Well hello there. . .
Oct. 20th, 2025 08:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
josilverdragonTrying to make journaling a part of my new daily routine. We'll see how it works out lol.
So. Lots to tell you, though. On October 8 2025, I met two longtime online friends, Jojo and Zan. I was nervous but it was like, yeah, they are exactly how they are online and I was very happy with the experience. Then we all went and saw Sleep Token! And it was glorious. I was tired as hell from walking so much earlier, but man, I was so glad I got to go. Our accommodations weren't great (i.e. constantly heard the trolley/train, mysterious stains on the carpet, dark areas in the bathtub area, and so on) and Jojo and Zan had it worse. They decided to leave Thursday afternoon instead of staying another night. Meanwhile, I was exhausted but stayed through until Saturday morning because I had a ticket to see two other bands I listen to on Friday night. I will get to that experience lol.
The only downside of being a fan of a band like Sleep Token is that if I wanted to get band merch, such as a tour tshirt, it was insane to do so. I waited as long as I could for the outside merch stand, but as I wanted a little bit of time with Jojo and Zan, I left before getting to it. It was more important to meet up with my friends, then stay standing in line. (Which, I ran into someone I stood next to in line and she said it was only another 30 minutes and she got merch, and I KNEW that might be the case but whatever, I made my decision). And don't even talk about after the concert lol. My legs hurt from walking and I just wanted to get back to the hotel (barely a hotel, more like Motel 3 as Jojo put it lol).
Anyway, I'm waiting for them to drop the tour merch online and hopefully I can snag a tour shirt at the least. My friend from the Chicago area, Sarah, and I have a pact that if either one of us are able to get a tour shirt, we'll get one for the other. I also hope to get the merch that Jojo and Zan had indicated they wanted, but we'll see. It's always madness online once tour merch drops. It's always madness when just merch is dropped online for Sleep Token.
On Thursday, Jojo, Zan and I hung out for a bit. Went down to Powell's, had a lovely lunch at the Black Star Grill, which was a block away, and we took a drive out towards Multnomah Falls 30 minutes away from the place we were staying. Then it was getting late and they took off (driving an insane 11 hours in one fell swoop - Jojo is a beast) and I hung out in my room. I had plenty to entertain myself with and I fully utilized Uber Eats as well as Uber itself when it came time on Friday to see Silent Planet and Invent Animate.
Silent Planet and Invent Animate have been on a co-headline tour called Bloom in Heaven and this is the second leg of that. Ironically, they were in Spokane the night I saw Sleep Token in Portland, so when I saw they were coming through Portland Friday after the concert, I was like "I'm GOING" lol. I also purchased the VIP package separately so I figured I shouldn't waste it, although I was very tempted to go home because I was TIRED still from Wednesday and Thursday. I get there at 4pm, as per the VIP instructions, an hour later we were led inside, got our swag, which was a banner, a vinyl of their EP they released together, as well as a signed poster AND got a photo with both Invent Animate and Silent Planet. I would have been fine without the photo but I was like, why not. Plus, we got to get our merch early if we wanted to, so that was nice.
Then came the negative part of the night. I go upstairs to my balcony seat and as I step onto the landing, I fell. It was sort of slow motion, like I tried to catch myself but once I knew I was going down, I just relaxed and let it happen. I laid there for a moment to kind of have a mini-pity party, and a nice security guard, who happened to be a woman as far as I could tell, came over to check on me. She then led me to my seat and I tried to sit in it but alas, my fat ass couldn't slide back. I could only perch. So I just hung out for a little bit, trying to relax and bemoan the fact that my seat was directly behind a pole. Not only did I not fit, but I had an obstructed view. I might have been able to handle it but then the security guard led other people to where I was and they ended up in the seats just next to mine. I did try to sit, but the moment I did, and was half in their space as well was the moment I stood and walked up to the free standing area near one of the two bars that served alcohol. The security guard made it a point to keep an eye out for me I guess, especially after falling and then taking my name. She came over and asked how I was doing and I just vented, because I was about ready to leave. She then gave me another option and led me down to the ADA section, which was a line of folded chairs under the balcony just to the right of the stage. She said to the guy who was standing at the entrance to this area, "This is Dan, if you need anything ask him" and then the guy at the end said "I was keeping a chair warm for ya". He eventually was one of the stage bouncers. But I had a nice view of the stage, no longer obstructed lol, and at the end of Silent Planet's set, got a hug from the lead singer, Garrett. So that made staying all the more worth it. I'm glad I said something to the security guard. I mainly couched it with "I'm not expecting anything, I just need to vent" and that's when she told me that she had another option. I am so so grateful to her.
