The 10th & 11th; Everything was incredible, and I love her.

The 10th of September.

Ugh early starts. I was at the Women's Hospital this morning to see Miss Byrom in colposcopy clinic at 9.30, so we were out of the house by half eight. A plus of being there at that time was that I bumped into Monica from liver clinic in the car park! We haven't seen her for probably about a year, so it was really lovely to catch up.

Not much update from Miss Byrom. Everything is still a bit thin and atrophic so she's prescribed me some tablets and cream. More things to add to my routine!

This afternoon, I sorted out some stuff for tomorrow, although most of it will have to be packed in the morning. Then I watched an episode of The Magicians, and Becky came round to say hello and meet Rufus.  He was very obliging, purring away and being stroked. She wanted to take him home, but with a baby on the way, a new kitten is probably not a great plan.

SquareSpace have offered to retroactively activate my discount, which is good of them, and it has turned out that LoveKnitting don't actually have the wool I ordered in stock, despite their website saying they did, so I have to choose another colour. Sigh.

JANELLE MONÁE TOMORROW!

The 11th of September.

I am writing this on Wednesday morning and holy fucking shit I am so tired. Last night was Janelle Monáe and I have barely slept.

So. Tuesday. Up early again because I was going to Black Sheep to get the white streaks in my hair turned into panels. I admit it was probably my fault that it went wrong; what I wanted and what I actually said were different things but they were still very good about it. Adam painted the bleach on and I sat there for half an hour while it did its job, then it got washed out and I was sorted!

Got home and packed all my stuff, checking things off my list several times because my brain is always convinced I have forgotten something. Had lunch, then Mommy took me down to New Street for my train.

I had not even got inside the station yet when my wheelchair decided to cut out. At first, it wouldn't turn back on, and I started having a minor panic, checking everything was still plugged in and wondering what I was going to do. However, I tried turning it on again, and thankfully it woke up and I wasn't going to be stranded. I could have done without that.

My journey itself was rather uneventful. Some boys put lots of suitcases in the space near me on the train, but I didn't have a go at them because I wasn't going to be using the bathroom and I couldn't be bothered to tell people off.

I decided to go straight to the hotel from Euston - I had considered having a look around Camden, but the cobbles would have been a problem, plus I didn't have oodles of time. Anyway, I got a very chirpy cab driver who was fun to chat to and he was giving me tips about restaurants nearby where we might want to have dinner. I didn't tell him we had a reservation at the hotel Carluccio's already. I do love a chatty cabbie when a) I am in the mood and b) they are not racist. Well, he could have been, we didn't really cover that topic, but I hope not.

Christine had already checked in online, so I just had to show them some ID and they gave me the room keys. And our room was huge! Apart from the two double beds, there was just loads of extra space and even a tiny kitchen? Very nice. At this point, it was about four o'clock, so I connected my phone to the tv via Bluetooth and put the Janelle album on, then I unpacked my bits and pieces, got changed, and took a zillion photos of myself, trying to get an angle where the mirror didn't cut me in half. Christine arrived about quarter to six, so we had to go down to dinner with me looking very spangly and her looking very normal, which was amusing. I had some butternut squash tortelloni with sage butter which were really good, and she had lasagna. Back to the room so she could get ready to go out, then it was time to make our way to the Roundhouse! We went inside, but then sat in the bar for a while, because the DJ wasn't going to start until eight and it wasn't like we needed to fight for a position, being in a disabled space. When we did go to our places, we had a good vantage point from which to survey the crowd - I was seeing if I could spot people who had been as extra as me. There were a few sequinned people who had made an effort. One insane person in a parka - I was overheating in a vest dress and tights so I can't imagine how they were comfortable.

I cannot describe how good the show was. She is just amazing - I was in awe of her lung power. Constant simultaneous singing and dancing for 90 minutes, in several layers of clothes (she had leggings and a vest under a catsuit under a jacket - how did she not melt?!) yet she didn't appear out of breath once, and her voice stayed powerful until they end. Mine didn't - I screamed and sang so loudly, I didn't think I would have a voice today. I do, just. At one point, she got four people from the crowd onto the stage, and one of them was a woman in a wheelchair. Part of me wishes it had been me because fuck that would have been awesome, but the other part is glad it wasn't because my wheelchair dancing is not highly skilled. I would probably have run over her foot.

Anyway, it was a phenomenal night. My only criticism is that she didn't play Americans, and from the setlist I saw, she was supposed to close with it, so I am upset that I didn't see that live, because it is my favourite song and I had been visualising it for weeks. I have to get over that though, because everything was incredible, and I love her.