Started Typing: 11:43 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 12:14 PM ET
Yesterday’s lunch + matinee of Hairspray (the musical) was nice. 
It was good to see my friend, the Thai food was yummy, and the community theatre production was good! They aren’t ready for Broadway or anything, but it really wasn’t bad at all for a local show. I’m willing to see future productions of theirs (the next one I’m interested in is a radio play version of It’s A Wonderful Life, in December). And during lunch my friend and I picked a date to go see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in DC; earlier this morning I bought our tickets for a late August matinee.
Work isn’t bad today, but it’s a random “slightly watery eyes and mild congestion for no apparent reason” day so I’d rather be home and slothing. Meh. My third meeting of the morning will be wrapping up soon, and after lunch I have meetings at 1:00 and 2:00. It’s making it hard to get in any kind of writing groove, which is required for the item at the top of my “to do” list, but hopefully I can focus and get some quality heads-down time after 3:00. Then there might be thunderstorms during the drive home, but that’s become par for the course.
That is awesome! 
Nice!
Thanks! 
It is definitely one of the more complex ones, but it was my favorite design of the ones I saw on Amazon without digging in too far. And thanks for the tip about pushing the pieces out of the sprues! I’ll build the Lego diorama first, but should be able to start on the wooden model this weekend. We’ll see how it goes.
I’d actually heard about that! I can’t remember how/where, but it was something on television because I know they showed some of the contestants. (Maybe there was a story I saw involving someone who competes…?) Anyway, some of those beards are amazing!
The local indoor jazz festival I go to every February changed hotels this year, and my biggest complaint about the new venue was that there was no longer anywhere quiet to sit/talk! The only place with seating – that wasn’t a conference room – was the hotel restaurant and bar, which had been an oasis at the previous hotel but this year the festival booked live music in there the entire weekend. Good musicians, but loud. There was simply nowhere to go to get away from the music – which, again, was always good, but sometimes you need a break and/or just want to talk with friends for a bit! It made the whole event kind of exhausting, and frankly it’s one reason why I might limit my time there in 2026 (vs booking a room and staying at the hotel all weekend, which I’ve done for the past 10+ years).