A Sweet Evening in the Palace

Once upon a time, there was a band named Thug Life, made up of four beautiful, talented people who had nothing to do with anything thug-like. Realizing their name didn't fit them, they went nameless for a bit, before renaming themselves Dr. Agony and the Mystery Date. All of this has been chronicled in previous posts, here. It is time for the latest chapter. Mystery Date was scheduled for the Palace, on Tuesday, March 24, but two members were unavailable. Here is the hybrid band which played. Madison is up front, and Mary is fiddling bold and moody.




Thomas Pendarvis appears, over Mary's shoulder. He says he's beginning to like playing the bass. I think he did it the first time with Streetlight People, during Amanda's CD party. Since then he has repeated with that group and stood in with others.





Sugar, Sugar, Sugar was the name band, visiting from Bellingham, for this evening.



Another strong drum storm occurs in the Palace.


I've pointed out my penchant to capture other photographers, when I can. I am not the only photographer on the scene, but...


The two at the right in both of these were the ones who insisted on having their pictures taken this time. I'm going to start posting an occasional collection of people who ask to be photographed, instead of including just one or two like this.


More photos from this evening may be found on the flickr archive.

Halloween Hangover

A grade school aged con artist set me up for Halloween problems. It started when her grandmother held one of the best garage sales I've ever seen. Grandma worked day and night for days to get everything out, and I scored big time, finding some excellent cold weather clothes for great prices. I went back several times. After buying a bunch of dahlias at the farmers' market, I returned again to buy vases.

The little scamster insisted I buy a plastic jack-o-lantern to serve Halloween treats in. I repeatedly said no until I was out of breath, and she kept insisting a lot of kids would trick-or-treat this neighborhood. Finally, I forked over two quarters for the ugly thing. Remembering a previous late trip to the store for Halloween candy and finding only gum, jelly beans and bears, I filled the plastic monstrosity up weeks in advance. This year I would be ready.

I immediately began to dip into the stash. The bag I bought was enough to refill it once, but when the level dropped again, I used precious food stamps for another bag. Then no one rang my door bell on Halloween. Where were the political operatives, who had been at my door so often? I would have given them candy. I have no choice except to eat the leftovers, even though I've already wrecked my blood sugar, and there is no hangover like a sugar hangover.

Sugar is a dangerous drug and devious, hiding everywhere in our daily diets. Start reading ingredients lists, and you will find it everywhere. Don't be misled by other names for it (i.e. dextrose, fructose). You could lose your mind trying to eliminate it from your diet. I've tried and given up, because I don't have a lick of willpower to resist temptation. I often tried to discipline my mother about diet, as diabetes killed her, and she ignored her doctor and me. I was a hypocrite, because I couldn't and still can't resist chocolate in any form.

Here I languish, belly sagging, in a mound of candy wrappers, and the damned pumpkin is still half full.