Further afield

At long last, I have ordered a GPS unit. For me, finding my way to a new venue is the single most challenging part of my storytelling profession. I got spoiled while living in New York. Manhattan was on a grid mostly), and if I got turned around when emerging from the subway, there were always tall landmarks to help me get reoriented.

In Seattle, my sense of direction is decent. However, once I start driving toward the new developments where there are identical beige houses as far as the eye can see, my internal gyroscope goes wonky. It's worse at night-- I have finally started to see the effects of age, and need light in order to read those already tiny street signs, and all my carefully plotted directions don't do me any good if I have to pull over to the side of the road every ten minutes. I'll let you know how it goes, but I predict that having the GPS will inspire confidence to go further afield for my gigs.

The King of France Needs Fancy Pants*

I'm doing some young toddler (12-24 months old) programs tomorrow and next Tuesday. It's been awhile since I've actively worked in my chosen profession for actual pay, but I'm more worried about the commute than I am about the storytimes. Some people get stage fright. I get road jitters. The drive is always much better than I anticipate, but even after 5 years' driving experience I can still give myself goosebumps imagining horrid things that might happen along the way. Maybe my new trousers will inspire confidence:



Note: The shirt is tucked in for illustrative purposes only! That way, you can see the draw-string with the star buttons attached:


I was going to wear these trousers on Mother's Day, but I didn't even get them finished until last night. Now, I'm so pleased with them that I need to sing a happy little song:

Thrift Shop, by Dan Zanes.

I plan to learn the chords to this song, even though the F# is intimidating. Still, it's not as intimidating as the interstate highway.