Post-Christmas Greetings

 I hope everyone had a good Christmas. Maybe it wasn't as merry as past years, but I hope it was still restful and enjoyable. I slept a lot (since I took a week off from my day job), read a lot, and watched a lot of television. Good times. And, hey, any day we're still alive during Covid is a good day to me! Seriously. When people ask how I'm doing, I've been telling them, "I'm just glad to be alive!" 

Recently, I decided to do some research on the Jonestown massacre and I read a book this month about it and also a documentary about some of the women who were main figures in Jim Jones's life, but I'm still having a hard time understanding why so many people followed him, not just in the United States, but out of the country. It's one thing to join a cult in your home country (and that's bad enough), but to pick up and leave your country for a cult is an entirely different ball of wax. And these people didn't relocate to a country that was similar to the US. They went to a remote location in the middle of a jungle. This was the 1970s and there was no internet or anything, but these folks were cut off from pretty much anyone who wasn't also a cult member. Crazy and sad.

Thorns in My Side

 My new book, Thorns in My Side, is publishing next month. (It's about time, right?) Here's the blurb:

When Tim Whittaker’s best friend Jake Thorn announces that he’s getting married to his girlfriend Jenna Riley, Tim tells him he’s making a mistake. Tim, who’s been in love with Jake for years, wants his best friend to be with him instead.

While Tim and Jake deal with their issues, Jake’s older brother Caleb is dealing with issues of his own as he enters into a secret relationship with Jenna’s newly-divorced father, David, who wants to keep his homosexuality hidden from his daughter.

Thorns in My Side explores the secrets, lies, and love between brothers who grapple with friends, lovers, and each other while trying to keep their lives, and the lives of those around them, from spinning out of control.

Won't Someone Think of the Children???

I read an article in the NY Times last week about kids growing up during the Covid pandemic and how they're coping with it. The kids today have a hard row to hoe right now. Face masks, social distancing, remote learning...it's all sad. I saw a group of little kids leaving their daycare facility last week for a group outing and they all had their little face masks on as they lined up and headed out. This is, sadly, the world we live in now. I don't even have kids, but it makes me sad to see the kids with their masks on. According to the Times article, the physicians they spoke with seemed to think the small kids will get over this ordeal once the Covid pandemic is behind us. I certainly hope they're right. I hope kids are able to overcome the trauma they faced during Covid and live their lives with normality once things get back to normal. (Well, whatever "normal" will mean in the future.) The kids may actually do better transitioning back to normal life more than adults. We'll probably be the ones still freaking out once this thing is over.

What Was I Thinking?

 As I get older, I often look back on stuff I liked when I was younger but don't like now. For example, I remember really liking the music of the Counting Crows back in the 90s. But now? Not so much. Mr. Jones? Round Here? The Rain King? Ugh. Yuck. No bueno. I also used to eat Fig Newtons when I was a kid, but you couldn't get me to choke one down now. Campbell's tomato soup, vanilla wafers, sugary cereal like Honeycombs and Sugar Smacks: I ate it all and now I couldn't imagine eating any of that stuff. I also used to enjoy watching Sex and the City. I even had one or two seasons on DVD. But now? Not my bag, baby. I doubt I could get through one episode without rolling my eyes. It's just not something that appeals to me now. When I was younger, I enjoyed the show, but now it just seems ridiculous and tone-deaf. Having lived in New York for a few years, I know how hard it is to maintain a living there when you don't make a six-figure salary. It's not easy and it's certainly nothing like SATC. 

Things change. Views change. Tastes change. I still love many things I loved when I was younger (like 70s music, 80s music, and the New Zoo Revue), but there's a lot of stuff that I've moved on from.

A Lot of TV

My cable provider gave me free HBO, Showtime, and other pay channels (that I don't have because I can't afford them), so I spent a large part of this holiday weekend watching television. I finished watching The Good Lord Bird (after having seen only the first episode) and largely enjoyed it. As someone I work with said, "Ethan Hawke does bring the crazy." Yes, he does. I also enjoyed Daveed Diggs as Frederick Douglass and Joshua Caleb Johnson as Onion. The performances were great. 

After The Good Lord Bird, I turned my focus to a bunch of documentaries and they didn't disappoint!

First: Murder on Middle Beach: I only watched the first two episodes available (although I believe there's another one tonight). Wow. This guy is trying to figure out who killed his mother and then he learns his mother was mixed up in this pyramid scheme with other suburban housewives. Crazy!

Second: There's Something Wrong with Aunt Diane: This documentary was about a woman who killed herself, one of her kids, and three of her nieces on the Taconic Parkway back in 2009. The toxicology report found alcohol and marijuana in her system, but her husband claimed she didn't drink or smoke that much and didn't believe she'd drive while intoxicated especially with all of those kids in the car. What I couldn't understand was why she didn't just park herself and wait either to come down from the booze and weed because, according to the documentary, she stopped twice during her road trip: once at a rest stop and once on the side of the road (where she left her cell phone). She clearly knew she was having trouble keeping it together, so why keep pressing on??? No one will ever know what was going on with Aunt Diane that day. A sad story.

Third: The Inventor: This documentary focused on Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes who got a bunch of people to financially back her contraption that was supposed to allow for a range of medical tests by using only a drop of blood taken from a finger stick. Yeah, that didn't work, yet so many people (old men mainly) believed in her bullshit. When you're a young, blonde, and cute woman, I guess you can get away with a lot of smoke and mirrors. Ridiculous!

Post-Thanksgiving Greetings

Well, another holiday has come and gone, but this Thanksgiving was quite different from the others I've had in my life. My sister and I normally travel to Michigan for Thanksgiving, but not this year. Due to Covid, we stayed home. It's all about survival now. I've read a lot of fretting about spending the holidays alone or not with the loved ones we normally spend them with and, while I'm sympathetic, I think we all need to do what we can to keep ourselves and others healthy and alive and if that means a solo or low-key Thanksgiving, then so be it. Better lonely than dead, folks. 

I've spent Thanksgiving and Christmas alone before. When I was in graduate school (and even after that) I often couldn't afford to travel for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, so one holiday had to be sacrificed. Also, I've lived in cities where I didn't have any close family members around or friends who'd take me in, so I spent the holiday by myself and I managed to get through it. Now I'm not the kind of person who needs to be around others 24/7, but it was still sad at times to be alone on the holidays. It's not something I enjoyed, but it was necessary due to my finances. I didn't want to start the new year with a ton of charges from airline tickets and other things just because I didn't want to be lonely. You do what you have to do to make it work.

I certainly hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

Szechuan Dumplings

This post isn't really about Szechuan dumplings. It's about Steely Dan singing about Szechuan dumplings. I read a Twitter feed called Good Steely Dan Takes and the feed shows various Steely Dan-related posts from people. One that stood out to me recently said that people like to shit on The Dan but praised them for creating songs that talk about things like sharing a meal of Szechuan dumplings with your cocaine dealer. 

Szechuan dumplings now that the deal has been done. I'm the one.

These lyrics come from the song "Glamour Profession" and, being the good Dan fan that I am, I immediately recognized what song the tweet was referring to. 

NY Times writer Brent Staples frequently tweets various Steely Dan/Donald Fagen lyrics such as "Won't you pour me a Cuban breeze, Gretchen?" (From "The Goodbye Look" from Fagen's solo album, The Nightfly.)

Steely Dan has song lyrics about getting take-out from Dean & DeLuca, drinking kashasha. Who else sings songs about stuff like that? No one! 

Big Mouth

I was supposed to have a root canal a few weeks ago but I freaked out at the dental office when they put a block in my mouth to hold it open during the hour-long procedure. So I'm trying again later today but this time with drugs! I don't normally have problems with dental procedures, but the block in my mouth was a bridge too far for me. The block combined with some clamp they put over the infected tooth just made me feel like I couldn't breathe and was about to have a panic attack. I'm determined to get through the procedure this time because I'm tired of chewing on one side of my mouth only. I have to get this done. Hopefully, the drugs will kick in and I'll take myself to another place mentally during the procedure so I can get through it. I have a big mouth, but the thought of holding it open for an hour is exhausting, so I know the dental block is needed. The things we go through for our teeth. 

I'm glad to be able to have dental care from my day job and growing up from my father's insurance. Many people don't have access to dental care and it shows. I recall reading somewhere that the comedian Tracy Morgan told comedian Tina Fey that he could tell she hadn't grown up poor when he saw her teeth. I didn't grow up wealthy, but my parents did have dental insurance! My poor sister had to wear braces and head-gear to correct her crooked teeth. Years and years of payments went out to cover all of that. Thankfully, I didn't suffer the same dental issues that my sister did.

This Is What Democracy Looks Like!

Finally, the results are in and Biden won the race as POTUS. Donny T.'s reign of terror won't continue for another four years. Yea! I look forward to NOT hearing about something the POTUS tweeted or reading about the POTUS insulting someone with a stupid nickname. I look forward to a POTUS who isn't transactional in every freaking relationship he enters into. I look forward to a POTUS who doesn't ask, "What's in it for me?" but asks instead, "What's in it for the American people?" I look forward to a POTUS who isn't golfing every week and spending taxpayer dollars to support his lifestyle, his businesses, his family, and his minions. I look forward to having a POTUS who listens to experts in the field: the doctors, the military experts, the policy experts, rather than listening to his fat gut. 

There's been so much bad news in 2020 that I'm glad to have some good news for a change. 

Congratulations to Biden and Harris and thank you, American voters! This IS what democracy looks like! 

