Even though it’s still February, the birds are already singing in the mornings around here. And today is going to be another sunny day. So we’re off to a happy start.

This will be quick because I have to head out to see my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man! But I just wanted to post this video, because it amazed me.

I have posted in the past about a young musician I know in Istanbul. We met through Instagram a few years ago. I posted some of his music here when his last album came out.

Very early this morning (midday his time), he texted me on Instagram and I told him about one of my cats dying.

He sent me this video. It broke my heart in the most beautiful way. And it rang true for me & my life these days in so many ways. If you watch it, be sure to watch to the very end. What a sweet guy.

Okay, gang, have a great Wednesday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

Yes, the sun is shining here this morning, after raining for several hours during the night.

I am so grateful that my neighbor and his wife were able to help me with burying Big Blackie yesterday afternoon. I would have been so stressed out, thinking he was out all night in the rain. He’d been wrapped in blankets since he was killed, but still.

I am just so relieved that he is buried now — right next to Lucy, with a statue of St. Francis looking over them, both.

This is a photo of him from when he first went into his new little house — that the neighbors brought over at the start of the winter. He loved that little house!!

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I have today off. I wasn’t supposed to — originally, I was supposed to be with that new client that I saw yesterday, wherein I was informed that they aren’t with the agency anymore.

So I have today off. And this is my life this morning (and this is no exaggeration): I have 9 unopened files of notes from Peitor in my inbox, that will all need editing by me for the pitch bible. And I have TWENTY texts from him on my phone, that I haven’t read yet.

So I have a ton of editing to do for the pitch bible, so it’s almost sort of astounding that I was actually supposed to work today. (Peitor doesn’t even know yet that I have today off… otherwise, you know, I would have gotten a bunch of emails and texts from him during the night…)

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In other news–

From March 2nd – 8th, the annual “read an eBook sale” is going on at Smahswords.com, and all 4 of the titles I have published there will once again be FREE to download for the entire week.

This includes;

Freak Parade

And all 3 volumes of The Muse Revisited:

The Muse Revisited, Volume One

The Muse Revisited, Volume Two

The Muse Revisited, Volume Three

All four of these books have been around for a really long time now, and I always appreciate that people keep on downloading them, year after year.

However, they are sexually explicit and intended for adult readers only!! Thanks, gang.

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Okay!!

Phil is supposed to be live tonight at 8PM, Eastern time. I cannot imagine what he could possibly tell us, since everything seems to be right out in the open now. (Assuming you live in the US and don’t watch mainstream media, that is.) Check here later to confirm.

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And last but not least, today would have been George Harrison’s 82nd birthday! (Another CIA hit, in my opinion — they killed him with cancer, after the “crazed fan with a knife” attack didn’t work.) (“Rockefeller Oil Mafia Scheme – The Cancer Cartel is the worst pathocratic mafia on the planet that needs to be fought and exposed at all costs …” full article here)

Anyway, if you never heard the George Harrison tapes, made before he died, about what really happened to Paul McCartney in 1966 — and previously, what happened to John Lennon, when he was also going to go public about what really happened to Paul McCartney in 1966. Just awful stuff.

Regardless. Happy Heavenly Birthday to George Harrison!!

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And that’s it. I gotta scoot!!!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!! Enjoy.

I was really looking forward to today, gang.

A Sunday off, a sunny day, and the temperature is going up into the 50s (Fahrenheit)!!

I have 9 documents that I have to begin editing today for the tv series proposal package. And Peitor is enroute to Iowa, so it will be a quiet day here.

Last night, I had a really fun time watching a couple reruns of “Castle”. I knew I had liked the show a lot, back when I had actual cable television and watched regular TV all the time. But I couldn’t really remember what the show was about.

So I just randomly tuned in to Season 3, and immediately recalled why I had liked it so much, What a fun show — great acting and great writing. And just delightful characters.

I had a nice evening, after having spent another sort of intense day with the 94-year-old Japanese client. Not a bad day, it just gets so intense — this line between his incredible life, and this vague sort of twilight area that he spends reliving it all with me, as he waits to “go upstairs,” as he puts it, “to be with his wife”.

Here’s a photo of his favorite hotel in Tokyo, when he lived there in the 1970s. It was an iconic hotel that was torn down in 2015. Hotel Okura:

Anyway. I always enjoy every moment with him, but it is always intense for me — this eventual ending of his beautiful life.

So I was happy to get home yesterday afternoon — it was sunny yesterday, too, and all the snow & ice were melting.

The 3 outdoor cats who live on my porch were having a great day — frolicking in the sunshine, and just spending time outside of their little houses.

