Yes! It’s that time of the weekend where I try not to lose my fucking mind over all the shifts the agency has suddenly assigned to me for the rest of the month!!
ME (looking at my schedule on my phone at 6:45AM): “Jeepers, McGee! Doesn’t anybody else fucking work there??!!”
Unbelievable. I actually had to send an email to politely tell them to please trim back my hours. I had no less than 26 shifts between now and the end of May. That includes a stretch of 15 shifts in a row with no day off, and zippo time off for Memorial Day weekend. (And NO TIME to go to the shooting range…)
They, of course, have no clue about the TV pilot project or the play going to Off-Broadway. (They have no clue YET — I haven’t put in for those 3 weeks of needed time-off to go to NYC.) So they don’t know just how much of my mind I’m losing right now.
Luckily, I also got to wake-up to stuff like this today:
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This evening, I head back to that nice facility where I have the new patient. It is a short shift and the weather tonight will be just beautiful! So the drive there & back should be really nice.
But before then —
YES! I forgot to mention the other day that my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man did indeed get his teeth back! And we went out for sashimi and sake. And yesterday, we went to the Nature Preserve and he was bowled over by how GREEN everything has finally gotten.
And today — well, today, I’m not sure what we’ll do. It is just a splendid day and I want to make sure he gets to spend most of it outdoors.
Yesterday, he said to me: “You are symbolic of everything that has been good and beautiful in my life. I love spending these final days of my life with you.”
I could barely process the magnitude of that, gang. It sort of wiped me out. But what a beautiful man he is. And what an amazing life he has had.
But when I say that I’m exhausted, it’s not just the physical part of the job. It’s more the emotional part of it that gets to me.
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Okay, here’s this!
George and Nick and Carly in a store in Denver:
And tonight they will be in Portland, OR. Buy tickets here!! The next 2 shows are sold out.
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From James Tabor:
Were there Connections Between Jesus and the Dead Sea Scrolls Community? (25 mins):
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And I think that’s it! I gotta scoot!!
I hope you have a super Saturday, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys! See ya!
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I absolutely love Emmylou Harris. The first time I heard her sing this amazing song, I was 15 years old and driving down to Virginia with my dad. It came on the car radio and it just quietly blew me away.
I need songs like this today! Emmylou Harris, “One of These Days” from her incredible album, Elite Hotel, 1976. Enjoy, gang!
“One Of These Days”
I won’t have to chop no wood I can be bad or I can be good I can be any way that I feel One of these days
Might be a woman that’s dressed in black Be a hobo by the railroad track I’ll be gone like the wayward wind one of these days
One of these days it will soon be all over cut and dry And I won’t have this urge to go all bottled up inside One of these days I’ll look back and I’ll say I left in time Cause somewhere for me I know there’s peace of mind
I might someday walk across this land Carrying the Lord’s book in my hand Goin’ cross the country singin’ loud as I can One of these days
But I won’t have trouble on my back cuttin’ like the devil with a choppin’ axe, Got to shake it off my back, one of these days
One of these days it will soon be all over cut and dry And I won’t have this urge to go all bottled up inside One of these days I’ll look back and I’ll say I left in time Cause somewhere for me I know there’s peace of mind There’s gonna be peace of mind for me, one of these days
I wish I was able to go into all the details of what’s been happening around here lately, but ALL of it is good.
And, of course, as these things go with me — ALL of it ends up being exhausting. Because I have to constantly switch my focus from one thing to the next to the next, all day long. While also giving my undivided attention to whichever client I am with during my shifts. (FYI – people WhatsApp me or text me all day long during my shifts. I have to wait until I have absolutely nothing else needing my immediate attention before I can even read them, let alone send back a “thumb’s up”.)
When I look back on everything I manage to stay on top of in, say, 10 hours on a given day, it’s just insane.
And the agency has been asking me to pick up more shifts and since I want to make sure I have enough money for the trips to NYC and to pay the cat sitter, I just keep saying “YES”.
But it’s ALL good. (Not to mention that each shift brings reasons to remind me that it’s all over in a heartbeat, gang, so JUST DO IT!)
AND– I talked to Peitor about inserting a scene into our TV series (not the Pilot script, but in season 2), that will be an homage to Tsai Ming-liang’s film “The Hole”. Using the Grace Chang cha-cha song, “Wo Ai Qia Qia” (1957) that I play all the time while driving and, after he saw the YouTube “Wo Yao Ni” footage I sent him from “The Hole”, he was ecstatic!! (I posted both of these here recently, but they are again.)
