Amy Lu's View

I’m no graphic artist, but the new logo for the newly named Seattle hockey team doesn’t look much like StanLee.

This seems problematic as the team is “The Kraken” and StanLee IS the Kraken. My brother said so. When he housesat for us in the Before Times he would text me “Release the Kraken!” when he let StanLee out of his crate. It was a battle cry Chad and I soon adopted when we let StanLee out of his crate or out of the house.

In case you’ve missed the memo, StanLee is a bit hyperactive.

StanLee is definitely THE Kraken of the Chamy household, but maybe it’s not fair or accurate to claim he is the only Kraken. After all, the Kraken started as a mythological Norse beast before making it big as a meme from a cheesey cult 80’s movie so I guess the Kraken could be a cute, adorable, out-of-control little dog and a hockey mascot.

I wouldn’t know that “Release the Kraken!” is a meme from “Clash of the Titans” if it wasn’t for my brother. And I THOUGHT it was from the 1981 movie (which I just called cheesy but oh I loved it as an 11-year-old) but now after doing some Googling it looks like there was also a 2010 movie reboot that may have inspired the meme? Well I’m sticking with the 1981 version as my source of truth.

I was suprised when the weekly Trivia Mafia email that I received yesterday said that the Kraken was a Norse creature. I had in my head that it was a warm water beast–probably because “Clash of the Titans” is about Greek mythology (more or less). I also learned from the Trivia Mafia email that the Kraken inspired Lovecraft’s Cthulhu–cool.

As I say over and over again, I don’t believe in destiny or fate or signs, but I did decide to interpret the arrival of the Trivia Mafia newsletter about the Kraken as inspiration to blog our our Kraken (even though I clearly don’t have that much to say blog about).

One of the co-hosts of Chamy’s favorite podcast (Too Beautiful Too Live) was talking about the new Seattle team name and logo (which is really the only reason I know about it) and mistakenly said “Embrace the Kraken” instead of “Release the Kraken”. But sometimes you need to Embrace your Kraken, sometimes you need to Release it (for everything there is a season…)

I AM a little disappointed that the Seattle logo not only doesn’t look like StanLee (although the S could stand for StanLee) but that it doesn’t have anything obvious to do with a tentacled sea creature. (I know y’all can Google the logo if you haven’t already see it so I’m not going to include it…and I can’t easily find an image of it to upload. #$%& copyright!)

Again, not that I care anything about hockey but tentacles are cool.

“These glasses aren’t real. I just wanted to look smart. And sexy. Like a librarian. A smart, sexy, librarian.”

–Me, as the character “Stephanie” in the one-act “The Seven Men of Hanukkah”

This weekend I got to say that amazingly appropriate line in a short two-person play that Chad and I performed for a friend’s birthday party.

Or maybe it was a amazingly INappropriate line as I actually AM a librarian and I was wearing REAL glasses (just non-prescription readers, but still).

I’ll just walk away from the question of looking sexy.

But I think I may have buried the lead…I GOT TO BE IN A PLAY.

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HOW was this possible during the pandemic? We performed outside, at a private party for a small group of folks who knew each other, and we maintained social distance from the audience, at least during the performance. I’m afraid that I didn’t do a great job of social distancing when it was time for my falafel feeding frenzy, but it was a really windy day.

Being married to my co-star and director also was an important factor. We didn’t have to worry about contaminating each other during the performance or rehearsals (at least no more than we normally do).

It was so rewarding and fun to be able to perform again. And the audience really seemed to enjoy it, and it was wonderful to share their energy. To again quote my character, Stephanie, “…when the lights went up, it was like anything was possible. It was fun and exciting and playful and more joyful than life.” (Obviously we didn’t have lights in the park but the idea is the same).

Doing our little play was even more meaningful because it’s been six months since we’ve acted in a live setting, and we have no idea how long it will be before we can be in or see live theater again. (Although if you’re interested in a 10-15 Rom Com for an upcoming small outdoor gather you’re planning, please let me know!)

Although if you’re interested in a 10-15 Rom Com for an upcoming small outdoor gather you’re planning, please let me know!

