Record of the Month

I figured I'd do a monthly 'what I'm listening to' kind of thing. This could be viewed as a lame placeholder kind of post. And probably it is. But it's my blog! So there!  

It has been a long while since I did a music post - well, a record post. 2022 has not been stellar for music purchases. But lately, I've bought a few items and can safely review until the end of the year.  Like it or not. 

The Smithereens have a "new" disk out.......the Lost Album.  It's exactly what it sounds like.  The band, in between record labels still found a way to record an album - not just demos - that never got released. 

710 and I were in central Florida back in December 2017 to see a SpaceX launch when I heard of guitarist and lead singer, Pat DiNizio's death. It was a bummer, as I really liked them and DiNizio's voice. 

I purchased most of their original material. For a while they got into covers - though they did an excellent song-by-song cover of Meet the Beatles and called it Meet the Smithereens.  They also covered the Who's Tommy - though I did not buy that. 

Actually, their last original disk was back in 2011. So, while this 1993 recording isn't an out of the park collection, it's nice to hear and nice to have. 

They start strong with "Out of this World", had the band had a label in '93, it could have easily been pushed as a "single". 

"Stop Bringing Me Down" starts with a rougher, grittier guitar sound very very similar to "Iron Man". "I'm Sexy" is tongue-in-cheek, but I like it a lot. Ditto with "Pretty Little Lies". 

There are duds. "Dear Abby" isn't great and unfortunately, it's the second song on the disk. It should have been buried further. 

Some of the songs measure up to some of their better known work, it's unfortunate with 'radio' the way it is, most will never hear these songs. Most don't remember the band anyways, so it will make it that more difficult to find success or even exposure. 

I was happy to shell out the $11 for the digital copy. The CD on amazon?  $24 !!    What actual Ford 150!

Like a Stone

Six months. 

That's how long I've been back at the gym, albeit a new one from the last 5-year-go-round. 

Unlike last time, I have tried to keep my posts to a minimum, but in my mind (a dangerous place to be) upon joining, I thought, "oh, I could give an update every half year". 

This is it. 

Save vacation and / or being out of town, I go to the gym daily. Even if staying at hotel, I hit their gyms as well. At first, I was "only" going six days per week, but I found a way to make Mondays work - and it's cardio only. No lifting. That way I can still shower and make my every Monday 07:00 meeting. 

It is unfortunate that with exercise I'm either all in or all out. Either way is excessive, and while I see it im myself and understand it, I am unwilling to change behaviour and have made peace with going daily. I think it has helped me from doubling my anti-depressant, which I considered doing. 

I've come to enjoy music again - and get it listen to it for 60-75 minutes per day. I've stopped forwarding music. Bad or good, I listen to everything. 

My goal is / was, to lose 22 lbs and to tone up. It's the vanity thing. Not the Vanity thing. I don't make such a pretty mess on my dress. But like Vanity, I do like seven inches or more. 

I had a timeline for my goal too:  IMMEDIATELY.  

 .....but that didn't happen.  Bother. 

Actually, I knew it wouldn't.  Age. Metabolism. Diet - or lack there of, all play a part in thwarting me.  It was gonna be a slog, and it is. 

To make myself not crazy (hush!), I opted to only weigh myself once per month. The 27th of each month, since I started on the 26th or 27th of March.  I did miss my August weigh-in since I was on vacation. 

710 says not to obsess on the weight thing. I get it - and yet I do, to a degree. In 30 days, I expect (read: want) to see some measurable progress, but that doesn't always happen.  By July I had lost 14 pounds - or 'a stone' as the Brits might say.  As of the other day, it was back to 12. 

I attribute two things to this:  vacation - where I didn't eat that much differently, I did drink daily. The second part was the foot thing.  The boot. The no running. The little walking I even did on vacation. 

But a lot of it comes down to the running. Or not running, as the case may be. 

It's been since mid-August since I really ran. I tried thrice since, but the thrice-time, had an adverse reaction, so I'm back to resting and resetting.  Still, a lot of that 14 came off when I really found my stride. As you can see, I've taken to rowing, which has a lot less impact on my foot and ankle. 

