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Apparently this woman's name is Cassandra and this photo is from 1982 in the UK. As soon as I saw her on Instagram I thought I'd pass out from hair jealousy. I love how bold and punk she is. In a perfect world, I would have the guts to rock this look. Currently I'm merely sporting a very low key version in grey.

Gloria Steinem

Farewell Goldie Fishtown

Yesterday was the last day I got to visit Morgan at Goldie for a Turkish Coffee shake and some hugs. I picked up Janine and her brother, Noah, and it was so good to hang out at Goldie and gab with those two and Morgan. It is so easy to be goofy and crass and silly with them and I really look forward to staying in touch and maybe even getting together. I Morgan and Janine each a silly envelope with cards and stickers. I wanted to let them know how much I'll miss seeing them there. Janine got a great idea to start up a little book club and I hope we can make it happen!

Farewell card for Janine:

And Morgan:

(kidnapped from Goldie's Instagram)

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:

Lauryn & Crick Get Festive!

Lauryn and her gal-pal, Crick, who is an utter doll, had a fun little photo shoot recently and these are my fave shots.

Seen In Chester County

On my way to meet Wayne for Thai food to celebrate Vincent Price Day, I spotted a familiar face! I didn't see the driver, but in my heart of hearts, it's a sassy lesbian behind the wheel of the Chevy pick up.

Lewinsky Binge

What did I do today while simultaneously working? Binge watched Monica Lewinsky's TedTalks and interviews with John Oliver plus her Reclaiming podcast. What a fun, vibrant, erudite, and engaging woman. But her teeth are so perfect it sent me into a shame spiral. 

ps - The Tig Notaro and Alan Cumming and Andrew Rannells interviews were sooooo good!

My Winnings!

After lunch at Bertucci’s with Kay (we gorged ourselves on carbs, had a fabulous chat, and sat in front of an absolutely gorgeous man who was literally head to toe tatted-up), we popped over to Goldie Fishtown where, hurrah!, both Janine and Morgan were working! They gave me my big goodie bag, comped us three tahina shakes (Turkish Coffee for me and Chocolate Pretzel for Kay, and Kenny). I got hugs from each gal and they hinted that they saw my name on the list of potential winners and recommended me. Morgan even said that the stickers from the Christmas card I sent her were up at her desk. The best was that they snuck in three rad stickers as a bonus, two Soom coupons, and even a mini Goldie beach ball. Oh how they spoil me so!!

And now my falafel and shake pins are side by side with their fry pal!!

POST SCRIPT - June 21st: I had mailed out two cards in one envelope, with bonus stickers, to Goldie for Janine and Morgan to thank them for championing me to win the Goldie Goodies and for just being such warm and wonderful people. This was the message I saw this evening on Instagram from Morgan:

Happy TS Independence Day!

Melissa messaged me at work today to let me now the news that Taylor Swift was able to finally get back her entire catalogue and now owns all of her songs, videos, album art, and concert footage. It took me a while to come around to this lady and discover how truly gifted she is as a songwriter. More impressive is the fact that she seems like a genuinely kind person. I'm truly happy for her to finally have control of her art.

(photos kidnapped from TS's Instagram account: @taylorswift)

BONUS: This stunning cake from Vegan Treats!

Mum

I first binged this fab series in April of 2023 and have rewatched it at least three times. I'd seen Peter Mullan ages ago in Session 9 and then later in Sunshine on Leith. The pairing of Lesley Manville with Mullan is electrifying perfection. The secondary characters are mostly irritating as hell but my god do they provide a boatload of laughter. That scene in season three where Cathy and Michael are out in the rain and he pours out his heart to her is some of the best television ever. 

(photo kidnapped from britbox)

Fave Ann Jillian Performances

May 11th can't roll around without me thinking back to when I was lucky enough to meet this beautiful creature in person in 1988. Here's a list of my top ten favourite performances from this grossly underrated and truly gifted woman.

The Ann Jillian Story

It's a Living

Little White Lies

Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC - singing "I'll Be Seeing You"

Mae West

Mr. Mom

Alice in Wonderland

Ann Jillian

Bob Hope's Birthday Spectacular in Paris  - singing "Autumn Leaves"

Gypsy

(photo kidnapped from moviemarket)

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)

Godmommy's Last Voicemail Message

On January 11th 2020, I got this sweet and heartbreaking final voice mail message from one of my favourite people ever, my Godmother, Gina. I immediately called her back and asked if I could come see her in the hospital the next day. Never one to say no to me, she acquiesced, even though she did not want to see anyone while she was in pain. The next afternoon Mum and I went to sit with her and I'm so glad I had one last time to see her and chat and make her laugh when I made a snarky comment about a certain relative of ours that shall remain nameless. Two days later she was gone and our family lost its coolest member. 

