Vlog Version: https://youtu.be/8mo-Dw1ZcZw
We're kicking off the official season a day late (again!), but I'll fill you in on all the news! I talk a bit about my chronic illness, my Baltimore trip, and Barry White! I'm also working on making written transcripts of these episode a regular component for folks that prefer or use a written version.
Links:
Leigh's cats: https://www.instagram.com/teamhandsome_kitties/
First live Crumbles show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Si1rvPg-G4U
Friday Crumbles Shenanigans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK3hTqqL-rk
Transcript:
Okay! Good morning, once again I am a day late on Tuesday time, but I got back from Baltimore on Sunday evening and it was a lovely trip, but then - and I don’t mean to say this in a - like - oh feel bad for me, but like I couldn’t get out of bed for two days? Because I was just really tired. I think for some people who deal with chronic fatigue and related issues probably understand, even if you’re not pushing super hard, you’re still pushing, and uhm I genuinely basically only got out of bed to eat some, and then go back to bed.
This is the first time I have showered since I got back, actually and that brought me to what I wanted to talk about for today: one of the things I’ve found has been different since I’ve started - and I’m gonna do some makeup while we’re chatting too - since I’ve gotten a diagnosis and been talking about having a diagnosis is that a lot of the times it does make people uncomfortable when you are talking about an illness that like can’t be fixed. And a lot of that I think is really relatable. You don’t like to think of your friends struggling or like being in pain or something and with chronic illnesses the nature of it that is that it doesn’t get better - like it can be managed - but I feel like there’s something... and I don’t get this to any strong degree but there’s something to be said with this sort like if you’re sick than like this puritanical American evangelical if you’re sick you’re not trying hard enough. You kind of know what I mean like - Oh you’re depressed have you tried yoga, or if you have a sleep issue have you tried melatonin and the thing it used to bother me more but then and I’ve always known that when people say that kind of stuff it’s coming from a place of care, but I’ve noticed sometimes when there are people that I’ve explained the situation to or you know what my life is like how I manage it with all this stuff people ask “oh how is it with narcolepsy? Is it getting better?” And I’m like “I mean I’m still managing it about the same.” And they’re like “oh but it’s still bad?” and it’s like “Yeah.” But I usually hear that from older adults. That maybe aren’t as used to the way people talk about chronic illness now, or the acceptance of just you just have a chronic illness and it doesn’t have to define my life. It’s apart of my life and how I live my life but like it’s not y’know, I’m a sleepy person. As I drink my coffee.
And it’s something that like - it doesn’t bother me a ton but like occasionally it’s that kind of thing of “Oh it’s not getting any better?” And it’s like...No? But I kind of know what they mean but they don’t mean you know are you coping with it better, have you found different treatments that work for you that’s not what they’re asking. It’s not a thing like heals or fixes, obviously there’s always ongoing research about different ways to fix the root causes but we’re not there yet. It’s just one of those things that I noticed. I just mention that because I genuinely like - I’ve noticed because this is the first time I’ve gotten out of bed. And it’s like “oh man. Alright. Here we go!” It’s noon and I’m ready to face the day. But I’m gonna throw on some more makeup and tell you a little more about my trip!
Last week was kind of an anomaly in that my laptop charger died and I didn’t have access to editing tools so if you caught last week’s I took a video and put that up on Youtube and my goal for this time is I’m going to strip the audio and the main thing will be like an audio podcast, and for those interested I”m going to put up an unlisted youtube video with the same thing where I’m talking and putting on makeup but we’re still kind of experimenting. But talking about like illnesses or just the way people cope with different stuff. Different things work for me at different times, so I’m trying to be understanding of the fact that different things work for other people at different times.
So. Let’s get some foundation of some kind on oh right! So I had an amazing time in Baltimore with Leigh Tyberg, my Crumbles collaborator. So like I said that was the first time we had ever played music together in the same room... at all. We’ve put out like our songs and stuff online, but it was amazing to actually futz around with harmonies together and do all this different stuff. So we did two online shows which are both archived on the Youtube which I hope I”ll stick in the show notes. One is from the Trick’s triple 6 series, and one is on the Salacious Crumbles Youtube page. Oh we need to put a pen in Trick’s Triple six, because season 3 starts today! Which will be really fun! It’s the Misbehavin’ Maidens! Sent in a video so I’m really excited but oh my god we played so much music and we still didn’t get through everything we wanted to which is fine because we both have like various kinds of chronic illnesses. I went to a real Maryland crab feast and I got to meet more of her local friends which I was really really glad to. Everybody was lovely. But I had never seen - and I’m from the coast - but I had never seen that many like crabs? There was so many! We have smaller - we have different crabs. North Carolina crabs. But these were like the Chesapeake crabs which I always - okay this is an ongoing thing - but I try to think of Maryland as like a hand? And the crabs are in the bay but apparently I have it backwards, but now I'm getting myself confused because the camera is a mirror image so we’re just gonna I ate the crabs from the Maryland with the old bay, like I was like aw man we are doin it up I love this.