This is where I obsess about my weight and feel a little defeated (yeah yeah, I know what you're gonna say, but I do) when I gained back 2 pounds. Granted, I was wearing a pair of underwear when I weighed myself, but even I can't pass them off as lead-lined panties. 

I suppose some of this could be muscle, which allegedly weighs more than fat.  ALLEGEDLY. 

Defeated I am not. I still have a goal. Goals. 

The other is definition: mainly of chest and arms. It's coming. Not as quickly as it did in 2009, but I'm seeing it. S-l-o-w-l-y.  Abs are another thing - altogether (you know what to do!).  Blobby is not made for a 6-pack, unless it is beer.  Flatter is better, the abs, not the beer. Showing any abdominal muscles is something else that probably won't be achieved in my lifetime. 

I think I like the gym?  Sometimes with compulsion comes blurred lines. I need the routine, and it soothes me, but it's not the same as 'like', though they are necessarily exclusive to each other. 

So, while you get tales from the gym - hopefully amusing ones - there might not be an update like this for 6 more months.  .....though maybe something thrown in for my year-end post.  One never knows. 

On a final note - why not a before and during (it's not after...........not yet) shot. 

I'm not even sucking it in during the last picture.  I think it (ha. "it" = me!) looks a little better. Yes, 12 down (10 to go!) and some firming up here and there. I won't be joining any body building tournaments or Only Fans anytime soon (read: at all), but who know - March 2023, I might be where I want. 

Song by: Audioslave  (though thanks to Morty, for the last 20 yrs, I call them Audiosalve)

Baggy Trousers

I went quasi-annual clothes shopping over the weekend.

FAIL. 

I'll back up a bit. I don't know what gays like to go shopping, I don't know any of them. I know some exist for the love of 'retail', but g-d help me, I think I'd rather have a cavity drilled without novocaine than go to stores, try on clothes and purchase them. 

Such as it is, I go only when absolutely necessary. Or every other year - whichever comes first. And even then.........even though I take myself, I swear I have to drag the proverbial me kicking and screaming from the car to the store. 

In theory, I know what I want. In reality, I have no idea how to get it.  

Ok, that's a big fat lie.  I'm inpatient, so I become rash, quick and I end up making horrible and pricey choices just to end the event. 

I knew I needed some dress shirts for work. We have a LOT of them. Or had. They're dwindling. I don't know if we have sharp elbows or if the dry cleaning solutions fuck them up, or if it's just age - the shirts, not us - but we go through these spurts of ripped elbows. Almost always the left one. 

I'm like Bruce Banner.  Unfortunately the Bill Bixby one, not the Mark Ruffalo one. 

710 and I kind of found a size we both could use, doubling our shirt wardrobe, but in reality, some of the shirts I was kind of drowning in. So, I had the clerk measure me, and I got some better fitting shirts for me. 

Pants - ugh. Different story.  I don't have any pants which I like. I don't need for them to show off my junk or show off the curve of my butt, but I don't need them sagging like I have a Depends beneath them either.

710 suggested a store to go, and get them fitted. When he says things like that it sounds reasonable. When I go and do it, I considered him a lunatic. 

What does Blobby do?  Grab five pair of pants - not the alterable kind - try them on, reject two, buys three, but doesn't like any of them.  This is spurred on by coming out of the dressing room and having wives, mothers and girlfriends back there waiting for their husbands, sons or boyfriends to come out to model their wear. 

Get the fuck out of my way and away from the mirror.  Yes, there were no mirrors in the dressing rooms. And better yet, get out of the Men's dressing room.  Period.   I'm frustrated (clearly!) so, I grab my pants, and the shirts which I've picked, and go to the register.  The total, in my mind, is ridiculous. But it's Apple Pay so it doesn't feel like I'm really spending a thing with my face. 

At the check out, I see the racks of unaltered pants. Dozens of them. I'm thinking I should stop this transaction and go over there and do what I should have done in the first place. But I feel I'm too far gone. And you know, I don't want to be there for 38 more seconds.  So I'm not. 

I wasn't even out of the parking lot when I rationalized, I will bring back each pair of pants. I didn't like one of them, yet I had three of them. I heard the clerk tell someone else they had a 90 (!!!) day return policy, as long as the tags were on them. 

On them?  They're not even out of the bag, or out of my car. 

