I’ve allowed myself these past few days a mental break from thinking about deadlines and put my brain on cruise control. But starting tomorrow, it’s back to making appointments and following up on commitments. Back to the office tomorrow, back to cat sitting on Friday, speaking of cat sitting…..
When I discovered someone in my apartment building had two cats, I offered to check in on them whenever they were out of town and now, they are now taking me up on that. Their felines are pretty much scaredy cats but maybe someday they will learn to love me!
It was so stuffy in my apartment while working from home today. I went down to the lake for some air and eyed a geocache in a tree, just out of my reach. I may try to climb the tree in the near future, I dunno. I could see it, high up there, taunting me. Anyone out there want to climb a tree for me?
I worked from home today and in the late afternoon it began to get really stuffy inside my apartment. I couldn’t wait to escape.
To the Hills!
As the evenings start to get shorter, I find myself making a mad dash to these trails, my happy place. Today I went to the MacDonald Trail at Anthony Chabot Park. And why did I pick this trail?
FOUND IT
I found three geocaches and was gonna go for number four, but I really had to pee by then. I never should have had that protein shake before hitting these trails. A rookie mistake, what was I thinking? Always take the power bar! Or almonds. Lesson learned.
Alright, I gotta catch up on “Only Murders in the Building” now.
Today would have been the perfect day to just lounge around and recharge my internal batteries after yesterday’s performance, but I had to go back to the office, and man, was I tired. I feel like I say that all the time these days. I don’t want to be so tired.
The first half of my day was rough, but I surprised myself with how much I got done. And at the end of the workday, I was not ready to go back to my stuffy apartment, so you know what that means….
FOUND IT!
I went to the beach in Alameda, walked along the breezy shore, and searched for a geocache or two.
Fresh air does wonders for my mental health. It’s like a refreshing reset after a long day.
My next show is Saturday, August 20th in Santa Rosa, so I will start prepping for that show soon. And it’s in the evening, as God intended!!
This morning, at The Quest Church in Novato, I performed the 63-minute version of my one-woman-show “Born Again in Berkeley” for the first time, and I think it went really well. This is now officially the longest time I have ever been “on stage”.
The audience was really responsive, and I got some possible leads for future shows, so it’s all very positive. I was super tired though. Afterwards I decided to treat myself to a trip down the coast, and on the way, I looked for a geocache or two:
FOUND IT!
And then I found the ocean:
First, I went to Bolinas to look for a geocache, but struck out, so then I ended up at Stinson, where I had better luck. It was pretty packed at the beach with families everywhere using the picnic tables. This warmed my heart after seeing all those tables empty during the height of the shelter-in-place mandate. It’s nice to see people living again.
And now I go back to work tomorrow. *sigh*. Can’t I just perform and write full time? Pretty please?
Today I was determined to just chill. But first I had to go to my solo performance class and rehearse the first 18 minutes of my show. It went well and I got good feedback. Then I went home and rehearsed the rest of my show and then gave myself permission to do nothing. Well, not nothing. I did wash some dishes. But that’s it.
And what a difference it makes on my brain. Mental health is real. Just 24 hours ago I was mentally fried and today I feel so much more relaxed. My job has been so taxing lately. I wish I didn’t have to work at all. I would find plenty of things to do to keep myself occupied- no problem.
Tomorrow morning, I rise early and perform my first morning gig ever. I have to be in Novato for tech at 9am, show at 10am. Lord, give me energy, I pray my adrenaline will kick in. And then afterwards I will reward myself with some geocaching in the backroads of West Marin.
Alright, gonna try and go to bed earlier than normal. Pray for me!
It’s been a long week. My brain was pretty much mush today. I tried to rehearse my show in tiny bite sized pieces in between work emails the best I could. I ran my lines while washing the dishes and doing laundry, but I was mentally fried. And tomorrow I have my solo performance class where I think I will run the first 18 minutes of the show and then rehearse the rest of it at home while hunkering down and hibernating for my Sunday morning call time. Yikes. Theatre in the morning. I hope my adrenaline kicks in.
After work I needed to decompress, so I headed over to the Redwood Heights neighborhood to search for a geocache or two.
