#kathy late night rant

[kathyrealmstales]

Okay, it's late where I am, and I should be asleep, but instead, I'm posting this, with a tired brain, because my brain won't let me sleep, til I make this, so I'm sorry, I'm warning it's a long post.... Read if you want to go insane.

Anyways-

WHY THE HECK, DID I THINK OTHER FRANKIE COULD BREAK HIS CHAIR???

I was like, "oh haha! He is too big for his chair! Just look at him vs the baby chair!"

But then I realized-

I HAVE THE CHAIR AND I KNOW ITS WRONG!!!

Proof, this is my chair:

For the reasoning why I have it, the answer is, this was my chair from when I was 5 years old. I'm a kleptomaniac and so I kept it for I think 16 to 17 year, maybe more? (I can't do math right now-) either or, I have kept it... BECAUSE IT CANT BREAK!!!

I swear, this chair is so indestructible, I have used it as a stool, I have had really heavy stuff on it cuz I needed a surface, I have thrown stuff at it and it at things and both ways, the item was more damaged, then this bloody chair.

These chairs are so just-

There is no way, Other Frankie could break this chair, he could throw it into the incinerator and it would probs come out fine!!!

SO! For anyone else who thought like me, and was like, oh yeah, that chair would break because its so small and he is a giant robot, no he wouldn't, that chair would kill him before he destroyed it.

----

So now art idea for me later.... Lucky beating Other Frankie up with one of these chairs.

Yay....

[sapphicscholar]

Hacks Episode 3x09 Thoughts

Okay, so back during S2, I wrote up my thoughts about each pair of Hacks episodes as they dropped – partially for sharing but largely as an archive for myself of my own thoughts/feelings to revisit when I watched the episodes later to see how they held up, how it compared to watch them serially vs. as a whole season, etc. Anyway, I was incredibly stressed out and busy for much of this season (after over a year of that being the key set of words to describe my life), but I wanted to throw out my thoughts about the finale before they grow too stale! And maybe I’ll come back and revisit the prior episodes in posts later when I have the time (hopefully in just a couple short weeks!) to enjoy them properly

As always, disjointed bulleted lists are the name of the game, going from the big picture to the detailed:

Overall, this felt like a very solid episode in the vein of season 1 in many ways! It brought us back to the interpersonal as the primary ground of conflict after many episodes (here and in S2) of the new hour, the special, and the Late Night host gig quest being our main plot drivers (which, at many times, made for weaker storytelling for reasons that exceed the scope of this post!). In particular, I felt like this episode hit its stride around the halfway point, and never really faltered after that in impressive ways!

That being said, I had two somewhat significant critiques of the finale (both of which reflect larger trends about strands of the show that continue to leave me a little disappointed)

We should have seen Marcus' conversation with Deborah about the new job. Period. I'll get into what could have been cut in my second critique, but even if there weren't weak spots in the episode, I still would have been deeply disappointed in the show for this oversight, especially since they apparently filmed it. Although Hacks is clearly a show with a leading duo, it once had a core ensemble, but S2 saw them moved more and more to B-plots and bit roles, and now S3 has seen many of the characters we know and love eliminated almost entirely--a point that's particularly galling given that it's almost entirely characters of color (many of them canonically queer) who have been cut in favor of new white characters. Moreover, this scene would have been SO IMPORTANT - I could have seen it going 2 ways: a) Marcus quits after the convo where Deborah tells Ava she's willing to lose her, and Deborah has a reaction that is so utterly outsized because it's the terror of losing the person she's had with her the longest now compounded with the reality setting in that she's also driven away the woman who gave her new life when she most needed it; or b) Marcus shows up to quit, and Deborah immediately launches into a rant about Ava's leaving, which puts Marcus in the awkward spot of adding to that at a pivotal moment in the career of the woman he's spent much of his adult life with or giving up something he needs to do for himself; it could have been a lovely callback to S1 when he shows up with his whole speech prepared but then accepts the promotion without ever telling Deborah how he feels - only this time Marcus would have changed so much, and he'd have the opportunity to showcase that growth by insisting that he needs to do this for him. So many lost opportunities...

re what could have been cut because imo it did NOT work: Kathy Vance's return. Now, I love Hacks in large part because it insists on the complexity of its characters. No one is purely the victim or the hero of the story, and Deborah's "click" moment showcased that better than anything. AND YET the writing here did not work. Back in the Christmas ep, I messaged a friend saying I was glad that they brought Kathy back but seemed not to ask us to side with her - after all, she comes crashing back into Deborah's life, doesn't take ownership over her actions and in fact insists she was in the right because it only happened a few times, because Deborah wasn't sleeping with him (very "you weren't playing with it, so it's mine now" little sister energy that is deeply unappealing in a grown ass adult), and because they were the "better couple" which is, I'm sorry, NEVER the fucking thing to tell someone whose marriage and life you destroyed. I joked then that I'd take back my compliments if her role in the finale suggested that actually we should be on Kathy's side here. And lo and behold... What's a real bummer is that there were ways to do this better! Because you can have sympathy for an imperfect character--this show is a testament to that fact!--but not like this. We as an audience have no reason to side with Kathy when she insists that Deborah will be worse than ever and berates her for cutting their weekend short. Instead, we see a woman with a large sense of entitlement she's done nothing to earn and directorial choices that don't make it a smooth transition. But what could have been lovely is, for instance, treating the Christmas and finale reunions as these deflationary moments of anticipation and disappointment because they are, after this many decades, essentially strangers to one another. Had we seen two women who longed for the deep affective ties of their childhood relationship only to be confronted with the cold hard fact of their estrangement from one anther, it would have been so much more powerful. And here you could ACTUALLY garner sympathy (some) for Kathy by having it be this moment of "I lost my sister" partially through her own actions "to Late Night once, and now, right when I have a chance to try to build something with her again, I feel like I'm going to lose her again before I can even really try to do right by her this go around." THAT could have worked. This was just too much time on something that did almost nothing in the grand scheme of the plot (because we didn't have the emotional connection to feel it as another compounding loss for Deborah in an episode where Ava's "and you're going to die alone" could have landed with even more force)

Okay so it turns out this is getting hella fucking long, so some shorter praise and giddy feelings things:

I LOVE how often Ava got to say the things we've all been squeeing about for years during this episode - especially that the material is good because of their relationship, not the other way around; their dynamic is not incidental to the work, and that's so important to me personally.

I had guessed that Ava would be offered head writer and quit her current job, only to have it taken away because Deborah was too scared to rock the boat, but I did NOT see the end coming! In fact, I kind of thought Ava might end up suing Deborah for intellectual property theft (using material Ava wrote outside of her contractual appointment for the new show because, surprise surprise, the writers who sucked when she was a guest still suck now compared to Ava!) In fact, I sort of thought that end scene might end up being a return to the car scene, and was relishing the thought of Ava's mimicking Deb's "It'll be fun, honey." But the blackmail as a form of love/devotion was soooo much better. Truly chef's kiss.

Also the way this rewrote the S2 finale even as the underlying message remained the same is so special to me - I'll stay with you even when it's bad for me (sacrificing my career -> sacrificing my morals) because it's good for you and more importantly it's good for us and the work. JPL know how to write a finale, and I'd give up a kidney to have that same energy be there throughout a whole season again (not that the eps are bad, but they lack some of the sharpness in writing and emotional depth that JPL do so well with finales and also often with the first couple eps of a season too)

Lastly JPL going on the record that Deborah was turned on by that final scene + Ava's "I would, wouldn't you?" and "Let's begin" - truly some of the hottest TV. We're so back babyyy. No more half naked superheroes with all the eroticism of a desk chair. Give me messy women determined to fling themselves into the air because they know the thrill is worth everything good and safe they're leaving behind, even if they hit the ground with no parachute!

I have many, many thoughts about S3 and what's to come, but I'll save them for another post because phewww this got long as fuck

[jodilin65]

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 They still haven’t left next door, and we’re still having chilly mornings. Yesterday afternoon, however, was the first time in days we had to run the AC. We’ll be close to 90° come Friday. :)

I sit here and I look around me, and despite the minor annoyances like traffic and landscaping, I still can’t believe we ended up in such a nice house. And so big, too. I really thought we were going to end up in another undersized dump, or at least a dump. We would have if we hadn’t gotten out when we did.

Had some strange dreams last night, both in which I didn’t seem to know Tom. In one dream I won some therapy appointments, LOL, and my parents, who were alive and well, took me to see a woman who seemed to be in her late 30s or so. She had long thick, wavy brown hair.

I went up these stairs and into her office, which was a large room. She was the first thing I saw. She smiled and said hello and I smiled, too. But then I glanced to the side and saw other people in the room as well. Not being a fan of group therapy, I turned and left the room. The woman called after me about the benefits of group therapy as opposed to one-on-one, but I wasn’t interested. Besides, my life was going just fine. I went to fetch my parents so we could leave, only they weren’t sitting up in chairs in a waiting room. They were asleep on a full-size bed in a small room.

In the last dream, I was about to or already had received a life sentence for who knows what, but the prison wasn’t anything like a real prison. It was co-ed and the security was such a joke that I felt confident that I could easily escape. The problem was where to go afterward.

Most of the “inmates” were young and immature. But one guy named Michael was a little older and a lot smarter. My dream self took immediately to the gray-eyed guy with brown curly hair who was soon to be released. At dinnertime, we spoke of escaping. He said it should be easy enough and I said, “I know. I was waiting outside the office building one time and slowly wandered over to the front gate. At first I was afraid to approach it, but then said, who cares? Who cares if a swarm of guards come after me? I’m going down for life anyway.”

Michael warned me about being sensible about making my escape and not doing anything foolish just because escaping wouldn’t be that difficult.

Then they loaded about 8 of us into a van to go to a fast-food place. The place must’ve been pretty far away, though, cuz we stopped for a cigarette break along the way. I just walked around and enjoyed the fresh air since I didn’t smoke. Everyone got back in the van and the door slid shut before I could hop in. I ran alongside the van shouting to the driver. He saw me and decided to play games by making me run alongside the van. His laughter was soon replaced by comments commending me on being such a good runner when he finally let me back in the van.

At the so-called fast food place, we ate in what looked like oversized bathroom stalls only there were no toilets. Just these weird tables and benches I couldn’t figure out how to sit on. Michael told me which way to face in the seat but my ass seemed to be too big for the seat.

“Our own room,” I said, thinking Michael and I were the only ones in that “booth” and could talk about my escape in private. But then I saw some other guy in the corner of the room and quickly shut up.

At one point after we ate I casually walked off, though I don’t know how far I got or where I went.

Later…

Posted a few quick rat vids on Facebook and swapped messages with Alison. Sure enough, she asked if I were behind the “April Smith” thing. A girl named Gabby reported to her that Kim went on a huge rant on her FB page about someone pretending to be Kathy and Molly. I pretended to be Kathy, not Molly, but that’s just Kim for you.

What’s funny is that she keeps changing her Twitter name but I keep finding it. That’s because she makes it so damn obvious because they’re just variations of the same name. I was surprised to see a 7-hour lag in tweets earlier, then she reported in saying she was busy being “Mattified.” Yeah, I’ll bet she was. Being other people is what she does best, along with lying and being unbelievably paranoid and delusional. She really, really seems to think everyone is out to get her. But she’s a really bad liar when she claims she hasn’t been to any of my sites in over a year unless it’s a so-called alter visiting me she’s not aware of. I’ve wondered if someone could’ve been impersonating her, though I highly doubt it. She was just too damn obvious. Besides, who would go to such trouble and take the time to pull off such an elaborate impersonation of the nut for so long? It was her. Trust me, it was her.

As Aly said, her mind is fascinating but highly disturbing.

Coincidently, Enfield, CT popped into my OD diary right around the time I was picking on Kim. Although the person has a mobile device and Cox, it’s still hard to believe it’s her and that she’d show up as being in Enfield, but it’s still possible.

She definitely read my blog last night because right after she read the “plant” in it where I claimed to have reactivated Ask just to be anonymously asked to follow (I named Kim’s accounts) on Twitter, she protected her tweets.

Nane was posting the usual kinds of TR pics I’ve already seen enough of but didn’t contact me. Oh well, I’m used to it. Maybe I’ll make her wait on me someday.

Here’s a funny Twitter story for you. Since people often don’t use their real names anyway, I decided to go with what’s trending to see if my follower count went up. So I became “Jodi Arias Hater,” and jumped 4 followers in less than a day. One follower is a famous judge in Miami. I never heard of him but I guess he has his own TV show. However, the intended goal wasn’t just to get more followers just for the sake of having more followers, but to get people to link to my blog and drive up book sales. Since blog traffic hasn’t gone up, though, I don’t see why book sales will. As with everything else that involves money, I have totally failed as an author. Oh well. At least Tom’s “allowed” to make more than enough.

I still worry about circumstances leading us back into the hands of poverty (with a little help from above), and I’m not talking about the kind where you’re tight for a while and that outfit you want has to wait a few months. I’m talking about the kind where you go hungry and are facing homelessness. As Tom pointed out, though, we just made another space payment and a mortgage payment, plus we’ve spent tons of money on new things for the house, yet the savings is going up. It’s going up slowly, but it’s going up. The 401K is going up faster.

As I was pointing out to him yesterday, first I wanted to win to get ahead in life, now I want to win so I can hire people to tackle the walls of OUR home. It’s not that I mind doing it myself, but I’m no pro. I don’t know that I could do that good a job. About 80% of the paneling in here was painted at some point and I can tell a pro did it cuz there isn’t a single drop of paint on the trim anywhere.

I dug up the old roast recipe my mother taught me when I last saw her in May of 1997 when she visited us in Phoenix. One of the few good contributions she ever left me. Only this idiot here forgot to add spices and didn’t add enough water either. It’s still plenty edible, though. I just added the spices afterward, more water, and cooked it at a lower temp for longer. Oh, the propane cooking this thing would’ve sucked up! LOL, it’s why I never cooked it while we were in the trailer as much as I wanted to at times, especially during the cooler weather. Now that we’re in a real house, the time of year doesn’t matter, though it’s still nothing I’d want to cook during the summer when we’re in triple digits.

I even managed to screw up poor Tom’s ice cream, LOL, by accidentally placing his chocolate topping shell in the refrigerator. He had to wait forever for it to warm up and turn to liquid again.

Anyway, for a whopping $15, we got an eye of the round roast. I put it in a big black roasting pot and dumped in a can of French onion soup and a can of golden mushroom soup, followed by 2 cans of water and a couple of cans of whole potatoes (these were mostly for Tom). You cook it at 350° for 3 or more hours.

You’ll be water-picking and brushing your teeth for sure afterward cuz you get strings of meat between them – ew. We got these super high-powered toothbrushes. I won one like it back in 2006 that was then worth over $100, but couldn’t find replacement heads anywhere. Now they’re common and much cheaper. So for $30 apiece, we each got one.

Neighborhood report now. No landscaping sounds today or yesterday, but the house on the side got annoying cuz they’re moving out. It’s still for sale, though, so we don’t think they’re moving cuz the house sold, but more likely because the owner died or went into some type of assisted living program and that’s why it’s for sale. It’s going to be a tough sale. Too high, bad location. They’re asking way too much for the place and it’s right on the edge of the park. Screaming kids, barking dogs, loud music – you’ll hear it all if you’re in that house and the people across the street and just beyond the wall happen to have any of that shit going.

Yesterday there were a ton of vehicles and door slamming. A really loud pickup was making trips in and out till after 9pm. A U-Haul was parked there when I got up, but it left shortly afterward and I haven’t seen or heard much activity there since. Still gotta deal with open house traffic and whoever moves in, but there are worse things to deal with. Watch, though, I told Tom. As soon as the newcomers get settled in, another one around us will go up for sale. Well, it won’t be next door, thankfully. They’re quiet 99% of the time. Almost too good to be true. I just can’t believe we got lucky enough to get such great neighbors, retirement community or not. They’re living proof, though, that you really can be civilized and you don’t have to make a scene every day and make your every move noticed. We’re talking two people just a few feet away. So Jesse, that one person who was a few hundred feet away, didn’t have to carry on like he did. There was simply no reason or excuse to be that noisy so often. So glad we’re not there anymore!

I haven’t had any energy to work out today. At least not for high-impact stuff. So I hit the floor and did some floor exercises like back bows, pushups, leg raises and ab/oblique crunches. Maybe tomorrow I’ll have the energy for the butt kickers, lateral jumps, jumping jacks, burpees, lunges and squats.

Later…

The pregnant God-lover popped into my blog for 8 minutes, no doubt due to Kim’s urging, since MD is closed today. It was open yesterday to make it a handy reference for me, but once I was done with what I had to do today, I set it private again. I’m sure Kim checks it every day to see if it’s open. Still don’t get why she’s determined to dodge tracking, though.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 Tom says there’s no way it was in the 40s yesterday morning and that Yahoo! was wrong. Maybe so, but it sure has been cooler. I like it hot when I’m not sleeping or working out, so I can be without robes, slippers and long sleeves. I like to hang out barefoot in shorts.

Tom’s got to work today and I’ll be in for lots of sweat and hunger doing those killer 1000-calorie workouts. As I hit mid-cycle the water slowly begins to come on, so I’m up a pound. I also ate a little more yesterday and most of it was the wrong foods. But damn that Velveeta cheese and shells cup was good!

I asked Tom if he thinks I’ll adapt to the everyday buzzing of landscaping equipment like I have with the traffic, and he said yes. I hope he’s right! It’s the weekend now and the two places with grass in their yards in the immediate area have already been done, so it may be quieter. It was actually quieter for the last two days. Just some buzzing diagonally from us for a half-hour or so right when I went to watch a video yesterday afternoon.

As disappointing as the sweeping’s been, I’m going to go get sweeping. My sweep subscription doesn’t end till Nov. 2nd anyway.

Later…

I’ve been doing my best to distance myself from Kim and hoping she’d do the same, but since we’re not always treated the way we treat others, I finally broke down. I couldn’t resist. So I created “April Smith” on Twitter and friended Kim with a plan in mind for the gullible, crazy sack of shit. April is 30, disabled from a car accident, and home alone bored in her apartment with lots of time to spare. She lives in Anaheim, too. I then randomly grabbed a face shot of a fat blond in that age range for her profile pic.

My goal is going to be hard to accomplish because Kim is both delusional and a liar. The idea is to try to get inside her head and see what’s really going on. To pay attention to things I never paid attention to back when we were “friends.” If I can get a handle on what makes her tick, then maybe she’ll be easier to deal with in the future.

I read her explanation of why she feels it’s best to block her ex-friends on Facebook “before they have a chance to find her,” but it didn’t make sense. Like I consciously go looking for her. rolls eyes Common problems with stalkers; they act like you’re the one stalking them.

Already I’ve got her talking about “loonies” which are her ex-friends and the ex-BF she never had. I’ve protected my tweets and am trying to get her to PM me so no one else who may be connected to Aly, Kathy or anyone else can see enough of our exchanges to figure out who I am. I doubt they would, but you never do know. I don’t want to move too fast and scare her off, but once I can get her to open up about me, I’ll hopefully get a sense of how close she’s stalking me, though I don’t know how much she’d be willing to admit no matter how much she may trust “April.” Or how much she even remembers. Again, if my MPD theory is right, she’s not always aware of what she does. At least not totally aware of it.

Based on the times she tweets, she seems to sleep from around 3am to noon her time and practically lives online as I pretty much suspected. I don’t see how she could possibly have a job. The bulk of her time is spent obsessing over celebrities. Gee, what a surprise. She creates tons of fan sites and interacts with those who are also fans. I had to pretend I was a Glee fan. Hope she doesn’t ask me any questions about the show I can’t answer.

I’m not going to play this game forever, of course, so how I’ll end it I’m not sure of right now. Maybe I’ll freak her out a bit by saying something like how I’m sorry her father died. Something she knows I shouldn’t know, LOL. Or maybe I’ll say I’m a friend of Kathy’s and how Kathy wants to dump her and all that.

Not sure if I want to let Alison in on what I’m doing or not. There’s still a part of me that’s hesitant to trust her. I’m 90-something percent sure I could, but maybe I’ll wait a while. I skimmed Kim’s private tweets once she added me and couldn’t find any mention of me. Just whining about Aly feeling “left out” and falsely flattering herself by thinking Aly cares enough to peek in on her that she’s got to hurry up and block her.

Anyway, I’m trying to get her to take the bait but she keeps running off. Got to make more fan sites. rolls eyes It’s sad that this deranged, 300-pound virgin with nothing but time can do nothing but live in a fantasy world and basically dedicate her life to these celebs she never met… when she’s not harassing people she was once friends with.

Molly hit my LJ blog real quick early this morning, so the “changed and restricted woman” is back at it again. I’m sure she’ll be back soon enough, but why that blog? She usually goes to MO. Either way, the only one she can read right now is on Blogger.

Later…

Game’s over. Already. And I did not expect it to end this way. Not at first anyway. I quickly got bored with the so-called attempt to get into her crazy head and realized I wasn’t going to get any useful info from her. So I said I was a friend of Kathy’s and that Kathy was pissed at her for hitting on Adam. The crazy bitch got off on it at first, laughing and saying how “fun” this was.

Then she disappeared for nearly an hour (probably to go confront Kathy), and then I unfollowed her and she unfollowed me. I then changed my u/n, but it was too late. The account was already suspended. It was either automatically flagged and shut down due to her blocking me, or she reported it. Chances are it was shut down for being a new account that received something like 4-5 blocks. Action wouldn’t have been taken that fast had she reported me, and there was nothing to “report.” Unless there’s spam, excessive foul language or threats, you can’t shut someone down for saying stuff you don’t want to hear. I could’ve agreed to behave, checked a few boxes and sprung the account back to life, but I don’t need it anymore.

After we were disconnected, I then peeked in on her public account from my real account and while she never named names, clearly she suspects me. I would’ve thought she thought either Aly or I was behind it, but what narrowed it down to me was how she said she has “left me and my sites alone.” Well, Aly doesn’t have sites. She’s had a few FB accounts trying to escape this loon, but she hasn’t been active on Ask or any blogging site that I know of.

She threatened to get me in trouble if I keep it up, of course, and admitted it was “fun” at first till it got creepy. And damn, how did they find her?

I’m surprised she didn’t run and shut all the accounts down like she always used to. Instead, she started to change the name of her public one, then changed it back.

Stop lying and leave her friends and family alone, she says. Oh, but it’s perfectly ok for her to hit up the friends of those who dumped her, right?

Enough of that fucktard.

When Aly questions me about it, and unfortunately she will, I’m not going to lie and say I had nothing to do with it. I’ll tell her what I did and why. If she tells Kim, she tells Kim, but I doubt she will.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2013 It’s been unusually cold. It’s now just 40fucking6 degrees out and I’m not liking it one bit. Had to run the heat for a little while, but have switched it off and put my robe on till it warms up. It’s to be back in the 80s today, thankfully. When I’m not sleeping or working out, I hate being cold!

I guess they haven’t left yet next door, after all. I noticed their light on early this morning when I walked into the kitchen.

Last night in my dreams my rats turned into shrieking guinea pigs, someone installed gray carpet in here that was wavy, and then my whorebag brother returned from the dead to take me swimming in some filthy stream.

Still plugging away at the French one lesson at a time, and still not sure which is harder, French or Italian. Probably French.

Have to give my muscles a day of recovery after yesterday’s kick-ass workout. Imagine doing jumping jacks and push-ups for an hour and a half straight. Well, that’s how intense these workouts are. I’ve even got a pulled muscle in my foot. So other than laundry, I’m going to be sitting on my ass all day. Only my brain and hands will be active.

