Captivating

I saw this gent (Chairman Paul Birdsong) on Instagram last week and was blown away by not only his handsome features, but by how confident, controlled, and well spoken he is. 

To Amy:

To Kay:

Find Your Joy

June 4th 0f 2022, Amber posted this on her Instagram and I love it. It's all about finding those tiny, seemingly insignificant things in the every day that make things just a little bit better. 

I Am Plaid Reed

Dear White People

Spot of Tea

Oh my gosh this puzzle was such fun! I finished it in record timing all while listening to The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah on audiobook.

art by Holly Maguire

Create the Life You Want

Night Forms: Infinite Waves

On January 6th of 2023 I took myself to Grounds for Sculpture after work to arrive at 8:30 PM for Night Forms: Infinite Waves. It was such fun that I went back the next night with Lucy and then later with her and Jackson. Each time was a great experience, but wandering the grounds on my own, in the dark, was something truly memorable. I'm so glad I felt confident enough to snap so many photos and record so many moments, even if just for me to look back on one day.

Mixtape for Dublin

I'm longing to return to Dublin and see all the new-to-me utility cabinets that are scattered around the city, Love Lane, the street art, the Green, the Chester Beatty, chips with salt and vinegar at Kingfishers, and to shop for jumpers at Retro. I'm hoping to see this one, but I fear it has been replaced...

Side A

Lankum - What Will We Do When We Have No Money?

Lisa O'Neill - Rock the Machine

Declan O'Rourke - Galileo

Mic Christopher - Heyday

Solar Bears - Our Future is Underground

The Gloaming - The Lobster

Wyvern Lingo - Out of My Hands

Loah - Unveiled

Clancy - Hope In Your Heart

Phil Lynott - Old Town

Fontaines D.C. - Big

Brendan Behan - Zoological Gardens (Intro & Song)

Side B

Uly - Redlight

Kormac, Jack O'Rourke - New Day

Toby Kaar - Snapdragon

Strabe - Acid Love

Caleb Kunle - Eden

Fehdah - Like No Other

Interskalactic - The Grunt

Shit Robot - We Got a Love

Saint Sister, Jafaris - Causing Trouble

R. Kitt - Dublin is Bubblin'

Le Boom, Æ MAK - Dancing Bug

Meltybrains? - The Vine

U2 - All I Want Is You

Natalia's Snappy Filters

In going through the seemingly endless posts I saved on Instagram, I found two of Natalia being silly and adorable with Snap Chat filters. I did a screen-record of them and here you go:

(originally posted 7 October 2017)

Broken Lavender Sky

Cal Solomon Blues - Dear & The Headlights

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Six Feet Deep - The Warning

Poison & Wine - The Civil Wars

Everybody Scream - Florence + the Machine

Violet - Hole

Hushabye Mountain - Dick Van Dyke 

Parasite - Ozzy Osbourne

Too Funky - George Michael

In a Sentimental Mood - Duke & Coltrane

Heart of Gold - Johnny Cash

Raunchy Rita - Elvin Jones & Richard Davis

Manic Depression - Hendrix

Rumble - Link Wray

Paradise - Sade

Don't Interrupt the Sorrow - Joni Mitchell

Dear Mike - Wild Colonials

Love The Way You Lie - Eminem

Hands to Heaven - Breathe

Birdland - Buddy Rich

Lovesick Blues - Felicity

Black Tears - Imelda May

Africa - Toto

Breakfast in America - Supertramp

How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths

True Believer - Hayley Williams

El Blues del Esclavo - Mecano

Give Blood - Pete Townshend

Showdown - Thin Lizzy

- November 2025 Playlist

This lady gets me.

I'm a 100% typical Gemini. Seeing this clip from Sara Parker Design on Instagram made it even more obvious how I truly fit into my astrological sign.

Sunday Out & About

Today I picked up Lauryn and we went to meet Melanie at Milkweed in Pitman. It was noisy as all get out, but still, it was cute. Hopefully our next lunch date will be at a place where we can really chat and catch up on one another's lives. 

Then I got lucky and was able to pick up Jax at my in-laws and take him out for yummy pizza. We talked about the last season of Stranger Things and how I couldn't get past the second to last episode and threw in the proverbial towel. It was dreadful. Jackson filled me in on what happened and I can so see me trudging through the lst two eps so we can discuss it further. The best was when I gave him a set of drumsticks for his show on Sunday and he loved them. Result! I'm hoping that he and I can go hit some local record shops on MLK Day together...more on that later!

Holiday Houses Puzz

The last Christmas-y puzzle I did in December was this one that Mama Rosie gave me. It's so cute!

Sweet Caroline-ing

In July of 2010 Marina and I drove Nicole down to Wildwood from Philly (in Truman with his cute Hello Kitty decal!!) and I captured her singing along to Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline. 

Truth be told, the only thing I remember from this drive was that I went from Jersey to Philly to get Nicole to then drive her nearly two hours (and don't forget that means two hours back) so that she could spend time with friends at the shore. She hopped out of the car with a goodbye and that was it. No hugs or thank you so much, just totally entitled. I wish I could say that I never went out of my way for her again, but sadly, I can be a bit of a doormat sometimes. I should have known that zero gratitude equals a huge red flag.

This Comment!!!

Because I followed The AIDS Memorial and JeffreyMixed on Instagram, my algorithm would often recommend gay-centric posts. This one where a coupla daddies were being interviewed about the gay scene in Florida popped up and it was interesting, but irrelevant to me. Until I saw that Chatty Daddy was packin'!!! I ran, ran I tell you!, to the comments and they did not disappoint. This one had me in stitches.

Random Texts with Bishop!

I love when I search a word in my text messages and fall into a rabbit hole of past convos. These with Bishop had me smiling and laughing to myself at how weird we are together.

19-21 April 2023

29 Jan 2024

18 Dec 2025