Okay let’s do a little bit of - my makeup I’m still unpacking as we go so we’re just gonna like - going easy on stuff, here we go, let’s get some - I love this highlighter it’s pinky kind of highlighter put a lot of that on oh and I Don’t even have all my lights set up because I realized I left my power chord upstairs with my stuff that I have unpacked but I’ll get it setup for tonight. But oh my gosh, it was just so much fun. And I cannot wait to try and figure out when to play music together again. A big goal is eventually - and none of this is planned or set in stone or anything - but to have a music meetup in Richmond, because that’s kind of partway between us and a bunch of NC and Virginia that sort of like - an overarching goal. But I just think that’d be so much fun to like - rent an airbnb for the weekend - shake my hair down some - but we can make noise. ANd again none of this is set in stone, but that’s maybe the goal is to have a house filk.
Talking about Richmond - I stopped in Richmond for dinner and I got to have snacks with Chick Parker! Of Chuck Parker: Worlds Okay-est and Metricula and the Friends with Benefits, and the Blibbering Humdingers of course and uh many other bands. Chuck has been in every band which is a delight. So that was a lot of fun, I really enjoyed that. And it broke up the drive so much to stop part way. Oh did I just close this? I hope I didn’t.
Yeah we’re fine. This is fine.
So.
Okay, hang on I’ve gotta dig in my bag. I was trying not to have dead air so I wouldn’t have to edit as much, but there are some goals that just aren’t achievable.
Okay. Now I have a brush, and let’s put on some colors. So let’s see I’m trying to think.
Oh yeah, Leigh and I have got so much stuff in the works, and actually we’ve got some recordings that are completely done but not yet released. So those are things we’re excited that are coming down the pipeline which I am thrilled about. But it’s just sort of like the kind of thing where we recorded something and went ahead and finished it, but we’re like okay now we’ve gotta wait for the right things to release this alongside of. It’s sort of one of the goals, and I’m just looking forward to it. And then we’ve got so many things that are like partially written. But the instrument to human ratio in her apartment this past week was so skewed because she has a couple trumpets and the kalimba a guitar, and the ukulele, and I brought like a guitar a mandolin, a tenor guitar and then there’s all these hand percussion things and a tambo and I’ll have to post this too. I have watched her cats grow up because they got them at the start of them pandemic, Anakin and Obi-Wan - and I always thought “Oh they’re really cute, they’re really cute” But they’re really good at taking pictures of them. But then I got to see them in person and they are exactly as cute. They’re on Instagram as @Teamhandsome_Kitties, so I’ll have to post a link to that!
Oh! I hear - So I’m in my basement and I hear my husband shuffling around upstairs. So I think this is a good time to break for lunch. Again, thank you for bearing with me as I get this set up. Again my goal is to record these on like Monday evenings and have them go up Midnight Tuesday but uh...one thing at a time.
I shall never forget you. And if it’s ever gonna be more than a day late I’ll post a little thing in patreon. In general that’s kind of a goal. And of course tonight on 6 @ 6 with the Misbehavin’ Maidens is the first time I’m going to have set up a credits roll for the end of the show for people that subscribe to me on Twitch and Patreon for that week. So yeah,I’m excited about trying that out, I still have to work on my sonic identity and I have to remember which way to point because it’ll be live on camera. Because I’ve already got it set up because I’m doing the videos. But I’m so excite about all the different projects I feel so musically revitalized, y’know, I’m so lucky that I have the stuff to stay in touch with people online and make music with people online. But it’s still really fun to do stuff in the same room, so I can’t wait to get to a point where we have a healthy mix of both.
So with that, I’ve covered my mouse with makeup. At some point on one of these I’ll set up a second camera and you can see my hideously messy desk, if you want some like real behind the scenes stuff. I’m gonna sign off and get this edited while I have lunch with my bae. And then I gotta set up for 6 @ 6 which means I need to plug all of my equipment back in, because I took my fx pedal - the thing I use to make harmonies - but it also has a setting that does like voice changing and it has like a Barry White setting, so the first night we just played with that for an hour, and we just kept saying different things in Barry White voice. That’s all we did. It was amazing! That’s the kind of stuff I think I miss the most. Like - random, goofy - There was no need for us to talk like Barry White for an hour but I’m glad it happened. Alright - everybody I will talk to you soon, and if you’re seeing this today, toon into 6 @ 6 live on Facebook on my Facebook page. Or you can catch the replay as always on Youtube - usually it goes up about a half hour after.
Alright, talk to y’all soon.