Sometimes I ask myself why I bother killing myself with these insane workouts till I remember how good they make me feel. I was delighted to catch a glimpse of my profile in the mirror this morning to see how much my tummy, lower back and ass have gone down. My upper tummy is virtually flat again, even if I still kind of have to either suck it in or lay flat on my back.

Got views yesterday and today from the Sac, but no more dreams of the Doc. GA isn’t nearly as detailed as TIP is, so I can’t say what time or what pages they viewed.

After talking with Aly yesterday, I’d say the 2 San Angelo and 2 Junction visits were Kathy. They’ve really been restricting Molly’s online activity from what she’s been told. She and Kathy share a mutual friend who says she and Kim have become chummy for some reason lately. Maybe that’s because Kim goes along with everything she says, a must if you want to remain Kathy’s friend. I know Kathy was also afraid to stir Kim up due to her craziness.

Anyway, Kim has a couple of private Twitter accounts, and she is reading my blog. We just don’t know if she’s having Kathy read it for her or if she’s figured out how to disable cookies. The accounts are under celebrity names, of course. She started following a friend of Aly’s who returned the favor. The friend reports her 20+ tweets saying she’s not feeling well, people are picking on her even though she’s done nothing to deserve it, etc. Well, apparently I’m “harassing” her by blogging about her friending friends of those who have dumped her under false pretenses.

We have long given up trying to figure her out and how her twisted mind works. All I know is that for some reason she is determined to remain as anonymous as possible where I’m concerned, and thank God, too. The day she decides to come at me from bogus accounts, or as herself, is the day she could make my online life a bit of a bitch. The fact that she hides from me tells me she must have some awareness of what she’s done and is at least somewhat worried she may get in trouble for pestering me. But will things remain the same with her year after year? Or will she eventually get worse and worse till someone stops her?

While a part of me misses some of the drama and found some of it to be a bit amusing (I guess because it’s just so silly and childish), it’s important that I look out for myself. The last thing I want is this nutjob making trouble for me in other ways. She couldn’t play the race card since she’s also white, but God above would make damn sure that she won, and I, the victim, was the one to get screwed. I meant it when I said I’d never let anyone put me through that again.

Another part of me is tempted to reopen MD and Ask, but not allow for anonymous questions on Ask.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2013 Again I dreamed of my dentist, though I don’t remember any details of the dream. Why do I dream of her so often? I had another local visitor yesterday early in the morning (this time listed as being in Sacramento), so maybe some of my local visits really are from her and I’m sensing her presence in my dreams or something.

“I don’t have to like anyone I don’t want to like. I don’t have to feel guilty for it either.”

Saw this on someone’s wall and totally agree. I used to feel a tinge of guilt and shame and tended to hide the fact that I’m not particularly fond of some individuals as well as some groups of people who, if you’re willing to open your eyes and your mind to the statistics, aren’t very helpful to society. But not anymore. Hey, as long as we’re not harming anyone, we all have a right to like and dislike whomever we please the same as we do with foods, music and color. No one likes everyone and no one is liked by everyone. Like it or not, that’s just a fact of life. Might as well deal with it.

Lost another pound, so now I’m down 9 pounds total with 36 more to go. Still doubt I’ll lose that much, but am glad to have stopped gaining. Had 1200 calories yesterday and might take it up to 1500 today. I’m hungry as hell. This is typical after hitting a new low. I dread entering the PMS zone when I tend to have days when nothing I eat fills me up. Did one of those 1000-calorie workouts yesterday and another one today that I haven’t done before. As usual, I fell short on some of the cardio training due to the extra weight (and maybe age?) but did better on the strength and core strengthening. Been pushing myself so hard that I may have to take a day off tomorrow or do a shorter video that’s about 20 minutes. Today I did an 84-minute one that was the longest 84 minutes of my life, LOL. Might as well have been 884 minutes. I’m totally burned out now and am glad I don’t have any cleaning or laundry to do today. I actually feel like I could take a nap. Just maybe I will. I’ll kick on the sound machine and just relax and drown out those damn landscaping sounds, which will probably start up in another half hour or so.

Later…

Wow. It’s just after 10am and still peaceful. No landscapers, no door slamming, no nothing yet. Part of that may be due to it being the coldest it’s been since moving in here. It’s even windy enough that I can hear my newest wind chime in front. It hangs just outside the window barely 5’ from where I sit.

Anyway, it got down to a frigid 67° inside the house, but the sun is now warming the place up nicely. It’s to be 76° today. The cold is better for sleeping and working out, though I do not like it much otherwise. I had to laugh, though, knowing we’d have the heat on for damn sure if we were still in that little old trailer. It would’ve been too warm not to go to bed with the window open and I’d wake up freezing and scramble to shut the window and get the heat going.

Bye, bye, Bob and Virginia. Yeah, they just left for vacation. Tom was on his way to pick up the mail yesterday when Virginia jumped out to meet him. She wanted to let us know that she and Bob are going on vacation for 3 weeks and that their son will be keeping an eye on the place, so we wouldn’t think anyone broke in. Since they don’t have a dog, why the close eye in a gated retirement community in a nice neighborhood? Maybe they have a cat or plants to water. Hopefully, the kid will park in front and go around to the front door instead of parking alongside us and going into the garage. If he does park by us, hopefully he comes and goes and quietly as his parents do. The light was on at 5am as usual this morning, so I saw from the kitchen window and knew they hadn’t left yesterday night.

She also said she’d have more tomatoes for us next year (I told Bob the previous morning when I had the front door open and saw him shut the back of his SUV how good they were).

I love our new home, park and neighborhood, but really get sick of the landscaping sounds, as I’ve said before. I heard what sounded like tree branches being thrown in a wood chipper in the common area yesterday and it was louder than what I usually hear. I guess that after the first rain, they are eager to prep for the winter rains, assuming we get that much. It’s almost impossible to do anything that requires a quiet background in the daytime, especially between 9am - 2pm. In some ways, I hear more here than at the Jes pest, though I’d still take the predictable sounds at predictable hours without the welfare bums mixed in. It’s still dead quiet most of the time, too. All I hear now are vehicles speeding down the freeway, a pleasant sound.

Andy suggested going to Macy’s and asking for makeup tips, but right now I’ve got more important things to focus on than trying to pretty up my face. For now, I’ll adopt the “don’t like it, don’t look” attitude. After I see how much more progress I can make from the neck down, then maybe I’ll consider the face.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2013 Had trouble typing on my new keyboard and decided to switch back to my old one again. I like its layout better even though they’ve changed it a bit to make the newer keyboards skinnier.

I’ve lost 8 pounds in the 2 months we’ve been here. That may not seem like much, but to one as short as I am it goes a long way. I did a rigorous hour of kickboxing cardio this morning and have come to realize how much less boring doing a variety of videos is compared to the treadmill. The treadmill is boring whether I read while I’m at it, listen to music or watch TV. The vids provide a fun variety of routines whereas walking and running are just walking and running. I didn’t have the room to bop around to vids in the trailer, but now that I do I may retire the treadmill for a while. It was fun for the few years I had it and it has served its purpose, but a break from the thing is definitely in order. For now, my mat, dumbbells, and resistance bands are enough. Tom doesn’t care for running but may want to use the treadmill for walking.

I don’t see how you can really burn many calories and lose much weight from yoga or other no to low-impact activities. Some people who are older and or prone to injuries may have no choice, but I find the high-energy workouts more effective. I’m still a big girl, though, so some of the jumping exercises are still a bit much for me, and I have to improvise. But I feel like I’m really working out when my heart’s pumping and the sweat’s pouring. Yeah, I’m really on my way to becoming an expert on hooks, jabs, uppercuts, crossovers, burpees, star jumps and more.

I may always look fat, old and ugly, but damn do I need to do something about my makeup these days. Andy had said (in an honest way and not a hurtful one), that the way my makeup looked in pictures taken a few years ago reminded him of a character in the movie Whatever Happened to Baby Jane. It’s true that makeup simply doesn’t look like it once did on me, even though I apply it the same as always. It makes me look more clownish these days rather than just made up, so I’ve eased up on the mascara since my eyelashes have always been ridiculously long. In the picture, he pointed out I also didn’t have any foundation on and so I looked sunburned due to whatever (rosacea?) has been causing the constant redness in my face that began about 6 years ago.

Still get the runs at times too, and still don’t know why. I eat healthy and I get enough fiber. I have no stress or anxiety in my life right now either.

I opened the windows yesterday and ran the central fan to air the place out a bit. Opening some of these 30-year-old windows is a bitch! I’d like to replace them someday. I just feel so – I guess exposed is the word – when windows are open. I may not be so private online, but I like my privacy on the home front. I definitely miss the seclusion of the woods, but not the Jes pest that ruled those woods. Or his mutts.

It stayed quiet till 9:00 yesterday morning, then it was on to musical car doors with a burst of landscaping somewhere in back at 9:30, and a round in front at lunchtime. I suppose Bob will blow himself today, though I still love it here very much. I’m not going to let any evil God get this place, too. I just wish He hadn’t taken my winnings. He gave me a condition that prevents me from working. Then He helped see to it that I couldn’t get the compensation I deserve. My only financial contribution to our household was my wins, but it looks like He’s gone and taken that, too. I guess I’m just meant to be as “valuable” as an old cigar wrapper, and again I am thankful to have a husband who sees my love and upkeeping of the pets and house as sufficient enough. You know you are truly loved when conditions don’t matter and you simply do what you can do and that’s plenty good enough.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 Amongst the usual spider dreams and dreams of being held places against my will, and even being dumb enough to type a long journal entry that I lost on MD, which doesn’t have an auto-save, I had a sad and scary dream about Andy.

Andy called and sounded very down and worn out. I asked him what was wrong. He hesitated a moment, then said, “I’ve got cancer.” I knew by the way he said it that it wasn’t treatable. After we hung up Tom gathered me into his arms as I cried, “I don’t want to lose my best friend!”

If it were before the fall of 2011, I’d be scared shitless for him. I wouldn’t expect him to actually die of cancer, but I would expect something to go wrong for him. The vast majority of my negative dreams were coming true like crazy between 2007-2011. Every time I would dream of a friend or a family member dying, getting into an accident, or becoming seriously ill, something bad would happen to them. I had dreams of Tammy dying and her lung condition worsened. A friend also died in my dreams that was dealing with breast cancer. That lying shit Maliheh fell overboard from a speedboat in one of my dreams and came within 500’ of being wiped out by a tornado around the same time.

Again, if it were a couple of years ago I’d worry and say that his next 72 hours were critical, not that any of my dreams have ever altered fate. But I seem to have lost most of my psychic abilities. I can’t influence myself to win like crazy like I used to, and I haven’t had any dream premonitions in quite a while now.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 So Mommy Dearest has been dead for a year now. Not long enough. Just not long enough. As I told my sister, who also struggles with horrible memories, since God didn’t give a damn about how she treated us when she was alive, hopefully He very much gives a damn right now if there is such a thing as life after death. raises imaginary wine glass Here’s to hoping the Hündin is stuck on a plane full of tarantulas!

I had a dream I was wandering through our backyard at the house I grew up in. I slowly climbed up the steep, but brief hill into the wooded area with a small clearing in which my old swing set sat. I walked beyond the swings and to the fence in back. It used to be a seemingly endless stretch of nothing but woods, and as a child, I did not dare climb over that fence, lest any monsters pop out from behind the trees and eat me alive. But in the dream, I was an adult and I knew it was safe to cross the fence. I proceeded to climb over it, but then the woods gave way to long freshly paved streets in which houses with no walls adorned the sides. I could see kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms as I walked down the wide road, but there were no walls and no people in sight. Everything was open and modern, yet barren and lonely.

Last night I looked at my old house and the house next to it where my maternal grandparents lived on Google Maps. The once well-manicured lawns and well-kept roads have changed quite a bit. The roads are now all beat up and the neighborhood as a whole looks rather ordinary with a few newer mansions that are a bit nicer. Gone are the vast expanses of woods in back in which new homes now sit. You couldn’t see any houses in back in the ’70s, but now you can see rooftops peeking through the trees. My parents and grandparents definitely wouldn’t have liked that at all. Gone are the lush hedges that once divided the properties and added some privacy. Now they’re nothing but scattered, dead-looking clumps of bushes. If my grandparents were still alive, would they still be there? I wonder.

My other dream was about Tom and I outside our place, only it didn’t quite look like this place. On the side of the house toward the roof was a giant spider. Tom was prepping this thing you hook to a hose that shoots a mix of poison and water, and I cried out, “Hurry up! The thing is starting to move upwards. Hurry!”

Later…

Although TIP missed them, I’ve got visitors, according to GA, from San Angelo and Junction, Texas. Molly-related? Either way, why aren’t they showing up on TIP? San Angelo once showed up on TIP, and I thought it could be Molly-connected, even though it’s closer to where Kathy is.

Love my new rat figurines, which would’ve been perfect if one’s paw hadn’t fallen off along the way. It’s barely noticeable, though, and not worth returning.

The mornings have been chilly and the AC didn’t even run at all yesterday. Today it will, though, cuz it’s to be 85°. I was thinking I might open windows and air the place out on Thursday because it’s supposed to be windy that day.

While I slept on Sunday, Tom said it poured like crazy for a few minutes, then drizzled the rest of the day. Really wish it would stop raining only at night or on Sundays, leaving the week wide open to the annoying landscapers. Wish the house across the side street would hurry up and sell too, so there won’t be as much traffic coming to see the place.

Early yesterday morning we went to Walgreens and got some fun stuff. Those little things we women love – perfume, nail polish, lip gloss and Calgon’s English Garden bath beads. I don’t take baths very often, but when I do it will be nice to have soft, silky, fragrant water. It was either that or bubble bath. I also got a lovely blue beaded bracelet, and I think that was it.

Tom said there’s no use making all this money if we’re not going to spend some of it, and it was good to get out anyway. He got a few things, too.

All my cleaning, working out and writing-related stuff is done for the day, along with my French lesson, so I think I’ll spend the rest of my day, which began last evening, with videos and reading.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 It’s freezing in here! Most wouldn’t think 72° was cold, but I’m used to it being 78° - 82° in here. It’s great for working out, though. Yesterday I completed a 64-minute, 1000-calorie workout that burns 500-1000 calories. I’m so proud of myself! It was a very intense workout and even my hands were sweating. I’d give most people my age 5-10 minutes tops, although I myself did fall a few seconds short on a couple of exercises. Having extra weight can really bog you down on some of them, but I am slowly losing weight and inches and will continue to do so for as long as I can. Love how much better I feel! My flexibility is returning and I haven’t had any joint pain.

My bad ear has been worse overall, though, since the move, and I wonder if the drop in elevation could have anything to do with it. I often feel an achy pressure-like sensation and so I decided to pop a couple of Aleve at the start of each day rather than wait for the discomfort to set in. Then if I feel any irritation come on in the middle of the day, I can take more if need be.

Good and bad news from Tammy. They can’t operate on Mark because it would be too risky. He could either live for years or drop dead today. It’s a scary thing for them to have to live with, but they intend to make the best of what he’s got left. That’s all anyone can do is make the best of whatever life/situation they’ve got, for we’re not in the driver’s seat of our lives as much as we’d like to think we are, and no, we don’t quite always have “free will.”

Tammy will soon make an appointment with her pulmonologist to see what they’re going to do in her case and when.

So many people are getting sick these days, so it seems. While I don’t usually care to know about those I don’t personally know, I once idolized Linda Ronstadt, and it’s sad to know she’s got Parkinson’s, even though she seemed perfectly normal in one of her more recent interviews.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2013 I know it may sound silly since they love me either way, but I almost wish Andy and other friends could see me for a second in person to see the progress I’ve been making with the working out. No camera can precisely convey how we really look. Not sure how much more I’ll accomplish, but what I have so far is nice, even if it’s not much. Tom sure thinks it is, though, LOL.

Andy crashed shortly after I got up. As kids, our game was crazy 8’s. As young adults, it was prank calls. As middle-agers, it’s sharing pics on Ask, which also provides a handy way to keep in touch and up to date with what’s going on with us. I think I like our middle-age game the best. :)

Tom says he’s tired of working and sleeping, working and sleeping, and I don’t blame him. So he has informed me that Sunday he wants to do something “fun.” LOL, I will do my best to please him even though I’m still mostly on nights right now. Aside from what we may do right here at home, there’s only so much open early Sunday morning which will be the end of my day at that time. Walmart, Denny’s, the casino…

Been sleeping better than ever, but had a couple of strange dreams last night. I actually had several, but only remember two. In one dream we were still living with the Jes pest. Two mornings in a row he drove down unannounced and even woke Tom up. Feeling bad for Tom and pissed at his rudeness, I wanted to let him have it but Tom insisted it was fine. So glad that was just a dream!

My paternal grandmother was in the second dream I remember. She was a pretty nice woman, unlike my maternal grandmother who was the bitch her daughter was. She made the comment about having a bad feeling and I just shrugged it off. Then I got the impression some time passed when she said it again in what appeared to be the first dream to take place in this house. She was standing just inside the kitchen when I went to reach for something in the refrigerator. After she spoke I shut the door and said, “A bad feeling about what, Nana? Emotional? Physical? Legal?”

She said nothing and so I said, “Touching someone sometimes helps make us see things. Here, let me hug you.”

As I went to hug her she said, “You can hug me, but don’t touch me,” whatever that means.

Now that it’s getting later into the night and cooler inside the house (it’s supposed to be only 70° and rainy today) I’m going to really challenge myself tonight. They have these 1000-calorie workouts that burn about 500-1000 calories, depending on your fitness/fat level. They usually take an hour to do. Don’t know if I can last that long, but I’m going to find out!

Andy’s fun but continues to be the pervert from hell. He can’t even go a day without posting some picture or comment that somehow pertains to sex.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2013 I was sitting on the couch while I was eating a protein bar and felt totally lost in our humungous living room. I was just a tiny spec within. An L-shaped couch in there would probably not only look best but be better for watching TV. That way it’d be right in front of part of the couch and not off to the side. If it was slightly off to the side, that’d be one thing, but 15’ away is a bit much, even with a 42” screen.

Paula’s been leaving messages for me to call her and she knows I don’t like that. She knows I hate phones. Besides, we recently talked and swapped letters. I suppose she’s just lonely. She has no life at all. She’s single, alone, lonely, fucked in the head, jobless and without any skills or talents to occupy her time. It’s been this way since we met up at the Laundromat back in 1990. This autistic, paranoid woman with ADHD simply exists but does not live. She is still someone I care about and I really hope they get rid of her ovarian cancer. She told me she’d be ok and she may really believe that, but when it’s coming from someone that’s not very bright at all, you can never really know for sure. She could be in remission only to see the damn thing return.

Soon I will send her the pictures of the house she asked for since she’s obviously never going to be online. I’m sending my Italian dad the same pics, too.

Tom’s exhausted and the rats are the usual – Romeo chases the duster, Sugar chases me.

Although it took a week, the sensitivity within my new crown is gone.

Working out in bursts of 10s where I sprint at 5 MPH for 45 seconds, rest a few seconds, do it again, rest again, then do it again. This comes to 22 ½ minutes of running and burns 300 calories. I’m too heavy to do it all at once and since I know I’m not going to lose any more weight, I’ve got to work with what I have. I’m just glad I stopped gaining. I hate to struggle just to stay 40 pounds overweight (though the charts say it’s 25), but it also keeps me fit, strong and flexible and helps with joint pain.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 My Citrus Heights viewer who was definitely, definitely NOT me, hasn’t been around in a few days.

I had dreams of winning but awoke to find not one single win notice in my inbox. Guess I’m only allowed to be psychic these days when things aren’t going well. Either way, if I don’t do some serious winning soon enough and start winning more than chips and T-shirts, I’m going to shut down both my Twitter and Pinterest accounts. It would suck too, cuz I always felt that that was my main way of contributing, as funny as it may sound. If it’s true that God picks and chooses our illnesses, injuries and conditions – well – first He sicced one on me that kept me from adding an additional income to our household, and now you mean He’s gone and taken my winnings, too? I was winning cash and prizes that compared to a decent part-time job, and I know my husband loves me unconditionally and that I contribute enough just taking care of the house, but still… must I lose that, too? There are other ways to make money but not like that. No one’s gonna give me 9 grand to tell them what something means in Spanish. They’re not going to send me on a Caribbean cruise for reviewing their business either.

Well, I can’t win and I can’t have my disability benefits reinstated which are so rightfully mine, but I am immensely thankful that Tom is unlike other men. No man wants his wife at home these days. No man. Not unless she has a “visible” or “normal” condition that most people have heard of, and even then they often turn against them. If the woman can’t bring in the dough the same as he can, then he’s not interested. That’s just today’s marriage rules for you; instead of staying home with kids, you skip the kids and go to work. Well, I skipped the kids, so can I please start winning big again?

According to what Tom read, the cost of housing has soared in this area faster and higher than anywhere else in the country. Had we waited any longer we may’ve been forced to settle for another dumpy old single-wide despite all the money we had. Going from someone else’s shit single-wide to our own in an area that forbids barking, blasting music and other annoyances, would’ve been better than nothing, but how much of a step up would that really have been compared to this? I’m kind of surprised God didn’t help stall things even more so that we would have to continue living so poorly. He seemed to really enjoy seeing us do that year after year anyway. That’s ok, though, cuz while He may’ve denied me many things in life, I have denied Him myself. A small loss when you consider that there are 7 billion people in the world and that what I think of Him obviously isn’t important to Him, but I still like the thought of knowing I turned my back against Him same as I would any human being that treated or allowed me to be treated unjustly and unfairly. And guess what? I’m never walking back. I’m gone for good.

But what in the world has been on our side blessing us with good things these last few years??? Whatever/whoever it was that helped save us a couple of years ago couldn’t have been my parents or my foster mother as they were still alive at that time. Tom’s dad? Our grandparents? Or was it just a coincidence that we got a job and out of that trailer just in the nick of time?

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 Things are running smoothly and we’ve got a lot to look forward to over the upcoming months. Gotta call the travel agency soon to plan our trip to Hawaii, then come home, paint walls, get the new car, and install new carpet and flooring, etc.

It was chilly in here early yesterday morning. I went to bed cold and woke up warm. I still sleep better here than in the trailer, now that I’m adjusting to the traffic. It helps to add an earplug when I’m on nights and to always be able to keep the room dark. Blackout shades don’t do you much good when you have an evaporative cooler and need to crack windows and let tons of light in. We’ve still got a while before we need heat and heavier blankets. That’s usually not till late October or early November here.

Been on a roll with the French and doing well, but haven’t yet gotten back to my story writing. Maybe one of these days.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2013 When the pipes spit air at me when I got up to pee and wash my face, I knew we must’ve played water games again that day, and was glad I slept through it. That’s how many times now since we’ve been here? Four? Five? I’ve literally lost count of how many times this has happened in the 2 months and 1 week that we’ve lived here. I still don’t understand why they don’t do the whole park at once and get it over with in one shot. Tom said that’d cost them way too much money and that they’d have to dig up the roads in the entire park. I can see not wanting to tear up the whole park, but they’re going to have to spend the money eventually on these old pipes anyway. I just dread the day the water stops when my hair is full of shampoo!

When Andy pointed out that he hasn’t been harassed by the trolls, I realized that this is probably because he’s never been friends with the trolls for years like Aly and I were, and because they know he’s never been friends with Aly either. They’re looking for those with public accounts on which Aly has commented. They know they’ve never been friends, so there’s no reason to focus on Andy. Or to lash out at him in anger over having been dumped for being a crazy, habitual liar.