We’ve already started revising the specific scene, and it will be off the charts, gang. (Two of our characters are Gen Z, M/F fraternal twins from Singapore.)
If, one day down the road, you are streaming our TV show in the comfort of your own home, and a particular scene pops up that uses unexpected popular music from any given era, and which seems particularly off-the-wall — you can assure yourself that the scene was initially spawned in my wee bonny brain while driving on the backroads of the Hinterlands with the music blasting!!
No, I don’t drink and drive. It just feels like I do!
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Okay!! Kitten update!
A couple of them are eating solid food now and using the litterbox!! How do they figure this stuff out, gang??
The little family just now:
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Okay.
Two more photos from the show in Denver the other night! There was just something about these photos that I really liked.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Portland, OR tomorrow night. You can buy tickets here!
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And I think that better be it for today, gang. As always, I gotta scoot!
Have a fantastic Friday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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I don’t think this song needs an introduction. But this is the song that was playing in Denver when the photographer took the photos above.
I’m seriously hoping, gang, that nothing went wrong at the dentist and that my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man has teeth again!!
I’m planning to FINALLY take him back here for sashimi and sake today, if all went well!
We shall soon see! (And it also means a trip back to the incredible restaurant at the golf club will be right around the corner!!)
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Okay, I am officially extremely tired here but I am so excited about developments with the TV Pilot package, and I’m over the moon with what’s happening with “The Guide to Being Fabulous” and the women who are working with us, helping to get the staged reading to the Off-Broadway stage.
It is such a thrill for me, gang. Not just to be finally taking it to NYC, but the fact that this will be the version of the play that is true to Sandra’s life. The professional caliber of the people getting onboard makes me feel pretty confident that people will finally get to see the play as Sandra and I have been envisioning it for so many years.
I can’t tell you how much this means to me. After 11 years.
A rarely seen photo!! Back when Sandra and I first started working on the play!
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The kittens this morning!!!
And way in the back, there (a close-up of Wee Bonny Billy’s eye!) —
They no longer hang out in their playpen at all. And they scamper all over the room — even Wee Bonny Billy, with his 2 lame legs. I now have to look down at my feet at all times, so as not to step on anybody.
They are too cute, gang.
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I started watching this show on Netflix last night and I love it!! From 2019, in Japanese with English subtitles: “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories”. Here’s the official trailer:
I also started watching this film on Metrograph, but I am only halfway through: “Leonor Will Never Die”.
So far, I love it. The plot is incredible. As an aging woman writer, it really gives me something to think about.
It’s a dramedy. From the Philippines. This is the plot:
“Leonor Reyes was once a groundbreaking figure in the Filipino film industry during its ragtag action cinema glory days, but now she struggles with old age, mounting bills, and the untimely death of her son. While revisiting an unfinished script about a fearless protagonist trying to avenge his brother’s murder, Leonor is struck on the head by a falling television set and knocked into a coma. As she lies unconscious in the hospital, fantasy and reality begin to blur when Leonor finds herself awake inside her script, becoming the hero of her own story.”
Here’s the trailer:
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Here’s another photo of Nick Cave in Kansas City the other night!
And Nick Cave sent out a really beautiful Red Hand File yesterday morning, giving spiritual advice to a young woman whose father recently died. He said, in part:
“I suspect your father will hear your words, but I do not know. At the very least, by acknowledging the sacred and mysterious nature of things, these words will impact the general condition of the world, not to mention your own injured heart. I believe we must take our subtle spiritual intuitions seriously and view them as the quintessence that underlies the ordinary world. The rejection of the sacred is the fundamental reason for our existential discontent. “I love you” and “I am sorry” spoken into the universe are two sentiments forever worth declaring….”
Enjoy your Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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I never play music when I have a client in the car, because I need to pay 125% to my driving.
But if I were going to play music today, while heading out for sashimi, it would be this!! A great song for driving on a sunny day!
I’ve posted this song here many times, but it is such a classic!! France Gall, 1964, “Laisse tomber les filles” !!! Play it loud and try really hard to stick to the speed limit. Okay! Enjoy, gang. (Remember: No dancing while the car is in motion.)
This will be a quick post today because I not only have my usual shift to get to this morning, but I have a couple of new files from Peitor to read before I leave — and then another Zoom call with Sandra the minute I get home this afternoon!
I’m extremely excited, gang. It is official!
This will be my schedule for NYC between now and October:
One week in mid-July
5 days in late August/Labor Day
One week in mid-October
The reading will be one night — possibly two nights– October 13th and/or 14th. Yay!!!!!!
