The Weekly Haul, Dec. 27: What day is it?
And: Is this what it feels like to relax?
Good morning (er, afternoon?) from eastern Maine, where it’s Saturday, right? I’m not sure what day it is. I’ve slept past 8 a.m. (late for me!) and stayed up past 10 p.m. (equally late) every day for the past four days and plan to do so every day for the next week. Not since college have I had a whole week off where I didn’t really have much to do and wasn’t on a deliberate vacation out of town. Is this what it feels like to relax? I don’t know what that is. I’m trying to learn.
A few stray thoughts on this weird, truncated version of The Weekly Haul:
🎄 My Christmas was lovely, thanks! About 20 minutes before Christmas Day dinner at my parent’s house in Waldo County with them and Zach and his parents, we heard a large boom from outside, followed immediately by the power going out. We looked out the window to see a car crashed into an electric pole just across the street. Zach ran outside and checked on the folks in the car before the cops arrived, two younger guys who were banged up and shaken but OK; their car, not so much. We ate our lasagna and salad and focaccia by candlelight, donning blankets and coats as the lack of a functioning furnace became apparent, freed from holiday expectations and given permission to not care and just laugh. We packed up leftover gingerbread and new socks and bags of party mix and drove everyone home to Bangor. The CMP truck arrived to restore power about two minutes before we left. It was an excellent Christmas.
🍑 I’ve spent most of December being obsessed with “Heated Rivalry,” the steamy Canadian romance starring my new boyfriends, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, as two rival pro hockey players in lust and then in love. For the past week my entire Instagram feed has been, like, 80 percent “Heated,” and I’m not even remotely exaggerating. The season finale aired on Friday, and I went to the cottage with Shane and Ilya and it was deeply satisfying (belatedly adding it to my year-end best of). I feel bereft now that it’s over and we have to wait quite a while for another season. I’m also so perplexed by the response to it - people are either, like me, unable to think about much else, or are utterly unaware of its existence. It’s been awhile since I’ve participated so fully in an internet obsession. Anybody else reading this also wrapped up in this mass psychosis?
🎇 Last year, I couldn’t get myself together enough to bundle up and head downtown for the New Year’s Eve “ball drop” in Bangor. I adore our ridiculous yearly tradition no matter who is the keeper of the beach ball covered in string lights chucked off a downtown rooftop, but I didn’t hate being asleep before the clock struck midnight. This year? The jury’s still out. I want to want to go. I have FOMO, except I’m not actually afraid of missing out. Outside of the actual ball drop, is downtown Bangor kind of boring on New Year’s Eve now? There’s not a single NYE show or event I care to go to this year! Should we just go to Belfast instead, where they do a much better job planning this sort of thing? Or is this what happens once you hit your 40s - New Year’s Eve stops being as much of a thing? Can you confirm, people older than me? Is this really true? Or is it just me?
Music & Dance
Dec. 27: Somes Sound, country-jam band, 6 p.m., Fogtown Brewing, Ellsworth
Dec. 27: Ezra Rugg, White Falcons and Kitty Literally, 6 p.m., American Legion Hall, Belfast
Dec. 27: Cam King’s Grateful Dead Night, 7 p.m., Marshall Wharf Brewing Company, Belfast
Dec. 31: NYE dance party with River Bottom Funk, 6 p.m., Fogtown Brewing, Ellsworth
Dec. 31: Family friendly New Year’s Eve Gala and dance party, 8 p.m., The Next Generation Theatre, Center Street, Brewer
Dec. 31: OTT NYE Bash, feat. In The Kingdom of Nightmares, Trixie and Slampig, 7 p.m., Old Town Theatre, Old Town
Jan. 2: Spencer Albee’s Speed of Sound (rescheduled!), 7 p.m., The Underground Lounge, Belfast
Jan. 3: Kate Barry and Zach Gorrell Duo, 6 p.m., Fogtown Brewing, Ellsworth
Theatre & Comedy
Dec. 19-28: The Grand Players present “Annie,” Fridays-Sundays, Grand Theatre, Ellsworth
Dec. 4-28: Penobscot Theatre Company presents “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella,” Wednesdays-Sundays daily, Bangor Opera House, Bangor
Dec. 31: “Murder on the Orient Express,” interactive murder mystery experience, 7 p.m., The Stage Door, Bangor
Arts, Books, Film & Culture
Dec. 30: Reading and talk with incoming Belfast Poet Laureate Audrey Gidman, 6 p.m., Belfast Free Library, Belfast
Jan. 3: J.R.R. Tolkien Birthday Party and Trivia, noon, Ellsworth Public Library
Fairs, Festivals, Markets, Outdoors & Misc
Dec. 31: Downtown Countdown, feat. live DJs, photo booth, giveaways 9 p.m.-midnight, ball drop from parking garage at midnight, plus events in businesses throughout downtown incl. kid’s events at 4 p.m. at Bangor Public Library and Maine Discovery Museum; FMI visit downtownbangor.com
Dec. 31: Last Night Belfast, feat. live music, magic shows, presentations, karaoke, kid’s activities and more; Drum and Rabble Corps procession to waterfront at 11:30 p.m., followed by bonfire at midnight; FMI visit ourtownbelfast.org.
Jan. 2-4: Professional Bull Riders Pendleton Whiskey Velocity Tour, multiple shows, Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
That’s it. That’s the post. I’ll be back on January 6, unless I am struck by a sudden urge to write something and must post it right away! Don’t count on it, though!