Changing subject to more recent events, I've been thinking about trying to set a routine for myself. As in a bedtime routine, and a morning routine. Most of the time it's a nebulous idea, but I want something more out of it. So, I'm going to try to do the same thing I did to get my morning get ready routine in place, with cleaning my face, glasses, meds, brushing teeth, etc., as that was something I would constantly forget. But it's been successful since then, so I'm going to try more moving forward.
Morning routine will just be trying to get up earlier and adding a couple of things in, such as drinking a glass of water (about 12 to 16 oz), drinking this green drink that I am waiting to come in the mail, and eating breakfast at home. Might add in something else, like read for 30 minutes, or whatever, if I can.
Evening routine will be wiping down the counters, setting the dishwasher, scooping the cat box and filling their water, and then brushing my teeth, taking my evening meds, taking a shower and so on. And then aiming to be laying in bed at 11pm.
We'll see how it goes. I'm notorious for not paying any mind to previous attempts, but maybe I've reached something in my maturity that will make this time different. I think that will be all for tonight's update. I'll try for more tomorrow.
Further possible topics:
Current read: John Scalzi - Redshirts
Last song heard: OLIVIA - Space Halo
Watching: Charlotte Dobre - "She Asked for an Open Relationship... Then I Found Out WHY - REACTION" from 9/4/2025
So. Lots to tell you, though. On October 8 2025, I met two longtime online friends, Jojo and Zan. I was nervous but it was like, yeah, they are exactly how they are online and I was very happy with the experience. Then we all went and saw Sleep Token! And it was glorious. I was tired as hell from walking so much earlier, but man, I was so glad I got to go. Our accommodations weren't great (i.e. constantly heard the trolley/train, mysterious stains on the carpet, dark areas in the bathtub area, and so on) and Jojo and Zan had it worse. They decided to leave Thursday afternoon instead of staying another night. Meanwhile, I was exhausted but stayed through until Saturday morning because I had a ticket to see two other bands I listen to on Friday night. I will get to that experience lol.
The only downside of being a fan of a band like Sleep Token is that if I wanted to get band merch, such as a tour tshirt, it was insane to do so. I waited as long as I could for the outside merch stand, but as I wanted a little bit of time with Jojo and Zan, I left before getting to it. It was more important to meet up with my friends, then stay standing in line. (Which, I ran into someone I stood next to in line and she said it was only another 30 minutes and she got merch, and I KNEW that might be the case but whatever, I made my decision). And don't even talk about after the concert lol. My legs hurt from walking and I just wanted to get back to the hotel (barely a hotel, more like Motel 3 as Jojo put it lol).
Anyway, I'm waiting for them to drop the tour merch online and hopefully I can snag a tour shirt at the least. My friend from the Chicago area, Sarah, and I have a pact that if either one of us are able to get a tour shirt, we'll get one for the other. I also hope to get the merch that Jojo and Zan had indicated they wanted, but we'll see. It's always madness online once tour merch drops. It's always madness when just merch is dropped online for Sleep Token.
