Yes! It’s another gloomy day here in the Hinterlands! You know how much I love that. However —

Yesterday, gang, was a really interesting day for me.

First off, Peitor and I continue to get some really keen interest in our TV Pilot and series proposal, stemming from Series Mania in France a couple weeks back.

We still have a lot of work to do on revising the script — we’ve mapped it all out, we just need to actually format it into scenes and put it in the script. But we are both seriously energized about the interest we’re getting.

I have FOUR (!!) days off from caregiving this coming week. One day will be set aside to drive down and visit my dad’s grave. Half a day will be set aside for practicing at the shooting range (apparently spending spiritual time with my other dad — my birth father — whose heavenly birthday is tomorrow, btw. He would have been 80 !!! I cannot process this. He is eternally about 43 in my mind.)

Anyway, the rest of the time off will be spent on the script. (Oh, and looking after newborn kittens!!)

(Oh, and guess who kept walking back & forth past my kitchen porch yesterday, checking out the little straw-filled cat houses? The little girls from next door!!!! I know they are trying to find the kittens!!!!! (Who are here inside with me now.) Here’s hoping, though, that their mom will let them adopt at least one!!)

Okay, anyway. I digress.

So the reason yesterday was so interesting for me — I had a conversation with the woman who cleans house for the clients I was with yesterday. We talked about a lot of things — mostly Medicare, insurance in general, her grown kids & their lives, the scary health situations with most of my clients.

And I came away from that realizing that I have a really incredible life.

Even on my limited income these days, I still own my own home with a very low mortgage, I lease a brand new Honda that NEVER breaks down, I am really seriously healthy, my debts are manageable now, I live in a village that is peaceful, quiet, safe, with about zippo crime. I have had a wonderful career (and it isn’t over yet), and I somehow managed to get the most amazing insurance guy who has made the whole Medicare thing a truly affordable breeze for me.

I’m usually so focused on making sure the bills are paid, feeding 729 cats, getting to all my various clients on time, not feeling emotionally drained by the time I get home, etc., that I haven’t stepped back and gotten a broad view of my life, in general, for quite a while — and now, compared to the average person in the next county.

Wow.

But on that happy note — I gotta scoot. Another day awaits with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client!! And who knows what sorts of jaw-dropping coincidences will be revealed today?! We shall soon find out.

Okay!!

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world, gang.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!!

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Here’s this!! The countdown to Good Friday and Easter continues!!

James Tabor – Last Days of Jesus Pt 2–What Got Him Killed? (8 mins):

I slept in this morning because yesterday wound up being a really, really, REALLY draining day.

I am hoping that today will be completely different.

But this is just a quick post, because I gotta leave here soon. And if all things seem good with him when I get to his house, my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client and I will be going here:

Sashimi — and sake (for him).

It’s been raining a lot here so we probably won’t stop at the nature preserve, but I guess we’ll see. He really loves doing that.

Tomorrow should be a really nice day for me — my Q-following girlfriend from town and I are meeting for lunch after my shift. Going to our favorite place — Tequilaville!!

I really, really need a break. I need to have some fun and laugh and relax with someone who knows me well and who is not a client. Even though I really love my clients.

Hopefully, I’ll have enough energy when I get home later today to do some more work on the pilot script. We still have a few more revisions we want to do. But I’m still really happy with the direction the changes are going in.

Which reminds me —

I love this show!! It is so much fun. Valerie in Brooklyn turned me on to it last week. “Ludwig,” a BBC murder mystery series starring David Mitchell. There are 3 episodes so far on BritBox.

Okay, that’s it. I gotta scoot!

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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An old favorite…

Yes, I wish it would quit raining, but, as we are constantly reminded when we say that: “April showers bring May flowers!” So I’m trying to be okay with it.

At least the weather is warm — no jackets necessary, for now. AND — my dogwood is blooming!

It’s an ancient dogwood tree, outside my kitchen window, but two seasons ago, it suddenly sprang an entirely new tree from it’s trunk and that one is blooming like crazy right now. (The older part of the tree takes a little longer, but it’s full of buds.)

