It does sort of feel like part of a day off.

I don’t have a client until this afternoon. AND (!!) Peitor is currently in an airplane enroute to Montreal, so I did not have 700 files of notes in my inbox this morning!!

I did have 7 texts from him in WhatsApp by 5:30AM, but they did not require me to do anything. Yet. (They will, though.)

The script for the TV pilot is DONE. And we ran it by a long-time, veteran screenwriter in LA, to check for formatting errors (there were a few), but now it is really, truly done, and we can focus on the synopsis and the pitch bible. And we still have 4 weeks to get it all into shape.

So we are on track, but I still feel kind of exhausted. But I guess in a good way.

We’re running the script by Wayne in NYC right now — just to get his impression of the show: would it be something he would watch if he randomly stumbled upon the show on TV?

Wayne despises everything on TV, so if there’s even a glimmer of interest from him, that will be exciting!

AND continuing in the not totally exhausted YET department:

Sandra called yesterday, so we are gearing up to get back to “The Guide to Being Fabulous” both Off-Broadway, and the HBO adaptation.

[Sandra said: “I bet all your projects are going to hit at once and you’re going to be really busy.” I get that feeling, too, frankly and it’s fucking scary.]

************

Meanwhile.

Yesterday! Wow, gang.

My 94-year-old Japanese client did indeed wish to go to Peony Bistro for lunch. And the food was fantastic and the restaurant was really pretty inside.

They serve both Chinese and Japanese food, so we had the Japanese food and really, my client was in heaven. Even though he was born in NYC, back in 1930, he did spend many, many years living in Japan. (Including during WWII.) It meant so much to him — not just to have an outing , but the fact that not only was the Japanese food authentic, but also that the restaurant had such great ambiance. That meant a lot to him.

He was in such good spirits. And we laughed a lot. He is still coherent enough to have a great sense of humor. At the end of our meal, they brought us each a fortune cookie, but he said he was not interested in his.

I said, “You don’t want to know what your fortune is?”

“No.”

“You want it to just run into you all at once, when you aren’t even prepared for it?’

He laughed and said yes. So. I opened his fortune cookie for him. Here they are! I thought they were both a little uncanny. Mine was the one about finances:

So, we had just an incredible day. We really did. And I get to go back to that same restaurant on Saturday afternoon, with my Q-following friend!! (I texted her last night to let her know the food was really good.)

*************

On other fronts.

I did indeed get a membership to the local shooting range, where I took that introductory class back in December. The new client the agency assigned me this week lives very close to the shooting range, so it will give me plenty of opportunities each week to stop in and practice (handguns). So I decided to get the membership.

One of the perks, though, that comes with the membership: I can get a FREE machine gun rental for one entire month. Doesn’t that just wreak of an accident waiting to happen? I cannot imagine even wanting to touch a machine gun. Anyway…

*************

I guess that’s it for today.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

************

I leave you with this.

I am still sort of reeling from the news about David Johansen (see yesterday’s “Update” post.) And doing the kind of in-home caregiver work that I do — I know how incredibly expensive it is to get good quality care when you are dying. And how awful the quality of care can be in this country when you have to rely on any kind of welfare. It just broke my heart that his daughter had to go to the press and ask his fans to please help, that their money is basically gone.

If you can contribute to his Sweet Relief Musicians fund, it is here.

I know I’ve posted about the New York Dolls on the blog before, but I will repeat: I will never forget being 13 years old, and discovering In Too Much Too Soon in the record department at the local discount store!

What a thrill. I really, really LOVED glam rock back then. And I loved that whole album. (I also loved when he had his Buster Poindexter act in the 1980s.)

While it breaks my heart to know what he is going through at the end of his life now, I feel so blessed to be able to contribute even a little bit every month to help his family help him. There were quite a few years here recently when I could not even afford to feed myself.

So. Here’s one from the New York Dolls, followed by my favorite Buster Poindexter song!! Enjoy, gang.

Today’s a big day, gang.