It has only taken 11 years to get to this point!! (Meaning, Off-Broadway. Not counting the world premiere we had in Toronto in October 2023.)
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Two videos from James Tabor:
Go with Me into the 1st century Jerusalem Tomb of the Shroud! (16 mins):
Do Mainstream Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Reflect Abrahamic Faith? (25 mins):
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If you’re a member of Simon Parkes’ Connecting Consciousness group, there will be a live ZOOM tonight at 7PM Eastern time, with Matt Roeske, of Cultivate Elevate.
You have to be a member to watch,. You can join here, but you might not get approved for membership before tonight.
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Phil is planning to go live tonight, too. Check here later to confirm. No time announced yet.
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Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds played to a sold out audience last night in Kansas City. Most of the posts to Instagram were videos, though (so far). But here’s a photo!
Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visting!
I love you guys. See ya!
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Another one from the new Willie Nelson album, Oh What A Beautiful World. The song was written by Rodney Crowell & Guy Clarke — “Stuff That Works”. Enjoy, gang!
“Stuff That Works”
I’ve got an old blue shirt and it suits me just fine I like the way it feels so I wear it all the time I’ve got an old guitar that won’t ever stay in tune But I like the way it sounds in a dark and empty room
I’ve got an old pair of boots that fit my feet just right I can work all day and go out and dance all night I’ve got a new used car that runs just like a top Yeah I get the feeling it ain’t ever gonna stop
Stuff that works stuff that holds up Is the kind of stuff you don’t hang on the wall Stuff that’s real that stuff you feel Is the stuff you always reach for when you fall
I’ve got a pretty good friend who’s seen me at my worst He don’t care if I’m a blessing or a curse But he always shows up when the chips are down That’s the kind of friend I like to be around Stuff that works
There’s a woman I love she’s crazy and she paints like God She’s got a playground sense of justice she don’t give odds I’ve got a tattoo with her name right through my soul And I think everything she touches turns to gold Stuff that works Stuff that works
Now that I’ve actually caught up on all my sleep and feel totally 100% back to normal again, I’ve decided, quite joyfully, to grow old(er) with Nick Cave and any and all various upcoming versions of the Bad Seeds!!
Other than that, though … I’m gonna age gracefully.
If you STILL don’t follow Q — this means that we’re watching a movie and that something(s) happening this week that will seem off the charts, but that it is not real; to just chill-ax; we’re watching a movie.
And on a similar (sort of) topic…
If you didn’t see it yet, they are planning to re-open the notorious federal penitentiary, Alcatraz — but that it has already been expanded and updated, gang. It seems it is already ready to go!
Sounds like the West Coast version of Gitmo.
About 40 years ago, on a trip to San Francisco to visit my family, we took a tour of Alcatraz. Wow, was it creepy.
However, I did get a really cool souvenir ceramic ashtray! It was black & white stripes (like the old style of prison uniforms) and it had a drawing of Alcatraz on it, and it said: “Alcatraz: The Last Resort”
Oh! Well, here’s one for sale on eBay:
I loved that ashtray!! And up until late this past summer, I kept it out on the side table on my kitchen porch. Anyone who stopped by to visit over the years, and who smoked, could always feel free to hang out on the patio chairs and smoke whatever was legal.
Then, as these things go, a family with several kids moved into a rental down at the end of the block last summer. According to neighbors, the kids were “troublemakers” and were wreaking havoc all over our little village. The family eventually got evicted, but not until my ashtray disappeared in the middle of a hot summer night!
It annoyed me, but I like to think they just thought it was cool and had to have it.
God knows, when I was young, I stole more things than I can possibly remember — hence my eventually “getting arrested” and put on one month of House Arrest when I was 14, and the Officer in the Uniform behind the Big Desk told me that if I got caught stealing again, I’d be going to reform school.
Since I only had the highest quality friends back then… many of the kids I knew had already been to reform school and it sounded like an actual Hell on Earth. And that, my friends, ended my desire to steal anything whatsoever, ever again.
Okay. Anyway! I miss that ashtray, now that it’s summer and it should have it’s time-honored place on my kitchen porch, but oh well.
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Okay. Last night in Minneapolis!!
The show tonight in Kansas City is sold out, as are a couple other dates next week, but there are still tickets available for 4 other shows before the tour is over. Buy tickets here!
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All right. I have to get ready for the Zoom call with Sandra and the Musical Director, to get our play “The Guide to Being Fabulous” officially underway for its staged reading Off-Broadway this Fall!! So I gotta scoot!
