All right! Getting better!

Again, I really want to thank those of you who contacted me privately the last couple days, to just send your good thoughts and prayers.

I truly, truly appreciate that. It helped me a lot.

I am in a much calmer place now, for sure. And I’m trying to just move forward.

I have decided to set up a GoFundMe drive later today, to try to get donations to help me recoup $1700 that was earmarked for the audiobook productions. All of that money is gone.

The recent book editing job I had, and the check I got from Honda last week, would have covered all my production costs, but that, of course, was in my bank account, which got wiped out Monday.

And again, just FYI — I didn’t know this, maybe you do, but don’t answer your phone if the caller ID is from your bank. Call your bank back instead, and ask if they were trying to reach you. That way, you know for certain who you’re talking to.

Also, be alert to anything concerning CHIME online bank. Not that CHIME bank is a scam, it’s not; but the police officer who was taking down my report said that CHIME bank is used a lot in banking/phone scams. And even Wayne said that he had a $45 scam involving a CHIME bank account recently.

So just be aware.

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I also have 2 pairs of vintage Gucci high heeled shoes, from the 1990s — one, a pair with those silver mirrored sequins designed by Tom Ford, that is reasonably valuable.

The shoes don’t fit me anymore because my feet got too wide. But I have such great memories of wearing those shoes in the 1990s! (And that is an understatement.)

However, I have the memories. I don’t need the actual shoes, so I’m going to offer them for sale online. Maybe get as much as $800, combined.

We shall see.

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Okay.

Later today, my Q-following girlfriend in town is meeting me at Kohl’s! Not that I can afford to go shopping right now, even though they’re having a huge sale. But we decided it would be good for me to get out of the house for a few hours and just have fun.

I’m looking forward to it. The store has changed a bit over the last few years, but it used to be my favorite store, so it has good memories for me.

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Another totally mind-blowing thing happened to me yesterday, gang.

Another “I didn’t see that coming” thing — but this time, in a really good way.

I can’t go into all the details yet, but I can say that an older gentleman who lives across the road, who chats with me frequently when I’m outside watering the flowers or getting my mail, was chatting with me yesterday afternoon.

He is very friendly, very chatty. And he suddenly said, “I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but how come you’re not married? You’re so beautiful.“

Long story short, he asked me if I wanted to go out to lunch sometime. And I said, “Yes!!”

He is just so nice. (He’s a widower.)

So we decided that when I get back from James Tabor’s conference in North Carolina, we’ll go out to lunch. That made me really happy, gang.

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All righty!

If you missed this last night, here’s the replay! (I really enjoyed this because he is so much younger than me — his take on the whole literary world now is so different from what my experiences were.)

“Rob Macaisa Colgate is the author of the poetry collection Hardly Creatures (2025), winner of the Chicago Review of Books Award and longlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize, and the verse drama My Love is Water (2025). Currently based in Chicago, he serves as managing poetry editor of Foglifter Journal and was the inaugural poet-in-residence at Tangled Art + Disability. A graduate of the New Writers Project at University of Texas at Austin, he is a recipient of fellowships from Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, and Fulbright.”

Webinar with Rob Macaisa Colgate, Author of Hardly Creatures (51 mins):

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Okay.

Here’s this!! It brought a smile to my face.

From Phyllis Stein.

Sid Vicious and friends!! In 1976. (Photo by Bob Gruen)

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And I loved the blonde hair…

Again, from Phyllis Stein.

Iggy in the East Village, 1976 (Photo by Roberta Bayley)

(And when I lived in the East Village in the 80s, Iggy lived 4 blocks from me!!)

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And here’s this!

From Dior!!

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And I loved this!!

Blixa Bargeld! Smoking!! In London!! With great hair!! In 1987!! (Photo by Andrew Catlin)

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And speaking of Bad Seeds….

My stash from Facebook!!

Nick Cave!!

Great hair!! Weasels or not!!

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And speaking of Nick Cave ( as if there were ever a time when I’m not speaking of him…)

He sent out one of those great Red Hand Files yesterday, wherein he answered 40 questions with very short answers. (He was celebrating the Red Hand Files turning 8 !!)

This was my favorite!! (It took me a minute to get it, I have to confess.)

“Fuck you & fuck Isreal
from MICHAEL, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

“Daer Micheal, a raelly graet plaesure to haer from you again.”

You can read them all HERE!