Death, taxes, crappy trains and Kacey Musgraves: Jan. 30

On By BillIn Uncategorized, Weeks Gone By

It wasn’t going to be as meaningful as a first train ride to New York City or a flight anywhere will be, but Suzi and I were still going to be taking the train into Boston for the first time in two years — long enough for my pre-paid train card, which was never supposed to expire, to expire.

So it was going to mean … something.

We paid for our parking on my phone — that was new — got on the train and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Suzi checked Twitter, and sure enough … 30-minute delay because of a breakdown on the line. We had to a concert to make and time was running short, so we took the chance that we’d be able to drive in, park and get to TD Garden in time.

It actually went pretty quickly. Maybe Thursday at 8 p.m. is the time to drive into Boston.

As for the train, I won’t even tell the MBTA don’t ever change, because it won’t ever change.

It’ll always be terrible.

We made it, just in time for the the second of the opening acts that we weren’t interested in too finish up, but my nerves were still a little frazzled (and I wasn’t even driving).

Then Kacey Musgraves sang the first lines of “star-crossed,” and all the tension went away.

“Let me set the scene

Two lovers ripped right at the seams

They woke up from the perfect dream

And then the darkness came.”

I could never be a music critic — good thing I never wanted to be — because while I can tell you that Kacey Musgraves is amazing, I can’t tell you why other than I enjoy her music and listening to it makes me feel good. (I’m also not the type to try and find deeper meanings in song selection, although, amateur tip, “Merry Go ‘Round” is never a misfire.)

And “Rainbow” is one of those songs that will always hit me just a little different. I was worried that it dropped off the set list, but it was the final song of the encore.

Since we last saw her back in 2019, her concerts have graduated from pavilions to arenas, meaning we spent 90 joyous minutes with about 16,000 of our closest friends, most of whom could have probably been our children.

Everyone had to be vaccinated to get in — mask-wearing once inside was sketchy in spots — but unless I have a tale to share of getting sick in the next couple weeks, based on the outfits some of these kids were wearing, hypothermia may have been a greater threat.

If I had one complaint … an 8 p.m. start time with two opening acts? That puts things way after my bedtime. It may have been fine for those kids, but I’m old!

What I wrote

Seeing other people’s Wordle success had a brief, but surprising effect.

Stuff I read

Follow Renata’s guide for writing blog posts, and you … can’t go wrong?

Michelle O’s age is what it is, but she feels a lot younger.

Paul reminisces about cargo shorts.

Austin hates winter. River is a fan of big snowfalls. I’m on Team Austin.

COVID came for Jeff.

Monty pays a visit to Pea Green’s place, where he explains the nothingness he felt his first time.

I love Fig Newtons … not sure how well they’d go with Scotch, but Ally was thinking something like that might be what she needed.

Giggles has had some weird dreams, but then again, does anyone remember normal dreams?

Vee saved herself.

Michelle is pretty sure she saw old women taking drugs at a festival.

Becky answered reader questions.

Pepper has non-romantic ideas for Valentine’s Day. Since it’s a Monday, we’ll probably go to dinner and then watch one of Michael Portillo’s train trips in Europe.

There are certain types of people Fallon will not date, and I don’t blame her.

The Huntress’ parents had a dream that is turning into her nightmare.

Our cat Sasha is very pleased at this news, and is planning to write a fan letter.

Tweets I liked

I don’t eat Triscuits a lot, but when I do, they don’t last long.

I’m not sure there’s anything I could do with my hair to get out of an appointment.

We’re hoping to go to Europe for our 20th wedding anniversary. What we actually do … who knows? I will say, however, I doubt Milwaukee will be involved.

Bob Sykes … the Yankees traded him for Bob Sykes.

21 thoughts on “Death, taxes, crappy trains and Kacey Musgraves: Jan. 30”

  3. Oh I miss concerts. I was supposed to see Elton John in Toronto in two weeks (postponed from 2020). It was rescheduled to March 20–one day BEFORE venues are allowed to operate at full capacity according to our current reopening plan in Ontario. So, it looks like it will be rescheduled again. In the meantime, I heard Sir Elton himself is battling COVID.

    Thanks for linking to my post and for throwing out the “How old do I feel” challenge.

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    1. Yup, a live concert, outside my house, with other people. It was really interesting in that Suzi and I just wore regular clothes — a pullover, jeans and sneakers for me, a sweater, jeans and boots for her — but so many people had special outfits for the concert. There were lots of pink and other pastel cowboy hats, some on the guys, too!

      Suzi likes to figure out an aesthetic that we see among people at the concerts we’ve gone to, and it’s basically like this:

      Sugarland — Country-girl cosplay
      Josh Groban, Sara Bareilles — Theater kids
      Maren Morris — Cold-shoulder tops (also known as country-girl cosplay in the Connecticut suburbs)
      Mumford & Sons — Basic white girls and their husbands and boyfriends (or as she called it, “her people.” She said they even all had the same coat!)

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