I'm wondering if I can talk myself into going back into a store within the next 90 days to even make the return. 

.....and we didn't even talk shoe shopping!

Song by: Madness

Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity

Lots going on in astronomy these days, eh?

Today (?) Jupiter is the closest it's been to earth since right after I was born.   ......that was in 1963, btw. 

If you haven't seen the morning sky, I suggest you do so. There it is, in all it's glory, impossible to miss. It's tres impressive. 

__________

Hurricane Ian is postponing the launch of an unmanned Artemis rocket and moving it back to the VAB for safety. Once again, it shan't be heading to the moon anytime soon - though I think that's a waste, myself.  Ian itself sounds like it's gearing up to be a whopper of a story, though probably not bigger than the one that is the eye of Jupiter. 

__________

And last but not least, if you've every seen Armageddon, Deep Impact or Don't Look Up, you've already seen the fictional and much more (?) entertaining versions of NASA launching a rocket to blow up an asteroid headed towards earth. 

I mean, c'mon. a Téa Leoni / Elijah Woods / Tasha Yar Denise Crosby vehicle.  How that didn't clean up at the Oscars is beyond me. I mean, Morgan Freeman was President !!!!  We're talking about Deep Impact by the way.  If it's on, and my husband is home, we're watching it. Well, he is. 

Anyways, NASA flew a probe / spaceship / rocket into an inconsequential asteroid to see if they could nudge it off course or out of orbit. The movies always tried to blow it up, but that's what hiring Bruce Willis as your lead will get ya (that's Armageddon, don'tcha know).

We watched it live. I was less than impressed, but that more from the shiteous feed that NASA had. It will be a while before they knew if it was a success. 

It didn't have an Aerosmith theme song, so in my eyes, it already was a success. 

Song by: Richard Wagner

My Music Monday

This month's theme is just one of the blog titles from the past week. 

With two queens passing recently, I'll stick with the title track of the Smith's album the Queen is Dead.  

That album just ranks as one of my favourite albums of the '80s. I don't judge my close friends on their music choices (I mean, unless they really really like "Friday" by Rebecca Black........but if they do, they're probably no longer my friend), but most, if not all my close friends have this album, and have since its original release date. 

The thing is, when it came out, it was never a point of discussion. We listened to it in the solitude of our own dwellings, which is kind of apropos for listening to the Smiths, no? 

We do talk about it now. Not like all the time, but as we discuss music the disk will invariably come up somewhere in the conversation.  And in one of my two karaoke appearances in the last 35 years, I did get up and sing "There's a Light That Never Goes Out".  And I did it sober.  Granted, none but two at this party knew me and I was leaving town the next day, so why the fuck not. 

B.T.W. :  I nailed it!      ....and there is no video to prove otherwise. 

Oddly, the title track here might be the weakest on the disk, but by no means bad. 

Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow

Listen, I know I'm getting older. 

It is not just that things start hurting for no reason - but they totally do.  It's not just that my husband likes to remind me when the temp gets into the high 50s and then follows up with....."just like you!...." 

On THE day I turned 49, I got my first unsolicited AARP mailing.  In the last year, I started getting Medicare mail - you know, because old people can't work computers. 

Mind you, 710 is three years older than myself, and HE doesn't get Medicare mail!

So, I was a bit amused and a bit put off when I got snail mail from Lake View Cemetery. 

Yes.....you read that correctly. 

You've read my a-tale here of going to Lake View. My friends geocached there. Shep and Petey have had their pictures taken on Daffodil Hill (Petey getting into the paper for it).  Eliot Ness, James Garfield and John D. Rockefeller are interred there. 

I guess it's a great place to turn back into dust, but burial is not my plan. Nor would it be there anyway. My family is buried in the adjoining cemetery.   ......but they're out of room there. But still..........not the plan. 

To be clear:  *I* got the mail. It wasn't to "Occupant" or "Current Resident". It. Was. Addressed. To. Me. 710 didn't get one. 

What the fuck. Do they know something that I don't?

That all said - it is an elaborate mailer with a wheel of decisions on which section to take your big dirt nap. I like that one is 'history buff' as if that's isn't spread out over the entire acreage, not just section 64. 