I fed them their dinners, then had my own. And when I was turning out the kitchen lights to head upstairs, the sun was setting and I saw Big Blackie in his favorite porch chair, just staring out at the sunset.

You may recall that this past summer, a tornado touched down in our town, and Big Blackie (I don’t know what his real name was, but I have 2 stray black cats — a big one and a little one). Anyway, he was on death’s door when he suddenly showed up on my porch one day, to eat some of KonTiki’s food that I’d set out.

I had never seen a cat in such bad shape — he was literally a walking skeleton, covered in flies, and had been seriously injured by the tornado. I nursed him back to health and the chair on my kitchen porch became his new permanent home.

Looking at him last evening through the window — so healthy now, so content, so peaceful; the sun setting on what had been a beautiful day.

Around 4:30 this morning, I woke and glanced at my phone, and saw that my neighbor (the ones who have been such a blessing to me) had texted during the night to say that one of my cats had been killed by a car. They had found the cat in the road when they were out walking their dog around 11PM.

I did not know which cat. I threw on my robe and slippers and ran downstairs and went out into the incredibly dark and peaceful and star-filled freezing cold morning to find which cat was missing. I immediately saw that my neighbors had gotten Big Blackie out of the road and laid him in the grass in front of my kitchen porch.

I was so grateful to them for taking him out of the road. Not only did it spare me from having to do that, but it also kept him from getting run over multiple times.

Anyway, it was heartbreaking, but I immediately thought to myself that he died free, you know? He was happy, healthy, loved. And gone in an instant.

Here he was, out in my backyard last August, on the mend but still really thin:

I will miss him so much, but it was such a blessing, having that cat in my life for that brief, happy time.

And my neighbors continue to bless me — the husband texted me to say he had the day off and would bury Big Blackie for me.

So on we go, gang.

This idea of life and death — I have not only lost 3 cats in the last 8 months, but of course my Dad died, too, and that favorite client of mine. And in my work-life, I’m surrounded by people getting ready to pass over, who all have such wonderful stories to tell me about their long-lived lives.

Well, I have to get to that editing now.

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya.

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The theme song from the first movie that ever made me cry. I saw “Born Free” at the drive-in with my family when I was 6 years old. I have always just adored animals.

Still more snow is falling here, but oh well.

I’m heading out to see my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client, so what’s a little more snow?

Things here are getting happily intense, gang. I now have a ton of editing to do on the pitch bible document, while Peitor now has to concentrate on the pitch deck — a similar document, but it uses PowerPoint and relies heavily on images and graphic design.

My carpet cleaning machine arrived!!! So now all I have to do is find time to use it, but I’m really happy, gang. Soon enough, my house will be sort of back to normal. (And for me, that helps de-stress — when I look at my house and it’s clean.)

Okay. I gotta scoot. Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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My off-to-town music today!! Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, “You & Me” !!!! From The Last DJ. 2002 Enjoy.

“You And Me”

Take a look
At what I got
I can’t promise
You a lot

But you and me
And the road ahead

I can’t save
You from yourself
You gotta want it
All that’s left

Is you and me
And the road ahead

Wherever that wind might blow
Wherever that river rolls
You know I will go with you

Lookin’ over
The mountain’s crown
The water roars
And tumbles down

Like you and me
And the road ahead

Wherever that wind might blow
Wherever that river rolls
You know I will go with you

Just you and me
And the road ahead

Just you and me
And the road ahead

c- 2002 Tom Petty

More snow came during the night, gang. And it wasn’t predicted at all.

It does look kinda pretty, because it’s another really sunny day today. But it’s still incredibly cold.

Well, my regular Thursday client is now in rehab for a couple of weeks so, ostensibly, I have the day off today. They notified me of this yesterday, just as I was leaving my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client’s house.

(And what a great afternoon we had yesterday. I can tell you in all certainty, gang, that were he and I to meet at any point throughout all space and time, we would always get along famously. We have so much in common, it is ridiculous. Even though we are separated by 30 years, and have experiences separated by many continents, oceans, languages, cultures, wars, etc., we are utterly and completely simpatico.

(We have great BIG things in common, and teeny-tiny things in common.

(A case in point: yesterday, he really, really wanted vodka. His nurse keeps red wine stocked in his house, but he prefers vodka. Hugely prefers vodka. But his nurse will not keep vodka in the house. But yesterday, he was really going on about the vodka. So on a hunch, I went down to his basement — a room that is staggeringly incredible: Mid-Century Modern, a huge stone fireplace, a wet bar, and many, many rooms. All of it covered in dust and more cobwebs than you can possibly imagine. No one has been down there to entertain in many, many years. (His wife died 6 years ago, but she was terminally ill for several years prior to passing away.)

