It has been quite a week!  My laptop keyboard became totally non-responsive last Sunday, as did the new tablet’s keyboard.  I ordered the new tablet to replace my old one that could not have a keyboard of any kind added to it because it had no USB port.  So to have a tablet with no functioning keyboard defeated the entire purpose of the purchase.  Ugh.  And I need a tablet with keyboard to take to class at OSU because my laptop is huge and heavy.

It took until Friday to get this keyboard thing all straightened out.  My laptop had to be reset, which erased all my files.  My external HD for some reason failed to back up everything:  it quit with files saved in April, although there were many backups scheduled and supposedly performed up to the day I took the laptop in to be worked on (Tuesday).

The tablet was replaced by the store I bought it from.

Whew!  I hate computer problems!

So what happened very late Wednesday night when I came home from my shire’s weekly SCA meeting?  My garage door opener broke a spring after I pulled in and parked.  What an ungodly sound!  All four of the cats and I literally jumped.

I couldn’t open the door manually (so much for my upper-body strength, or rather, lack thereof), so the car was stuck in the garage until I could get the spring replaced, which didn’t happen until Thursday afternoon by which time I had missed my morning Medieval Lit class.  And I love that class!

By Friday I was a nutcase.

But all week I listened to PJ Harvey.  See my earlier post, PJ Harvey and Back to School.  I listened a lot to two particular albums of hers:  2000’s Stories from the City and Stories from the Sea, and the current 2016 album, The Hope Six Demolition Project.

I found a track from each one to be particularly soothing.  They each happen to be the fifth track on each album.  Weird.  Here they are:

This one, “Beautiful Feeling,” is one I’ve learned on my Melody Maker.  I’m writing some new lyrics to PJ Harvey’s tune that are about the Trinity and I’ll perform my adapted version at some point during the Offertory at Summit on 16th, my church.

This album has so many great tracks, including “Big Exit” “Good Fortune” (another one I’m learning) and “We Float,” among so many others, that I recommend you buy this entire album.  You won’t be sorry!

The other “fifth track” is a live performance of “River Anacostia” that expands upon the studio version, more than equals it acoustically, and is a lot of fun to watch.  I really like PJ Harvey’s headdress of blue feathers…

Not all was doom and gloom this week.  Monday was my friend Amol Aggarwal’s birthday, and his wife, my very dear friend Juhi Banerjee, and I put on a little party for him, complete with balloons, a party hat, and an ice-cream cake, since he loves ice cream.

Juhi and me

Amol rewarded our efforts by taking us out to Shish Kebab, a mostly Turkish restaurant, for his birthday dinner.

Amol and Juhi
me Sept. 2016

We had some great food:  Chicken Adana Yogurtli for Amol; Falafel, which is Arabic instead of Turkish, for Juhi; and for me, my always-favorite Turkish restaurant dish, Iskender Kebab.

Chicken Adana Yogurtli
Falafel
Iskender Kebab

Plus Tuesday was my lovely Medieval Lit class with Professor Leslie Lockett, at OSU.  My fellow student and friend who also loves all things Irish, Chris Fulcher, presented on The Voyage of St. Brendan, which was enlightening as well as entertaining.  A truly nice presentation.  We all have to do these 10 minute presentations throughout the semester that will throw light on the assigned works of literature.  Mine will be October 27th and is about women in an Icelandic Saga…