The energy feels strange today, although the weather is STUNNING!! And I slept great.
And I have the day off, which — right there — is always a great thing.
Upstairs, the kittens are running around like maniacs.
Downstairs, the youngster cats are running around like maniacs.
While the surviving oldsters sit downstairs perched on various pieces of furniture, staring quietly at all the zooming madness but clearly thinking: What the fuck is going on?
The laundry is underway. And, in a little while, I have 2 contractors coming over — an HVAC guy to give me a quote on installing central AC, and a plumber to give me a quote on replacing all the upstairs pipes and shower & kitchen fixtures that have been completely corroded by the hard water around here. (I already got the quote for the water softener installation.)
The eHarmony thing, so far, is really kind of going nowhere. The only truly interested man writing to me lives halfway between here and NYC, and that’s not really going to work for me. So I guess I’ll just hang out and see what, if anything, eventually happens. I really want to give this eHarmony thing until the end of the year.
Me, counting the minutes until the end of the year…
Other than that–
I should be excited because the weather is stunning and I have the day off, and tomorrow’s my birthday (!!) and I actually have plans to go out to dinner.
But I just feel strange today. I’m hoping that, either: A.) Someone drops by with some prescription amphetamines; or B.) I snap out of this without the help of illicit drugs and happily get back to work on the novel.
I guess we’ll see!
Me, later today. Maybe.
Keith’s version–
*******************
Here’s this!
Wayne sent this over yesterday. On the river by his hotel in Phnom Penh:
And today, he heads to Siem Reap!! Should be incredible.
**********
And here’s this!
I think it’s from Pompeii, but it’s definitely from Italy. Posted by the store owner to Instagram earlier today. A store where I guess they make a lot of original Pinocchios–
(I think it’s a Gucci Pinocchio but I’m not 100% positive…) (Just kidding.)
****************
Other than that, gang, I got nothin’ — it is such a strange day.
I hope that you’re having a better Monday, wherever you are in the world!
If anything truly interesting pops up, I’ll stop back later.
Yes, the upgrade to the iPhone 16e is complete and done, but WOW was it a real nightmare, gang.
Thank God for online chat on my laptop, because at one point, both iPhones were blocked and I couldn’t call or text customer service (or anyone).
But, finally, it all got figured out and now I am officially on the new iPhone. (And I MIGHT at least CONSIDER upgrading more often, to avoid these little techno nightmares…)
Yes!! The AC window unit did NOT arrive!!
It is delayed!
But no less than FOUR really good-looking but alas really youthful Customer Service guys at Best Buy assured me that FedEx had it, it was enroute, and I should have it on Tuesday — my birthday. And, thank goodness, the break in the weather at night is still holding, and me and the little furry maniacs are sleeping just fine.
AND!!!!
Best news of all, gang!
I got a really lovely birthday card from my birth mom yesterday, so I called her after all the iPhone madness had settled down.
And in the course of the conversation, I asked her how she would feel about taking care of so many cats because I really, really need her here when I go back to NYC….
SHE: “Of course, I’ll take care of your cats!! I was wondering when you were going to ask me!”
ME: “I was just afraid it was too many cats for you.”
SHE: “Marilyn, when I had the house in Jackson, I had 13 cats! I have no problem with all the cats.”
So — wow. What a relief! We had such a great conversation about it and now my entire being can relax about having to go to NYC again. If I go anywhere for 1 or 2 nights, it is no problem having the day sitter come in, but having my mom here is always so much better. She takes really good care of my cats and the house.
So. Yay. I suddenly felt like my future was wide open again. (And I also feel like having all these cats now isn’t my fault — it’s genetics!!!!)
Me, celebrating my DNA
****************
Okay, today is the day I have my late afternoon shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife. So Sundays have become good days again — I make a little money, I work for some nice people while watching a lot of TV, and I still have most of the day & evening to myself.
It not only reminds me of when I used to take care of the adorable Molly and her wonderful husband, late afternoons on Sundays — before she died back in February. But, also, this new couple only lives about 5 blocks from where Molly lived. So everything about the drive there and back has really good memories for me. It is so much easier on me than the usual emotions I have on my shifts.
