So I don't post at all!

But I don't want it to be that way. So I'm going to try to be the fluff I want to see in the world. If I'm fresh out of spoons — if all I have is, let's say, half a spork — I'm just gonna keep it light.

Wait... that was insightful. Does this post still qualify as light? Am I cheating? O NOES

Just a quick note to help me remember my dreams from last night. I'm back to not remembering them most of the time, and I want to start recalling them. Time to start writing them down again.

In the first portion of my dreams from last night that I recall, I was at a very large party filled with people. The setting was some large space - like a gymnasium or something similar. Very tall as well as wide.

The party was a sort of double masquerade. Everyone was role playing as a Batman villain, but the idea was not to be overt about it. Not to wear their costume outright. Then, through how they acted/talked, you tried to figure out who they were.

Except I was Batman. I remember feeling VERY tall as I walked around the room. I was talking to people in a very 'Bruce' fashion. Curt, polite, but no frivolity. It was confusing the hell out of people.

It just goes to show the weirdness of dreams. If Batman was an option? Pretty sure I wouldn't be the only person playing him.

As the dream went on, I found things getting a bit more 'real'. Which is to say that people were sorta taking on their roles more realistically. Less a masquerade. They weren't the characters they were playing, but instead simply behaved more like them and it was less 'acting'.

I found myself talking to Jerry Springer. Yup. Jerry Springer.

Pretty sure I've never watched a full episode of his show, but somehow he gets a guest spot in this awesome dream.

Anyway, Jerry was stuck up on this tiny stand. It was enough to stand on, but not much more. Maybe 3'x2'. He was crouched and his fingers were wrapped around the edges of the platform in the way that they would be if he was holding it to the bottom of his feet. I have no idea how/why he was stuck this way, but he was.

Someone tried to lower the platform, which would have pinched/severed Jerry's fingers, so I moved beneith it and held it up with my shoulder. I wasn't Batman anymore - just me - a decent human being. The unknown villain kept trying. They were trying to hurt Jerry - it wasn't any kind of an accident.

When they grew frustrated because I wouldn't let the platform come down on his fingers, they reversed the direction, and sent the platform up into the air. I, of course, wrapped my arms around the platform in an attempt to hold the platform down.

It didn't work, and Jerry and I lifted really high into the air. As some of you may know, I have a terrible fear of manmade heights, and I was hanging on with just my arms, which were growing terribly tired. It was really terrifying.

We were eventually lowered again, when our assailant grew tired of us not falling/dying/screaming/whatever.

I immediately launched myself at them. They danced away from the controls to the platform and played innocent.

While I was confronting them, someone else went over near the platform and smashed my Wacom or iPad (not sure which it was - in the dream it was my 'digital tablet') in an effort to hurt me for interfering. It worked. With all the artwork and effort I've put into these devices, I was was really upset as I tried to play it off as 'no big deal' and cleaned up the shards of the device.

And that's about where it ended.

Weird dreams ftw.

. filled a few more garbage bags
. picked up the car share vehicle, a RAV-4
. loaded it with the old display panels and some spare foam core/mat board
. delivered that all to a local non-profit art centre
. loaded it to the roof with more crap
. dropped it all at the dump, 180kg for $14
. loaded it again 
. dropped the hedge trimmer at c's house
. dropped the houseware donations at the thrift store
. dropped the vintage game manuals at the pc museum in brantford
. dropped off construction surplus at the ReStore
. went to IKEA for lunch
. then essentially filled the vehicle with flat packs and cushions
. went to home depot and got a few things
. went to home hardware hoping to get something home depot didn't get
. came home and unloaded the IKEA stuff and returned the vehicle
. then I stretch-wrapped all the books, dvds and cds, making an enormous pile 
. loaded old frames and anime into k's car for further distribution
. introduced our old piano to its new owner
. while d went to a car-share governance meeting

Tomorrow I am most likely going to hurt. But today, today was a good day.