Barbara and Co. in Firenze

It took getting this postcard from Barbara to remind me to post the photos she Signaled me back in May when she and her lovely family traveled to Italy for a wedding.

P.S. No Airbnb any more - Sophie has moved in!

Hello Lisa!

We spent a week in Tuscany back in May - for the wedding of my niece and her Brazilian husband. It was absolutely fabulous! No complaints about our Summer; all is going well. Hope you're good too!

Barbara

Barbara and her charming partner, Kevin.

Draw Something

Back in 2016 I used to love to play Draw Something on my phone with pals. If memory serves you were also able to play with strangers and this drawing for the clue lipstick was so fabulous that I had to snap a screenshot.

Alan’s Place

Uncle Alan’s old house was so gorgeous and he always had cool stuff on his walls. I miss that place…

Will & Harper

I recently rewatched this doc, since I have Netflix for the month. The big takeaway once again was what a truly sweet man Will Ferrell is. He has never been one of my favourite comedians because he can be so over the top that it feels phony as hell, and there are few things in this world that I dislike as much as fakeness. In Will & Harper it is refreshing to see Ferrell being real as he embarks on a cross country road trip with former SNL writer and good pal, Harper Steele. There's some laughs, tears, and lots of touching moments between the two friends. This film was just as good the second time around. 

August 2026 Donations

Paws on Death Row

We’re a community of animal lovers, advocates, and big-hearted people working together to give shelter dogs the care, resources, and second chances they deserve.

At Paws on Death Row, our mission is simple: give animals facing uncertain futures the care, resources, and second chances they deserve. Through the generosity of donors across the country, we provide food, toys, bedding, and other essential supplies to shelters in need. We’ve also sponsored animals, helped cover life-saving medical care, and connected pets with loving forever homes.

While we’re making a difference today, we’re also building for tomorrow. We’ve begun construction on our sanctuary in Siler City, NC, creating a safe place where dogs in need can receive comfort, care, and the chance to heal.

Every animal deserves a second chance, and every act of kindness helps us get closer to a future where more shelter animals get the opportunity to find theirs.

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!

Grounds at Night with the Kids

Last night, as an end of Summer outing, I grabbed Jax and Lucy and we went to Grounds for Sculpture from dusk til 9pm. These two are four years apart and this may be the last time the three of us do a long outing (I picked them up at 3 and didn't get them home til near 11) for a while. The difference between ten and fourteen is immense. Lucy still wants to play and be loud and silly and Jax is hitting full teenage years when life is at its hardest. I want these two to stay close and grow to be true pals, so I decided that we will keep our trinity outings to grabbing pizza or ice cream and not an eight hour day together. Jax was super sweet though and played tag with Lucy by her beloved snake. 

Dragon's Shrill in the Cosmic Void by Yuyu Yang 1991

HeForShe

Holy cow! This was in my blog post drafts dating back to March of 2015. Not sure why I never posted it, but here it is.

Men, I would like to give this opportunity to extend your formal invitation. Gender equality is your issue, too. To date, I’ve seen my father’s role as a parent being valued less by society. I’ve seen young men suffering from illness, unable to ask for help for fear it will make them less of a man. I’ve seen men fragile and insecure by what constitutes male success. Men don’t have the benefits of equality, either. We don’t want to talk about men being imprisoned by gender stereotypes but I can see that they are. When they are free, things will change for women as a natural consequence. If men don’t have to be aggressive, women won’t be compelled to be submissive. If men don’t need to control, women won’t have to be controlled. Both men and women should feel free to be strong. It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals. We should stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are. We can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom. I want men to take up this mantle so their daughters, sisters and mothers can be free from prejudice but also so their sons have permission to be vulnerable and human, too and in doing so, be a more true and complete version of themselves. Emma Watson for HeForShe UN campaign

(To read the entirety of Ms. Watson's speech, it is available here.)

Titus Kaphar

Random Mixola

Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot

Fanfare for the Common Man - Michael Tilson Thomas

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - The Band

Up, Up and Away - Johnny Mathis 

Living a Boy's Adventure Tale - a-ha

Safe - Gabriel-Kane feat Pixie Lott

Loving Loving - Vera Sola

BLUE - Troye Sivan

Where Am I Going? - Barbra Streisand

Les Indes Galantes - Le Concert d'Astrée

Rain On Me - Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande

Locked Out of Heaven - Bruno Mars

The Shady Dame From Seville - Julie Andrews

- late Summer 2021

Dolly

Yesterday the world lost one of the greatest ladies to grace this earth. She was 100% genuine and pure and radiated absolute love. Dolly Parton possessed a singular voice, both vocally and her voice as a songwriter and musician. For Christmas 1994 I got her memoir as a gift and it was what lead me to become obsessed with celebrity autobiographies. Dolly was a helluva woman and someone whose goodness and compassion should be studied. She was the real deal and she will be so missed from this corner of the universe.

