Okay!!

So. Another rainy day in the Hinterlands, but it is BEAUTIFUL in its own right! I just love fall, gang. And October is my favorite month of the year.

And there’s something about rain on autumn leaves that I just love — as long as its not accompanied by high winds…

Yesterday, however, was just plain weird.

The drive to the mall/movie theater was unbelievably gorgeous — as I posted about from the movie theater yesterday. And I am so glad I took that drive. That backroad literally starts right around the corner from my house. And for 7 and a 1/2 years of living here, I never once took that road anywhere.

When I take my walks in the village, I go part way down that road, but I always stop at the VFW hall and then turn and come back into the village. But, wow, gang. It was like driving inside a painting from the early 1900s or something. Especially since it was fall and it was such a glorious day yesterday.

And it is nice to know that I am only 12 miles from an actual shopping mall. Although it was weird being in an actual functioning mall again — one that isn’t dimly lit and mostly out-of-business (like the one that’s 30 miles from here, where the AMC movie theaters are). Totally like being in yesteryear. It brought back so many memories of shopping in malls. And shopping in stores, in general. Stores that aren’t grocery stores or the Rural King.

I can’t imagine really needing to go back to the mall, but one thing I think I will NEVER do AGAIN is go to a fucking movie theater!!

Wow, what an awful experience it has become. (BTW — 2 other people eventually came in to see the movie.)

They showed a full half-hour of coming attractions for films I believe I would rather be bludgeoned to death than have to ever be forced to see in what remains of my life.

It was so hard to block out these coming attractions, gang. After the first one, which was allegedly for a dark comedy, but which was so twisted and gruesome and horrific and sick — I took my phone out of my purse and tried to block out all the rest by scrolling through Instagram. But one after another after another were coming attractions for really violent, horrific films. And these are all coming after Halloween. So these movies are considered just pure “entertainment.”

And the movie screens now are so huge that it is overwhelming. In a really bad way. You can’t really block it out. Sort of like being in “A Clockwork Orange”.

And when the movie I had gone there to see finally started — I waited for another half an hour for it to get funny or even charming. The storyline was so depressing. You know, is this what life is like for most people, so they find it funny? Yikes.

And I finally left.

I decided I would rather wait for it to stream somewhere on the Internet and watch it on a screen that isn’t quite so overwhelming, while waiting for it to be funny and charming.

It affected how I felt about the drive back home, but I tried really hard to block out the whole experience of the movie theater and just appreciate the stuff that God made and forget about the stuff that men and women are making these days in Hollywood and calling “entertainment.”

So, I still felt the trip was worth it to finally have a reason to see that gorgeous scenery on the backroads right around the corner from my house…

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And then the handyman went to the wrong client’s house to allegedly install my new Venetian blind yesterday. And after waiting for him to show up here in my actual house for half an hour, we decided to reschedule and so he is coming this evening, instead. (I guess this is a pitfall of texting rather than speaking on the phone. He thought he was texting a different client.) Anyway. We shall see!!

BUT–

All was not lost, because Valerie from Brooklyn was alone up at her house in Haverstraw (a lovely town along the Hudson River in Rockland County, NY)–

So we chatted on the phone for almost 2 hours last night! Yay!

An interesting thing about Haverstraw…

Valerie and her family lived in the Bronx when she and her brother were born. And eventually, because of that “white flight” thing in the late 60s – early 70s, her family moved to Haverstraw and bought a house. Which is now her 2nd home because everyone else in her family has passed away.

But another Irish-Catholic family from the Bronx, also doing that white- flight thing and moving from the Bronx to Haverstraw, was Jim Carroll’s family! Yes. The Carrolls lived next door to Valerie’s family.

And, yes, that Jim Carroll. The NYC poet who was one of my all-time heroes. But he and his brother were considerably older than Valerie and her brother, so they didn’t really know each other very well. But still. Wow, right??

When Valerie and I first met, I was already a Jim Carroll-worshipper and in conversation one day, she said:

SHE: “Oh yeah, I know him.”

ME: “Oh, you mean you’ve read The Basketball Diaries?”

SHE: “Well, no. I grew up next door to him.”

ME (totally stunned): “You WHAT??!!“

Jim is actually buried in Haverstraw now, in St. Peter’s Catholic Cemetery, where Val’s family is also buried:

And, yes, if you’re keeping count — this is the very same Val in Brooklyn who once worked for a couple months, doing specialty painting in Keith Richards’ house (from where she brought me home a strand of Keith’s hair!!), when Keith and Patti and their 2 little girls moved to Connecticut! (Said “little girls” are now fully grown and both of them are moms now.)

