More Introspection

Remember when Fiorella told you that everyone laughed when she said her newborn baby brother was wide asleep? That was when Fio first realized she could bring down the house--and that she liked it. But your faithful correspondent was only a-doin' what came naturally. her maternal grandfather may have been an alcoholic, but "Clown" also had a good sense of humor, which Mom inherited, thank goodness, or Fio would have never trod the earth--Dad had his choice of blind dates and opted for the girl who would be "a lot of fun."

Laughter has gotten Fio through a lot of tough spots and hard times, but she has to be careful because some people don't catch on to her jokes. And, above all, Fio wants to be kind.

Bounce-back

You can't keep a good girl down, especially when she has good friends like Evelyn Palfrey and Paula Marks. Fio met up with Evelyn at Starbucks today, then sped up the street to have lunch with Paula Marks at Dan's Hamburgers. By the time she headed home, she was giddy with love and laughter. There's nothing like having good friends. Nothing like sitting across the table from people who talk the same political language. Nothing like being in the company of people who are knowledgeable, literate, clever, sympathetic, and screamingly funny. 

Maybe Trump could have been a real person if he'd had friends like this. 

United We Stand

Fiorella is heartened by the way the anti-Trump movement has come together with each person working in his own way. Fio uses FB and her blog, posting comments, responses, and poems. Others march or strike or continually contact their congressmen. Others sign petition after petition.  The intelligence community and news media keep insisting on telling the truth. And political cartoonists, comic strip writers, and TV satirists have reduced the situation to its basic absurdity.

Trump may be the first president laughed out of office.

Happiness Is a Happy Family

Minnesota son, who is visiting to help Fio and Husband in the aftermath of Husband's hospital stays, celebrated his belated birthday yesterday. In the afternoon, he drove into Austin for a get-together with Brother and Sister, and, in the evening, Brother came to the house and was joined by Cousin and Wife. There were a lot of stories and a lot of laughter, which warmed Fio's heart.  She slept well last night.

Key

Friends and family, love and laughter are what get Fiorella through the day. Sometimes she has to work on the last two.

Raconteur

Fio knows this is the second Tuesday of the month because that's when she meets with friends Ashley and Carol at Starbucks.  Carol couldn't make it this time so Fio and Ashley were the only ones yucking it up.  Yeah, they laughed and chortled and cackled, mostly about Fiorella running into the police car.  It was horrible that it happened, of course, but what else can one do but make a good story out of it?

A Blessed House

Fiorella reporting in--our Christmas day was wonderful.  We were thirteen at the table, which was really the dining table adjoined to a picnic table that Fio and Husband had lugged out of the depths of the garage.  The chairs came from all over the house and were joined by four brought by Brother Bill and his wife. After the gift give-aways and dinner--turkey breasts, ham, salmon, boiled potatoes, corn, mushrooms, pies, pudding--we all set up camp in the den, Fio handed out the stockings, and everyone talked and talked and talked.  And laughed and laughed and laughed.  Some of the guests had to leave as the afternoon wore on so the party moved into the front room, still talking.  And laughing.

Everyone is gone now, but the house is still resonating with vibes of love.

Weighing It All

Nothing beats laughter and random kindness to pull Fio out of a depression.  She had a great time at Mazda yesterday while she was picking up her baby car--Jason and Richard are lots of fun--and then, when she stopped by H-E-B to pick up a few things for supper, an employee who was outside gathering baskets noticed she was looking for a small one and ran across the roadway to fetch one for her.  And inside the store, she was able to snag a bigger package of hamburger (for Husband, Son, and Fio) than the butcher usually cuts, and a checker invited her to a new line she was opening up.

Fate balances out.

Defining Fio

Fiorella apologizes for all the dumb, thoughtless, embarrassing, and insensitive things she's ever done or said in her life, the things that infiltrate her spare moments and haunt her dreams.  Fio's an overflowing cornucopia of faux pas, but she can assure you she's never been purposefully cruel or mean.  And that she always tries to help.

Fiorella will state her viewpoint, but she is not a fighter.  In fact, she rarely even gets angry.  It just isn't worth it.  Arguing never changes a person's viewpoint--it just makes Fio feel sick to her stomach and leaves the other person more adamant than ever.

Fiorella is a good time gal, and she likes to be around enjoyable people.  Laughter scares off demons, improves the digestion, and stimulates the brain.

Stray Thoughts and Observations

Despite the imaginative conjectures of yesteryear, cars all look pretty much the same. There are only so many ways one can design a metal carapace.
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No, you can't get STDs from using public bathrooms, but if you're having sex with strangers there, you can.
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Popular literature: men write books about dominance while women write books about relationships.
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God gave us laughter because what else do we have?
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I've often thought I wanted to die, but I have a feeling that when the time comes, I won't wanna go.
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There's more to life than sex, but it's good on the side.
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No one has the right to remain dangerous or insane.
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One of the greatest joys of life is waking up slowly, not having to leap out of bed at the first brazen trill of an alarm clock.