–Me, trying to find more opportunities for Chamy to act

Peforming at a party in a park did present us with some new challenges. As we were outside and it was super windy, we basically had to shout at each other to make sure we were heard, and our props–though minimal–were in danger of blowing away. Thankfully, we performed on a day that wasn’t too hot so we didn’t have to worry about being all sweaty and gross.

We were also trying to surprise the birthday honoree, so neither he nor most of the audience knew that we were going to perform. That gave me the chance to do a little performance art and start setting up for the play like I was just a real (although odd) person setting up for an audition in the park. This pseudo audience interaction (which Director Chad though of as we pulled into the parking lot) was fun and slightly terrifying (but I had the legitmate reason to take a selfie as part of a performance).

We also faced the familar–though no less terrifying–challenge of me forgetting a line that Chad couldn’t cover for. The wind turned out to be a boon in this case because Chad could whisper “thesbian!” at me and unobtrusively remind me of my next line. (Aren’t you dying to see this play now?)

I forgot how much I love getting a new script and highlighting my lines…and how much I love NOT having to worry about learning/remembering lines once the play is over (although since it was just the two of us we did get to play rather fast and loose with this script).

I also forgot how much I love playing quirky, awkward, hyperactive characters. I may be typecasting myself as an actress, but it’s so much fun to play a character in my wheelhouse.

Time to go for my semi-real glasses.

I am currently NOT in training for anything.

At least not as a runner. I don’t have any races–virtual or IRL–that I am preparing for.

(But yes, I am STILL running. I hope to keep doing so as long as I possibly can and I hope that means I’ll be running yet for many, many years).

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Not being in training means that I can be streaking, because it’s not part of my training plan to take rest days (no running days). It may be recommended that I take rest days (particularly by my husband) but I don’t feel the same inspiration to do so because I don’t need recovery from long runs.

Just to be clear, streaking in the running context does not involve any nudity or novelty songs, (I mean I guess it could but it doesn’t have to) but just running X number of days in a row. The only rule I’m aware of is that you have to run at least a mile for it to count. Often the goal is to reach a certain number of days and there is a shared challenge on a social media.

I had hoped to do a 50 day running streak starting on my birthday to celebrate turning 50, but I developed a mysterious injury or ailment in my thigh and couldn’t run for months. Long story short (and already blogged about repeatedly), I was finally able to start running again and today completed Day 62 of my streak.

There’s no significance to Day 62–today is the just the day that I had time to blog about it. In 62 days I’ve run 296.4 miles. So maybe it would have made more sense to blog about this tomorrow or whenever I pass the 300 mile mark, but again, it’s all about the timing.

Now that I’ve made it past 50 days, I don’t really have a goal in mind for how long I want my streak to be, except for some curiousity about how long I can “reasonably” keep the streak going. (By “reasonably” I mean without going to lengths that are too weird or annoying to Chad).

Since I only have to do a mile a day for it to count, weather and time has been the biggest barrier. I think I should be able to keep my streak going until at least the end of the summer, barring injury (it’s not like I’ll be travelling and not able to run).

Actually, yesterday was a rather significat day since it was the first day of this running season that I ran a mile in under 9 minutes (barely). But I don’t have any requirements for how fast or well I run any of my streaking miles, I just have to do it.

And each day’s run does have its own challenges and meaning, such as “Yay, I got up in time to run before my early morning meeting” or “Yay, I ran even though it was hot and I was hugover and yes, I really should know better but that’s not what this is about…”

Probably the most appealing thing about a running streak is that it’s something to count and observe and a challenge of sorts, but also very flexible. Almost organic. It’s running without a goal or a purpose, besides just to do it. I didn’t even know when I started my streak that I was starting it (metaphor alert!) and I don’t have an end in sight.

So streaking feels significantly different than training in many ways, and there’s not necessarily a goal or purpose to it. But they both share the important commonality of giving me an excuse to take selfies.

I will NOT let the mosquitoes thwart me!

…Or, maybe I will. Check back in with me at 2:00 a.m. when I’m awake because tonight’s newly acquired bites (4 or 5?) are itching so badly that I can’t sleep.

And what noble endeavor are the mosquitoes trying to keep me from accomplishing? Visiting as many local parks as I can.