Post-Election Thoughts

Well, we're still waiting for the official word about who will be the next POTUS. I have to admit, when I turned the TV off Tuesday night, I felt deflated and was trying to mentally prepare myself for four more years of Donny T, and his reign of terror, but by Wednesday morning, things were looking up! I don't know what's been going on in my home state of Michigan, but I'm glad to see it looks like the tide turned for Biden there. I dream of the day when I can wake up and not have to hear about tweets from POTUS or some insult he's hurled at someone or any shenanigans from his administration. Maybe (hopefully) those days are coming soon. 

Once again, we see that polls are ridiculous. I think they served a useful purpose in the past, but not now. They're so inaccurate that they're not even worth having. And when will the media stop lumping all people who speak Spanish together? A Cuban American, a Mexican American, and a Puerto Rican don't share the same views just because they all speak Spanish! I'm not Latino and I know this! Jeez. Get a clue, media. (I guess that's asking too much.) And, speaking of the media, if Donny goes down in defeat (as he should), the media really needs to get its act together too for the next POTUS. They contribute to Donny's ridiculousness by giving him a forum and spending hours talking about his tweets and other assorted nonsense rather than ignoring it and focusing on the actual news. They're enablers. Cable news is the main culprit here. I guess they need something to fill the 24-hour news cycle, but enough already. Get some alternate programming!

And, speaking of programming, why is cable so lousy? Why am I paying for ESPN that I never watch? Why can't I pick my channels a la carte? Why do I have a bunch of Spanish language stations when no habla Espanol? Cable providers will continue to lose customers if they don't get their act together and start giving customers more choices in what channels they want. I haven't cut the cord yet, but I'm seriously thinking about it.

Pre-Election Thoughts

It's the calm before the storm, folks. Well, I hope there isn't a storm, but I tend to be more of a pessimist than an optimist. And what's going on during this pre-election eve?

Businesses in major cities are boarding up their windows in case there's unrest and/or looting in the streets. 

Donny T. is flapping his gums about firing Fauci. (Just when you think POTUS can't be any dumber, he defies expectations with his stupidity!)

Northwestern students are protesting and damaging businesses in Evanston, IL. Those freaking kids. Why can't they go tear up stuff on campus? Why come into the city and wreak havoc on businesses that are struggling to survive? Idiots. Maybe allowing some kids back on campus was a bad idea! Evanston's mayor is right to go to the NU president and request that the university help cover the cost of added city police protection to deal with these students.

I'm fortunate to have tomorrow off from my day job. The company shut down for Election Day and, since I voted early, I've got the whole day off to drink. Okay, I won't drink ALL day, but I'll certainly have some beverages as the polls close tomorrow night. (Maybe they should have given us Wednesday off also to deal with the hangovers!) I need to spend part of my day tomorrow at the laundromat washing my winter coats (because winter is coming, folks). 

What I don't intend to do tomorrow is stress out over situations that are beyond my control. I've voted. I've done my civic duty. If you haven't voted yet, I certainly hope you get out and vote tomorrow. Democracy in action, folks. Let's be the change we want to see.

Daddy Issues

I recently got my quarterly royalties statement and was surprised to see that one of my older books, Daddy Issues, sold more copies than any of my other titles.  I shouldn't have been surprised because Daddy Issues is probably the most popular title I've written. Every year, I manage to sell a few copies. Clearly, people like it. My book sales aren't anything significant enough for me to quit my day job over, but it's nice to see that people are reading my work. I write because I have a story to tell and because I want to share those stories with others. I'm not writing to get rich. (I wish I could get rich from writing!) 

But back to Daddy Issues. I was up until around 1:00 this morning rereading Daddy Issues. (I'm off from my day job today because I, unfortunately, have to have a root canal this afternoon.) I enjoyed reading Daddy Issues again and I'd forgotten some of the things I'd written in that book. I normally don't go back and reread my books, but I probably should. There were a couple of errors I found in Daddy Issues that annoyed me. One error I noticed was one character sitting in a chair and then leaping up from the couch. (Did he change seats and I just didn't note this?) I think I did a good job of maintaining the voice of Jason, the main character. He's very funny, kind of nasty, and self-deprecating. One of the things I love about Daddy Issues is that it's sleazy. The story of a guy sleeping with his mother's boyfriend isn't exactly uplifting, but that's the story I wanted to tell. I went back to see if I had written this book while I was still living in Philadelphia, but I didn't. I actually wrote it while I was living in Brooklyn, but I would go back to Philly from time to time, so I wasn't far from the area. I doubt I could ever recapture the voice of Jason. What would he be doing now? I wrote Daddy Issues around 2013 so seven years would have passed. Jason would be 31 in 2020. Would he still be with Jared? (Probably not.) What happened to his cousin Carmen? What about his mom? Did she ever find Mr. Right? And what about Paul? A lot of questions, but not a lot of answers. 

It's All Over But the Shouting (for Me)

 It's all over but the shouting for me now. I voted today and I'm glad to have done my civic duty. I masked up and went to vote. The polls weren't very crowded and I was able to get in and vote without waiting in the rain. Thankfully I live in a state where I can vote early. We have to be the change we want to see and voting is part of that. I hope everyone is able to get out and vote at the polls or by mail. This is democracy in action, folks! 

Mentally Checked Out

 I have to mentally check out from what's going on in the world from time to time because it's all so exhausting. One way to do this is to watch mindless stuff on TV. Lately, I've been watching kung fu movies on Tubi. I'm a particular fan of karate movies from the 1970s and early 80s. I can watch that stuff all day. The bad dubbing, the British voices coming out of Asian mouths, the extreme sounds for every body blow inflicted...it's all music to my ears. 

I've also been watching Cobra Kai and Selling Sunset on Netflix. Cobra Kai is great. I never even saw The Karate Kid all the way through, but I feel like I don't need to since they show shots from the movie on Cobra Kai. Selling Sunset looks and feels like one of those Bravo real estate shows that focuses more on the lives of the agents rather than on the properties they're supposed to be selling. Selling Sunset is a hot mess, yet I keep watching because I need something to take my mind of of Donny and Covid. What kills me about the show is that some of these women (the agents) just can't seem to mind their own business. Why does one woman care that another chick's boyfriend is more than ten years younger than she is and doesn't seem to have any money? MYOB, lady! Personally, I was more concerned that the dude needs subtitles whenever he talks because no one can understand what he's saying otherwise. I don't recall what country he's originally from, but without those subtitles, I'd be lost with this guy. Listening to him reminds me of when Donny's wife was on tape talking about immigrants being "teached" to behave a certain way in order to try and gain citizenship. Someone should have "teached" her that this isn't a word. 

So Much for That Teachable Moment

When the news came out last Friday that Donnie and spouse had contracted Covid, I hoped he would view his condition as a teachable moment. How wrong I was. Rather than learning from the experience and taking responsibility for hosting super spreader events, Donnie turned his Covid diagnosis into an opportunity to bloviate about his favorite subject: himself. He learned nothing. He's the same selfish SOB he was before he was diagnosed. He got the kind of medical treatment most Americans will never receive. Where were the drug cocktails and helicopter rides to and from the hospital for my uncle and great uncle who both passed away earlier this year from Covid complications? Where were these kind of services for the over 200K Americans who have died from Covid this year? 

In other news, I watched the VP debate Wednesday night and was glad that my pressure wasn't up after watching it (as it was after that disastrous POTUS debate a week earlier). I figured it wouldn't be the shit show the POTUS debate was because Pence and Harris know how to act. Harris held her own and Pence solidified that he's sold his soul to Satan. Moving on.

What is going on in my home state of Michigan? Militia thugs are trying to kidnap the governor? Some folks are nuts. I hope all of those yahoos get the book thrown at them. When I saw their pictures, they looked like the Duck Dynasty rejects I assumed they would. 

Less than a month until election day, folks. Let's all vote either by mail or in person and get Donny and these nutjobs out of the White House. 

The Boys in the Band

 I watched the Netflix remake of The Boys in the Band over the weekend and liked it a lot more than the original movie from 1970. I tried to watch the 1970 version some years ago and couldn't make it past about 40 minutes. Too much bitching, too much mincing, too much ugh. I had to turn it off. (Sorry, not sorry.) Everything doesn't work for everyone. 

The new version certainly has better looking actors. (Hey, Matt Bomer.) While I liked the remake better than the original, I had some issues with it also. 1. Jim Parsons: he just didn't work for me in this role. I didn't believe for a minute that he was Michael. That Texan accent and his general way of being just didn't fly for me as Michael, the closeted Catholic. 2. Brian Hutchison: He looked too old to have been Parson's college roommate. I know Parsons plays younger than he really is, but they should have had an actor who looked younger. He looked like maybe he'd been Jim Parsons's college professor. 

Now for what did work: 1. Matt Bomer and Andrew Rannells hooking up. (Who knew? I didn't!) Their brief (too brief) sex scene was muy caliente. This one caught me totally off guard. I had to watch it twice and will probably go back and watch it again. Matt is, well, Matt. He's lovely. (Did I mention I met him April 4, 2011 in New York? I'm sure I did!) But Rannells surprised me. I like Andrew Rannells. I bought and read his book Too Much Is Not Enough and enjoyed it and I like seeing him interviewed. He's funny and tells great stories, but he doesn't do it for me in THAT way. (Again, everything doesn't work for everyone.) But seeing him and Matt together was great. Andrew had more chemistry with Matt in The Boys in the Band than he did with his real-life partner, Tuc Watkins. (Sorry, but they did!) 2. The cast: Parsons aside, I thought all of the actors did a great job. Quinto, Hutchison, Carver, de Jesus, Washington, Watkins, Bomer, Rannells all were great. I wish I had been able to see the play on Broadway, but that didn't happen. 3. Ryan Murphy: Say what you want about Ryan Murphy, but he knows how to shoot a beautiful man. I have issues with a lot of his stuff, but not with the way he shows good looking men like Matt Bomer and Finn Wittrock. He knows what's he's doing.