*****************
The nice guy on eHarmony continues to be really nice and continues to write. But another very interesting guy started writing to me yesterday. And he only lives 10 minutes from me! We’ll see if it develops.
But I don’t want more than 2 guys writing. That’s enough for now. And they live close by. Other guys are writing to me, but they live much farther away, and I really want to find someone I can hang out with, go out to eat with, go hiking with at Black Hand Gorge!
Black Hand Gorge
Which reminds me…
It wasn’t entirely legal to do it, but my long-time childhood friend, Steve, and I sprinkled some of Kent’s ashes over at Black Hand Gorge. And the anniversary of Kent’s death is on Saturday.
Our mutual friend Kent — my last photo of him, when we had dinner at the Granville Inn when he was visiting from Houston:
Kent, holding one of Steve’s babies:
And I heard from Steve yesterday — he’s at a music festival and was seeing Hot Tuna (!!). He sent me a short video from the show and the band actually sounded great. (Steve has always been a huge Jorma Koukonen fan — originally of Jefferson Airplane fame.)
Hot Tuna then:
Hot Tuna now:
Steve and I have been friends since 1971, when we were in the 6th grade. So we have some very, very interesting memories in common. And Steve and I had known Kent since the 7th grade.
Kent was truly one of my favorite people of all time.
**************
Okay!!
This is what they mean by SOLD OUT!
Look at that crowd at Nick Cave’s Pompeii show last night!
And here are a couple other photos I liked from last night!
Monday and Tuesday nights, they will be playing in Rome, but the shows are sold out.
**************
And I think that’s it for now.
Have a terrific Sunday, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
****************
All righty!
How about this really cool old one?? A hit by Ringo, but written by Ringo and George Harrison. Here, George is singing it to the same tracks Ringo did. 1971. (Back when I first met Steve… I can hardly grasp that, gang!)
I think I mentioned here yesterday that I had upgraded to an iPhone 16e and that it was arriving yesterday….
And that I HATE upgrading iPhones because it is always a pain in the a**…
The newest pain is that they no longer include everything you need with the new phone, so I didn’t have the wall charger! Just the fucking phone! And it arrived with almost no battery power.
So today I am picking up the wall charger and a car charger at Best Buy, when I (hopefully) get my new AC unit.
Meanwhile, I am straddling 2 working iPhones at the same time and I have to say it’s a tad bit confusing, frustrating, annoying…
It’s one of those things I really hate about Apple — how they make everything you perhaps love and at the very least get comfortable with become totally obsolete.
Me, as a redhead…
***************
Okay, anyway. I am hoping that by later this afternoon, at least the iPhone thing will get straightened out.
Meanwhile, several days ago, I re-joined eHarmony — the dating site from yesteryear.
In the early days of online dating, I always used eHarmony and I really liked it. (Meaning at least 15 years ago…) But I stopped using it about 8 years ago, because my writing life at that point was constantly taking me hither and yon, and online dating became just totally undoable. Plus, I was still actually meeting real people at that point.
But over the last few years, I’ve tried the new dating apps and found them to be absolutely CRAWLING with scammers. Even the ones where they say that members are “verified”. It was so creepy and a little bit scary. So I gave up on that.
But living out here in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by cornfields and wildlife and general “antiquity” — you just can’t meet people. Especially of an appropriate age. (Okay, yes, I have an online friendship with a much, much younger musician in Turkey that I would “date” in a heartbeat if he weren’t thousands of miles away; and he’s not moving because he loves the town he lives in; and I’m not moving just because I’m inundated with responsibilities here, among other stuff. And there in that little bubble of reality lies a very unworkable dating situation…)
Anyway.
It turns out, though, that eHarmony is highly rated for seniors for various reasons — safety and large user base being 2 of them. So I re-joined.
I’m going to give it until the end of the year and see if anything develops.
As you can likely guess, being a woman chock full of extreme opposites, with a past loaded with baggage the size of steamer trunks, and a writing career that most people shy away from (to put it lightly), and then throw in the borderline autism, wherein I get along much, much better with animals than with human beings… I’m not what you would call hugely “datable”.
But I’m still going to see.
