who's going to clean up the mess I made?

as I perambulate every morning around the clutter of morning, trying not to step on pets or papers or books, Rob sings, as do my brother and Rick. They are the soundtrack to my life, along with Ben Folds and bare-nekkid ladies. Last night a friendly cook at Nevada Smith's Saloon/TMBG (sprinkle quotes throughout this piece). I asked him if he was a fluffer because he retrieved utensils for me and kept me company, laughing at most everything I said.

It is the epitome of irony that my brother's grandchild is named "Maverick" when he will be carefully moulded into a law-abiding citizen who follows RULES -- his father is a policeman (who apparently liked the Tom Cruise character in the 2022 film)

Here is the dictionary definition of maverick (noun):

"an unbranded range animal; especially: a motherless calf

2. an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party.

And yet this kid is being groomed to fit in better than I ever allowed! Who’s the maverick?

Wanted: A Man to Dump

 

Please don’t post this

There is no faster way to get me to my phone/keyboard than to dissuade me from doing something... in this case, my older brother forbade me from posting the arrival of his first grandchild

... and so I wrote this on March 4, but did not publish until March 20...

The next generation has arrived in our family -- Maverick! We were all dumbstruck in the name was whispered to a few of us at Thanksgiving. I went into research mode and found that the name is growing in popularity and our little new earthling can expect at least one more Maverick in his preschool or kindergarten classes

I'm gonna go put on Top Gun: maverick from my mom, who is a great grandmother now

… A movie I probably would not have seen otherwise

Critical Tourism Theory ==> The Musical!

Come from Away....

tall, regal wicca with Medusa hair and immaculate posture : at my gym

Tabitha is all growed up! For the XX months I have seen her, she is usually either working isometrically, has her nose in a book or exchanges quiet/certain small jokes with the other trainers. Rarely speaking, she ALWAYS said hello to me by name at first... Now, only with her eyes. I always see her, but rarely L@@k because to do so feels invasive -- as her work is so intense. The times that I have interrupted or caught her near the bathroom, she is grateful for my question and answers carefully. She's the one who writes the provocative questions and nudging quotes on the white board for everyone exiting to see -- INSERT Two days ago, *my* trainer Travis alluded to her in conversation and I looked over and WOW! BUFF! She resembles a linebacker! Her shoulder muscles, her upper arms and chest -- PUFFED OUT TO THERE!

And now I got a boner

Wild reunion, right? Strangers kept humming up to me, expecting hugs and reminisce about the things I did four decades ago ... Remembering the way I dressed? Remembering my eyes and smile and kitty happy joy. I guess that's a great way to be remembered, but I'm shy, so I just dance with my back to them mostly and spinning and turning and whatever Check out all those derrières about 10 years ago Rob and I met at the Coffee Emprium so I could divulge some deep personal secrets Sorry

You Can Always Come Back Home

It's been a rough / joyous year of growth, my son and I. My mom, however, is struggling. The old boys, 14-year-old Captain Liam MacGregor and 11-year-old wolfpup Nanuk -- also struggling. Nanuk is the sweetest being in my life, greeting me with happy jumps and licks. Gyda continues to be a beautiful bitch (Maine coon) and Tigrr is the bouncy delight of the household -- a 53-year-old doublewide in the Sonoran desert. My son and his family will always be welcome to stay with me -- even if I am homeless.

Playing at Sunrise Assisted Living at River and 1st Avenue

i lost my mind in Iceland - went happily crazy and just recovered. It was time. I turned 50 two months after I accepted the job offer from the university rector. Saw the offer, put my laptop aside and thought 'Be careful what you wish for -- you just got it!' Grew up in the icy, snowy Midwest Ameriku where snowplows push heavy sludge into icy mountains lining highways and only knew that winter meant shivering under covers in German-style Italianate houses built in the mid-18th century with grand wooden staircase, a cubbyhole with a door underneath and servants bells from the kitchen to the attic. Timmy and I played in there for hours, sweating as we giggled and painted the walls red, white and blue. Mom had some extra paint and hung a utility lamp in the corner -- so it got very hot. We would stay until Fozie or Betty or Sue or Freda told us lunch or dinner was ready. Oh, we weren't rich; those were helpers that my mom found -- students and cleaners who could handle childcare at times. Dad was a doctor, we knew that -- but Mom mostly took classes and had friends who smoked on the blankets in the park where she laid out picnics. We never ate normal food like other kids got -- cans of soda or Cheezits. Nope. Breakfast was sunflower seeds, orange slices or apples with peanut butter. Burned Lucy toast served on the open oven door to warm us before Timmy and I skedaddled o Mom Janie Sparrow Spain Lavender smiles sweetly at my arrival.

post-pandemic after-times update - written 5/23/21

"is it too soon?" we collectively ask from the comfort of our superpower communities in the "First World,"knowing that the world's underdeveloped and underprivileged are the most vulnerable to repetitive surges of This Virus |ä bent nail in the board that is humanity" -- an anonymous commenter on my first web site, c. 1996 my journals were tomes of writerly self-absorption, of a girl and young woman figuring herself out anonymously -- too introverted and private to vent/rip/bare my spleen publicly for mass consumption

Introducing... Mótsognir and his friends Half / Ametarasu / Loki / Odinn / Saraswati / Huginn / Muninn / Fenrisúlfur /

"ït's been a minute!"-- pandemonium pandemic year of creative BLISS!

hæhæ!

it seems that I have not logged on since May 2@2@, before I moved one block away ... it's been quite a year as we begin to reflect on the Pandemic Pandemonium and subsequent collective BREAK and deep breath we've all taken...

And I have spent almost every moment since then writing / playing / pasting stuff in books / writing books / studying Icelandic / gardening and pruning my orchard / Instagram stalking Megan's darling family in Bton / IG stalking my LilBros / TIKTOK RIGHT? / worrying about COVID / listening to NPR / cutting things out to paste into books / watching plays and movies with momJane five to four to three nights per week : walking dogs : hiring people to come help me clean my messes and landscape my orchard : kaffi with my 77-yr-old neighbors USAID hydrologist Barney and Carolina : dancing spasmodically / falling DOWN / getting bruised / perfecting my masked coquettishness with children / entertaining the neighbor´s grandkids / laughing with Feral Manboyson / gossiping bc I LIVE IN AN AGE-QUALIFIED RETIREMENT COMMUNITY!

Lifið er gott!

I have an Icelandair ticket in August and September to take intermediate Icelandic.