Honestly, gang. I can’t tell you how effective that stuff is for me.

After taking the L-Theanine before leaving the house, I had a perfectly great day yesterday, even while driving around town in the 12-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures, the high winds, the ice, the mountains of snow everywhere…

And yes, my client needed me to get groceries yesterday — at THREE different grocery stores. But everything went absolutely great because my stress was totally gone.

He needed stuff like cherry pie and baloney.

HE: “You’re absolutely sure you don’t mind going to the grocery store in this terrible weather?”

ME: “I am absolutely sure that I don’t mind.”

And I honestly didn’t, gang. Because some day, I might be housebound and in my mid-80s, and if for some reason, I’m craving cherry pie and baloney and other stuff in a snow emergency, it would really mean a lot to me if someone were willing to go out and get it.

And that is the truth.

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Okay.

So far, I am not feeling stressed at all today. Even though I know the snow is worse over where my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man lives, I think everything will be manageable.

There have been a lot more traffic accidents out there this morning, but once again, they are almost all over near Columbus. So we are just going to see how it goes.

I did have to re-schedule the carpenter who was supposed to come on Monday and put in the new basement stairs. There is no way his truck and all his supplies are going to be able to get anywhere near my house until the snow melts.

But on we go!

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Okay!

On Tuesday morning, I have a phone chat with a company that specializes in all things to do with eBook formatting, so I hope that goes well.

I only have to reformat FIVE eBooks!

Yes! While developing the TV show.

And getting ready for all the PR work I’ll have to do when the new novel comes out.

And getting stuff ready for the Off-Broadway play stuff.

And getting the stuff ready for “Tell My Bones: The Helen LaFrance Story” to be back as a TV movie and not as a play.

But it needs to be done. And then hopefully these five books can get back into distribution the world over.

The situation with almost all of my online books are a real mess right now because of it, gang: over at Kindle, over at Draft2Digital, over at LULU, and on MarilynsRoomBooks. But it’s all fixable. So on we go.

And don’t forget!!

While you’re waiting for one of my newer books to be available to purchase again, you can always buy the companion coffee mug and look at it until you have the book — for something totally outrageous like $18.60 plus shipping and tax!! (Not joking.)

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Oh and guess what else happened yesterday??

Just as I was getting ready to leave the house, the US Mail lady came up onto my snowy porch with that registered package for me from the lawyers of my dad’s estate!!

There were a lot more of those personal ID -type things in there. But ALSO!!!

Well.

Let’s just say that today, as of right now, and it keeps going higher, gang:

GOLD: $5,274.08 per troy ounce.

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I can’t tell you how great it made me feel, though, gang. I am still trying to process all this stuff between me and my dad, almost daily.

I talk to his spirit, you know?

ME (heavy sigh): “Honestly, was it really that difficult to be my dad?”

ALSO ME: “Don’t answer that.”

(Let’s trot these out again, just for reference!!)

Me, in the summer of 1972!! (I had just turned 12. Which means that a couple weeks prior to this photo, I was only 11. I was already 5-ft 8-inches tall. That’s insane, right?)

Me, a year later, at 13… (I never get tired of this photo. I remember that girl so well.)

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All righty!!

Here’s this!

I tell you, Phyllis Stein does not disappoint, gang!!

Richard Hell, in NYC, 1976:

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And here’s this.

I love Keith in those sunglasses!

The Stones in Milan, Italy, in October, 1967:

Oh!!!!

And I finally found that photo of Keith playing a guitar!!

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And here’s this.

Jack Kerouac was in the Merchant Marines and the Navy during WWII.

And FYI. I’ve been listening to this free audiobook on YouTube the last few nights. It’s also really well done. (There are a lot of parts to this. I’m up to part 5.) The Dharma Bums.

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And here’s this!!