Anyway. When I saw the dogwood blooming when I came home yesterday, it made me really happy.

I had a rough day yesterday with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client. I’m not sure what caused the setback, but when I arrived, he was already dressed and sitting in his wheelchair in the kitchen — right in front of the kitchen door. Totally silent. He scared the heck out of me when I let myself in because he is usually still asleep in bed.

The hard part for me was that he didn’t recognize me. He didn’t know who I was. I could see he was really struggling with it, so I just tried to act normal, do what I always do, say what I always say, and as the day went on he mostly got his bearings — I’d say 99%.

That depresses me when it happens, but it had been a really long time since it last happened, so it was hard. But I had to hide all of those feelings in order to not alarm him — which makes it even harder on me.

And today, I have a different client. She is in really bad shape. She is very emotionally attached to me when I’m there, so that is exhausting, too — and, again, I can’t show it.

Anyway. I’m working hard to stay aligned with myself.

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If you signed up for those White House text messages, then I’m sure you got the link to Trump’s speech yesterday — explaining Liberation Day.

Not just tariffs but the colossal amount of money that various countries and companies have committed to giving to the US.

From George News yesterday afternoon — (includes news footage):

“HAPPY LIBERATION DAY, AMERICA! 🇺🇸💰

President Donald J. Trump has secured nearly $5,000,000,000,000 in investment and trade commitments from across the globe.”

If you missed his speech, you can see it in easy segments HERE.

My understanding is that within 6 months, we should start to see some remarkable affects to our overall economy because of this.

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There’s also this from Trump — which should help us all enormously:

“Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have been working tirelessly on taking the next step to pass the plan for our ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL, as it is known, as well as getting us closer to the Debt Extension necessary to continue our great work. The Senate Budget plan gives us the tools that we need to get our shared priorities done, including certain PERMANENT Tax Cuts, Spending Cuts, Energy, Historic Investments in Defense, Border, and much more. We are going to cut Spending, and right-size the Budget back to where it should be. The Senate Plan has my Complete and Total Support. Likewise, the House is working along the same lines. Every Republican, House and Senate, must UNIFY. We need to pass it IMMEDIATELY!”

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Okay, with that, I guess I gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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The other day, I picked up a used Best of Neil Diamond CD at the Dollar Store. So that’s what I’ve been playing in the mornings.

What I find interesting is that most of these hits, I remember primarily from his live album, Hot August Night (1972), which both my mom and I listened to constantly back then. (My adoptive mother was a huge Neil Diamond fan.)

So listening to the original versions of these hit songs, the way they first sounded on AM radio, and not listening to them “live”, is sort of jarring. But in a good way. It makes the songs sound more immediate and intimate, and in some cases, heartbreaking.

As I’ve been re-listening to the song “Shilo”, it sort of stops me short now, because I see the parallels now between the lyrics and how my own life was back then — although from a girl’s point of view, and my “Shilo” was my imaginary birth father in my head.

If you’re new to the blog — I suffered from mental illness for most of my life, stemming from relentless mental, emotional, physical and (later) sexual abuse. I lived about 90% of my waking hours in an imaginary world. Especially when I was at home. And I didn’t talk very much. If I wasn’t alone in my room, I usually sat quietly and stared.

Anyway. All of this comes back to me while listening to this song. But it’s a beautiful song.

“Shilo” by Neil Diamond. Here is the Hot August Night version (1972) — the one I knew best. Enjoy, gang.

“Shilo”

Young child with dreams
Dream every dream on your own
When children play
Seems like you end up alone
Papa says he’d love to be with you
If he had the time
So you turn to the only friend you can find
There in your mind

Shilo, when I was young
I used to call your name
When no one else would come
Shilo, you always came and we’d play

Young girl with fire
Something said she understood
I wanted to fly
She made me feel like I could

Held my hand out, I let her take me
Blind as a child
All I saw was the way
That she made me smile
She made me smile

Shilo, when I was young
I used to call your name
When no one else would come
Shilo, you always came and you’d stay

Had a dream and it filled me with wonder
She had other plans
“Got to go” and I know that you’ll understand
I understand

Shilo, when I was young
I used to call your name
When no one else would come
Shilo, you always came

Come today
Shilo
Shilo

c- 1968 Neil Diamond

Okay, it’s officially April 2nd.