Friends Chef Bob and Nurse Matt were even married in the Jebtha Wade Chapel there (yes, in a cemetery!) ....not that we were invited. Wade made his fortune founding Western Union.  ....but I digress.  I think. 

Yes, aging and death are inevitable, but c'mon............

Oh yeah, whichever one of you fuckers is left alive when I die has to take my ashes to Ogunquit, Maine and spread them on the Marginal Way. It's a somewhat lengthy path, so make sure you parse them out as needed. 

Song by: Rosanne Cash

Goodbye Angel

EIIR was not the only HRH we lost last week. 

Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to Sophie over a week ago. I opted not to put it in last Saturday's pet post, as it was far too early to process. 

I still might be in denial. 

I know you all love seeing pictures of her over the last 16+ years, and I'm thanking you (and in advance) for any condolences. I might not have the heart or state of mind to do it with each one of you - so forgive me in advance. 

We got Sophie at around 4-5 months old. She was all of 2.2 lbs and completely imperfect, which was perfect for us. She came to us with broken tail and two deformed front paws........not that it ever slowed her down. 

Truth be told, I had my eye on another brown-haired tabby, but 710 said that the kitty kold she had might not show her true personality. Sophie fka Fabiano (or as 710 called her, "our little Italian shoe maker") didn't have a cold (she totally did, but didn't manifest until after she got to her new home). 

Her name came due to Sophie's Choice. Not that we were going to have her offed by the Nazis, but that 10 days in we could not pick a name. As she was selected to have a great home (it was a no-kill shelter....settle down!), when we took her to the doc for her cold and they asked us her name, it kind of came out. We both nodded when we heard it. 

Sophie came to us due to Kylie passing 6 months earlier. Tovah would roam the house HOWLING after Kylie was gone. We thought she needed a companion. This is a thought that we rethought a few weeks after getting Soph. 

Poor Tovah. TORTURED by Sophie. Less than three pounds and was the alpha cat. Honestly, had Tovah just whacked her a few times, I think that would have been good for all. They semi-made peace, but Sophie seemed to be boss. I gave Tov a lot more affection because of this. 

We also only took Petey on the condition that Sophie would allow it - and they'd get along. I knew Petey was fine with cats. We just didn't know the other way. I would have said they ignored each other and there was a distance, but scrolling through pictures, Sophie was way close to him a lot. 

That paved way for Shep, of course. We wasted a month not forcing them together, Sophie staying upstairs. Once we physically brought her out, save a few chases, things were fine. These two pretty much did ignore each other. I'd have liked more snuggling (read: any), but it beats a dog with a high prey drive and aggression. 

Like all of our cats, with us, Sophie was very social and talkative. Unlike our others, she came out and hung around when guests were here. There were people before who swore we never had pets, as they never saw them. 

Like the other cats though, Sophie wasn't big on being a lap cat or being held too too much. She'd sidle up next to you and lay there, but she wasn't one for snuggling most of the time. Like Tovah, she was good about lying on your chest when in bed. They both had the upper paw that way. 

Holiday time 2020, we were told Sophie only had a week or so to live.  Clearly that was a misdiagnosis. But she was ailing. Getting her to eat was constant challenge. Wet. Dry. Treats only. Real people salmon or tuna. Sometimes grilled chicken. Along with medications to stimulate her appetite until they no longer did. 

Much of her life she was a little Rubenesque, but in the end she probably weighed 5lbs. It was time. And she couldn't process water or food at this point. 

Of course, we are heartbroken. But we did the right thing at the right time. I've always questioned this with the others, but not this time - though I was tempted to hold off. 

Like all the others, that last day they rally and come back to life. 

I love that and I hate it. It makes me re-question our decision. But I put it in a different perspective that morning when Sophie would not leave me alone and wanted my cereal milk for the first time in months. This time I talked myself into it was a thank you for helping her. This was something she could not do on her own and needed us to be true to her in our quest for love, companionship and humanity. 

The vet experience is never fun.  Ever. And we had a seemingly newly graduated vet who was kind and overly clueless as to why we were there. So that annoyed me, but I needed some outlet, I suppose and she became the target. 

Unlike Kylie and Tovah, I kept my tears in check. Oh, I cried. I just didn't bawl. I think that was mostly due to being the right thing at the right time. 