Thoughts and Prayers

Thoughts and prayers to Donny and spouse. I hope his Covid crisis is used as a teachable moment for him. Maybe he'll learn that ignoring CDC guidelines and mocking those who do adhere to them aren't good to do. Then again, this is Donny we're talking about...a man who fails to acknowledge any of his own awful behavior but is quick to accuse others of behaving awfully. 

Is anyone really surprised by his diagnosis? I'm surprised it took this long. Given his age and other underlying health issues, it amazes me that he ignored the rules for staying safe, but when you think you're invincible and believe you have supersonic genes or something, I guess you can convince yourself that you won't get sick. Delusion is a powerful thing. 

WTF?

 I just watched the first presidential debate and all I can say is what the fuck was that? A shit show, I guess, is the best way to describe it. Donny was out of control, Chris Wallace was useless as the moderator (but he does work for Fox, so expectations were low), and Biden tried to hold his own, but he wasn't great either. I weep for our country. Is this the best we can do? Apparently. God help us all if Donny gets another term. The guy is nuts. He can't even control himself enough to allow someone to provide a 2-minute answer to a question without interrupting. What a waste of space and what a waste of time this debate was. I don't need to see any others. I've had enough. My pressure was up after watching this. I will watch Pence and Harris because they both know how to behave in a debate, unlike Donny. 

During the post-debate analysis on CNN, Van Jones was moaning about Donny's refusal to condemn white supremacists. I don't know why he was so shocked by that. Hasn't he been listening to Donny for the last three and a half years? He depends on those folks for votes and he believes that they believe. Why would he condemn them??? Stand back and stand by? Break out the white hoods and sheets, guys! Get the tiki torches ready! Pathetic. November third can't come soon enough. 

College Town

 I live in a college town and, although the university here has told freshman and sophomore students to stay home for the first quarter, other classes of undergraduates and graduate students have been allowed to return to campus. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, many businesses in my city rely on the college students and when there aren't any students in town, those businesses suffer. Students already vacated campus earlier than expected and now they're staying away beyond the summer. How is a local restaurant that relies on student traffic supposed to keep things going? It's a tough situation. But, on the other hand, what if all of the students were allowed to return, they dismissed the social distancing and mask rules in town, and there was a spike in Covid cases? This wouldn't help the situation either. Even though the students would be out and about and spending money locally, if an outbreak occurred, the university would surely shut down again, and we'd be back to square one. 

RIP RBG

 I saw Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the steps of the Supreme Court back in the 1990s. I was in Washington, DC for my stepbrother's wedding and everyone was out sightseeing before the wedding and there she was on the steps. I seem to recall she was posing for a picture someone was taking of her. She had her robe on. I was sad to hear about her death last night. But, for everyone moaning and groaning over her replacement on the Court, I say this: Be angry, be sad, and get over it. You can't let yourself get out of control about things you have no control over. Of course Donny and Cocaine Mitch are going to jam a conservative nominee into Ginsberg's spot and there's nothing we can do about that. What we CAN do is vote Donny and this gang out of office. Send these jokers packing. The fact that McConnell has remained in the Senate for as long as he has is a travesty. Kentucky isn't exactly thriving under his leadership, yet he gets reelected each time he runs. Ridiculous. 

Another One?

There are more books on the market about Donny about our awful POTUS and his awful exploits as POTUS and the awful people round him who promote his awfulness. Do we really need yet another book to tell us how terrible he is? Apparently we do! I read the first book about his crackpot administration (Fire and Fury, or whatever it was called) and that didn't really tell me much I didn't already know. Why buy these books when you can see Donny's craziness and idiocy on display every week for free? Just watch the news or the late-night talk shows for recaps of whatever stupid thing Donny said/did for the day. 

Seriously, if you're an undecided voter this late in the game, something is wrong with you. Get your shit together already! 

AHS

Before recently, I'd only watched two seasons of American Horror Story: the first one (with the haunted house) and the one dealing with the last presidential election. I'd tried watching other seasons when they were on, but never finished. Lately though, I've been watching the Hotel and Freak Show seasons on Netflix and I have some thoughts.

Hotel: How did I miss this when it initially aired? It's hilarious. I didn't even watch every single episode, but I watched enough and the ending. I mainly watched to see Finn Wittrock, Matt Bomer, and Cheyenne Jackson and I wasn't disappointed. Matt and Finn's brief fist fight was the equivalent of foxy boxing for me. And Finn and Cheyenne's scenes? Sleazy and titillating. I loved them. 

Freak Show: I'm only watching this to see Finn and he does not disappoint as Dandy Mott. What a mess. Just watching him throw a fit and start crying over not getting his way is hilarious. I see why he was nominated for an Emmy. He's great. 

With everything horrible happening in the world, I enjoy mentally checking out from time to time to watch something like American Horror Story or Tiger King and I have no shame in admitting this.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

 I'm finally finishing up the new book I've been working on called Thorns in My Side. I'm just proofing it now and doing some additional edits. It feels good to finally have this one wrapped up. Hopefully everything will work out for a January 2021 pub date for it. I'll keep you updated on that. It's been a long time coming (too long), but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope to have a short story based on something that happens in this current book and I'm working on that also. Writing is hard work even when there's not a pandemic going on or when you're overwhelmed from your day job. I read a blog post recently about how to deal with Covid in writing. Do you just ignore it? Set your work before the year 2020 or way into the future? My current work doesn't mention Covid at all because it was started before this thing happened and I really couldn't find a way to work it into the book without disrupting my time line. Readers can just assume these events took place prior to 2020. I would like to write something where Covid is a part of the story, but I'm not mentally there yet. Maybe a few years out when I can (hopefully) look back on the pandemic, I'll be in a better frame of mind to actually write about it, but not now. We need to get a vaccine and things need to get back to some normalcy before that happens.

Save Yourself!

 As this week draws to a close on yet another litany of disasters, I find myself asking, once again, "Can things get any worse?" Why yes, Kim, they can! I'm ready to knock myself out and hibernate through the rest of 2020. Wake me in 2021 when, hopefully, we'll be getting a new POTUS and a better view of life. But, since I can't do that, I have to try and live through the remaining months of 2020 (or stay alive through the remaining months). In an effort to try and save myself and my own mental health, I'm trying to limit the amount of news I watch and read online. It's all just too much sometimes. I want to stay informed, but I don't want to start the day in a funk because I turned on the news while I was having my morning coffee. We all have to do what we can to try and get through life's difficulties and I'm all about self-care. How can you take care of anyone else if you can't take care of yourself? Take the advice of flight attendants all over the world. Put the mask on yourself before attempting to assist others with their mask placement. Get your own oxygen flowing and then move on to help others with their oxygen flow. 

There are two people (one is a family member and one isn't) who I have avoided calling because talking with them both is emotionally draining for me. I just don't feel like hearing their tales of woe. Every time I talk with these individuals, I feel depressed after the call and I just can't put myself through that right now, so I've avoided them both. I hope they get the hint and don't call me at least for a while. So far, so good. I know I should come clean with both of them and just tell them, "I don't really like talking to you" but I haven't reached that point yet. For now, I'm hoping they'll pick up on my lack of communication and stay away.

Come Out Swinging and Keep Swinging

 I haven't been watching the Democratic National Convention, but I've been reading about it and watching clips from it. I'm glad to see the Dems coming out swinging against the current administration. During the last election when Democrats were advised to "go high when they go low" I disagreed with that plan. When you're running against a lowlife, sometimes you have to take it to the streets, come out swinging, and keep swinging on your opponent. I was glad to hear Obama hit Trump on his competency (or lack thereof) and conceit. Aside from everything else that annoys me about Donny, one of things I really hate is his unwillingness to learn. No one knows everything about everything, but we all should be willing to educate ourselves about things we don't know a lot about. Every presidency should involve on the job learning and that's why the POTUS should be surrounded by experts who can provide knowledgeable advice about domestic and international affairs. But when you have someone as POTUS who feels like he knows everything anyway and trusts his "gut" to tell him what to do, then you have the situation we find ourselves in now: a clusterfuck. 

I sincerely hope that the Democrats keep hitting Donny over and over with ads that are comprised of stupid things he's said (and they have a plethora of clips to use). Just play that shit in a loop and keep focusing on his bad decisions, conceit, inability to hire and maintain a cohesive administration, etc. A President doesn't have to be someone you agree with on every issue, but a President does need to be able to show empathy and care about the people and the state of the country. Donny does not have these qualities nor can he even fake them. November 3 can't come soon enough. 

Defaced!

 I checked a book out from the library last week and was annoyed to see that someone had gone through the pages and added little pencil marks and comments. People who deface library books should be locked up. If you want to write in a book, make sure you own that book. I spent time yesterday morning erasing the previous reader's marks from the book because I found them distracting and annoying. (The person's written comments were also stupid.) Thankfully, the book isn't big, so it didn't take me that long to erase  this person's mess. Thank God the jerk wrote in pencil and not pen.

When I was in college, I used to buy used books when I could because (A) they were cheaper than new books and (B) I was broke. I had to deal with someone else's highlighting and marks. But the people who marked those books had purchased them and I knew what I was getting into when I bought those books. No one was marking up a book that didn't belong to them. You don't own library books, so you shouldn't be writing in them. What is wrong with people? Defacing library books is like littering: nasty and totally unnecessary. Throw your trash in a garbage can! Also, get off my lawn! 

