Missing in Action

How goes it? Haven't seen you in a while.

My absence around town - in this case, especially shows - has been noted and challenged by a guy I used to razz about not going out enough. Meanwhile, I haven't been out for live music in 10 days, probably a record for me.

I hope you are doing well. I miss you.

I am doing well, downright swell even, but I've also been out of town or busy so much that weeks go by without being able to catch up with my regular crew, not to mention the only woman who can keep up with me on a walk and match me crab for crab.

Today's walk was my first since Saturday and that's much too long. My companion and I rewarded our legs with an extended soak in the rushing water of the James while a cadre of firefighters set up nearby to practice swift water rescue maneuvers and a coal train rumbled overhead.

Hi, friend! Hope you are having a wonderful summer. Let's plan lunch or dinner...I miss getting you all to myself once in a while.

My summer has rocked, but it's also different than the past few summers. I'm lucky enough to have been away more often and there are several trips on the books still to come. My personal life has also bloomed and that's a big factor.

What'cha doing that's fun? Let's figure this out soon...miss you.

I'd be a liar if I didn't admit that fun has been in abundant supply with four beach trips and multiple day trips already under my belt. But I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that I've also been entertaining at home far more than at any point since I moved into this apartment 8 years ago.

Last night's listening party on the balcony was as notable for introducing a musician to Pete Yorn's masterful first album as it was for the extended discussion of Socratic democracy and its innate weaknesses.

This camera is a "do-over" for your birthday present. Nifty unit. Automatic image stabilization and the cunning screen that flips out for selfies. Please let me know how the pictures come out; I'm very curious. Spec-wise, it's quite a unit. As for the selfies, it's perfect for taking them, as are you for being the self.

My circa 2005 digital camera died last year after my trip to Paris and the Loire Valley (RIP), so having a new camera will be pretty wonderful on a boat or on the beach, although I'm not much on the whole selfie business.

The other problem with all this gallivanting is it cuts into the earning-a-living time, so I've found myself playing catch-up every time I get back into town.

As soon as I finish doing laundry and get settled in at home, my time is occupied by servicing my hired mouth (tonight, for example), attending to the theater-going required of a Theater Alliance panelist (the last few of the season) and interviewing/writing for my approaching deadlines (I've noticed that rent doesn't pay itself).

To top it off, once I learn that today is National Book Lovers Day, I feel entirely justified once I've finished my work meal in blowing off a movie and opting out of a jazz show to spend the evening with my biography of Olivier.

I take a simple view of life: keep your eyes open and get on with it. ~ Laurence Olivier

Mine are not only open, but I'm happily getting on with it. Just not always in public view these days.

In life, unlike with birthday presents, you don't always get a do-over. When you're lucky, though, you get a nifty new opportunity.

Just don't hold your breath for the selfies to prove it.