(I thought, well, let me at least check the wet bar downstairs and see if by some chance an ancient bottle of vodka might be lurking in there. It wasn’t. There were only dusty old bottles of liqueurs that no one drinks straight unless they’re on their very, very last legs of life and want it all to quickly end.

(Well, no vodka. However, a quick aside: I have an addiction to dishes and glassware. I have probably about 32 vintage juice glasses down in my kitchen , including a set of 8 that look exactly like this, circa 1970s:

(While looking in his incredibly dusty, cobweb-strung wet bar, I saw one lone glass. I reached in and took it out and — yes! — why wouldn’t he have just one of that exact juice glass from the 1970s just sitting there? Jesus. This happens constantly.)

Anyway. I digress!!!

So. While leaving his house yesterday, I found out that I have today off (unless the agency contacts me and has a client for me this afternoon). So I got excited! An unexpected day off!!

I went and ran all my errands since I was already in town, just in case I don’t have to go anywhere today. And then I got home, had a great dinner, and watched the French film, “Spoiled Brats” (“Pourris gâtés”) on Netflix (at Peitor’s request) and I just loved it.

And from there, I watched the first episode of “A Man on the Inside” and I really loved that, too!

And then I laid in bed and listened to Tom Waits’ Mule Variations by candlelight. (And why wouldn’t the first song on the album be “I’m Big in Japan” ????? Jesus, I’d forgotten about that!)

Anyway.

During the night, the on-call person at the agency texted me and then also left a voice message, asking if I could be out before dawn this morning, and drive 40 miles in the ice and snow again, way out into the country, to go back to that 91-year-old client I was with Sunday night…

No.

Even though he’s really nice, and his favorite singers are the Bee Gees and Roy Orbison, and even though he was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY….

No.

Just thinking about that endless drive, there & back, in perilous weather exhausted me and fucked up my entire night’s sleep.

So all that happy stuff from yesterday — long gone this morning.

But Kash Patel is on the horizon as the head of the FBI. And all kinds of promising Q-stuff is finally coming to pass in public. So I am trying to just breathe and let it all go, gang.

Meanwhile! An unexpected potential day off to work with Peitor on our pitch bible. So on I go.

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Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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My favorite song from Mule Variations. A fucking awesome song. “Hold On.” Tom Waits, 1999.

“Hold On”

They hung a sign up in our town
“if you live it up, you won’t
live it down”
So, she left Monte Rio, son
just like a bullet leaves a gun
With charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
she went and took that California trip
Well, the moon was gold, her
hair like wind
She said don’t look back just
come on Jim

(Chorus)
Oh you got to
Hold on, Hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I’m standing right here
You gotta hold on

Well, he gave her a dimestore watch
and a ring made from a spoon
Everyone is looking for someone to blame
but you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
you don’t meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said baby, I still love you
Sometimes there’s nothin left to do

Oh you got to
Hold on, hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I’m standing right here, you got to
just hold on

Well, God bless your crooked little heart
St. Louis got the best of me
I miss your broken-china voice
How I wish you were still
here with me

Well, you build it up, you wreck it down
you burn your mansion to the ground
When there’s nothing left to keep you here, when
you’re falling behind in this
big blue world

Oh you got to
Hold on, hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I’m standing right here
You got to hold on

Down by the Riverside motel,
it’s 10 below and falling
by a 99 cent store she closed her eyes
and started swaying
but it’s so hard to dance that way
when it’s cold and there’s no music
well your old hometown is so far away
but, inside your head there’s a record
that’s playing, a song called

Hold on, hold on
You really got to hold on
Take my hand, I’m standing right here
and just hold on.

c – 1999 Kathleen Brennan, Tom Waits

I gotta scoot because I have a morning shift today, but I just wanted to post that Peitor and I finished our one-page synopsis yesterday!!

So this means that the pilot script is done, the logline is done, the synopsis is done, and the pitch bible only needs to be trimmed back and edited.

And then it is all DONE and Series Mania is still 4 weeks away.

This feels so fantastic. Not just that it’s done, but also that we both feel really good about the results.

We have other people in the industry reading it over now, just to get feedback and see if there are things we need to adjust. But, truly, I was on Cloud 9 yesterday evening.

It’s been a while since I’ve been on Cloud 9.

The view is really spectacular from there.

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Also!

I just wanted to mention that the Sweet Relief Musician’s fund for David Johansen is closing in on 5000 donations (currently at 4767)!! In one week!!

And I know of other benefit things that are going on to raise money for him, as well. But let’s just say that everyone contributed $25 (I’m sure some gave less, but I know some gave more), but that alone is $119,175 !!!!!! That’s a long way from broke!!!!

