Let’s Get this Coffee Started!!

So far, 2026 has been a really good year for me. I am hoping that you feel the same — drastic as things may seem — wherever you are in the world.

Oh, if you aren’t already doing it, Charlie Ward has a daily, very short video early in the mornings, on YouTube. And if you’re into the Q-thing, I would suggest listening to it. It is so great to have Charlie back. (11 mins):

And if you combine what Charlie has really been saying the last few days, with Simon Parkes’ update from the weekend, and this, from il donaldo trumpo yesterday (link below), then you are probably preparing for a really, really good year as the movie goes on. And on. And on.

TOLD YOU TO GET MORE POPCORN!!!😏🍿🍿🍿

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Even though my life is going pretty darn good today, there is an odd lack of cool things on Instagram!

So I gotta go to my stash for everything this morning!

Keith and Jolie Jones (Quincy’s daughter) smoking on the Stones’ airplane in 1972:

Keith and Jolie Jones (still Quincy’s daughter) smoking backstage in 1972:

Keith and Jolie Jones smoking in that OTHER way, backstage in 1972:

And, hey, why not this as a sort of soundtrack to that photo above??? “The Kind of Girl I Could Love”, 1967, The Monkees:

“The Kind Of Girl I Could Love”

Girl, you look mighty good to me
And I know that you’ve got to be
The kind of girl I could love.

You’ve got the sweetest pair of eyes
And your kiss would be paradise
You’re the kind of girl I could love.

You do something to my soul
That no one’s ever done.
If you’re looking for true love
Then let me be the one.

Girl, deep in my soul I’m sure
And my heart has no doubt that you’re
The kind of girl I could love.
The kind of girl I could love.

c -1967 – Michael Nesmith, Roger Atkins

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And here’s this!

Nick Cave smoking (and drinking). Don’t know if he was waiting on Jolie Jones and she didn’t show up, or it could be that it had nothing to do with Jolie at all, but he was the coolest fucker in the place:

And speaking of Nick Cave!!

12 more days until this happens (buy tickets here):

And continuing to speak of Nick Cave–

This morning, he sent out a really thoughtful Red Hand File, as this New Year gets underway. It was all about what and who he’s praying for, basically, everyday. He said in part:

“Setting aside questions of whether there is a god and, if so, whether that god is actually listening, I believe it is at least beneficial to dedicate some time each day to silence, reflecting on those closest to me. This focused devotion becomes a form of worship, an unspoken spiritual bond that enriches my relationships and gives the prayer genuine value and utility beyond mere wishing….”

You can read it in full here.

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And here on the home front (in my room, basically)–

I cannot tell you what a difference it makes in my stress levels, knowing that I no longer have that 10-hr shift to deal with on Tuesdays!! (It goes down to a 5-hr shift, starting tomorrow).

It just feels like everything opened up, psychologically, because of that simple change in my schedule.

And I know you guys will really appreciate being able to log on here on Tuesdays now and find that I’ve posted something a little loftier than: “I’m not posting today. See ya.”

Today, I have to make another one of those really gorgeous drives along the backroads here in the Hinterlands, because I have to stop in at the Social Security office, in order to give them back some of my own money that they gave me a couple years ago only to be told by them later that they gave me too much of my own money and so I need to give it back…

Just FYI: This is why my grandparents hated FDR. I didn’t understand why back then, but I sure do now:

“Socialism” = give us your money, it’s safer with us, and then at some point we’ll give you some of your own money back, maybe

And then I have to run a quick errand at the bank, and, as always, a quick errand at the Dollar Store. And THEN!! I will re-read the original screenplay for “Tell My Bones: The Helen LaFrance Story” and get caught up with Sandra.

Plus, it’s sunny today!

So things are looking good.

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And I have to say, gang, that I cannot wait to get back on track with “Tell My Bones”.

Just looking at all the photos Gus Van Sant Sr gave me of Helen’s paintings, makes my heart spring open all over again. (He was her Business Manager, and I worked in his home office, which was where I first saw her paintings and then Gus arranged for me to go meet Helen in Mayfield, Kentucky, in order to write a movie about her life.)

“Canning Peaches” — one of my favorites; the painting goes on forever outside that window!