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After 4 months of not venturing outside of my neighborhood very often, I decided it was time to start exploring some parks. At first, I was thinking of well known or iconic parks. Yes, after living in Minneapolis more than 20 years, I have only given beloved spots such as Minnehaha Falls a cursuory perusal. What better time to remedy that than now, when COVID has freed up my calendar?

Ah yes, COVID–I’m usually not a fan of crowds in ideal circumstances, but certainly want to maintain social distancing now, even if I’m outside. Would this be a problem I’d encounter while enjoying the great (tamed) outdoors?

Why yes, yes it would. Not really a suprise when I was at Minnehaha Falls, but I did NOT expect to see an actual sporty GAME being played tonight by 20 plus people breathing heavily on each other at a Long Lake Park in Ramsey County. (I was too freaked out to look at the scene too closely to even see what they were playing–something with a frisbee?)

So yes, I was at a less iconic but very lovely in its own way (and mostly quieter and peaceful except for the berserk people congregating near the pavilion) park tonight which demonstrates that I just want to get out and take in whatever nature and novelty I can.

This post is like a tangled knot of necklaces in my jewelry box–the topics are so intertwined it’s hard to tell where one starts and one ends. So let me at least identify the topics:

• Mosquitoes
• Personal growth and horizon expansion
• Chagrin it’s taken me this long to do these things
• Pride at not getting lost in a park
• Mosquitoes
• Nature (see also “beauty of” and “spiritually calming effect of”)*
• #$%& mosquitoes
• Fears of COVID
• Discovery and exploration
• Anger at people oblivious to COVID
• #*@#$ MOSQUITOES!!!

And yes, I do use mosquito repellant spray, I’m not an idiot. At least I’m not an idiot after the last time that I didn’t use spray and got several bites. But tonight I strayed off the paved trail (okay maybe I am an idiot) and the mosquitoes flew up my clothes and bit me. And I would take photos of the bites and how swollen they are to prove that I’m not a wimp (or not a total wimp) but they are on my back…and ass.

So, continuous improvement! Next time I will spray dangerous chemicals on my bare skin AND under my clothes.

Because, bitching aside, I am finding this obsession pretty darn cool. Okay, maybe by tomorrow I will have lost interest, but still, I’ve been to FOUR parks in ONE week which is way better than my rate of visitation in 22 years.

If I were a better blogger (or at least one with more time to both get to more parks and write about them) I would get into more details about each park experience and its unique delights and challenges.

So selfies and railing against mosquitoes and the universe that created them will have to suffice.

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*Yes, an attempt at librarian humor

This post is simply going to be a rant–nothing artistically, philosophically, or spiritually relevant or entertaining about it.

Okay, you’ve been warned, so let the ranting commence:

The Current radio station should NOT use articles (“a”, “and”, “the”) to alphabetize songs for its A to Z Weekend!!

–me, screaming into The Void

Now don’t get me wrong, I am an extremely loyal fan of The Current and support them financially and in every other way that I can. I love the community they’ve created and take delight in so much of what they do. But then, every Fourth of July weekend, they do THIS. They claim to play the best songs in their music library in alphabetical order, but they alphabetize the songs using articles!

If they committed this heresy quietly, I may be able to endure it. But no, the DJs (again, whom I love) will draw attention to their blasphemy by making comments like “Oh, isn’t it wild that A Boy Named Sue by Johnny Cash ends up being played next to Joni MItchell’s A Case of You when we alphabetize our music library?”

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NO, it’s not funny or interesting because for the love of all that is good and holy, you have NOT ALPHABETIZED YOUR MUSIC LIBRARY. I don’t know what you have done, but this travesty is not alphabetization.

Now, you may say I’m overreacting to this “alphabetizing” sacrilege because I’m a librarian and yeah, well, okay. As much as I like to rail against librarian stereotypes, fine, whatever–I’ll concede that maybe this is only important to me because I’m in a profession grounded in the very act of alphabetizing (at least I think it is–I’m a librarian, damnit, not a historian).

But I contend that one doesn’t have to be a librarian to know that this is JUST NOT RIGHT. And because I am a librarian, I can cites some sources, including the Modern Language Association (https://style.mla.org/articles-and-alphabetization/) and the American Psychological Association. I will even quote their blog: “When alphabetizing titles or group names as authors, go by the first significant word (disregard a, an, the, etc.).”