Isn’t that incredible, gang????

Okay. On that happy note, I really do gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Wednesday, wherever you are in the world,

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this posthumous gem from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. “Keep A Little Soul”. An outtake from 1982.

Enjoy, gang.

“Keep A Little Soul”

I know you tried hard
Hard to get it right
There’s a sadness, in your eyes
Poor little one
They ruled you like a king
Don’t be afraid to depend on me

Nothing matters
(It doesn’t matter)
No
(It doesn’t matter)
I say you keep a little soul
And nothin’ really matters anymore
(It doesn’t matter)
Oh
(It doesn’t matter)
Honey, keep a little soul
And nothing’s gonna matter anymore

Lately I’ve been thinking
‘Bout gettin’ outta town
Through all the heartache
Gonna look around
You think it over, baby
You come with me
Don’t be afraid to live what you believe

Nothing matters
(It doesn’t matter)
No
(It doesn’t matter)
When you keep a little soul
And nothin’ really matters anymore
(It doesn’t matter)
Oh
(It doesn’t matter)
Honey, keep a little soul
And nothing’s gonna matter anymore

And all people got soul, honey
All people got dreams
Don’t be afraid, to get up on your feet man
Oh… depend on me
Don’t be afraid to live what you believe
Yeah

Doesn’t matter
(It doesn’t matter)
No
(It doesn’t matter)
When you keep a little soul
And nothin’ really matters anymore
(It doesn’t matter)
Oh
(It doesn’t matter)
I say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!
Nothin’ really matters, oh
(It doesn’t matter)
Uh-uh-uh
(It doesn’t matter)
Keep a little soul
And nothin’ really matters anymore
(It doesn’t matter)
Uh-uh-uh
(It doesn’t matter)
Honey, keep a little soul
Nothin’ really matters anymore

Oh

That was fun

c- 1982 Tom Petty

If you’ve canceled your plans to come visit the Hinterlands because you’ve heard that all these foster cats I recently inherited have taken over my house and it now resembles a veritable piglet-sty….

You may have been a little hasty in your decision!!

Yes! I finally bought my own carpet cleaner! I’ve been putting it off for months, but there was a good price on one today, so I bought it. It should arrive Friday.

And not a moment too soon, gang. I am one of those people who likes the house to be really tidy. And all these new cats seem to be thoroughly opposed to tidiness.

It gets depressing. It wasn’t that long ago when my house looked really nice, even for 124 years old. And renting one of those carpet cleaners, hauling it back & forth in the car, etc. — it gets easy to procrastinate. So I’m excited.

I’m feeling that, pretty soon, I might have my house back to looking how it did before the cats arrived. So maybe I might even be happy this Spring. We’ll find out.

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I’m only going to say this about Kentucky: Allegedly the Marines and National Guard were called in to stop FEMA from their usual pillage and terror campaign.

Commercial planes were caught cloud-seeding over Kentucky (and elsewhere).

Also, some suggestions that the weather warfare in Kentucky is connected to DOGE getting ready to visit Fort Knox. Perhaps the gold is gone? Or at the very least, some of it’s “missing”? We shall see.

Meanwhile, all of this is heartbreaking.

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Over here, we’re down to about 9 degrees Fahrenheit for the whole week. So it’s back to feeling like a sauna in here, to ensure that the upstairs pipes and electric lines don’t freeze.

But, once gain, I am so incredibly grateful to my neighbors who provided FOUR straw-filled houses for the 3 stray cats who took up residence on my kitchen porch. What a blessing. And it really helps get rid of at least some of the stress.

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And another stress-reliever!! A married couple I know, who lives about 2 counties over from here, is expressing actual happiness over the idea of coming to stay here and look after the house and CATS the next time I have to go to NYC.

I have a local friend down the street, who comes in daily to take care of the cats when it’s a quick trip, but for an extended period, I would really prefer the cats have someone here, round the clock. So that is a relief, too!

Almost like my life is trying to work itself out in spite of me!!

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Okay. Well, Peitor and I had a glitch with work yesterday, because he is now in Montreal, which is experiencing an unbelievable amount of snow and freezing temperatures and Peitor’s electricity went out yesterday.

This weather stuff can really get depressing — at the very least, frustrating.

But his electricity is back on now, so as soon as I’m done with the laundry, we will get back to work!

(Yes, I have another day off today, since that favorite client of mine — that I regularly saw on Tuesday evenings — died last Monday.)

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Okay. I hope things are good, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Okay!! Here’s one from me. From 1981 !! Enjoy, gang.