I said my goodbyes and how much I loved her and thanked her for 16+ years of wonder. And I meant every syllable. 

Until 9-10 days ago, it's been over 30 years since we haven't had a cat in our house. So this is weird of us. Many times I have gone to give my cereal milk to her, and of course, she isn't there. I haven't really finished my own cereal milk in decades. One of the cats always got it.

Shep seems oblivious to her lack of presence. 

Sophie is no longer physically with us, though she will always be mindfully and spiritually. 

Saturdays will look different around this blog. 

Song by: Fleetwood Mac

Fall on Me

Well the readers were not wrong, I was off by at least a day on Summer to Autumn. They were correct to correct me. 

As it turns out, the last day of Summer hit 83F in the 216.  When Autumn officially arrived, it OFFICIALLY arrived. 

66 was the high for the first day. And we hit that before I left for the gym, which is at 04:45.  It ended up going down to 54. 

Basically a 30 degree drop in a 24 hour period. 

Bother. 

It's not that I mind 54-66 weather. I wasn't really prepared for it, even though I was. I read the weather report - kind of. I focused on the temps and if there'd be any rain. I just didn't consider the wind. 

My lunchtime walk was chilly. But I still did it, because I still need to lose weight and it is the only time I get out of my office. It is as important mentally as physically. 

At least on the walk to my car is was sunny. Ditto, for the most part, on the evening dog walk. You can see the clouds and the chill in the air. 

Shep is loving it. 710 said he stayed outside for almost five hours yesterday morning, refusing to come in. Hey - I'm glad he's enjoying as much time outdoors as possible. 

So I sit here writing this while wearing fuzzy pants with dogs on them, and a shirt with long sleeves. Yesterday (now two days ago) it was shorts and a t-shirt. 

No doubt we will have other days in the 70s and 80s, but it sure feels like Fall now. 

Song by R.E.M.

Whammy Kiss

It wasn't a good day for BLOTUS & Co - and for that I am happy. 

I've said it before though: if you're gonna hit the king; you'd better kill the king. 

Clearly, he is not royalty except for the joker or flush king. And he's not all that funny. Fuck knows I haven't bee laughing since 2015's announcement of running for office. 

With the NY charges, it's not "staggering" fraud charges (well it kind of is) and it's potential $250MM fine, it is the additional penalty of being "permanently barred from serving as officers or directors in any New York company". 

Perfect. 

I mean, I think the Feckless Cunt relocated to America's Wang anyway, no doubt to practice her short game on mommy's grave. That, and anyone she knew in NY pretends like she doesn't exist. 

Jr is too coked up to even know where he is; and their brother is too stupid to know where he is. 

But for the double whammy: the courts gave access to the Mar-a-Lago files back to the DOJ. 

While I haven't really read a lot of any of this - I'm sure / guessing the words "witch hunt" were used. I'm tired of the laws only applying to others or that "news" outlets don't point that out during interviews. They're so afraid that family won't talk to them at all, they avoid actual news. 

Still, state charges aren't open for pardon, so..............ha. And I'm thinking a felony leaves someone out of 2024. Well, that and sweet sweet death. 

Listen.......a boy can dream!

Song by: the B-52's

the Last Day of Summer

I missed it - so to speak.  The last day of summer, that is. 

It was pretty. It was warm. It was very summer like with yet a hint of autumn. 

You all even know what that means - and you can almost feel it yourself. At least those in climes where changes occur in season - and not just the rainy or dry season. I mean actual changes in them. 

710 found a thing somewhere, somehow, that has our first snowfall happening on November 10th of this year. 

I pay little stock to such things. 

IF anyone goes back and tracks what the Farmer's Almanac says and what actually occurs, I'd be curious to see how these predictions happen. And on what scale.  "Snowier" or "Colder" than normal for the Great Lakes Region. 

Sorry - the UP in Michigan isn't the same as Chicago or Erie, PA. With that wide of a range you can manipulate the shit out of that data to make your accuracy. 

In the past I have been quite vocal about my dislike of Winter.  .....but I might be changing my mind on that. 