My Citrus Heights viewer again has me stumped, but I still think it’s almost certainly me with a twisted view count. I probably didn’t filter myself out correctly, whereas it’s easy to do so on Blogger and TIP. Same browser, same OS, same provider… though why it would say I was in one city in real-time and another when I visit the blog, beats me. I’ve been in a few times today and so far it still says there have been 0 views from my town today. This part also makes no sense if it’s me. Tom thinks it started off as being me, but since I filtered myself out, it’s someone else. But then why would it see me in RT and not my visits?

Been winning little stuff, which is better than nothing, but it’s been a disappointing experience so far. Tom thinks I’ll win big again someday, but wouldn’t think that had I not gotten any small wins.

I’m looking more fit and pretty good for one just a couple of years away from 50. I may look like shit compared to 20 years ago, but I know I’m doing pretty well for my age and that a lot of women out there would kill to weigh what I weigh. I don’t expect much more change within the scale or my measurements at this age, but I like how the exercise has made me look and feel.

I also like and am amazed at how such a little trim has really gone a long way as far as making my hair feel and look healthier. I didn’t think it’d do much good.

Saturday will be the first day in months that we don’t make it into the 80s. It’s even gonna be cloudy. While I LOVE the heat and HATE long sleeves, sometimes I get sick of the constant dry heat and fierce sun. Sometimes I just want rain, clouds and cooler weather that’s more comfortable for working out in. I want to snuggle under a real blanket. Instead, I sleep with the fan on and a little pink blanket that’s so thin you could floss your teeth with it.

I’ve learned that French is both easier and harder than Italian while German is still the hardest of those I’ve studied. The grammar part of plurals is simpler, but the pronunciation of many plural words sounds the same as the singular version, making those listening exercises a bit tricky. Their software is great. It’s not too easy, but challenging enough not to seem impossible and make you want to give up. If your brain isn’t “set” for languages and you have no desire for them then forget it. You’ll never get beyond the first level.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2013 On this very day in 2011 we learned we would die (it was just a question of how) before what may’ve been the spirits of our dead loved ones rushed in to save us. Two years later my husband made big bucks, I made a small win (just some stupid things for the kitchen), and then I learned that Kim’s gone Molly, all while being in the comfort and security of our own home.

So much for Aly signing up for a new FB account since Kim was able to remember who her public friends were and check their accounts for comments from her. She is also friending friends of ex-friends in hopes of being part of our lives that way and having others to harass and basically use as a weapon against us, and what better people than our friends and family, right?

I’ve described Kim and what she does and suggested those with public accounts go friends only, but most don’t seem to want to heed my warning. I guess they either feel it won’t happen to them, can’t relate to the possible consequences of remaining public, or maybe they’ve got a little troll in themselves so they actually can relate. At least a little bit. I’d feel bad if they got caught up in shit that had nothing to do with them, of course, and I’d hate to see them harassed and possibly their own friends and families too, but they at least can’t say I didn’t warn them if she does latch onto them. They’re big boys and girls, though. They can take care of themselves and I know they gotta do what they gotta do. I figure those with public accounts must want it that way for a reason, usually so old friends can look you up and know who you are and what’s up with you. I can understand that while people want to be cautious, they also don’t want to feel locked in a cage when online, so to speak, and to deny themselves sites and features they enjoy. If it weren’t for Molly and then Kim I’d probably be public too, only because I don’t care who sees what as long as it’s not sensitive info. I wouldn’t blog if I did.

I’m not there much myself anymore due to the glitches and the news feed being littered with crap, but I do try to check in once or twice a day to pick up any messages and comments I may have.

Anyway, I’ve made them aware of the situation and it’s up to them how they want to handle it. I alerted them to her real name, age and location and described what she looks like, letting them know she often uses variations of her name, as well as impersonates celebrities and other people. From what I’ve heard, she’s obsessed with Glee actors these days.

As some of us have learned, though, this sick twist has very little concept of right, wrong, fact and fiction. She’s so damn crazy I’m amazed she hasn’t threatened anyone yet. I almost wish she would, though.

Anyway, we’re thinking of having them do both the carpet and the kitchen/laundry/second bath floors next April or May. That way the rainy season (assuming we ever have one again) is over with, but it’s not yet so hot that the AC would be running like crazy.

We’re probably going to go with crème instead of lavender because the place is so damn big. So much lavender, pink or mint green would simply be too overwhelming, not to mention colors that could clash with other things. Little shit trailers are a different story.

All we have to do in the meantime is hope that God isn’t cruel enough to have Tom laid off so all our plans are shot to hell for who knows how long. I’m not stupid, though. The last thing any God cares about is our damn carpet. So I guess we can be glad that they’re not only always busy as hell where he works, but glad for all the OT, too. We could literally live off of that alone, even here. Literally.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 LOL, Kathy tried to view my blog, but couldn’t quite make it. I was wondering if she’d try again. Well, she apparently tried to link through to MO, unable to get to my Blogger link, since making that blog for friends only. She must’ve been too stupid to think to check her history (if she saves it) or have a friend see if they could get it from my FB page since she’s got me blocked. She definitely suspects Aly or myself as being behind the nasty Ask messages, but I don’t care. I’m 100% done with her now. Too risky playing with one who’s both Mexican and pregnant. Texas is too much like Arizona. If she wants to focus more on me than the kid she’s supposedly having, that’s her problem, but I’m done.

My Citrus Heights viewer is definitely, definitely me. It may not update as fast as it should, but it’s definitely me. So that solves that mystery.

Ok, even though Tom and I both hate beer, we’re entered to win a trip to next year’s Oktoberfest in Munich so we can meet Nane.

I was so fucking pissed last night. I was all excited about tackling French 101 only to find that LiveMocha has TOTALLY changed. It’s nothing like it used to be. I hate their new language-learning software. It’s glitchy and a poor way to learn, IMO. Why oh why can’t things ever stay the same?! Underwear, wallpaper and piss-poor attitudes are for changing, not sites that people liked just the way they were. Change, change, change… I fucking hate it! sighs All good things really do come to an end.

Then I discovered Duolingo and started their basic French course until I’m asked to pay to advance further or that site goes to hell too.

Was reading an article about whether or not they think some people have an easier time learning languages than others and why. It not only stated the obvious – that we tend to do better in what we like, but that the area of the brain responsible for languages is enlarged in people like me. Let me guess… the part that processes numbers is so damn microscopic in my case that not even the most powerful microscope can detect it, right?

Wish I knew why I’ve been having the runs more and more often. Makes me wonder if my weight’s down due to that more than to all the activity. I just don’t get it, though. I’m not nervous or worried about anything. Life is great. I have everything I need and most of what I want, so I can’t complain. If anything, I worry more for friends and family who have been having hard times in various ways.

The only negative thing is that tomorrow is the two-year anniversary of when we got our would-be death sentence in the mail. It was just about the worst and scariest day of our lives. September 27th, on the other hand, was the one day and the one day only when a true miracle occurred. The phone rang with news we’d been waiting for for half a year, just days before we’d have had to either kill ourselves or let the streets do it for us. Well, the streets would’ve done it for us in a much slower, more agonizing way. But here I am, two years later in a home of our own. I have emerged stronger and wiser. I now have more paranoia about spending money and more hatred for God. The more He lets life rain down shit upon me than most can ever imagine, let alone deserve, the further away I turn from Him. And just like I’d be proud of myself for turning against a person of a negative influence, I praise myself for filling my heart a little fuller with hate each time He lets disaster strike, while others tell themselves God simply “teaches us lessons” and “strengthens” us and “tests” us. This may be so to a degree, understandably, but enough is enough for some people! And no, whatever doesn’t kill us doesn’t always make us stronger. I’m stronger in many ways, yes, but in some ways, I’m also more fragile, more paranoid and more anxious. Things are going well right now, as I just said, and I haven’t had any nightmares, but how long will last? How long???

Now that I’ve set more realistic goals for one my age, my goal is to be the exact same weight I am now at this time next month. Millions and millions of older folks struggle to lose weight year after year that never comes off and I don’t want to be one of those people. I want to just accept that we’re supposed to be heavy when we age, the weight’s not going anywhere, and to just eat healthy most of the time, keep active and try not to gain more. I only take one day off a week for the no-nos like sweets, potatoes and things like that.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2013 Sarah’s 23 today and Aly has confirmed that she has cut ties with Kathy, which was easy to do. Yeah, dropping assholes is a very easy thing to do next to breathing. The “Crazy Beagle Bitch” must suspect I was the one who had some nasty things to say about her on Ask before she ran and deactivated her account there because she spent 12 minutes on my blog yesterday. This was no doubt to see if I mentioned her or maybe at least getting similar shit from Kim or someone else.

I just couldn’t help, as much as it may’ve been stooping to her level, lashing out at Kathy after the way she has treated both Aly and me.

Aly also confirms that she doesn’t know of any NorCal friends Kim may have.

The mystery of my Citrus Heights visitor has deepened. I would’ve been 100% convinced it wasn’t me until I noticed that GA sees me in real-time, which only called for more questions. In real-time, it listed me as being in Sacramento. TIP agreed. But if GA sees me in real time, then why not my page views? And if it does see my page views, then why would that say I was in CH while RT said Sac???

I sent the people at LiveJournal a message saying that it was too bad there was no easy way to make all posts private or friends only, and was told that a plus subscription would make that easy enough. But then today I accidentally discovered a quick and simple way to do just that. So now LJ and MD are private while MO is friends only. This way I can focus on maintaining/editing one blog only while the others serve as a backup.

Last night I finally got around to organizing our file box with hard copies of things pertaining to things like manuals, taxes, insurance and things like that.

Not gonna do much tonight. Just read, proofread/publish old stuff, and copy old stuff over here as well.

Later…

Was thinking of the financial pinch Tammy and Mark have been feeling, and it just seems kind of bizarre. Not that I don’t doubt it, as hard times can fall upon anyone. It’s the timing that’s a bit unnerving. Upon moving in here, although it wasn’t a serious fear that was always at the forefront of my mind, I did voice my concern to Tom about Tammy going broke so she would be unable to help us if we went broke again, too. If God can hate Tammy enough to damn her physically like He has been doing for years now, he can curse her in other ways, too. Well, why not pick a way that could negatively affect two people He hates?

I know that Tammy can’t accept that God is not always good and that no, He doesn’t love us all equally, and yes, He really does play favorites at times. Like most people out there, this is just too scary a concept to possibly admit and accept. God favors, protects and blesses some, but like it or not, He also lets some people suffer unfairly. And yes, He really does give some of us more than we can handle. Take that absolutely sickening and heartbreaking case of the woman who was gang-raped, beaten and ultimately killed in India. God gave her more than she could handle. So why do some people feel they are invincible and assume that just because they’ve always had it good – or at least had had it good for a while – that He won’t one day sic a sack of potatoes on them too heavy to bear? Sorry, folks, but none of us are exempt from His wrath and hate.

Really hope, though, that my husband and I never again experience such hard times and that surgery will put Mark back on his feet and back in business.

I’m no longer going to proofread and post old journals as often as I have been because it’s just so much work. Like Andy said, what’s the rush? I have about 180 more entries to go and will now post just a couple a day instead of 10-15. It’s been a very time-consuming project, I’m sick of it, and I need a break.

I still haven’t gotten back to my stories and languages, and now it’s time to decide if I want to start learning a new language or review old ones. I think I’ll do both. I’ll review some Italian and maybe enroll myself in the French course. I already know a little French, so that should help the less advanced lessons. Then I was thinking I may go for the Hindi, Russian, and maybe even Dutch, since it’s related to German. I can already feel that excitement and anticipation building up that only a true language junkie could understand, sort of like a racecar driver revving up his engines and ready to go. When you practically have tears of joy in your eyes over the thrill of learning a new language, even if it’s not quite “new,” you know you’re a real language addict. I can understand a lot of French I read since it’s another romance language, but I’m sick of not always knowing its pronunciation guidelines so I can speak it as well as read and understand it. So… French 101, here I come!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2013 I’m still torn between thinking my CH viewer is me vs. someone else. Sometimes it jumps a count when I hit my blog, sometimes it doesn’t. So if it’s me it’s counting, it’s doing it in a really weird way. I also still can’t figure out why some trackers see things that others don’t. According to GA, I’ve had visitors from countries TIP can’t seem to see.

Another short, sweet and probably boring entry, mostly cuz I don’t have much to say and am quite busy.

They took Tom and other coworkers to Thunder Valley Casino for a buffet that was outrageously expensive ($30), even though he didn’t have to pay for it. He didn’t bother with gambling since we have money and he says it’s not as fun to do alone. He could’ve with coworkers, but that wouldn’t be much fun for him either. Coworkers are for working with, not playing with. Maybe we’ll go together sometime. It’s just not a high priority now. First I want to get the savings back in the 5-digit range so spending 3K-5K on the renovations won’t leave me feeling at risk and insecure. We’re determined to keep our credit score up there cuz our next car will probably be some sort of luxury car with many fringe benefits, even if it’ll be used. At least a Mercedes or a Lexus wouldn’t stand out here and be as at risk. Besides, at 7pm, the front gate is rolled into place. The back gate is always locked. No transmitter, no entry.

I just hope the dream I had last night doesn’t mean anything, cuz in it Tom was saying that they announced they would never again give raises at work. Tom, however, says he’s sure he’ll get another raise again someday.

After a long, hard poverty stint, it’s still both shocking and weird to be doing this well. I just worry about how long it’ll last. All good things seem to come to an end. Like sweeping. I used to win something every few days, but now I’m hardly winning shit. Things just aren’t what they used to be where that’s concerned. Too many people entering.

If you think I’m mischievous now – imagine if I could be 100% psychic in whatever way I wanted! The monthly newsletter would magically get edited upon delivery to each house here right after it was dropped off. Instead of “Hello, everyone,” it would read something like, “Hello, butt fuckers!” Then again, some of these old folks may have heart attacks.

Nane’s gone to TR for a week and I’ll miss her while she’s gone. She’s still my hottie and she and I are still pretty close, even if we’ll never get to meet face to face.

Later…

Gonna hit the Walmart in Roseville on Sunday cuz it’s got a better selection. Working tomorrow is optional for Tom, but he decided to take advantage of the big bucks he’d get.

All the working out I’ve been doing is really beginning to make a difference in my appearance more so than with the scale. I’m losing inches and looking more toned. Only problem is I still have a ton of fat on me and I’m not sure much of it will ever go away. As Tom says, though, it can take a year or two, which is why it’s so hard for so many people to stick to. I’ll settle for just not gaining anymore.

Got everything done that needs to be done, including organizing the file box, and now it’s off to watch YouTube vids.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 My CH visitor has got to be a bot or me after all. On GA it says every single page has at least 1 view, but on Blogger itself, most pages (posts from previous years I’ve been copying in) haven’t been viewed at all. I’m almost disappointed as it takes the mystery and the fun of guessing out of it.

I did get the Fire ring that I didn’t expect to get. It looks nicer in person. Problem is it’s so big I couldn’t even wear it on my thumb.

Still have a bit of sensitivity around the “new” tooth. Hmm… maybe she should’ve just left it alone.

I still have different colors in mind for the bedrooms and carpet, but still don’t know what we’ll end up with for sure. I go back and forth in my mind between crème colored carpet, lavender, and mint green. Whatever it is is gonna be lighter than this shit brown we’ve got now.

I suppose this is a short, boring post, but there really isn’t much to update on. I’ve copied entries from 1987-1990 over here as well as all of 2012 and everything I’ve written so far this year.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2013 Makes me nervous when I see them pull the SUV out of their garage and into the carport next door like they’re clearing the garage so they can work on something noisy in it, but I haven’t heard a thing.

Had a long chat with my sister, but first, let me shut Bjork up and skip to the next song. Whoever told that bitch she could sing anyway? Guess it goes to show once again that the music business is more about who you know, how much money you have, and who you’re willing to fuck.

Anyway, I couldn’t get the MagicJack to work. It said, “Call in progress,” but I never heard any ringing. Tammy saw that I tried to call, though. I used the cell to finally get through, and I think Tom and I each having a cell is enough. So I’ll probably cancel my MJ subscription when it expires. No, I can’t go hands-free that way or listen to messages online, but how often do I do this anyway?

There was only one thing Tammy said that disturbs me and has me wondering if it’s even true, though I don’t see why she’d make it up other than to feel she was “counter-attacking” me for believing she or Bill got our new address from Tom’s family when we moved from Phoenix to Maricopa so they could feed me to the pigs after I threatened Bill by mail and on his answering machine, which I no longer believe. I’ll get to what I believe soon enough.

Most of this entry will be kept out of public and will only be shared with just a few close, trusted friends. Consider yourself LL’d if you get to read this – loved and lucky.

Tammy has been known to be a hypochondriac and a complainer that makes my complaints seem like nothing. She may still be the complainer from hell (I don’t mind, though), but there’s no way in hell she’s making up or exaggerating the medical problems she and Mark have.

When I called her I told her she didn’t have to tell me anything she didn’t feel comfortable telling me, but she waved that off and said, “You’re my sister, so I want to tell you everything.” Then the complaints tumbled out like a waterfall, mostly about Stephanie and Lisa.

Tammy used to have a friend named Mary, who had 3 daughters. Their father, like most fathers, preferred not to be in the picture. Eventually, Mary met Mark and was finally happy to have a guy care about her kids and raise them like they were his own. Then Mary died of cancer. I’m pretty sure Tammy and Mary didn’t meet till long after Mary married Mark. Anyway, one of the daughters is Stephanie. She’s now 33 and positively fucked in the head. She’s on disability and she hangs with guys that do drugs and I guess one of them got arrested for assaulting an old man. Not something Mark can just “ignore” and “avoid” and remove himself from any more than some of us can ignore insanely loud neighbors as much as we’d like to. I’ve seen Stephanie’s picture. She’s hideously fat and ugly. So much so that she almost makes me look thin and pretty. More importantly, she’s really put a lot of stress on Mark, and again, it’s not the kind of drama one can walk away from that easily. Stephanie lives in Indiana right now and when Mark drove to Ohio to see his brother and then to Indiana to see his daughter, who knew he was coming, she wasn’t there.

Stephanie, like Lisa, was/is also into stealing. Lisa was on cocaine for a while, and Tammy said she stole her wedding ring and sold it for 3K. This is on top of the constant, constant lies. I never could understand adult lying, as funny as that may sound. I can see not divulging info so as not to hurt someone or maybe softening the truth a bit, and yes, I would lie and say I knew nothing about it if I committed a crime I was guilty of, but why lie as adults when people don’t have the hold on us they do as kids? No one can punish me for admitting I’m a sexist. They can’t take away my stereo for a week or make me stand in a corner and face the wall. So while I may not need to broadcast it with a neon “I’M A SEXIST!” tee, to whom must I fear and hide it? But that’s just how these girls are; lie after lie after lie.

While I don’t doubt the drama Tammy’s going through, I also wonder how truthful she’s being in general. It’s not like she’s a habitual liar or anything like that, but she has lied in the past and there are some inconsistencies in some of her stories that seem to go beyond normal forgetfulness. She went from losing 30 pounds to 14 pounds when she was sick. Her dog used to be 85 pounds and now it’s 90 pounds. Ok, so most of us mammals gain weight with age, but there are other things, like the letter I supposedly “accidentally” sent Sarah and Becky that was meant for her before I dumped her in 1999. At first I thought she was saying it was intentionally aimed at them, and I was like, why in the world would I have gone off on my nieces who were just kids and had nothing to do with whatever was going on? They never did anything wrong, though a couple of them, particularly Lisa, were extremely rude to me when we were all bickering online in 2009, but I have since ignored Lisa. I don’t hate her, but I don’t want to be in touch with her, and she hasn’t made any attempts to contact me either since she flung her rude and false accusations at me that bordered on sheer insanity. She’s not on disability, though, which sort of surprises me. She’s a CPA, which is a little more involved than a candy striper. She cleans up patients and stuff like that.

Makes me glad, once again, that we never had kids of our own. What if, no matter how well we treated it, it grew up to be a crazy, deceitful druggie that brought so much grief and stress into our lives as if life alone didn’t dish out enough shit to us along the way?

Really wish she hadn’t gone and brought up Bill, though. Some subjects we just DON’T want to hear about no matter how much we’ve faced them and dealt with them, and know that nothing can change the past. I don’t remember what it was she said. Some casual comment about him driving Becky or Sarah somewhere.

Tammy has changed for the better so much but is still the same old Tammy at the same time. The deceptiveness is still there and so is the thirst for vengeance. It may be subtle in some ways, but it’s an underlying thing I can sense. Hell, she even admitted a while back trying to spite Lisa off of worker’s comp. So she’s one of those that I’d trust immensely if I ever needed help, but that I also know I must tread lightly with, be careful what I say, and hope to hell I never piss off. I wouldn’t hesitate to dump her or anyone else I thought was too toxic to have in my life, but I hope I don’t have to. Not just cuz no one wants to hate their sister so much they’d dump them, but because she’d never let me live in peace. Sadly, Tammy, like Kim, Molly and many others, can’t just move on. Instead, she picks on, follows and harasses anyone she can. Blocking and ignoring her would be easy enough, but she would abuse our numbers and I don’t even want to think about what she may do with our address. So that’s why I trust her when she’s happy with me, but don’t trust her at all when she’s not. I used to pick on those I dumped or that dumped me, but once I realized how immature and risky that was I began to simply avoid and ignore them whenever possible. Wish more people were like that.

While I have never denied sending her and Bill some nasty stuff, I absolutely have NO recollection whatsoever of accidentally addressing an envelope meant for her to not just one of my nieces, but to two?! Would love to have seen the postmark on the envelope to see if it really came from Arizona and not from someone trying to make me look awfully bad, cuz I just don’t see how, no matter how pissed I may’ve been at the time, I put the wrong name down in the heat of the moment… twice. Is she sure she isn’t just saying this due to how angry I was at the way she handled certain things in the past?

When confronted with the letter she sent Tom in defense of Bill, she told me she had no self-esteem and that due to her childhood, she felt she deserved the abuse she got from men. Now I’ll be quick to admit that at the time I didn’t understand why women stayed with abusive men. It made no sense to hang on for the kids and all that shit, but I realize people don’t always parent the same way they handle relationships. Now don’t get me wrong, I still think there are some truly sick and twisted women out there that get off on that shit. If some like rough sex, why not a rough relationship, huh? Take Rihanna, for example, who went back to Chris Brown after he beat her up. I don’t know much about Rihanna’s personal life and I don’t care, but I always had the feeling that she truly enjoyed the abuse, the attention, and the sympathy it brought her. I can’t wait for the day Brown hits the wrong woman, though that’s the problem with these sick cocks; they’re usually smart enough to avoid women they know won’t fight back or leave or both.

I can kind of get where she’s coming from as far as feeling unworthy of good people when you consider the types of “friends” I had in the past (Fran, Nervous, Jenny, etc.). I was too damn nice and forgiving and I took a lot of shit I’d NEVER take today. I let people jerk me around like a puppet, and I too, felt like I’d never get anyone worth having. If a man had raised a hand to me, I’d have fought back, but I also would’ve been dumb enough to forgive him more than I should have had men been my main cup of tea. These days, if I were single and dating and happened to get with a man instead of a woman, the beating I’d give him would be so savage if he laid a hand on me that I’d not only end up in jail for a while but would never even THINK of forgiving him no matter how hot he was or what the bastard’s excuse was.