News and Not News

The big news today is that Biden finally picked a VP today, Kamala Harris. It's about time. I think Joe boxed himself in by pledging to have a woman as VP, but I'm fine with the pick. As I've said before, I'd vote for a ham sandwich for POTUS right now over Donny T. 

Yesterday's news here in the Chicago area was that hoodlums once again looted stores in and around the Loop. Ridiculous. The mayor et al really need to get a handle on the situation in the city. If I had lived in Chicago when the last mayoral election took place, I probably would have voted for Lightfoot. However, I probably would have ended up regretting that choice. She just doesn't seem to be able to get it together and I think her choice for police superintendent was a mistake. Superintendent Brown, in my opinion, isn't accustomed to dealing with the problems that Chicago is facing. Dealing with crime in Texas is different than dealing with it here. The issues are different and this isn't a position where someone has time to learn on the job. We need someone to come in here and get to work. After every weekend of double-digit shootings, we get the same press conference BS with Lightfoot and Brown. You can't keep doing the same things and expecting different results, folks.

And, finally, news that is NOT news, I've had it with hearing about Meghan and Harry. Enough already. Don't we have enough problems in the world without having multiple stories daily/weekly/monthly about the happiness or unhappiness of these two? Ugh. I don't care! I guess with most of the entertainment industry shut down, the gossip sites have to focus on something and now it's junk like Meghan and Harry or Ellen's shenanigans. 

April 4, 2011

I was watching Magic Mike XXL on Tubi last night. (I'd also seen it at the movies when it came out...don't judge me.) While I was watching it, I thought about April 4, 2011. Why, do you ask? Because April 4, 2011 was the day I met Matt Bomer. And, when I saw Matt in Magic Mike, I thought about that day. (I actually had to go through my emails to find the exact date.) When I worked and lived in NY, the show "White Collar" was filming in the building where I worked. I had gone to the Cafe Metro in the lobby to get some breakfast and when I came out, Matt Bomer was there in his little suit and hat. I talked to him, he shook my hand, and I was thrilled. He really is a beautiful man.  When I saw him, he was every bit as good looking as he was on TV and very nice. He was so good looking that I had a hard time focusing while talking to him. I wish I'd had my cell phone on me that morning so I could have gotten a picture, but I didn't. In 2011, I wasn't glued to my phone the way I am now. 

If I ever happen to run into Bomer again, I'll ask him, "Do you remember what you were doing the morning of April 4, 2011? I do!"

A few months ago, there was a Tweet from a person comparing the physical similarities of so many men who star in Ryan Murphy's projects. Matt Bomer, Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, etc. They all have dark hair and blue eyes. Murphy does seem to have a "type" and I'm not mad at him. You like what you like. 

The Little Things

As we all deal with the Covid pandemic, it's hard to try and find something positive in all of the negative news these days, but my new way to add some sunshine in my life is to have fresh flowers in my home. Ever since friends sent me roses for my birthday last month, I've been inspired to continue the tradition of having flowers around. Since I'm saving money by not eating lunch out (like I used to do when I was commuting to and from work), and not shopping the way I used to, I figured I could use some of that saved cash on flowers. I can usually pick up a bouquet at the grocery store or Trader Joe's and I like having flowers on display. Little things can help to brighten your day sometimes.

Write, Wrote, Written

I read a quote recently that was attributed to the author Anne Lamott that said most people who want to write a book actually want to say they've written a book. I get that. I agree that having a finished book is much better than having to actually write a book. Writing is hard work. Trying to make something out of nothing is an ordeal. There's also the time issue. Many writers can't afford to write full-time, so we work day jobs and do other things and try to squeeze the writing in between all of that. It's a tough job! I love to write and when I'm into it, it's great. When I'm not, it's terrible. Trying to bring random ideas together in a coherent story with a workable timeline is difficult. The project I'm working on now has been reworked three times. It started with third-person narrators, then went to alternating first-person narrators, and then back to third-person narration. Oy! But it's finally coming together and I plan to have it done by the end of August. It's been a struggle. I've been too distracted with work from my day job (that has overtaken some of my time on the weekends, unfortunately) and the everyday stress of the Covid situation that I just haven't been as diligent about writing as I should have been. I've got to change that and just make the time to write and stop letting everything else interfere with that.

In other news, my Dr. Fauci Bobblehead came in the mail last week. It's about time, Bobblehead Hall of Fame! I ordered this thing back in April. Keep on keeping on, Dr. F! Don't let the haters, Donny T, and the nutjobs get you down. 

Sea Change

I read an article in the NY Times today about changes going on in the publishing industry. In my opinion, these personnel changes are long overdue. For far too long, publishing has been run by the same kinds of people who like the same kinds of books and those books are the ones that get pushed to the public. As someone who's worked in publishing for many years (not trade publishing, but still), I've witnessed this first-hand. And, when you have a homogeneous workforce, you end up with homogeneous books. Another thing you end up with are a group of people who can't see beyond their own circumstances. If these publishing gatekeepers can't imagine a main character who isn't white or who doesn't meet their perception of a person who isn't white, then those books are rejected. Publishing needs to have a diversity of thought as well as race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, life experience, and the list goes on. Different people allow for different perspectives and that's something that is sorely needed in the publishing industry. I hope this sea change (although small) does yield some positive results for authors whose work would have otherwise been dismissed.

Meet Someone Else

When is NBC finally going to give Chuck Todd his walking papers and get a better host for Meet the Press? Todd is awful and has been for some time, yet he continues to have a job. Why? Does he have compromising information on some bigwig at NBC? Meet the Press? It's time to Meet Someone Else, NBC! But this is the same station that let Lyin' Brian Williams come back on the air and have a show after firing him. 

In other news, Donny T. finally strapped a mask over his face this weekend. It's about time but too little too late. He and other government officials should have come out of the gate telling people to wear masks and emphasized that to do so is just like wearing a seat belt when you get in your car. I really don't understand why something as simple as wearing a face mask has turned into a political argument. No one is taking away your rights! You don't have to wear the mask all day every day, just when you're around other people. When you go to the grocery store, when you go to the gas station, when you're in a situation where you can't social distance. You're free to not wear a mask in the privacy of your own home or when you're alone or with members of your household while in a car. People can be so ridiculous over nothing. I don't want your germs and I'm sure you don't want mine, so let's try to prevent the spread of those germs by putting a mask over our noses and mouths when we go out. I had a birthday last week and I told a relative that I'm just glad to be alive and I mean that. Covid is a killer and we all need to do what we can to stay safe.

Let It Go

It's annoying to me that many of the people who scream and complain about confederate statues being removed are the same ones who'll tell you that slavery happened a long time ago and blacks need to "get over it" or "let it go." These same folks who have their panties bunched up about the confederate flag being removed (heritage, not hate, you know) are the same ones who'll say, with a straight face, that racism doesn't exist anymore because we had a black president. Yeah, okay. The statue thing is irrelevant to me. Leave them up, take them down, I don't care. We have bigger fish to fry in this country. What I am against is black kids having to go to Robert E. Lee Elementary School or Stonewall Jackson High School. Those names need to change. I'd be in favor of not naming any public schools after people. Why not go full NY Public Schools and call them PS 35 or something plain like that? Or name the schools after an object. Sandy Beaches High School or Oak Tree Middle School.

In other news, do we really need yet another book to tell us Donny T is nuts? I don't think so even if this latest one is coming from a family member. (The calls are coming from inside the house, Donny!) That whole family is full of psychopaths and idiots and I don't need to spend $30 on a book to tell me that. Hell, you can see the dysfunction on a daily basis!

I'm taking a few days off from my day job this week to try and relax, write, and take care of some business. Last year around this time, I was in La Jolla. This year, I'm sitting on my couch watching Wild Wild West reruns, but that's okay. I'm just glad to be alive and kicking these days.

Take care, stay safe, and wear a mask!

July 6 - Blog Takeover

JMS Books is featuring a blog takeover for authors each day in July. My day is Monday, July 6, so check it out here: https://www.jmsbooksllc.com/

I'll have an excerpt from my upcoming book tentatively titled Thorns in My Side that I'm working hard to finish this summer.

Take care and stay safe!

Hello July!

As each day passes under the Covid quarantine, I've tried to stay positive and I want to believe that one day we'll be on the other side of the situation. But, while we're still in it, I'm happy to be alive. Each day is a good day even if it doesn't feel like it. I'm annoyed that wearing a mask has turned into a political issue. (Thanks, Donny!) Politics should have nothing to do with protecting your health. I wear a mask like a bandit and I'm, thankfully, in a state that mandates masks in public places like grocery stores.

So, hello July. I'm looking forward to another month of great weather (a  welcome surprise here in the Chicago area) and, hopefully, staying well. I hope you are too. Stay safe. Take care.

Pride Month - Sale at JMS Books

Check out this week's sales at JMS Books in celebration of Pride Month:

http://www.jmsbooksllc.com/images/prideweek.jpg

Take These Cookies, Please!

