today is my birthday!

What better way to start my birthday and also end the year than with Maz? He makes me laugh and I hope all y'all have a little chuckle, too!

Here's to all of you! Much love, much joy, always Peace and a wonderful New Year! I'm honored to share this day with all of YOU!

(pictures tomorrow or soon after)

 

28 DEC or my birthday is right around the corner!

ha, ha!

that's right, i had to say it, but that's not what this post is about.

for the nine millionth time i just read about that other social media site being the death of blogging. for me, it's sheer laziness on my part that i'm not blogging more. i think of things to blog about or tell the MITM about something i want to write about and then. . .

POOF

it's gone and i've not written a word! 

i love reading everyone blogs even thought sometimes i don't comment. but that's on me, not any of you! (here's the deal, sometimes after reading what y'all have written, i feel such the complete idiot i'm hesitant to comment!)  but again, that's my hang-up. 

so, where does that leave me?

here's my answer:

i shall continue to write about things that interest me and hope y'all will continue to read.  every time i stray away from blogging i realize how much i miss the interaction with all y'all. the comments make me smile, always make me think, and always remind me that none of us are alone in our doubts/joys/secrets - we are a community of people who've found each other!  i am grateful and humbled and absolutely delighted to count all y'all as friends!

no challenges, no resolutions, just a reminder to myself that i really do like blogging and it really is still a lot of fun!

and then, there are the baby pictures...

BBC posing for the camera

Moxie and BGM

i'll be back soon!

The Case of the 25 Year Old Promise. Guest blog by Thomas M. Hewlett

“Mom, I’m going to be a writer someday.”  I was only fourteen and I’d made pronouncements like this before about being a police officer and, most notably, becoming a waiter.  So my mom smiled at me indulgently and said, “Fine, but you have to write me a mystery one day.”

Fast forward twenty-four years and I’ve done it.

“One Death at a Time” is my first novel, a detective story told in the classic first-person voice of the private eye who’s seen it all.  It tells the story of Jack Strayhorn, an ex-L.A.P.D. detective who was killed in 1948 chasing a suspect in the Black Dahlia murder.  He was reborn a vampire and uses his powers to solve the crimes that the human police force can’t.  In this first book of the Twelve Stakes series, Jack is on the trail of a supernatural hitman who took out a city councilman and an innocent girl.  When the councilman turns out to be the eldest son of a powerful Faerie clan, Jack is drawn into an underground supernatural war.

This is probably not what my mom had in mind when she asked for a mystery.  When I was growing up, her shelves were crammed with the likes of Agatha Christie, Mickey Spillaine, and the Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  I loved science fiction and fantasy like Isaac Asimov and Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”, but I was a voracious reader and fell in love with those detective stories early on.  I loved the eccentric characters, the dramatic reveals, and the frantic chases through foggy midnight streets.  Holmes still tops my list of all-time favorite fictional characters.

Of course, Holmes and I have something in common.  He was an addict just like I am.  My experiences with drug and alcohol addiction inspired my novel as much as pipe smoking detectives and blood drinking vampires.

I started drinking and using drugs in high school, picked up speed in college, and crashed and burned in my early thirties.  I finally hit bottom three years ago. I ended up in the psych ward for two weeks followed by a month in rehab.  I lived in sober living for the next nine months, trying to get my life and marriage back together.  During that time, a good friend of mine urged me to start writing about everything I’d been through.  “But make it supernatural,” he said. “Like vampires in A.A.!”  The idea was infectious.  A vampire alcoholic.  Alcoholics Anonymous as a secret cover for vampires trying to help each other survive their disease.  The addict as monster and the monster as hero.  One day at a time, one death at a time.  The Twelve Stakes series was born.

My books are a strange alchemy of murder mysteries, fantasy stories, growing up in Los Angeles, and addiction and recovery.  But it wouldn’t have been possible without my mom’s early influence on my imagination.  I learned from those old books that even though the heroes aren’t always the good guys, it’s their darkness that makes their stories impossible to put down.  Like my characters, they are forced to turn their curses into gifts in order to survive the shadowy worlds they inhabit.

Writing Jack’s story helped me rewrite my own story.  I stayed sober, got my life back on track, and fulfilled a lifelong dream and a long held promise.  I wrote my book.  And I wrote my mom a mystery.

meet the author HERE!

 i've mentioned this before, but there's a new book out that is available on Amazon for $2.99 or £1.84 or 2.18€.  it's the first installment of a 12 part series.  there are great reviews up on the amazon site already, if you don't believe me!

the author, thomas m. hewlett is going to be doing a guest blog here soon, so you have time to buy the e-book and read it because i've asked you nicely!