I try to tell myself that holding grudges against people like Bill all these years later is pointless, but as she pointed out about leaving abusive men… it’s not always that easy. It’s sort of like the guy whose rock flew out of his truck and smashed our windshield. Well, he may not have done it deliberately and chances are he never even knew about it, but you still want to slap the guy and make him pay for the damage, you know? So it’s sort of like that.

“Look at it from a logical standpoint,” I told myself. “You did threaten the guy over family drama that had nothing to do with you directly, and if you had any faith in the cops with all the corruption running around out there, you just may call them too, if someone left you a threatening message. Lastly, if you didn’t know there was a warrant out for your arrest, then how could he?”

BUT… and as even the cop himself that came to see me about the matter said, he would’ve been pissed off too, had someone abused his family. Also, I was 3000 miles away. A little too far to be any real threat, don’t you think? I think the call to the cops was just his way of “getting even,” so to speak. So let’s just say that my letter and threatening phone message were wrong and illegal and nothing I’d ever do again, but it’s not exactly something I regret. In other words, I don’t feel sorry for the guy, and no, I wouldn’t trust myself alone with him either. Still don’t know how the hell he found me, but I now believe it probably went down as she said – he called the pigs and they hunted me down. Back then I used to think they either called Tom’s family (those assholes would give out our info) or got my SIL’s # from mom, but looking back on it I can see how that probably wasn’t so. The worst Tammy might’ve told him is what town we moved to, cuz I’m pretty sure I mentioned that to her.

The stupid fucker went to her and Mark about my call, and she told him, “It’s your phone, so what the hell do you expect me to do about it?”

That is so, so typical of people too, to drag others into shit and not confront the source directly. Even before this incident I NEVER liked the guy. Worst guy she ever went with. I’m so glad she now has a good, loving, caring and compassionate guy like Mark in her life. I don’t like violence and I never want to have to raise my fist to anyone, but if anyone ever harmed my husband, me or our property…

Still, some things just ain’t that easy, as she knows. I’ll always despise Bill, pointless or not, and I’ll never forgive the people in Arizona. Not even if they came to me with a million dollars, got on their knees and said, “We’re so, so sorry we had our corrupt cop pal type a threatening letter to get your prints on in interrogation, then frame you with (if it wasn’t sent to us by someone else we pissed off). It’s true; we hate whites, we hate Jews, and we were just seeking revenge for your city complaint over our HORRENDOUS noise, trash and vandalism. We knew that because you had made a few threats for real in the past it would be easy to use against you, and all in a state that favors minorities and in a time when playing the race card is hip. We knew we would be the ones to be believed no matter what you said. We can never replace the time you lost to our vindictiveness, but here’s the money back you lost on account of us, and even more.”

I think that more often than not, people don’t realize the seriousness of their vengefulness when they spite others be it through the law or not. In the heat of the moment they lash out and that’s it for them, but it’s far from it for the people they abuse.

Some things may be possible in time, but they just ain’t so easy – quit smoking… not that easy. Lose 40 pounds… not that easy. Forgive and forget those who wronged the hell out of you… not that easy. Got a driving phobia? Just jump in a car and drive… not that easy. Smile if you’re depressed… not that easy. Tell yourself it’ll all be ok… not that easy. Set your alarm to keep a schedule… not that easy. Guy getting too physical? Just kick his ass and leave… not that easy.

Win a million dollars, Jodi… not that easy.

In my next entry, I’ll get into the health update she gave me.

Later…

Still stumped as to who my CH visitor is, but I’m now leaning toward it being a stranger. Whoever it is has a lot of time on their hands cuz they check in on and off throughout the day. That’s why I’ve ruled out the dentist. Unless she’s suddenly obsessed with my blog and checking it between patients, it’s not her. I agree with Tom that it’s probably a stranger as opposed to someone in the park.

If it’s me it’s counting, then it’s doing it in chunks and counting wrong. Hmm… maybe it’s counting whenever I ok the “this site contains adult content” notice that periodically comes up.

Went to GA’s site and excluded my IP which I thought was already filtered out since I told it right on Blogger to exclude me, but maybe it wasn’t on GA’s site. Time will tell.

I talked with Aly earlier who doesn’t doubt Kim’s having someone read my blog for her. But who are they? The only new regular that’s visible is that CH visitor yet I’ve never known Kim to have friends around here. She said she was surprised Kim never created a fake account on Ask to contact me. Come to think of it, so am I. Creating fake accounts is her specialty.

Alison says a part of her misses Molly because even though Molly was a crazy, lying bitch, she at least always knew where she stood with her. She’s done with both Kim and Kathy on the other hand. Kathy is just too two-faced and cannot accept people as they are. She never was a true friend. One minute she’s nice to your face, the next she’s either dumping you or making fun of you on her FB page. That’s what Aly said she was doing to both the “Crazy Rat Lady” and the “Crazy Cat Lady.” I guess when Kathy learned that Aly wouldn’t take a cheaper apartment that didn’t allow animals (though it made perfect sense not to take a cheaper place that wouldn’t allow her own mutts when she and Adam moved); she became the “Crazy Cat Lady.” As for me, I don’t care what I am to Kathy because she is nothing to me. I think she only stopped harassing me on Ask because she knows I know where she lives and where Adam works. Knowledge is power. :)

To finish up with my chat with Tammy, which lasted about an hour when she had to leave to go pick Peppy up from the groomer’s, Mark returns to his cardiologist on the 20th. They know he has to have surgery due to clogged arteries, but they don’t know what procedure they’re going to do. They may or may not do stints. They’re hoping that after surgery he’ll be as good as new again and able to get back to their side business which was the one making a lot of money. This was doing home improvements of various kinds. Why he bothered to keep his other job managing some company (I forgot what she said it was), beats me. For the benefits, I guess.

Here’s where the conversation took a surprising turn. Money is the one area in life I thought Tammy would be forever blessed in, but since Mark has been too ill to work the business, they’ve taken a huge loss. They spent something like 50K last year on their own home improvements and other things not knowing Mark would take ill. But then he started having symptoms of fatigue, poor circulation and trouble breathing.

He’s 63 and I asked if he could retire at 65 or 66, but she said they’d never make it. I was stunned to learn this, but as Tom later pointed out, it’s a common problem for those who own their own business. Tom, on the other hand, risks firings and layoffs, but we’d be ok if he retired at 66. We’d be better than ok if he retired at 70. It felt weird to think we’re better off in some monetary ways than she is since God always made sure I was the financial underdog of the family. He’s even worried about his other job cuz they’ve been talking budget cuts.

While it may be more practical for them to give up their 2600-square-foot place and the land/gardens they’ve been having trouble keeping up with lately, it’s not that easy. The whole cul-de-sac they live on has been in Mark’s family for ages. It’s where he grew up and all he’s ever really known.

Neither will seeing Mark in Yale-New Haven be easy on Tammy. First they have to come up with hotel money for who knows how long, and then she has to figure out how to get to him in her condition. It’s a huge area and she can only walk so far. That’s why she doesn’t groom Pep herself to save money. She can’t just groom a 90-pound dog.

As for her own lung issues, she’s postponed treatment till they know what’s up with Mark. He could be ok, he could not be ok, or he could not make it. The stress they’re under must be hell. Their lives may not be on the line to the degree that ours were, but I’m sure it’s scarily close enough or they at least feel that way. Tammy said they’ll eventually only be replacing one lung since doing both would be too risky.

Unfortunately, Tammy doesn’t get much on disability. They basically treat those on disability like welfare bums. I guess they want to pay so little to encourage those who aren’t truly disabled back to work. Lotta people would be injuring themselves if you could make a decent living off of it. At least she’s getting something. I’ll never get that simply because I didn’t work for many years and got married at the time I was last on it. This really pisses me off, too. Getting married didn’t cure me, and so what if a person didn’t work for many years? If they’re disabled, they’re disabled. Period.

She did tell me a funny story about Pep catching a possum and setting it free unharmed, so that’s nice. Meanwhile, since it seems unlikely things will stay the same for them, things are probably either going to get better or worse. Time can only tell which one it will be. If I had to guess (and hope), both their conditions will either be improved or stabilized.

She says Becky and Sarah are taller than her. Damn, that’s tall! Between that and their weight, no wonder I never hear talk of dating and boyfriends on FB. Men love youth but are rarely fans of tall girls or big girls. Hell, I could probably catch a guy easier and I look like shit. I feel bad for them, especially since they’re so young and are only human. They don’t seem to have many friends either. They have a good number of FB friends, but I doubt most of them are really “friends.” Anytime they post about hanging out with someone, it’s always either with each other or other family members. No girls’ night out. No hot dates.

I thought I couldn’t plug my oil warmer in the plug I wanted to use by my desk cuz it’d make the warmer face sideways. Then I noticed a circular groove around the warmer’s plug, twisted it, and now it’s upright! Woo-hoo!

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 How did my CH visitor happen to go from 62 page views to just 43??? Still not sure how GA works. It’s a very complicated system and setup. Still, whoever they are, they make up for 71% of my visits. Why isn’t GA tracking other countries, though? It’s saying I’ve only had 5 unique visitors in the last week or so from CA, CT and NY, yet I know I’ve had much, much more than that.

Guess we’re back with the Jes pest now as well as early yesterday morning. The water pressure is a little low. I suppose it’s about time for the next round of water games. Well, fuck this shit cuz I need to take a shower!

I’m also miserably hungry that it almost hurts. I hate PMS hunger with a passion! It is just so, so hard to get rid of. I wasn’t too bad yesterday, but when I woke up starving I knew I was in for a hungry day since I don’t usually eat much my first few hours. I’ve had about 600 calories and am still famished, so I’ll go add a 300-calorie can of chicken dumpling soup soon enough and see if that helps. If not I just might eat till I burst!

I keep having to restock my Ask file for background pics for Andy and our picture game, and it’s getting old. If he weren’t so damn picky about what I post I wouldn’t keep running out, but he’d hate 80% of what I’d like to post. I just don’t have the time he has to put into it. It’s also more of a priority to him whereas my top online priorities are blogging. Besides, it’d keep it more special and my pics would last longer if I only checked in twice a day or something like that. I really should focus more on my work anyway. Or maybe I’ll just say fuck it and post what I want. After all, I don’t always like the pics he posts. Sorry, but I like flowers just like he likes celebrities! Maybe if celebs weren’t making worse and worse of a role model each year for young people I’d see them differently. I doubt it, though. I mean, they’re just people. And I personally find nature more pleasing to the eye than 95% of the people on this planet.

No exciting dreams except for Maliheh emailing Tom pretending to be a sheriff and threatening legal action against me for mentioning her in my blog. LOL, I not only doubt she has Tom’s email address, but I would never succumb to such threats. I’m not breaking any laws (but impersonating a cop would be) and I know and understand that people who make such threats usually have something to hide. When the letter I started to someone about the corrupt pig was taken during a routine cell toss back in ‘01, I knew someone had a seriously guilty conscience. They certainly didn’t take it to have something interesting to read while sitting on the toilet waiting for a dump to come on.

Now I’m going to take my shower and I better get enough water pressure! Damn, I feel like I’m back in the country (in the wrong kind of way).

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2013 10 more views from CH and I’m still not sure who it is. Maybe it really is me it’s tracking or a bot.

Had a strange dream and a scary dream, but first, Tom showed me how to shoot vids, so I’ll play around with the software a bit and eventually share some cute rat vids. The rats that never shut up when I’m trying to work. Right now one of them is chewing on a peach pit.

As I may’ve already mentioned, I’m determined to start setting more realistic and doable goals for myself. Keeping active and eating healthy so I don’t gain any more weight is reasonable. Expecting to lose 30-40 pounds at this age is not.

My period is just days away so my energy levels are down and my hunger levels are up. Here’s where it’s easy for a woman to gain monthly weight that isn’t just water, so I have to just tough out the hunger. Most of it, anyway.

So why does my hair keep getting curlier and curlier with age? I have such tight spirals that they almost look like dreadlocks from a distance.

Tom made a 5-dollar profit on $10 worth of scratch tickets and is convinced that someone down the street has a workshop and that the sawing I heard wasn’t next door. He could hear them when he was out watering. I guess that would explain why I could barely hear it in the house. I could just make it out by the bedroom window, but not at the front of the house. It’s a good thing we’re not next to this house cuz that’d be insanely loud! I’m surprised they’d even allow that here. “People still have to have a life,” Tom said. Yeah, but should it extend beyond the walls of other houses? If it should, then I should be able to blast my music.

He met Jim, the 6:00 Man, as I’d call him, when he was out watering early.

Until God figures out a way to take it all away from us – no scratch that – until we grow old and die, there are a dozen positives for every negative to this place. I absolutely love not having to worry about running out of propane.

For the last few nights, I’ve been waking up hungry and having to pee. PMS hunger can be hard to curb and when you do it isn’t for long.

I’m too tired to write about the dreams now and why I hate September and October so much. I just want to eat, get in the shower, and get to work.

Later…

I’m pleasantly amazed by Nane’s “muah” and affectionate messages earlier. She was offline for a few days dealing with Internet issues. In a week she and Askim will be renting a house down in Turkey near Askim’s mom in a place called Kappadokia, or Cappadocia, as English speakers would spell it. So between being back online and her upcoming trip, she’s quite happy. Wish I could kick Askim out for a night, though I don’t know that I’d like being in TR. They have some beautiful beaches, but it’s Muslim country.

That’s 5 times I’ve had the runs, all pissing me off right along with the guy next door and his insanely LOUD blower. I still hate being so close to others, but if it wasn’t the guy’s blower 3’ away, it’d be some other guy’s motorcycle 200’ away. Still, why does it have to take a whole hour to blow such a tiny lot? He started right as I went to dust the bedrooms and I could hear it over the stereo. I turned it off and switched to the iPod, but I could still hear the damn thing. Finally, I had to switch to my around-ear headphones.

Not that this much is bothersome, but did they open up a new freeway recently or something? For the last few nights, I’ve noticed I can hear vehicles on the freeway that I never noticed before.

Really, really disappointed that I haven’t gotten any win notices. sighs Guess I’ll just have more free time for other things I’ve been planning for months if I continue not to win.

As much as I hate winter – even mild ones – I’ll feel better once it’s November. I hate September and October because it seems that that’s when most of the shit I’ve been through as an adult has happened.

September of 2000 was pre-sentencing on account of the white-hating freeloaders and their corrupt pig pal who worked for a corrupt system.

September of 2004 was when we lost our land in Oregon and it was on to 9 years of renting dumps (except for the duplex which, of course, was the noisiest).

September of 2011 was when they stopped our unemployment checks before having a job.

October of 2000 was when I was sentenced and lost half a year of my life to a vengeful pack of welfare bums with the wrong friends.

October of 2007 was our first of two survival scares, though the second one was far more critical.

October of 2011 was when the sick fucks in Arizona came at me online and tried to scare me into thinking the cops had built another “case” against me. It started to work at first, though I knew I had to have been framed again since I didn’t do anything wrong… until I realized all their mistakes.

So while I’m not overly nervous or anything like that, I’m being very cautious. We’re not spending money unnecessarily in case any surprises come up that need to be dealt with.

In last night’s strange dream, I was visiting Nane and I shopped at a mall while she went to work. She reminded me not to get anything I couldn’t fit in my suitcase. After she left I went to check out some shops, but they were all filled with Muslims playing Ping-Pong and pool.

In the scary dream I had, Tom and I were in the lobby of some big and busy hotel. He said there was a clinic across the street and that now (that evening) would be a good time to get me a checkup since he’d be tied up tomorrow.

Out we went into the cool rainy night and I said, “I never thought I’d say this, but this weather is a refreshing change after the constant heat and sun we’ve been having. He didn’t say anything. Instead, his and everyone else’s features seemed to disappear, making them all look the same and little more than shadowy human forms with a sinister air.

We entered a small building that was dimly lit and seemingly deserted. I was surprised anyone would see me that late, but Tom led us to a small room with a few chairs in it. We sat down and I momentarily closed my eyes and rubbed my face. When I opened my eyes again, the room was darker and Tom was gone.

I ran out of the room calling his name. When I got no answer I went outside to see if he decided to wait out there. There were 5 or 6 people chatting and smoking, but none were Tom. I ran back inside and into a large room near the “waiting” room. I began calling for help. I saw flickers of movement coming from a brightly lit room toward the end of the larger room, but no one came. I woke up crying for help and feeling lost, alone and rather worried.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2013 Citrus Heights jumped from 22 to 33 views sometime after the late afternoon. The good Doc? A bot? Bots are usually pretty quick and consistent, and when I looked at the varying times spent on the pages they viewed, I thought a bot wasn’t very likely. Bots will typically cycle through many pages a second at a time.

Yesterday was a long, hot, fun and productive day, but again I tired out early and slept forever. PMS fatigue, I guess. Despite being active for over an hour between running, yoga and swimming, I gained back the pound I lost. I hope it’s just water since I haven’t been overeating. A little high-carbed, though. Oh well. I’m just one of those that doesn’t really get results from diet and exercise.

Tom put the new faucet on in the master bath and I like it much, much better. I always preferred single levers.

A wonderful letter from my Italian dad topped the day off. He said he’s feeling better, still running the group home, but that it’s still hard without Mom.

He’s really happy for us about our new home and the funny part was when he said, “Be good to each other. There I go acting like a father.” LOL, he’s welcome to it. When we’re younger we don’t usually appreciate stuff like that, but when we’re older it has a way of making us smile.

He said the weather’s beginning to change there and he dreads the winter. He’ll be thinking of me out here, he said, and to keep in touch cuz my letters give him a lift.

I thought about it, and if my gut feeling is right about that being my Italian mom who came to say goodbye last year, isn’t it strange that I have only sensed her presence, but never my bio parents? Not that I’d want to, but I’ve never sensed grandparents, parents or my brother. Only my Italian mom. Why is that? I wonder. It must mean that either my bio parents don’t give a shit, or for some reason, they are unable to “contact” me.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2013 Roseville’s still at 9 views, but Citrus Heights jumped from 10 to 22. It’s gotta be either the Doc or no one I know. It hit me later on that if it were someone Tom works with, they probably would’ve mentioned it to him. Also, the only one here who knows our full name is Joy, and what would she care?

For a while, I had my Facebook settings set to disallow friend invites from everyone. But since one of my old stalkers prefers to hide in anonymity and the other’s been a good dog, I have now allowed for that once again. So if anyone reading this is interested in adding me there, you can either send me an invite or leave your link here. I’m tired of letting them control me, so to speak. From now on settings are going to be set in such a way because I want them to be that way, and not because of what someone else may be doing. I’m still not ready to go public there just yet and I have my old Ask account deactivated cuz I don’t use it much, but if I decide later on to change settings, I will.

My MD diary will remain closed for now and only used as a backup. Remember, the idea was to cut down the number of blogs I have so any future editing isn’t such a pain. Meanwhile, anyone can leave comments here on Blogger, anonymously or not. As long as it’s not spam or scams, I welcome any feedback, positive or negative. :)

My dentist did a great job installing my new “tooth.” You’d never know it wasn’t real! But as wonderful as she is, I won’t be seeing her again till February when I have my next cleaning. At that point, I’ll schedule to have the 4 remaining fillings (and hopefully no new ones) taken care of.

I have a bit of sensitivity around the new tooth but it’s probably just because it’s recently been worked on and the Doc really “struck a nerve.” Hopefully, it won’t persist. I don’t think it will, but if it does I’ll just have to deal with it and make another appointment.

The plan was to go to Sam’s after the dentist, but they didn’t open for those with our level of membership till 10:00. So we headed to Walmart where I was surprised to learn I could get my hair cut for just $16. The two hairdressers there, both nice but with fried hair, said to come back at 10:00. So off we went to Radio Shack to look at stuff Tom likes but that bores me to tears. There wasn’t anything else around there but insurance companies and stuff like that, so that’s why I let him drag me there.

We went back to the salon where the hairdresser with long black fried hair said Diana would be with me soon. After a few minutes, in she came with her short fried blue hair. She washed my hair with Redken’s Diamond Oil shampoo and conditioner, then trimmed the dead ends off my layers and evened them out so they blend well together. It’s still long and doesn’t look much different. Just healthier.

By the time we got to Sam’s, it was getting crowded and loud, but we stocked up on many things and even got a free paring knife.

After Sam’s, we came home and I tackled laundry and dishes while Tom played with some of his electronic gadgets. Next thing I knew I was exhausted as hell. I ended up sleeping forever. Guess I needed it.

My nice new pink yoga mat came today which will definitely make ab work easier on my back as opposed to this horribly worn carpet I can’t wait to replace.

Can’t wait to order a set of 3 rat figurines on Amazon I found that’s so adorably cute!

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 Up early today, and in a few hours I’ll be in the dentist’s chair. Not my favorite place to be, so it’s a good thing my dentist is such a nice lady. It’s always nice to see her. Been dreaming about her a lot lately too, but can never remember any details. Couldn’t be that bad then, right?

Are we going to have to end up calling and begging this provider for reliability, too? sighs I know that dropping off once or twice a day is pretty normal as frustrating as that can be in an area so populated. At the edge of Sacramento, you’re in a pretty populated area. I know our cable is fine, so there’s not much else we can do about it with all the people around us.

Lost another pound but am going to take the day off to relax. Other than laundry, Tom and I plan to spend his 3 days off doing things around the house, swimming and just relaxing. I’ll still enter sweeps and work out at least some of the time, though, LOL.

Alison says Molly has been online at times, according to her Facebook profile. She just plays games and statuses about her weight and how much she hates living where she’s living, but you mean you can teach an old dog new tricks? I’m surprised. I find it awfully hard to believe she can now restrain herself from reaching out to or at least peeking in on those she used to harass, but I’ve never known her to disable cookies to avoid showing up on my tracker. Oh no, she’s never been shy. Question is, is Kim following me on Blogger, or is she too stupid to disable cookies? I know anonymity is very important to her.

Google Analytics seems to see more than TIP can see. According to it, I’ve got a regular in Citrus Heights and Roseville. My dentist? Her assistant? Well, I know it’s not me cuz it’s set not to record my activity. I guess it could be anybody. People connected to the park, Tom’s job – anybody. That’s why I’m careful what I say. In fact, I’m not going to post this paragraph in public or the one before it about Kim and Molly.

When I asked Doc H if she’d been to my blog and she said yes, I remember being surprised cuz there were no TIP hits in this area. Could TIP just be blind to her for some reason, other than GA?

I’m surprised I didn’t think to look her up on Facebook till now, but I found her business page and “liked” it and left a comment.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2013 I luuuuuvvv this house! Just wish it were in the country from 8am - 4pm on weekdays.

The Glyteratti guy says the free ring I was supposed to get has been sent, but I’ll believe it when I see it. What’s really disappointing is the lack of win notices after the 1st. I used to win something every few days, even if it wasn’t much. But now there’s just way too much competition. Chances are I won’t renew my 3-month sweeping subscription when it expires.

Wish I had more to say but I don’t. I’m just doing my usual things – sweeping, writing, cleaning and working out. Oh, I ordered a 1” yoga mat on Amazon. That’ll help cushion me since this carpet is so worn out you might as well be on the floor.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2013 I have this itching and burning sensation between my legs and what feels like a few zits. A yeast infection? I don’t have any discharge, but I’m still going to have Tom pick me up something on the way home. For now, I’m using hydrocortisone on it. The “zits” sort of surround my clit, just inside the hairline. I’ve had this before. I hope Tom’s theory is right and that it’s just normal irritation which, as he points out, occurs at the same time of month. It could be that or from working out. Women get drier with age, but sweat and moisture down there can bring on fungal infections. I’d rather treat it at home before it gets out of hand and I end up costing us more money than I already have. Money that could be going toward home improvements.

