Playing Through The Pain

Last night' show was really difficult. My back was really hurting so I tried to hold pretty still as I played. There are some songs in the show that were rough on my back before the accident, and as they would come up I would think, "uh oh, here we go."

I've really got to see a doctor, cause I don't know if I can continue the tour this way. There was supposed to be a doctor last night, but he didn't show up. Hopefully tonight.

So I'm playing the show, rocking gingerly like a geriatric mummy, and I guess I'm putting all my energy into my fingers, because I somehow managed to break two nails. And I've got short fingernails. So now they're all bendy on the keys. Kay is gonna lend me her clear nail polish to strengthen them for tonight. I'm a girl now.

Meanwhile I'm trying to get a copy of the police report for insurance purposes, and the City of Seattle is making it very difficult. They don't do fax. They don't do email. I have to mail a request, and they have to mail the report to my home...despite the fact that I won't be there for a while.

In other news, while we were in Seattle, Kay and Miley both ended up buying the same jacket by accident:

The Great Cosmic Running Joke

We're in Seattle today, and I needed to exchange my camera, cause it's been acting funny. So I was going to take a cab. It was kinda far though, and instead of paying $20 each way, I found out that there was a public bus I could take for $1.25 both ways. Sounded good to me.

And then this happened:



I'm thinking I might need some medical attention at this point. Everybody else on the bus was fine, but I was the only one who literally flew out of my seat and rolled up the aisle...probably looked hilarious, but it's not so funny now.

Still though, I'd take that over this ----anyday.

My Late Night Adventure

It's been pretty cool at night lately, so Samantha convinced me to start opening the windows to save money on A/C. The light breeze is nice, but the downside is I can hear cars pass the house when I'm trying to sleep, but I can usually block that out after awhile.

Tonight, I laid down in bed around 1:30am for some nice shut-eye.

That's when I heard it.

A sporadic rustling sound just outside my bedroom window. I listened from bed for a bit. Footsteps. Sounded human. Sounded like shoes. Sounded like someone trying to move quietly. I got out of bed and went to the open window. It was very clearly someone moving. But it would stop for a minute at a time, and then move again. It was coming from further back in the house, so I first made sure all the doors were locked, then went to the back porch. Very clear. But it wasn't in our alley. It was just on the other side of the ivy wall separating my house from the neighbor's. This would have been comforting, but all of their lights were out, and I know they go to bed fairly early. So someone was in their yard, moving slowly and sporadically.

I listened for almost an hour and it didn't stop. It sounded as if they were walking around the perimeter of the house. After the recent vandalism, I wasn't about to take any chances.

I dialed 911. They said they'd send an officer.

Around 2:30am - a wailing sound. Very disturbing. Like a large bird in pain.

Around 3:30 - the officer showed up. He searched the yard next door. One by one, motion lights came on. I thought, "those should have come on before if it was a human." He walked around for a few minutes and then walked up to my porch. He said he'd found nothing and not to worry.

As he was leaving I heard the loudest sound yet. It sounded like someone running.

I said, "Did you hear that? Just now?"

He said, "Yeah that was me next door."

I said, "I mean just now."

He said, "Oh. No. I'm sure it's just some small animals." He walked to the car and drove off.

Am I completely off my nut? Have I totally lost the gizzard? Am I insane?

So I'm sitting here now at 4am, writing this blog entry on my laptop, listening to the same extremely disturbing sounds, feeling slightly more secure but still a little worried. Probably it's not some psychotic knife-wielding lunatic, or even a pack of coyotes. But what is it?

I suppose it's back to bed. But I'm closing my window. I'd rather not know.