One Death At A Time

we all live in blogville, so you're still shopping local!

xoxox

a proper post

i left a comment the other day on brother exile's page and his gentle nagging reminder set me to thinking about my lack of blogging! after being gone for almost 2 weeks, the idea of sitting down and writing about the trip got lost in the reality of coming home and resetting our body clocks. the MITM had been gone even longer because he and part of the coconut krewe had gone pheasant hunting in one of those cold states almost on the pacific, but not in the middle of the country. (how's that for vague?) anyway, he did that for a week and then we met in lalaland for a couple of days with the rest of the krewe for a very big dinner! captain chaos and the MITM were in charge of the main meal and The Kid made dessert BECAUSE not only were we celebrating the hunt, but also the captain's 42nd birthday! (i KNOW, he's getting so old, right?)  somewhere we have pictures, but it seems that we're doing a lot more being present in the moment when we're together and not always taking pictures. (maybe, we're all getting old) or maybe, my mind's camera/eye is storing the images for me to retrieve when i'm alone and phoneless. i don't know, but i'll check the BIG camera's card and see what's there later and post what i find.

after we left SoCal*, we flew up to NoCal** to meet Big Shelly and MissK for a few days in The City*** before driving up to the wine country.  we've made this journey with our BFF's before, but always late in october and never for as long as this trip, so we had a few different experiences. one being that since we were  in The City we had a chance to celebrate Big Shelly's birthday at 
Balboa Cafe (yes, yet another of our favorite places to eat and drink) because everything served there is just so damn delicious and wonderful and special, it was the perfect place to be again! 

the next night was at Scoma's! check out the menus and you'll see why we love both of these places.  good food, good wine, a gorgeous city and best of all, our friends.  

who could ask for anything more?

i think we've talked about our adventures in napa/sonoma and staying in healdsburg and if i haven't, i think i'll just list a few links and let all y'all peruse them at your leisure. 


sinskey

unti

reynolds

imagery

benziger

twomey

cosentino

plumpjack

now, i KNOW that seems like a LOT, but we were there for a good length of time and didn't see all of them in one day, darlings! there were a few other places, but if you're going to visit napa/sonoma, it's always fun to discover new places on your own, so i won't spoil it for you by giving away all of our secrets...

if you ever have a chance to visit a wine producing area, do it. there is something about this sort of agriculture that far transcends the glory of the fruit. for me, it's the motivation of the families that run the vineyards and their determination to grow the best fruit possible and make their wines as perfect as possible. many of the vineyards we visited are producing bio-dynamic wines with the move towards sustainable and organically grown grapes without the use of pesticides is paramount.  (for more info about bio-dynamic farming check out: https://www.biodynamics.com)  there is a difference, i can assure you! especially the day after!  for this city girl, being in an area that celebrates the dirt, the fruit and veggies, the animals, the bees and the flowers, it was beyond an experience, it was a reminder that there is a real satisfaction in pulling a baby carrot out of the ground and knowing that it will be on your plate later.  we had the farm to table tasting at sinskey and it was HOT.DAMN.GOOD.

Big Shelly and MissK flew back to SAV and the MITM and i flew down to lalaland for one more overnight with the coconut krewe before flying home and it was a blast! BGM is walking and her big boy cousin, BBC, is leading the way to mayhem and true to his name, chaos! (i love it) 

you know what's next...

BBC, BGM and Turtle

Remember, 
nothing is guaranteed. 
be present in your life and not an observer. 

Remember, 
say i love you to those people who mean something to you. 
don't wait for a reason or an event or the perfect time.



I Love All Y'all!





* southern california
** northern california
*** san francisco

$2.99 and it's yours!

it's official!

there is a new ebook out in the universe!

and guess who wrote it??????

MR MOOSE under his pen name Thomas M. Hewlett

here's his blog link and it's currently available on amazon for your kindle (or your computer).

and the cover? it was done by Mr Matrix!!

home again

WHAT.A.TRIP.

and i mean that in a very, very, VERY good way!  we're just back on the plantation and sad to have said goodbye to the left coast, but glad to be back home on the right one!  give me a day or two and i'll post some pics and tell all y'all about the journey to the other side.

we'll be back in a few jazz minutes

 the MITM used to say that to close a set at our club



and because we need those few jazz minutes

and because we like this song

and because we need some fixing
 


we'll be taking 5. . .

and then letting the lights guide us home.