Allegedly, today is “Liberation Day,” but I have no idea what that will end up meaning.

I’ve heard it could involve something with the new tariffs. I’ve heard it will be the final closure of the IRS — the IRS building in DC has been closed down for years, and officially became part of the US Treasury. But people speculate that now it will be gone for good. I don’t know.

I also saw this from Laura Aboli this morning:

“So April 2nd is Liberation Day…🤔

The Coinage Act of 1792 was passed by Congress on April 2, 1792 establishing the United States Mint and set up the country’s first standardized monetary system.

-It created the dollar as the official unit of currency (NOT the Federal Reserve Note)

• It established a gold-to-silver ratio of 15:1 (NOT the ~90:1 ratio we see today)
  -It required an “impression emblematic of liberty,” the word “Liberty,” and the year.
  -It set harsh penalties for Mint employees who debased coins —up to death, reflecting how seriously they took currency integrity. (Our currency has been debased ~97% since the Fed was created in 1913)

Anyone think it’s a coincidence that Trump picked that date?”

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Meanwhile, I guess we just have to wait and see.

Speaking of the IRS, I actually enjoyed getting my taxes done yesterday. I had it done for free by the AAPR over at the Senior Center. (Which I found out yesterday used to be an Amish restaurant — it was so beautiful inside. So much gorgeous wood everywhere.)

The woman who did my taxes was about my age and she was so cool. I could easily be friends with her. I loved her sense of humor, as well as her hints that she was likely a Truther in her off-hours.

I owe money to the Fed, as usual. Not nearly so much this year as in years gone by ($90). But I’m getting money back from the State and can just turn it over to the Feds as soon as it arrives.

And on we go.

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Sad news this morning.

Val Kilmer passed away from pneumonia, after having lived for many years with throat cancer.

I loved Val Kilmer! I thought he was an incredibly fun actor. If you never saw the movie “Tombstone“, what are you waiting for???? He was so great playing Doc Holliday in that movie! Just a stunning performance. Funny, powerful, subtle.

During the summer of lockdowns, he created a limited edition coffee mug, with one of his (many) famous lines from that film: “I have not yet begun to defile myself”. I bought the cup immediately — in honor of his passing, I’m actually using it right now — and I posted several photos of it to Instagram (summer 2020):

And then Val Kilmer, himself, posted my post! Read to the bottom of two shots:

And then I found this other photo on my phone this morning — it got me sort of wistful because not only was my iPad still usable back then (you can see it to the left of my coffee cup — I used it constantly before it became obsolete), but my glorious maple tree was still outside my window back then. I loved that tree SO MUCH:

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If you never saw “Tombstone” watch these clips:

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Okay.

I gotta scoot and head out to see my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man.

Enjoy your Liberation Day, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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RIP Val Kilmer. You were such a treasure!

Of course, we shall see as it actually unfolds.

But — I have the day off, again. 3rd day in a row.

And the sun might actually come out today! Yay.

And yesterday — some things happened for which I am grateful!!

1.) My furnace went out — just when the temperatures were dropping back down to freezing. Not so “yay”. But the repair guy got here by 3PM. And had it fixed in about 5 minutes. And it only cost me $195 — which includes maintenance for a whole year on 3 appliances (including the furnace).

I had actually been thinking lately about getting a home warranty, since all my appliances are aging, and so this was actually a relief for me. And at a price I can actually afford. (How weird is that, actually??)

2.) Since I never get any money back from my taxes anymore, I always just file at the last minute. But this year, I decided to go back to using AARP’s free tax service for Seniors, rather than just doing it all online, since I am currently paying off some back taxes. (Having a past balance due makes it sort of impossible to do online.)

