And When Will Hollywood Call?

Thank you, God--in this horrible aftermath of the election, Fiorella needed something upbeat to happen, and it did. Serena called back and asked Fio to meet her next Wednesday at the American-Statesman office so she could make her TV advertising debut for Roger Beasley Mazda. Fio, of course, is thrilled to do so, and not just because she is a natural-born ham. Through the years, she has had a wonderful relationship with the guys at the Georgetown location. They have been not only kept her baby car in good shape, but been unfailingly polite, helpful, cheerful, reliable, and kind, and Fio wants to tell the whole world about how great they are.

To Subscribe or Not to Subscribe

Should Fiorella continue subscribing to the newspaper or not?  She isn't interested in sports, never reads the entertainment section, and ignores ads.  And she could get the comics and her fix of national and international news on Google.

On the other hand, Fio likes reading stuff on paper, and she'd miss out on the screwball vicissitudes of Texas politics.  And she'd  miss the anagrams too--which are more decipherable than the politics.

Liars, Case #3

Fio was completely taken in by--let's call her M--and so was everyone else.  She was new in town, quite vocal,  and quickly became active in the elementary school.  Her children were smart and well-behaved.  Her husband was a local newscaster.  She told Fio, who wrote her up in the neighborhood column for the American-Statesman, that she sang country-western and that Nashville had offered her a  contract,  but she wanted to wait till her daughter and twin boys were older.

Oddly enough, when Fiorella asked to hear her sing, she said she never sang without a full instrumental back-up.  And her husband seemed confused when Fio mentioned her singing. And, while she claimed her father was a doctor, she went to a chiropractor for all her aches and pains. And the school was concerned because she took a peculiar interest in a certain student and phoned his parents about him several times, then denied doing so.

The next thing Fio knew, M's husband got a better job in North Texas and the family moved--only to be back in Austin within six months because M had developed a crush on her husband's boss and harassed him by telephone.  The family settled in South Austin, as Fio remembers, and M must have been up to her same old tricks, because one evening Fiorella received a call from M asking to borrow one hundred dollars.  M's husband had cleaned out the bank account and run out on her and the kids.

Fio mailed her the check, knowing full well she'd never be repaid.  But she also knew it meant M would never try to contact her again.  Which made the money worth it.

Throw That Damn Paper!

Fiorella's been stuttering lately, accidentally scheduling two blogs on the same day, then having to correct herself--one per day is her limit--by repeating one of her commentaries the next day. Sorry about that, but maybe she's all discombobulated by the newspaper delivery problem.

Wherever she's lived, even out here in the boondocks, the Austin American-Statesman has been delivered to her door (or into a nearby bush). Starting December 26, 2011, it hasn't gotten any further than six feet down the driveway, which is approximately eighty yards from Fio's front door, a distance which Fio, currently hobbling around on a cane, is not in any condition to undertake.

Husband called the Statesman last Thursday and was assured the problem would be rectified immediately. Not knowing Husband had called, Fio also called, and was assured the problem would be handled within two days and the newspaper would be at her front door again. When these promises were not met, Fio started firing off letters to the editor.

Her porch is still bare.

Fiorella wants to support the newspaper because she believes in the value of print news, but the Statesman is making it hard for her to do so. It's a new year and Fiorella is sorting through her life, tossing out things she no longer needs. Maybe the Austin American-Statesman is one of them.