So why did they leave next door at 4:30 am? Just wondering where they would need to go so early. And was that them I heard with what sounded like a circular saw yesterday afternoon? Tom said it would depend on the saw as to whether or not it can be heard in here, but that trimmers can also sound the same. It’s true that it could’ve come from the common area down the street. I couldn’t tell for sure. I could barely hear it here but next door was home at the time. Their vehicle was in the garage and I don’t know that there’d be room in that garage to work with the big SUV they have. Amazingly, they don’t appear to have a dog. I would think I would have heard it by now and seen them walking it if they did. Therefore, since there’s always got to be something going on with my neighbors, I still wouldn’t be surprised if he turned that garage into a virtual workshop too much of the time. Just got a bad feeling about it. I hope I’m wrong cuz no one wants to listen to regular sawing or hammering. At least I sure don’t. Nothing I can do about it if that’s what he chooses to do, though. They were here first and it occurs during normal daytime hours.

Fucking male neighbors! I’m seriously sick of the racket they make with their loud vehicles and their damn power tools and other shit they do to be totally obnoxious. I’ve had some shitty female neighbors, but this was in a whole ‘nother time, place and situation. There isn’t much racket you’d hear from women in a retirement community that I can think of.

Unless I wasn’t hearing it since I was mostly at the front of the house, traffic was quieter in back yesterday. They still could’ve done some trimming, but Monday’s rain would’ve canceled mowers and blowers. It’s back to hot and dry and will be close to 100° in a few days.

Got my first taste of yoga yesterday. Some of it was harder than I thought it’d be, but this is mostly cuz I’m not familiar with it. Also, I’m too fat to be as flexible as you need to be for some of these exercises as opposed to lacking the strength to do it. I don’t see how this can boost the metabolism and promote weight loss as they claim, but I can see it helping with strength and the prevention of any additional weight gain. That’s what I’ve pretty much resigned myself to cuz it’s the most doable and realistic goal for a 47-year-old who can’t stand to eat 1000 calories or less every single day. No, I don’t like remaining 40 pounds overweight, but it’s better than gaining 40 more. Anyway, I had to stop to watch and learn some of the exercises cuz I couldn’t see the screen while hunched over in some of the positions. I think that as long as I remain active and keep my carbs, sugar and starch levels down, I shouldn’t gain any more weight. I’d be totally screwed if I ever acquired an illness or injury that prevented me from being active.

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2013 So it finally rained. I was surprised. I thought we were another 3-6 weeks away from any rain. But it rained on and off from 4:30 am till after I crashed. There was even some thunder to go with it. I didn’t think we’d hear it as well in here now that we’ve got a real roof, but the patio and carport roofs, which run alongside both sides of the house, are made of metal. You can hear it just fine in here, especially in the laundry room. As nice as it was for variety’s sake since it rarely rains here and I was missing it, I wish it had done that tomorrow. Tomorrow’s when the landscapers and their obnoxious vehicles will be back in service. The ground may still be too wet for mowing, but I’m sure they’ll be out trimming.

I should’ve figured the person asking me on Ask to keep MD going due to Blogger loading too slowly on their phone was Kim. I considered “No one” for a minute, but figured Kim was more likely, if not someone connected to Molly. That gut feeling was reinforced when I was asked if I ever thought it was Kim or Molly as “we” want to keep up with what you write.

Classic Kim style. So was the question asking if I feared my online enemies would get to me in real life. snorts I wish they WOULD come to me!

Anyway, I’ve had enough of her stalking shit for over a year now and felt it was time to deprive her of her reading pleasure. I disagree with Andy who says a whole year of not being able to follow/contact me will get her (or Molly) out of my life forever, cuz these aren’t just people who are obsessed, but crazy as well. The insane live in a constant time warp. I could disappear for a decade and they’d see it as if I were only gone for days.

So I deactivated my main Ask account and have gone private on MD. She’ll just have to “face” me on Blogger or have her “sources” read it for her. I know she doesn’t just prefer MD for its simplicity and its mobile compatibility but for its lack of a tracker as well. Well, tough shit, you trunkless elephant!

Meanwhile, I was relieved to know that in Germany they can still deny messages from strangers, which is what Nane does, even though Kim doesn’t seem fixated on my friends.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2013 I’m totally on nights now, which I both like and hate. I hate how it just feels all wrong and makes me feel out of sorts in a sense. I like it because it’s dead quiet.

Tom read up on soundproofing and there’s this site that says that due to most sounds coming through windows, you should install a second window with a vinyl frame, not metal or wood. There’s even a company that comes and does customized windows for you. They say it cuts noise by 90%, but what is 90%? 90% of a soft sound may make it seem non-existent, but what about loud vehicles?

And why such huge windows in a bedroom of all places??? They’re 30”x72.” Tom could stand in them.

For now, I’ll probably only get woken up about once a week and it’s usually only for a few minutes. I still can’t believe how much traffic goes through here! I slept fine today being that it was Sunday, but tomorrow I probably won’t sleep as well. Oh well. You learn to live with it. On the flip side, some things turned out better than expected. I really thought we’d hear more barking and that people would be pestering us at the door regularly. I can’t believe how much they pestered us in Maricopa, in the middle of a 10-acre ranch in Nowhere Land, compared to here!

Been working like crazy on setting up my new Blogger blog, copying in and backdating old entries, etc.

Tom’s been taking advantage of the time off to catch up on sleep and get things done around here. He cleaned and fixed the printer and finally replaced the toilet seat in the second bath. Together we changed the rat’s cage, and then I ended up crashing early after reading with the Kindle in bed. Slept for almost 10 hours.

No one tried to shoot me in my dreams, but the guy who runs a diary site wanted to sell me the site. He said he’d go a grand for just anyone, but $500 for friends, haha. I also went to pee on an old abandoned bus in the woods and was surprised to exit the bus to find a light dusting of snow on the ground. Then I saw some sleeping bears and thought I might cuddle up with them for warmth till I realized how insane that would be. :)

Gonna spend the night doing my usual – sweeping, proofreading, dragging old entries over to Blogger. Less than a month to go of the proofreading, yay! Then I can make time for other things like maybe going back to my language studies and story writing. It’s been a while since I’ve done those things.

First and foremost it’s off to workout and shower now that I’ve got some food in my tummy after nearly 15 hours.

Why did Maliheh open my last message to her and how long will she save it? Was it her “response” to my friending her, then quickly canceling the request? Yeah, I had a childish moment. Thought I’d return the favor of playing head games with her, not that she ever was a friend or that I would believe it if she suddenly said she wanted to be.

[bobbie-robron]

Andy, you’re gonna be my real brother!

And here we are. The episode where Jack & Sarah announce they are adopting Andy and he becomes Robert’s real brother to Robert’s happiness (and we all know how happy he was with brother and favored son Andy in the future). So let’s get to it.

Scene 1: Dooley informs Jack & Sarah and Andy will be staying with them. And the school was spoken too as well, and ‘all the teachers are going to go the extra mile making sure that Andy catches up with his lessons.’ Dooley also comments ‘If it hadn’t been for your dedication things could have turned out very differently.

Sarah: Oh Jack, this is everything that we’ve hoped for.

Jack: Certainly a relief after all the months of worry.

Sarah: So, when should we tell Andy?

Dooley: Well it’s up to you. It’s a family matter now.

Scene 2: The Sugdens are acting all casual when Andy arrives home. When he asks about tea, Robert says they aren’t haven’t any. From there, it gradual comes out they are all going out to celebrate... they are going to be adopting him! Great, fantastic! (just seeing how happy Robert was at this point and knowing how things turn out...). The clip includes much of scene 3.

Robert: Andy, you’re gonna be my real brother!

Victoria: And mine.

Sarah: We’re gonna adopt you, Andy.

Jack: Eh, if that’s all right with you, that is?...

Andy: Andy Sugden.

Robert: Andy & Robert Sugden.

Andy: The Sugden boys!

Scene 3: The Sugdens are at Kathy’s with Marlon and Kathy making of show of presenting their food to each of them. In the back, Betty is working on a cake that is decorated with ‘Andy Sugden’ on the top. There are no candles so Betty dashes off to the post office. The celebration is on the house, per Kathy.

Robert: This is great. Can we come here every night?

Jack: Yeah, course you can. Just as soon as you’re earning enough to pay for it yourself.

Scene 4: At the post, Betty unfortunately mentions the Sugdens celebrating Andy being adopted by them. Viv, as expected, goes on a rant when Betty goes on how ‘they’ve been through a lot lately.’ Also as expected, her tirade leads her to take off to Kathy’s.

Viv: What about us? Thanks to them, this child has no father and I have no husband and you got the nerve to come in here and talk about the Sugdens having been through a lot well we’re going through a lot more here... Spoil? That Andy Hopwood helped MURDER my husband. Those Sugdens aren’t FIT to look after the animals on their farm. They’ve ruined our lives and now the whole village is OUT celebrating. 🙄 (good god... she’s exhausting just listening to her rant.)

Scene 5: Back at Kathy’s continue their celebration (with a card trick performed by Marlon/Kathy) until Viv (then Donna) show up to continue her rant about ‘monster’ Andy getting away with what’s happened (‘So don’t think changing your name is going to help. You’ll always be a HOPWOOD’). Sarah wants Viv to leave Andy alone since ‘he’s done nothing wrong.’ As Viv continues to rant, Donna can’t take it anymore and fesses up about knowing Billy was around.

Viv: ...Nobody else knew where he was!

Donna: That’s not true. Andy wasn’t the only one who knew. Andy told me.

Viv: Oh, don’t be RIDICULOUS, Donna!

Sarah: It’s true, Viv.

Donna: Andy told me about his dad. I knew he was here.

18-Mar-1999

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, November 16

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Jeffrey Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s nights with Prince Andrew and teen Virginia Roberts Giuffre

Page 2: Brad Pitt kicked married galpal Nicole Poturalski to the curb after getting flak from his ex Angelina Jolie -- Brad’s relationship with Nicole hit the skids after Brad decided he needed to shore up his image during his ongoing custody battle with Angie and his focus right now is to get his dad image back on track and give Angie no more ammo to fling back at him

Page 3: Tiger Woods’ romance with Erica Herman has gone off course over legal troubles and wedding pressure and bickering over where to live and Tiger is so fed up he’s considering ditching his nagging girlfriend in Florida and moving back to his native California -- Erica’s been pressuring him to put a ring on it ever since she moved into his Jupiter Island mansion and that’s something he just won’t do and she’s already taken over his household buying new furniture and remodeling the master bath and building a new closet and hiring a gourmet chef -- California is looking better and better to Tiger who only moved to Florida to play on its tough Bermuda grass which helped improve his swing but now Tiger’s ex Elin lives in Florida with their two kids 

Page 4: Miranda Lambert is scoffing at ex Blake Shelton’s newly announced engagement to Gwen Stefani and she’s convinced Blake’s third walk down the aisle has failure written all over it because she thinks Blake’s bad to the bone and this marriage will wind up being a total disaster and after the hell Blake put her through Miranda can’t imagine his life with Gwen would be any different, lifelong bachelor Simon Cowell has had a change of heart since his horrific August accident and he’s finally ready to tie the knot with baby mama Lauren Silverman -- after spinal surgery to repair his broken back the entertainment mogul feels lucky to be alive and walking and the one constant in his difficult rehab after surgery has been Lauren and he wants to pay her back with a ring 

Page 5: Train-wreck Wendy Williams’ wacky behavior has TV producers scrambling behind the scenes to find her replacement after her unhinged performance on a recent episode of her talk show where she slurred her words and rambled incoherently -- there had been a hope a chatfest helmed by Nick Cannon could be a safety net should the daytime diva who spent a stint in a sober living house last year not be able to continue hosting but plans for that were pushed back after the comic made anti-Semitic rants in a podcast -- they also tried Jerry O’Connell when Wendy was out for three weeks last year but he tanked with viewers -- Wendy’s a mess and it remains to be seen how long producers will be able to put up with her problems before they decide to pull the plug 

Page 6: Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo hinted that she may be making her final rounds -- Ellen who has starred on the show since 2005 and makes $20 million a year admitted she’s considering slipping out of her scrubs after the current season 17 but her departure could spell the end of the beloved series and show creator Shonda Rhimes has said it’s unlikely the show could continue without her but Ellen has also expressed her desire to spend more time with her husband and their three children

Page 7: Mariah Carey’s brother Morgan blasted her memoir as filled with lies and distortions and he’s considering legal action -- the book called Morgan and sister Alison her ex-brother and ex-sister and Mariah wrote Morgan had a long history of violence and when she was six he slammed their mother into a wall -- Mariah also wrote her siblings and mother were heartless in terms of dealing with her as a human being and once she got famous they started treating her like an ATM with a wig on but Morgan is fighting back and looking to hire a lawyer

Page 8: Reese Witherspoon’s marriage to Jim Toth is in the muck after the stunning collapse of his new business venture and tensions are mounting in the Hollywood power couple’s already troubled union now that the streaming service Quibi crumbled after less than six months leaving content acquisition president Jim out of work while Reese’s star continues to rise and there’s a real balance of power that’s been building up and that’s put a serious strain on the relationship -- living in quarantine added to the stress between them as Reese has been holed up with her two kids with ex Ryan Phillippe Ava and Deacon and her son Tennessee with Jim at the family’s ranch in Malibu

Page 9: Dementia patient Kenny Rogers cut his three adult children out of his $250 million will and now sources fear the late country legend could have been tricked into signing the document -- Kenny left everything to his 16-year-old twins sons with fifth wife Wanda and the will also stated it was his intent to specifically exclude his daughter Carole with his first wife and son Kenny Jr. with third wife and son Christopher with fourth wife and their issue as beneficiaries of his estate -- Kenny Sr. would never disown his own children according to the source especially since the singer’s son Kenny Jr. is incorrectly referred to Kenny Rogers III throughout the will -- the wording is not like Kenny Sr. and something is not right and his older kids are thinking about contesting the will 

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Kate McKinnon shot a Saturday Night live skit in NYC, Sophia Bush hit the road in L.A. with her co-pilot pup Maggie, pregnant Jinger Duggar Vuolo in Venice with daughter Felicity, Heidi Klum walking the streets in her native Germany, Snoop Dogg saluted young rappers as he accepted BET’s I Am Hip Hop award 

Page 11: Unwitting Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler once dabbled in the secret sex cult NXIVM -- the organization masqueraded as a self-help group but in 2017 it was exposed as a pyramid scheme for founder Keith Raniere who forced high-ranking female recruits to become his sex slaves -- in 2010 Jen and Gerry who were dating at the time wound up at one of the introductory seminars but they were turned off by the level of commitment expected and never returned -- they thought it was just a networking opportunity and had no idea what they were getting themselves into, cash-crunched Gwyneth Paltrow is facing hard times like everyone else and is looking to change her free-spending ways -- the belt-tightening caused by the coronavirus pandemic has even hit her lifestyle empire Goop causing her to shut down the London branch and make hard choices for the future -- Gwyneth may be worth $100 million but she and husband Brad Falchuk spend money like it’s going out of style on private jets they use on a whim and they own a fleet of fancy cars and pay steep salaries for staff who are at their beck and call 24/7 and it’s all draining their bank accounts -- they’re looking at making cuts across the board from personal trainers and chefs and drivers to the masseurs and beauticians who come to their house several times a week -- plus the couple believe it’s a bad look for them to be living so high on the hog when the rest of the world is suffering during the pandemic

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Angelina Jolie spent years developing her own version of the Hollywood classic Cleopatra and now she’s livid that Gal Gadot has stolen the Egyptian queen -- Angie’s dream was to play Cleopatra the role that made Elizabeth Taylor an icon and it was to be the part that won Angie an Academy Award for Best Actress and now that’s over thanks to Gal who will be playing the Queen of the Nile instead, after ABC scrapped plans to honor Regis Philbin with a prime-time tribute Jimmy Kimmel insisted on honoring Regis on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, MSNBC talking head Rachel Maddow is fleeing New York for her Massachusetts farm after hanging a $2.3 million price tag on her NYC pad but Rachel didn’t want potential buyers looking through all the personal stuff at her apartment so all the personal pictures and books and clothing and everything else was shipped out and replaced with staged furniture, Ariel Winter and her dog (picture) 

Page 13: Ailing Joni Mitchell opened up about how she’s still struggling to get back to her old self five years after a debilitating brain bleed -- after Joni was found unresponsive in her Bel-Air home in 2015 she said she was forced to relearn everyday tasks because the aneurysm took away her speech and her ability to walk and although she’s showing slow improvement she hasn’t been writing or playing the guitar or the piano, Randy Travis is defying all the odds as he plans the greatest comeback in country music history as he is making amazing progress after suffering a massive 2013 stroke that most believed would end his career forever and he was given just 1% chance of survival and even after he pulled through doctors believed he would be bedridden and unable to speak -- instead his grueling rehab efforts have miraculously put him on the road to realizing his dream of returning to the spotlight -- some of his motivation is financial; last year he sold his Nashville home and released his memoir which was fueled by his need to pay medical expenses after years of not being able to perform

Page 14: Hollywood Hookups -- Channing Tatum and Jessie J have split again, Cole Sprouse and Reina Silva dating, Kate Beckinsale and Goody Grace split 

Page 15: Ariana Grande is raising eyebrows with her raunchy new record Positions -- the former squeaky-clean Nickelodeon star who has been dating real estate agent Dalton Gomez spouted off X-rated odes to an unnamed lover on the LP, six months after sidelining her marriage to former quarterback Jay Cutler Kristin Cavallari admitted there are good days and bad days but insisted it’s been nice to be able to focus on herself and figure out who she is now and what she ultimately wants out of life, hotel heiress Kathy Hilton is joining The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as a friend of the main cast which includes her half-sister Kyle Richards

Page 16: Crime 

Page 17: On Drew Barrymore’s talk show a psychic guest channeled the spirit of one of the host’s former in-laws but the man in question is very much alive -- medium Anna Raimondi told Drew she sensed the aura of a judge causing Drew to burst into tears and named David a relative of her ex-husband Will Kopelman claiming he’d passed but Judge David Kopelman is alive and still going strong -- Will slammed Anna was a submental hack and said he was surprised that Drew chose to give oxygen to someone like that

Page 18: American Life 

Page 20: Cover Story -- Prince Andrew is desperate to quash explosive testimony by his pedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein’s accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell but the socialite’s second secret deposition is torpedoing his return from royal exile -- after Ghislaine danced around details of her relationship with the disgraced Duke of York in testimony released a few weeks ago Andrew is sweating bullets about her second grilling under oath which contains details of their intimate friendship and nights with Epstein’s teen sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre 

Page 22: Don McLean viciously slammed ex-wife Patrisha Shnier as the worst person her ever knew but in their ongoing war of words she maintains he was abusive to her -- Don is still bitter over a 2016 domestic incident at their home in Maine that landed him behind bars and led to divorce after 30 years of marriage

Page 26: Matthew McConaughey confessed he nearly turned his back on Tinseltown to be a wildlife guide like late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin -- he made a splash in a string of blockbuster rom-coms in the ‘90s and ‘00s but he was eager to move on to meatier movies and even passed on a $14.5 million paycheck in 2010 to seek more substantial roles and the struggle left him considering other careers such as a wildlife guide, Jamie Foxx has been crushed by the death of his beloved sister DeOndra Dixon who was born with Down syndrome

Page 28: Good Catch -- Bachelor stars who are still up for grabs -- Jon Hamm, Owen Wilson, Drew Carey

Page 29: Benicio Del Toro, Ryan Seacrest, Matthew Perry, some stars seem to say I do at the drop of the hat -- Larry King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Bob Thornton 

Page 32: Olivia Munn was caught on camera flashing what looked like engagement bling on her left ring finger as she exited a gym following a morning workout in Los Angeles but she reportedly broke up with boyfriend Tucker Roberts last year leaving fans wondering who bought the stunning sparkler 

Page 36: Health Watch 

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Michelle Pfeiffer 

Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Allison Janney on Mom 

Page 47: Odd List 

[pikesprouts]

Singing Triad Fic

so I wrote a thing for Don/Cosmo/Kathy from Singing in the Rain(1952)

Going Public

The final recording scene where Don tells Kathy he wants to go public about their relationship.

Except all three of them are in a relationship and it's very fluffy until Lina shows up.

Here on AO3 or under the cut(but to warn you its just over 2k so it’s a long one)

"Alright, Kathy, go ahead." Cosmo grinned from the recording booth as Kathy finished reading out Lina's final lines, trying his best to keep a dopey, lovestruck smile off his face. He couldn't believe he'd gotten so lucky as to have both Don and Kathy, even if that particular relationship was even more under wraps than Don and Kathy by themselves.

"That's great! Perfect, cut!" Cosmo had to wait a few agonizing seconds more before they were clear to leave the recording booth. He jumped up and hurried over to the door to head into the room with Don and Kathy.

He opened the door to Don's voice. "-can't wait until the picture's finished." Don looked over to see Cosmo at the door and smiled at him, gesturing him over. Cosmo obligingly walked over and stood next to Don, hands cheerfully clasped behind his back. He knew what Don was about to suggest to Kathy- Don had suggested it to him just last night, after all. Don looked back at Kathy and held her gently. "No more secrecy, I'm gonna let Lina know, I'm gonna let everyone know."

Kathy's eyes widened and she glanced at Cosmo, so he smiled reassuringly and added, "Just about you two. I thought it'd be too much of a stir if we told people about me. And the studio is certainly going to want you two married by spring." He grinned and nodded at Don. "Besides, we both know how much of a lovesick ham Don is- imagine the scandal!" He swung around and slung an arm over Kathy's shoulders, sweeping his other hand through the air in front of them. "Lockwood the Homewrecker! Can't stop flirting with his best friend's wife!" Kathy grinned. He leaned in and said in a loud whisper, "Though of course no one would notice him flirting with his best friend as well- that leading man aesthetic does wonders for public perception, you know." He winked and Kathy giggled at that.

She put a hand on Cosmo's shoulder gently. "Are you sure you're alright with this?"

Cosmo grinned at her. "More than." He hooked his thumbs through imaginary suspenders and strutted a few steps forward before turning back. "If you two don't get married, the studio will have to cook up some romance for one or both of you for publicity, and I think we've had enough of that, don't you?" He fidgeted, the confident air faltering slightly. "I'd hate that."

Kathy smiled gently and threw her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly. "You're wonderful, Cosmo." She hugged him tightly and then turned to Don, taking both of his hands in hers. "And if you're both absolutely sure, there's nothing I'd like more." She smiled at him. "Though, your fans will be bitterly disappointed."

Don tilted Kathy's chin up, ready to kiss her. "From now on, there are only two fans i'm worrying about." Cosmo grinned at Don's cheesy line, taking a few steps aside to sit on the edge of one of the chairs in the recording room while Don and Kathy kissed happily.

"There!"

"OH!" At the familiar screech from the door, the three turned quickly, Cosmo nearly falling off his perch as he did so. At least he'd had the presence of mind to give the two of them some room- the last thing they needed right now was Cosmo getting mixed up in rumors around the golden picture that was Don and Kathy.

And of course, there stood Ms. Lina Lamont and Ms. Zelda Zanders.

"What did I tell you, Lina?" Zelda turned her nose up at the three dismissively.

Lina glowered. "Thanks, Zelda, you're a real pal."

Zelda and Lina stalked across the room, Zelda with a self-satisfied smirk and Lina with boiling fury.