Yesterday morning, I realized that today, April begins, so I called the Senior Center to schedule with AARP to do my taxes for free — and they had ONE(!!) spot left for the entire season!! And it was for this morning!! And so I got the final slot!!

I found that very cool. So whoever is looking out for me and sending me these subliminal hints — thank you!!

And, just generally, my caregiving schedule is a lot easier this month — some of the hours have changed. So my workdays should be less stressful for a little while.

All in all, I woke up this morning feeling like I could actually handle being alive, and it’s been awhile since I felt that way first thing in the morning. So, yay!!

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I have some work to do on the pilot script this afternoon, but not too difficult. So it really should be a nice day.

And regarding yesterday on the shooting range (see yesterday’s posts) — I wanted to say that my birth dad’s energy came through again! He was definitely there — in my head. Sometimes I could mentally “feel” him, lining up the shot. And when I felt that happening, I would suddenly hear Jimmy Cliff singing “Vietnam” in my head!! (My birth dad was a Navy SEAL and served in Vietnam throughout that entire war. ) Wow, gang. It was such an amazing feeling.

I cannot tell you the last time I heard Jimmy Cliff’s record, “Vietnam”. Probably back in the early 80s. So it’s not like it’s a song I have thought about at all.

I didn’t tell my instructor that this was happening in my head. No reason to have them think I’m completely nuts over there. However, whenever that would happen in my head — with the song, etc. — the bullseye would be unbelievably on target. To the point where the instructor would actually say, “that one was incredible”.

So. Wow.

All righty.

I guess I better get moving here and head over to the Senior Center. (Oddly enough, it’s about 3 feet from the shooting range.)

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

Yes, it’s raining, but it still feels like Spring so a few of the windows are open, the cats are ecstatic and sitting in the open windows, and I’m feeling kinda happy ! Yay.

The “wow” part does not come from Phil’s post last night.

It comes, instead, from those 4 pages of notes from Peitor yesterday, regarding changes to the TV pilot script — his notes were incredible, gang. Honestly.

I was reading them over yesterday evening and wondering where the heck these ideas had suddenly come from because they were perfect. Story-wise. They are exactly what we need to tighten the story.

So I am just super excited about that, gang.

I will be chatting with him in about an hour and then my world will return to typing nonstop. But that’s okay, because I feel excited again.

Even though I was really tired yesterday — physically and emotionally and mentally — I had another great day with my 94-year-old Japanese client.

We went out for sashimi at Peony Bistro.

And I have to stress again how welcoming their staff is to us. They are always so friendly as we come wobbling in — well, I don’t wobble, I walk really slowly because I am supporting him as he wobbles in on his wooden leg, with his cane, as we undertake the slow process of finally arriving.

And he was in such great spirits because he absolutely loves sashimi. And sake. (He always leaves there feeling “pleasantly intoxicated” but he says it in Japanese, which I can’t possibly spell or type.)

As an aside — sake is sort of sacred to him. His father was born on a sake rice farm. In 1870. The sake farm was somewhat prosperous, still, his father’s father felt he had too many mouths to feed so he gave his son away. Just gave him away. To a Buddhist priest in a small town just outside Hiroshima.

Giving children away back then seems to have been common, since my client’s mother had a similar — but worse — experience. She lived in Tokyo and her father sold her into prostitution.

Both his parents eventually made their way to NYC (where my client was born in 1930) and eventually became very prosperous. But that’s a whole other blog post because his father, in particular, had a really incredible life.

Anyway. We went and had sashimi and then we went back to the nature preserve by his house. It was a really nice day yesterday.

As another aside, I have to say that even though my client’s family is Japanese, there are some uncanny similarities between his family’s early life and my novel, Neptune & Surf. (In my novel, the family is Chinese, but from the same era, and they end up living in Brooklyn, on Surf Avenue, near the Coney Island Boardwalk.)

This is not a plug for my book, but if you haven’t read it, here’s a link. And here’s the eBook.

I have not told my client about this novel because he still has an extremely healthy libido so we are just not gonna go there. But I know for certain that if he did read Neptune & Surf he would be just as astounded as I am by the similarities.