I have the day off, but I don’t think I’ll have time to go to the shooting range today. We’ll see! (YES!! A thief and a gunslinger!!! And you wonder how come my marriages didn’t last??!!) (Not to mention cigarettes, bourbon, amphetamines and a seriously frisky stray eye…)
Anyway!!!! Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Check out this song!!!!! I love it. I played it on repeat, really loud, driving home from my shift at the old people’s home last night!!
Hong Kong pop singer, Grace Chang!! “Wo Ai Qia Qia”!!!! (A cha-cha song from 1957!) Enjoy, gang!!
Well, I mean, aside from the fact that I’m semi-retired and already on Social Security.
And in about 56 days, I start Medicare. And Long-Term Care insurance. And my cremation/burial insurance kicks in…
Aside from those seemingly huge red flags that I choose to ignore —
These last 48 hours have just about killed me.
Yes, I often — well, sometimes — NO, wait, I NEVER dress like this!
I know I would have fared better had I simply taken Friday and Saturday off, and just focused on having a great time with Kara at the hotel and seeing Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. And doing all that driving at a more leisurely pace.
But I just didn’t have it in my heart to put my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man through all that. He really suffers noticeably when he has an unfamiliar substitute caregiver even for one day. And so two days would have been really hard on him.
So I just decided to cram everything in to 24 hours. And it wiped me out.
When Kara and I were finally on the freeway yesterday, heading for Columbus, I decided to use the Google GPS, so that I could just chat with Kara and not make her have to pay attention to the Google map I had printed out.
That was my first mistake, of course, because as soon as we got even remotely near downtown Columbus, the traffic kicked in. And the GPS would just suddenly say what I needed to do — 2 or 3 lanes over. Which was close to impossible to maneuver because of the traffic.
Especially since Columbus drivers tend to be really aggressive and rude. So within basically spitting distance from downtown, I was forced to make 3 wrong turns, to try to somehow get back to where I needed to be.
In all that traffic.
And then when we finally got to the hotel, we had trouble seeing the valet parking, so we drove right past it. (There was scaffolding on the front of the hotel and it sort of masked the valet parking area.)
But I do have to say that the staff at that hotel were the friendliest, most helpful staff I have encountered in a really, really long time, gang. And the hotel was really beautiful. And the room was great.
Oh, and in case you’re curious — Kara even looks pretty in the dark!
Around 8am yesterday morning, the room was pitch dark except for a hint of daylight coming in through the bathroom window. I went over to gently wake Kara. She was snuggled way down in the comforter and all those puffy pillows. But when her head popped up, with her long brown hair hanging down over her bare shoulders —
ME (whispering): “Oh my god, Kara, you’re even pretty in the dark!”
ANYWAY!!
When we first got to our room, I was worn out from the crazy driving. And I needed a shower. So, while beautiful, non-exhausted, 7-years-younger Kara was down in the mezzanine, having free champagne and listening to gentle acoustic music, and Nick Cave-spotting (!!), I was up in the room, in the shower– UNABLE TO FIGURE OUT HOW THE FUCKING THING WORKED!
ME: “Jesus Christ! Don’t tell me I’m too old to figure out how to work the shower??”
This trickle of ice cold water was spraying out at me, and I was turning the knob and trying to read (without my glasses, of course) which way was hot, which way was cold, I finally gave up and pressed the button for the handheld thingie and SUDDENLY there was a massive happy spraying of hot water ALL OVER my face and perfectly coiffed HAIR.
At that point, I gave up that idea that I would look good for the remainder of the trip. And I hoped that my (usually) pleasing personality would just, you know, wildly overcompensate for the waterfall damage done to me in the shower.
However…
The food at the brasserie was really good, gang. We had an early dinner there (and also breakfast the next morning — AND the guitar and bass players for the Bad Seeds were having breakfast there, too!)
And, as I had kind of suspected — once Kara found out what I’d paid for the room, she cheerfully picked up the tab for absolutely everything else.
Honestly, we had such a great time.
But then, during the actual concert, I got REALLY old!
But, thankfully, the God of rock-&-roll (no, not Nick Cave, the actual GOD of rock-&-roll), had whispered in my ear just as we were finding our seats and he told me to switch seats with Kara. We were sitting one in front of the other, not side by side. So I said, “Kara, switch seats with me”, and she did.
And it turned out that my God-given seat was back far enough from the stage and set a little higher up than the seating on the main floor, that while Kara had to stand (along with everyone else in my entire vicinity) in order to see anything throughout the entire show, I was able to remain seated for about 2 hours (up until the encore), and not collapse from absolute exhaustion. I had the most perfect view the entire time and I got to remain seated!