I think I could also deal with this Fourth of July travesty if the Current was open about it. If they boldly said, “Yeah, we know you’re not supposed to alphabetize titles by articles but hey, we’re innovators, we’re disruptors, we’re questioning the A-Z paradigm, so deal with it” I’d try to rise to the challenge. I don’t want to unthinkingly support the status quo.

But no, they just proudly play A Day in the Life followed by A Girl Like You like it’s normal. Like it’s right. Like that’s the way everybody does these things–always has, always will.

I think they are gaslighting me. Because they have to know. And if for some reason they didn’t know when they started this “A-Z” thing years ago, as a public radio station, they must get feedback/complaints/pleas for help from at least some of their nerdy listeners.

Okay, rant done. I realize that by posting this I’m opening myself up to correction and criticism, and I’ll try to be prepared for getting schooled.

And I’m either going to have to turn The Current off or drink heavily as they make their way through the “The’s”.

My high school mascot was The Beavers.

My hometown summer festival (although I didn’t actually live in “the town” of 1,500 but in the country) was Bean and Bacon Days.

Just enjoy both those facts for a moment. I think they tell you a lot about my formative years.

During this Fourth of July Season, I’ve been reminiscing a lot about Bean and Bacon Days as it was always celebrated around the Fourth of July.

Now I’m tempted to make this blog a snark fest about how my current sophisticated self is bemused by the goofiness of Bean and Bacon Days. But the world really doesn’t need any more amateur snark these days.

It would also be pretty hypocritical of me to imply that I thought Bean and Bacon Days was odd or silly in any way. For most of my youth, I didn’t even question it–I don’t think I even realized it was in honor of the Bush’s bean factory in our town (which does suggest it was a bit of a failure as a marketing endeavor). It was Just The Way Things Were–didn’t everybody celebrate Bean and Bacon Days every summer?

For me, the highlight of the Bean and Bacon Days festivities was theatrical–no surprise. Our youth summer theater performances were held during B&B Days. In fact, I think my theater origin story is rooted in those days, because my mom enrolled me in the program (and drove me to daily rehearsals). I think my first production was “Alice in Wonderland” and I was cast as The March Hare (NOT the White Rabbit, as everyone always assumed, thank you very much!).

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From that first taste of theater, I was hooked. Several plays based on fairy tale classics: “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “The Empress’s New Clothes,” “The Red Shoes” and “The Pied Piper Of Hamelin” (which we heavily re-wrote) followed (not necessarily in that order).

Yes, I was over the moon when I was cast as Snow White in, you guessed it, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” I was shallowly impressed to be the “title” character and therefore “lead” even though it wasn’t that exciting of a part. We also did a hippie 60’s version which was probably as silly and painful as it sounds (luckily and/or unfortunately, this was all in days before any of us rural folk had video recording devices).

And you may have noticed that we did “The Empresses’s New Clothes” which had far more to do with casting desperation than 80’s era wokeness, and I also got to be that title character. But that was more terrifying than exciting, and I wore LONG underwear. (Yes, if I was cast in that role today I would be advocating to have my costume include a garter belt).

(Okay, I promise I won’t turn this into a recap of every Augusta children’s summer theater role I had, although I am very tempted to do so. Maybe snark would be better? AND can I follow a sentence in a parenthesis with a whole section in parenthesis?)

In many ways, summer felt like a downhill slide after B&B Days/the Fourth (we were also living on rural time so we got out of school in mid-May and started up again at the end of August). I’m sure I didn’t know what the solstice was back then, but it’s appropriate that this all happened a couple of weeks after the solstice. It was definitely the zenith of my year in many ways.

In addition to my theater memories, I also have some recollections of marching in the parade in extremely hot wool band uniforms and cursing the flutists who had light instruments to carry (as opposed to my snare drum that actually wasn’t all that heavy but bruised my leg), and street dances, and eventually, the Miss Augusta Contest. Oh my, yes, Miss Augusta COULD be a whole ‘nother post if not blog.

