November 2025 Donations

LesbiVeggies

It's been over a year since LesbiVeggies closed their Audubon location and it's been rough without their fabulous vegan cuisine. When I saw on Insta a plea for some cash to get the new place in Woodbury open, I jumped to throw some money their way. We are all desperate to see them open!

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!

October 2025 Books

* Horrorland: The Horror at Chiller House ¹ by R.L. Stine - This was a quick read/listen and it was actually really good! Just the right amount of creepy to ease me into the month of all things spooky.

* The Best Halloween Ever ¹ by Barbara Robinson - Decent, but not as cute as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

* Graveyard Shift ¹ by Stephen King - Of the five short stories, Graveyard Shift, The Man Who Loved Flowers, The Last Rung on the Ladder, Night Surf, and Jerusalem's Lot, I only skipped Night Surf. It got too dark and I said "Nope!" The other four stories were really good and very spooky. 

♥ ‘Salem’s Lot ¹ by Stephen King - A favourite of mine that I must listen to every October. 

♥ Another City, Not My Own by Dominick Dunne - I'm determined to read all of Dunne's books before my fiftieth. This novel in the form of a memoir was about Dunne's time spent during the Simpson trial in Los Angeles. I was a senior in high school during the infamous Bronco "chase" and at seventeen, I could care less about a low rate actor who used to be an athlete and then murdered the mother of his children and a friend of hers. I wasn't sure I'd like this book, but I was riveted! I feel bad, but I kinda think Dominick Dunne is fast replacing Henry Rollins as my favourite writer...

♥ The Exorcist ¹ by William Peter Blatty

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

Bleck Friday

This post from JeffreyMixed last year was so hilarious, especially the comments! I'm so glad I saved it to post here. His page is what I will miss most about leaving Instagram.

Texting with Maureen

I stumbled across this while searching old messages and it was just what I needed. I forgot how cute that Google cat thing is!!

Orson Welles for Peeps

Oh my god, when I saw this the other day, I laughed so hard I thought I'd pass out. "Balls to the wall for marshmallow peeps." Further proof that Orson Welles was a god damn legend.

Bookshop Cats

(artwork by Lydia Graves)

11 - The Good Day

The Good Day

Look at this day. The skies are clear and everyone is happy. We have the same jobs and ailments as yesterday, but now there's a glint in our eyes and a bounce in our steps. We pass the same buildings and walk the same streets as last week and last year, yet today we're looking at the world with the enthusiasm of small children-which is something we have not done in quite a while. The rain has stopped, the snow has thawed, and everyone seems to be moving in harmony, taking their cues from the sun and the trees as they play their parts in a grand design. Even our traffic jams and petty arguments feel like vital notes in this symphony. "It's a good day for dreaming," said the lady on the corner who usually doesn't say anything. And she's right. When you catch a smile from a stranger on the street, you feel as if anything might be possible.

Recognize the connection between nature and society as you make your plans. Consider how your actions relate to the whole. Harmony with those around you brings success.

Biscoff and the Double K Mash-Up!

Absolutely to die for!!

Star Gets Raunchy

I was salivating when I saw this pop up on my Instagram feed. Good Lord!

Kiddo Says Goodbye

I've known Maureen since I was about a month old. She was always a constant in my life, as is her lovely daughter, Autumn, who is my oldest and dearest friend. The past three times I drove out to Ohio to see the family, I've so looked forward to time with Maureen. There's never an instant of awkwardness or anxiety of what am I gonna say, what will we talk about, will she notice that I'm so much older looking and especially, heavier. Seeing Maureen was 100% pure ease and I always felt genuinely loved. Her hugs were soothing and like being welcomed home after a long trip away. She called me "kiddo" and it's one of my favourite endearments. Maureen passed away this morning. Even though I knew it was coming, it still completely and utterly sucks out loud that I'll never get another hug, listen to her fun stories, and especially, I'll never hear her adorable laugh again. She was a wonderful human and the world will spin a bit differently without her here.

January 2018

October 2019

December 2021

May 2023

October 2024

October 2025

Our last texts:

Dove

Charles Mingus - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat

Ellington & Coltrane - In a Sentimental Mood

Django Reinhardt - Minor Swing

Horace Silver Quintet - Song for My Father

Stan Getz - Falling in Love

Vince Guaraldi Trio - Linus & Lucy

Charlie Parker - The Bird

Coltrane - Acknowledgement 

Chet Baker Quartet - There's a Small Hotel

Dizzy & Getz - It Don't Mean a Thing

Miles Davis - Concierto de Aranjuez, Pt. 2

Ellington - Self Portrait (of the Bean)

Maceo Parker - My Love

Thelonious Monk - Blue Monk

(This disc had no date on it, which always irritates me. I'm thinking it's probably from about 2004ish, when I was really getting in to jazz.)