**************
In the meantime…
This is what freaks me out about one of Keith Richards’ grandsons turning 25 the other day…
Here’s Keith (gambling on the plane, during the legendary tour of ’72), when I first fell in love with him. It seems like yesterday. He is 28 years old here. A mere THREE years older than his grandson is now…. WTF??!!! I can’t wrap my mind around this aging thing, gang. Time just fucking flies.
***************
At least on the weather front — wow, gang, was yesterday incredible. It never got above 71 degrees Fahrenheit. And it rained, gently, ALL DAY, so the humidity was GONE by late afternoon. I did yoga with ease. And I slept like a wee bonny lass for 7 uninterrupted hours, even with THREE kittens curled up next to me all night.
It’s going to get hot again today, but right now, it is still just amazingly comfortable. And sunny. And just a perfect morning.
And I’m heading out soon to see my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man again.
We had another really great day yesterday. He’s retaining a lot in his short term memory right now. He even said, “You were gone forever. I missed you so much. I am so glad you’re back from New York.” And the fact that he knew I was gone, while I was in NYC, and had the mental faculty to “miss me” — what does that say about his mind? It’s curious, indeed, and it fascinates me.
Oh, and we did decide that next Wednesday, in honor of my birthday, and what would have been my dad’s 95th birthday, and my client’s upcoming 95th birthday, and also in honor his own father, too, who is always with us in spirit when we’re together — in honor of all that, if the weather report holds, we will indeed go to that wonderful clubhouse at the golf course again and have lunch.
Anyway. I gotta scoot.
I hope you have a great Saturday, wherever you are in the world —
Oh! Tonight, in Pompeii!
The Nick Cave Solo Tour with Colin Greenwood on bass continues!!
But, alas, it is SOLD OUT.
And here’s this again, because I just LOVE this photo (from Lucca, Italy the other night):
Okay. Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys! See ya!
**************
Okay!!
In honor of probably every single solitary guy on every dating app everywhere all over the world!!!
I know. My life seems to revolve around the weather these days, but this is just awesome. An actual breeze is filling my bedroom! There isn’t a single fan on in the entire house right now.
It’s only 69 degrees Fahrenheit out there, and only expected to go as high as 77 today!! Yay!!! With light rain all day!!
And it’s supposed to stay pretty cool until later next week. (Including on my birthday, when I should be out galivanting in town with my Q-following friend!)
And all these cooler temperatures, just in time for me to have that new AC unit and then not use it, but I don’t mind. I feel like a human being again.
*****************
I don’t really have a whole lot to post about today.
Yesterday, I got nothing done on the novel. I chatted for a while with Valerie. But mostly, I made whatever phone calls I could to try to find contractors to bid on the work I need done to the house, for my home improvement loan application.
It’s coming together, gang. It would be so nice if this all works out. I just need to “nail down” a carpenter (!!) and I should be ready to send in all my paperwork.
And today I’m getting a new iPhone!!
I hate upgrading phones. I always put it off as long as I can, but now some of my apps are telling me that really, really, really SOON, the app won’t work on my system anymore. So I gave in.
I have an 8+ and will be getting a 16e. But the cool thing — I lowered my monthly data usage plan and the monthly charge for the new iPhone will end up costing me exactly the same as what I’ve been paying every month with the higher data plan.
So, if you look at it my way — I’m getting an upgrade for “free”!! Yay!!
************
On other happy fronts —
Wow, I don’t know what it is about Lucca, Italy, gang, but Nick Cave looked SO HAPPY yesterday!! He’s not, generally, the kind of guy who goes around looking “happy.”
Over the next several days, he and Colin Greenwood continue to play shows in Italy, but all of them are sold out.
***********
Okay. Today I go back to see my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client, and we will be going here for our usual sushi/sashimi lunch!!
And next week, if the weather is as beautiful as they are predicting, we will go back to that incredible clubhouse at the golf course that has that incredible view!!!
Oh, and here’s something I forgot to mention — about that other favorite client of mine, the woman who is back from Florida now; the retired Chaplain who has all those Theology Degrees from Yale.
It turns out that when all her lady freinds were still alive (she has outlived all of them, heavy sigh), they used to meet for lunch at the same clubhouse at the golf course!! It was their favorite restaurant!
