September 2023 Books

* Sure I'll Join Your Cult ¹ by Maria Bamford - Maria's honest take on her experiences with mental illness was completely refreshing and unlike anything else. Who knew I could love her more than I did before reading this?!

* The Prophet ¹ by Kahlil Gibran - Absolutely gorgeous and Riz Ahmed's voice was like a dream.

Little Women ¹ by Louisa May Alcott

♥ King of the Weeds ¹ by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins - Oh this was such a fantastic Hammer book with a real scumbag baddie. But like always, I knew Mike would get him in the end!

♥ All in All ¹ by Stacy Keach - Even better the second time around.

** The Message in the Hollow Oak by Carolyn Keene

♥ Tales of the City ¹ by Armistead Maupin

* More Tales of the City ¹ by Armistead Maupin 

♥ Further Tales of the City ¹ by Armistead Maupin - Without question one of the best of the series. It had been years since I read it (in Dublin 2018) and so much of it had slipped from my mind. The whole Jim Jones plot-line made this a mega page turner. Frances McDormand did a fab job of narrating and made me LOL every time she, as Prue Giroux, hollered for Vuitton. 

* Babycakes ¹ by Armistead Maupin - Alan Cumming's narration actually made it possible for me to stomach the bits about that horrid Mary Ann Singleton. He was excellent.

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

August 2023 Books of the Month

* Rememberings by Sinéad O'Connor ¹ - After her death was reported I looked her up on Wikipedia to see the cause of death or whatever. That led me down a rabbit hole which led me to locate her recording of her excellent memoir. I loved Nothing Compares 2 U when it came out but didn't know anything else about her and had no idea why she tore up a photo of the then pope. Now I know that she was protesting the church's view that raping babies and children is completely acceptable. Why did so many people get angry about tearing up a photograph instead of being angry at a man that is supposedly god's representative here on earth who covered up atrocities carried out on children? I"m pretty certain that if god exists, they look down upon abusing children. Learning more about this brilliant woman, her childhood, political views, beliefs, songwriting, and struggles was something I wish I'd known about when she was alive. Alas, twas not to be.

* The Good Life by Tony Bennett

* The Apology ¹ by V - This was an extremely difficult listen, although superbly narrated by Edoardo Ballerini. Writing the apology letter you wish to have received from your abuser had to have been an incredibly cathartic process. Absolutely brilliant.

* Pollyanna ¹ by Eleanor H. Porter - I've loved the film version since I was a child and the book was equally as wonderful.

* The Clue of the Broken Locket by Carolyn Keene - Another fun Nancy Drew mystery with her chums Bess and George.

♥♥ The Goliath Bone ¹ by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins

♥ Murder Never Knocks ¹ by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins

¹ - audiobook
² - abridged version
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

September 2023 Donations

Tees 4 Togo

With the unveiling of Beastie Boys Park last week, Tees 4 Togo released two new rad shirts. I was super disappointed that they weren't on the website and were only available at the event - UNTIL....there was a notice on Tees 4 Togo's IG page alerting everyone to dash over and pre-order a tee. Well I got my fat ass over there with the quickness and just hope I ordered a size that doesn't look ridonkulous. Can't wait!

During the preorder window only, you can pre-order a reprint of the butter tee that sold out at the event. Mike D and Ad-Rock have signed some of the shirts and we will randomly pick which order gets one, Willy-Wonka-Golden-Ticket style. We need a minimum of 200x pre-orders to launch the reprint of the tee. Tell all your friends and get yours. If you make a partial payment you will automatically be charged the remaining balance at the end of the pre-order phase. If the products do not meet the threshold to reprint, you will be offered a full refund, or the option to donate all, or a portion, of your purchase price to the Peace Sisters charity.

About Tees 4 Togo:

100% of the profits from TEES 4 TOGO go to Peace Sisters a group started by Tina Kampor who has been sending money back to Dapaong, Togo for 15 years so girls in her hometown can attend school.

Each shirt costs $40, which is how much it costs to send a girl to school in Togo for one year.  

The sweatshop-free shirts are collaborations between the artists and the performers who inspired them. They all donated their time and likeness to help girls in West Africa receive the educations they deserve.

- Kathleen Hanna

Please join me in the Low Budget Philanthropy movement and help out your community and beyond in the simplest way - donating any amount to whatever charity or organisation that you care about!