And another thing that made me realize I was old — well, 2 things. One was that the young, pretty and really excited woman next to Kara exclaimed that she had been a fan of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds for four years already. And she also made a comment about the current Bad Seeds being the original musicians except for “a piano player who died a few years ago…” (Conway Savage.)
Conway, RIP
Whereas I remember the real original Bad Seeds from when they actually were the original Bad Seeds, before Conway, 40 years ago…
I didn’t say anything, because I thought her excitement was really sweet.
But the other thing — since they’re promoting the Wild God album, they didn’t play a song that I was emotionally connected to until they played “Tupelo”, and then I was just swept away, emotionally.
But I found myself sitting there, rocking to the music, with my eyes closed. I was completely transported back to my old room on East 12th Street, in NYC’s East Village. I was on my bed in the old room, listening to “Tupelo” for the fist time and being completely blown away by Nick Cave…
And in the here & now, I had to shake myself out of it because, I was sort of worried that I’d fall asleep in that little swoon, but ALSO because I told myself —
ME: “Look at what’s fucking in FRONT of you, Marilyn!! Nick Cave!! Don’t get sucked down into the PAST.”
And yet, the lure of the past is so fucking appealing!! (That equals being old, in case you’re trying to keep track of all this.)
And, I have to say, gang, during the encore, they played “Shivers” and as always, that song still blew me away. (And that song is going on 50 years…) But what a great song.
Anyway, between the exhaustion from all the wrong turns while driving in a town I’ve been to a million times, and from not knowing how a shower works, and needing to sit not stand through an entire concert, and going deaf from how loud it was even though I had ear plugs in… and loving the really old songs — it became clear to me that not only had I gotten old, but also that it would likely be the last rock concert I was going to have the energy to attend.
This morning, as I was still trying to recover from everything since Friday (plus, keep in mind, just doing the caregiving wears me out), I thought back to the first rock concert I attended, in the summer of ’73, when I was still technically 12, and I thought to myself that a 52-year run of concert-going was a pretty good haul. I have seen some amazing bands and had so much fun.
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Okay!!
Just so you are forewarned, everything is picking up speed here and I will be really crazy-busy for probably the rest of the year.
SUCH GREAT stuff is happening with the TV pilot proposal. I cannot wait until I can tell you about it, but Peitor & I are already hitting the ground running, getting episode 2 nailed down.
And work on the staged reading for “The Guide to Being Fabulous” officially begins tomorrow on a Zoom call — with our new Musical Director, Jo Lyn Burks (!!). Sandra and I are both so excited!!
But I will have to balance both those projects, along with traveling to & from NYC, and still being a caregiver (until I can afford to stop doing that). And I am determined to do all of it. I don’t want to get old, just for the sake of being old. I want to have a terrific OLD AGE!!
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Here’s a kitten photo from this morning!!
And here are 3 photos from the show on Friday night (I didn’t take these) (because I’m old and prefer not to watch a concert through my phone)!
And don’t forget, there are still 8 shows left!! You can buy tickets here!!
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Whew!! And that’s it!
Already the texts from Peitor are pouring in!
Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Wistfully, I listened to these 3 songs early this morning.
This was the line-up from the first rock concert I attended with my older cousin in the Summer of ’73. We shared so many great times over the years — going to more concerts and playing so many records. She went off to college in the Fall of ’73, but we still remained really, really close for many years.
Brewer & Shipley, The Doobie Bothers, and the Beach Boys — and the songs that were big hits for them during that Summer of ’73. Enjoy, gang.
The show was wonderful, gang. If it wasn’t technically “sold out” — I don’t know; it sure seemed like a capacity crowd. Everyone seemed to have a really great time.
And Nick Cave was in great form. Really just great. Such an incredible performer.
Oh!!! And he is in this same hotel!! Right after we got here, Kara went down to the mezzanine where there was free wine and live music, while I took a shower. When I got out of the shower, Kara texted me that he was here in the hotel and had been walking around down there in the lobby.
I tell you, it felt so cool to lay my head down on my pillows last night, knowing that he was laying his head down on pillows somewhere close by!!🥰 Assuming he slept…
Now I’m waiting for Kara to wake up because we have to go down and get breakfast and then get out of town!!
My favorite 94-year-old Japanese man awaits…
And you know what, gang? I actually miss my cats! Although it has been incredible to be hanging out with an actual friend…
Here’s the the view from my hotel bed just now, waiting for Kara to wake up.🥰
Marilyn's Room 