Say G'night, Gracie

happy birthday, super nana!!

 all y'all know how much we love a party down heah on the plantation, so even though super nana is on the other side of the country, i hope all y'all will help celebrate this lovely day with our sweet angel baby!







 and because no coconut krewe party is complete with out maz...

and now, a few words from. . .

been a few weeks since i've sat down to write anything, but i'm glad all y'all had a chance to read Khanh Ho's piece and i hope you'll check him out in the future!

i'm just checking in and thanks for continuing to stop by. 

i'll see you tomorrow.

(Guest Post) Every Writer Needs a Muse: Mine Was Viva

Khanh Ho is writing the first Vietnamese American Detective Fiction ever.  Why?  Because being the first is a power trip.  Follow him on twitter @LAMysteryWriter or visit his website at www.losangelesmystery.com

Viva used to come over and get naked.  She was our next door neighbor, a roley-poley girl.  I didn’t find her attractive--I was too young--but she would cut up apples in wedges and put salt on them.  Then, she would serve them up to me on a porcelain plate.  They were pretty good.  So, I would let her come over and get naked.

Viva was my introduction to fiction; with Viva, I became a real honest-to-goodness writer.  She was game for anything.  So I let her become my muse.

We would play in my unfinished garage, among the stacks of undelivered Reader’s Digests.  Stacks and Stacks.  My brother was addicted to working—he had three different newspaper routes and was always looking for extra cash.  So he picked up this Reader’s Digest Route.  But the stacks kept growing.

They kept growing.

And growing.

I don’t think he ever delivered them.  They became a forest—like the trees in Where the Wild Things Are…or some installation at a fancy museum.

Viva was always trying to escape her house.  She was a child of divorce.  Her father was a drummer.  They didn’t own; they rented.  There were always wine bottles at her house, which smelled like cats and cigarette smoke.  I know:  that year, my teacher kept on asking us to bring empty wine bottles to school for craft projects.  But my family didn’t drink.  So I would come over to Viva’s house and get her father's empties.

There were always empties.

“Do you know what Viva means?”  her father asked.  He was really cool-looking for an old man:  bearded and lanky in that seventies polyester-shirt way.  “It means life in Mexican.”

Viva came over and we played soap opera.  She would take off her clothes and then I would pretend I was shocked to catch her in a compromising position with a stranger—a dark, handsome stranger--and then I would accuse her of infidelity.  I would point my finger at her--lightning in my eyes.

The scenario was always the same—her lounging in an imaginary bath tub.  Me:  angry as all heck, busting in.  She:  begging forgiveness.  I was a regular playwright.

Once, my brother came in and caught us.  It was my fault:  I had forgotten to lock the door.  He was really stern.  “If you want to get naked, you should do it in your own house.”  Viva hid behind the towers of Reader’s Digests, and made the pile of magazines tremble in terrible shame.

Then, Viva moved away.  And there were no more apples with salt.  Sometimes, I will eat apple wedges with salt and think of Viva—my first muse.  I’m eating apple wedges right now and guess what I'm thinking.  I'm thinking that Viva means life.

is it tuesday already?

why, yes, it is, gracie, and you've been MIA!

no excuse, no reason, just . . .

dunno

but, last night the new orleans saints beat the miami dolphins 38-17!  i watched the game and cheered as if i were at the super dome surrounded by the Who Dat Nation! it seemed the only antidote to the fiasco going on in our nation's capital. (end of sports AND politics here today)

the MITM is still on the med side of deepestdarkestafrica, so no news from him directly, but The Doc who IS in deepestdarkestafrica has spoken with him and it's all good.

the coconut krewe is fine and that has to be the best news today!

