I can’t wait to blog tomorrow as I have my infusion in the morning, so I’ll put out a rare late evening edition of Wise Madness. There was a time when that was the norm, and this would be considered early. I’d get home at 1AM and then blog. I should get back to some regular blogging schedule.
Today was not a good mental health day. I got a call this morning from my therapist’s office. She didn’t come in today. This was my only appointment this month. I don’t blame her. I love my therapist. If she cancels, it’s for a good reason and she’ll probably tell me what it is. But it still means I’ll be going more than a month without a session. Then this morning I had a decent night’s sleep, almost seven hours. I woke up at 8 AM. Then sometime between 10:30 and 11:00 I fell asleep in my chair and slept until 1 PM. That should not happen. I will blame not walking enough. I made today’s walk at higher speed than usual. I pushed myself. I need to do that more often.
I’m done complaining about myself the rest will be good. I took the ACT I needed for the tutoring job I applied for. I have never taken nor even seen an ACT before. I should have prepared and at least seen what the test looked like but goes against my cockiness code. I don’t prepare for standardized tests. I was built to take them. I am sure I did great even on the writing part which was filled with the things that grammar check always dings me on, using periods and semicolons. It has already flagged three times writing this for missing commas. The thing is that if this were a multiple-choice test like the ACT, I would figure it out. As always in tests like this there are questions where the answer they want is not what I think is the best writing. It’s not like math, much of writing is subjective. I avoid passive voice and I know it’s frowned on but if someone else prefers to use it they are not wrong. It might be the most effective way of communicating with someone that sees the world as they do. I’m a simplifier, I don’t believe in using two words where one will do. I avoid excessive adjectives and adverbs. That doesn’t make it right.
The math was quite a bit more difficult than on the SAT. Much less of it is mechanical. There’s more thinking. The science section was interesting, it wasn’t about knowing science but interpreting data. It is not fair to people that aren’t native English speakers as they were in effect difficult reading passages; often not phrased very well.
I took the test in the afternoon. I had to set aside three hours. I of course got a phone call from someone I wanted to talk to as I was taking it. She was good and made me get back to the test. I can resist anything but temptation.
One thing I started accomplishing is organizing Christmas caroling. I asked Terre and she’s not doing it this year. We didn’t do it last year. I can’t miss two Falcon Ridges, two NERFAs, and two years caroling in a row. These are my annual renewal rituals. It’s like Ra’s Al Ghul and the Lazarus pits. Without these traditions my soul will shrivel up. Don’t be bothered that an atheist is organizing Christmas caroling to preserve the soul he doesn’t believe exists. It doesn’t bother me. I’m doing it with Katherine as somebody has to know what they are doing. She’s a singer and understands music and harmony. I’m a well-meaning soul, there’s that word again, that knows how to use social media, and knows many people. I know you, or at least you know me. If you live near New York carol with us. It’s under the arch at Washington Square Park on the solstice, December 21, at 6 PM. If you feel qualified to be a ringer and lead one of the voice groups let me know. I will lead the mouthers. That’s not true, I am not a good singer, but I sing at an audible volume. I make up with enthusiasm when I lack in pitch control and timing. I’ve been doing this on and off for 30 years and there have been no complaints yet.
Today was a holiday that I didn’t know about until this morning, the return of The Expanse to Amazon Prime. It did not disappoint; it is still the greatest science fiction show ever. Arthur C. Clarke would love it. I fell in love with Clarke’s writing in middle school, yet I still need to check if it is Clarke or Clark every time I write about him. Good thing they don’t ask about that on the ACT.
Tomorrow (Saturday) night I’m going to see Katie Martucci and Billy Woodward at Voices in the Heights. On Sunday I’m going to try and see Nora Brown and Hannah Read at Barbès. The only thing that will get in the way of that is logistics. I have John Platt’s On Your Radar on Thursday and I’d like see Katie’s band Tucci Swings on Monday. That might be too much. I feel like a little kid in a candy store with all the musical offerings. Every place requires people being vaccinated and I’ll be wearing a KN95 mask so this should pass risk/reward muster. I got my PCR results from the COVID-19 test I took on Wednesday, as expected it was negative. As long as I’m going out, I’ll test myself weekly. I am more afraid of being a COVID-19 vector than of COVID-19.
My writing might be a bit irregular as Lena will be visiting next week. I’ll have things to write about, largely food and music, the usual. I’m seeing the Shark Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History on Sunday with Dan. Then I’m meeting Lena and hopefully seeing Hannah and Nora. One of these days I’ll write the religion piece bouncing around my head.
Wise Madness 