Cosmo's heart sank a bit. This wasn't going to go over well.

Lina began her screeching, "I want that girl off the lot at once! She ain't gonna be my voice!" She put one hand on her hip and cocked it. "Zelda told me everything."

Cosmo could see the resignation on Don's face even as Don smiled thinly at Zelda.

"Thanks, Zelda, you're a real pal." Don's voice was thick with sarcasm.

Kathy glanced over at Cosmo, so he tried to give her a reassuring look that everything would be fine, but even he knew it was weak.

Zelda laughed shortly. "Oh, anytime, Don." She turned on her heel and left, pleased with the havoc she'd caused.

Cosmo tuned back into Lina's tantrum to hear Kathy trying to reason with Lina.

"Now, look, Miss Lamont, Don and I have-"

"DON?!" Cosmo winced in sympathy for Kathy having to face Lina's full screech right up close. He'd been on the receiving end of enough of them to know how they made your ears ring for full minutes afterwards.

Lina shoved Don out of the way. "Don't you dare call him Don! I was calling him Don before you were born!"

Don closed his eyes briefly before opening them to look over at Cosmo, then back at Kathy and Lina. Kathy looked indignant but speechless, and Don looked like he was about a yard from the end of his tether.

Lina sputtered for a minute. "I mean, I mean, wh-wh-" She looked back and forth before rounding on Kathy again. "You were kissing him!" Lina screeched, gesturing wildly at Don.

Don rolled his eyes and gestured grandly. "I was kissing her!"

Cosmo smirked at Don's dramatics, barely biting back the snort that threatened to escape.

"I happen to be in love with her!" Don continued, gesturing emphatically at Kathy again and glowering at Lina. Cosmo's heart clenched at that, wishing he could say the same so plainly. Kathy caught his eye and he could see in her eyes that she understood. He allowed himself a private smile before returning his attention back to Lina's theatrics.

"That's ridiculous, everybody knows that you're in love with me!" Lina said. She smiled as charmingly as she could manage at Don, but Don was fully at the end of his tether as he put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes, laughing in disbelief.

"Now, look, Lina, Lina, try and understand this." He put his hands up placatingly. "I'm going to marry her." Cosmo felt his heart clench a bit once more at that. Though he was thrilled for the two of them and he couldn't be more pleased as to how it looked like it was going for the three of them, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that he would never get to marry either of the loves of his life. Not that there was another option, but he was a bit disappointed all the same.

While Cosmo had been thinking, Lina had continued ranting. "She's just a flirt trying to get ahead by using you. Well, I'll put a stop to that! I'm gonna go up and see RF right now!" Lina made as though she really did mean to storm up to RF's office and screech at him too.

Cosmo's eyes widened and he quickly stepped in, catching Lina by the shoulders and halting her on her warpath. "Up, you're a little late, Lina." He tried to keep the self-satisfied smile off of his face. "The picture's already finished. And if this girl weren't in the picture, you would be finished too." He forcibly moved her back, still standing between her and the door.

Lina sneered in Kathy's direction. "As far as I can see, she's the only one who's finished. Who'll ever hear of her?" She smiled, pleased with herself.

Don cut in angrily, his arm looped around Kathy's shoulders and holding her close. "Everybody." When Lina's head whipped up to look at him, he continued. "Why do you think Zelda's in such a sweat? Because Kathy nearly stole the picture from her."

Cosmo moved around, starting to walk behind Lina. "Sure, she's only doing you a favor, helping you in The Dancing Cavalier." He gave Kathy a blinding, loving smile and shot her a wink from behind Lina's back.

Don continued their train of thought for him, "And she's getting full screen credit for it, too." Cosmo's heart swelled at the thought that the three of them had worked so hard to save the picture, and it had gone off without so much as a hitch, at least until this minute. It had been a great idea, if he did say so himself, and the movie was looking to be a real smash hit.

Lina's eyes widened and she opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "You... you mean it's gonna say up on the screen that I don't talk and sing for myself?!" As she got angrier, Cosmo judged the distance between Lina and Kathy, hoping if she decided to lunge that between he and Don they'd be able to stop her, before deciding he had better move between them.

"Of course! What do you think?" Cosmo settled himself behind the group, right between Don and Lina.

"B-but they can't do that!" Lina argued.

Cosmo almost laughed at that. "It's already done!" He was sure he looked far too pleased with himself, but to be frank, he was. He was pleased with what the three of them had come up with and all the work they'd done, and Lina wasn't going to come in and ruin that for them. It was too late now, anyway.

Don continued their train of thought once more. "And there's a whole publicity campaign being planned." His grip tightened protectively around Kathy.

Lina looked like she was about to explode, and explode she did. "Publicity?! They can't make a fool outta Lina Lamont!" She paced back and forth, stamping as she went. Cosmo tensed, hoping she wasn't actually going to attack Kathy and claw her eyes out, but it seemed she was too busy ranting. "They can't make a laughingstock outta Lina Lamont! What do they think I am, dumb or something? Why, I make more money than..." She got right up into Don's face before she paused, thinking, "Than Calvin Coolidge!" She nodded decisively. "Put together!" And, satisfied she'd gotten the last word, she stormed off to go do heaven knows what.

Cosmo moved to stop her, but Kathy put a hand on his arm as the door swung shut behind Lina.

"No, Cos, it's fine. What can she do, anyway?"

Cosmo looked at the door one more time and turned away, putting an arm around Kathy's waist on her other side. "I don't know, I just..."

Don finished for him. "Don't like it."

Cosmo looked at him over Kathy's head, nodding. "Yeah, it smells." He looked at Kathy and put one hand on her cheek gently. "Lina's a snake, Kathy, you can't trust her."

Kathy looked between them. "What do you mean? I know she doesn't like me, but I did hit her in the face with a cake, after all."

Don shook his head, already saying, "Lina doesn't like you because I've been interested in you from the moment we met." He sighed. "Enough so that she went out of her way to get you fired, remember?"

Kathy quirked her mouth to one side. "But it's all over now, isn't it? The Dancing Cavalier is saved, it's done."

Cosmo nodded, looking at the door Lina had stormed out of. "Yep. I just hope there's nothing Lina can do now. She's in a heckuva rage, and Lina in a rage..."

Don finished, "Is not a Lina you want to be dealing with."

Kathy looped her hands through their elbows. "Well, nothing we can do about it now, is there? Let's get some lunch while we wait for the rushes to come back."

Cosmo grinned. "Miss Selden, you are a fountain of good ideas."

Kathy beamed. "You'll just have to keep me around then, won't you?"

Don kissed her forehead as the three of them walked out, Cosmo holding the door while Don and Kathy walked out arm-in-arm, Lina put in the back of their minds for the moment.

[lezliefaithwade]

Being An Actress

I remember the moment I decided I wanted to be an actress. I was walking across the parking lot of my high school after an undoubtedly stellar performance as Portia in an all-girl production of The Merchant of Venice when my father turned to me and said, "Do you think you might want to do this for a living?" At the time I remembered feeling a little insulted. My grades were excellent. Didn't my father think I could be a lawyer or a veterinarian or a psychologist? It wasn't that I didn't love to act, but everyone I knew who wanted to be an actress was either egotistical or unstable. Not that one was mutually exclusive of the other. What did this say about me? No one in my family acted, although my Grandmother often hinted of an unsubstantiated family connection to Hermoine Gingold. Occasionally my parents would take us to see a play or listen to a concert, but only to help make us well-rounded individuals. When someone would go on about the Sound of Music my father would roll his eyes and say, “How can I take a nun singing on hilltops seriously?” And I found myself admitting that he had a point.

When I was four I appeared on Romper Room for an unprecedented two weeks. At the time my best friend, Mary Lou, had been selected for the local cable network but her incredibly shy demeanor had her mother worried.

“She’s gonna sit there like a sack of potatoes.” Mrs. Dean told my Mother who quickly suggested that I accompany Mary Lou for moral support.

“What do I have to do?” I asked my mother as she was tucking me into bed.

“Just be yourself,” she replied. My mother knew exactly what that meant. Naturally loquacious I kept things hopping on the set by constantly commenting on the camera man kissing the teacher. When asked what my father had in his garage, I remarked that it was presumptuous to even assume we had one. There was some discussion about a third week, but Miss Dawson put her foot down and said I was stealing the show.

Soon I was taking dance classes and skating lessons. My first stage appearance was as a rabbit in the famous ballet, Bugs Bunny's Birthday Party. I was excited because we second tiered rabbits were going to eat sandwiches on stage. Then disaster struck. The sandwiches were going to be peanut butter and I hated peanut butter. Teary eyed I complained to my mother who told me to grin and bear it. “That’s acting,” she said.

In grade four I wrote a play about a pair of motorcycle lovers and sang Baby Driver while they straddled their desks and rode off into the sunset.

“Hit the road and I’m gone.

What’s your number?

I wonder how your engine feels?”

“Okay,” Mrs. Orcutt interrupted, “I think that’s all the time we have for that today.”

After my father gave me his blessing to pursue a career on the stage, I decided to explore all of my options. I auditioned for an amateur theatre company and played bird #4 in Aristophanes’ The Birds, and a milk maid in Galt MacDermot’s musical adaptation of Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona. Not exactly earth-shattering roles, but I knew there was a pecking order (no pun intended) and that dues must be paid. In Niagara Falls, where I lived as a teenager, there were two amateur companies. The youth group that took over the Firehall Theatre in the summer months of July and August, and the adult group that staked their claim the rest of the year. The youth company was run entirely by a handful of 18 to 20-year-olds who took themselves very seriously. We stretched ourselves artistically, which is really just another way of saying that were out of our depth. I remember as Bertha in Pippin I had to say, "Men raise flags when they can't get anything else up." At the time I had no idea what that meant but I certainly enjoyed the response I got every time I said it.  

The amateur theatre company in the neighbouring city of St. Catharines were doing large scale musicals with professional directors and a cast of a thousand. Even I could tell the difference between Garden City’s production of West Side Story and the Niagara Falls Music Theatre Production of A Shadow Box. We told ourselves that we were doing something significant for the five or six audience members who sat in the dark to watch us perform. “At least they can appreciate art.” we told ourselves, ignoring the occasional snore beyond the footlights.  When someone who had seen our production complained in the paper that “…smut didn’t belong on stage.” I was devasted. “Some people just don’t know a good thing when they see it,” I ranted, “It’s a Pulitzer award winning play.”  I forgot that we weren’t Tony award winning actors.

Anxious to spread my wings and get a taste of the real thing, I auditioned for a one-act play festival at the nearby University and managed to get the part of an uptight bible thumper in an original musical called A Hundred Bucks a Week. It was the story of a topless shampoo parlourist who castrates a guy with her teeth. Did I mention that it was narrated by a cat? I still remember singing:

“We all must be as babies in the garden.

Smiling with our mouths all bright and new.

Innocently smelling lovely roses.

Not prying with our fingers in dog doo.”

Needless to say, my father was a little shocked when an actress appeared on stage topless while I sang my heart out in a futile effort to convert her. This time as he walked me across the parking lot to the car he suggested that perhaps I should seriously consider journalism at Carleton. “Impossible!” I stated dramatically, “I’m an actress.” And I actually believed it.

I arrived at University wearing vintage clothes with frizzy hair and John Lennon glasses. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be Doris Finsecker from Fame or Janice Joplin. My dorm room-mate was an engineering student who was the first to know of a kegger and had never seen a play in her life. She often returned to our room late at night reeking of booze and sludge water after spontaneous dips in the Detroit River.

At theatre school I was told I couldn’t dance, I couldn’t sing, I had speech impediments and a wandering left eye that would completely destroy any hopes of a career in film “Too bad you didn’t have it looked at when you were a kid,”one professor told me, “It’s easily treatable if caught when you are young.” At the age of five I was a frequent visitor to Sick Kids Hospital for my eye and wore a patch over my glasses for a year. It didn’t cure me. So much for trusting the knowledge of my professors. Strike one!

I began to sink under the pressure of looks and expectations. While the rest of the women in my class wasted away proclaiming to have eaten nothing but broccoli over Thanksgiving, I gained seven pounds over a new found love of peanut butter and developed a bad attitude towards anyone who encouraged me to “feel space”. When my teacher overheard me mutter under my breath one day that I hated improve she called a class meeting to discuss why I hated her. Everyone stared at me shocked and disappointed. Why was I resisting the pu-pu platter of techniques spread out before me? “You’re a very stubborn actress,” the teacher announced, “but I’m going to break you.” That was strike two.

At my first semester tutorial I was told that I had talent, but I wasn’t tall, thin or pretty enough. “You have the face of Sally Field,” the department head told me, “but the body of Kathy Bates.” Strike three.  I went home for Christmas and announced to my father that I was dropping out to focus, instead, on getting into a proper theatre school in New York. After all, I reasoned, it’s where I really wanted to be anyway.

There is probably nothing quite as depressing as returning to your hometown in the middle of winter when all of your friends are away at school having the time of their lives. The overall perception is that you have failed. It didn’t help to think that I had willfully brought myself to this point in time. The phrase, “small fish in a big pond” kept going around in my head. While my best friends were acing all of their classes and dating interesting freshmen, I was eating cookies, and counting the days until everyone would return to amuse me. In the meantime, I moped around the apartment, wrote letters to theatre schools and read a lot of plays.

“You have to get a job.” My father announced and for the first time I was forced to slog my way through the want ads in a half assed attempt to find work at either a wax museum or a fudge shop. Completely unqualified for anything except theatre, I was forced to become a chamber maid at a tacky little hotel near Clifton Hill. Picking up after the kind of clientele that honeymoon in tacky hotels in Niagara Falls is enough to get one thinking seriously about their life choices. Maybe Dad had been right. A career in the theatre wasn’t looking so good anymore. Something had been tarnished from University and I couldn’t pretend that my trajectory to success was going to be one clear straight line to the top. I’d hit rock bottom and was picking up the condom rappers and dirty Kleenex to show it.

There have been many times in my career when I’ve been very close to throwing in the towel and becoming a real-estate agent or a tour guide.  At each one of those moments of genuine universal surrender something miraculous always happens. That year it was a letter of acceptance from the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. By now my father, less convinced that I could make a go of it, made me a deal. If I could find a place to live in Manhattan within a week, he would allow me to go. So, I boarded the train in Buffalo and headed for the Big Apple.

I arrived in New York at around 2:00 PM on a very, very hot day in August. I walked straight to the library, took out the Village Voice, circled an advertisement seeking a room-mate for a four-bedroom brownstone on the Upper West Side, was interviewed at 7:00 PM and secured my living accommodations within twenty-four hours. It didn’t matter to me that I had no idea who the three men I’d be living with were. The place was nice and the price was right. I think I heard my father drop the phone when I called to tell him that I had accomplished the impossible. Studying in New York proved to be the best and possibly the worst thing that ever happened to me. I developed a philosophy of acting that has served me in every way, but it also created a high standard that hasn’t always been easy to live up to.

_________________________________________________________

A few years ago, I was invited to direct a production of Blue Stockings at the same University I had so unceremoniously departed from those many years ago. Parallel universes collided as images of my past kept imposing themselves on the present. There was the quad I had been initiated in. There was the building where I’d slept and laughed and cried. There was my window with the view of the cemetery and McDonalds. There was the library where I looked up the address of every theatre school in New York. There was the theatre I did my practicum in, all pretty much the same as the day I left it. The walls, hallways, buildings hadn’t changed, but I had. I didn’t need reassurance anymore. I didn’t need someone to tell me what I wasn’t or couldn’t be. If only we could teach students the value of tenacity and resilience.

I enjoyed directing that class. I hope I encouraged and inspired them. I was happy when they came to rehearsals in sweats and tee shirts, less concerned about how they looked than we had been. More confident in their choices. More involved. On Opening night after the cheers and flowers and the congratulations, it felt good to climb into the car and head for home. I’m not cut out for institutions. I don’t like the brick and the neon and the bureaucracy. Still, it was good to make my peace with that time in my life. On the four-hour drive to Niagara I was thinking about the young people I had just worked with making the transition from student to actor. Maybe some of them will end up in New York. Maybe not. The thing about acting is it can take you anywhere…from Romper Room to the stars with a few tacky hotels in between.

[newagesispage]

                                                                JANUARY                                    2020

PAGE  RIB

 Lots of nominations are out. I do have some faves: The Grammy’s went crazy for Lizzo and Billie Eilish. The comedy recording noms went to Trevor Noah, Ellen, Aziz, Gaffigan and Dave Chappelle.**The Sag’s gave love to Leo and Brad for Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood, Of course, Joaquin was nominated for Joker. Most noms went to JJ Rabbit, The Irishman and Bombshell.  In TV there was much ado about The Morning Show, The Crown, Barry, Big Little Lies, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Schitt’s Creek.** The Golden Globes which will air on Jan. 5 were full of great choices. Fingers crossed for Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips for Joker, Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood and Quentin and Brad and Leo, Knives Out, Kathy Bates, Jodie Comer, Olivia Coleman, Billy Porter, Bill Hader and Henry Winkler and Barry. I hope good things for The Crown, Succession, Patricia Arquette, Helena Bonham Carter, Brian Cox and Kieran Culkin. Ellen DeGeneres will get the Carol Burnett award and Tom Hanks will receive the Cecil B. DeMille award.

*****

And Hooray to Schitt’s Creek for their PSA at the end of an episode that was about a character coming out to his parents. The promo gave resources to turn to for help.**The crew met up recently at the Paley Fest after the end of the series.

*****

Finally.. The Pope has abolished pontifical secrecy. It’s 2020 and the church may finally stop protecting predators. The age of consent for their porn was raised from 14 to 18 to keep up with modern times.

*****

Days of our Lives has been renewed for another year. We are safe until September 2021.**I am really hating Kate right now. I wish Rolf would take them all down.  I am quite thru with the ‘acting’ of pushing buttons on phones and computers which leads us to read their messages on the screen. I do not like it in real life and I don’t want to watch it. Boring!!

*****

The Patriot act has been reauthorized.

*****

Sara Gilbert has separated from wife Linda Perry.

*****

Sharon Stone was blocked on Bumble because users thought it wasn’t really her, it was and her account was restored.

*****

The new film, Linda Ronstadt: the sound of my voice shows just how far her reach has been.

*****

Kudos to Eddie Murphy and company for the fab ‘Dolemite is my name.’

*****

I saw that the Bachelor is back. Is that horrid show still on?

*****

Steve Bullock is out.** Kamala Harris is out. Scary Clown tweeted: Too bad. We’ll miss you Kamala. She tweeted back: Don’t worry Mr. President, I’ll see you at your trial.** Biden is on the No Malarkey tour.

*****

Willie Nelson has reportedly quit smoking weed.

*****

Word is that Trump wears Switzerland’s Bronx face makeup for that orange glow.** Have you seen Rand Paul lately. He seems to have taken on a similar look to his President with the big white puffy eyes and that deranged look. What is going on with these people?

*****

Woody Harrelson and Justin Theroux will star in a series about Watergate from the Veep team.

*****

Billy Dee Williams tells us that he identifies as male and female.

*****

About 1 million kids are getting thrown off lunch subsidies and other programs.** A recent Rolling Stone article explains the evangelical support of Trump.  An early campaign meeting with religious leaders promised to fuck with the rights of transgender folks, abortion rights and to leave climate change alone because of the belief that God will control that. So, with that thinking should we shut down the factories because those are man made? Should we all be Christian scientists and not practice medicine anymore? Word is that the big money donors for Trump are helping to prop up their institutions and charities. **Christianity Today magazine : Trump should be removed from office. To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, remember who you are and whom you serve. ** On Dec. 8, the President tweeted 108 times. So much time on his hands!

*****

Michael Moore has a new grass roots podcast called Rumble. He will discuss and digest the breaking political news of the day and suggest things that the rest of us can do. He is introducing the Emergency podcast system.

*****

The last democratic debates of the year were here and again there was not enough time for Andrew Yang. He did well when he got the time and got to promote his book without that sounding too bad after he was asked whet gift he might give another candidate. Warren made a sound bite with her “wine cave” crack which just made her look petty. Biden and Bernie sounded the same as always. Amy Klobuchar had the best night. She was not shaky and seemed so confident.  Trevor Noah seemed thrilled that he was mentioned. The sound on the microphones was a bit prickly.

*****

I really hate advertising for the most part and try to avoid them if at all possible. But it seems these Peyton/ Brad ads are everywhere and they are the most annoying things I have ever seen. Please make them go away.

*****

Hooray for Kansas City for being the first major city in the country to offer free public transportation.

*****

The Giuliani’s are divorced.

*****

Ok.. I’ll hand it to Dolly Parton. She has been putting her story songs on the screen in Heartstrings. They are a little “Hallmarky” so they wouldn’t really be my thing but it’s Dolly so sure I’ll give it a go. They celebrate all kinds of love which is a beautiful thing . One story had a beautiful performance b Gerald McRaney.

*****

Love intentionally, extravagantly, unconditionally, the broken world waits in darkness for the light that is you. –L.R. Knost

*****

I was so hoping that Greta Thunberg would be the person of the year for Time.  Hooray!!

*****

Rep. Van Drew is switching from the democrats to the republicans. Um..ok.. what timing.

*****

Check out Jack’s grandson, Duke Nicholson. He is all the buzz!

*****

The President was impeached on Dec 18. There were plenty of objections and rants from the republicans like they were children. The idiocy that comes out of their mouths is astonishing. Doug Collins, Deb Lasko and Louie Gohmert just seem insane. I don’t understand why there was not more push back when they kept up their mantra about nothing in the Mueller report when we can all see that there was. We are not all stupid. In the end some sort of consequence was finally brought to the man who has been accused of so much in his life. In formal impeachment proceedings there is no executive privilege. Pelosi is mulling over when to send the case to the senate. It is probably a good idea to let POTUS stew over the holidays.

*****

If impeachment would overturn the will of 63 million voters and that’s unconstitutional, then what is the electoral college overturning the will of 65 million voters. –Adam Parkhomenko

*****

Trump fans were upset when Canada broadcast Home Alone 2 with their President cut out. They called it political but it was found that it had been cut for ad time long before his campaign even began.

R.I.P. Irving Burgie, Williams Rucklehouse, victims of the multiple military shooting, Ron Leibman, Marie Fredriksson, the Jersey City , Portland and New Zealand victims, Don Imus, victims of the Vegas fires, Jerry Herman, Alley Willis, Carol Spinney, Danny Aiello, Syd Mead and Neil Innes.

[thesexymnm]

#2 - the mystery of forest lane

hey again! this is another writing piece i made earlier this year in may. i really like this because it’s different from the stuff i normally write. also this is quite long so get comfortable. i hope you like it, and as always im open to criticism. alright, enjoy The Mystery of Forest Lane.

“It happened on April 18th, driving home from work. It was dinner rush at the diner and Kathy Willoughby, the witch of West Park Diner, also known as my boss, cut my fifteen minute break so I could serve sodas and coffee.” I took a deep breath, shaking my head, my hands squeezing the bridge of my nose. Last time I checked, the head detective of the state of Maine isn’t supposed to listen to employee complaints, yet here I am doing just that. This interrogation had been drawn out long enough, we ask people to be as detailed as they remember, but she had gone a bit overboard, borderline ranting. Ms. Adrienne Miller was the woman I was talking to. Forty years old, has seventeen year old son, Sam, and she has been working as a waitress at the West Park Diner for five years. Before that, she was unemployed. She also got divorced six years ago from Sam’s father, Larry Wilson. Adrienne has multiple DUI’s on her record, they were all quite recent, starting back two years ago and the most recent one was four months ago. It is truly amazing what you can find on people when you have the access that I do. Although back when I was probably as young as her son, I just judged people on what I could see, what just their face and body language could reveal. I find myself going back to this tactic from time to time.