I am taking my favorite client — the 94-year-old Japanese man — out for lunch today!!

He has been telling me for weeks now that he wants to go out to lunch. He goes out to lunch — and to run errands, and even to church — with his private nurse all the time. So he’s “allowed” to go out.

But today is going to be his first outing with me.

Oddly enough, on Saturday, when I was with him and we were making our plans, he chose Peony Bistro for our lunch destination today! Because it serves Chinese and Japanese food — and it has a bar. (He’s allowed to drink alcohol, just not nearly as much as he would like!)

But Peony Bistro is also where I’m having lunch with my Q-following girlfriend this coming Saturday. Weird, right???

But, of course, today, he might forget what he decided on Saturday and for all I know, he and I could end up at Tequilaville (!!!) where they also have a bar….

We shall soon see! Either way, I’m really looking forward to our outing. But I’m really praying hard to St. Christopher to be all over my car today. I’m a good driver, but you know. I just need to be extra careful.

********

If you missed Phil’s live last night — gold-backed currency is indeed coming to the US Treasury, gang. So buy whatever gold (and silver) you can afford. And also remember to keep only enough cash in the bank to pay your bills, and, for now, keep most of your money safe at home.

*******

Okay. I gotta scoot! I have a quick conference call here with Peitor before I take off for my shift.

Enjoy your Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

**********

I leave you with this!! For obvious reasons!!

Tom Waits! “Hang On St. Christopher”. From Frank’s Wild Years. 1987. Enjoy!!

It is such a sunny day here today. Incredible. Blue skies for as far as the eye can see.

Which is a blessing, since I have to leave here soon to drive back to the hospital and say goodbye to my client.

She never made it to rehab. She took a really bad turn over the weekend and is now in the hospice ward, unresponsive and dying.

I mostly want to go pay respects to her husband today. I’m glad I got to see her the other day, when she was perfectly alert and looking so vibrant — even though she was attached to all those machines.

But, as you know, I have been very conflicted about this whole thing because I knew for a fact that she did not want to go on living. So, even though I will really miss her, I’m also glad that she and God seem to have worked it out.

*********

Well, that Super Bowl game was weird.

I haven’t seen even part of a Super Bowl game in about 30 years, and now that everything on TV is shot in that super-saturated digital color, it doesn’t look or feel the same to me.

[How it used to look when I would watch it with my dad — the Cleveland Browns in 1965:]

And the half-time show was unbelievably bizarre.

I get that it was a White Hat psyop from start to finish, but it was still just weird to watch. I gave up after the half-time weirdness, even though the Eagles were winning.

Some of those commercials were amazing, though. The one with John Denver’s “Take Me Home Country Roads” that celebrated family and leaving the big cities for the country and a more meaningful life. And the one that celebrated fathers. The one where Johnny Cash was singing about Jesus. The one where the NFL players were helping to protect and uplift children, in all walks of life.

Wow, right? I had tears in my eyes a couple of times.

The only commercial I really detested was the one with all those bouncing, happy tits (!!!) only to promote the fear of breast cancer.

Anyway.

Well, my dad is gone. So the football thing is over for me, I guess. And I did hear from Wayne, that he and one of his buddies were indeed going to watch the Super Bowl in that apartment on West End Avenue, just like they’ve done for over 30 years. So that felt kind of nice.

Otherwise, like I’m doing in so many other things in life, it’s time to move on from the Super Bowl.

************

Okay, I gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visitng.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

What I will likely listen to while driving the backroads to town….

Yes, I’m going to be watching the Superbowl tonight — streaming it on Tubi, since I don’t have regular TV.

Nothing against Kansas City, but I’m feeling more drawn to Philadelphia. So we shall see.

The only reason I’m even watching the game this year is for sentimental reasons — mostly, my dad, who died last April, was a huge football fan. And, also, when I was married to Wayne, Superbowl Sunday was a big thing in our Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan.

[In this building — on the 10th floor. Wayne still lives there.]