And NO! Just because Valerie personally knew two of my ALL-TIME heroes — that’s not why she is my very best friend…

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But here’s this!

Keith and Mick, 1969 (?), in LA– photo by Terry O’Neill. I think this is from when they were there recording Let It Bleed. But I’m not positive.

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And here’s all this!

Two from James Tabor — in support of his new book, The Lost Mary:

How, When, and Why was Jesus’ Mother Mary “Lost”? (45 mins):

Assembling the Missing Puzzle Pieces on Jesus’ Mother Mary (29 mins):

And from Ross K. Nichols–

The END of the Second Temple (1 hr):

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And here’s the official trailer of a new series I’m watching on Netflix: “Pray Speak What Has Happened”. (Japanese, again. I seem to really like Japanese TV.)

“Set in a small theater in Shibuya in 1984, this coming-of-age ensemble drama portrays the dreams, frustrations, and romances of young people chasing their place in the world!”

Pray Speak What Has Happened 【Fuji TV Official】(1 minute):

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And here’s this.

From Instagram yesterday. Someone posted it for Tom Petty’s 75th Birthday–

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And now the sun is out! The rain is over! And I have the DAY OFF!!

I’m gonna go out and take a walk and think about which half-finished book project I want to tackle next.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Driving-music from yesterday.

Celebrating a lovely drive, and Tom Petty’s heavenly birthday.

This song was the original demo for one of my favorite Tom Petty songs. He recorded it in his home studio with Stevie Nicks, who had just stopped over after he had just written it. It totally rocks!

“The Apartment Song” (Demo, 1984) from the posthumous American Treasure, 2018. Enjoy, gang.

I don’t have a whole lot to post about today, but mostly I wanted to remind you that I won’t be posting at all tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the dreaded Tuesday. The Terrifying Ten-hour-shift Tuesday!!

Anyway. This will probably be a brief post today. Because it’s a big day!

Yes, I’ll soon be heading out for my big adventure– backroads I’ve never driven on! A mall I’ve never been to! It’s a sunny day!! And I’m going to an actual MOVIE and I’ll be seeing THIS:

The other day, when the furnace guy was here and I was dusting all sorts of things I hadn’t dusted in a long time because now I have these new glasses and I can actually SEE again–

Anyway, I was dusting off a rack of videos — old movies I loved so much when I first saw them that I didn’t have the heart to throw out the videos, even though you can now stream all these movies online — to me, it’s just not the same. (And I always have a working VCR in the house, too). (I haven’t completely mastered the fine art of living in the past, but I’m getting really close…)

Well, there are several Keanu movies in that rack. Movies I loved and have seen many times, but which I no longer remember even the plots to at all! But it was startling to look at the video boxes and see the dates on them, you know? 1980s, early 90s. WTF??

It is so hard for me to grasp that Keanu is 60 years old now. However, I am still really glad that I’m going to see this new film of his in the theater. I almost never get to an actual movie theater anymore. And for most of my life, I lived within walking distance to at least one movie theater, if not several.

(And I also come from a movie theater family — my grandpa ran the local movie house in Mayfield Heights, in Cleveland. And then he built a drive-in movie theater in Alliance, Ohio, that my dad inherited and we went there a lot during the summers when I was a little girl.)

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Okay!

Today is sort of a bittersweet day since it would have been Tom Petty’s 75th birthday. Frankly, I cannot imagine Tom Petty being 75 so maybe it’s a good thing that he died a couple weeks before his 67th birthday… he can stay frozen in time now.

I mean, I know it’s not a good thing for his family and friends that he died, but I’m just speaking in terms of the mythology of it all.

And, you know, I almost never post photos of famous people’s kids or grandkids (Keith being a glaring exception, of course), but the other day, on Instagram, I saw a current photo of Tom Petty’s granddaughter, Everly. I think she was maybe 3 years old when he died (?), so now she’s maybe 10 or 11 but, WOW, is she pretty!! And I know that somewhere, he is loving the heck out of her and watching her grow up!! That made my whole spirit smile.

Okay. Here’s a selection of Tom Petty photos from over the years, the last one being taken just a few days before he died.

Um….. Excuse me!!!! Hold the phone!! Stop the presses!! WOW!!!!

I just got a text from the Agency that my Terrifying Ten-hour-Shift for Tomorrow is CANCELLED!!!!!

Yippee ki yi yay, gang!!

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Okay, if you love animals and want to help the Goats of Anarchy, a private animal rescue farm in New Jersey, please visit their website!

