Big Daryl Hall and John Oates fan! Daryl makes a point of saying they are two distinct performers who work(ed) together (they are at odds now). They are not “Hall and Oates”. I won’t go into their catalog; you know all the songs. Daryl had a fabulous web series called “Live from Daryl’s House” where he performed with various artists, of various genres. I loved the show and he brought so many great artists to my attention that I would not have discovered otherwise. I came to really respect his talent many years after his solo hits and the big hits with John stopped. These songs we all know never seem to age.

The musical theme ties into the cornerstone of my day out, an eye doctor appointment, May 15, 2026. In almost all circumstances, any and every medical appointment I do so as Kandi. Last year I went to my annual eye appointment in a little polo and skirt, minimal makeup just because I wanted to. This day, its full Kandi mode, in a presentation I am very pleased with!

Quick backstory on this outfit. I live about 45 minutes from where I work, so going home takes time. On a recent Monday, I literally had nothing to do but had to reman nearby in case I was needed (going home would not allow me to be immediately available). This is a big reason I shop as much as I do, killing time. He doesn’t know this about me (of course), but my associate kills his time eating, me shopping. On this day I hit Old Navy and discovered a full rack of jeans marked down to $4.97! (Reminder, I am in guy mode.) I took my time, went through everything in my size and tried a number of them on. I ended up buying six pair of jeans for less that I would have paid for one new pair. Baggy, capris, overalls, skinny, white, denim, black, I hit the motherlode. This day, we trotted out the black baggy jeans, paired them with a cute jacket and chunky silver jewelry.

It was simply delightful to be for about 8 hours. A nonissue everywhere I went. I had my appointment, then did a little outdoor photoshoot. That was followed by some mall walking and the purchase of another two pair of boots, clearance BOGO! Then a beer and a bite to eat. My day wrapped up at 78th Street Studio’s Third Friday event. Always a wonderful time. There I saw quite a few friends and made a few more, which you can see evidence of above. Just a perfect day.

Plenty of love on the overall outfit. A particularly wonderful interaction was as I was about to walk up the escalator (yeah, walk, they never work and they never fix them anymore in malls today) at Macy’s when the woman behind the jewelry counter said hello. She then said she loved my overall look, “just gorgeous”. Kindness is always appreciated and when someone notices exactly what I put effort into, a look, it fills me with tremendous pride and purpose. Thank you anonymous SA!

Private eyes
They’re watching you
They see your every move
Private eyes
They’re watching you
Private eyes
They’re watching you

Visibility matters!

The rest of the post could bore you all to death. It is me speaking things into the either, hoping to manifest their reality.

In the category of holding myself accountable, this past Sunday I trudged through a half marathon. It was my test of proof of concept regarding my training and goal of qualifying one final time for Boston. All part of the Kandi’s Back Nine tour. My time was less than acceptable. It was not a large race in terms of the number of runners. When I finally crossed the finish line, the gentleman running the race excitedly congratulated me (as he did for every single runner). I smiled, thanked him and said I really don’t want to reward mediocrity. I did win my age group…I also finished last in my aged group. Yep, the only running corpse in my age group. At least I have that going for me…

But, on a serious note, knowing going in full well my cardio was completely ignored to date in my training and the day prior, with our entire family and grandson home for the Memorial Day weekend, let’s just say I didn’t abstain from the cocktails I would had I cared about my race time. Proof of concept worked! I have built a body that can sustain two marathons. The legs were strong, the feet painless (my last marathon a few years back my feet were horribly painful, causing me to stop and remove my shoes time and again), my upper body didn’t ache at all, nothing went numb.

Step one, check. My mental approach will need work. More than half of running a marathon is mental. Making yourself run when you have done so for hours takes more mental toughness than physical toughness. I was physically able on this day, but I was not yet mentally willing. I did walk quite a bit. My mind will make or break my Boston quest, no doubt.

Step two, cut back the drinking (yes, I will, have done so many, many times in my recent past), eat a bit better and incorporate the necessary, but time-consuming cardio work. Step three, map out the training regimen necessary to run for time. For the entire rest of my life, I only care about the time in one single race. The one that could qualify me for Boston. After that, I could not care less about time, even at Boston, if I am able to pull this out of my backside.