And no, I only did not win Miss Augusta but lost in a very non-climatic way–not with bang, but with a whimper–even though my talent was playing drums. Maybe getting in the Too Beautiful Too Live talent show for playing drums was some redemption?

I don’t have many recollections of bacon, though. I wasn’t a vegetarian or even a pseudo-Wisconsin-70’s vegetarian then, but I think this was before bacon was super trendy.

*Since bacon IS trendy now, did this title make you read this?

Until last Monday. That’s the first time I ever purchased a tomatillo for home consumption, through Imperfect Foods.

It’s not so much that I had a stance against buying tomatillos, but I was never brave enough. I wasn’t really sure what they were. Occassionally I would see them in a grocery store and think, “Ooh, that looks exciting” but I would always decide that figuring out what a tomatillo actually was and what to do with it would take too much work.

But with the magic of internet shopping and home delivery, I decided I could take a plunge on tomatillos.

Now this is the point in the blog that people may be tempted to share their salsa verde recipes with me. And while I’m sure you have lovely and amazing salsa verde recipes, they will be wasted on me because I have no intention or desire (at least at this point of my life) to make anything that requires using a blender or any type of kitchen appliance beyond a coffee maker.

I do like that because I took the plunge and bought some tomatillos and did some Googling on what to do with them, I now know (or think I know) that salsa verde is often made from tomatillos. I assumed tomatillos were some type of pepper, and did not realize they are basically a type of green tomato. Thanks to the interwebs, I nnow know I can just peel off the husk and eat them raw or throw them into whatever Amy “stir-fry” (which involves a method of cooking that is somewhere between frying and sauteing) I am making.

Yes, I know I could do many other things with them and these are not necessarily the recommended or tastiest, but they are the easiest.

I like to think of myself as adventurous when it comes to food (and life), but the range of foods I eat and prepare is actually pretty limited. This doesn’t really have much to do with my lack of cooking skills or food curiousity, but wanting to eat as much as I can for the least amount of calories. And I do like my food rituals and routines.

Still, buying and eating a new food at home is a small excitement. For someone who grew up with very limited midwestern food options, I appreciate the choices (however small) that I never had as kid.

And food (for everyone I know except Chad) is always more than just fuel. It’s very symbolic. That’s why cilantro, although very contentious, will always epitomize food freedom and possibilities (and yes, it’s silly, but sophistication) to me.

But I need to ease into more regular tomatillo purchases. I won’t be getting it this week, and will stick with my modern staples of brussel sprouts and kale.

It’s Global Beatles Day.

That should be more than enough inspiration for a blog post, but all I’ve got is a little anecdote of disappointment. I went to excavate photos of when my friend Jennifer and I did a Beatles tour of Liverpool almost 30 years ago. And I actually found them. Success!

But the quality of the photos is so so crappy I can’t share them via social media. Sadness!

Yes, I went to Liverpool and all I brought back was six blurry photos. My how times have changed, indeed. (Jennifer are your photos as lousy?)

Of course, the main point is that I DID get to go to Liverpool and it WAS amazing and at least I remember I was there. Definitely a pilgrimage. Maybe I even paid more attention to the experience because I wasn’t constantly taking photos or posting on Facebook during it?

Maybe… although I would certainly enjoy some viewable photos now.

So I guess you will just have to take my word that I saw Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields thirty years ago, even without photographic evidence. Would you believe me that we grabbed a drink with Paul?

Instead, I will share a current selfie while I’m sporting my Beatles lyrics shirt, featuring the words to these 100 Beatles songs: https://www.litographs.com/pages/beatles-songs. (Yes, it’s super irritating that “the” is included in the song title for alphabetizing purposes. Do not alphabetize by an article for the love of all that is good!)

Friday was StanLee B.’s Second Birthday! We think. As he was a rescue dog, we don’t know his birthday for certain. June 19 is the date our vet picked for him based on their best guess. (We don’t think they were trying to honor Juneteenth).

The resuce organization that we adopted him from told us his birthday was in April, so I’m happier to think his birthday is in June. Hopefully that means we’ll have a little more time with him.

Yes, I’m getting a bit morbid about SLB’s lifespan already. It’s hard not to with pets, as our time with them feels so limited. Not that I want SLB to have quite as much youthful energy as he does for the rest of his life. I’m hopeful that at three he’ll achieve more of a balance between energy and maturity (as in not being quite so hyper and actually able to live with our cats).

