Alice Cooper participated in a tribute concert for Ozzy Osborne in London on Friday, and Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance! (They are both, of course, bandmates in the Hollywood Vampires).
From Johnny’s Instagram page:
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And after I posted to the blog yesterday, Keith Richards posted a Happy Birthday post for Mick’s birthday on Instagram. Here are some of the photos!!
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And in AWESOME news!
I saw this while I was with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client yesterday and wanted to post it right away!! But I’m not allowed to fool around on my phone when I’m with a client…
Anyway!
Awesome news.
Yesterday, in Arles, France, Nick Cave was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres — for his significant contributions to the arts and literature of France!!! (I think that’s what it’s called — I had to piece that together from several different Nick Cave fan accounts on Instagram.)
From Susie Cave’s Instagram account yesterday:
So how beautiful is that, gang?? He seems to be having a TERRIFIC summer!
And from the sold out Arles concert last night — not many photos to choose from, but the outdoor venue looks like it was really cool.
The Solo Tour will continue in early August, for 3 nights in Bergen, Norway, but they are sold out.
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Okay!
In the eHarmony department….
Truly sad news for you guys!! But he and I chatted on the phone again last night and he told me — in no uncertain, no vague or hard-to-understand way — that he doesn’t want me writing about him. He really values his privacy.
I think I said something like: “Oh nooooooo!!!”
So there you have it!!
But, wow, gang. At least on the phone, he and I get along spectacularly! And it’s looking like we are going to try to meet in person later this coming week.
But OMG. even while we have had entirely different lives, our personalities are so similar.
And he actually listens to me when I’m talking to him. And he also makes me laugh.
AND–
He also makes me CRY. In the best way!!
This video was waiting for me on my phone this morning. He could not have picked 2 more perfect singers. I adore them both — and they are also both connected to my birth dad, in the best way.
When I watched this video in my bed, first thing, my little heart beamed with JOY and I started to cry.
Merle Haggard and Marty Robbins – Today I Started Loving You Again (1969) (5 mins):
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And if you will forgive me for perhaps jumping the gun a little — but I can’t help it…
The chorus to THIS wonderful song from 1987 keeps popping up in my head here this morning, REALLY LOUDLY (play it loud and sing along to the chorus, gang!!):
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And I think that’s it for now.
I have a few hours here before I have to head out to see the retired Minister and his wife. So I want to get some writing done.
Tomorrow, the carpenter comes to give me an estimate for replacing the 126-year-old basement stairs… and then I think I’m working with Sandra on the play. We shall see.
Have a blessed Sunday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!!
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James Tabor is starting a new series — one that is really, really close to my heart– how any mention of Jesus’ family rather quickly gets removed from the New Testament in the various gospels.
The Fading of the Jesus Family–Phase One (17 mins):
NO!! My little window AC unit works fantastically, gang. What a gift from God!!!!
However, I was gone for 12 hours yesterday, and I had left the AC on, with the kittens closed up in the room. And when I got home, they were sort of like: “What the fuck is your deal??We’ve been locked up in this refrigerator the whole damn day. Where the hell have you been??”
And then they went zooming out into the hall and got all the other cats riled up and no one settled down for about 90 minutes after that, so I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night.
Still. I’m so happy. I love my AC!
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No real update on the eHarmony front today, since I had to work back-to-back shifts yesterday. But we did have a few nice texts!
Hopefully, this evening, we will get to chat on the phone again!
But, wow, both shifts yesterday were incredible, gang.
My favorite 94-year-old Japanese client, and then my other favorite client — the retired Chaplain who is back from Florida. I had a really long shift with her and it was amazing. The stuff we talked about.
And I had cause to read part of her CV yesterday because it was out on the table. Wow. She did unbelievable stuff as a Chaplain. Always going into the heart of horrible places, to work mostly with rescued infants and children. I don’t know how she did it — for decades. The horrific stuff she’s had to witness. Her faith in Christ is absolutely unshakable.