I'm never going to be THRILLED with it, but I'm finding the heat and heat index over the last few years to be uncomfortable to be out in for extended periods of time.  Maybe it's Climate Change. Maybe it's my age-related body.  And maybe it's the new(er) house where I'm no longer freezing while inside, that I don't mind the outside in the colder months. 

Love summer outdoors - and in the shade these days. 

Autumn is most likely my fave time of year. Best temps. Best crispness of the air. Best clothing options. And it is usually the most stable of the seasons. No huge rains or snows. Few extreme days in terms of cold or hot. 

I'll miss summer, but not as much as many. 

Song by: the Cure

the Queen is Dead

Yup, EIIR is still dead.  ....and now buried.  Well kind of. 

I guess she's in a place, but not the final place. I mean, it's not like they didn't have 96 years to figure out the deets. 

Measure twice. Dig once. I think that's the rule of thumb. 

That said, I saw none of the pomp and circumcision (not a typo). I didn't need to or care to. Last I looked, we aren't one of the UK's colonies anymore, and while I'm sure she was a fine woman, I just. don't. care. 

The few things I read about days ago only consisted of what Megan Markle was or wasn't doing right. It was all very Mean Girls. Why should royals be any less petty and controlling than anyone else? 

I think everyone is just mad because Prince Harry is banging her and not them. Come to think of it, I'm a little peeve about that as well.  I can't recall ever having "had" a ginger. 

I'll give it to the Naval Guard (or whatever they're called).  Can you imagine the crapping of the pants that would have happened should they have shifted and the crown and scepter when crashing to the ground? 

At least I'd have paid to see that. 

Song by: the Smith

My Music Monday

The theme is:  a title from one of the previous week's posts. 

I'm going full-on '80's with Adam Ant and "Desperate But Not Serious". 

Oddly (or not), I kind of liked Ant. There are those who'll say he was "punk". He wasn't. Maybe a little more when it was Adam and the Ants, but mostly he was / they were full-on new wave. 

He / They (and this was well before the pronoun swell of 2021-2022!) had more hits, or at least songs I knew, than one would think..........or remember. 

Adam had a look. It wasn't bad. I suggest you not Goooooooogle current Adam. 

This song, isn't bad. I like that it almost has a hook, then it swerves, which oddly enough becomes its hook.  The rhythm section keeps the beat, but it is without a doubt the most basic instrumentation that exists - and that is somewhat part of its charm. 

The video however............released within a year of MTV's launch and even that early in, this clip was already filled with every music video cliché, right down the vampire teeth.  Truth be told, the fag in me just wants to get the main chick in this video a good conditioner. 

Nada

It's mid month, right?  Past even. 

And I haven't done a 'nothing' post in well over a month.  But I'm taking one today. 

No Muses.  No mood.  No post. 

Enjoy your Sunday.  We are going to Bow Wow Beach!

Desperate, But Not Serious

Doggie and Kitty time.  With not further wait...........here they are. 

It was a neighborhood pools season closing. For $7 your dog can swim on the pools before they lock up for Fall. 

Shep has to go in the kiddie pool, since he can't really swim.  I'd have liked to gone in and teach him, but humans were not allowed in. I even got kicked up of the shin-deep water in the kid's pool. 

He kind of went near the big pool and hung out with strangers. 

Alert and curious. 

I'm getting the what for upon daycare pick up.  Sheesh!

Daughter and Dad bonding time. 

Honestly, I'm not sure which of us is more serious. 

Song by: Adam Ant

Lucky Stars

I'll be honest, I don't know if I'm happier than the My Pillow guy got his phone taken away........or that he got it taken away at Hardee's (should there really be an apostrophe there?). 

Sad.  

Mostly the latter. 

If he's such a proponent of g-d, why did g-d make him deaf. Allegedly he needs the phone to work his hearing aids? 

So, we all know that January 6th was in 2021, right?   WHY THE FUCK would you keep your phone for 19 months knowing from the get go you were singled out the same day as possibly taking part in that little coup?  

I mean, that thing would have been at the bottom of the Potomac if it were me....and the next day. After I ran over it with my car...........eight times. 

But the wheels of justice move slow here. I'm sure if no one came for it in the first few weeks......then months............then year........you figure, no one is coming for it. 

....and then there you are, ordering your Large Angus Burger, and the FBI takes away your phone before you can use GooglePay to purchase for your food. 