Using the skills I had taught myself as a young boy, I take a look at Adrienne in these moments, and just observe. Dark brown eyes, roughly the same color as her hair. Olive skin, beautifully fair, hairless and smooth. I drove my eyes along her forearm until I hit speed bump; a purple bruise crosses my vision. I cannot make out the full shape due to the injury being half covered by her sleeve, but I can tell it was not the cause of abuse. The spot on her arm is a common area to pose an injury on oneself. In fact, I had one in the same spot in the recent weeks before this interrogation. As I move my focus away from the bruise, I spy a few birthmarks and then my eyes divert to the tips of her fingers; nubs, nails bitten away almost down to her cuticles. This is something to note. Adrienne Miller is the type of woman to have long, extravagant red glossy nails that made an irritating clicking noise when tapped on a table. The fact that her nails are practically nonexistent tell me she has been through some stress, and recently. To add on top of that, her normal glam outfit that I have seen her strut countless times on the sidewalks of Van Buren has not shown to this interrogation. Neither is her long, flowing, straight hair. Rather, it is pulled back, loosely like she was in a hurry to get out, and the rest of her outfit would support that idea. It’s quite funny, how much you can tell from just looking at a person, all it is is just practice, years of it. Anyone can be a detective if they’ve got brains and 20/20 vision. Documents and reports are one way to do my job, but I could have never gotten where I am without my keen observation skills.

I’ve done these types of examines on other people as well, but when I look at them, they start to fidget, tapping on the table, foot bouncing like a bunny in spring, they have the darting eyes that scream, “I’m guilty! Please just take me away! Lock me up, please get these lies over with!” And they usually are guilty, but not Adrienne. She barely notices me observing her every inch, she keeps rambling on about her boss, Kathy Willoughby. I’ve had my fair share of conversations with the lady, and I can see where she is coming from, but for crying out loud, I’ve got work to do!   

I finally interrupted her, saying, “Ms. Miller, please only talk about details that are relevant to the case.” She nodded, carrying on with the story.

“As outraged as I was at Kathy, I was just happy to come home that night. It took a few minutes to start up my car but it wasn’t anything unusual. I was driving down Forest Lane, going south, when I hear noises above me.” I stopped her again, “Ms. Miller can you describe what the noise sounded like?”

“It sounded like a big helicopter,” she said. “I only remember that because it was drowning out my radio. It kept going, for a couple minutes, and I didn’t understand what was going on. By then, I was alone on the road. The last person I had talked to was Kathy, and there wasn’t a car to be seen. But then, there was this big flash of bright light. It stunned me so much that I stopped steering. The helicopter noises were getting louder every second, and that was all I could hear. I let go of the wheel to shield my eyes but seconds later my truck crashed into a tree. I felt fine, there was some glass in my arm and my leg was hurting, it was hard for me to breathe, I suppose I had the wind knocked out of me. I opened the door and fell out of my car. By this time the light was down to a dim shine coming from the woods. It had stopped completely twenty minutes before you guys found me.”

I tried to listen to her fairly, but like with many cases, I had my doubts. This woman is claiming she experienced something out of this world, like an alien encounter, and I didn’t believe her for a second. What I see in this case is just a desperate mother trying to cover up the fact she was driving while drunk.

“Ms. Miller, with all do respect, how am I supposed to believe you when on the night of April 18th, you were driving while intoxicated? How do I know that this story isn’t just a cover up to distract from the real facts in this case? It also does not help that you have four other DUI’s on your record, all of which you tried to get out of, and failed poorly. Ms. Miller, I along with the rest of the force here are extremely smart people, and you’ve already succumb to the more unfortunate side of law enforcement. Now, if I were you I would just confess, unless you really believe your own story. Which, I’m doubting. So, tell me, what really is the truth here, Adrienne?”

Many people have heard me interrogate people before, and when they see the video of me interrogating Adrienne Miller for the first time on this case, they ask me why I went so hard on her. I’ve interrogated people in so many different cases as head detective, everything from petty robbery to murderers. I earn the truth from these people. But there was something different about Adrienne. I could tell she wasn’t lying to me. I’ve been doing this job long enough to tell. But it couldn’t be true. How could it be? Despite what my own thoughts told me, I had to get the truth, I had to find it. Because in my mind, the story she was telling me certainly was not it.

Adrienne just looked at me. She stared for about a minute, until I tapped the table with my finger, letting my nail make a click noise that was loud enough to make her jump. She looked like she was sleeping with her eyes open, and my nail hitting the table was enough to make her jump awake. She collected herself and started again, but with a different, nastier tone. “Detective Sabrowski,” she paused, “Rick, I am telling the truth. You know I am.”

“Ms. Miller, I don’t know anything about it. That’s why I’m asking you, now please stop with these outrageous cover stories and let’s cut to the chase already.” Adrienne looked at me again, smugly. “Rick, I’ve told you my story. It’s true. Don’t make this interrogation into something personal now.” My eyebrows furrowed in disgust of her thinking I would ever do such a thing. “I’m not doing that! Now tell me what you are up to!” I was getting angry now, as with my last syllables of the command I had just ordered from her, my raging fist came crashing down onto the table, making my resting pen that was laying there jump wildly into the air, and crashing back down again. I could tell Adrienne was startled by my disposition. She gathered herself and her thoughts and said, “There is nothing left to discuss, can this be over with already?” I looked at the observation window, a one sided window with my close colleague and best friend, Don, on the other side. He’s my partner, and my best man. He buzzed through, saying, “Let’s wrap it up.” As soon as those words came through the speaker, Adrienne got up, and I opened the door to let her out. I watched as she strut down the hallway, and I felt a wave of entitlement radiate off her, even from down the long hall. I let out a deep sigh, I couldn’t help but feel I had let her go, that she was guilty and just playing with my mind. After all, it wouldn’t have been the first time...

I sunk down in my office chair. I was swamped with open case files. My head was in my hands, I’m always working. My wife, Evelyn, hates it. I don’t know what to tell her, I don’t like how much I’m working either, but I can’t do anything about it. The department needs me, and they are dumping everything they’ve got on to me. I rub my eyes and check the clock.

“11:30”, Don walks in and says. “Really Rick? Go home.”

I sighed, I knew he had a point but I just couldn’t leave. “Come on, what about Evelyn?”

“I already called her an hour ago, she knows it’s gonna be a late night.” These crazy late work nights have been going on for months now. Ever since they fired the previous head detective, my old position has not yet been filled. I’m doing the job of two detectives. Don offered to help me out, but I couldn’t say yes. That would mean more hours for him, and he has a family, two adorable little girls. Evelyn and I don’t have any kids, and it’s times like these that I’m thankful we don’t. Life has been very hard on us lately. Her father just passed away a few months ago, and we had to put down our German Shepherd, Moose. He was twelve years old but still had the energy of a puppy. It was hard on us to let him go, but it was for his own good.

Don broke the silence I was filling with sad memories, saying “Sheriff Brown said it’s time to go home, you’ve worked twenty two hours this week and it’s only Tuesday. I’m saying, as a friend, go home to Evelyn. I know times have been hard lately and this isn’t doing it any good. Spend some time with her.” I stopped playing tough guy, and nodded, then began to pack up my things and head home. Had I really already worked that much? It felt like I had only been working for seconds, everything I do at work flies by. Don was still in the doorway as I was leaving my office. As I walked out, he patted my back, and then I went to my car.

I opened the door to the outside and a breeze of frigid air hit my face like a slap to the cheek. I walked to my car, and the sky was pitch black, no stars, but there usually weren’t any. Despite what lots of people may think about it, I like driving at night. There are less cars on the roads since everyone is at home, resting, chatting with family. I don’t stay at the station longer than I should because I want to get away from family, from Evelyn. That’s not the case whatsoever, I love my wife. But sometimes, my job feels like an escape from my problems. For a couple hours, I am fully invested into someone else’s problems. Being Maine’s very own Sherlock consumes every ounce of thinking power I have to offer. Piecing clues together like they do in the movies and television shows, that’s me, and I enjoy it. The joy you get from solving a case is exhilarating, nobody understands it, by I do. Doing this job gives me a kind of high nothing else could ever give me. I’m just addicted to my job.

Driving down the winding road of Forest Lane, the road where Ms. Adrienne Miller had crashed her car due to a unidentified object blocking her view. I thought of this that night driving back home, and I chuckled to myself. “As if!” I said with a smirk. I remember Don telling me which part of the road she had crashed on as I approached it myself. I saw the mauled tree that her Ford crashed into on that night. It was quite absurd, I thought to myself as I drove by the site. “And I don’t hear a thing,” I thought to myself, “she must’ve been lying to me, straight to my face. And after all we’ve been through together! I can’t believe she never tells me the truth, not even this once, when she will be liable for her words.” Just then I started to hear things. It sounded, like a helicopter. And then I saw a light, a big, bright shining light coming from the woods. Quick breaths began to escape my mouth, moving fast in and out of my body. My hands left the wheel to shield my eyes from the light. It’s true! It is all true! Adrienne was right all along, she was telling the truth! Over the noises I heard came a big crash, and the front of my car was smashed completely. And then I woke up.

I rub my eyes awake, and I feel weak. My skin looks a bit paler than I remember it being. Once I can see clear enough, I notice I’m in a hospital gown. Hospital gown? How did I get here? I was panicking, where was Evelyn? “Hello?” I shout into the room. My eyes dart from the curtain to my left to the medical supplies on my right, stored away in cabinets above and below a counter. I started to become extremely nervous. What had happened to me? The last thing I remembered was driving home on Forest Lane…

Adrienne! Adrienne was driving down Forest Lane when she saw the light shine from the woods and when she heard the helicopter like noise. Was it real? No, it couldn’t be. That’s impossible. I had probably just passed out on my desk again due to dehydration. It’s happened before. But I was driving home, was it a dream? Possibly, maybe I’m still in it. I look around, and I don’t see the door to leave the room. It must be on the other side of the curtain. No one has replied to my cries for help yet. “Hey! Anyone! What’s going on?” Still there is no reply and I’m worried sick. Where is Evelyn? Surely if this were real she would be waiting for me to wake up, at my bedside, and when she saw my eyes creak open she would say, “Oh Rick! Rick! I’m so glad you’re awake, I love you!” Yet, she is not here nor is any other living soul. This has to be a dream. I grab my right  arm, only then realizing I’m hooked to an I.V., and my forearm is wrapped in a big bandage, from elbow to wrist. I take my hand and pinch the skin hard, and shut my eyes tightly, and I concentrate on waking up so hard that I forget to breathe and after two minutes my eyes open like broken blinds and I gasp for the oxygen that smells like a pharmacy, granted this is a hospital and it would make sense. But if I can smell, and I’m not waking up, than this is real. But how? Why am I here? I need to speak to someone, and soon.

Just then, as if on cue, a woman steps into the room. She is clearly a nurse, wearing baby blue scrubs and disposable gloves that she immediately throws out when she walks into the room. She has long, strawberry blonde hair pulled back by a headband and pale, freckled skin. When she turns and faces me, it is clear now that she is pregnant. I must have been looking at her strange, startled by seeing my first human since I awoke. She looks at me with kind eyes and says, “Detective Sabrowski, you’ve gotten yourself into quite some trouble.” I must have looked at her with an even more confused look, so she elaborated. “You’ve been in a coma for two days, today is May 9th. My name is Bonnie Scottsdale. I’ve been taking care of you, now what is the last thing-”

“Where is my wife? Where is Evelyn?” The words busted out of my mouth, interrupting her. I wasn’t concerned about being polite, I just wanted to know how I got here and where my wife was.

“Detective Sabroski, Evelyn is out in the lobby. She was with you all night and just left about an hour ago to sign some forms.” I let out a sigh of relief, knowing she was safe. “Anyway, I’m sure you may have questions about what happened to you, why you are here. Can you tell me the last thing you can remember? We will start from there.”

I nodded in agreement with her. “I remember I left the station, per my partner Don Hanna’s request, I hopped in my car and started for home, until I got to Forest Lane. I started to hear these helicopter noises, they got louder and louder until it was drowning out my radio. There was a shining light coming from the woods, so bright I had to let go of the wheel to shield my eyes-”

And in the time it would take for someone to snap their fingers, or blink their eyes, I realized what I was describing to this woman. I was describing Adrienne Miller’s story. But surely I couldn’t be just reciting it from memory. All these things had actually happened to me too, but why?

[sardonicnihilism]

A Biography of the Woman Who Never Was

Part 2 The Adolescent

Chapter 2

Dear diary, my first week of middle school was a mixed bag of scary, miserable, boring, and lonely. We have four teachers this year, our homeroom/social studies teacher, science, English, and math. Our, my homeroom teacher looks like a fat Hulk Hogan and scares the crap out of me. The science teacher is a gruff, old guy with thick, black framed glasses. I don't like him. Our English teacher dresses like a gypsy with red, curly hair which goes everywhere. I like her. Math is a high pitched, older lady with obviously dyed blonde hair. So basically one out of four.

Most of the kids in my class are from my elementary school. It was kind of nice having them there. They hate me and I hate them, but at least it's comforting having familiar faces look at you in disgust as opposed to strangers.

I was so scared to come here. I thought it would be kids run amuck, but it's mostly just a bigger version of elementary. I was relieved and disappointed at the same time.

Before I started, my mom had (or at least tried to have) a version of "the talk". Mostly it was just her saying to beware of boys. It was almost cute that she thought boys would actually want me in that way. It was almost cuter because I haven't got into boys yet. I don't hate them (much), I just don't think of them in that way. Not like the other girls seem to at least. Maybe I'm a late bloomer. Suits me just fine. I have no desire to start getting periods. I've seen what mom goes through sometimes and I don't want any parts of that. Although I did see a few hairs down there today so I know my time's coming. Boys have it so much easier (but that's a rant for another time).

There is one thing I'm confused about. There's a girl in my class called Amy, she's so beautiful. I remember seeing her and just wanting to look at her because she looked so perfect. It's kind of like when I first saw Spider-Woman, but different. I guess I'm jealous, but, I do wish I looked like her, but there's something different, something more. I can't describe it, I just want to be around her and sit next to her but I can't because my last name begins with B and hers O. Ugh, I don't know what I'm feeling.

Sometimes I wish God would just come again, and make everything perfect. That's my only hope. I can't see life, my life getting any better. I'm fat, ugly, alone, and I live with a crazy woman.

The other day, when I was going to get a bath, I stopped off in my mom's room and got one of her belts. I went into the bathroom, wrapped it around my neck, and started to pull while I looked at myself in the mirror. I saw my face turn red then purple. I couldn't breathe, I wanted to see myself die. I couldn't do it. I let go and took it off. People who kill themselves don't go to Heaven, but straight to Hell, even if they do believe. No sense in trading one hell for another.

Maybe on Monday, I'll try to talk to Amy? She seems nice, maybe she'll be my friend? I hope so, but how much of a friendship could we have if we could never hangout? I feel trapped here. Like the dogs my grandparents used to have. I'm chained in my pen just like they were.

Or maybe I'm already dead? When I was really young, Kathy made me hide in the back seat of the car while she went into the bar and got drunk. I remember it being extremely cold. I looked out the back window and saw the endless, black night sky. I still see it. Whenever things get bad. I see it open up and surround me. So maybe I did die that night? I died and went to Hell because I hadn't been saved yet. If you die with being born again, you don't go to Heaven, even if you're a child.

Or a baby.

Maybe that's it? I died when I was a baby or even in the womb and I've been in Hell the whole time. It would explain a lot. But I accepted Christ as my savior, shouldn't that account for something? Or maybe this is a special Hell for children? It's still really bad but you got the chance to escape? Sort of like the Catholic Purgatory? I don't know.

I got nothing more to say, so I'm going to stop writing now. Bye.

[simplyshelbs16xoxo]

‘To Love Like Fools’ Chapter 1: Girls’ Night Part 1

I wanna dedicate this fic to my six best friends in the Sherlolly fandom, Tara ( @strangelock221b ), Tina ( @sexydiva122868 ), @glitterkitty4ever (sorry, don't know your real name), Alissa ( @greenfleeze ), @penelope1730 and Kathi ( @mrsfrankensteinwinchester )! 

'It's a crime against the heart you know, to be somewhere in between.'

-I Won't Disagree by Kate Voegele

               Molly was getting more confused as time went on. Everything was so complicated after the Sherrinford incident, but even more so was her relationship with Sherlock. They weren’t exactly together, but they weren’t just friends either. They were caught somewhere in between as if neither of them knew how to proceed. They hadn’t kissed; they only acknowledged the love they felt for one another. Not another step was made, and so, she felt suspended in midair, not knowing which direction to take. His newfound emotions (and boy, was he an emotional man) were giving her whiplash.

               They were the best of friends who had keys to each other’s flats. Every weekend they were both free, one or the other would bring takeaway and spend nights watching crap telly or murder documentaries together. Sometimes it would happen in 221B, and other times it would be at Molly’s flat. They usually slept over on these nights, sharing the bed or sofa, and always woke wrapped up in each other’s arms.

               Lately, Sherlock had been seemingly hesitant around her. He would open his mouth to say something only to close it again or move closer to her before backing away. It was as if he was scared of her. Molly didn’t want him to feel this way and was frustrated that he constantly went back and forth; one day he’d be so loving and the next, flippant. She just didn’t know what to do anymore. That’s why she called up Mary after Sherlock and John left for a case in Manchester for the weekend. She needed a girls’ night. Mrs. Hudson had agreed to watch Rosie overnight for Mary whilst they spent the night at Molly’s flat.

               “I don’t know, Mary,” Molly sighed, “I’ve no idea what’s going through his head. If he’s scared of us becoming more, I get that, I do, but I wish he’d just talk to me. He trusts me with his life…”

               “But?” Mary encouraged.

               “…But I don’t think he trusts me with his heart,” Molly finished. “Have I ever given him reason to not trust me with it?”

               “No, I think he does trust you with his heart,” Mary told her, “but maybe it’s because of that fact that he’s scared.” Molly furrowed her brows in confusion. “He’s scared he’ll mess everything up when you two have it so good right now.”

               “I suppose that makes sense. Relationships were never his area and now he has no footing,” she replied. “Well, enough about him. Let’s just relax tonight.”

                One hour and three glasses of wine later, Molly was a little tipsy. Mary held her alcohol much better and was slightly amused at the fact that her friend was ranting about Sherlock again.

               “I mean, what does he even do in his flat when I’m not there aside from experiments or take cases?” she asked. “Does he have any secrets that neither John or I are privy to?” A few silent moments passed before she spoke up again. “I love the way he smells. I love sleeping beside him and his sheets smell like him. Sometimes my sheets smell like him. I left a pair of pajamas in his room that smell like him. Doesn’t he smell so good?”

               “Mm,” Mary smirked, taking a sip from her glass.

               “I miss him,” Molly half-sobbed.

               “Now, now, don’t cry,” Mary comforted her, rubbing Molly’s back in a motherly manner. “Tears won’t get you anywhere. He’ll be back on Monday.” This only made Molly cry more. “You have a key to his flat. Let’s just pop in so you can be wine drunk there and get the pajamas you left,” she laughed, clearly joking.

               “Mary, that’s perfect!” Molly exclaimed, perking right up.

               “Love, I was just joking,” she explained.

               “Pleaseeeeee?” Molly begged like a child, her eyes wide and her bottom lip sticking out.

               “Oh, alright,” she gave in. “It’s not like he’ll catch us.”

fanfiction.net | ao3

[band-of-bros]

Just 4 short snippets based on four different types of “I love you” as described by this post

1. Baberoe

“Gene, go back to sleep,” Babe says as he comes out of the bathroom, rubbing his hands on his pants to dry them because he was too lazy to grab a hand towel out of the cabinet and running late again, as usual.

“I wanted to see you off,” Gene says into his coffee.  Babe lights up, and Gene feels a warmth from something besides the beverage.  Babe hates his morning class, but Gene told him when it first got scheduled that he’d be awake to say goodbye each morning.  He hasn’t missed a day yet.

“But you just got off your shift like, 5 hours ago, and that doesn’t count commuting time,” Babe protests, putting a bagel into the toaster and cranking the setting up high.  Gene knows that he’ll force it to pop up halfway through, because he thinks it cooks faster this way, then burn his fingers taking it out.

“Yes, and you stayed up for me, so we got equal amounts of sleep,” Gene replies.  Then, he looks at the clock.  “You’re going to be late.”

“Oh well,” Babe says cheerfully.  “If they wanted me on time, they shouldn’t have given me an early morning class.”  True to form, he forces the lever of the toaster up to get his bagel early, then messily smears cream cheese on both halves and smashes them together.  He then rushes around the counter to kiss Gene’s cheek.

“Love you, see you later!”

Babe has always handed out his love freely and generously.  He is constantly telling his friends and family that he loves them, and since the first time he told Eugene while they were dating and made clear that it was in a romantic way, not just platonic, he keeps saying it at every opportunity.  Gene loves it.  It feels natural, and always causes him to smile.

“Love you, too, Babe.”

2. Speirton

“I love you,” Ron says softly.  The words still feel odd in his mouth, although the feeling behind them has been there since the beginning.  Carwood catches his eyes in the bathroom mirror he’s standing in front of to brush his teeth and smiles.  Ron loves this smile.  It’s unbelievably soft and genuine in a way that only appears in quiet moments like this, when the stars have been hung in the sky and Ron is the only one around.  Carwood shares his smiles with everyone, so it makes Ron feel warm all over when he gets one meant just for him.

He’s so lucky to have moments like this.

They’re calm and relaxed in a way that he used to think impossible for him, but somehow, Carwood manages to make everything quiet.  It’s an unexpected effect for a person to have on him.  But, of course, falling in love was unexpected, too.

Ron never quite thought he would fall in love, and find someone to love him back.  He’s always been feared and respected, and while he never minded that, it never paved the way for close personal relationships either.  Carwood is the first person who ever bothered to look beyond his preconceived notions of Ron and decide he wanted to give his heart to what he saw, and somehow, Ron found himself giving his heart right back.

He’s not sure how it happened, but that fact doesn’t even bother him anymore.  Carwood is easy to love.  The man gives comfort and contentment wherever he goes.  If there was anyone Ron was going to fall for, it would be Carwood.

That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t still surprise him when he utters that phrase.

Sometimes it seems to leap out of his mouth unbidden, like when Carwood is wearing something particularly beautiful and the sunlight makes his golden hair look like a halo.  Then, Carwood blushes, and Ron knows that even though the phrase might still feel unfamiliar, he’s never meant anything more.

Carwood finishes brushing his teeth and slips under the covers of their bed.  He leans over and kisses Ron softly.  It’s sweet and perfect.  A balloon of happiness fills Ron’s chest, and he’s worried it’s going to grow too big and burst.

“I love you, too,” Carwood says against his lips before turning off the lamp on the bedside table and lying down.  Ron moves closer and Carwood immediately opens his arms.  They both act as space heaters while sleeping, so they’ll move to opposite sides of the bed by the middle of the night, but for now Ron is content with the feeling of love in his chest and Carwood’s arms around him.

3. Webgott

“Web?” Joe asks, glancing over at the man lying next to him.  There’s no reply save for deep breathing, but Joe hadn’t expected there to be.  The clock reads 3 am.  Web had seemed decently sleepy earlier, and that was before the sex.