And even though I was there forever, the time just flew. She really helped me get some clarity on that memoir I’m writing about the 1970s and my various father figures. She said something like, “God gave you your voice to express through your writing. Use your voice. You must write the memoir. Be honest and be brave with it. You will help people.”
Something like that. it was just what I needed to hear.
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Okay!
Here’s this!!
From Wayne this morning. He leaves Cambodia on Monday and he is not ready to go back to NYC. He has had a great time — this was his second trip to Cambodia.
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And here’s this!
Keith and Charlie in the mid-1960s!
Oh, and a happy 82nd birthday to Mick Jagger:
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And tonight, Nick Cave’s Solo Tour with Colin Greenwood on bass continues! A music festival in Arles, France. And, yes, it is SOLD OUT.
Here’s this, from the show in Cannes!
Next, they play 3 sold out shows in Bergen. Norway. (I cannot believe it is almost August, gang. Where did the time go???)
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I think that’s it for now. I’m still kinda worn out from yesterday, so I want to try to just lie down for another minute, before I have to drive back to town.
Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world!!
It’s gonna be a scorcher, though, so here’s hoping I am able to install that window AC unit because I’m going to need AC later, for sure.
I’m guessing it’s easy to install, but the thing is fucking heavy. It was kind of astounding that I was able to get it out of the car, carry it into the house and up the stairs (on my 65th birthday, no less!). Of course, the guy at Best Buy — who was maybe 19 years old and, well, a guy — made it seem effortless when he loaded it into the trunk of my car…
Anyway! It’s in my room and I’m going to tackle it today — while waiting on a different plumber, because the other plumber never showed after 3 days in a row of waiting.
My clients who have been in rehab, and who were supposed to come out this month, but didn’t — I got word from the Agency yesterday that they will still be in rehab for the entire month of August. Which means I’m going to have to live close to the bone around here.
But at least I got everything worked out about my retirement money with the Social Security office yesterday. (Another glitch in the system because of putting me onto Medicare now.) I should have my money for July in a couple of days.
But this is that double-edged sword thingie: less shifts to work but more days off! More time to work on the novel (and/or the play). So that makes me really happy, gang.
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Okay. The eHarmony thing is making me REALLY happy, too. So we shall see. We’re supposed to chat on the phone today — for the first time. So far, we’ve just been texting on our phones.
And if the chat goes well, then we’ll meet.
I can’t really go into any details yet about why I am so happy, because we don’t know each other and I don’t want to violate his privacy — I try only to violate the privacy of people I know really well!!! (And then their privacy becomes an utter wasteland. So you’ll just have to wait…)
However, I will share this. But I won’t say why. I’ll just say it sparked a really happy evening around here. I have always loved this song.
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Okay.
I’ve never been a Black Sabbath fan, and I didn’t have an opinion of Ozzy Osborne, one way or the other, but of the hundreds of photos on Instagram yesterday, I loved this one, so I share it here.
From the Whiskey a Go Go in Los Angeles:
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Just a reminder!
The final week of the Smashwords Summer Sale is now under way.
Check my substack page for all the details about my 4 eBooks that are free to download during the sale! (Adults only!! Graphic erotic fiction!! And these are OLD books & stories — from the 90s through 2011.)
And thanks again to all of you who have been downloading these eBooks all month long. I really appreciate it!!
Absolutely 100% positively ME! Oops, sorry. NOT me.
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Here’s this!
Wayne, earlier today, at Beng Mealea, Cambodia (dating back to 928 AD) (Well, Wayne only dates back to 1954 AD):
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Tonight! In France! (A music festival in Cannes.)
The Nick Cave solo tour with Colin Greenwood on bass continues. Yes! It is sold out!!
No photos yet, obviously, but here’s this again!!
And here’s this –Nick with fans; it was taken the other day in Pompeii:
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And I guess that’s it for now.
Gonna tackle that AC unit and pray for a spectacular result!
And I’m hoping that, this afternoon, the new plumber shows up on time. (Allegedly 1 or 1:30. We shall see.) Then the carpenter comes on Monday, and I should be all set to submit my application for the USDA RD home improvement loan!!