(photos from Dolly: fave school photo c/o Dolly Parton Enterprises - w/pup by Dennis Carney - at fifteen "a hillbilly hood ornament" by Georgia Justus Campbell & Dolly in fab bell bottoms by Hope Powell)

(Photo Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

If this body...

I'm sure I saw this on Insta earlier this year, but I can't really be sure. It made me pause and really think. I genuinely love my body, although it is actively decaying and there's way too much of it at the moment. I appreciate that I can still walk, though not run, and my knees do still creak and click, and I often wake up in discomfort, but rarely in pain, and how after fifty years, this body still manages to keep me alive. If I saw me walking down the street, I'm sure I wouldn't even notice me, but if I were on a park bench in lovely St. Stephen's Green, on a grey Irish afternoon, people-watching, and I saw my current body walk past, would I still see everything that's wrong? The big belly, the baggy jeans that make me look blobbier, oversized button down shirt in dull colours so no one notices me, a face with splotchy skin and giant Eraserhead grey hair, dark circles under my eyes, too many chins, and tobacco stained teeth. What would I think? Honestly, I'm really not sure. I don't have a body that anyone would envy or covet as their own, but I wouldn't hate it because as much as I'd like to change and improve this body, I really do love it. I love it for all the good things it's done for me and continues to do for me. So, I wouldn't hate it, but I don't think I'd be all that impressed by it. 

My Favourite Drummer

I am so loving all the time I've gotten to spend with Jax this Summer - eight days in August already! Today I picked him up at his friends' house, where he spent the night and early morning practicing with them and additional pals that have formed a Rush cover band. I arrived and we packed Phineas to the proverbial gills with his drum kit and took it back home. Then we went for dessert at Lena's Water Ice, Lowe's to pick out paint samples (he was such a big help!!), and then dinner at Greens & Grains. As always, Jackson played DJ in the car and he switched my Ozzy playlist off and put on Rush. I never thought I'd like their music - love the fellas of Rush, but could never get into their songs - but Jax has broken me down and now I actually like them for real. I'm so lucky to have had this kid as one of my besties since he was a wee lil' babe.

Widow's Bay

Finally got around to watching this series and holy macaroni - it is so good! I've always liked Matthew Rhys and he's never been better than as the mayor of this creepy-as-hell island. One minute I'm in a full blown anxiety attack and grabbing for the remote to hit pause until I recover and the net I'm busting out laughing. I'm definitely re-watching this in October.

Keep On Dreamin'

In my ideal life, which hopefully exists on another plane of reality, I'd have this for my engagement ring and this cake from Vegan Treats at the wedding with my perfect guy. I think it's sophisticated, but also charming and sweet, feminine, but not overly so. It's stunning.

(post scriptie: this cake was most certainly inspired by Taylor and Travis' engagement bc Tay was wearing a striped dress when he proposed and the flowers match the ones that Trav set up in the back garden. That and it's already known that the peeps at VT are Swifties.)

It's Fire

Yesterday I was in a market on the Main Line in Bryn Mawr when a teenage boy on his cell phone walked past me, stopped his conversation and said, "Your hair looks great. It's fire." A child paid me a compliment and frankly, it doesn't get better than that. 

The Onion - Veggie Posts

Few things in this miserable world of ours can make me laugh like reading old Onion posts off Instagram. Good gravy, they are a dang riot. These two still make me LOL for real.

Helen in Leeds

This spectacular photo by Helen was published to her Insta page on 27 November 2019 with the note "Tree with fairy lights, or festive Stranger Things monster? 🧐 rainy days in Leeds followed by cosy evenings with mulled apple cider 🧡" 

28 - The Library

The Library

We almost destroyed our brand new library. The architect did a fine job but we thought the top was rather plain. We wanted something majestic. The architect suggested a dome or a clock, perhaps a turret or a steeple or a crown. We said yes to all of these ideas and suggested adding a screen that displayed the temperature and a lighthouse so everyone could find our library from all directions. We also asked for a statue of a lion because we thought it would look wise and grand. The architect sighed. When he was finished, we gathered beneath the sweeping beam of a lighthouse on a 52-degree afternoon and oohed and aahed at our library. Then it began to wobble. Our library would have collapsed if we had not used all of its books to build columns to support the weight of our beautiful rooftop.

The grand gesture often threatens to destroy our endeavors. Do not allow your desires to threaten your well-being. The center of gravity is always in the middle.

Waits Brilliance

(Someone said that this is a paraphrasing of Ezra Pounds.)

We Heart MASH

26 November 2019