For the record, I've never been to a Hardee's. I had to look up their menu to know that a Large Angus (yes, there' a 'g' in there) Burger is one of their items.  For full disclosure, I did go into a Carl's Jr in Boise once, to take a dump.........which is what I'm guessing the Pillow Guy did at the counter.  I at least I had the decency to use their restroom. 

Oh - to tie that all together, Carl's Jr. and Hardee's are really the same thing, just different names, same company. 

In other good news:  Ken Starr is dead. 

Song by: Marti Jones + Don Dixon

Yesterday

Yesterday was one of those days I'd opt never to relive. 

In a way it was just a totally shitty day. Due to two employees - one being a doc - I literally got nothing done during the day. 

Nothing. 

I mean, I answered emails, but my list of 'to-dos' got longer, as nothing got dropped from that list. 

It. Made. Me. Cranky. 

Actually, getting nothing done is kind of ok, but these people were just hyper assholes and hyper needy. It's a bad combo. 

On the plus side, I didn't come home and drink, and trust me, I considered it. 

But I have a weigh-in in two weeks. I was not here for my weigh-in in August. I could have done it before or after returning from vacation, but I just said, 'nahhhh'.  At this point I'm just hoping I maintained my previous loss. 

As my running is still thwarted (maybe in 2 weeks) my cardio is not as earnest. So, I've been spending more time with weights. That won't do much for my scale, but if I'm adding muscle, maybe I can be ok with my poundage going up slightly. 

I guess we will see. Until then, it's time for bed. I get to do it all over again. 

Song by: the Beatles

Love For Sale

Eons ago, in the Tri-Village News - serving Grandview and Marble Cliff (think about it......think about it.....), - my friend Jon and I used to read their classified ads. 

You know, stuff you don't really need or want, but it was ok to look. Actually, we probably did need the stuff depending on what apartments we were living in at the time. 

The two I remember are mostly because we laughed and laughed at the people who placed such ads. 

One was for a "colored tv".  We jokingly said it just played the Jeffersons and Good Times. This was a time when those were the only two shows probably on that had people of colour as leading characters. Yes - it was too early for Cosby and too late for Sandford and Son.

The other ad we found funny, but in reality was probably just sad:  "Wedding Dress $75 - Never Worn".

This brings me to Facebook. I know people love their Marketplace, but I've never been there to buy or sell a thing. I did become a member of their 'Buy Nothing Cleveland Hts" area. 

People - for the most part - are good about posting things they want to get rid of at no cost. Most of them are semi-useful to someone.  Yes, you get the person who opened some food item and didn't like it so giving the rest away (ick!).  But even we gave away a king sized mattress and box springs this way. They had to come pick it up and move it themselves (well, we had already gotten it out of the house). 

I mean, they had a son coming home from college who now has a king bed! I didn't have one of those until 1996 after we got our first house. I'm not sure we even had queens. 

Honestly, I can't imagine them having something to give away that I want, but I look just to look.  .....and yesterday, this happened 

You now me and my lack of fashion sense, but "beautiful dress" seems a stretch. Even I knew that marriage was doomed with that dress. 

Even if you loved it, why would you store it for seven years?  Annulment can't be good - ditch the dress when you ditch the hubby (or when he dumped you). 

Free seems about the right price for that frock. 

Song by: Talking Heads

12 of 12

 So I'm doing my 149th 12 of 12.

Normally it is 12 pictures taken on the 12th of the month. Since I only post once per day, you get my images the following day. All pictures taken with my iPhone. Click images to enlarge, if you choose.

Created by Chad Darnell and picked up from, what I can tell, any number of random bloggers who then link back to him and vice versa. Chad is no longer doing this, nor is successor coordinating the linking of other 12 of 12'ers anymore. Erik is back and I think he's picking up 12 of 12 again. 

04:43.  Leaving for the gym.  Yes, it's early. I get it. 

05:03.  Cardio Alley. 

I still cannot run - yet. But I'm doing ok on the elliptical for 30-45 minutes. 

06:18.  Beef cake.   Gotta throw something in for the fans. 

Hmmmm.......cake. 

Just getting ready to shower. 

07:56.  Ops Call. 

Every Monday at 07:30, I host a Zoom to kick off the week. 

