Yesterday did not go at all as I planned, but I suppose things worked out ok, aside from the fact I am dog-tired. I had a very clear vision of planning to wrap up the Canadian taxes and also dropping off some music for sale at BMV. (I had taken the stuff over on Tues. after work, but it was after 6, which is when they stop looking at buying material of any sort. This means effectively that I am not likely to make it in time during the week and have to go on the weekend.)
I did get through the taxes, though I have to admit I know I didn't do them to the best of my abilities. I think I may have left some money on the table by not claiming the foreign tax credit. And so forth. Everything just dragged and was particularly hard this time around. I'm not really sure why this year was so terrible, but it really was for both US and Canadian taxes. Sadly, next year will probably be just as challenging.
Anyway, by the time I wrapped it up, it was just about noon (and I had long ago abandoned the idea of getting over to BMV). I was slated to see a play at Crow's Theatre at 1:30. I had been so sure I would be in and out of the office that I had left my glasses at home. Rookie mistake. Since it was raining and I hadn't ridden my bike, I was pretty sure that I would just be cutting it too close by taking transit home rather than to the theatre. So I sprung for a cab, which is incredibly rare for me.
With that, I was able to get back, grab my glasses and get over to see Huff at Crow's Theatre. What happened next was a little hard to believe. Huff starts out with Cliff Cardinal with a plastic bag over his head in a simulated suicide attempt. He got about three minutes in, and stopped the performance. He ripped the bag off and said that his body just wouldn't let him go on and the show was over and then left the stage. The audience sat around for a few minutes, before eventually the manager came over and said that they would be arranging for refunds. As you can imagine, things were pretty somber and some people were extremely put out, having braved the traffic and the weather to come out for the show.
I went over to the library and dropped off a fairly overdue book and picked up a couple of books on hold for me. Then I did some grocery shopping, getting everything I should need for the recipe I am making this week. Oh, and I ran into Staples and got a new ink cartridge and was able to resurrect my printer. Score! Then I fired off an email to Crow's, asking about the various refund options. They got back to me quite quickly saying that, while they preferred people pick up an extra ticket to their next show, The Wrong Bashir, there were a few tickets remaining to Huff's final two performances: 7:30 in the evening and then a Sunday matinee. I couldn't go on Sunday, so I asked about rebooking for the evening, though I thought the chances were pretty strong that whatever was bothering Cliff was going to carry over to the next show. Still, it was worth a gamble. I was a bit surprised when they said they were able to make the switch. Definitely one of the advantages of living relatively close to the theatre is that I am able to come back on short notice!
It was just short of 5 pm after all these various tasks, so I ran up to the Shoppers on Danforth and mailed off the taxes, so I am done for the year. Whew! Apropos of the vagaries of the postal system, it looks like Amazon is about to ship me the last Krazy Kat volume, and I have to decide if I am going to get some of the back copies of the dailies from the 1910s (through eBay). And I am waiting on Cela's The Hive, since my brother didn't remember to bring it when we met up in Seattle, so he's just going to ship it to me. (It's just as well, since I didn't get nearly as much reading done on these recent trips as I had expected...)
I decided that I would bike to Crow's (since the rain had finally stopped). That way if Cliff flaked out again, I would just head straight over to The Rex to see Neil Swainson playing. I had planned on getting over there just after 8 pm, but thought the Huff gamble/gambit was worth taking.
I was really holding my breath the first couple of minutes, but Cliff got past the part where his head is in a bag, and things seemed quite promising. There was a tense moment when someone's phone rang, and he came fairly close to stopping the whole performance when the audience member was incredibly stubborn about not taking out their phone and turning it off, but we fortunately got past that. It is a tough play, so I can see why this might well be the last chance to see him doing it himself, and I am glad that I did get to see it in the end. The show wrapped at 9, and I zoomed over to The Rex. I got there just as they were playing the last song of the first set. Also, it was quite crowded, and it wasn't clear if I would even get in! In the end, I got a seat at a weird back table.
I was able to get Neil to sign an imported CD from his days with the Woody Shaw band. He had never heard of this CD, so I said I would try to get him a ripped copy the next time he is at The Rex, which should be June. The second set was great, and I managed to write out a decent chunk of a scene from my "planner play." So a quite overstuffed day, but a good, if exhausting, one. I perhaps should try to make it over to the gym Sunday morning, but I suspect I will want to sleep in a bit. I think the main goal is to try to get over to BMV fairly soon after they open (at noon) and then hit Robarts and then see a concert at Koerner Hall at 3. I may try to get to bed early after all that.
I was planning on taking on some thoughts about all the double bills and overstuffed days from the past couple of months, but this post is already too long. Until next time. Ciao!
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