I’m not sure why this bothers me so much. Well, I know why it bothers me so much: it just feels like yet another way to make money off of Tom Petty.

There’s a new release now (and a video that one of Tom’s daughters directed) where sons of famous musicians (plus Willie Nelson) did a cover of a song Tom Petty wrote that never got released in his lifetime. It got released earlier this year, on the Geffen double-album, “The Best of Everything.”

The song is called, “For Real,” and I have a hard time listening to that song just generally. It makes me sad and it also sort of makes me uncomfortable. I almost never play it and if it comes on the stream or the CD player, I almost always skip over it. Plus I just don’t think it’s a really strong song — almost too personal, in a way.  And a few months back, when I read on one of his daughters Instagram feeds that this was in the works, I wondered why this specific song? And it felt to me like just a way to make more money since a.) Tom Petty can’t write any new songs from where he’s at now — or at least not songs that it would be easy for us to hear; and b.) I think there’s some sort of legal stuff going on between his 2nd wife and his daughters that’s holding up the production of a Wildflowers Part 2, which allegedly has a ton of previously unreleased songs on it that will probably sell through the roof and make everybody that much richer if they can get past fighting each other in court.

I know, I sound a little bit nasty about it— and I do remember reading, in an interview not long before he died, that he wanted to release those songs that didn’t make it into the first (massively huge-selling) Wildflowers from 1994. So it’s not that I don’t believe he wanted those other song’s released. It’s just this specific song project that feels to me like his heirs making money off of him posthumously however they can…

Anyway. Such is my opinion on that.  I don’t know why I don’t just quit following these things on Instagram that perplex me or upset me or that leave me with too many unanswerable questions that I can’t quit pondering…!!

Something else happened that bothered me a whole big bunch, too. Something I overheard today that wasn’t any of my business but it just pushed all my buttons.

It involved a young guy I really just adore— from a distance. He’s the kind of guy that, if I’d been able to have a son, I would have wanted him to be just like this young guy. He’s smart, funny, independent, off the wall. (Once, I overheard him say the funniest thing. He was really frustrated about something— I don’t know what — and he spluttered out, “Jesus, I haven’t been able to get any peace since ‘Nam!” I thought that was so fucking funny. You know, he was born around 40 years after that war ended, and of course Vietnam has the reputation of having been nothing remotely close to being peaceful in any way. Why would he think to blurt that out? Just too cute.)

Anyway, this angry girl was verbally abusing him in this psychotic way and it totally reminded me of how my adoptive mother used to talk when she was on one of her psychotic soapboxes. It made my skin crawl. On the outside, this young girl seemed so pretty and “normal.” Then this rampage of ugliness came out of her mouth and then she went stalking off in a self-righteous huff. It made me feel so bad for the guy. All my maternal instincts just came rushing to the surface; I was just horrified by that girl because she reminded me so much of my adoptive mother. And I realized that I wanted to protect him from all the garbage in this world, but there’s not really a darn thing I can do about it.

Other than that, I’ve had just a really good energy day. I woke up chipper and happy and full of joy and hope. (And chocolate!! I need to get a grip on all this holiday indulgence pretty soon…..) I just think 2020 is going be such a great year, gang. I really do. And I can’t wait for Christmas, even though I’m just going to be alone with the cats and I don’t believe it’s really going to snow, but I know I’m just going to have a really sacred and beautiful day.

I hope you guys are gearing up for a lovely Christmas, too,  if that’s what you celebrate. I leave you with the song I was listening to all morning — a song that makes me feel so in love. Thanks for visiting!! I love you guys. See ya.

https://youtu.be/AM4nWq6mU9k

Well. This morning was the first morning in 7 years — when I haven’t been out of town, or out of the country entirely, that is — that I’ve woken before dawn, went down to the kitchen and the cats had already been fed!!

I woke up at 6am, and for some weird reason, Huckleberry was sort of dancing merrily in my bedroom. So I figured I’d better hurry up and get downstairs and feed them before my mom woke up, because the cats scurry and hide and then won’t eat if someone else gets anywhere near the kitchen at feeding time.

But when I got downstairs, my mom was already awake and in the kitchen washing the cats’ bowls because they’d already eaten. I was stunned by this.