Nick Cave in Sydney on Friday:

And this, from quite a few years before Friday:

Tickets to see Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds in Melbourne on Sunday February 1st are still available. You can buy them HERE. (The first 2 nights are sold out.)

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And I suppose I better get ready now to take that 30-mile drive into town.

At least it’s very sunny today, so that helps. But it’s still way too cold to let Kon Tiki of the Great Outdoors back outside.

She is not happy, gang.

SHE (almost constantly): “What part of ‘the great outdoors’ do you not understand??!!”

Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with a little insanity!!

Wayne sent me this video late last night.

From Tom Waits’ album, Bad As Me, 2011. “Satisfied”. Hold tight, gang, and enjoy!!

In fact, there is so much snow, that it was over Kon Tiki’s head yesterday and she was stranded on the porch of the house across the road from me.

I had to make my way over there (the snow was higher than my snow boots, so that was fun!), and pick her up and carefully carry her home.

And since there will be temperatures around -25 degrees Fahrenheit the next couple of nights, I can’t let her leave the house for a few days.

She’s not entirely happy about this…. (sarcasm)

But here she is, in a quiet moment, in my room a few minutes ago:

Anyway.

The fact that we have gotten so much snow, and so much of this part of the country got it, with unbelievably cold windchill factors…

We (me and my Q-friendly friends) are pretty sure it’s engineered to hide something else.

And then I saw this last evening, re-posted by il donaldo trumpo:

So there we go. Make sure everyone has to stay home in order to see all that on the TV…

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Well, anyway.

Whoever sent the snow did a really great job of it.

Meanwhile.

Here’s this!

You know for sure that you love someone when your heart sort of swells just at the sight of their profiles from 51 years ago…

Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, backstage, Cleveland, US Tour 1975:

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And here’s this– yay!

Which led to THIS — Lo! these many years later!

From the Sydney shows over the weekend:

You can still get tickets to the Brisbane show tomorrow (January 27th) HERE. (Next 2 nights in Melbourne are sold out.)

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Okay, so yesterday was a little weird.

If you saw my post yesterday morning about my discovery that most of my current novels are currently delisted on LULU and so you can’t actually buy them anywhere… not until they are reformatted, anyway.

Well, I just had a difficult time focusing yesterday, but curiously enough, the moment Sandra called and we began discussing the synopsis for the TV project, my brain was suddenly back and we had a really productive call.

So that felt great.

And then I did my yoga, and even though I missed the Zoom call with James Tabor at noon yesterday, I did manage to complete another lesson in the “Christianity before Paul” course before dinner. (I can re-watch the Zoom call but it was 3 hours (!!), so I’ll get to that later.)

So all was not lost. Plus, I was just so relieved that I saw Kon Tiki from the upstairs window and was able to rescue her before she disappeared under the snow.

Oh, and last evening (Sunday, no less, and a Sunday during a snow emergency) I got an unexpected email from one of the lawyers handling my dad’s Estate and they said they had sent me something of his by Registered Mail.

I won’t say exactly what it is, but, wow, I hit the moon! I was just thrilled and it was totally unexpected.

So I ended the evening on a very good note: All the furry critters were safe inside, and my brain was working again, and not absolutely everything of value went to my dad’s stepkids… Yay.

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I guess on that note, I’m gonna get started around here.

The laundry is almost done, and then I have to go outside and start the process of unburying my car so that I can actually use it tomorrow.

And then this coming week, I have 5 regular shifts, and then I have 8 (!!!) days off!!! My stay-at-home-and-write vacation begins!!

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world. If you’re under snow and ice, stay safe!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

This morning (after yesterday’s post inspired me), this fabulous CD from 1988 went into the kitchen CD player!! I hadn’t heard it in a few years and it was so fun.

So, with Kon Tiki constantly asking to be let out, it was a lively breakfast!

Here’s “Dirty World” by the Traveling Wilburys. I love this song! Enjoy, gang.