The Good Life

I'd had this book for a while and finally began reading it in May. I don't read as many book-books as I'd like, since audiobooks are so much easier for me. I was thoroughly disappointed that Mr. Bennett never recorded his memoirs. Oh, wouldn't that have been wonderful?! But alas, it was not to be. I was reading chapter six at the time of his passing and it's still sad to think that his light no longer shines here on Earth. He had a good, long life, but longevity doesn't negate the desire to have someone live forever. 

There were so many great moments in this book. Some of my faves are as follows:

• Bumping into his old pal Frank Smith at Thanksgiving in 1945 in Mannheim, Germany of all places! (page 69)

• When guitarist Chuck Wayne heard a comic trash talking Tony and their act in Florida and the two of them went down to the club, went backstage and threatened the comic should he ever mention them again. Ha! Turned out it was Don Rickles. (pages 128-129)

• The stories about his devoted fans, Molly and Helen, and the pickles they'd find themselves in, like missing the bus back home and came crying to Tony for help. (pages 129-131)

• The first song that really made me fall in love with Tony Bennett's voice was I Wanna Be Around. I was in high school and this sad love song just spoke to me. Sadie Vimmerstedt wrote the opening two lines and sent them along to Johnny Mercer. He finished it off, writing the rest of the lyrics and music, then gave Sadie fifty percent of the publishing rights. Tony said that for years he'd receive postcards from around the world from Sadie, who was able to quit her job and travel, travel, travel! (page 173)

• All the sweet, kind things he said about lovely Judy Garland. (pages 175-178)

• On a sad and lonely Christmas 1965 in a hotel room, away from his boys and estranged from his wife, Duke Ellington sent over a choir to sing On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever) as a Christmas gift. (page 189)

• Later in life he would spend Christmas Eve with Ella Fitzgerald. He'd take his daughters over and Miss Ella would cook up a feast and Tony said it was the "best food you could ever dream up." (page 220)

• My next trip to Ohio I simply must stop at the Butler Institute of American Art because Tony's painting "Homage to Hockney" is included in their permanent collection. The best bit is that all of Tony's paintings display his given name - Anthony Dominick Benedetto. (page 243)

Mona is BACK!

It never occurred to me to even wish for a new Tales of the City book. Years ago, Armistead Maupin moved from San Francisco all the way across the pond to London. I figured that was it. No more Tales ever. Until Sunday when he posted to his Instagram account that Mona of the Manor would be released in March of 2024. If ever there was a reason to postpone my suicide - this is it! (I wonder who they'll get to read the audiobook...)

Garden Path

Another lovely little home to daydream about. This one is a flower farm! I love the winding pathway to the front door, the striped awning, flowerboxes in the windows, the wrought iron table and chairs just like Nana Irma used to have in her back garden, the tall, tall tree, chirping birdies, butterflies, bunnies, fawn, bumblebees and a pair of wee chipmunks. It's all so sweet and charming and I imagine I am in the back kitchen, standing at the sink, looking out left to the flowering trees in the orchard as I fill the kettle for some Coconut Cocoa tea while listening to Then Came You.

(Artwork by Joy Laforme)

The 1917 Texts

28 July

7 August

20 September

Nitro Girl

 

43 - The Puzzle

The Puzzle

An angry giant tried to conquer our town. He rearranged people and buildings and demanded to be in charge. He frightened us because he represented the worst features of ourselves. Our rash and brutal emotions. Our cranky and selfish impulses. When we confronted him, he would bellow and shake his fists, offering us a fight that we would surely lose. Huddled together on the edge of town, we watched as he uprooted our trees and shops, replanting them as he saw fit. Then we had an idea. We offered him a jigsaw puzzle, an extraordinarily complicated map of the world with fifty-thousand pieces and we told him it was the most important project in town and only he was smart enough to complete it. Smiling he sat down and began organizing the pieces, separating the oceans from the land, and we congratulated him on his progress while we put out town back together again. He's still there today, humming to himself while he works on the islands of the South Pacific.

Do not confront your difficulties directly. Keep them at a distance and these challenges will lost their strength. The best way to conquer fear is to focus on doing good works.

Off to Coney Island...

...by way of a new puzzle!

(artwork by Michael Storrings)

50 Years Ago Today

Billie Jean King wins The Battle of the Sexes and seals her legacy forever!

Waltham House's Decor

The house on Parmenter that I rented in July had tons of character and lots of cute tchotchkes. Here are some of my faves: