Day 3734: No one is alone

Whenever I do my groups, read your comments, or connect with other people, I know that no one is alone.

Last night, I was alone when I went to the latest production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods in Boston, which includes the song “No One Is Alone.”

Even those of us who had come to the theatre alone last night knew that no one is alone when we heard Stephen Sondheim’s beautifully unifying music and lyrics. We also knew that no one is alone as we cheered and applauded together as one, after every single song throughout the performance.

I assume that I wasn’t alone last night when I cried, again, during “No One is Alone” — performed here by the original cast of Into the Woods (which I was not alone in completely adoring):

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Do you see evidence that no one is alone in my images for today?

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No one is alone if they love kittens or puppies, have near misses, realize they’re OK, or talk about the weather on World Meteorological Day.

No one is alone struggling to deal with the aftermath of the pandemic. Today, I’ll know that no one is alone when, for the first time in over three years, I attend a social workers meeting in-person at the hospital where I work.

Thanks to all those who help us realize that no one is alone, including YOU!

Day 3642: Weird

It’s weird to me that, according to Spotify, Weird Al was my top artist of the year.

I love Weird Al, saw him in concert this year, and thoroughly enjoyed the movie Weird, but I find it weird that Stephen Sondheim wasn’t my top artist for 2022.

It’s also very weird to me that Mandy Patinkin is on that list while Todd Rundgren and Pat Metheny are not.

I find many things weird these days, including applying for Social Security, getting billed for things that my health insurance should be paying for, and Elon Musk.

Do you see anything weird in my other images for today?

It’s weird how difficult it is now to do a screen capture of the National days and it’s weird how my mood always improves on the winter solstice (probably because I know the days will start getting longer).

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “weird.”

It’s weird (and wonderful) watching Daniel Radcliffe play Weird Al knowing I’ll be seeing him in Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along very soon.

Thanks to all who accompany me on this weird journey through life, including YOU!

Day 3595: Choices

Every day, there are choices to make.

Too many choices can be overwhelming; too few choices might feel like we’re trapped.

Yesterday, I made the choice to not connect my mental health to the choices that people might make in the USA mid-term elections. I will submit my choices when voting on Tuesday and I can only hope that others have chosen wisely.

Here are some choice quotes about choices:

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Do you see choices in my other images for today?

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This quote about choices by Stephen Sondheim …

… is from Sunday in the Park with George’s “Move On” and I choose to share this beautiful rendition.

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My choices for ending a blog post are many, but I always choose gratitude. Thanks to all who made the choice to connect with me here today, including YOU.

Day 3287: My Best and Worst of 2021

Hello, best blog readers! It’s time for my personal best and worst of the year.

This was not the best of years nor the worst of years, personally. I did my best to compile my lists and here they are:

BEST

My son Aaron and all his wonderfulness.

My husband Michael and all his wonderfulness (including his delicious meals, taking care of our home, and making me laugh every day).

Good health for me and my loved ones.

My therapy groups.

My friends.

Adopting our new adorable cat Joan and our old adorable cat Harley adjusting so well to that.

Walks near the water.

Sustaining music, including songs from Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown.

Trip to NYC with Aaron, including the Sondheim musical Company and the Stephen Colbert Show!

Trip to Nashville on my own, including a very successful Open Mic and meeting fellow blogger Chris!

The book “Radical Acceptance.”

Connecting with people here and on Twitter.

WORST

Climate change.

COVID.

January 6 insurrection and other threats to democracy.

Pain, suffering, and deaths of good people.

Systemic injustices.

Toxic narcissists.

Gun violence in the USA.

Miscommunication and misinformation and the painful divisions those cause.

Extensive (and hidden) water damage to our home because of a leaking shower.

The nosebleed from hell (caused by a combo of Joan’s claws and my anticoagulant medication).

Joan’s medical problems which necessitated her being in a cone for MONTHS.

Stephen Sondheim (one of my musical heroes) leaving this earthly realm.

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Do you see any bests or worsts in my images for today?

I celebrated Make Up Your Mind Day by making up my mind about what to include in my best and worst lists for 2021!

I think it’s best if I include my favorite song from Hadestown here.

What is your best and worst of 2021?

Thanks to all who made it to my best list, including YOU!

Day 3284: Roads not taken

All of us have roads not taken. Some of us have regrets; some of us have reached a level of acceptance about the choices we’ve made.

Last night, I took the road of asking this question on Twitter:

My roads not taken include (1) finishing my thesis on the modern movie musical to get my Masters degree in Film Studies, (2) traveling more, (3) getting a dog, and (4) show biz. The first one I’m good with; the others still seem like possibilities to me.

Do you see roads not taken in my other images for today?

The roads I’ve taken include this: I’m revealing my Film Studies road-not-taken on National Short Film Day! Also, the rocky road to chocolate candy might not be taken by me today, even though there’s plenty of it around.

Here’s Robert Frost reciting his poem “The Road Not Taken.”