“Dirty World”

He loves your sexy body, he loves your dirty mind
He loves when you hold him, grab him from behind
Oh baby, you’re such a pretty thing
I can’t wait to introduce you to the other members of my gang

You don’t need no wax job, you’re smooth enough for me
If you need your oil changed I’ll do it for you free
Oh baby, the pleasure would be all mine
If you let me drive your pickup truck and park it where the sun don’t shine

Every time he touches you his hair stands up on end
His legs begin to quiver and his mind begins to bend
Oh baby, you’re such a tasty treat
But I’m under doctor’s orders, I’m afraid to overeat

He loves your sense of humor, your disposition too
There’s absolutely nothing that he don’t love about you
Oh baby, I’m on my hands and knees
Life would be so simple if I only had you to please

Oh baby, turn around and say goodbye
You go to the airport now and I’m going home to cry
He loves your…

Electric dumplings
Red bell peppers
Fuel injection
Service charge
Five-speed gearbox
Long endurance
Quest for junk food
Big refrigerator
Trembling Wilbury
Marble earrings
Porky curtains
Power steering
Bottled water
Parts and service

Dirty world, a dirty world, it’s a …ing dirty world

c – 1988 Tom Petty, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison

I am typing to you from my kitchen table!

All the cats, except for Lulabelle, who is sleeping here in the kitchen near me, are safely closed up in the upstairs bedrooms, as I await the arrival of the AC guys to install my central air conditioning!

Yes, it’s a balmy 27 degrees Fahrenheit, with a “feels like” temperature of 14!! So I’ll be needing that AC as soon as possible!!

But honestly, I still find it a little hard to comprehend that I’m getting all this stuff done for free. A grant, gang.

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Oh, and speaking of grants–

Lambda Literary just announced that it is the recipient of a $350,000 MacArthur Foundation grant! I think that’s really fantastic, gang.

“Advancing and amplifying LGBTQ literature and supporting LGBTQ writers whose stories preserve legacies and build community.”

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While not on a similar note…

I also thought that this was really cool.

Over in the next county, there is a professional theater company, and they just announced their first ever film festival:

Weathervane Film Festival

“Join us for our first ever film festival! Modeled after other two-week festivals, you’ll be asked to create a short film quickly and with specific guidelines. “

Films must be under 8 minutes and submitted by March 6th.

If you live around here and want to enter a film, or know someone who might, visit this link.

I was really impressed to see all the local businesses that are getting behind this and supporting it. I am planning to attend the festival (on March 13th).

(Oddly enough, as I type this, I’m getting constant updates from Variety for the 2026 Oscar nominations…)

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Ronnie Wood wants you to know that you have until the end of January to buy this new painting (and everything else on his website) at 20% off.

So if you want to get this for me at a decent price (normally $1650), you gotta hurry:

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Ditto if you want to get me anything over at Nick Cave’s Cave Things!

If you subscribe to the mailing list, you get 30% off (!!) plus free pencils with every order (subscribe here!!), until the end of the month.

Including but not limited to this lovely rejected album cover art! $21, before the discount and free pencils! (Adults only please!! “Thank you for your attention to this matter! – DJT”)

I’m sure you can imagine how thrilled I would be to receive this, so I’m thanking you in advance!

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Okay!

Here’s this!

Lisa Robinson was my absolute favorite rock journalist back in the old days.

Here’s this from her Instagram account — Lisa, with Keith and Iggy, in the 80s:

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And here’s this.

I’ve heard that Jack’s spirit is alive & well & living in his old house in Florida (where he died, in bed, in 1969). I really cannot decide if I want to visit there or not. After what I went through encountering Rudolph Valentino’s spirit in his old house in Beverly Hills — he took over my life for over 10 years after that, albeit, in a really beautiful way and it yielded probably my best novel. Still, I’m gettin’ really, really old now…

Anyway:

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Before I sign off for today and get to work on the synopsis for the TV proposal with Sandra, I have to tell you about something that happened during the shift with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man yesterday.