Due to a series of events, I ended up with six boxes of gluten-free cookies. (It's a long story.) I opened one box of cookies, didn't like the taste of them, and pitched them. So that left five boxes for me to deal with. If I was working at the office of my day job, I would have taken those cookies and left them in the break room for someone to take. But, since I'm working from home, I can't do that. So I decided to give these cookies a good home and donate them to a church or food bank. I had no idea how much of an ordeal this would be. First I went to my city's website and looked for organizations that accepted food donations. I found a local church that would. I went there Monday to take the cookies, but they had a sign on the door that said donations were only accepted Tuesday-Friday. I went back to the church this morning to take the cookies and was told by a church worker that I had to send an email to the church and tell them what food items I wanted to donate and then wait for a response to let me know if they'd accept the food. Really? Yes, really. I left that church and went to another one and that church accepted my five boxes of gluten-free cookies without any hassle. They thanked me, said they'd add the cookies to their pantry, asked me if I needed a tax donation receipt (I didn't), and told me to have a blessed day. Thank you, church that accepted my cookies.

I never thought it would be such a hassle to give a food donation. Given the dire straits many Americans are in with Covid and record unemployment, I know a lot of people are struggling to put food on the table. Granted, cookies aren't healthy staples like rice and canned goods, but we all could use a sweet treat every now and then and it wasn't like I was peddling Twinkies and Ding Dongs. Plus, these were fancy organic, gluten-free cookies! Not junk! People shouldn't have to jump through hurtles to try and give to those in need. I understand there's a pandemic going on and donation systems have changed as a result, but institutions like the first church I visited need to be a little more accepting of help offered to them. I'm glad those cookies found a good home.

In other food-related news, why has it taken until 2020 for someone to realize the Aunt Jemima brand is past its prime? (Uncle Ben, your time is up too!)

YOU Be the Change!

With everyone jumping on the bandwagon for justice these days following George Floyd's death, I wasn't surprised that one of the corporate honchos on my day job encouraged employees like myself to "be the change." Huh? My response to that was, "YOU be the change!" There are people, including this guy, who sit back and allow an old boys' network to spread like wildfire and run rampant in some areas of the company, yet they tell employees like myself , who have virtually no power, to "be the change." How about instituting some change in the E suite? How about encouraging some of your company buddies to hire a more diverse staff or, better yet, showing some of these geezers the door so a more diverse workforce can be hired in their place?

It annoys me to see companies turn a blind eye to real problems in their businesses while spitting out granola-crunchy platitudes like "be the change" or saying that black lives matter when they've got no blacks in power positions at their organizations.

Don't tell ME to be the change. YOU be the change!

Paul Robeson

The answer to injustice is not to silence the critic, but to end the injustice.

Paul Robeson

Some Good News

Despite the fact that we've been bombarded with bad news for what seems like forever, there is some good news to share.

1. Frank Rizzo's statue in Philly has finally come down. Woo hoo! I didn't live in Philly during the Rizzo years (thank God), but I did live there when that freaking statue stood in front of the Municipal Services Building. I used to wait for the bus in front of that thing. Ugh. I'm glad the status is finally gone. It should have been removed a long time ago given Rizzo's history of racism.

2. Steve King was defeated in his Congressional reelected bid. Good. He's another one who should have been thrown out (like Rizzo's statue) years ago.

Even small victories are still victorious!

Chicago Fire

I'm not talking about the TV show. Last night, downtown Chicago was on fire. Police cars were set ablaze along with some businesses in the Loop. It was a hot mess. I didn't even realize there was looting going on until I turned the news on at 10:00 (because I was watching something on cable). I knew protests were happening downtown, but I didn't know the situation had deteriorated into total chaos as night fell. I'd never seen the drawbridges pulled up to prevent people from crossing the river, yet they were all raised last night. I was disgusted to see looters in Macy's on State Street. I was disgusted to see the graffiti covering the Picasso statute. I was disgusted to see the Walgreens on the ground level of the Thompson Center looted. But was I shocked by these tragic events? No. Sadly, I was surprised something like this hadn't happened sooner. When you combine the Covid situation, record unemployment, and so many people out of money and out of hope with police brutality and racial problems that have plagued this country forever, you get what we got last night: Chicago on fire. And it wasn't just Chicago. It was Minneapolis, New York, and a host of other cities. It's a damn shame. I hate to see people looting and defacing property, but I also hate to see racist cops killing black and brown people and racist white women calling the cops on black guys who ask them to put their dog on a leash. People (myself included) are sick and tired of being sick and tired. But we can't let our city and our people descend into madness. We can't let chaos reign. We have to hold it down. We have to keep on keeping on.

Minneapolis

My sister lived in the Twin Cities for about 10 years and I used to go and visit her there. I loved visiting Minneapolis and St. Paul. I found the people friendly and I enjoyed being there. It was a nice break from the East Coast, where I was living at the time. I remember visiting one year in the winter and my sister and I went to the post office. I must have needed stamps or something and the clerk at the window was so friendly. He asked how I was doing and we chatted for a moment. That kind of thing didn't happen when I went to the post office in Brooklyn.

Seeing the murder of George Floyd and the unrest in Minneapolis makes me sad. I know bad things happen everywhere, but I was still surprised to hear about this happening in Minneapolis. The Target store that was looted by hoodlums last night was a store I had visited while I was there. (My sister used to refer to it as the Tar-ghetto because of its location.) I remember my sister and I laughing at the public housing in Minneapolis because it looked so much nicer than public housing we'd seen growing up in Detroit and that I've seen in other large cities like in Camden and Brooklyn.

With everything going on right now, it's discouraging to hear about one more bad thing. While people are dying, broke, losing their jobs, being evicted, dealing with depression, and generally flipping out, what's Donny worrying about? Twitter fact-checking him. Really? Yes, really. God, November can't come soon enough.

Tired of This

No, I'm not referring to my Coronavirus lockdown. (It's necessary!) There are a few other things that have been annoying me lately.

1. Colonial Penn TV commercials. Man, if I see another commercial with a senior asking, "Alex, what's my price?" I think I'm going to run into traffic. Is Colonial Penn solely funding certain TV stations? These channels need to get some new advertisers.

2. Wall-to-wall Coronavirus news coverage. I know this is a huge topic, but there are other things going on in and around Chicago and we could all use a break from "COVID-19: How many were infected today? How many died today?" I like to keep up with the news, but lately I've been watching things like Wild Wild West, Matlock, and Murder, She Wrote to get away from it.

Side Note: Speaking of Wild Wild West, how come Robert Conrad always seems to end up shirtless halfway through an episode? He's a nice looking man so I'm not complaining, but he sure was used as the beefcake for this show. I enjoy seeing him in his really tight pants and chaps (ass-less chaps and yes I know all chaps are ass-less; it's a joke 😊).

3. The ongoing tomfoolerly of Donny T. Between him questioning the scarf lady about injecting/ingesting bleach and Lysol and rallying behind these nutjobs who want to open everything back up and won't wear face masks, he gets his fragile feelings hurt when someone calls him obese (which he is). As Lizzo says "truth hurts." What's so ridiculous is he's always insulting others based on their personal appearance, yet when he gets criticized about being overweight, he snaps. As Bugs would say, "What a maroon!" Don't start nothing and there won't be nothing, Donny!

In the Air

As my day job contemplates when (if?) we'll ever return to the office, I asked management if anyone is looking at the ventilation systems in offices. I want to know this because I don't know if the Coronavirus can travel via heating/cooling systems via droplets like Legionnaire's disease. It's something to think about! While a lot of us are worrying about dealing with transmission between people, what about transmission via the air we breathe? In an enclosed setting like an airplane or an office, how do we know that air has been filtered enough to prevent us from inhaling spores or whatever that carry the virus? It's just one more thing to think about. You can wash your hands diligently, wear your face mask, stay six feet (or more) away from others, but you have to breathe and when you're inside a building, you breathe in that building's air.

This has nothing to do with airflow, but if clothing stores reopen, will people still be allowed to try on clothing? Do you want to try on a pair of pants or a shirt not knowing how many people have tried these items on before? (That's always a risk, but now it's an even greater risk.) And, what if you take the item home, wash it, try it on, and realize it doesn't fit, what then? Will the store take it back? Highly unlikely! So many things to think about and all of them are bad!

RIP, Jerry Stiller. Serenity now! Insanity later!

The Pull It Sir

I read yesterday that Colson Whitehead won his second Pulitzer (pronounced "pull it sir" and thanks to Andrew Sean Greer for that pronunciation lesson care of his Pulitzer Prize winning book Less) Prize for his novel The Nickel Boys. Whitehead won previously for his novel The Underground Railroad. I am a huge fan of Colson Whitehead's work and thought he truly deserved to win for The Underground Railroad. However, this year, I think the wrong book won. Anne Tyler was a finalist for her novel The Dutch House and she should have won. I bought and read both The Nickel Boys and The Dutch House and Anne Tyler was robbed. The Dutch House was so much better than The Nickel Boys. It was. The writing, the story, everything. For me, it was a page turner and The Nickel Boys just wasn't. The Nickel Boys started strong and just fizzled out for me. It took me far too long to finish that book and it's not a long book. The subject matter is interesting and, I suspect, the judges gave more weight to that aspect of the novel rather than to the novel itself. Yes, a narrative about black boys in the 1960's who were sent to a reform school where they were tortured and killed is a more compelling subject than a story about two upper middle class white kids whose stepmother threw them out of the house where they grew up after their father died. I get it. But The Dutch House was the better book. Sorry, not sorry, but it was.

Keep Your Distance

Anytime I go out now, whether it's to the grocery store or for a walk, I do my best to keep my distance from others. If I'm walking, I'll cross the street to avoid anyone coming towards me or I'll work to maintain a safe distance if I need to go around someone. I also wear a face mask anytime I go out (although not when I'm alone in my own car). This is the new normal right now and it's sad. I feel like I have to treat every person I see as a potential COVID-19 carrier, and I do! I don't know who has it and who doesn't, so I just assume everyone has it and I need to stay away from them and avoid having them breathe on me. I figure they assume the same thing about me and they should. You can't be too careful these days.