Wayne’s friends would come over early. We’d all order that incredible NYC pizza. There was plenty of beer (of which I was not a huge fan; I was much more into bourbon or red wine). As soon as the game got underway on the TV in the living room, I would go into the guest bedroom (also known as my office, because I was a full-time writer back then!!), and watch something else. Knowing me, it was probably a movie based on something Agatha Christie had penned long ago.

But I always loved hearing the guys in all their excitement out in the living room. I miss that noise.

Okay!

Quite a few people are saying that since Trump is attending the game, there will be some sort of psyop that will potentially threaten his life (fake attempt). Something to do with nukes and a drone. Based on a movie. I guess we’ll see.

Mostly, I’m very eager to see Musk’s DOGE commercials. That should probably be extremely interesting.

Meanwhile….

I have the whole day off and will be going over Peitor’s many many notes on the script (which came through during the night) and maybe even talk with him later today on the phone. He’s still in London, in a studio session, recording his soundtrack for an upcoming film.

And here’s THIS!!

It was the first thing my wee bonny eyes spied on Instagram at 5AM this morning — and my heart zoomed!! It made me exceedingly happy, so I share it here!!

Okay. on that note — I gotta scoot!!

Enjoy your Superbowl Sunday, gang, if you live State-side. Otherwise, just have a great Sunday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

I leave you with the music that accompanied the above photo.

One of my Top 5 all-time favorite Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds songs. “Jesus of the Moon”, from their awesome album, Dig!!! Lazarus, Dig!!! 2008.

Enjoy!!

To be fair — yesterday, I was exhausted. But it was a great exhaustion, because I finished those 2 final scenes of the TV pilot script and I was so happy with what I had accomplished.

It took about 6 hours and it was intense. But, wow. I’m so happy.

We’re still going to tweak everything, but now we have a lot of great stuff to work with, that’s already on the page.

***************

Okay.

I don’t have time to really post today, because I have to leave soon to go see my 94-year-old Japanese client that I absolutely adore.

[How could you not adore him? When I arrive, he’s always still asleep in bed. I go into his room and say, “Good morning.” And his eyes open, and a huge smile breaks out across his face. He reaches his hand out to me, and says, “MARILYN! My angel!” And I say, “Do you want to get up now? I’m making your coffee.” And he says, “YES! I only have 2 more minutes to live!” And then the day begins.)

But I wanted to post about this other sort of incredible thing.

Yesterday, when I was sitting at my kitchen table, getting my dinner ready before I went off to see my evening client, there was a knock on my kitchen door.

It was a girl who lives down the road from me. She’s maybe 16 years old, at the most. And she wanted to use my phone to call her friend.

So I gave her my cellphone and she stood out on my kitchen porch and called her friend. She tried three times. (I saw it on my “recent calls.”)

I don’t really know who this girl is. I know the house she lives in, but I don’t know her name or her family. But last Spring, she came by and did the same thing — wanted to use my cellphone. But that time, she was wearing her pajamas in the middle of the day and wanted to call her mom.

She also seemed to be sort of “wandering” along the road, and maybe even medicated. I let her use my phone three times that day, but then I also went over to the police station, to alert them, in case something was wrong with her and she shouldn’t be out wandering the road in her pajamas.

Well, this year, she’s of course a little older. And she was fully dressed. And seemed totally coherent.

She came back again about 45 minutes later, right when I was really getting ready to head out for my shift, and she wanted to borrow my phone again. And she said, “I need to text my sister, do you have snapchat?”

I told her: no, I didn’t.

So she said, “That’s okay. I’ll just download it onto your phone.”

And she did (!!). And she texted her sister (I know this, because her sister texted my phone later, and her name was “fav sis”.)

Anyway. So strange. I’m just going to leave the snapchat app on there in case she comes back again.

But what I thought was sort of incredible, is that this girl totally trusts me, and she has no clue who I am. I’m just this neighbor lady, halfway down the road, who is absolutely old enough to be her grandmother. Just the thought of how her mind works: Oh, I’ll ask that lady. She’ll help me. And I always do.