It turned out that, right when I was getting ready to head into town, we got a crazy snow storm! (We were supposed to have sun yesterday — see yesterday’s post). So we weren’t able to go out for sashimi and sake.

Right before I left here, I grabbed some eggs and cream from my fridge, in case his private nurse still hadn’t done the grocery shopping. She hadn’t — well, she’d done part of it, but hadn’t bought him eggs or cream for his coffee. So when I got to his house and opened the fridge, I was super glad that I’d had that premonition. I was still going to be able to make him his breakfast without having to order in again.

However, I also saw that he still had some of the vodka cocktail thingie that I’d brought him on Saturday! (He does not ever remember to open his refrigerator, which is why he needs someone to stop in everyday and make him, or buy him, a meal).

I was super excited that he was going to be excited all over again about the vodka.

So, a couple hours after he’d eaten his breakfast and had coffee, I brought him out a little cocktail glass with the vodka in it and he was thrilled! He was just having the best day. I went back into the kitchen to get him some potato chips and suddenly saw EIGHT beautiful deer in his backyard. Eight of them. It was incredible. It was like his backyard was so suddenly full of life.

And when I sat back down in the living room with him, TWO Christmas-light thingies, that I hadn’t turned on since New Year’s Day, suddenly came on, all by themselves. Both of them. At the same time. (They run on batteries.)

It suddenly felt like the whole place was full of wonderful spirits. He agreed with me. It was incredible, gang.

I tried to get a photo without invading his privacy and showing you the whole living room, so these are not great photos:

Anyway, it was just such a wonderful feeling. Magical.

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Okay!

The Oscars just nominated Nick Cave’s song from “Train Dreams” for Best Song! (Netflix film.)

Don’t forget, you can buy tickets to the Sydney shows, Jan 23rd & 24th, HERE.

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And now I’m gonna close this and get started around here.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

**********

I leave you with this!!

More breakfast-listening music from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s tribute album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken #2, 1989 .

Roseanne Cash and John Hiatt, “One Step Over the Line”. Such a great song, written by John Hiatt!! Totally addictive. Enjoy, gang!!

Okay, so it’s going to be in the 60s today.

As in Fahrenheit.

Although, culturally, it’s also likely to be in the 60s around here today, since I started my glorious morning with this fantastic cassette in the retro boombox next to my bed:

And I have to add that I did not want to get out of bed this morning. By that, I mean, get out of bed again, since I had already been out of bed for 2 hours before getting back in it at 6:15AM…

Anyway.

So today: rain all day and a balmy 60-something degrees Fahrenheit.

Followed by tomorrow and Tuesday: More snow!

So fucking weird.

But I’ve decided to keep all the Christmas stuff out until Thursday, since we’re going to have more of that “festive” snow. Even though it doesn’t feel like Christmas at all anymore, because I’ve had the darn tree up for almost a month already.

But I was just lying there, listening to surf music and thinking about how much I love that style of guitar playing. And I was getting wistful, thinking about all the things in my life that are gone now and all the things that are upcoming (if you can get wistful about something that hasn’t happened yet).

But since I have yoga, shower, zoom class with James Tabor — before leaving for my shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat… I finally forced myself to get out of bed.

And here I am.

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So, I’m sure you know that Brigitte Bardot died today at age 91.

There were tons of photos and tributes to her all over Instagram, but Susie Cave’s page was the only page (that I saw, at least) that posted photos of Brigitte with her beloved pets.

All the other pages had photos of Brigitte with her beloved breasts…

Anyway.

I absolutely love this song and it is always the first thing I think of when I hear the name Brigitte Bardot!

Serge Gainsbourg & Brigitte Bardot, “Bonnie and Clyde,” 1968 [in French}:

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And sort of speaking of Nick Cave (by way of his wife, that is)–

Here’s this!