AND…
When I was talking to her about going to NYC to rehearse the play, and I mentioned to her that Sandra lives in Rhinebeck…
It turns out she LOVES Rhinebeck! Not only does she love Rhinebeck, but at one point in her life, she was planning to move there but something else came up!
So weird. I mean, that’s exactly like me. I love it there and I was, indeed, planning to move there and something else came up.
What are the odds, gang? I don’t know a soul out here who has ever even heard of Rhinebeck, let alone been there and fallen in love with it.
Anyway.
Okay!
I gotta scoot.
Have a terrific Friday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
*******************
Grinderman – “Palaces Of Montezuma” (RAK Sessions), 2011, Enjoy, gang!
Even though I slept GREAT last night and in my own bed, even…
And even though it is a really pretty day here and not too hot…
The HUDMIDITY is off the charts again. I can’t breathe!!
From the Floyd psyop…
Which reminds me!!
The Sheriff’s Deputies around here are really nice.
One stopped by here on Tuesday to let me know why my mailbox was sitting in a useless heap in the grass — an electric company truck driver had accidentally run over it.
And yesterday, the same electric company gave me a brand new one and it is really nice!! Much nicer than the one I had before. When I came home from my shift, there it was, installed and looking just really, really perfect. It was kind of incredible, actually. I love my new mailbox.
Hopefully, it is also a good sign that I will get that home improvement loan soon and the whole house will get updated.
******************
Anyway!
I’m back to being brain dead from the humidity again.
Also, my 2 clients that were supposed to come out of rehab this week are still in rehab, so I am off work again today.
I am not going to look at my bank account. I’m not going to think about all the money I just spent in NYC. I’m just moving ahead. (And I also want to mention here, for no real particular reason — I really miss the food in NYC. Every restaurant that I ate in had absolutely the best food!!)
Okay.
I still need to contact the plumber, the HVAC people, the water softener guys, and a carpenter — to get bids to submit with my loan application.
Other than that, though, all I have on my plate right this very minute is The Curse of Our Profound Disorder.
I am hopeful that my brain will begin functioning here soon.
Me, soon. I hope.
***********
Okay, here’s this!
Wayne’s hotel in Phnom Penh! He says it very nice!
And here’s this!
Yesterday, one of Keith Richards’ grandsons, Orson, turned 25!! (I have a hard time wrapping my mind around that number, but anyway.)
Posted to Instagram by his mom, Lucie de la Falaise, (Marlon’s wife). Orson is in the middle:
The photos from last night’s show in Mantova, Italy were not the greatest. Most of the people who posted photos were sitting really far away, but here’s this!
And tonight, they play a music festival in Lucca, Italy, but the show is sold out.
***************
Meanwhile…
My shift yesterday with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man went just splendidly.
He still remembers that I went to NYC. And he remembers why I went. And we had a great chat about so many things yesterday. He had just really great clarity. It was wonderful. (He also has a great sense of humor and we laughed a lot.)
We’ll see what I can do about having my own really great clarity here today. If all else fails, at least I have an AC window unit arriving on Saturday.
***********
And I think that’s it for now, gang. I’m gonna get started here.
Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
************
I leave you with this!
A HUGE AM Radio hit the summer I turned 14. I loved this song. I had the 45 and played it over and over and over…
Yes! I had another great night’s sleep — because I slept in the guest room, again. Closed up, by myself. Thinking I was alone in there, without any cats…
However, I accidentally closed Huckleberry in with me! I had no idea she was under the bed. She went darting out of the room this morning, when I finally got up (4:45 AM). She’d had no food, water, or her litterbox for over 8 hours.
Jeepers!
It’s always something around here these days…
*****************
Anyway!
Yesterday was productive, but not in the way I’d been anticipating.
I heard from the woman at the USDA RD office and she told me, rather cryptically, that I should send in my application now because sometimes they get additional funds at the end of the season and the loans are “first come, first served”.
So I spent most of yesterday getting the paperwork together for the home improvement loan. All I have left to do is to get bids from some local contractors and then I can send everything in — and then wait and see.
After doing all of that, though, I was still able to spend a couple of hours on The Curse of Our Profound Disorder.