total aside, but thanks to a certain store that shall remain anonymous HomeGoods and their continuous background music, THIN LIZZY and specifically, Phil Lynott, played a huge part in my one of my dreams! (ok, it wasn't THAT sort of dream!) in my dream, he was standing on my porch with his dog and we were talking about how difficult it was for him to keep them on leash (right, wtf is THAT about) if that isn't strange enough the house was a sort of mashup of two homes i've lived in and absolutely loved. the other funny bit? super nana was in my dream and she kept asking who is that guy? does he live around here?  here's what started it:



~~~~~~

these made me laugh:

BBC, the surfer yogi

BGM, just because

little people

and here's lucy with some 'splaining to do

i had planned to blog after returning from lalaland to the plantation, BUT, things happened. 

and a LOT faster than i'd thought they would.

the MITM left this past wednesday for africaonthemediterranean. he'll be back next month and then gone again a few days later.

and then, i'm gone for a little while.

i think i'll see him sometime/somewhere/somehow.

(did you hear maria in westside story just then?)

anyway, september/october/november will be busy around here, but good busy. not everything will be work, but enough of it will be to make everyone appreciate the not working time.

so, there it is.

i was busy and now, i'm not  as busy.

i'll see you tomorrow.

on the road again

friday the 13th

have no fear!

we are alive and well and still in lalaland.

home tuesday night.

blogging will resume shortly thereafter.

 

where's waldo or what's become of savannah

i am in lalaland for 2 weeks. 

OK, less than two weeks now, but who's counting? it is H-O-T here and once again i had forgotten that out heah very few older buildings have central air! i swear, it surprises me every time! super nana and Mr Matrix live in a triplex that was built in the 1930's, so air conditioning meant strategically placed windows to catch the smallest breeze and move it through the house or so they thought! maybe back then, it worked but now, not so much...anyway, i remind myself that it's a dry heat and not pollen laden, so i'm fine.

at some point, i will actually believe it, too!

for Ms Quotes

the MITM took some photos, but i just did this using photobooth on my MAC. i LOVE having it short again!

more important than my previous post

GO READ hope TODAY!!

seriously, right now. 


you might be able to help and if you can't, you might know someone who can!

things change...

i'm getting a haircut today.

it's been a over a year.

there will be pictures.


unless, it's hideous and i have to do damage control somewhere else.

random stuff from my desktop or as the MITM says, i have so much fun blogging

remember when we went to charleston with Big Shelly and Miss K? ok, maybe you don't but here's a video i took when we went to johns island because the MITM wanted to see angel oak  we were on our way to a most delightful restaurant on the island called, the fat hen hot damn delicious, darlings, and highly recommended by the 4 of us! in fact, everything was so damn good, we didn't take any pictures!!  i will take a pic of the MITM and Big Shelly in their hats because, really, only guys can wear baseball caps that say "fat hen," right?

since then, the MITM has been doing some really great cooking and i have taken pics of some of the lovely meals we've shared.

blue cheese mussels

light and lovely

seafood gumbo slightly out of focus

i need to download more food photos from my phone, but i think you get the point, it's been damn fine eatin' around the plantation lately! he's anxious about work and leaving again, but that's what happens when you work in deepestdarkestafrica and time zones mean absolutely nothing to overseas callers. i'm just glad he's not making pies!

received this the other day from captain chaos:

yep, that's Stretch and BBC!

there you go

the MITM just said this to me!

i know, right? because i was doing, as he calls it, a facebook rant.  wouldn't you know it, i open that other social media site and what's the first thing i see? someone i KNOW for real/in person/has my phone number/knows the MITM is whining about a busker in one of the downtown squares! 11 other people (some of whom i also know) chimed in about what a horrible musician he is, how he only knows 2 tunes, etc., etc. and generally turning this first world problem into a serious issue worthy of legislation or most certainly, govenmental intervention! don't ask me why, but i got pissed off and asked if anyone had ever spoken with the man? had anyone ever said, dude, can you play another tune? that's all i posted even thought i wanted to add you know, as you would any other human being who was annoying the hell out of you? so, i just closed that window because, in reality, it won't matter what response is left for me. everyone will go on about their lives and probably just write it off...

my rant here (as i was cooling off from my veryintenseworkout) at my MAC and within earshot of the MITM was  because  i know that busker guy is a couple keys short of a full keyboard, so to speak, so we had always cut him some slack knowing that he found some joy in his 2 tunes and the smiles of the tourists who dropped a coin or 2 in his open case.

when we lived in the historic district, the MITM used to talk to him along with all the other street musicians, some of whom were homeless, many of whom were just lost in their own worlds just looking for an acknowledgement of their humanity.  would it be so difficult to look at another man and find some way to connect?  


i've made the right decision.

sweet mary sunshine, but i STINK!

yesterday our pal, pearl, regaled us with her tale about, well, hell go read it, sweetpeas, she tells it better than i do! 

(having yet another swallow and spit of water while i wait)