My client does know I’m a writer, but I only talk vaguely about the plays and the screenplays. Nevertheless, he insists that I am an “incredible writer”, and that I wrote the Broadway play, “South Pacific” about eleven years before I was born.

He has a great sense of humor.

Okay, anyway!!! Enough of all this!!

Here’s a quick update from James Tabor, who is in Israel right now with Simcha Jacobovici, filming some upcoming episodes for “The Naked Archeologist”.

New Investigations of the 1st Century Skeletal Remains at Masada (15 mins):

I have to finish up the laundry now and then get ready for a marathon chat with Peitor about fixing the script.

I hope you have a wonderful Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

Driving-home-from-town music from yesterday!!

Such great memories — from the days when I was living down on E.12th Street, in the East Village, NYC, and working part-time, along with most of my friends, at the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan. We all LOVED this song!( MoMA was such a great place back then. Sadly, it has changed a lot.)

Anyway!

David Johansen/Buster Poindexter — such a great song, and a great video!! “Hot Hot Hot” 1987. Enjoy, gang!!

Well, last evening was nothing like what I was anticipating (should I even say, hoping for?)

The dinner at the yacht club on Buckeye Lake, to honor the memory of Molly, one of my client’s who recently passed away — the food was great, the views were spectacular, the yacht club itself (established in 1906) was really rustic and welcoming. But there were too many of us seated at a huge round banquet table to make it easy to really share our memories of Molly.

Her husband did tell a few really wonderful stories about her, which captured her personality completely, but even he gave up after awhile because it was just too large a table to be easily heard and the room itself (Friday night) was really crowded and a bit noisy.

Anyway, I left there feeling a little out of sorts about all of it. And this morning, I woke up feeling like I was in a state of grieving, and not in a state of closure on anything. (You know how feeling grief about one thing can open a door to grief over a lot of other things? That’s how I woke up feeling at 4AM.)

However —

In yet another uncanny and eerie coincidence involving my 94-year-old Japanese client — about halfway through the dinner last night, I suddenly looked over at the wall (instead of at the lake outside the huge windows) and I saw a large memorial plaque mounted there.

I studied it for a moment until my mouth basically fell open. It was honoring the founder of the yacht club, back in 1906, and he was the father of the man who built the house my Japanese client currently lives in! Where he spent 20 wonderful years with his 2nd wife, the love of his life.

The very same midcentury modern ranch house wherein I sit with my client for many hours, several times a week. It is such a great house. (The man who built the house, the son of the founder of the yacht club, was an architect and city planner. He built it for himself and his own wife , back in 1957, and they raised 3 daughters in it. It is really a great house. I have described it here on the blog before.)

Anyway. I was sort of really just dumbfounded by the coincidence and at that point, I just wanted to get up and leave the yacht club. That feeling like “I got what I came for — beautiful yacht club led to the beautiful home that my favorite Japanese client calls paradise.”

So a lot of jumbled up feelings when I awoke this morning. At one point, I even started to cry, which really isn’t like me. But it had been an intense week for me, with clients really, really needing a lot of emotional support from me. I mean, a lot.

Still, this morning is rather beautiful. A strange look to the sky — perhaps related to the partial solar eclipse today? I don’t know.

But it was so peaceful as I was lying in bed. Birds singing. And it’s warm — in the low 70s Fahrenheit. My windows were open.

And the guy who takes care of my lawn all season starts cutting the grass today. So clearly, it’s Spring. So I was able to find a new perspective and get my day underway.

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Peitor has already sent me 4 pages of script notes this morning — for me to go over when I get home later today. He included a note that said something like, “If you could go over this so that by Sunday we can talk about it. Then we can just pull a few scenes out and make some quick changes — the script should be done in a few days.”

His concept of some changes taking “a few days” —

— and my experience telling me “theses changes are a TON of work” –usually don’t really jibe–

But we shall see, gang! And, as usual, time is of the essence around here.

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Okay.

Enjoy your partial-solar-eclipse Saturday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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