I got my letter from Donnie T. in the mail yesterday. I didn't realize he sent letters to everyone who received the government's Corona cash. I thought his letters were only going to people who got checks in the mail, not people (like myself) who got their money via direct deposit. What a waste of government resources. Donnie really is a big baby. He needs to much positive reinforcement just to get through the day. He has to see his signature on a letter to "My Fellow American" or his name on check to give his fragile ego a boost. His letter made it sound like he'd given you money out of his own pocket (and you know that didn't/wouldn't happen). That money came from taxes you and I pay! Ridiculous. November can't come soon enough.

Grocery Store Clothing

I bought shirts from Aldi last week. That's right. I bought clothing from the grocery store. I was in line (maintaining my designated 6-feet distance from other shoppers) and noticed a twin pack of camisoles on the shelf. I bought that pack of camis and they're very nice. I read an article recently where a clothing store owner in Alabama was complaining because his store wasn't allowed to be open due to the COVID-19 situation, yet Walmart was allowed to be open and sell clothing. This man seemed to overlook the fact that Walmart sells food in addition to clothing. If the complaining shop owner also sold meat, eggs, bread, milk, etc., I'm sure he'd be allowed to open also, but selling just shirts and pants doesn't cut it. Yes, we need clothes, but no one is going to die because they can't go shopping for a new shirt or a new pair of pants. People will die if they can't eat!

During this quarantine, I've thought a lot about what a return to the office might mean for me personally. My day job has a pretty open floor plan with no real dividers to keep you from reaching out and touching the person sitting next to you, in front of you, or behind you. There are no high cubicle walls. This is a problem if you're concerned about someone else breathing on you. And what about the ventilation? If COVID-19 can be circulated through an air conditioning system (like Legionnaire's disease), how can workers be assured that they won't ingest droplets or whatever from infected people? And what about the common workplace spaces like restrooms and kitchens? How can companies deal with possible transmissions when you have so many people touching the same stuff? It's one thing to keep your own workstation clean, but that's nearly impossible when dealing with community work spaces. Maybe we'll all end up wearing Hazmat suits in the future.

Stress Baking

As we start yet another week under home arrest, I have to confess I did some stress baking over the weekend. I made a 7-Up cake cake that turned out quite well. (When the only cake pan that you have is a Bundt cake pan, you made a Bundt cake!) I'm glad I had a small bag of flour I bought the last time I made a cake that I could use because I sure couldn't find any at the grocery store. Clearly I'm not the only person stress baking right now. I had all of the ingredients and was ready to go yesterday when I realized I didn't have any 7-Up! (It's not something that I normally drink and have on hand.) I had to go out and buy a small bottle just to make the cake.

I'm trying to focus on the positive aspects of this crisis. With so many places closed, I'm certainly saving money by not being able to buy much more than groceries, so that's good. The weather is turning nicer here (although we did have snow last week), but on the warmer days, I've been able to get out and do some walking to get exercise since the local Y is closed for business, and that's great. (Sitting around eating cake and watching trash like "Tiger King" isn't helping me to keep the weight off, so I need all the exercise I can get!) My next goal is to walk my bike to the gas station and get the tires pumped up so I can ride around the neighborhood. Gas has fallen below $2 a gallon around where I live so that's a plus (even though I'm not doing much driving these days). The money from the government helped. So many people are out of work right now, so getting those funds hopefully helped to ease some of the financial burdens some people are facing.

I wish I could say I'm getting a lot of writing done, but that's not happening. I've been dragging my feet on a story I've been working on for some time now and I'm about ready to throw in the towel on it, but not yet. I keep thinking I can salvage it, but at some point I'll have to move forward or call it a day.

Where'd You Get That?

My last post was titled "The New Normal" about our new normal situation dealing with COVID-19. As part of this new normal of social distancing, you might get a question like I did today as I was leaving a local grocery store. A man stopped to ask me where I'd gotten the face mask I was wearing. I told him I bought it online (Etsy, to be specific) and as I drove home I thought what a sad conversation that had been. We're discussing where we get facial masks now? Yes, we are. I also wonder where a lot of folks are getting face masks from these days because they seem to be hard to find (at least around the Chicago area where I live). I had to order my masks online because I didn't know where else to find them locally. I got a pack of three and I'd glad to have them. I hand wash them each time I wear them, hang them up to dry, and then iron them (because these are the kinds of things I do when I'm stuck at home all day every day). If I knew how to sew so I could make my own masks!

The New Normal

I was excited to get a three-pack of face masks in the mail today. Woo hoo! How sad is that? Getting face masks in the mail was the highlight of my day. I guess this is the new normal. Wearing face masks when you go out, only going to and from the grocery store or pharmacy, making sure to maintain six feet of distance between yourself and others if you go out of the house. I'm doing what I need to do to try and stay safe these days and I hope everyone else is also. I wonder if we'll ever get back to having group gatherings like concerts or sports events. I assume we will, but it's hard to imagine such a venue now with everything going on. I cringe when I think about getting on the L again to commute to and from my day job. Just the thought of being squished up in a train car grosses me out. There's no way to maintain social distancing under those circumstances.

There are so many people out there doing what they can to try and make life better for the rest of us these days and those folks deserve a hand and thanks for their service. The medical workers, the postal carriers, delivery folks, fast-food service workers. They're all working to get us through this and often putting their own health on the line to serve the public. They should be commended.

RIP Ellis Marsalis

Well, the Rona claims another victim. This time it's legendary jazz musician Ellis Marsalis. I read about Ellis's death early this morning on my phone during a bout of insomnia. I was fortunate to be able to see Ellis perform in Philadelphia many years ago with his sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo, and Jason and the show was excellent. That show also convinced me that Ellis is far more talented than any of his extremely talented children. I have the CD the family put out when they did that tour. I need to dig that out. I posted a message on the NY Times comments section (that I hope gets posted) about Ellis's passing and I wrote that if you want to hear the master at work, listen to his piano solo on Harry Connick, Jr.'s version of "Stardust." It's so great. I'm getting a shiver up my spine just thinking about it.

RIP, Mr. Marsalis. You and your music will be missed.

Trenton Ain't Making and the World Ain't Taking!

When I lived in Philly and Jersey, I'd drive between both states on I-95 and see the bridge right before you get to Trenton that says "Trenton Makes, the World Takes." Well, right now I don't think Trenton or any other city in the US is making much that the world is taking since we barely have any manufacturing in our country anymore.

Every time I watch the news and there's talk about how there aren't enough ventilators or masks for medical personnel in our hospitals, I find myself asking, Why not? With as much money as we have in the United States, why don't we have enough basic goods for our doctors, nurses, nursing home workers, and other medical personnel? I understand not having enough items on hand for this pandemic that really struck fast, but why aren't we able to simply make more of these items? Is it because we rely too much on overseas manufacturing? Because we're too dependent on cheaper products made in China? If this Coronavirus pandemic isn't a wake up call for the country, it should be. We really have to get back to manufacturing products in our own country. We need to make our own masks, ventilators, gloves, face shields, whatever so we can get these items distributed quickly when needed without having to rely on overseas manufacturers or the charity of other countries. The United States generates a lot of money. It's time we started putting more of that money to work in our own country. Of course it costs more to make things domestically, but so what. Again, we're not exactly a country that doesn't have money. Plus, we can and should pay people decent wages for work like this. We used to make things, we used to manufacture items, and now we don't and it's coming back to bite us in the ass.

Lazy Weekend

I watched all 7 episodes of The Tiger King on Netflix this weekend. Yeah. That was interesting. Throughout each episode, I kept thinking, This is why Donny is POTUS. A lot of folks are nuts. Another lazy weekend in front of the TV during the Coronavirus Lockdown of 2020. Not that I'm complaining. I'm glad to not be sick either at home or in a hospital. I'm doing my part to maintain social distancing although I did venture out to the grocery store yesterday with a ton of other folks. I did my best to keep my distance from them and vice versa. Today I ventured out to the mailbox. It's a good thing that the weather has been pretty crappy around Chicago this weekend, so that has kept people indoors. I still think it's good to try and take a walk if you can even if it's just around the block. We all need fresh air and a change of scenery.

As I keep reading about the epidemic and the situation in New York, I can't help wondering what things would be like for me if I still lived in Brooklyn. Schlepping to Foodtown or the bodega for what meager groceries they had to offer. No car. No way to escape the city without taking public transit. Oy! I probably would have had a breakdown by now. I feel for those folks. I feel for everyone dealing with this situation. People who are out of work, people who have to work, people who want to work but can't. I know we'll come out on the other side of this eventually, but it's hard to imagine that light at the end of the tunnel when there are so many days of darkness still to come. We all have to stay strong and do the best we can with what we have.

On the bright side, I am getting some writing done, so I'm not totally frying my brain watching stories about tiger handlers and their groupies. I'm also doing some reading and I'm thankful I have my Kindle since the local libraries and bookstores are closed. E-readers are coming in handy now.

What Day Is It?