I have to say, gang — that is one INTENSE novel. It is so emotionally loaded for me. Reading/editing/revising it just wipes me out.
I don’t know how other readers will respond to it, since they might not have lived a lot of the stuff that’s in that book. It might not be that emotionally loaded for them. (You can read several excerpts from it on my substack page. It is not erotic, so it is not for adults only, but it is raw and sometimes brutal, so it’s for mature readers, but even those readers are advised. (Click HERE and scroll. Most of the excerpts were posted last year.)
You can pre-order all formats and also merch at this LINK. (I especially loved that first album — A LOT. )
From the first album — “No Pussy Blues” Grinderman, 2007. (I love this one!!!)
And tonight!
Nick Cave’s solo tour continues in Italy, with Colin Greenwood on bass. Tickets are still available, but there is only one show left — in Macedonia in late August — that still has tickets available. Everything else is sold out. (Buy tickets here.)
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In other news….
Wayne, my ex-husband in NYC, is currently on vacation in Cambodia! Again! And I’m getting cool little updates from him on WhatsApp.
I can’t even imagine “taking a vacation”, gang. Every time I go anywhere, it’s always work-related in some way. And not at all relaxing.
I would absolutely LOVE to take a vacation… I literally have not had a true vacation since Wayne & I went to Copenhagen in February of 2001.
Just doing the MATH on that one wipes me out! 24 years…
****************
On the silver front–
Silver dipped a bit yesterday, was back up to $38 this morning, but has dipped down to $37.91 as of right now….so we’ll see, gang.
Everything is absolutely LOADED with psyops right now. Insanity rules all over the place. It’s exhausting. But, you know, we just gotta stay patient.
On a related note — this was interesting. Especially in light of my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client. His father took the family back to Japan in 1933, because he didn’t like the anti-Japan stuff that was unfolding in the US and Britain.
So, it’s interesting that after all these decades, my client can now see that his dad’s views were indeed justified. It brings him a profound sense of relief because, as I’ve noted here on the blog a few times, his dad was a really incredible man who had an amazing life.
“Months prior to the justified attack upon Pearl Harbor, Japan warned of a ‘liberal’ Jewish-Anglo ‘World Order’ plot to bring the United States into the war under a false pretext.”
My client and I talk about WWII a lot, since he lived through it in Tokyo, as a boy.
Firebombing of Tokyo 1945
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And on that note, I gotta scoot and get ready to go see him again!
Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
********************
I have been playing this A LOT in the car!! Really loud. Great driving music!!
The new one by The Rolling Stones and Steve Riley. “Zydeco Sont Pas Salés” from the Clifton Chenier tribute album. Enjoy, gang!!
The weather is stunning! Sunny, but mild with no humidity.
And yesterday, I got so much done! Funny what you can do when there’s a break in the weather. I not only finished all the updated edits to “The Guide to Being Fabulous” and sent it off to everybody, I also vacuumed the entire house, weeded the gardens, did YOGA — unencumbered by any kittens!!!! Made a quick trip to the Dollar Store and then to City Hall to pay my water bill — an entire day before it was due!!
I just got everything done.
AND…
I broke down and ordered a window AC unit from Best Buy for my bedroom. It was on sale. I’m picking it up on Saturday.
The funds for the USDA RD home improvement loan program are almost gone for this year, so I doubt I will get funding until next year, even though I’m still planning to apply this year. I’m waiting to hear back from my local USDA RD office to find out what I should do. We’ll see. But meanwhile, the difference between how I slept in that intensely AC-d hotel room in NYC, and how I sleep here…
This is the first summer in 7 years that it has been unbearable at night. So, anyway. Saturday, the AC unit will be here. And I should have an entire summer of yoga ahead of me and a better night’s sleep until Fall.
Also, yesterday, 3 of these arrived!!
I ordered them when I was in NYC, during Amazon’s Prime Day Sale thingie. One of them was for Little Blackie, so that was a little sad, but I can still use it, God knows. She was on the waiting list for August over at the Animal Shelter to get spayed. But the 2 male kittens are still on the list to get neutered next month.
Anyway! They are really great! I have never had a cat simply walk into a pet carrier and be in no hurry to get out of it! (You can buy it here on Amazon)
******************
Okay!