How about he just stops aging at three, and stays three until we die. Is that too much to ask?

Oh, and I don’t want to go too far down this rabbit hole, but that whole “one dog year = seven human years” equation is completely inaccurate. I’m actually a little shocked to have just Googled that a two-year-old dog is equivalent to a 24-year-old human (https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/how-to-calculate-your-dogs-age).

We don’t usually celebrate our pets’ birthdays because we lack the wherewithal and they don’t feel slighted. But this year I was inspired to take note because I was shamed by his puppy daycare sending a birthday card and treat home with him. I also realized I was missing out on a great social media/blog opportunity if I didn’t mark his birthday in some way.

So, what better way to celebrate StanLee’s birthday than by making him take selfies with me! Okay, he actually got to go “fishing” with Chad (his favorite game) and I made him a cake! I’m actually pretty proud of the quick and lazy cake I came up with–a rice cake topped with peanut butter and dried banana chips, two of StanLee’s favorite foods (actually, mine too). I’m constantly having to watch myself so that I don’t eat up his banana chips.

It’s been 3 months since I started living in lockdown. I gave up a while ago on marking the passage of every week, but it’s hard to ignore this milestone.

“Lockdown” is too dramatic of a word for my situation (luckily!). Other common terms– like “quarantine” or “shelter in place”–don’t seem quite right either. I think “hermitage” may be the most accurate but I’m not sure that will catch on.

So much has changed in 3 months, but this is also just life. I’ve learned some lessons, had many feels, radically changed my habits and daily life–and it’s just life.

(Disclaimer–this is just a very narcisstic look at my very lucky life, and I’m not tackling any reflection on racial justice in this space because that feels inappropriate).

I’m also going to try to avoid pontificating about the meaning of or future of the pandemic–nobody needs that from me. Let’s just say I’m not expecting life to go back to the way it was. I think COVID-19 remains a very real and serious threat.

BUT, I think nice weather gives us some opportunities now to be outside and get out relatively safely and interact with others–at a distance and with precautions. I’m afraid this might be a small window of time so I want to responsibly make the most of it. AND I finally got the battery in my car replaced so after three months I can drive again (and I still remember how!) I’ve already had a couple of outings to see friends and hear music and drink and it’s been glorious. I hope to never take these small joys of life for granted again.

This may be the summer I savor more than any other because I’m actually more attentive and appreciative.

This time of transition in transition that feels like an interlude (to someone who knows nothing about classical music), seems like a good time to continue my House Party quarantine questionnaire series. (I also know this is a notable time because one of my favorite quarantine podcasts, Staying In with Emily and Kumail, is wrapping it up).

House Party Questions Part 2

What aren’t you missing? Wearing my work lanyard and wearing rings. And being stuck in traffic, but who does miss that?

What’s an unexpected thing that’s getting you through? Weekday lunch and Saturday night coffee house with our church via Zoom.

What one non-essential item you wish you had much more of? Nasoya dumplings, I’ve only had them once since lockdown.

Something you’ve learned about yourself since being stuck at home: I like spending time at home more than I thought would. I can also handle uncertainty–as in not knowing what’s up with the future of my job, or my social life, or my bands or theater endeavors, or the world–better than I thought I could.

What piece of advice would you have benefited from hearing at your graduation? Be braver–Don’t take yourself so seriously and worry less.

What’s a positive change you’re going to keep from this time? Appreciating spending time at home.

What are you unexpectedly nostalgic for? I’m not sure if this is supposed to be COVID related or not, but the cheap packaged seasoning Dad used on steak.

Tell us the best advice your father ever gave you: He never actually said this, but the only positive thing I can ever remember my mother saying about my dad was that he was a generous tipper, so I interpret that as my dad giving the advice to “Be a good tipper.”

Tell us about a summer tradition of yours: Having anxiety about how much I ADORE the longer days and the increased sunlight but not knowing how to properly appreciate it…loving the light so much and wanting to hold it and keep it and make it last that it hurts. Oh, and being oversensitive (physically, emotionally and spiritually) to mosquito bites.