They are desperately seeking one-time or recurring donations:

“…For a variety of reasons, this year has been in the top two of our most challenging years in the history of GOA. I have watched as our safety net has dwindled, and I am nervous about the future of GOA if things don’t get better. Don’t worry, I promise I will never give up. I’ve lost sleep, lost hair, and lost many hours worrying about our future, but I know our supporters are with us and together we can get through these challenging times…..”

Visit their website, or DONATE here. They rescue goats, primarily, but also rescue other abandoned or abused animals in need.

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I suppose I better scoot, gang. I need to finish up the laundry and head out for my big adventure!

And then, around 6PM, the local handyman is coming back over to install a new Venetian blind in my downstairs bathroom — the old one was completely chewed up, compliments of the CATS!!

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world!

It looks like I will probably be posting tomorrow now, too.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

According to his wife, Dana, this was the final of his own songs that Tom listened to on the day he died. His hip had been completely fractured that day and he was bedridden. So Dana and Tom were hanging out, listening to his old music.

Tom wrote this song for a girl back in Florida, that he’d had a huge crush on when he was 14. (Dana said that Tom was trying to find that girl on Facebook that day he died.)

“The Best of Everything,” 1985, from the album Southern Accents. Enjoy, gang.

“The Best Of Everything”

She probably works in a restaurant
That’s what her mama did
But I don’t know if she ever really could’ve put up with it
Or maybe she sings in a nightclub
‘Cause sometimes she used to sing
But I don’t know if it ever amounted to anything
So listen honey

Wherever you are tonight
I wish you the best of everything, in the world
And honey I hope you found
Whatever you were looking for

Yeah and it’s over before you know it
It all goes by so fast
And the bad nights take forever
And the good nights don’t ever seem to last
And man, we never had the real thing
But sometimes we used to kiss
Back then we didn’t understand
What we were caught up in
So listen honey

Wherever you are tonight
I wish you the best of everything, in the world
And honey I hope you found
Whatever you were looking for, yeah baby
Wherever you are tonight
I wish you the best of everything, in the world
And honey I hope you found
Whatever you were looking for

c – 1985 Tom Petty

It’s that kind of day here, gang.

Not just rain, but high winds. And loyal readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall that high winds trigger my PTSD.

So I’m trying to just stay away from the windows. So that I don’t see all the trees blowing around. And I’m trying to just breathe, and let go of the fact that I have to go out and drive around in all this later today…

Meanwhile.

Lunch yesterday with my Q-following girlfriend was great. Once we were done talking about Phil and the reset, we — ACK!!!— talked about Medicare insurance, burial insurance, beneficiaries, my fantastic insurance guy…

WTF, right??? That’s what old people talk about!!! But anyway, talk about it, we did, because she wants better Medicare coverage and my insurance guy truly is fantastic.

We hung out at Tequilaville for 2 and 1/2 hours. And the food seemed even better than it’s been the other 27 million times I’ve eaten there.

And there were college football games on the many TV screens. And there were quite a few other customers hanging out. So it was absolutely NOTHING like being here in my room, alone at my desk, in the middle of nowhere which was kinda what I needed.

What I really actually need is a vacation, gang. I am so emotionally worn out from the constant caregiving.

If I requested a vacation, the Agency would give me one, but you know me. What I really need is about a week of doing nothing. Just walking in the wilderness, or sitting out in the backyard and looking up at the stars at night. You know, some really restorative downtime.

Yet all I ever really want to do on a “vacation” is go to NYC…

Which of course involves getting my birth mom here to take care of the cats. And then the hassle of all that traveling to & from 2 different airports.

And then I come home and need a vacation… but NYC is so expensive that I can’t even think about taking any more days off. I have to get right back to work!

So.

I’m trying to find a way to decompress from the caregiving shifts that doesn’t require being in Midtown Manhattan.

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But speaking of caregiving–

While I was with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man yesterday, I taught him my middle name. (My real middle name, not my professional middle name.)

ME: “It’s starts with a J and has 3 letters and rhymes with toy.”

HE (thinking a lot): “Joe?”

ME: “No. It’s starts with a J and has 3 letters and rhymes with TOY.”

HE (thinking a lot more): “Jan?”

ME: (etc., etc.)

But when he finally realized my middle name was Joy, this really delighted him. And as luck would have it, he started singing my favorite hymn! (Below) And then he said, “You are my angel, Marilyn Joy.”

He always just makes me smile so much, gang.

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I still have not figured out which work-in-progress I want to tackle now that The Curse of Our Profound Disorder has gone off to the publisher.

Of course, the minute Sandra’s schedule frees up, I’m going to be really busy with my projects with her.