Today, assuming the Agency doesn’t ask me to pick up a shift for somebody, all I need to do is work on The Curse of Our Profound Disorder and get it ever closer to being ready to submit it to the publisher.
So that is wonderful!!
It is just so weird how the weather can either help you think straight or keep you from thinking at all…
*******************
On the Happy Birthday front!!
A very happy birthday to Valerie in Brooklyn!! I cannot believe we have been best friends (and other stuff) for 43 years now.
Here is my favorite picture of her, because it totally captures her personality. Valerie is center, bottom row.
This photo was taken in Brooklyn, back in the mid-1980s. This was the “Dyke-A-Go-Go” crowd back then!! Not really prone to ‘drama’ — just incredibly smart & funny gals!! (And kind of remarkably over-sexed!!)
The woman in the upper left corner passed away, and everyone else, except Valerie, who was born and raised in NYC, long ago moved away from New York. But, wow, gang, did we have some great times back then. Honestly. So much laughter. And booze, drugs, sex…. Okay.
(And, sadly, all of the men we hung with back then — every single one of them, got AIDS and passed away.)
Okay!!
For Valerie, as always!! (The energy of NYC was just like this back then….)
***************
And here’s this!
I’ve posted it here before, but I found it again while looking for the photo of Val!
Me and the legendary publisher Richard Kasak, at the launch party for Marilyn’s Room, Inc. NYC, 1998. (His company, Masquerade Books, was one of the partners in Marilyn’s Room, Inc — a multi-media company promoting international indie erotic art, films, and books.)
What a great party it was!! What a great turn out we had from the press, too — including the NY Times and the Village Voice!
*****************
Okay!
I guess I’ll get this day underway over here.
Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiitng.
I love you guys. See ya!
******************
Another HUGE hit from the old days (and MTV days) in NYC….
I slept TOTALLY alone in the guest room last night, the windows open, the door closed, a couple of fans going.
Complete peace.
No cats or kittens disturbing me. At all.
And I slept for 8 beautiful hours.
AND…
This morning — a really gentle, wonderful RAIN. For several hours, already. It’s 72 degrees Fahrenheit right now, and only expected to reach 82 today. Yay.
AND….
I have the next 2 days off (as of right now, anyway). So I get to sit at my desk and work on all the various nips & tucks we made to the play last week in NYC.
So it’s a perfect day.
Of course, losing Little Blackie so unexpectedly yesterday hangs over us, but oddly enough — I think she was here with her kittens this morning because they suddenly reached a turning point in their independence.
Even little Billie Jo! The kitten who’s missing her 2 back feet.
This morning, I went into the family room to set the food bowls down for my own cats — meaning the dwindling colony of rescued ferals who’ve been with me now for 13 years — and who did I spy in the family room???
YES.
ALL 4 of the kittens had finally come down the stairs and were leaping about, darting happily around the room.
I could not believe that even Billie Jo had made it down the stairs, all by herself. All 4 of them raced all over, exploring everything, and even had their own breakfasts downstairs in the family room, too.
The other cats were not thrilled with this development, but I am so glad this has happened. It means that, little by little, my room will be my own again and I will be able to do things like yoga, without having kittens all over me. Yay!!!
So this is a great day for all of us, and I can’t help but feel convinced that Little Blackie’s spirit was part of this sudden shift today.
Not sad to say goodbye to this….
*****************
Even though, yesterday, I was just a bag of frayed nerves and raw emotions, I still had to work my shift. But it went really well.
I was with the retired Minister and his wife again — I hadn’t been there in 2 weeks and it seemed like he has continued to make such great progress. He was alert, focused, and in such good spirits the whole evening.
With this particular client there’s nothing I really need to do except chat with him and provide companionship, because the wife does all the “caregiving” work. (It’s complicated medical stuff that I’m not legally allowed to do.)
So I sat there in their air-conditioned family room and chatted with them, and then watched the entire NASCAR Sonoma race. And then left.
And I got paid for that. Not only paid, but it was Sunday, so I also get paid the “Sunday” amount, which is higher than the weekday pay.
So I can’t really complain, even though, emotionally, witnessing the whole aging thing is still a lot for me to process. On top of feeling all that grief over Little Blackie, yesterday, that I couldn’t talk about.
