Always Late, Never Necessarily Better

Back in 2018 I sent a Halloween card to Helen. Months later I received it back. I put everything except her house number and street address on the envelope. Crap. I messaged her to explain and then re-sent it. She finally got it just before Valentine's Day. Ridiculous. 

Fast forward to late November of 2025. I sent out my four holiday cards that would be sent overseas. Ideally I want all recipients to receive said Christmas cards on December 1st. Sadly, that rarely happens. They are either too early or wildly late. April 9th I got a Signal message from Helen with the below photo and the words "Double mail day!" and a mind blown emoticon. She got my Philly Love Park Springtime postie, which I mailed mid-March 2026, along with last year's Christmas card. Good gravy. Does the US Post Office hate us or is it His Majesty's post??? Oy-freakin'-vey. 

I Choose...

Raspberry Smoothie

Closer - Boyce Avenue feat. Sarah Hyland

Suitcase - Teddy Swims 

Troy - Sinéad O'Connor

You're My Soul & Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers

Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus

Wichita Lineman - Glen Campbell

She - The Monkees

Happy You're Here - Sycco

Worth It. - Raye

Empire Now - Hozier

Just When I Needed You Most - Randy Vanwarmer

Confía - Gepe & Vicentico

The Taker - Waylon Jennings

Tennessee Whiskey - Austin Giorgio

Solitary Man - Neil Diamond

Nessun Dorma - Jonathan Tetelman

May 2024 Playlist

On the Late Train to Antwerp

At hour 37 of being awake, Bella and I were finally in Belgium and traveling from Brussels to Antwerp by rail. In an effort to mark the occasion of finally reaching our country's destination, we took turns snapping photos of one another using the portrait mode on my iPhone. Clearly the ones of Bella are the best and they showcase her immense beauty. But the prize for best hair goes to me - thirty-seven hours across an ocean and through two countries, plus the winds of Dublin, and my coiffe held up like Jack Lord's on the old Hawaii Five-O series. That fucker did not move!

When Syd Was Turning 23

I'm guessing everyone was over Mama Rosie's for Easter, but on April 9th, 2023, Syd was a day away from the big 2-3. Her step-granny made sure she got a little cake all her own to celebrate our girl's bday.

My Kinda Springtime!

(Oh my gosh, I remember when I went to the Double K in Richmond, VA when visiting Amy at college and discovered the blueberry cake do-nie. Good gravy...pure heaven!)

The Pelgrimstraat Flat

Aside from the winding wooden steps leading to the apartment that were tiny as hell and quite treacherous, this was one of the nicest Airbnbs I've ever visited.

(above photo taken by Isabella)

My room

Bella's room up in the loft

Things That I'm Proud Of

Things That I'm Proud Of - 27 February 2019

- pay my bills on time

- fairly decent work ethic 

- all of my solo adventures

- bonding with Kayla c/o Donna

- all the good advice I've given

- driving Karen to the hospital

- (reading) "Infinite Jest" and "Atlas Shrugged"

- being a pretty good person

- taking Nicole, Ash, Bella abroad

- exercising every day

- reading more - I'm committed!

- relationships with Ashlee, Kayla, Bella, Jackson, Zach, Toby, Ronny, Amy

- my Low Budget Philanthropy 

- having big goals and dreams

- believing in my writing

- posting a blog post a day

- my generosity 

- open-mind & open-heart

- that I haven't given up just yet

Roy Keane on The 'gram

Oh my gosh, these two memes for Roy Keane where he's reviewing classic films always makes me chuckle. 

405

She Wants To Know - Half Moon Run

Meant To Be - City and Colour

Dangerous Hands - Austin Giorgio

Drive It Like You Stole It - Sing Street

Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana

Sweat - RY X

I Cannot Speak - Matt Berry

Thinking of A Place - War On Drugs

Manzanita - The Tony Rice Unit

Until the Real Thing Comes Along - Dean Martin

Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell

Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us - Broken Circle Breakdown

Exit 353 - Damien Jurado

On the Street Where You Live - Mel Tormé 

Red Flag - Vum

Alice - Cocteau Twins 

I Feel For You - Chaka Khan

Blue Café - The Style Council

Screaming - Bronski Beat

Lips Like Sugar - Echo & the Bunnymen

- April 2024 Playlist

Anger

March 2026 Books

Strange Things Happen ¹ by Stewart Copeland - Oh my gosh, I so wanted to like this book since Jackson and I are seeing Mr. Copeland speak at The Colonial Theatre later this year, but it was kind of a drag.

* Too Much Money by Dominick Dunne - The last Dunne novel was good, even though it didn't have me as hooked as his others. But it did have some laugh out loud moments and revealed what Dominick was thinking and feeling toward the end of his life. I'm gonna be so sad when I reach the last page of the final new-for-me Dominick Dunne. Thankfully menopause destroyed my memory so I can pretty much re-read all the others and be surprised and intrigued all over again!

** On Tyranny ¹ by Timothy Snyder - Recommended by Kathleen Hanna, I fully expected to go into it not understanding a single sentence, but Snyder is so clear in his writing and I intend to buy a physical copy and go through it with a highlighter. 

♥ The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass - Holy macaroni and cheese, this book was so stinkin' wonderful! Best book of the month. I think I got this in October while book-shopping with Autumn. I read the little blurbby summary on the jacket flap that began with "When a mysterious little free library..." and closed the cover. I was sold. Lisa loves a Little Free Library. I will definitely be looking for more from these authors.

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

Oh my gosh, THIS!

Whispered Nights

The Alchemy - Taylor Swift

Venus - Frankie Avalon

Fascination - Nat King Cole

Back to the Old House - The Smiths

Woman - Matt Berry

Alaska - Maggie Rogers

Chattanooga Choo Choo - Andrews Sisters

Ordinary - Alex Warren

Perry Mason - Ozzy Osbourne

Dream a Little Dream of Me - Mamas & the Papas

La Mentira - Luis Miguel

Where the Boys Are - Connie Francis

No Good - Joint Operation

Kiss of Life - Sade

Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller Orchestra

Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues

The Giver - Chappell Roan

The Blob - The Five Blobs

- July 2025 Playlist

9 November 2020

So many years later and this is still absolutely hysterical. It will never not be funny.

Rolling Down Hills

While going through the videos on my cell, I found two clips of Jackson rolling down hills when we went to local gardens. He's such a boy.

1 Sept 2023 - Chanticleer Gardens

24 November 2023 - Grounds for Sculpture with Lucy

February 2026 Books

* Hamnet ¹ by Maggie O'Farrell - Autumn had been telling me how much she loved this book ever since it first came out. It took a bit for me to get into it, but Hamnet was such a lovable character and his parents devastation at his passing was overwhelming. I'll need to prepare myself if I ever decide to see the film version, because the audiobook had me in tears.

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

Eric Jussiaux

Before leaving Instagram for good at the end of February, I went through all my "saved" folders and took screenshots and videos of posts that I wanted to remember. The longest list to go through was all the ones I saved from The Aids Memorial. There were so many touching stories that I didn't want to forget. Out of the hundreds I had saved, I selected a small group of ones that stood out most for me. Here's one of them.