I managed to pry a rare Saturday out of the Company's vise this past weekend -- which isn't that herculean a task, since I make the weekend schedules, and the pool of people trained to take my place Saturdays is finally up to three -- and made my way to the Rochester home of unkbar for Urban Tapestry's house concert. (I intended to get there early but missed a turn and found myself driving into deep, dark Irondequoit, though I think I ended up missing only their first song.) Quite a fine concert; in addition to the UT standards that I consider in company with the best songs ever written, filk or not ("The Lady," "Starsoul"), they did a string of Tolkien songs, of Dorsai tunes (it was unkbar's house, after all), even a couple Jelly Belly songs that I'd managed to have never heard before.

I've gushed in this spot before about these three women (jodimuse, allisona and ohiblather), and about how they, along with Ookla the Mok and Randy Hoffman, were my introduction to this strange and satisfying parallel universe called filk. So I'll just add that the obvious joy they take in playing together is infectious, as is the obvious sense of craftsmanship that goes into Making It Look So Easy When We Know It Really Ain't. They're also exceptionally nice people, whose acquaintance I've considered myself fortunate to make the past few years through filk and LJ.

Didn't know too many people there, except for a few semi-familiar faces (perhaps through Astronomicons past), though I did get a chance to chat briefly with lord_korak and Euan ... and in a case of It's A Small World After All, it turns out Euan's wife recently conducted an archaeological dig roughly a block from my office.

In other news:

* My mother fell twice yesterday morning at her apartment. She wasn't hurt at all either time -- she doesn't so much fall as she feels herself about to lose footing, and is able to gently land in such a way that she doesn't land on anything damaging (the trick is getting back up) -- but it's still unsettling, as I'm concerned that one of these days something more serious could happen. She's more or less healthy for 80 and keeps herself in relatively good physical and mental condition, and values her independence -- and she's in a good independent-seniors apartment complex that strikes a good balance, combining a respect for tenants' independence with a vigilance for their well-being. Still, each of the past few years has brought some sort of health concern: shingles last year (albeit a fairly mild case), heart valve replacement surgery this one. The reality sets in that the issues likely are only going to increase in volume over time, and that I'm going to have to give more serious, directed thought to future options.

Still, I'm thankful that she remains in good health and independent and sharp. I recently read a friend's post about dealing with the practical and emotional issues of her mother's slipping away into dementia, and I don't really know what to say other than that my heart goes out to her. That, to me, is the most fearful of all ailments, one I fear for my loved ones and for myself ... and I don't fear a lot of things. (Fortunately, there doesn't appear to be any family history of it in either side of my family.) It's quite possible that my mom will have several more generally healthy and independent years ahead of her; I just need to be prepared for the event that it doesn't happen.

* As mentioned in a recent post, I joined the Facebook hordes recently, on invitation from hazmatplaytime. I don't think I'll end up spending a lot of time with it, now that I've set it up. While I'm still in the "ooh, shiny" stage with it -- trickin'/pimpin' it out with a bevy of applications (heh - found the Pac-Man app last night), scanning for friends past and present, setting up links to LJ and Flickr -- it doesn't sustain my interest for any extended period like, say, LJ. On the other hand, I was able to resume contact with an old friend/colleague from a decade ago on my first day with the thing, so I consider it one of those things that's Somewhat Fun and Occasionally Useful.

* Discovered last night that Rochester's PBS affiliate, WXXI, has a sort of regional Austin City Limits-type program called On Stage featuring local performers; last night it was devoted to area Cajun/jazz/rock/klezmer/folk/country band Hypnotic Clambake. Sundays at 7 p.m., if you're in the Rochester market.

* In the Was This Really Necessary Department: According to a piece in the recent Paste, some company has come out with a Sid Vicious action figure. I would say this is a sure sign of the Apocalypse, but if that were true of every bizarre non-sequitir we'd be buried under a few dozen strata of apocalypses by now.

Sounds & Images: "Somewhere Only We Know" (Keane)
State O'Mind: Content