We're Not Green, We're Just Pleasant

Inspirational song: Living in FEAR (Marillion)

Consider this my annual invitation to listen to the above song and know me better, man. The song didn't change my life, per se, but it distinctly gave me a final nudge to go the direction I was facing at the point it was released. Every time I hear it, I feel calm, reassured, and triumphant. I know I'm ordering my mind the way I need to.

It was day two of the Couch Convention. There was a trivia quiz on Facebook live. Good thing I wasn't trying to enter for prizes. I just listened and got most of the answers wrong. The concert video for today was the show at the Royal Albert Hall that they recorded a couple of years ago, on the night they performed all or nearly all of their recent album F.E.A.R. The show was spectacular. There are very few bands who I enjoy to watch live even as much as I like their studio music. I have yet to be disappointed at a Marillion show. They are better live for me, and that is a significant thing. In my middle age, I can see that concerts are stressful for me because of chronic illness, from not being able to handle the loud noise and standing for hours or sitting in hard chairs. With this band, all discomfort fades in the euphoria of the experience.

I couldn't spend all day in front of the TV, for all that I tried to take lots of breaks. I rearranged and purged my utility room, to create a safe space to store area rugs while Saoirse is a puppy (and prone to chewing or peeing indiscriminately). Then I scrubbed the dog crate we have had for a dozen years. It is the giant size, so it will work for a Great Pyrenees mix, even though it was originally bought for dainty little Elsa (smallish lab mix). It has been in the garage for years, under debris and dirt. It was there through the annoying Field Mouse Invasion of 2017-2018. It took me most of the afternoon and evening to scrub every single inch of wire, coated with mud, dog hair, and who knows what else (probably mouse pee). I feel filthy and sore and I want to go crawl in bed and sleep for a year. I should have soaked in the hot tub, but by the time it was cool enough outside, I was too sore to get there. I can't believe all these years of deep cleaning experience, and I still haven't learned not to clench my teeth while scrubbing things. Pity I still am not drinking alcohol. A nightcap would have been helpful for that.