FOUND IT
The one on the left was hanging on a high branch in a tree. I could barely reach it but was successful in the end. It’s amazing what we can do if we set our minds on something. I know I need to be that disciplined in other areas of my life. Geocaching is very symbolic and at the same time practical- it shows me what I am capable of.
And then afterwards I went by a local restaurant and treated myself to a meal. All in a days work.
This morning was the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, where I woke up feeling completely drained from the work week. I felt like I woke up in 2019.
This might have something to do with the fact that I was dancing last night, on a Wednesday, like I used to every week at the gym, on top of my job being crazy busy lately. I am training staff in another one of our regional offices and it feels like I have twice the work I had before. Anyway, it made me realize that I do not want to go back to 2019 and I continue to be jealous of coworkers who are retiring. Some people wonder how they will spend their time when they retire. I will not have that problem.
Then I came home and crashed. I have to take it easy starting tomorrow. I have a show coming up this Sunday and need to rest. Lord, help me to shut off my brain to the things that ultimately do not matter in the end.
Well, summer finally reached Oakland. Not in temperature, but in humidity:
Um, WHAT? 88%? Where am I, Florida? This kinda blows. I was sweating inside my apartment today while working. I felt pretty lethargic, so I was grateful to get outside afterwards and go to a friend’s place, (who I hadn’t seen since the pandemic), where we danced at her new house’s backyard. In the fresh air, under lights. Swing dancing 101. Well, it was sort of swing dancing- it’s a routine we used to do at the Berkeley YMCA in my hip hop class. That’s right. My hip hop teacher would sneak in swing lessons during hip hop class.
The funniest thing about tonight was that the house we were dancing at- I’ve been there before, back in 1998 for an Oscar party. I knew someone else who used to live there. It’s weird when houses swap families and memories.
I confess, I am sort of tripping right now. I mean, I thought Adventure Church was never going to leave. I wrote more about this when I was down in Fresno for the Rogue Fringe Festival this past March:
They seem to think that they are somehow the victims and were wronged in the whole process, but from where I was standing, it looked like the church didn’t know how to do outreach within the community, so they were not wanted. And by outreach, I mean, feed the homeless, help the jobless- with no strings attached. Without expecting anyone to step inside their church building. Just meet the community at their practical needs and let God do the rest.
Anyway….
I was on the computer for way too long today. Ever have one of those days? And I was working from home and the humidity was on high alert inside my apartment, so I am feeling a bit sticky.
Did I get anything accomplished today? I hope so. I know I just sent a long fat email to some folks about my upcoming performances and that just about wiped me out because the font size kept changing mid-typing and I do not know how to control that in Yahoo Mail. It was a bit frustrating. I should probably find an email that is better about fonts, but I have had my email address for so long, it’s hard to start over. Hey, at least I don’t use AOL anymore, mmmmkay?
Somewhere between writing emails and updating websites, my brain got foggy. I am amazed at anyone who likes to design websites. Staring at a computer for this long is super draining. Speaking of draining, I was in one too many meetings today at work as well. Meetings always put me to sleep.
Did I get to rehearse today? NOPE. So tomorrow morning, I am getting up extra early so I can fit that in my schedule. I must stay creative for at least part of the day, or I turn into a wilted flower, and we can’t have that!
It seems like more and more people are getting Covid 2.0. Even the president. It doesn’t sound like people are getting hospitalized all the time like they were in the beginning, but dang, how many times do we have to catch this thing? I still haven’t gotten it (or have I)? I’m telling you in January and February 2020 I got really sick – TWICE. I was throwing up and I was super weak. I haven’t had it since.
Today I woke up to the sound of rain. Rain in August in California? Whaaaaa? Climate change IS REAL and how is it August already? It didn’t last too long but I was digging it. And Nor Cal could really use the rain because of the fires. There is another fire northeast from here in Klamath. And it’s unusually humid in the Bay Area right now.
The Clouds Showing OffToday
The pic on the left reminds me of some new age image – like Dianetics or Scientology…
Okay, maybe not. Maybe more Christian-like:
Once in a while I smell smoke seeping through my apartment windows. I am pretty sure it’s from the McKinley fires. I feel very protected by our fog and cloud cover. It’s like a blanket comforting me.
Alright, I’m starting Season 2 of “Stranger Things” now. I don’t love sci-fi, but the acting is pretty good.
Theresa Donahoe 