On Thursday, Jojo, Zan and I hung out for a bit. Went down to Powell's, had a lovely lunch at the Black Star Grill, which was a block away, and we took a drive out towards Multnomah Falls 30 minutes away from the place we were staying. Then it was getting late and they took off (driving an insane 11 hours in one fell swoop - Jojo is a beast) and I hung out in my room. I had plenty to entertain myself with and I fully utilized Uber Eats as well as Uber itself when it came time on Friday to see Silent Planet and Invent Animate.
Silent Planet and Invent Animate have been on a co-headline tour called Bloom in Heaven and this is the second leg of that. Ironically, they were in Spokane the night I saw Sleep Token in Portland, so when I saw they were coming through Portland Friday after the concert, I was like "I'm GOING" lol. I also purchased the VIP package separately so I figured I shouldn't waste it, although I was very tempted to go home because I was TIRED still from Wednesday and Thursday. I get there at 4pm, as per the VIP instructions, an hour later we were led inside, got our swag, which was a banner, a vinyl of their EP they released together, as well as a signed poster AND got a photo with both Invent Animate and Silent Planet. I would have been fine without the photo but I was like, why not. Plus, we got to get our merch early if we wanted to, so that was nice.
Then came the negative part of the night. I go upstairs to my balcony seat and as I step onto the landing, I fell. It was sort of slow motion, like I tried to catch myself but once I knew I was going down, I just relaxed and let it happen. I laid there for a moment to kind of have a mini-pity party, and a nice security guard, who happened to be a woman as far as I could tell, came over to check on me. She then led me to my seat and I tried to sit in it but alas, my fat ass couldn't slide back. I could only perch. So I just hung out for a little bit, trying to relax and bemoan the fact that my seat was directly behind a pole. Not only did I not fit, but I had an obstructed view. I might have been able to handle it but then the security guard led other people to where I was and they ended up in the seats just next to mine. I did try to sit, but the moment I did, and was half in their space as well was the moment I stood and walked up to the free standing area near one of the two bars that served alcohol. The security guard made it a point to keep an eye out for me I guess, especially after falling and then taking my name. She came over and asked how I was doing and I just vented, because I was about ready to leave. She then gave me another option and led me down to the ADA section, which was a line of folded chairs under the balcony just to the right of the stage. She said to the guy who was standing at the entrance to this area, "This is Dan, if you need anything ask him" and then the guy at the end said "I was keeping a chair warm for ya". He eventually was one of the stage bouncers. But I had a nice view of the stage, no longer obstructed lol, and at the end of Silent Planet's set, got a hug from the lead singer, Garrett. So that made staying all the more worth it. I'm glad I said something to the security guard. I mainly couched it with "I'm not expecting anything, I just need to vent" and that's when she told me that she had another option. I am so so grateful to her.
Changing subject to more recent events, I've been thinking about trying to set a routine for myself. As in a bedtime routine, and a morning routine. Most of the time it's a nebulous idea, but I want something more out of it. So, I'm going to try to do the same thing I did to get my morning get ready routine in place, with cleaning my face, glasses, meds, brushing teeth, etc., as that was something I would constantly forget. But it's been successful since then, so I'm going to try more moving forward.
Morning routine will just be trying to get up earlier and adding a couple of things in, such as drinking a glass of water (about 12 to 16 oz), drinking this green drink that I am waiting to come in the mail, and eating breakfast at home. Might add in something else, like read for 30 minutes, or whatever, if I can.
Evening routine will be wiping down the counters, setting the dishwasher, scooping the cat box and filling their water, and then brushing my teeth, taking my evening meds, taking a shower and so on. And then aiming to be laying in bed at 11pm.
We'll see how it goes. I'm notorious for not paying any mind to previous attempts, but maybe I've reached something in my maturity that will make this time different. I think that will be all for tonight's update. I'll try for more tomorrow.
Further possible topics:
- New dog
- Library
- Project status
- ???
Current read: John Scalzi - Redshirts
Last song heard: OLIVIA - Space Halo
Watching: Charlotte Dobre - "She Asked for an Open Relationship... Then I Found Out WHY - REACTION" from 9/4/2025
