Dear Internet,

Last night I went with the Lintemuths to see Toad the Wet Sprocket, a quintessential ‘90s band. I pulled up ye olde Spotify a few hours before the show and found a playlist of their greatest hits, which consisted mainly of songs from Fear (1991), Dulcinea (1994), and Coil (1997), which is right about the time I got into them. The band would later release albums in 2013 and 2021. They would break up and get back together in the last nearly 40 years as many times as Mr. Lisa and I have.

(I do believe they Kickstarted their 2021 album and I backed it, but I’m too lazy to look!)

The Jayhawks and Six Pence None the Richer were the openers. I could not remember a single Jayhawks song and SPNtR did “Kiss Me” and their rendition of The La’s “There She Goes,” so that was neat.

Beth got us really good seats. I bitched and moaned on Bluesky about people standing up and recording the entire show, meaning those of us sitting down were having difficulty seeing the band, so some of my clips seem a bit far away, but I’m 5’10” with long arms when I recorded “All I Want.” The other two videos I was standing as the entire place was standing, so I didn’t feel guilt about blocking someone’s view!

I like to buy a t-shirt when I go to shows and the merch tent this show was disappointing. They were out of most sizes (I need a unisex XL for the length) so I went to Toad’s website and ordered a shirt and ate the shipping cost.

“Walk on the Ocean”

“All I Want”

The 2025 version of waving lighters at concerts.

The venue had a great lineup this summer, but Mr. Lisa and I have very little in common musically, so I didn’t investigate the other shows. I checked, and CAKE is playing this weekend, and now I wish I had scored tickets. However, I just checked the ticket prices, and it’s out of my budget.

Speaking of concerts, I did score tickets to see elbow in October! This will be my fourth or fifth time seeing them. Mr. Lisa is not going with me as he hates them (see! musical differences!), but I will not be alone! I am meeting up with Evan and his wife, Julie, before the show. The venue is roughly 4 hours from me, so I’ll go down the day of the show, meet up with Evan and Julie, rock my heart out, crash at a local hotel, and go home the following day.

Four hours seems like a drive for a show, but I have done it before when I saw elbow in Chicago (which was all the previous shows). I was thinking of driving the day of the show, see the show, and then drive to GR to stay with Steph and her family, and then go home the following day saving me hotel costs. It’s a longer drive with that route and more time in the car. Mr. Lisa persuaded me to get a hotel, so I did! The hotel is a 11 minute walk from the venue. The venue is also downtown and I used to live in the area, so I’m a bit excited for that!

I pulled up my elbow playlist on Spotify and starting from the first album, I’m going to listen to over 400 songs (32 hours of music) between now and the concert. There are many dupes since I added deluxe albums along with the standard issue as well as singles and b-sides.

If we head to KY to grab more stuff to bring up with us to MI before the show, I’ll grab my elbow t-shirts from older shows.

I am pumped!

Crusin’

Mr. Lisa and I are vacationing next spring on a cruise down the Danube! We’re going to Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, and Germany. I’ve been saving up money for the trip, so I'm paying for the cruise, and Mr. Lisa is paying for all the incidentals (if we extend our stay, excursions, trinkets, etc). It was to be a surprise for Mr. Lisa, and I asked the cruise coordinator not to email him so I could tell him in my own time. Less than week later, Mr. Lisa asks me, “Why am I getting a confirmation email for a cruise in March 2026 from #NameOfCompany?” Well, shit, the cat is out of the bag.

I’ll get to add three more countries to the list of where I’ve been (Canada (a freebie since I was born there), Mexico, England, Scotland, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Vatican, and Andorra). 13 countries soon to be 16! Not too shabby if I may say so myself. I’m excited for Hungary and Slovakia. For Germany, I wish we were going to Berlin, but it’s too far inland. Boo.

I’d like to save for the across Europe river cruise which hits only four countries but it’s twice as long as the cruise we’ll be on and there will be a lot more to do!

Mr. Lisa’s goal is to save for the around-the-world cruise, which we calculated from the cost (including flight to the port and home again) and incidentals (see above list) would cost us between $140-150K. I have no idea how I’m going to get that kind of money, but a girl can dream.

Bayeux Tapestry

The British Museum recently out a press release announcing that they are sending Sutton Hoo hoard (which I have seen!) and the Lewish chess pieces to France and France is sending the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum.

It has not been in England for over 900 years.

The 230 ft (70 meter) long tapestry was created over 1000 years ago to commemorate the 1066 conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy, before culminating in the Battle of Hastings. It was originally thought to have been stitched in France, but it is now alleged it was created in England for a gift for William. The tapestry depicts 58 scenes leading up to the Battle of Hastings. Wikipedia has a great article on the tapestry, along with a zillion sources for future study.

It will be at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027.

Now, I am excited because I’ve been dying to see the tapestry for years (it is on my bucket list along with seeing Sutton Hoo, which I saw back in 2012ish), but I’ve never been close enough to Normandy to see the damned thing.

Now that it is in England, specifically London, it gives me even more of a reason to head back to Blighty.

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Fundraiser

I’m fundraising for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for a walk on September 14. As most of you know, a very beloved person in my life, the selfish bastard Brendan McAdams, killed himself on January 10, 2025. He would have been 46 this year.

My goal is to raise $1000 USD. I've got under $500 more to go. Go to AFSP’s website to donate. I'll be posting an announcement in every issue of my newsletters and regularly on my social media until the day of the walk. If you can donate even $5 or share this link (https://bit.ly/AFSPWalk2025), you will be an amazing human being and doing me a huge solid.

Thank you.

Stichingly yours,

lisa x