random thoughts – Day 1,292 – (Saturday) – cat videos

There was no plan for the day. During the morning coffee drinking, the Facebook events previously marked with “Interested” were reviewed. There weren’t as many as I thought I had read about, and none found for the morning, so it was a trip to the gym.

The treadmill chosen was the furthest from both the check-in desk and the massive ceiling fans, and for the first since joining, I needed to peel off my top layer. Another first was feeling a bit “off” at the 20-minute mark and engaging in the mental gymnastics of “just one more minute and see how it feels.”

That, and decreasing the level from 3.7 mph to 3.4, was how I tricked myself into the full 30 minutes plus five-minute cooldown. After the treadmill there was a quick flirtation with the leg press machine before heading off to the most beloved massage chair.

Back at home, after a brunch of an egg over easy with a slice of toast, it was time to plan the afternoon. Options included the kitchen themed market at Mill No. 5, Cat Video Fest 2023 at the Luna Theater in Mill No. 5, and an art reception for a photography show I wish I had entered at Art League of Lowell, but I'm still too artistically lazy to get my act together.

Tiny fuzzy sun, but not raining.

I almost didn’t go out, but suddenly, in an almost out of body experience kind of way, I was making ready to leave the house, driving out of the driveway, then parking the car downtown. The sun was a small fuzzy ball floating in the gray sky, but at least it wasn't raining.  

The walk from the car to Mill No. 5 put me in the building with 30 minutes to spare before Cat Video Fest began but with plenty of time to still back out. One of the Boozy Book Club members was in the hall and we chatted briefly in a new context. She saw the Cat Videos last month and recommended it. Sold! 

At the Luna, after buying the ticket, the power of suggestion from the person behind the counter led to the addition of a $9 "large" bag of popcorn which is not actually that large, but comes with a free refill. There were six other people in the theater when I entered. Yes, I count things. Often. Like always. No, I don’t know why.

Luna Theater.

I dove into the not very large popcorn bag and a few more people trickled in. As I chomped the fluffy stuff, two women I knew came in. We sat together and it was the stuff of dreams seeing people I knew while out alone. The videos were delightful. Super cute and amusing. All the occupants of the theater were giggling and awwwwing in unison. 

After Cat Video Fest, we three headed to the Art League of Lowell for the reception for the show. The artwork ranged from beautiful to really cool to I wish had more walls and a bigger budget. The refreshments were an artfully arranged and tasty assortment of deviled eggs, cucumber sandwiches, wontons, hummus, mini cupcakes, and cookies. There was wine. It was a great time chatting and looking at art. Lowell has a lot of great artistic talent.

Back at home after the socializing it was quiet, except for the crunching of my free refill bag of popcorn. For what it cost, damn skippy I got the free refill and renamed it supper. Scrolling through Facebook, I saw I missed a Lowell Cemetery tour, which was a bummer, because those are always interesting and informative. 

As the current binge of "Friends" played on max, I imagined having a cat or two moving through the house on little cat feet and kneading biscuits on my leg or a pillow but hopefully not on my face like in one of the videos. Uh oh. I think we know where this is probably heading.