weekly retro #32: hospitals, trucks, and a little coke
i've been in a perpetual state of being 48 hours behind the rest of the world, and so is nearly the case with this retro. my week started out with me being really stressed about how i was going to do a good job at the 5 events i was responsible for being some sort of host at. but then that all kind of went out the window when my brother called to tell me our dad had a heart attack.
those who know me know me understand that my family situation is very complicated and why it had been over a decade since i'd taken the fairly short, cloudy-windowed train down to where they are. to be honest, i figured our dad would be fine - he pretended to have a second heart attack when he saw i had tattoos - but i wanted to make sure my brother who saved his life wasn't going through all of this alone.
even though i spent a lot of my life in that part of new jersey, it still felt like mars. breakfast was good and cheap, there were hardly any sidewalks and the cars were unnecessarily large. i find it to be kind of scary, to be honest!
coming home after spending a few hours trying to neutralize the collective family anxiety by telling stories that didn't give away too much about what they've missed in my life, trying to get my dad's phone fixed - a journey i'm still on - and choosing to spare myself of getting caught up on the news... i felt like a bucket of ice water was dumped on my head, a reminder that your body can just stop working at any moment for really any reason.
i saw my endocrinologist the other day, i forgot to tell her about my dad. whenever i get asked about my family medical history, i always just say "i don't know". now i have some information, i guess?
through this chaos, i had to let go of some of those hosting duties, save for one very unique robot karaoke installation we did out of a uhaul truck. it was a nice break from reality, being a facilitator of an evening of magic and art for a magical artsy community.
by the way, if you were the guy who gave me "a little coke", i do apologize for angrily tossing it back at you, thinking it was cocaine. my dad told me at a young age about len bias to, effectively, scare me out of ever trying the stuff. anyway if we ever do this again, i need to a hang a "prank-free zone" poster up.
here's jamie, yufeng and i after unpacking the show, holding a lot of water instead of drinking it, dazed from a long night of doing something really hard! i wanted to sleep for 24 hours.
but sunday it was time for me to have some fun that i wasn't responsible for creating for others for once. i filled out a lottery form for banana ball last november and not only did i win, our seats were perfect. it was my first time at yankee stadium, and i discovered that hell is actually the 4 train downtown after an 80 degree outdoor game running on 3 hours of sleep. heaven was sleeping in until noon today.
things i enjoyed this week
- the webpage "understanding nj transit rail car window issues" lol
- i've been thinking all week about zach fox saying elon looks like he swallowed a big jbl speaker
- i needed a laptop charging bank asap for the robot karaoke on wheels gig and did an order for pickup at best buy. it was a nice experience that i am glad to have and will surely miss in 5 years when none of these stores are able to exist because of private equity scams
- i'm still really enjoying obsidian for my notes and hope to dive in soon to this thread where i asked folks their tips and tricks
i'm already up way too late writing this thing as i'm headed back to visit my dad and brother again tomorrow. i hope i get one of the trains where they allege to have replaced the windows.
xoxo jenn