That used to be all there was to them.  Webster is insanely attractive, and their arguing creates enough sexual tension that it really was no surprise the first time they hooked up.  Since then, though, something has changed.  

It started with Web staying over, looking at home sitting at Joe’s kitchen counter in the mornings, wearing Joe’s clothes when he leaves and claiming a toothbrush as his own in the bathroom.  It continued with Joe picking Webster up from class to go get something to eat and maybe catch a movie, late night drives that end with Web passed out in the passenger seat with one of his Spotify playlists hooked up in Joe’s car, biting comments that sound more flirtatious than malicious now.  They spend time just sitting together on the couch, Webster with his feet in Joe’s lap reading while the other flips through channels on the TV until they both get bored or tired and move to the bedroom.

Sometimes, Joe looks at Webster and his breath gets caught in his throat.  It’ll happen at the most random of times: while the other is falling asleep while trying to cook eggs early in the morning, laughing at something clever Joe has said, staring enraptured at a shark documentary on TV, or ranting about the finer points of a novel Joe probably had to read for school but never actually bothered to.  It’s weird, that little hiccup in his heartbeat.  He can’t remember it happening with anyone else before.

Joe doesn’t know what this feeling is, but he knows that it’s more than what this started as.

Joe doesn’t know what love is, but he thinks this might be it.

“David?”

Again, no response but breathing.  And then, because he wonders what it sounds like, he whispers

“I love you.”

Web stirs slightly, but remains firmly asleep.  Joe doesn’t know if he’s glad or disappointed.

The night has put a heavy blanket of fog over his thoughts, but he’s aware enough to know that the words seem right.  He turns towards Webster and reaches out a hand, lacing their fingers together.  Web shifts slightly again, but only to get a better grip.  Joe squeezes his fingers once, then lets sleep overcome him.

4. Winnix

One of Dick’s favorite times of day is the evening walk with Lew and Ralph.  Lew is the kind of person who forgets that he likes being outdoors until he actually is, and one of the only ways Dick can coax him out for a walk or to the park is by using the dog as persuasion.  That’s the main reason Dick agreed to get one.  It had nothing to do with the look of pure joy on Lew’s face when Dick finally told him they were going to the shelter to see who they could take home.

Lew got attached to Ralph the moment he saw the huge St. Bernard, and he would do anything for that dog.  Hence their evening walks: Ralph needs the exercise, and it’s the perfect time to unwind, breathe the fresh air, and just spend time together.  Dick loves nothing better than to give Lewis the leash and lace their fingers together, walking past their neighbors and up through the park to a hill with a good view of the sunset.  Sometimes they stop to talk to neighbors, and sometimes they just engage in small talk or comfortable silence with each other until they reach their destination.

When they arrive at their usual spot on the hill, Lew plops down with a huff, and Ralph immediately starts to lick his face.

“Okay, buddy, I love you too,” he laughs.  Dick can’t help his lips quirking up.  Lew sees this and smiles.

“I think we should get another dog, so you can get doggie kisses, too,” he says.

“I think you would just take all of those doggie kisses for yourself,” Dick laughs, sitting down next to him.

“You’re not wrong,” Lew says.  “But don’t worry, Dick.  You get all of my human kisses.”

“Well that’s a relief.”  Dick takes a moment to steal one before reaching over to run his fingers in Ralph’s fur.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to eventually getting another dog if you really wanted one,” he says after a moment.  “But I think we need to take things one step at a time.”

“What’s the next step, if it’s not getting another dog?  We should probably get married before we start prepping for kids,” Lewis laughs, massaging Ralph’s ears.

“Well, now that you mention it…”

Dick can pinpoint the exact moment Lew processes what he said and goes still.  When he turns to look at him, Dick has the ring he’s been carrying around in his pocket for the past few days in his hand.

��I love you, Lew.  By now it’s clear that we’re both in this for the long run, so why not make it official?” he asks.  “Half of our neighbors already think we’re married.  I’d like to take that next step, if you’ll have me.”

Lewis stares at his face, then at the ring, then back at his face.

“You’re proposing.  You’re actually proposing right now.”

“I am,” he says.  He’s starting to sweat, and he hopes Lew doesn’t notice.

He hopes Lew says yes.  What if it’s not the right time?  What if Lew swore off marriage forever after his divorce from Kathy?  Lewis had insisted that Dick also be named as an owner of Ralph, so he had taken that as an indication that Lew also pictured them being together until the end, but what if he was wrong?

“To me?” Lew squeaks.

“Of course.” he answers.  There’s another moment where Lew just stares at him, before a huge grin splits his face.

“Yes!” he laughs.  “Yes, yes, yes, of course!”  Then he literally tackles Dick in a hug.  Dick doesn’t mind, though.  He’s laughing, too, and feels as if he’s going to burst from the joy filling him.  Ralph starts barking, adding to the noise.

“We’re engaged,” Lewis says when he finally lifts his head out of the crook of Dick’s neck.  “We’re actually engaged.  I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my entire life.”

“Me neither,” Dick says, and he means it.

“I love you,” Lew says, and his eyes are shining.

“I love you, too,” Dick says.  When they finally get off the ground and Dick gets the ring on Lew’s finger, they both say it a few more times, until Dick feels like they’re shouting it to the whole world and everyone must know if they didn’t already.  He squeezes Lew’s hand and says it one more time, just to be sure.

[randomrichards]

OSCAR 2019 PREDICTIONS PART 4: THE ACTING AWARDS

BEST ACTOR:

·         Antonio Banderas as Salvador Mallo, an aging director who confronts his past before his film’s anniversary screening in PAIN & GLORY

·         Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick “F#$%ing” Dalton, an insecure aging tv actor who fears his star is fading in ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

·         Adam Driver as Charlie, a New York stage director facing an ugly divorce in MARRIAGE STORY

·         Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a mentally unstable and abused comedian who becomes the iconic villain in JOKER

·         Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, a progressive catholic Cardinal who would become Pope Francis in THE TWO POPES

Who Will Win?

Joaquin Phoenix’s ready to take the Oscar for playing one of the most iconic comic book villains of all time. Whether they love or hate the movie, everyone agrees he gave a powerful performance.

His version couldn’t be more different from Heath’s Ledger’s performance. Ledger’s was a calculating embodiment of chaos longing to watch the world burn. Phoenix’s version is a way more grounded performance.

Phoenix’s performance reminds me of Charlize Theron’s Oscar winning performance. Both performances reveal the humanity within monstrous characters, showcasing how their circumstances have left them unable to adjust to normal life. At the same time, the performances don’t back away from the disturbing aspects of their character’s personality.

A unique element to Phoenix’ performance is his physicality. He starts out as an average, raggedy schlub. As he descends into madness, he becomes so skinny you can see his ribs. Then he seems to contort his body, like his bones are trying to escape his body.

But his career highpoint comes in the climax when he appears on Murray Franklin’s (Robert De Niro) late night talk show. By now, he’s lost touch with reality, telling perverted jokes on national television and letting all his deep seeded resentment out in a furious rant.

He delivers big time.

BEST ACTRESS:

·         Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman, a former slave turned freedom fighter who led many slaves through the underground railroad in HARRIET

·         Scarlett Johansson as Nicole, an actress facing an ugly divorce in MARRIAGE STORY

·         Saoirse Ronan as Jo March, a fiercely independent up and coming writer in LITTLE WOMEN

·         Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly, the real life former Fox News host who helped blow the whistle on Roger Ailes’ sexual misconduct in BOMBSHELL

·         Renee Zellweger as Judy Garland, a struggling actress who struggles with drug addiction and personal demons during a tour in England in JUDY

Who Will Win?

Renee Zellweger is the clear winner for embodying the immortal who died too soon.

One look at her and you see no sign of Zellweger. What you see is the most iconic actress/singer to ever come out of Hollywood. From the black curly hair to her sad doe eyes, Zellweger perfectly captures Garland’s look.

Well, the only element she couldn’t capture is Garland’s iconic voice. You still hear Zellweger’s voice when she talks or sings. But you soon forget about it because Zellweger’s still an excellent singer, especially when she sings Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

The Garland we meet is at her lowest point, desperate for any job after she’s burned too many bridges with the Hollywood that has psychologically damaged her. Her tour in London is her last chance for a comeback. You feel so bad for her as she tries to maintain a stable living for her children while battling her demons. It’s hard to watch her deal with cruel hecklers. At the same time, you can’t help but be frustrated by herself destructive behavior as she downs pills, behaves unprofessionally and being so out of it during performances. It’s clear she’s struggling with mental illness brought on by a cruel childhood and needs the counselling no one is providing.

Zellweger breaks through the shallow image to reveal Judy Garland’s nuanced humanity.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

·         Tom Hanks as Mr. Fred Rogers, the iconic children’s tv show host who offers a sympathetic ear to a troubled journalist (Matthew Rhys) in A BEATIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD

·         Sir Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict, a disgraced Pope who resigns from his position in THE TWO POPES

·         Al Pacino as Jimmy Hoffa, the bombastic real life Union Boss who would mysteriously disappear in THE IRISHMAN

·         Joe Pesci as Russell Bufalion, the cool, friendly mobster who takes the title character (Robert De Niro) under his win in THE IRISHMAN

·         Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, Rick Dalton’s stuntman and the embodiment of cool in ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD

Who Will Win?

Brad Pitt finally gets an acting award playing the coolest guy in film history.

Tarantino always seems determined to make Pitt look as cool as possible in his movies. First, he made Pitt the ultimate American Matinee Hero in Inglorious Basterds and how he’s has Pitt playing one awesome stuntman. He succeeded because never has Brad Pitt been more awesome. With his Hawaiian shirt, Blue Jeans and Cadillac Coupe de Ville, Cliff Booth is for Stuntmen what the Dude is for hippies. You wish you could be like Cliff Booth or at least have him as a friend.

Which is no small feat considering how bad his life is. While his friend Rick Dalton’s living in luxury, Cliff lives in a rundown trailer behind a drive-in theatre, eating kraft dinner with his pit-bull. He also has a hard time getting jobs because of a rumor that he killed his wife.[1] Despite this, you’d still rather be him and his whiny friend Rick.

While he’s gives a great performance, I feel the actor more deserving of this award is Joe Pesci. His character couldn’t be more different than his Oscar winning role of Tommy De Vito (Goodfellas). While Tommy is a volatile powder keg you avoid at all costs, Russel is an easygoing boss you’d love to have a beer with or a friend you go on cross country trips with.

But you come to realize underneath the demeanor is a cold hearted businessman. Nowhere is this truer than when he casually orders the death of Jimmy Hoffa like he’s firing an employee.

But it looks like Pitt’s taking home the trophy

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

·         Kathy Bates as Bob Jewel, a desperate mother who finds her son (Paul Walter Hauser) falsely accused of causing the 1996 Atlanta Bombings in RICHARD JEWELL

·         Laura Dern as Nora Fanshaw, the attorney who represents Nicole in MARRIAGE STORY

·         Scarlett Johansson as Rosie, JoJo’s (Roman Griffin Davis) compassionate mother who’s hiding a Jewish girl (Tomasin McKenzie) in JOJO RABBIT

·         Florence Pugh as Amy March, a bratty kid who becomes a practical painter after some hard learned wisdom in LITTLE WOMEN

·         Margot Robbie as Kayla Pospisil, an eager up and coming Fox News Executive subjected to sexual harassment by Roger Ailes (John Lithgow) in BOMBSHELL

Who Will Win?

Laura Dern takes the lead for her supporting performance. It’s all thanks to her first appearance.

When she first meets Nicole, Nora approaches her like high school friends at a sleep over; putting her feet on the couch and letting Nicole air her grievances. I’m surprised she didn’t pull out the ice cream. In another scene, she delivers an excellent monologue about the unrealistic standards society places on Mothers, especially during Divorce cases. Dern brings a lot of personality to her character into what little screen time she has.

Dern also shines in the courtroom scenes as she brushes off Ray Liotta’s rebuttals. While Liotta’s loud and blunt, Dern’s a cool assassin who uses Nicole’s anecdotes as weapons against Charlie.

[1] And one flashback scene strongly implies he did.

[phillipcole]

Post-AGT appearance 1010 NewsOne Now with Roland Martin June 7

My agent would continue to restrain me from any interviews or announcements, not even about the death of Bill Buckner or the success of the Boston Bruins.  I would have avoided all big events but I’d be working on a tribute event for Kenny Rogers.  Roland Martin however would continue to abuse me, seeking controversial statements and jokes in an effort to destroy my career.  On Friday June 7 he would be ready for a brief attack between commercial breaks.

(He plays the Joan Rivers line from my first SNL appearance posted September 2014.)

Martin: That disgusting line from Saturday Night Live, aired just days after Joan Rivers’ death.  NewsOne Now has learned it was written by that abomination Phil Cole, one of many corruptions he planted on that show until they banned him.  This man has been festering his misogynist rhetoric all over the country for 5 years now and he must be stopped.  NewsOne Now has found several of his offensive comments.  Listen to these:

PBC: Elizabeth Warren should not be called Pocahontas.  Call her Marcie, the annoying girl behind Peppermint Patty. 

Jokes Kathy Griffin might have said if she lived in France late in the 1700s: Queen Marie Antoinette is denying she said, “Let them eat cake.”  She said let them eat poop.  Marat the rat had it coming, letting a woman in his bathroom like that.  What’s under your Robes pierre? 

Martin: This man is against all that is good and right in this country.  I could cite endless rants against persons of color, women and especially the LGBT community.  A lot of good men are falling to the Metoo movement.  Why does one of the worst move on?  Come here and fight like a man Phil.  I’m waiting.

[rebeccahpedersen]

Weekend Reading List!

TorontoRealtyBlog

When your “favourites” drop-down menu in Google Chrome is too long to fit on the page, it’s time to clean it up.

Those links to sellers on eBay that you haven’t visited in a while, and the Hotmail account that you never use – as though you can’t just type “hotmail” into the search bar, which probably takes less time than scrolling through your favourites.

It’s time for me to clean out my favourites list, and I’m starting from the most recent.

Every week, I bookmark about 30 newspaper articles, and by the end of the weekend, I make sure they’re all read.

That makes for a lot of late Sunday nights when I should probably be in bed, but any article bookmarked and not read leaves me that much less informed.

I’m sitting here right now with a slew of real estate articles from the past week, and I realized that they’re all about different topics.  In fact completely different topics.

Affordable housing, condo-flipping tax cheats, anti-landlord legislation, and first-time-buyer affordability.

So I figured, what could possibly be a better topic on a Friday morning?

Plus, I’m sure by now, you’re tired of hearing about Michael Cohen, Justin Trudeau, and Ariana Grande.

Here are the four articles, excerpts, and my thoughts.  But do yourself a favour – read the articles!  Even if you do so in bed, on Sunday night…

    Globe & Mail, February 26th, 2019

“Affordable Housing Becomes Singular Focus of Toronto’s New Real Estate Czar”

Maybe I’ve been watching too much Narcos on Netflix, but when I see “Czar,” think drugs.

In this case, it’s actually about real estate.  But ever since our government decided to start selling weed, I wouldn’t put anything past them…

“CreateTO” is a real estate agency operating at the City of Toronto level, which very few people in Toronto have even heard of.  A quick poll of my office shows that 0/6 people know what this agency is.

According to the City of Toronto website:

Launched on January 1, 2018, CreateTO is the City of Toronto’s new real estate agency established to manage the City’s real estate portfolio, develop City buildings and lands for municipal purposes and deliver client focused real estate solutions to City divisions, agencies and corporations

CreateTO is part of the City-wide Real Estate Transformation, which for the first time allows the City to apply a city-wide lens to ensure the effective use of all of the City’s real estate assets.

As a catalyst for city building, CreateTO leverages the City’s real estate to ensure its best use and create new opportunities.

There’s more fluff on the site, but the “City-Wide Real Estate Transformation” link is worth a read.  This nugget warrants discussion:

The new agency will be led by a nine-member board of directors, comprised of two Councillors, the Mayor or designate appointed by the Mayor, and six public members, one of whom chairs the Board. The real estate delivery model will be coordinated and aligned through key governance mechanisms.

Right.  So in my mind, I see the creation of even more government, which as we know, doesn’t necessarily mean either efficiency, or action.

Nevertheless, the “czar” and CEO of CreateTo has put his money where his mouth is according to the Globe & Mail article:

The new CEO of Toronto’s centralized real estate agency, CreateTO, says success in his new job will be measured by just one yardstick: how much affordable housing the city manages to build.

“It’s the burning platform,” said Brian Johnston, a former Mattamy Homes executive whose appointment was ratified by city council last month. “I think this organization will be measured on its success in that area. And the city will be measured, and the mayor will be measured. I think everybody’s got the message.

The city of Toronto has over 8,400 properties (buildings, parking lots, vacant land) worth $27 Billion, from which CreateTO is looking to complete 40,000 new affordable units in the next 12 years, which was Mayor John Tory’s stated goal last year.

In my opinion, and this is one of the rare times I will applaud any level of government, Brian Johnston is the perfect person to be the CEO of CreateTO.  As a former executive of Mattamy Homes, a private company, perhaps he can take his business acumen to the public sector.  At the risk of ruffling any feathers here, let me say that I believe the private sector runs any and every industry more efficiently than the public sector.  Can we possibly disagree on that?  Yes?  No?

In order to be successful at squeezing blood from a stone, the CEO of CreateTO needs to be a businessman or woman, and not just another political mouthpiece.

I’m very pleased with this announcement.

    CBC News, February 25th, 2019

“First-of-its-Kind Registry In B.C. Targets Under-The-Radar Condo Flippers”

Now here’s an idea!

When it comes to drama and real estate, British Columbia is always at the forefront.

Let’s not forget that it was only three years ago that Globe & Mail reporter, Kathy Tomlinson, shocked the country with her massive expose on Shadow Flipping in the Vancouver real estate market.  If you’re new to TRB, or real estate, or both, read that article link!

After the shadow flipping came tax dodging, again exposed by Ms. Tomlinson in the Globe & Mail.  The government of British Columbia reacted with investigations, and legislation, but as is always the case, it was after the problems came to light.

Then came conversations about speculation taxes and vacancy taxes, end eventually the government implemented some of these tools, along with the now-famous 15% “Foreign Buyer’s Tax.”

Time went on, and more problems arose in British Columbia, with more promises to clean things up by the government.

In 2018, Kathy Tomlinson was back at it again, revealing a money-laundering scheme in B.C., and once again, the government reacted.

So here we are in 2019, and the government of British Columbia has decided to “partner” with developers to compile a database of condo assignors (ie. those who purchase the paper, and eventually flip to other buyers), in order to ensure the assignor/flipper pays taxes.

It’s great.

But it begs the question: why is this only happening now?

As was the case with EVERY single story that Kathy Tomlinson broke over the last three years, the government is always reactive rather than proactive.  Perhaps it’s fair to suggest that condo-assignments were a relatively new animal, and it took some time to figure out what was going on, and how to deal with it, but assignments have been around for over a decade.  Why is the government only reacting now?

From the article:

The Ministry of Finance says the Condo and Strata Assignment Integrity Register will improve fairness and transparency in property transactions.

Finance Minister Carole James said in a news release that the register will take “real action to moderate the condo market” and is already starting to see results in Metro Vancouver.

Condo developers will be required to securely gather and report the identity and citizenship of anyone completing a contract assignment in a project.

Developers are now required to collect and record assignment information and file a report each quarter, with the first due April 30, covering the period from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2019.

“The B.C. government will use this information to ensure that people who assign condos are paying the appropriate income tax, capital gains and property transfer tax,” the release says.

It’s interesting to note that the NDP government in B.C. released a “30 Point Housing Plan” last year, which clearly trumps the Ontario Liberals’ 16-Point-Plan from 2017, oh, I dunno, I’d say, by about fourteen points…

    “The Way To Solve The Rental Crisis: Be Nicer To Landlords”

Why would anyone in their right mind get into the apartment business?

That sub-heading says it all.

And yet despite the logic behind that sentiment, things are only going to get worse for landlords.

Why, well, it’s just the way society is going, in my opinion.

Forgive my political, old-man, Chicken Little tangent here, but look what’s happening south of the border right now.  There’s a mad-man in the White House, and all the Democrats had to do in order to take back power in 2020 was not go crazy.  Just show up, keep quiet, and wait.  And yet what did they do?  They went crazy!  From January 1st onwards, it’s been 70% tax rates, eliminating all air travel within 10 years, because the world is going to end in 12 years (fact), and my favourite: shaming people who are successful.  Elizabeth Warren is Tweeting that Jerry Jones is evil because he purchased a yacht with his own money?  America doesn’t like Trump, but they like extreme-socialism even less.

So that’s my rant.

And the takeaway is that it has never been less ‘woke’ to be successful, and it’s never been more frowned upon to have.

So why would the government, at any level, in any jurisdiction, protect landlords that have a second property?  That have the means, from hard work, and after-tax dollars, to invest?

They wouldn’t.

And they won’t.

And this article, while making perfect sense, is going to fall on deaf ears.  “Being nicer to landlords” is equally as much a fantasy as AOC’s “Green New Deal.”  Maybe more, and that’s saying a lot, for those of you who follow U.S. Politics.

Globe & Mail author, William Watson writes:

Why would anyone in their right mind get into the apartment business? Think of the obstacles to making your money back. Restrictive zoning, comprehensive regulation, zealous activists, rent control, high property and income taxes, new proposals to tax wealth, direct competition from subsidized government housing, and so on and so on. Putting up an apartment building isn’t quite as hard as building a pipeline, but it is in the same ballpark.

The comments on this were somewhat split, with a handful of people calling this a “propaganda piece,” but most people agreeing.

A sample of the comments from page one sheds some light on how readers feel:

  National Post, February 24th, 2019

“Five Things The Government Could Do To Help Canada’s Stressed Out Home Buyers”

We had this conversation a while back on TRB, discussing what changes the Liberal government, provided they win the next election, are going to make in order to make home ownership in Canada easier.

The five solutions this author has come up with:

1) Allow longer amortizations.  Bring back the 30-year, CMHC-insured mortgage that we had before 2012

2) Adjust the stress test.  Citing 20% fewer mortgage originations among young Canadians.

3) Bigger first-time home buyer credits.  Possibly doubling the credit from $750 to $1,500.

4) Build affordable housing.  More government-subsidized housing for low-income earners.

5) Do nothing.  Perhaps the most responsible suggestion for those who believe in the free market.

I honestly think we came up with a better list when we discussed this last month, but at least this article gets people thinking.

Not everybody out there reads TRB, and not everybody sits around and ponders (or agressively discusses on a message board…) what the government could do in order to increase housing affordability, and/or whether they should do anything at all.

The comments on the National Post article, however, seemed to all draw connections between higher housing prices, and increased immigration and foreign buyers.

I would add that as point #3 goes, I don’t agree with NDP leader, Jagmeet Singh, and his proposed subsidy for anyone paying more than a third of their income on rent payments.  It surmises that people are responsible with their finances, and thus the only people spending more than a third of their income on rent are those that have no choice.  But if the former were true, there would be about 100,000,000 less iPhones in circulation today, as well as other consumer goods, but I digress…

I agree that the government should build more affordable housing.  Start today.  Start yesterday.  Just like I say about public transit: start building, and don’t ever stop.  We’re never “finished.”

But I would also be in favour of longer amortizations, reducing the stress test from 2.0% to 0.75%, and sure, why not double a tax credit that will have very little effect – $750 to $1,500.  I mean, that’s just a new iPhone XR for most people.

    Have a great weekend, everybody!

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