Just another thing that I love about this little village in the Hinterlands — tucked away in a valley somewhere, in the foothills of Appalachia.

Okay. I gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

****************

Gotta leave you with this again!!!

I am so hoping that whoever buys this TV series, will be willing to license this amazing song for the final scene of Episode One!!!!

Enjoy, gang. Play it LOUD. I sure do.

Alas, that’s not what I’m doing today.

What I am doing — before going to my evening client — is painstakingly revising the final 2 pages of the TV pilot script. Then I will send it back over to Peitor, who will make notes, send it back to me, and then we’ll revise it yet again, together, either Sunday or Monday.

Those final 2 pages are possibly my favorite scenes in the whole show. And to make the scenes work, they just have to be really tight.

Meanwhile…

Peitor is in London right now, working on a film score for an upcoming movie that I can’t wait to see! And in his downtime (i.e., in cafes drinking god only knows what — probably coffee), he’s making even more notes on the entire script.

So, bowling will simply have to wait. (I actually have no clue where there is even a bowling alley out here in the Hinterlands…)

*************

Wow. So this was really, really helpful.

I don’t know if you ever have to deal with trolls online — I only have to deal with them occasionally, thank God. But oddly enough, when I do, it’s usually on Instagram, when I’ve made what seems to be a perfectly harmless comment on someone else’s post. Then other readers of the post — not the person who posted it — begin a verbal assault that won’t quit.

A case in point was last night. It’s actually sad, the number of screaming young white Leftist females out there who are now completely terrified of life because Trump became President again. (Sadly, part of the Leftist programming agenda — it never occurred to them to be terrified of what was actually going on, which Trump, et al, are bringing to a halt.)

I usually make an attempt to be polite but also stick to my guns, but that only pisses them off more.

Anyway, I finally just turned off my phone last night and let it go, but WOW. They didn’t stop. All through the night and into the morning, more and more angry comments. So, anyway. I found this video perfectly timed for me this morning, and also really helpful. It’s actually very compassionate.

Nigel Watson – (UK/Finland) – DEALING WITH TROLLS (12 mins):

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Well, it is a sunny day today!! Cold, but sunny. So that alone is fantastic.

And tonight, the client I work with — the 99 year-old blind lady who’s had an incredible life — has 3 frisky & quite huge Labrador Retrievers, and 2 wonderful old big black cats. So it’s a nice way to spend a few hours. Plus, I always learn something new from her.

I really enjoy talking with her, even though we don’t share the same views on politics, we just move past that and spend time talking about other things instead. Her mind is still so sharp, gang. At 99 years old. It is something to strive for.

However, every one of her friends, her family members, one of her children and her husband, have all passed on now. She has 2 grown children and a grown grandchild that are still alive, and some younger neighbors who she’s friendly with — but all those people she knew throughout her life, they are all gone now.

I can’t really imagine how that feels and I’m kinda hopin’ I don’t find out. It’s hard enough being 64 and adjusting to my dad being gone. But I guess we’ll see.

**********

Okay.

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*********

I leave you with this!

I had been eagerly anticipating this new TV show on Tubi, which launched last night. I wasn’t crazy about the first episode, but I’m going to give it a chance and let the show sort of settle into itself.

“Generations clash when the award-winning C-suite at Atelier Ad Agency is canceled and pushed out and the Gen Z social media team is put in charge.”

Here is the trailer, in case you’re interested. (Tubi is free, btw.)

The Z-Suite | Official Trailer | A Tubi Original (1 min):

Well, sadly, I have today off.

One of my clients that I just adore was admitted into the hospital yesterday and I’m usually with her on Sunday afternoons.

I was really at a loss as to how to pray for her this morning, gang. Without betraying her confidences in me, I’ll just say that for the last couple of weeks, she has been expressing to me in private that, for the most part, she did not want to continue living.

She suffers from something that there is no cure for, and it only continues to get worse. What quality of life she has left is based strictly on the fact that her husband keeps her at home and is her full-time caregiver.