I feel like the days are all running into each other. When you're confined to your home, Monday feels like Tuesday and Tuesday feels like Wednesday. The weekends go by and they don't feel like weekends. I've been trying to get out most days for a walk just to get out of the house and breathe some fresh air. Plus, I could use the exercise because I'm certainly not getting it any other way. The Y is closed for business right now. We all adjust and do the best we can with what we have. After an exhaustive search, I finally got some toilet paper. Yea! Sam's Club had some and I was glad to be able to buy a pack. I was down to my last two rolls and the panic was setting in! I split my bounty with my sister. Sam's was limiting people (thankfully) to just one pack per customer. Over the weekend, a local Citgo station was selling a small 4-pack for $7.99 plus tax! I reported them to the Illinois Attorney General's office for price gouging. Eight dollars for a dollar-store pack of toilet paper was ridiculous. This wasn't Charmin or Angel Soft, folks! Ridiculous. I can't believe how some businesses are trying to take advantage of people at a time like this. People are out of work. They can't afford $8 toilet paper!

And what's with all of these celebrities and NBA players getting tested for COVID-19 when normal folks and health professionals can't get tests? Ridiculous again! Our society has problems. I know the playing field isn't level, but this kind of stuff really needs to stop given what the country is going through right now. The people who need to be tested should be tested ahead of celebrities and athletes who can certainly wait.

One Week

Well, it's been one week since I last worked in the office at my day job. And what an interesting week it's been. I bought toilet paper from a gas station last night. That's right. Toilet paper from a gas station convenience store. I couldn't find any after going to three grocery stores and one Walgreens over the week and finally I was able to get a few rolls from a BP station. This is what it's come to. At least they had some! Working from home has enabled me to save money. No more runs to Starbucks or McDonald's in the morning. Now I drink my coffee and eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at home. In addition to the financial savings, when I cook my own food, I know it's safe. It's a win-win! I do miss going out to eat, but I'll get over it. I'll have to. If the weather was nicer around here, I'd be able to get out for walks daily, but it's kind of crappy around Chicago right now, so I haven't been getting out every day. I do recommend that you try to get out for a walk each day if can during this pandemic. It helps just to be outside even if it's only for 15-30 minutes. (Just avoid others!) We all have to keep our sanity during these difficult times and, I don't know about you folks, but there's only so much news I can take on a daily basis. I want to be informed, but I don't want to keep hearing this gloom and doom every freaking time I turn on the news. At least the election is over here in Illinois so I don't have to see a steady stream of political ads with Bernie, Joe, and whoever else is/was running for office.

Stay strong, folks. The struggle is real.

Lockdown!

Well, that was fast. We went from mild panic to full-on freak-out mode in less than a week. My day job told everyone to work from home starting today "until further notice." Fine with me. I thought about going out to try and pick up a few things from the store this evening, but I'm afraid to given the crowds and the lines. I'm down to my last three rolls of toilet paper and I'm low on Coffeemate! This shit just got real. I also had a coughing fit last night, but it seems to have gone away today. Still, I don't want to chance anything by going out. So I'm going into lockdown mode, like a lot of other folks as we deal with this Coronavirus crisis. It's amazing to me how so many things have changed over a period of 1-2 days. Sports gatherings have been cancelled, concerts have been cancelled, museums and schools are closed, colleges and universities told students to attend classes online, businesses have closed up shop. I'm just curious to know how long things will go on like this. Until we get notification that the virus has peaked? And who, exactly, would give that notification? Donny T.? Hopefully not. I'd prefer to get news from someone who's not lying on a daily basis.

I am looking forward to getting some much needed rest over the next few days/weeks now that I don't have to schelp to work on the L. Maybe I can save a few bucks too by not eating out. But what about the people who can't work from home? The ones who work service jobs that depend on people who go to the Starbucks, stay at hotels, eat out at restaurants? If those places don't have customers, they can't stay open. We can only hope and/or pray (if you're a praying person) that things improve sooner rather than later. Life probably won't ever go back to how it was, but maybe it can get close to being how it was and we can all keep calm and carry on.

Corona Anyone?

Have we reached peak hysteria yet over the Coronavirus? I feel like it's the only thing on everyone's mind these days. I was walking behind two guys when I went out for lunch the other day and the only word I heard from them was "Coronavirus." I've talked about it myself with relatives, coworkers, neighbors. Aside from washing your hands, social distancing, avoiding crowds, and staying away from sick people, what else can you do? Lock yourself up indoors and don't come out again until the crisis is over (if it ever ends)? Most of us don't have the luxury of staying indoors like that, so we go out, do the best we can, and take our chances. I read about price gouging of products like Lysol and Purell in New York. Some store was selling a can of Lysol for $19.99 and another was selling a bottle of Purell for $14.99. That's ridiculous. People will try to make a buck off of anything. I have to believe the hysteria wouldn't be as hysterical if we didn't have an idiot at the helm of our country. If people felt confident in our leadership, they could chill out a little. But, as the saying goes when you elect a clown, you get a circus. (And saying that about Donny is an insult to clowns!)

Clearly, Mike Couldn't Get "It" Done (and Other Observations)

I got this in the mail today:

You should have saved your money, Bloomie! It's over for you. I'm surprised Bloomberg did as poorly as he did on Super Tuesday. I thought for sure he'd do better. I believe he failed for three reasons: 1. Joe-mentum pushed him out of the game. 2.  People just didn't seem to want him for POTUS. 3. People didn't think he could hold his own on the debate stage against Donny T. All that money spent and he only won American Samoa? Sad.

In other news, the hysteria over Coronavirus is reaching peak levels. No Purell in the stores, functions canceled, people quarantined in their homes. Unless you truly put the public on lockdown (a la China), this thing can and will spread. You can only do so much to restrict people's activities when you live in a free society. As I've said before, freedom ain't free! As much as I'm personally trying not to freak out during every ride on the L (particularly when someone sneezes or coughs), it's not reassuring that our government has VP Pence on the case to handle this thing. Does he even believe in medicine or does he just plan to pray on the situation and hope for the best? I believe in prayer too, but I also believe in medicine and science and reality. Between the media's non-stop coverage and Donny T.'s bad moves, it's enough to make you feel sick (even if you aren't really sick).

In my old age, I'm not ashamed to admit when I like something that others might find embarrassing. Today's example is Justin Bieber's song "Yummy." Yeah, I like it. I like the song, I like the video, I like the little dance routine near the end of the video. I can't say I care much for many of the lyrics, but the beat is good. I am not usually a fan of autotuning one's voice, but it works here. When did Biebs get so many tatts? I couldn't believe how much ink he had when I watched the "Yummy" video. Oy! I have to admit, before "Yummy" I couldn't name a Bieber song. I'm not exactly the demographic for his music. But I give credit when credit is due! Lost control of myself, I'm compromised! 😄

Can Mike Get It Done? (Whatever "It" Is)

You know Mike Bloomberg has long money when he gets a new commercial on the air every week depending on what's happening. When he apologized for Stop and Frisk, he immediately made sure to run commercials featuring him and Obama, like they were BFFs. After he got slammed at his first debate in Nevada last week, he immediately came out with a new commercial featuring a multi-racial group of women who worked for him to sing his praises. Now with the coronavirus running rampant, Bloomie has a commercial running that touts his ability to lead during a crisis (after 9/11) and how he's helped to fund medical research. Bloomberg's ads often end with his slogan: Mike Can Get It Done. What I'd like to know is what, exactly, he's going to get done. What is the "it" that he's talking about? It's a mystery (pun intended). At this point, I'd vote for a ham sandwich for POTUS to get rid of the current occupant and we could do a lot worse than Bloomie. (Yeah, I'm not feeling the Bern, kids.) No candidate can be all things to all people. They're all flawed. But I don't intend to let my disagreements with anyone running against Donny to stop me from voting.

Cranky Traveler

I had to take a quick trip to New York last week (after being there only about two weeks earlier) for my day job and found the experience to be both exhausting and annoying. I'm just not cut out to travel constantly. Getting up early to get to the airport, going through the hassle of checking in for a flight, schlepping through security, boarding, the flight itself, deplaning...it's all exhausting. If I had to travel constantly for work, I'd have to find another job. This last trip, while not bad in terms of my flights leaving and arriving on time and having no real problems, still annoyed me because I just wasn't in the mood to travel. I was the cranky traveler. Everything was pissing me off. The sweater I wore when flying out of O'Hare set off the security monitors, so I had to get a pat down complete with a check around the waistband of my pants. Lovely. And O'Hare still doesn't have their monorail working, so I had to get on the shuttle bus from the economy parking lot to get to the terminal. This thing has been down for, what, two years now? Ridiculous. That adds an extra half hour onto my commute time. Coming back through Newark, I had a terrible burger at an airport in the restaurant. (Everyone doesn't want ketchup on their burgers, folks.) Then the woman sitting next to me on the flight kept elbowing me every time she turned a page in her book, so I had to contort myself to avoid contact with her. I didn't get home until after 11:30 pm Thursday and I was exhausted, but couldn't sleep. Great. Again, I was cranky, and there were no real problems. The weather was great in NYC and I usually enjoy going there even though my time is short when I'm there for work. I really need to take a week off or do a long weekend in New York so I have time to actually enjoy the city.

Too Much!

I went to the Chicago Auto Show today to check out the new cars on the market. Not that I'm in the market for a new car myself especially considering I finally paid off the used car I have. I'm looking forward to NOT having a car payment for a while and I intend to drive my heap until the wheels fall off. But I digress. At the auto show, I saw one car after another priced so high that I don't know who could afford such a vehicle. Only rarely did I see a car that started under $20K. Most of the small crossover vehicles were $30K and up. No wonder the kids are calling for Uber and Lyft. They can't afford to own a car! And, once you get the car payments taken care of, what about insurance and maintenance? People are financing cars for 7 years now. That's crazy. I'm all about used cars these days. If I had to get another one, I'd get a used car again. One of my coworkers made fun of me for buying a used car, but I'm beyond that kind of nonsense. I buy what I can afford. So while he's digging deep to make payments on a new Mercedes, my Volkswagen was financed at a monthly rate I could afford and now that baby is paid for. In my old(er) age, I've stopped caring about what people think of my financial situation. I buy what I can afford and I'm not ashamed to tell anyone I don't have the money for something when I don't. Now that my car is paid off, I'd like a new refrigerator so that's what I'm planning to purchase this year. And they're crazy expensive too! I'm not even looking for some fancy, stainless steel model. I just want an old-school freezer on the top white fridge to replace the cutesy one I have with the freezer on the bottom that holds NOTHING. When I bought my place from the previous owner, the appliances came with it, so I didn't purchase them. I was glad to have them, but the fridge is not my style at all. In due time, it'll be replaced.