It was still okay. But I am really, really rejoicing in this rainy Monday morning, day-off thing here today.
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I forgot to mention this, regarding my trip to NYC….
Remember those sundresses??? Wow, were they a big hit. So many compliments.
And just in general, I have to say that everyone — especially the men, regardless of age, ethnicity or religion — treated me so nice on that trip. I especially loved the men, holding doors open for me, saying hello, smiling.
This was everywhere I went. NO ONE AT ALL treated me like I was their grandmother!! Yay!! (Yes, I’m old enough to be a grandmother and yes, most of my friends from high school are grandmothers now, several times over, but I’M NOT ONE!!!!!)
Anyway.
So different from how things are around here in the Hinterlands. People are really friendly around here, but everyone basically regards me as “old”. So it was a really incredible change of pace.
I have to add that this dress, in particular, was probably the best thing I’ve purchased all year!! This dress, in real life, is just incredibly pretty. And it’s like wearing a flowing piece of air!
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On a more somber note–
Today marks ten years since Nick Cave’s son Arthur died. His Red Hand File today was devoted to his thoughts and feelings about that.
For some reason, it has not been posted on the web site yet, so I can’t link to it. But I can quote the email —
“These days, I am neither distrustful nor suspicious of the world, even though my heart breaks for it, and I am not despairing, depressed or embittered. Indeed, I see heartbreak as the most proportional response to the state of the world – to say I love you is to say my heart breaks for you, and this sentiment resonates within all things, bringing a clarity to both the world before us and the world beyond the veil. Sorrow becomes a way of life, part laughter, part tears, with very little space between. It is a way of conducting oneself in the world, of loving it, of worshipping it….”
Arthur Cave
And Wednesday, Nick Cave’s Solo Tour with Colin Greenwood on bass resumes — in Mantova, Italy. Tickets are still available for this show only. You can buy them here.
And here’s this! From Instagram.
From the Bad Seeds show in San Francisco , back in May.
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And I just wanted to give a quick “thank you” again to everyone who’s downloading my eBooks over at Smashwords, during that Summer Sale!!
I really appreciate it (Freak Parade seems to be outpacing the Muse Revisited Collection!)
Details are on my substack page, if you’re interested in the sale. All of my eBook titles with Smashwords are FREE to download for the month of July. ADULTS ONLY. Graphic erotic literature.
Absolutely 100% ME. Oops, NOT me!!!
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Okay, gang. I’m going to get started around here.
Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world! (It looks like the value of silver is already inching up this morning, so this could be the start of a wild summer. We shall see!!)
Thanks for visiting, gang.
I love you guys. See ya!!
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Me! And a New York City from long ago!! Enjoy, gang.
Try It Real Slow
Driving in the dead of night Coasting through a traffic light Aiming for a back road Where we could park it for the night Thinking we would make it sober and Try it real slow.
There’s music on the radio Screaming bunch of white boys Churning out the Black soul But turning it to white noise Well, we could learn to make it sober by Trying real slow.
CHORUS Any disappointed stranger will tell you Love is just a ball & chain Oh but baby you’re the kind of man That I like to talk to
You can play the wine & dine Pick yourself a pretty wife Gather all that you can hold Then drag it round your whole life Or you could learn to make it sober by Trying real slow
REPEAT CHORUS
I turned it over, round and round Chasing it the hard way Until my dreams were just a white line Sailing down the Interstate; Well, love was gonna shake me sober But I didn’t let it grow.
REPEAT CHORUS
Oh, but you and me will be all right By letting every yesterday Go fading with the taillights Sailing down the highway And we can learn to make it sober By trying real slow.
Yeah, we can learn to make it sober By trying real slow
We got an unexpected rainstorm yesterday, right after I got home from my shift with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man.
It got rid of the heat but the humidity jumped through the roof and I had such a hard time sleeping last night. I am really wiped out today.
However, the weather is PERFECT today. Not humid at all. The house is really comfortable…
But, sadly, even though Little Blackie seemed better last evening, she took a bad turn during the night and now she is dying — as I type this. She is barely breathing. her body is completely shutting down. Since the weather is better, I brought her back up to the bedroom, so that she could at least be in the vicinity of her kittens as she leaves us.