10:53.  Virtual Visit. 

Very virtual. No phone connection. Upload pics of my Man O'War stings. The set-up was tedious, but the service was quick and responsive. I got nagged by my friends and 710 to finally see someone. Telemedicine seemed way easier than trying to get into see a dermatologist. 

After witnessing my wounds in person, Georty both think this wasn't a jellyfish. And let's face it, Man O'War sounds way more butch. 

12:49.  Lunchtime stroll.  

Still looking to lose weight, especially now that running is on hold. 

That is Severence Hall, where the world renowned Cleveland Orchestra plays. The exterior also doubled as an embassy in Air Force One. 

12:54.  Cafeteria. 

Lunch was sub-par. Let's leave it at that. 

17:22.  Leaving for the day. 

17:44.  Picking up one Mr. Shep @ daycare. 

18:02.  Going to pick up the ointment that the virtual doc prescribed. 

Walgreens did not have it - and won't until tomorrow (read: today)

19:48.  Late start to dinner.  Pasta seemed easiest. 

And it's true - a watched pot does not boil. 

20:16.  Reading Choice. 

Trying to get through the second of David Sedaris' diaries. It is when he's more famous and has money, so some of the struggles are not as funny, but it has its moments.  His actual last book (new than this one here) had me laughing during vacation. 

.....until next month for #150.  

My Music Monday

The theme is: one of the titles from the previous week's posts. 

As there isn't a song with the title of "Shopping with Blobby"......yet........I'm going with Annie Lennox and "Money Can't Buy It" from her debut solo album, Diva. 

I gotta say, it freaks me out a bit that his album is THIRTY YEARS OLD this year.  How is that possible? 

That said, it is an album that has held up remarkably well for being three decades old. It's not dated at all. Inarguably (yes, INarguably) it is the best of her solo work. 

Unlike her work in Eurythmics, Lennox wrote most of the songs. In the band, she cowrote everything with Dave Stewart. She is a formidable songwriter, as well as musician and vocalist. 

Enjoy this "oldie". 

Ocean of Noise

We are now on day nine: post jellyfish sting. 

I'd like to say that it is all better - and it is better, but it's not ALL better. 

You would probably think I'd look up online to see what the progression of such an encounter would be like.  You'd be wrong. 

So the broad redness you saw in the original pictures (that's the hyperlink up above) pretty much had disappeared, along with all of the pain.  What was left was what I would call the center of the trauma. The actual marks of the jellyfish's stingers / tentacles / death claws.........or whatever they're called. 

Even Friday, at afterwork beers, the doctor I went with wanted to see them. I mean, I could show some - that were on my knees by hiking up my pant leg, but you know, the rest were........private.  We discussed how good they looked and how much healing had gone on. 

Saturday morning was a different story. 

The problem up above is, not only is the sport darker and more pronounced (though if you have good eyes, you can see the deeper red 'tentacle marks' in that eye of Jupiter.), I have new areas of redness and marks that had not show before. .....and they're multiplyin'.....

Then there is this monstrosity.  

Friday it was about one-tenth of the size it is now. There is no pain, not really. But it's starting to itch, though I have kept my fingers off it other than to apply Cortizone cream, which seems to do nothing than make everything I come in contact with become greasy. 

710 and I were sitting around last night discussing it. Should I see someone?  Good luck getting into a dermatologist in a reasonable timeframe. 

During the convo, we talked about 'the event'. Honestly, we really hadn't. Yes, the after we got out - what do I need to do. But not of the moment. 

You don't all know 710. Some of you do and know him as a cool (not like Fonzie!) and collected. Nothing much rattles him - and if it does, it doesn't show. 

I couldn't tell you how he reacted at the time - or even after we got out. I would say I was focused on getting out, but I wasn't. I didn't know what was going on and just wanted it all to stop and hoped those motherfuckers weren't following me. 

As I can see now in hindsight, he had no idea what was going on with me. I was giving no real words of indication of it either. Internally, he said, he was freaking out. I'd say "he didn't show it", but I really don't know, as I was not paying attention or focused. 

So, I guess I'll see what the next few days brings in terms of my epidermis. It's a good thing my modeling career is behind me. 

Song by: Arcade Fire