I’m going down the familiar road of including a Stephen Sondheim song in my blog posts.

The road not taken for me, up to this moment, includes sharing my attempt to do justice to a Stephen Sondheim song with my voice and my new ukulele.

Another road not taken for me includes doing a version of that I’m happy with, which might be further up the road.

As we move on to the end of this blog post road, I’ll take the opportunity to thank all who ease my way along the road of life, including YOU.

Day 3270: What I’m waiting for

What I’m waiting for includes:

• the next step to repair the damage to our home caused by a leak in the upstairs shower,
• an in-person appointment with my Primary Care Physician on Thursday,
• an appointment with a veterinarian on Friday to find out if Joan’s ear infections have come back,
• information on how to deal with food allergies if Joan’s ear infections have come back,
• a decision about what song I should sing Friday evening for my first open mic in months (candidates include a new original song and a Sondheim song),
• Christmas and New Year,
• finding out where my son will be attending a PhD program in mathematics next year,
• the end of the pandemic,
• justice for all, and
• your thoughts and feelings about the contents of today’s post.

I’m also waiting for inspiration to finish my latest original song — “Spoiler Alert” — which includes rhymes like toxicity, authenticity, and epiphany. Here’s a Sondheim tune I might sing on Friday instead of “Spoiler Alert”:

Now, of course, I’m waiting for your comments.

If you’re waiting for my thanks to you, wait no longer!

Day 3269: Do you want to have a conversation?

Yesterday, I asked our talkative cat Joan, “Do you want to have a conversation?”

According to the definition …

… maybe “conversation” is the wrong word. However, I seem to be having conversations with many non-people these days, including conversations like these:

Do you want to have a conversation about what it’s like to have those kinds of conversations for months and months? Or do you want to have a conversation about my other images for today?

Do you want to have a conversation about the conversation that the Daily Bitch is describing today? Or do you want to have a conversation about the Stephen Sondheim song I quoted in my Twitter conversation?

I love the way that Audra McDonald, Christine Baranski, and Meryl Streep are having conversations with each other and with Stephen Sondheim during his 90th birthday celebration in 2020.

Do you want to have a conversation with other people in this blog? If so, please leave a comment, below.

Do you want to have a conversation about gratitude? I do! Thanks to all who are reading this conversational blog post, including YOU.

Day 3268: There’s a place for us

Yesterday, there was a place for us to see Stephen Spielberg’s West Side Story, with Leonard Bernstein’s incredible music and a young Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics, including “There’s a place for us.”

There’s a place for us to share the beautiful song “Somewhere” (and that place is here).

The place where the PPAS choir is singing “Somewhere” in that video is New York’s Lincoln Center, a place whose construction is displacing the characters in Spielberg and Tony Kushner’s version of West Side Story.

There’s a place for me to write that I loved the movie, except for (SPOILER ALERT!*) the decision to take “there’s a place for us” and Somewhere away from the young lovers Maria and Tony.

There’s a place for this excerpt from Tasha Robinson’s West Side Story review:

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There’s a place for us to see all my images for today.

There’s a place for us to celebrate those National Days, or anything else we choose to observe every day. There’s a place for us to find out what National Ding-a-Ling Day is, and that place is here.

Also, there’s a place for our cats, and that seems to be wherever they want.

There’s a place for you to leave a comment about this blog post, below.

There’s always a place for us to express gratitude to all those we appreciate, including YOU.

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* Here’s the place for me to share that I’ve been meaning to get back to songwriting and there’s a place somewhere that I’ve stored the lyrics and the tune for one of my unfinished pieces, “SPOILER ALERT!”

Day 3258: What’s a great gift for you?

Yesterday, when I was thinking of great gifts I’ve been given, I posted this on Twitter:

The answers I’m getting to that question are great gifts for me.

Do you see any great gifts in my other images for today?

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The greatly gifted Stephen Sondheim left great gifts for me and so many others. Here are Broadway stars sharing their gifts this past Sunday to sing Sondheim’s “Sunday” in Times Square.

This “Remembering Stephen Sondheim” piece from the New York Times is a great gift for me.

What’s a great gift for you?

I hope you accept my gift of gratitude for all the gifts you bring, here and now.

Day 3257: Relationships

As I look at my photos and the news for today, I am thinking about relationships.

It occurs to me, here and now, that people can have relationships with

• other people,
• animals,
• themselves,
• food,
• machines, including their cars, and
• guns.

This article about the latest deadly school shooting in the USA includes this quote from Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer: “This is a uniquely American problem that we need to address.”

The late, great Stephen Sondheim, who wrote profound lyrics and music about so many types of relationships, created this masterpiece, from Assassins, about relationships with guns:

I depend on my healthy relationships to help me make meaning of the disturbing relationships in the world. What are your thoughts and feelings about the relationships described in today’s blog?

Every day, I am grateful for all my sustaining relationships with others, including YOU.