It seems like it happened so fast. She was okay when I got home from the airport on Thursday evening, but she didn’t have much of an appetite. Friday, she was restless, looking for a cool spot to lie down on. By yesterday, things got a little dire so I moved her someplace a lot cooler, but by then she stopped eating and I had to give her water with a dropper. But she was responsive and was moving around.
Then, this morning, it was bad.
After all the other cats & kittens were fed, I picked her up and carried her outside, where the weather was just beautiful and the birds were singing and the sun was just coming up. I sang to her and she was responsive; she even wagged her tail, but after that — she suddenly went down hill, fast. And, literally as I type this, she is almost dead.
A stray who showed up on my porch last fall, and stayed long enough to survive the winter, then have kittens on my porch, then raise them and nurse them and then wean them up in my bedroom for 3 months, and now — almost gone.
This is what I sang to her this morning, and she seemed to really bounce back for just a few minutes–
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Meanwhile, her kittens are not only completely weaned, they are out and about, exploring the upstairs like crazy. Little furry maniacs. And hanging out on the stairway, too, but they haven’t gotten brave enough to actually explore the downstairs yet — where all the other cats are not at all happy to have them in their home.
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Anyway.
My shift with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man yesterday was just wonderful.
He remembered that I had been away in NYC (!!) and he was really happy to have me back. We went out for Japanese food, and he was just very focused and in such good spirits. He was able to have actual conversations with me the whole day.
And judging by the notes left by my replacement caregivers while I was gone, he was a little on the stubborn side last week and was not being very cooperative.
But, I’m back. And apparently he’s happy again. So, of course that made me feel great.
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I spoke briefly with Sandra yesterday and she was just as wiped out by the heat in NYC as I had been. It took her a couple days to recover from it, too. It looks like we will likely head back to NYC in late September, but in the meantime, we will have a ton of rehearsals to do on Zoom.
And meanwhile, I have to find someone who will stay over from now on and take care of the cats. My birth mom seemed almost like she wanted to do it, but we’ll see. She does seem to be in really good health right now. So who knows.
She is the only one who I really trust with my cats and my house, but I guess we’ll just see.
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Okay!
On Wednesday, July 16th, THIS resumes! In Italy! And there are actually tickets still available!! You can buy them here.
Nick Cave and Colin Greenwood — Nick’s solo tour of Europe 2025.
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Here’s this:
James Tabor – Is Mark the Earliest Surviving JEWISH Text after the Jerusalem Temple Was Destroyed? (48 mins):
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Phil did a brief livestream last evening. A little bit about current events, and a lot about the value of silver.
And Charlie Ward had an interesting item in his newsletter yesterday. This was definitely true about me!! I started smoking, drinking, experimenting with drugs when I was 12.
“A groundbreaking study tracking over 10,000 children has upended conventional wisdom about addiction, suggesting that brain differences may precede, not result from early drug use….
“Researchers found that children who began using alcohol, cannabis, or nicotine before age 15 already had notable brain differences before their first use. These included larger overall brain volumes and expanded cortical surface areas, characteristics also found in kids who had already started using substances at the study’s outset….
“The study aligns with previous research linking brain structure to traits such as curiosity, risk-taking and impulsivity factors that can raise the likelihood of experimenting with drugs….”
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Okay, I think that’s it for now. It’s such a complicated morning here, gang. And then I have an evening shift with the retired Minister.
I hope you’re having a good Sunday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya.
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Also from this morning —
“Could I Have This Dance”
I’ll always remember The song they were playing The first time we danced and I knew
As we swayed to the music And held to each other I fell in love with you
Could I have this dance For the rest of my life Could you be my partner Every night When we’re together It feels so right Could I have this dance For the rest of my life
I’ll always remember That magic moment When I held you close to me
As we move together I knew forever You’re all I’ll ever need
Could I have this dance For the rest of my life Could you be my partner Every night When we’re together It feels so right Could I have this dance For the rest of my life
Could I have this dance For the rest of my life Could you be my partner Every night When we’re together It feels so right Could I have this dance For the rest of my life
Marilyn's Room 