But I still want to make some headway in everything on my desk that needs to be finished and published before I die… (I’m not planning to die anytime soon, I just have a whole lot of half-finished manuscripts around here. And, as I’ve probably said a hundred times by now, the caregiving jobs are so emotionally and psychologically draining, that I can only focus enough to write if I have an entire day off.)

Anyway. I want to make some headway. So we shall see where the Muse finally lands, gang.

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That’s kind of it for now.

I want to do yoga, wash my hair, etc., before heading out for my shift with the retired Minister and his delightful wife and cat!

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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As if I don’t listen to enough Tom Petty around here!

I leave you with this today.

In preparation for tomorrow and for what would have been Tom Petty’s 75th birthday….

This is a cool song. Originally, it was unreleased. But they put it on the posthumous collection, American Treasure, 2018, Disc 2. If you are familiar with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ songs, you will recognize some of these lyrics because they wound up in other songs, including in their hit song, “My Life, Your World.”

But the lyrics make for a really cool song here. — “Walkin’ From the Fire”, written in 1984. Enjoy, gang.

“Walkin’ From The Fire”

They come out here with the dog on a chain
And they took my little brother away
Tell my mama he was selling cocaine
They took my brother to the juvenile house
Where they held him for a quarter of an ounce
My mama told me not to hang around the house

I’m walkin’ from the fire
Don’t put me in a corner
Yeah, I’m trying to walk away
Let this one blow over
But I’m fightin’ like a tiger
Don’t put me in the corner

Last time I seen her was a discotheque
Countin’ buttons on a lawyer’s vest
She walked out but it ain’t over yet

I’m walkin’ from the fire
Don’t put me in a corner
Just try to walk away
Let this one blow over
But I’m fightin’ like a tiger
Don’t put me in the corner

I’m walkin’ from the fire
Don’t put me in a corner
I’m walkin’ from the fire
Don’t put me in a corner

Mama used to rock back in 1953
Buys him all the records that they sell on TV
I know Chuck Berry wasn’t saying that for me

I’m walkin’ from the fire
Don’t put me in a corner
Yes, I’m turning that cheek
‘Til this is all over
But I’m fightin’ like a tiger
Don’t put me in the corner

I’m walkin’ from the fire
I’m walkin’ from the fire

c- 1984 Tom Petty

We seem to have had the worldwide financial reset (behind the scenes) at last. Soon to be (if not already) backed by precious metals.

I heard it from 2 different sources yesterday, the main one being Phil’s live last night.

If you missed it, the replay is below (direct link has more control over ads).

The Reset – October 17th, 2025 (1 hr 26 mins):

It has all the earmarks of NESARA/GESARA but I don’t know if that’s what they’re going to end up calling it. They might just say:

“We’ve redone the financial system. Thank you for your attention to this matter. DJT.”

Who knows.

But there is reason to begin the rejoicing, even if it will take until January (?) before we see any of this at our level.

And here’s this!

From il donaldo trumpo last night:

“READY TO FIESTA THIS WEEKEND!!!🥳🥳🥳”

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And here’s this (related to the above link, but without the fantastic dancing) — just in case you wanna feel extremely happy right this minute:

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And hey!

If you live in NYC and are LGBTQ+ friendly!! (And who isn’t??!!)

Sandra will be performing in the final reading of the 2025 B2B-NYC Theatre Festival:

Sunday. Oct. 26th, 5PM at The CENTER (208 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011)

“Limitless: A Collection of Commissioned Scenes and Monologues. The twelve commissioned works inspired by the prompt “LIMITLESS: What does it mean to be free? What does it feel like to fly?” will be crafted together and brought to life by a cast of five TNB2S+ performers to close the 2025 Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival. The works will then be published and licensed by Concord Theatricals in 2026.”

I believe the festival tickets are complimentary.

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So today, I am a little wonky. I am vacillating between feeling completely worn down by my life, and yet very happy about this afternoon:

Yes! After my shift with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man, my favorite Q-following girlfriend and I are meeting for lunch at Tequilaville!!! (FYI — Play the song below LOUD and SMILE. “Thank you for your attention to this matter. DJT.”)

(No, I won’t be drinking tequila today but, WOW, gang, do I have some fantastic memories of drinking tequila in days of old!!! Including but not limited to, that certain Saturday afternoon, in mid-February 1974, when I had my first taste of tequila (and smoking hash) and then lost that thing I’d been hoping like heck to lose!! That thing that, once it’s lost, you can’t ever get it back but it changes your wee bonny life forever!!! Yay!!)

(And it led to this: 6 of the most amazing months of my entire life, even though he died that August and my heart has never been the same — song below requires Kleenex):

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Someone I follow on Instagram in Brazil just had the nerve to inform me that THIS is 51 years OLD!!! What the fuck??!!! (Now I feel fucking OLD!!)

But WOW, it’s still such a great song!

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From Ross K. Nichols–

He sent this out again last night on his private Patreon account, but it was originally aired last year. It’s really interesting.

“In the opening chapters of Genesis, we read the story of creation—a foundational text in both Jewish and Christian traditions. But is there more than one account of creation in these early verses?”

The Creation: One or Two Accounts? (1 hr 17 mins):

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This was also really good. It was posted 5 days ago, but I’ve listened to it many times since then. (Ignore the title, it’s just click bait.) (15 mins):

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And I think maybe that’s it for now. I gotta head out for my shift. And be energetic and cheerful and not bring my own overall spiritual exhaustion to my client’s home. So we shall see how that goes!! But then– LUNCH!

So, enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

Yes, I posted it recently, but it was my driving-home-from-town music yesterday. On repeat. (I really needed something to keep my spirits up. It almost worked!!)

The Seekers, 1966, “Georgie Girl”. Enjoy, gang.

Wow, yesterday was great, gang. Just really productive.

The furnace guy came right at noon — the moment I was finished vacuuming, in fact. And while he was down in my 124-year-old scary basement, I got some other housecleaning chores done — ones that I hadn’t done in a long time.

I washed all the lace curtains! I think that was only the second time I’ve washed them in the 7 years that I’ve lived here! This astounds me, because in the old house, I washed them at the start of every Spring.

They are all so white now that it really makes a difference in how the rooms look. And having these new glasses helps me to see stuff that had gotten really dusty that I hadn’t noticed before. So I was really happy about that. (No, I’m not exactly a neat freak, but I do like to keep this old house as clean as I can because of all these CTAS!! Sometimes spelled “CATS”.)

And I got a GREAT idea yesterday!

I could apply for a license to sell coffee and tea and turn my home into a Cat Cafe during the day!! (Then maybe people would actually come visit me, but I won’t hold my breath…)

Anyway…

So, I’m happy. And the furnace guy said I have a couple more years before I need to think about getting a new furnace. So, yay! (Oh, and he didn’t die on the 124-year-old collapsing basement stairs! Double-Yay!!)

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Yesterday, I also decided to turn this “going to see Keanu’s new movie” into a new adventure.

I discovered that there is a mall that is only 12 miles from me — a regular, old-fashioned mall. Like the ones from the old days. It’s right here in this county but I have never gone there before, or even heard of it until yesterday. (It’s off in a direction that I never drive in.) And it has a Cinemark where Keanu’s movie is not only playing, but they also have MATINEES!!! Yay! No driving after dark, when I can barely see!

And when I looked it up on Google maps, I saw that to get there from here, I would use a couple of backroads that I’ve always been curious about seeing. So I will get to see those views, finally, when I go see the movie on Monday afternoon. (I already bought my ticket to sort of ensure that I would go and not second guess myself and stay home.)

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So, I have a going-to-the-mall-to-see-a-movie adventure coming up.

And tomorrow!! Me and my favorite Q-following girlfriend are meeting for lunch at our usual place after my shift! Yay.

So my life is sort of weirdly nice right now. Especially weird, considering all these caregiving shifts I have for the remainder of October.

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Here’s this!

From Instagram.

John Lennon’s boyhood home (he lived with his Aunt Mimi after his mother died).

The upper room with the light on is John’s old room, and apparently they always keep that one light on.

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And here’s this–

Keith at his home in South Salem NY, in 1978.

Photos of Keith from the late 70s were so cool to me, gang, because he was finally off of heroin (for good, it turned out) and he looked so different than he had looked through most of the 1970s.

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Okay, so that’s really kind of it.

Sandra is currently busy with a very quick theater thing Off-Broadway in NYC. So, really, all I need to do is decide what I want to work on around here until her schedule frees up again in November.

I think I’m just sort of waiting for the Muse to land on something and then I’ll run with it.

Meanwhile, well, life is just really kind of nice. And I’m gonna head out here soon to go see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man. We’re just going to hang around the house today because it’s chilly and he doesn’t do too well in the cold.

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this.

I was never a Kiss fan at all. This was the only Kiss song I ever could even sort of tolerate.

RIP Ace Frehley.

“Rock and Roll All Nite”, from their album Dressed to Kill, 1975. Kiss. Enjoy, gang.