Even though they have a great (and long) marriage — and so many wonderful memories fill their home — that full-time caregiver thing is still extremely stressful on any marriage. And so she also feels guilty about that, too — what her husband has to go through, 24/7.

That said — I could not bring myself to simply pray for her to “be back home as soon as possible”. Or ask God to restore her — health? She barely has it, you know? It was a tricky morning of prayer for me.

I want to see her again! I love spending time with her and her husband. I really, really enjoy being with them, regardless of the tasks involved while I’m there in their home. I don’t want her to die.

Yet, I know for certain, she is, at best, ‘conflicted’ about wanting to remain here.

The bottom line, for now, is that I have an additional day off today. And I guess we all know that I will spend it working on the TV project.

*************

I did see this on Instagram this morning and it cheered me — and I researched it a little bit, because I thought it was so cool.

When Wayne & I took our honeymoon back in 1993, we rented a car and drove out West to Nevada and back. And when we weren’t staying with various family members along the way (Wayne was originally from the South), our goal was to stay at motels that had really cool, retro neon signs.

For our honeymoon, $25 a night was on the expensive side!! We had such a blast. Back then, at least, there were still so many old motels operating across the country.

Here are 2 random examples from my honeymoon scrapbook — both motels were on Rt. 66, in Tucumcari, New Mexico. We stayed one night in each motel.

So, when I saw this on Instagram this morning, I immediately texted it to Wayne and he texted back, saying: “Somehow, I’ll sleep better knowing this. Thanks.”

Built in 1937, the lunch counter and gas station are gone, but motorists can still sleep in a wigwam in Cave City, Kentucky!

You can visit their website here and see old & current photos of the place.

I researched a possible road trip, but it’s over 5 hours a way from here, and looks like it’s more of a place for families. I would be really out of place there all by myself. And, you know, driving alone for over 5 hours is not my idea of a fun “road trip”.

************

That aside, I’m trying to stay in a good head space today. I should feel excited because I have two days off this week — possibly three. Oh well.

On we go.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

************

In keeping with the above theme —

Here’s a song I’d forgotten about until last night!! Wayne & I certainly played this CD a lot while on our honeymoon road trip!

The fantastic Marty Stuart. From his hugely popular Country album, “Hillbilly Rock,” 1989 — the title song!! Enjoy, gang!!

Hillbilly Rock

It comes from Mississippi, and down in Alabam’
Creepin’ like a fever all across the land
From deep in the Delta on the Louisiana shore
The people got to have it, they wanna hear some more

It’s the hillbilly rock, beat it with a drum
Playin’ them guitars like shootin’ from a gun
Keepin’ up the rhythm, steady as a clock
Doin’ a little thing called the hillbilly rock

Some say it came from Memphis down in Tennessee
Or it drifted in from Georgia about 1953
Just as long as it’s greasy, as long as it’s fast
As long as it’s pumpin’ honey, it’s gonna last

It’s the hillbilly rock, beat it with a drum
Playin’ them guitars like shootin’ from a gun
Keepin’ up the rhythm, steady as a clock
Doin’ a little thing called the hillbilly rock

Way back in old Kentucky where the bluegrass grows
Through the Carolinas on them dirt red roads
Burnin’ like a fire runnin’ wild in the woods
From Arkansas to Texas, it sounds so good

It’s the hillbilly rock, beat it with a drum
Playin’ them guitars like shootin’ from a gun
Keepin’ up the rhythm, steady as a clock
Doin’ a little thing called the hillbilly rock

So when the heat starts to risin’ and you gotta blow some steam
Take a ride down the river, you’ll see just what I mean
The juke joint’s jumpin’, when that cat goes on
The whole place is shakin’, there’s a something goin’ on

It’s the hillbilly rock, beat it with a drum
Playin’ them guitars like shootin’ from a gun
Keepin’ up the rhythm, steady as a clock
Doin’ a little thing called the hillbilly rock
Doin’ a little thing called the hillbilly rock
Doin’ a little thing called the hillbilly rock

c – Paul Kennerly