I mean, I know she took care of them for that week that I was gone, but I just wasn’t expecting that she would do that. This trip, she’s just visiting, you know?

Well, I thanked her and then turned around and went immediately back to bed until the sun came up. I had no clue what to do with myself at that hour if the cats didn’t need me to feed them. And it occurred to me — well, it’s been occurring to me the whole time my mom’s been here — that I spend an enormous amount of time alone, and it’s starting to throw me when my routine changes. If I’m traveling and I’m staying with people, or interacting with them really early in the morning, I’m okay with that. Because I’m in a different environment. But it’s been nearly 2 years now that I’ve been here alone in this house, in a town where no one knows me at all…

I seriously don’t want to become one of those old ladies whose intensely isolated and set in her ways!! But it felt like it was happening to me.

My mom is really, really quiet. And so am I, normally. The first night that she was here, she had a few beers and that always makes her very chatty. But the last 2 nights, she hasn’t felt like having any beer, so she’s been just super quiet. And I find that 9.9 out of the 10 things that are always in my head only make me sound utterly insane if I try talking about them, so I get really quiet, too.

It added to my fear that I was just becoming really isolated and incapable of talking to people in a normal way and that I was just going to get old and be like that. The full moon isn’t helping. It feels like it’s one of those full moons that’s causing me a lot of free-floating anxiety. Because I’m not sure why I would have all this weird anxiety otherwise.

Part of it is that I really want Blessed by Light to get a book deal, and it’s been 6 months now that queries went out to various small presses. So that’s been on my mind. Other than that, I don’t have any real reason at all to feel anxious. But I feel it anyway.

My dad called & left a message on Tuesday evening and I didn’t have time to get back to him until early Wednesday morning. And when I called back, he answered immediately and wanted to know what had taken me so long to return his call. He was worried that maybe I’d fallen and since I’m alone, I couldn’t get to the phone…

Oh my god, you know? Have I become that little old lady who falls when she’s alone and then can’t get up?? Whoa. Like, what is happening here? It sort of freaked me out. I don’t feel old at all.

But when I told him that my birth mom was here, he was not at all aware of that, so you know, at least he’s not reading my blog…

Then last night, I got a strange email from my ex-husband in Seattle and he was talking about how difficult it will be to get to the grocery store when we get old and how it’s okay to get groceries delivered but that you don’t want other people picking out your produce for you, and public transportation doesn’t always take you where you prefer to shop, etc.

What the fuck??!! Jesus, it sounded so bleak. I wrote back , “You’re exhausting me.” You know, why is he bringing this up? Man. I’m just feeling so weird.

Anyway. I have decided to make an effort to not get too wrapped up in my daily routine and to try to not get too isolated. It was one of the reasons I threw out the old Christmas coffee mug instead of gluing it back together and keeping it as a “reminder.” There are indeed plenty of good things to remember about those early years — my first husband being one of them; my songwriting being another. But overall, I need brand new experiences now. I don’t need to remember 40 years ago in New York.

On a similar note, though, it has felt really weird to not be writing every day. Again, if I’m out of town or something, it’s not a big deal at all to not write. But being here in the house and not writing has felt very, very discombobulating. (Don’t you just love that word?) I noticed that I got really fidgety. I need to get a grip on so many things!

In the past, that would be an ideal time to have a few drinks, smoke some cigarettes, forget about all my cares & woes and either watch movies, or listen to music, or — heaven forbid — hang out with my friends. (Of which I have about 3, at this point, who aren’t gravely ill or you know, already dead. And none of those 3 come anywhere near Crazeysburg.) (So I need new friends, too. I’m accepting applications today at 3 o’clock…) (Just kidding, You needn’t fill out an application. Just show up.) (Roses and chocolate are good things to bring along, though.)

That reminds me! I gave Kara her birthday gifts, which she seems to have loved, and they did indeed make her think of her mom, who passed away unexpectedly last year. But then she turned around and gave me gifts for giving her the birthday gifts! It was the most amazing thing — has anyone ever done that to you?

