the luminous outset became the interminable middle

1. The bike shop had told us last week that they received the bikes and needed a couple days to put them together but then would let us know when they were ready. I still hadn't heard anything from them but didn't want to be pushy, so I just let it go, but then yesterday I finally emailed and asked about the status and they said they had called us already. :p Well, I double checked my phone and definitely no record of them calling so I imagine they called a wrong number, but oh well. I didn't have time to go pick them up today but maybe tomorrow or for sure on Saturday. I'm excited!

2. Tuxie's head wound seems to have healed up quite well. You can still see how he's missing fur on the right side of his head, but hopefully that will grow back eventually.

This is apparently only the second time I've seen Mika in concert. I could have sworn I'd seen him one more time sometime in the intervening years but nope; the only time I've seen him before was on his very first tour, almost twenty years ago.

Funnily enough, his first album was most represented in last night's setlist, despite him having a new album out earlier this year (though the new album did have the second highest number of songs in the set). That was a bit disappointing because my top favorite songs are all in the middle there and he did not do any of them, but I still enjoyed myself!

I really love the Orpheum as a venue. It's a beautiful old building, and also very conveniently located downtown so I can take the train rather than having to pay $20+ for parking (and on the way there, the train takes about as long as it would take to drive anyway, due to traffic). It's also in an area with a ton of restaurants around, so it's easy to grab dinner wherever and not be limited to just whatever the venue itself is serving.

I couldn't find any info online about whether there was an opening act or not, so I got there early enough that if he did come on at eight when the show was set to start, I wouldn't miss anything, but as it happens, he did not come on at eight, but there really wasn't an opening act either. There was a DJ who just played some random music, which didn't really feel all that different to the music they play before and in between acts, and wasn't engaging to watch or anything.

Mika came on around 8:45 and the show was nearly two hours long, but still managed to not play any of my top faves lol. Not a bad set list, though, and he is a fun performer. I had a great seat, too. Balcony, but while it's high up, it's not actually that far back from the stage, and there wasn't anyone in front of my blocking my view. (And I was off to the side a bit, but still pretty well centered.)

( A few photos )

( Set list )

I really would have loved it if he'd done Dr John, One Foot Boy, Tah Dah, Stardust, Talk About You, or All She Wants.

1. I had a work from home day today, which was nice, and we walked over to Prime Pizza for lunch, which we haven't done in a couple months.

2. I went to see Mika in concert tonight. It was at the Orpheum, which is a venue I love both because it's a nice venue in general and because it's easily accessible by train, so I didn't have to spend $20+ on parking.

3. There's a Jollibee near the venue so I got dinner there. I haven't had Jollibee in ages as there's not one really convenient to us. I am kicking myself for getting the ube pie rather than the peach mango pie, though, because after I bit into it I remembered I'd had it before and not been impressed. It's not terrible or anything, but the peach mango pie is so good and I could have been having that instead.

4. Gemma has been coming to me for pets/tummy rubs almost every day lately. She still acts like I'm going to steal her soul, but she's willing to brave it for the tummy rubs, which can only be properly administered while she writhes about on my bedroom rug. No other place in the house is acceptable!