Now More Than Ever!

I did a post a week or so ago arguing against having states like Iowa and New Hampshire be the at the forefront of the presidential candidate race because neither state represents the country in terms of racial, religious, whatever demographics. With all of the shenanigans going on now after the debacle that was the Iowa Caucuses, the powers that be need to get moving and make sure the state of Iowa isn't the front runner in the next election cycle. The demographics issue alone should be enough to make the political committees decide to take both Iowa and New Hampshire out of their lead spots, but now with the caucus issues, there's even more reason to move on from Iowa in particular. I disagree with caucusing anyway. What happened to casting your ballet anonymously? All of that goes out the window when you have to declare your vote in a public forum.

In other news, is anyone really surprised that Donny T. lives to ride another day? Did anyone really think he was on his way out of office? Come on. The only way to get rid of him at this point is to vote him out. The mere thought of spending another four years dealing with this guy's juvenile behavior, ridiculous tweets, and overwhelming idiocy is enough to make me run, not walk, to the polls on election day. I saw a survey today that claimed only 61 percent (or something like that) of people intended to vote in the next election. That number seems ridiculously low, especially given the situation the country is in right now. I shouldn't be surprised but I am surprised that the number isn't higher. I know better than to trust pollsters in this day and age, but this poll does leave me concerned. Are people that apathetic? I know it's hard to believe in democracy these days, but we need to keep hope alive. Now more than ever.

All Things to All People

One of my favorite expressions is "You can't be all things to all people." I firmly believe this. In my younger years, I tried to be all things to all people and failed. Eventually I realized that it's an impossible task and became okay with not trying to satisfy everyone. I got a text last week from some Bernie campaign folks. (How they got my number is beyond me. Maybe they got a hold of it through some Democratic database.) In any case, I was asked if I'd Feel the Bern for the 2020 election and my response was "Nope" complete with a thumbs down emoji. Then I got a text back asking why I wasn't supporting Bernie. I told these folks that I didn't feel Bernie could beat Donny T, but that I'd support whoever the Democratic nominee was. In any presidential race, you'll always have candidates who are good in some areas and bad in others. No candidate is perfect. You have to weigh the person's good plans against his/her bad ones and hope for the best. With this year's field of candidates, I dislike many things about many of them, but my main concern is making Donny pack it in and take his corrupt cronies, stooges, and family of grifters should all GTFO of the White House.

I just read an article today on Politico about Iowa residents being worried that they'll lose their status as the first state for candidate caucusing. They SHOULD lose their front runner status. Iowa and New Hampshire both should lose their front runner status because neither state has a diverse population that represents the United States. Two of the whitest states in the country get to have the first say in who should be the "winning" candidates? Please. It's a joke. One of the Iowans interviewed in the story said the citizens may not look diverse, but they vote in a diverse way. Obama! Yeah, whatever. It's past time to have another state lead the charge in primary voting, one that more favorably represents the citizens of the country as a whole.

Music

In my effort to drown out the impeachment, the coronavirus, and most of the other bad news flooding the airwaves these days, I've been listening to music by two artists I hadn't been familiar with: Leon Bridges and Jill Barber. I happened to hear a song called "Texas Sun" by Leon Bridges and a band called Khruangbin on a Sirius station while I was driving and really liked it, so I looked into some of his other music. He's very talented and I hate that I'm late to the game in even hearing of him, but I don't tend to listen to a lot of modern music.

Jill Barber came on my radar when I was looking for Louis Armstrong's version of "A Kiss to Build a Dream On" (thanks, Grantchester!) and I listened to her version via iTunes and was hooked. Her version "A Kiss..." is really great not only because of her voice, but because of the arrangement. The violin sections are really wonderful. She also sings a version of "Sukiyaki" that I enjoy.

After watching the first season of "The Politician" on Netflix, I was driven to download Billy Joel's "Vienna" (which, unfortunately, is not on my Billy Joel's greatest hits CD) and James Taylor's version of Joni Mitchell's song "River." I am not a Mitchell fan, but JT's version of "River" is very soothing and very Taylor-esque. If you're a fan of his music, as I am, you'll surely enjoy it.

This Is Why...

I need to stop watching these Netflix documentaries like the ones involving the Bikram yoga guy and the Fyre Festival because they only serve to reinforce my feeling that there are a lot of gullible people in the world. I'm constantly amazed at what people are willing to believe. This is why Donny T is POTUS. It's really sad that so many people seem to get taken my charlatans these days. You'd think with the wealth of information out there via the internet that people would do more research before investing in something, but the internet is part of the problem. There's so much bad information out there that sometimes it's hard to find the good information. When I watched both documentaries, I kept thinking about that posted from the X Files that Mulder had in his office that said "I Want to Believe." The Fyre Festival people wanted to believe they were attending an exclusive event with fashionable people. The Bikram followers wanted to believe they were in the presence of a true yogi who could transform their lives. Yeah. Okay. Irrationality loses to rationality on a daily basis. It happens to all of us from time to time, but hopefully not to such an extent.

Coyotes and Hypocrites

We've had a few coyote attacks in Chicago lately and a few of the animals have been rounded up, but I believe there's still one (or more) out there on the loose. The animal experts keep saying it's unusual for coyotes to attack humans, but they're clearly attacking folks around here. A kid was attacked and a man claimed one bit him on the ass. (The ass attack was still under investigation.) Animals are just that...animals. Their behavior is unpredictable and that's why your dog isn't held accountable for biting someone (or for biting another animal). You, as the owner, are held accountable for your dog's actions. I've watched enough episodes of The People's Court and Judge Judy to know that. Two of the theories I heard on the news were that the coyotes that attacked people around here were sick and, therefore, exhibiting abnormal behavior as a result of illness and the other theory was that the coyotes had become too familiar with people because people had been feeding them. I can believe both scenarios. I could see someone mistaking a coyote for a dog and feeding it. Sad, but true. It's still amazing to me to know that we have wild coyotes roaming the streets of Chicago. Crazy!

In other news, I was emailing with a coworker last week about Harry and Meghan's exit from the Royal Family since that fiasco has been all over the news lately. I am not a royal watcher at all. I might take a look at pictures of the kids that show up in the media, but that's about it. I don't keep up with the palace intrigue because I largely don't care. But when I was asked to give my views on Megxit, I admitted my feelings were mixed. On one hand, Harry and Meghan should live their lives as they see fit. If they want to walk away from royal life, then they should. On the other hand, I think Meghan got a rude awakening after marrying Harry and just wasn't prepared for the changes her life would take as a result. I remember telling someone back when they first announced their engagement that no amount of love in the world would make me marry into something like that, not after I'd been free and controlling my own life for more than 30 years. To go from being an independent person to under the thumb of the Queen, unable to make even basic decisions about what to wear or where to go? Forget it. But that's what she signed up for when she married into that family. Still, it kills me that the media just dump on this woman and act like the royals aren't a hot mess themselves. They're far from being squeaky clean, yet they want to pull rank on the half-black American woman? Please. Such hypocrites.

Up in Smoke

Since Illinois is now allowing for the sale of recreational marijuana (effective January 1), the dispensaries have been doing a brisk business. Business has been so brisk that some sellers have sold out and they've been forced to shut their doors due to a lack of supply for recreational users. Did they not anticipate the crowds that would come for this? Apparently not. I have issues with the legalization of marijuana for a couple of reasons. One, marijuana is a gateway drug. I've witnessed someone in my own family go from being a recreational pot smoker to being a crack smoker. It happens, people! Two, marijuana use can devastate already vulnerable people. For example, I knew someone, again, who was a recreational pot smoker for years. But she worked in a medical environment (not as a medical professional like a doctor or nurse) and when a new company took over her place of employment and required drug testing for its employees, she tried to use her daughter's drug-free urine to pass the test, was caught, and lost a job she'd had for more than ten years. This wasn't someone who was in a financial situation that enabled her to take a hit (no pun intended) like this. She wasn't wealthy. (Clearly, she had enough cash for weed, but still.) This woman lost her job because of marijuana use. It's not a harmless drug!

I'm all for people having civil liberties, but there's a dark side to marijuana use and I think a lot of folks who advocate for the legalization of weed don't see this. Illinois is broke and becoming the legal weedman allows the state to rack in a ton of cash quickly to cover costs. I saw a story on the news last week that $100 worth of legal weed in Chicago will set you back another $28 in taxes. That's almost 30% in taxes! That didn't stop folks from lining up in the cold for hours to get their legal weed on and after January 1.

Another thing that bothers me about the legal weed is that these dispensaries deal in cash only. That's a recipe for disaster! Banks don't want to deal with marijuana transactions, so the dispensaries have to deal in cash, but those places are sitting ducks for thieves. One dispensary was robbed recently and I heard on the news the thieves didn't even take any of the weed! They went straight for the cash. Better security is needed for the dispensaries and for the people visiting them.