Anyway, it was what she gave me that was so touching. She gave me little pieces of costume jewelry that had belonged to her mom. She said, “I know how much you love roses, Marilyn, so I especially wanted you to have this.” It’s a tiny pin, that her mom had had since high school. It absolutely melted my heart.

Okay, well. On that note. I still have a house guest here so I gotta scoot!! Thanks for visiting, gang. I hope you have a wonderful day, wherever you are in the world. Try not to get too isolated. Don’t live too far from your favorite grocery store. And don’t fall down without being able to get back up… I love you guys. See ya!

Well, it’s been a busy day around here! I’m already exhausted and the tree is only part way done.

But cookies got baked, the laundry got done, I finished cleaning the house, washed my hair (!!), and then when my mom arrived, we drove to town to get the groceries and came back and started dealing with all the tree stuff…

I hope your Monday has been a nice one, wherever you are in the world. Sorry this is so short! Having pizza right now with my mom, listening to Christmas music with Johnny Mathis. Then it’s back to the tree. Thanks for visiting! I love you guys. See ya!

Okay, gang! Another scientific paper weighing in on the James Ossuary as likely belonging to the Jesus family Talpiot Tomb has been published!

You can read more in depth about the latest chemical findings at Dr. James Tabor’s site, at JamesTabor.com.

If you are keeping track at all, or even only mildly curious— the James Ossuary, several years ago, was declared to NOT be a hoax or a fake. It is a 1st Century C.E. Ossuary that held the bones of James the Just, Jesus’ brother, who was the man who carried on the Jesus Movement after his brother was crucified. He himself was also murdered by the High Priests in 62 C.E. — the son-in-law of Caiaphas is also thought to have been behind condemning James to death. (Primarily by stoning.)

The Talpiot Tomb is considered by many historians now to have been the tomb of Jesus, his wife the revered Mariamne (thought by many to be Mary of Magdala), their child, several of Jesus’ brothers, including James, and an uncle and perhaps Jesus’ mother, Mary.

I find all of this extremely exciting.

Many historians who specialize in the era of Ancient Christianity believe now that Jesus was married.  And DNA testing of the bone fragments found in the Talpiot Tomb conclude that Mariamne, whoever she actually was, was the wife of the man whose ossuary calls him Jesus son of Joseph.

Some historians also believe that the wife, Mariamne, was Mary of Magdala, a wealthy woman who was a supporter of Jesus Movement.

One of the (many) non-scientific reasons why I believe that Mariamne was Mary of Magdala is based on the fact that one of the MANY very early Near Eastern Christian faiths that was eventually declared heretical by followers of Pauline Christianity, worshipped both Jesus and Mary Magdalene together as equals and that the two  were considered married. Why ancient people would  believe that for no reason whatsoever makes little sense to me. And other documents that have been declared authentic at least to their time period, refer to Jesus as having a wife.

To understand the possibilities of any of this, though, you first need to understand that the mythology surrounding Jesus and his Movement (which very closely resembles pagan mythology) seems to have been added to what became Christianity well after Jesus of Nazareth was crucified.  Followers of Paul became what we now think of as Christianity, whereas  followers of James and Jesus’ other brothers — who were also systematically murdered — were eventually wiped clean from History. It is next to impossible, these centuries later, to know what Jesus actually taught or believed, or what the Jesus Movement was actually about. The Letter of James comes closest, probably, to giving us any real clues. This is because early Christian fathers erased all history of the Movement since it was a Jewish Movement and Paul’s teachings, and beliefs, eventually took him very far from his own Jewish background and from  allowing any Jewish traditions to be connected to the man named Jesus who became the Christ.

The main thing that seems to have been determined by some historians is that Jesus’ Movement was based on healing, teaching, and communal meals. Nothing else seems to be left of his Movement. One reason why the Talpiot Tomb discovery— along with additional scientific papers that sustain the discoveries about the tomb and the ossuaries discovered in it — are so exciting to me, is that it brings us ever closer to understanding the actual Jesus, who I believe was extraordinary. To me, it doesn’t diminish him in any way. It only points to something extraordinary that happened connected to Jesus.

Okay! Well, I hope you’ve had a great Saturday, wherever you are in the world!! Thanks for visiting, gang. I love you guys. See ya!