And here’s this handy reminder!!

“The Wild God Tour begins in less than a month in Australia and New Zealand. These unforgettable shows are the band’s most celebrated live production to date, and their first shows in the region since 2017. Renowned for their exhilarating and unforgettable performances, The Bad Seeds are widely regarded as one of the most thrilling live bands in the world. Acclaimed New Zealand singer-songwriter Aldous Harding will support the band at all shows.“

Buy tickets HERE!

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And in her uncanny ability to never, ever fail us (unless she goes on vacation)–

From Phyllis Stein’s Instagram page:

Willy (Mink) DeVille! 2008:

And here’s another song of his that I absolutely loved, and it was indeed part of the soundtrack of my early years living in Manhattan, since I used to also listen to him on my Sony Walkman a lot while riding the A train:

“A Train Lady”

Everybody’s own line
Written for the subway
It’s just another train ride
Hey, why you walking that way
Hey hey hey

You’re looking for a good time
Then you could look-a this way
You’re sippin’ on your lemon-lime
Hey why you lookin’ that way
Hey hey hey

I thought you were a sweet thing
When I saw you riding on the A train

I saw you in the window
Checkin’ out my mohair
I follow far as you go
I believe I’ll find a song there
Hey Hey Hey

I thought you were a sweet thing
When I saw you riding on the A train

So when you’re riding on the A line
And when you feel the backbeat
Lady lookin’ so fine
Wish you’d sit by my seat
Hey hey hey hey

Falling over my feet
Following you all the way to High Street

Yes all the way to High Street
And I wish you were my baby
All the way, all the way
All the way to High Street

c – 1978 – Mink DeVille, Dave Forman

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If you’re interested in this kind of stuff–

Dr. Eli’s Blog has a lot of keen insights about how to understand the New Testament, by way of explaining the translations of the original Greek and/or Aramaic:

Jewish Studies for Christians

Today’s topic: “Why Jesus Called Gentiles Dogs”

“…The Greek word Jesus uses, however, is not the harsh term for stray dogs (κύων / kyōn) but the diminutive κυνάριον (kynarion—’little dogs’ or ‘puppies’). Most scholars see these words as deliberately softening the image… Jesus is drawing a theological, covenantal boundary. The ‘children’ represent Israel, God’s covenant family. The ‘bread’ symbolizes the blessings of salvation and healing. The ‘dogs’ signify Gentiles—those outside the household yet close enough to receive scraps. …”

[full article here. 5-minute read]

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And here’s this–

Loyal readers of this lofty blog know that I’m a big fan of nicotine (not cigarettes) and it’s many health benefits.

If it is a new topic for you, this is a great, in depth interview.

Alex Clark — Nicotine Is Not the Villain: What Big Pharma Hides From Parents | Dr. Bryan Ardis, DC (48 mins):

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Other than that, I’m still in that strange sort of mood that I was in yesterday. And I wish I had time today to just sit and stare.

Although I can’t wait to see the retired Minister’s wife later today, to thank her for that adorable Christmas gift she made for me.

And even though I’m actually very eager for that first zoom class in James Tabor’s new course to get underway today, I will be really happy when the day is behind me and it’s evening and I’m walking in through my kitchen door, and eventually collapsing on the couch in my family room with a couple of cuddly kittens and watching yet another episode (that I’ve already seen!!) of “Mrs. Brown’s Boys.” And then — having tomorrow off.

Moving ever closer to 2026.

Yay.

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So on that note — I gotta get moving here.

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

It came on my playlist in the car, just as I was exiting the freeway yesterday afternoon and heading home to the Hinterlands!

More vivid memories of my early days in Manhattan, gang.

It really made me smile. I cranked up the volume. (And FYI, the anniversary of Joe Strummer’s death was just a few days ago. He’s been gone now since 2002.)

The Clash. “This is Radio Clash,” 1981. Play it loud. Enjoy, gang.