Joanna Lumley Binge-fest

When the world is topsy-turvy and the leaders of my country all seem are utterly mad and greedy bastards, watching the luminous Joanna Lumley travel the globe has been the soothing balm on a whole lot of ache. In a week and a half I saw eleven of her docu-series and watched her meet locals in India, Japan, Italy, Cuba, Haiti, Norway, England, Scotland, Wales, the North of Ireland, France,  Germany, Indonesia, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Jordan, Bhutan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Hong Kong, Mongolia, and Russia. It has been such a wonderful escape. She is kind and curious. Her humour transcends cultures and I love seeing her little quips make people literally laugh out loud. The woman is unbelievably charming and I only wish all of them were available to stream. (A bonus was watching lovely Alan Cumming on The Royal Scotsman, as that man is truly an absolute delight!)

(photo kidnapped from bbcnordic)

March 2025 Books

♥ I Haven't Been Entirely Honest with You ¹ by Miranda Hart - I was first introduced to this lovely creature through Call the Midwife back in 2013. Then I watched her series Miranda and saw her here and there over the years. She was recently on Graham Norton discussing her latest book. It was available on Audible and I had a batch of unused credits, so what the hell, I grabbed a copy. I'm so glad I did. Miranda talks about her extremely long struggle with chronic illness and not being properly diagnosed with Lyme disease until much later in life. (Should I give her Kathleen Hanna's email address so they can commiserate about the hell that is Lyme disease??) Miranda's words of wisdom and tips on acceptance of self and leading a life of positivity are not to be missed. I need to buy a physical copy so I can make notes in the margins and underline and star all the most important and profound passages.  

* Consider Your Ass Kissed ¹ by Ruta Lee - Prior to reading this, all I knew of Ruta Lee was that she was Ruth in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, is Lithuanian and friends with my beloved Ann Jillian (a fellow Lith-gal), and once saw Dick Gaultier completely nude, save for a cowboy belt and holster. (FYI, I learned this from an old ep of Tattletales.) This book was primarily a collection of stories of encounters with famous pals. Some people think of that as shameless name-dropping, but let's be real here. A good story is a good story and you don't censor it because one of the players is famous. 

* All the Way to the Tigers ¹ by Mary Morris - I originally got this book in physical form as a Date with a Book but never got around to picking it up. Knowing that I probably never would, I decided, before donating the book to Baldwin’s Book Barn, I would listen to the audiobook version. It wasn't unbelievably riveting or life-changing, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would listen again. 

* Every Man For Himself and God Against All ¹ by Werner Herzog - I think the first film I ever saw by this one-of-a-kind director was Fitzcarraldo back in maybe 2006. Once I fell in love with documentaries I discovered that he made some of the most unique and extraordinary. That is when I really came to appreciate his talents for storytelling. Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, The White Diamond, My Best Fiend, Wheel of Time, Into the Abyss, Encounters at the End of the World, and From One Second to the Next are some of my personal favourites. It was a privilege to listen to Herzog narrate this memoir and it was wonderful to learn so much more from this true master. of his craft.

** Aggie Morton Mystery Queen: The Dead Man in the Garden by Marthe Jocelyn - I bought this at Birdie Books in Ohio when I was visiting Autumn. The idea of a young version of Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot being pals and solving mysteries was too clever to pass up. Agatha is Aggie Morton and Hercule is Hector Perot - adorable! This is the third book in the series, but it made no difference. It was fun and so well done. I could hear a young David Suchet every time I read Hector's lines. Great, great book.

* The Dollhouse Caper by Jean S. O’Connell - I swear I got this for free at Central Books in Doylestown or maybe one of those Little Free Library boxes. Regardless, it was a short but super cute story of a human family with three boys and the Dollhouses, who come alive when the humans aren't around. Turns out there were a couple baddies casing the joint and looking to break in while the Humans were away on holiday. Well, lucky for them, the Dollhouses were ready to save the day. 

* Fail, Fail Again, Fail Better ¹ by Pema Chödrön - I had a copy of this for years and never picked it up. Earlier in March I took it in to Baldwin’s Book Barn so that someone else could have it. Then before the month was to end, I listened to the audiobook version from Hoopla and absolutely loved it. I'm absolutely listening to it again and taking notes.

¹ - audiobook

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