(the spit was in the sink to rinse the dryness out of my mouth, ok?)

and moving right along ('cos i know y'all are back now) with whomever wasn't too grossed out already by my lack of southern refinement and decorum...

we bought a treadmill, darlings! yep, got a sweet deal and there you go!  i no longer have to try and get out in the damndarkmorning before all the damn pollen has been released and/or the weather turns to hotdamnfurnace temperatures to get my heart pumping and the sweat rollin' anymore. by the time the weather turns nice again, i'll be ready to ride my sweet lemon yellow beach cruiser with Miss K around the plantation! (i'm still looking for a sturdy basket for the front...and maybe a bell...but no streamers!) 

i'm sure i've said this, but i have asthma. yes, that was the number 1 reason i finally quit smoking! being outside and breathing without having to worry if i remembered my emergency inhaler is really rather exciting (i do live a rather sheltered life these days, i know) and let us not forget, not seeing that concerned look in the MITM's eyes when my eyes open wide and i look like some sort of damn stranded fish out of water because i can't breath is also worth any effort expended by yours truly. oh yeah, walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes listening to that skinny minnie, jillian, talk about how much this is gonna hurt, but the results will make you (she's talking about me, right?) so happy is seriously enough incentive to power thru the workout just not to hear her! (i know i could turn the sound down, but i do try to be respectful. i mean the poor child did record all of that just for me, right?)

*pause for a moment while i collect myself because i just snorted water out of my nose whilst laughing*

so, now you know! the MITM and i are on a mission! he wants to walk a golf course again without it being a strain....

and i just want to be able to walk farther than BGM's 70 year old nanny!!!

(ok, i don't know that she's 70, but i know she's around my age, but older.)







is that so wrong?



i am off to the shower now, so thanks for cooling down with me!

i haven't left blogging v.2

(version .2 because like an idiot, i was cleaning up deleting* drafts and ended up deleting the published post.)

anyway, let's try this again.

it's been busy around here and i've also been distracted by that other social media site.  today, i sort of walked away and decided i need to get back to blogging. i mean, seriously, darlings, it just is so ridiculous to rail at the screen and even more so, to still be upset and angry when you stand up and walk away! it has been suggested (by the MITM who has to listen to me vent) that perhaps, i might want to spend a bit more time blogging or reading the big stack(s) of books next to my chair in the library instead!

i'm not against conversation or serious exchanges of ideas, those are exciting and educational. differences of opinion, philosophies, political views are as varied as we are people, so sometimes we agree and other times we don't *shrug* i just can't handle ugliness/rudeness/meanness masquerading as free speech anymore!

 so, it's not goodbye, it's...

i'll see you tomorrow.

* see comment by bill lisleman

the birthday girl

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL MATRIX!!!

more pictures this weekend from the party!! if people remember to send them to us!!!

note: i didn't take this video, super nana did and sent it to me.

on the road again

 JUST received from Mr Matrix

 

normal blogging to resume tomorrow

we've been in charleston, south carolina with Big Shelly and Miss K!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR MOOSE!

i need to scan more of the old photos of the coconut krewe! 

especially for birthday posts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MR MOOSE!!

what happens when the coconut krewe has access to your phone

captain chaos on my lock screen

super nana as wallpaper

first we said goodbye and then we said hello again and then we said, i'll see you tomorrow

so after a tearful  i'll see you tomorrow and total distraction on my part that resulted in me missing my off ramp and having to make an eight mile totally out of my way but-the-only-way-to-get-back-to-where-i-was-supposed-to-be detour, i arrived back at the plantation.

and then the real fun began.

it had looked as if the weather was going to be kind to the mr & mrs matrix part of the coconut krewe and not storm down on them along the east coast and they would have an on time 17:45 departure to IAD aka dulles and then on to LAX, but nay, nay, that most certainly did not happen! i'll skip the part in between, but at 21:00 i was picking them up at SAV and bringing them back to the plantation.  

their flight THIS MORNING was scheduled for 05:45...

oh yeah, like that happened.

this time it was mechanical problems.

we did get a call telling us, but not a request for another pick-up.  it seems the airline decided that super nana and mr matrix were not the people to trifle with again, so the coconut krewe is on their way.  just so you know, none of this bothered BGM at all!

Baby Girl Matrix

i'm going back to bed. xo

UPDATE from camp matrix@IAD

ready to go!

 LAST UPDATE for TODAY:

super nana, mr matrix and BGM have landed!

this happened today

super nana and BGM

scenes from a couple of krewe days or why i haven't been blogging

The Kid making a chocolate cake

the MITM added the strawberries

i did the frosting

there was a lot of cooking, but i don't have all of those pics, but just know that everything was delish!

BBC cleans up very well

cereal is your friend

a bottle in the morning with the MITM

BGM and the MITM

BGM toes

BGM just noticed who was taking the pictures

guess who loves you?

there are more photos and stories to share, but right now, it's time for brunch!