laramie

Saturday was an active day: I did two loads of laundry and plenty of shopping. In addition to groceries I went to the Roof Depot for some of the supplies needed to redo the balcony over the back patio, and went to Menard's after calling around for prices on treated plywood. Apparently we sent millions of plywood sheets to Iraq for the rebuilding, and there's now a shortage here, with prices sky-rocketing. The best price I found was just under $32 for a 4' by 8' sheet of 3/4 inch plywood. Others were charging well over $40 a sheet. I was lucky to get the four pices I needed, as even Menard's was low on stock.

The treated plywood sheets were damp and each as heavy as a full grown man. I couldn't budge even one out of the back of the station wagon. I called around for help, and Thorin T agreed to come over, and then catch a ride with me to the Relaxacon being held at a Travel lodge east of St. Paul. Between us we maneuvered the plywood out of the car and it wasn't long before we were on our way to the convention: with casserole, mandolin and filk books.

Thorin had already registered and been to the con on Friday. I could only afford the one day membership ($5 off with casserole). There was a gaming room, Anime and Video programming, Karaoke and Kruchenko's. I instigated some filking late in the evening. (All the regular filkers were there). First I had to spend a few hours doing Karaoke; the contest didn't happen, but there was a lot of good singing, particularly from the Lessinger contingent. I sang a few of my favorites, including People are Strange and Unchained Melody, but another performer beat me to Let it Be. In the con suite Dave R played a wickedly funny compilation CD he'd put together, including such numbers as Pumping Irony re Arnold's recent election.

I had a good time, but left before 1 a.m., wanting to drive while still relatively wakeful. Thorin was ready to leave, too. Along the way he asked me how I approach song-writing and I told him that I start from some emotion that's prevailing in my soul. For instance, at that time I was wanting to sing a song of reassurance and comfort for Tigger, who's been so troubled lately. I started crooning some experimental sounds and words along the lines of "Though the world's changing all around you, I'm still here and we're together."

Thorin sang a bit of a song he'd written for a character of his called Serendipity, from an online game based on The Lion King. He was down-hearted that the game had waned in popularity. I suggested that there might be a resurgence of interest now that The Lion King has come out in DVD. People will be watching the movie again.