Okay!!

So. Another rainy day in the Hinterlands, but it is BEAUTIFUL in its own right! I just love fall, gang. And October is my favorite month of the year.

And there’s something about rain on autumn leaves that I just love — as long as its not accompanied by high winds…

Yesterday, however, was just plain weird.

The drive to the mall/movie theater was unbelievably gorgeous — as I posted about from the movie theater yesterday. And I am so glad I took that drive. That backroad literally starts right around the corner from my house. And for 7 and a 1/2 years of living here, I never once took that road anywhere.

When I take my walks in the village, I go part way down that road, but I always stop at the VFW hall and then turn and come back into the village. But, wow, gang. It was like driving inside a painting from the early 1900s or something. Especially since it was fall and it was such a glorious day yesterday.

And it is nice to know that I am only 12 miles from an actual shopping mall. Although it was weird being in an actual functioning mall again — one that isn’t dimly lit and mostly out-of-business (like the one that’s 30 miles from here, where the AMC movie theaters are). Totally like being in yesteryear. It brought back so many memories of shopping in malls. And shopping in stores, in general. Stores that aren’t grocery stores or the Rural King.

I can’t imagine really needing to go back to the mall, but one thing I think I will NEVER do AGAIN is go to a fucking movie theater!!

Wow, what an awful experience it has become. (BTW — 2 other people eventually came in to see the movie.)

They showed a full half-hour of coming attractions for films I believe I would rather be bludgeoned to death than have to ever be forced to see in what remains of my life.

It was so hard to block out these coming attractions, gang. After the first one, which was allegedly for a dark comedy, but which was so twisted and gruesome and horrific and sick — I took my phone out of my purse and tried to block out all the rest by scrolling through Instagram. But one after another after another were coming attractions for really violent, horrific films. And these are all coming after Halloween. So these movies are considered just pure “entertainment.”

And the movie screens now are so huge that it is overwhelming. In a really bad way. You can’t really block it out. Sort of like being in “A Clockwork Orange”.

And when the movie I had gone there to see finally started — I waited for another half an hour for it to get funny or even charming. The storyline was so depressing. You know, is this what life is like for most people, so they find it funny? Yikes.

And I finally left.

I decided I would rather wait for it to stream somewhere on the Internet and watch it on a screen that isn’t quite so overwhelming, while waiting for it to be funny and charming.

It affected how I felt about the drive back home, but I tried really hard to block out the whole experience of the movie theater and just appreciate the stuff that God made and forget about the stuff that men and women are making these days in Hollywood and calling “entertainment.”

So, I still felt the trip was worth it to finally have a reason to see that gorgeous scenery on the backroads right around the corner from my house…

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And then the handyman went to the wrong client’s house to allegedly install my new Venetian blind yesterday. And after waiting for him to show up here in my actual house for half an hour, we decided to reschedule and so he is coming this evening, instead. (I guess this is a pitfall of texting rather than speaking on the phone. He thought he was texting a different client.) Anyway. We shall see!!

BUT–

All was not lost, because Valerie from Brooklyn was alone up at her house in Haverstraw (a lovely town along the Hudson River in Rockland County, NY)–

So we chatted on the phone for almost 2 hours last night! Yay!

An interesting thing about Haverstraw…

Valerie and her family lived in the Bronx when she and her brother were born. And eventually, because of that “white flight” thing in the late 60s – early 70s, her family moved to Haverstraw and bought a house. Which is now her 2nd home because everyone else in her family has passed away.

But another Irish-Catholic family from the Bronx, also doing that white- flight thing and moving from the Bronx to Haverstraw, was Jim Carroll’s family! Yes. The Carrolls lived next door to Valerie’s family.

And, yes, that Jim Carroll. The NYC poet who was one of my all-time heroes. But he and his brother were considerably older than Valerie and her brother, so they didn’t really know each other very well. But still. Wow, right??

When Valerie and I first met, I was already a Jim Carroll-worshipper and in conversation one day, she said:

SHE: “Oh yeah, I know him.”

ME: “Oh, you mean you’ve read The Basketball Diaries?”

SHE: “Well, no. I grew up next door to him.”

ME (totally stunned): “You WHAT??!!“

Jim is actually buried in Haverstraw now, in St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery, where Val’s family is also buried:

And, yes, if you’re keeping count — this is the very same Val in Brooklyn who once worked for a couple months, doing specialty painting in Keith Richards’ house (from where she brought me home a strand of Keith’s hair!!), when Keith and Patti and their 2 little girls moved to Connecticut! (Said “little girls” are now fully grown and both of them are moms now.)

And NO! Just because Valerie personally knew two of my ALL-TIME heroes — that’s not why she is my very best friend…

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But here’s this!

Keith and Mick, 1969 (?), in LA– photo by Terry O’Neill. I think this is from when they were there recording Let It Bleed. But I’m not positive.

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And here’s all this!

Two from James Tabor — in support of his new book, The Lost Mary:

How, When, and Why was Jesus’ Mother Mary “Lost”? (45 mins):

Assembling the Missing Puzzle Pieces on Jesus’ Mother Mary (29 mins):

And from Ross K. Nichols–

The END of the Second Temple (1 hr):

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And here’s the official trailer of a new series I’m watching on Netflix: “Pray Speak What Has Happened”. (Japanese, again. I seem to really like Japanese TV.)

“Set in a small theater in Shibuya in 1984, this coming-of-age ensemble drama portrays the dreams, frustrations, and romances of young people chasing their place in the world!”

Pray Speak What Has Happened 【Fuji TV Official】(1 minute):

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And here’s this.

From Instagram yesterday. Someone posted it for Tom Petty’s 75th Birthday–

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And now the sun is out! The rain is over! And I have the DAY OFF!!

I’m gonna go out and take a walk and think about which half-finished book project I want to tackle next.

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Driving-music from yesterday.

Celebrating a lovely drive, and Tom Petty’s heavenly birthday.

This song was the original demo for one of my favorite Tom Petty songs. He recorded it in his home studio with Stevie Nicks, who had just stopped over after he had just written it. It totally rocks!

“The Apartment Song” (Demo, 1984) from the posthumous American Treasure, 2018. Enjoy, gang.