Garibaldi Hall

How cute is this little teeny tiny garden up in North Jersey?!

Halloween 2025 - Ohio

31 October 2025 - 49°/44° cloudy

up @ 8ish • outta bed 11am • start Rush doc "From the Lighted Stage" • leave @ 1:15 • Subway on Van Aken at 1:30 • the fuckin' guy behind the counter was a douche bag with as much humour as were teeth in his head - now I know why I haven't been to a Subway since the fuckin' 90s • reach Maureen's by 1:45 • we chat • Molly down for a bit at 2 then upstairs til 4:30ish for work meeting • we 3 gab • Matt home at 5ish from his Lake Michigan trip - nice fella • leave at 5:45 • Chagrin Falls Post Office 6:15 to drop posties in the box • WFM on Wall in Beechwood - 6:26-6:39 • apartment 7:09 • take stuff upstairs then back down to smoke and read 33⅓ "Transformer" • in to start laundry • blog • finish Rush doc • CS vids

• the fucking assholes across the street are BLARING music 8-9 --->I'd call the po-po but the only thing I hate more than noise is the fucking police • out for a smoke and read 8:55 and am thrilled when they stop (but of course they start up again at 10. I hope they all die slow and painful deaths from dysentery.) • upstairs to pack a bit • blog • "Thriller" • bed 11:30 • awake at 12:30 - go to peepod and dumb ass teenage girls are SCREAMING in the street. I hope they get hit by a car & left for dead...

Sidenotes:

• Driving through downtown Chagrin Falls, it was so great seeing so many kids plus their parents dressed up for Halloween. No one in Jersey goes trick 'r treating anymore!! So many great costumes - the best of which was some kid that was dressed like the Zoltar from Big! Box and all. So rad.  

• Matt's fishing trip was cut short due to it being super cold on the lake plus rainy. It worked out because I finally got to meet him. We all cracked up when he asked me, "Do you live here?" Ha! "No," I deadpanned, "this is your house." I told him I live in Jersey and just came out for the week. "You drove all the way from Jersey to see Maureen?" Hell yeah I did!! 

• Molly has done five of the big marathons: Chicago, NYC, Boston, Berlin, & London and hoping to do Tokyo next! (Then only Sydney and maybe Cape Town?? remain.)

• Dear god but do they love Tudor style homes in Cleveland Heights!

• Maureen and I gaze out the dining room window at the two little boys dressed in their costumes play on their front lawn. 

• Maureen had a rough night on the 30th and for the first time ever, Lulu slept in her room in her bed with her. 

• Lulu the kitty is all grown up and gave my legs some head-bumps and body swirls, letting me know that she liked me. At least that's how I choose to look at it.

• Delivered pjams and hoodie from Mum for Maureen. (My Kid hairdo is still living large!)

• Molly and I talk about her going to the Eras tour and how incredible The Life of a Showgirl is. 

• Maureen lets me raid her tea drawer.

• Last Halloween Molly and Matt ran out of candy for the trick or treaters and she wound up having to hand out bags of microwave popcorn. This year she was prepared and bought a ton of candy plus a big box of different bags of chips to pass out. Matt kept swiping Cheetos and Funyuns and getting in trouble with his lovely wife - "MATT!!! THEY'RE FOR THE KIDS!!!"

• Maureen also drinks RW Knudsen Morning Blend juice!

• Molly is the only other vegan I know.

• They still have the stunning green sofa!

-Maureen convo bits-

• She met John at 16 in Pittsburgh when he was in the seminary with her brother Regis (John had been in since age 14!!) - Two years later they were at a party and he lost it laughing at something and she asked him outside where they chatted - married when she was 20

• loves "Resident Alien" on Netflix

• saw Santana open for a barely clothed and totally tanked (Maureen's phrasing) Janis Joplin

• met Sting (which I knew) when she was with Molly for the NYC marathon

• saw McCartney in concert

When Maureen came slowly down the stairs to me on the edge of the kitchen into the dining room and saw me, she got choked up a bit and said about how good it was to see me and called me kiddo, probably for the last time. It made my chest ache.

Michel in Indonesia!