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!)
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.
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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!!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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…
It’s not quite as hot around here since I last posted, but the increase in humidity more than compensates for that.
Luckily, thunderstorms are supposed to visit us for most of the day. I hope this is true, because they keep saying that — for the last few days — and the thunderstorms haven’t happened. Even though they are clearly visible, approaching on the horizon, they never arrive. Just some light rain. Hence the increased humidity.
I try very, very hard to think straight in high humidity but I am not always entirely successful, gang. I simply can’t breathe right, so there’s not enough oxygen getting to my wee bonny brain!
(And I still can’t help but think that all these White Hats who are pretending that China is our enemy, that Russia is our enemy, that Iran is anyone’s enemy at this point, that Netanyahu wasn’t already dealt with a long time ago…. okay. Methinks these same folks are once again fucking with the weather!)
(Call me crazy!! Whether or not it’s conspiracy-theory related, there is a good chance that I’m crazy about all sorts of things so it’s safe to call me crazy, however… there is still something wacky about this weather!)
Me, just generally crazy.
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Yesterday was insane.
I was with my favorite client who has recently returned from Florida. All was well until — for privacy reasons I can’t go into the details — I had to drop everything and take her to urgent care.
From there, the entire day went kaflooey! (For some odd reason, I’m being told “kaflooey” is not a word!!) I wish I could tell you why it went kaflooey, just so you could have deep sympathy for me! But I can’t. It is sufficient to say, the urgent care “experience” made me feel like I was losing my mind.
And it had nothing to do with anyone who worked at the urgent care facility…
But it also made me have to work late — by half an hour. And I had that plumber coming!!
But long story short — I got home in time for the plumber. And it was a husband & wife plumbing team. They were really nice. And they fixed my issue in the upstairs ancient bathtub, but they told me that really all those old pipes and fixtures have to be replaced. And that I really, really need to get a water softener put in, because that’s what’s killing the pipes and fixtures. (My house is 126 years old and the upstairs bathtub was installed in the 1940s.)
Anyway! Loyal readers of this lofty blog know that I have no problem whatsoever applying for low income home improvement grants for senior citizens living in rural areas!!!
In fact, I got my home a beautiful new roof that way!! At no cost to me.
So, here’s hoping, a grant from the USDA to update my plumbing will be in my foreseeable future.
Meanwhile, the tub drain is working great for the first time since I bought this house… for now, anyway.
Very happy, for now, anyway!
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Apparently, yesterday was Colin Greenwood’s birthday!!
Colin Greenwood Happy Birthday!
And speaking of the Nick Cave solo tour with Colin Greenwood on bass…
Here’s a photo from the show in Rochefort, France. the other night. Most of the better images were videos. Not many photos that weren’t from hopelessly far away:
And I have to say, that people keep uploading images and videos from the Hamburg shows and it really seems like those shows were kind of spectacular.
Next shows up are in Paris, July 5th & 6th, but both shows are sold out. Only 2 shows left in the entire tour that have tickets available. Buy tickets here.
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Well, on the kitten front…
Bobby Joe (one of 2 kittens that we recently noticed are actually males), managed to give himself a terrific black eye, from all his jumping and leaping and going generally nuts when he’s playing with the other kittens.
A couple days ago, in the really dreadful high heat, his eye began to look horrible. It rolled up in his head and other awful looking – gooey things. So I started lightly swabbing the eyelid with colloidal silver and, voila, it is getting back to normal at a wicked pace! It is almost completely fine already.
This makes 3 cats in less than a year who have had serious eye issues that were — thank God — completely fixed with colloidal silver, gang. (It works on humans, too, of course! Ears, eyes, sinuses, or taken internally. But only twice a day, no more than 10 days in a row.) (I’m not a doctor. I’m not giving you health advice. just sayin’ what works over in our neck of the woods…)
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Today, I’m back with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man, and I believe it is sushi-sashimi day!! Assuming he feels up to it! It will be nice to just hang out with him — assuming no medical emergencies. We shall see!! (I can’t stress enough how much fun we have whenever we are together, gang.)
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Okay. I guess I better scoot.
Enjoy your Friday wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!!
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I rediscovered this song the other day!! I’d forgotten all about it.
Holy shit, do I love it. It is not only prime Rodney Crowell songwriting, but also Emmylou Harris at the peak of her career.
I definitely used to include this in my sets when I was a singer-songwriter in NYC.
“Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”, 1978. From the album, Quarter Moon in a Ten-Cent Town. Enjoy, gang!!!
“Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight”
Mary took to running with a travelin’ man Left her momma crying with her head in her hands Such a sad case, so broken hearted She say mom, I got to go, I gotta get outta here I gotta get out of town; I’m tired of hanging around I gotta roll on between the ditches
It’s just an ordinary story ’bout the way things go Round and around nobody knows, but the highway Goes on forever, that ‘ol highway rolls on forever Lord she never would’ve done it if she hadn’t got drunk
If she hadn’t started running with a travelin man If she hadn’t started taking those crazy chances She say daughter, let me tell you ’bout the travelin kind Everywhere he’s goin’ such a very short time He’ll be long gone before you know it, he’ll be long
Gone before you know it She say never have I known it when it felt so good Never have I knew it when I knew I could Never have I done it when it looked so right Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight
This is down in the swampland, anything goes It’s alligator bait and the bars don’t close It’s the real thing down in Louisiana
Did you ever see a Cajun when he really got mad When he really got trouble like a daughter gone bad It gets real hot down in Louisiana
The stranger better move it or he’s gonna get killed He’s gonna have to get it or a shotgun will It ain’t no time for lengthy speeches There ain’t no time for lengthy speeches She say never have I know it when it felt so good
Never have I knew it when I knew I could Never have I done it when it looked so right Leaving Louisiana in the broad daylight It’s just an ordinary story ’bout the way things go Round and around nobody knows, but the highway goes on forever There ain’t no way to stop the water
Marilyn's Room 