Kid 'N Me

Retirement Horse Pals

Got this sweet postie from Natalia last night. Hard to believe it's been over a year since we last spoke. That gal sure is busy!!! One day we'll link up soon and catch each other up.

Top Ten List with Michael!

  1 - go to Positano

  2 - get & stay healthy

  3 - open my heart a little more

  4 - forgive & do not judge

  5 - world peace

  6 - no debt!

  7 - my Dad to stop drinking

  8 - Nana to live forever in perfect health

  9 - lots of love til I explode

10 - to be a successful author

  1 - Books

  2 - Smoking

  3 - Late Nights

  4 - Sleep

  5 - Indian Food

  6 - Spirituality

  7 - Yoga

  8 - Friendship

  9 - Family

10 - LOVE

People I Dream of Meeting

• John Waters - "You need to sign a deal w/Audible.com & read your fave novels for all to hear!" ✔

• Armistead Maupin - "Thank you for creating so many lovely new imaginary friends to keep me company at work, on cold nights, & long plane rides across the ocean."

• Martin Clunes - "Not to weird you out but you are seriously adorable. You're like the Dalai Lama - I can't look at you & not feel at peace & just smile."

• Tom Waits - "Hey, how are ya, what's goin' on?"

• Helen Coldwell - "Is that the young & vibrant artist Helen Coldwell? Thee Helen Coldwell of Bad Books, Inc?! Land sakes, let's get a selfie!"

• Brendan Sexton III - "You have been my all-time favourite actor since I first saw you in 1996. Prior to you Gary Oldman & Tim Roth held the lead for my fave & you blew them both away & continue to do so. I admire the hell out of you."

• Kathleen Hanna - "I have no original compliments & not one unique thing to say to you, however, thank you for being you & inspiring me."

• Gavin de Becker - "You have been an enormous help in regards to my safety & to my nieces' as well. Thank you - I truly adore you."

- 27 February 2019

King Creosote

Ludwig

I'd seen adverts for this series a month or so ago and once I signed up for a month of BritBox, I added it to my watchlist straight away. After re-watching Doctor Blake Mysteries for, I think, the fifth time, I decided to put on Ludwig. While I do like David Mitchell from various UK panel shows, I have always had the impression that he finds all Americans moronic and loathsome. Being an American, this made me not jump instantly to read his books/memoir or watch any of his shows. That being said, I think Anna Maxwell Martin is beautiful and brilliant and really loved her in Death Comes to Pemberley, And Then There Were None, and The Bletchley Circle, and so it was seeing her in the cast that made me give the show a real try. (As a side note, I desperately want the powers that be to put her and Nicola Walker in a series as sisters.) The premise of Ludwig is that David Mitchell plays twin brothers, James and John Taylor. John is a puzzler whose books/puzzles are under the name of Ludwig. He is pretty much a recluse and a genius. He and his brother and Anna's character, Lucy, were pals growing up. James becomes a cop and married Lucy and they have a teenage son. Lucy rings up John asking for help because James is missing. She cooks up a plan to have John pose as his brother, go into police headquarters and look for clues at James' desk. Things go awry when John gets roped in to solving some cases. It was a good series up until episode five of six when it got great. I gasped with excitement when the camera panned to a newly introduced character and it was my beloved Derek Jacobi! Looking dashing as ever. My love for him was instantly apparent when I had the following thought: "Oh I hope he's not the murderer, but if he is I'm sure he had good reason." Mitchell was very good and I actually grew to really like him. Anna Maxwell Martin was flawless as always, and that wretched sister-in-law from Mum (Dorothy Atkinson) plays the boss lady at HQ, and a brief appearance from Josh Bolt who was Raff in Last Tango in Halifax! I love seeing familiar faces on current TV shows; it's like the 70s and 80s all over again when every episode of every fab TV series featured players from The Rockford Files, Hart to Hart, Matt Houston, Hotel, McMillan and Wife, Columbo, and Three's Company, to name a few. Definitely give Ludwig a try. It's well worth a look.

(HQ cast photo kidnapped from bleedingcool - Anna Maxwell Martin from tellyvisions - Derek Jacobi from vitalthrills)

Best of WhatApping with Michel

In my attempt to stick it to those dreadful white billionaire men, I'm deleting my WhatsApp with Insta, and all Amazons to follow soon after. Before deleting the W. A. I saved some of my fave pics from Michel. I love that he always snaps a photo of the card or postie I've sent and lets me know it arrived. What a sweetheart. So glad I can keep in touch with him and my other European pals over on Signal.

Beware

Saw this and thought it was a warning of mountain lions in the area. Stopped, went to take a photo and zoomed in to see what it really said. Adorable!

Truth

(artwork by cofeco)

RJ and Natasha

In October of 2023 I had a whole week with Lucy while her mother was off on a girls trip with pals. I got to take her to school, meet her at the bus, help with homework, do crafts and puzzles and just hang out before time to read and go night-nights. It was the highlight of the month and maybe the year. We watched a couple episodes of Hart to Hart and on the 13th we watched Robert Wagner do his first Instagram Live with his daughter, Natasha. Well, I watched it. Lucy zoned out after a couple minutes and turned to her iPad. During the IG Live I kept copy and pasting my note to ask "Mr. Wagner, what do you think of the lovely Natalie Perfumes?", which Natasha created. Finally, Barry (videographer and husband to Natasha), saw my question among the hundreds of messages and asked!

Easter 2025

From Michel via Signal!

Vegan Treats mini pastel beauties

Cards I sent (but to a very few people, mostly those that celebrate Easter)

Cards for me!!

Krispy Kreme Cuties!!!

Amy and Don't Easter Tree!

My Easter Sunday basket from Amy and Don!

Our first Easter together EVER!

New York with Amy

Late last year (I think...) Amy and I got tickets to see yet another Hugh Jackman show on Broadway. He's kind of fallen out of favour with us since he left his wife of twenty-five plus years for a some young chippie. I get that marriages end, but to know he left her for someone else is pretty irritating. So we decided this will be our last time seeing him. The best was having zero anxiety for the entire day. No "oh-my-god, what if we're late" because honestly, I didn't care if we missed it at all. All the stars aligned and we got into the city with time to spare. The streets were lousy with humans and the heat of the day was taking it's toll on me. At a light, about ten blocks from Radio City, one of those Pedicabs pulled up. Amy later said he spotted me and knew I would not refuse a lift, with my face red as hell, a scowl on my puss,  and a fan in my hand. "Do you take credit cards?", I shouted to him. A nod yes. "Can you get us to Radio City?" Another nod. "Amy, get in." The doll that my bestie is said, "I got this. The ride is on me." I would later be so grateful for this because to go on an eight minute and thirty-five second ride it cost seventy-five bucks, plus Amy threw in a twenty-five dollar tip. Truth be told, as good as the concert was, (even though, if we are being honest, Jackman does not have a great voice, although he is a hell of an entertainer), that ride was the best part of the whole day. When we arrived, just barely!, to Radio City, our driver, Isroil, took our photo, then I convinced him to get a selfie with us, and he offered to pick us up after the show and take us to Times Square for free. Amy took down his number and damn if he didn't answer the call and come get us and take us to Times Square (so I could see the statue of George M. Cohan) for free! 

Selfie with Amy and Isroil!

View from our seats

The stage for I Go To Rio

I finally see the statue of George M. Cohan!!