Okay. Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Here’s this again! Great driving to town music!! Now, especially, I love this song…
From my wee bonny girlhood! “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” The Eagles, 1972. Enjoy, gang!!
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–
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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.
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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.)
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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!)
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…
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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…
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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!
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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)
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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…
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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….)
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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!
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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!
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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….
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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
It was 61 degrees Fahrenheit when I woke up this morning! I even had to turn the fans off because it was “too cool”… Yay!!
The day should really just be fantastic out here in the Hinterlands. I am really looking forward to it.
I won’t say that I wish I had the day off, but I kinda wish I had the day off. I got so much done yesterday and I would love to just hang out in this beautiful weather and work on the novel.
But, alas… the caregiving work continues.
Still, Sandra and I got the finishing touches done on the play yesterday, so we are ready for NYC next week.
In case you forgot, we’ll be staying here! The Empire Hotel:
Oh, and I watched this, on Sandra’s request. I had to sign up for HBO-Max, which I did, but then promptly cancelled the subscription after watching the film because I have way too many subscriptions going on over here. but anyway– I loved it!!!!
Enigma
I thought this documentary was so well done and really just very informative about the Paris and London TS/TV scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
I already knew a little about Amanda Lear because she was connected to David Bowie in the 70s, but I knew nothing about any of the rest of it. Very, very interesting. And very well done.
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And just FYI — if you are new to the blog. Yes, I support Trump. Yes, I follow Q. Yes, I was a digital soldier for General Flynn throughout the fake Biden regime and no, I don’t regret a minute of that indescribably time-consuming, and sometimes frightening, work. And yes, I am AGAINST allowing children to make irreversible decisions about their gender identity — it is hard enough for adults to make informed decisions about that.
However —
Yes, I am part of the LGBTQ+ community and have been, since, like, FOREVER. And most of the LGBTQ+ friends I still have (the ones who are still alive, anyway, most of them died from AIDS) are old school, like me, and also tend to be pro-Trump, pro-USA, pro-US Constitution, pro-Protect the Children.
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On that note!! Back to our program!!
THANK YOU, once again, to all of you who are already downloading my eBooks over at the Smashwords Summer Sale! Which started yesterday! (Details HERE. Adults Only!! Bisexual/Fetish Erotica.)
It always makes my heart sing just a little bit when I see those downloads getting underway, since these particular eBooks are really, really OLD. They’ve been around forever! I love it that people still read them.
I still remember every story I wrote, every publisher I worked with, every editor and every underground zine — the whole sh-bang, What a great time it was, gang.
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Also, a huge thank you to readers in the UK who are downloading the Kindle edition of Neptune and Surf, which was my first book, originally published by the legendary Richard Kasak at Masquerade Books, NYC, in 1999. (The rights are now owned by Hachette UK, as part of their Modern Erotic Classics series.)
Things like this, gang, all these years later, just make me really happy. So thank you, UK readers, whoever you are!
I hate this cover, but I love this book!
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Okay! Well.
I’m still a little concerned about leaving all these cats with a cat sitter who won’t actually be staying in my house (in the past, my birth mom would stay here and take care of the cats while I was gone, but now there are too many cats and she has gotten too old). I’m worried about them being alone too much. But other than that, I am finally starting to get excited about going back to NYC.
I think this break in the weather helps, since it makes everything just feel “lighter,” you know? Now that I can think straight again, I want to just have some fun.
And I can’t stress enough what a great feeling it is — for both Sandra and me — to be undertaking this version of “The Guide to Being Fabulous” rather than the version that was ultimately produced in Toronto back in 2023.
It has been a long, long time coming. And after having watched Enigma on MAX, I now feel that, more than ever, Sandra’s story needs to be told in a way that doesn’t short change her entire life.
It’s exciting, gang.
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Other than that, there’s not much going on!
I should probably close this and get ready to go to town. It’s another afternoon with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man.
Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Okay. Here’s this!
I saw this on Instagram the other day, but I didn’t know it was on YouTube!! So here you go!
The Stones’ New Single | Tribute to Clifton Chenier | June 25, 2025 | The Rolling Stones
Marilyn's Room 