Random Thoughts and Events

Breathe in and smell
My Chanel
And notice that
My hair is curled--
I'm going out
To save the world
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It saddens Fiorella that people judge (and buy) art because of the name of the artist rather than their joy in the work itself.
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Fio wishes all the energy Trump and cronies heap on berating reporters would be directed toward improving the plight of The Children.
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This is SOOOOO exciting! For the past two days, Sonia Dog and our neighbor's canine crew have been barking up a storm in the early morning so los vecinos set up their game camera along the the fence in Fio's furthest-back acre. A mountain lion? Big Foot?  Will keep you posted.
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Fiorella went into shock when friend Joan told her she keeps up with the blog because Yours Truly-always thought she was writing to an anonymous audience--except for her kids, of course, who check in regularly to find out what embarrassing stunt Mother is up to now.
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From Self-flagelation to Hope

It was cold in the house so Fiorella got one of her trademark trash fires going, added in some nice dry firewood, sat on the couch and stared at the flames, and, as is her wont, berated herself for every stupid thing she'd done in her life from as far back as she can remember--which was when she was four years old and handed her porcelain-headed baby doll--which had been her mother's and grandmother's before her--over to her little brother to hold while she opened the back door. He dropped the doll on purpose and it shattered into pieces. Mother didn't punish or admonish either of us. but Fio could tell she was crying in her heart.
     HOWEVER, not taking proper care of the baby doll--and several other things your girl has done purposefully or not--are in the past, and Fio must move forward--ever forward--if she is to save the nation and the world.
     Her current project, as you know, is gathering together everything she's ever written and either tossing it or preparing it for publication. Things have changed since the Big Six controlled the publishing world, and Fiorella wants to dip her toe in the fresh water. After all, according to the royalty reports of Hachette Group, which published her first two books, Fio's still selling, so maybe she has a chance.
    


   
 
    
    

Guilt, Gratitude, Problemas

Fiorella has been feeling guilty lately because her overactive conscience keeps telling her to do something creative instead of dragging cardboard boxes down the stairs to the front room so she can sort and label the contents. But Fio, being a good girl, resisted the siren song and invested her time in gathering together her precious writings, then spent half her afternoon going through notes, stupid  plots, church bulletins, newspaper clippings, and some truly asinine set-ups for romances.
     The highlight, though, was that Fiorella found a big envelope containing information on her heritage which she'd thought she'd lost. Immediately, she emailed the news of the discovery to Cousin Norma, the family historian and promised to send her copies
     The stupid notes and their ilk ended up in the fireplace and, in gratitude, the hungry cavern flashed into flame on its own.
    
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PROBLEMAS:
(1) After making lunch for herself and Doggie,  Fiorella drove into town and picked up four bags of rock salt, and, returning  home, was pleased to discover she can still lift 25 lb. bags and carry them a couple two yards to the wall of the garage. Pouring the salt into the hot-water tank was another matter, though. Help!
(2) Fiorella just discovered that she didn't put page numbers on several of her early stories. Help!
(3) Every time Fiorella puts down the Sharpie she is labeling her boxes with, she loses it. Help!
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All the News That's Fit to Print

For better or worse, Fiorella has been spending most of her days (when she hasn't been chawing down on the frozen Hershey Nuggets she's got in the refrigerator ) wading through still more papers from her upstairs office, and some of them go way back--like when she was writing a weekly column for the Austin American-Statesman. 
     Being the daughter of a journalism teacher and having edited two high school publications, Fio got a real kick out of having her own column, especially since the newspaper asked her to take photos too. Her favorite was a shot of a neighborhood man putting up Christmas decorations with a begonia in full bloom beside him. (That's Texas for you.)
     The negative part of the job was that whenever Fio ran into a really good story and wrote it up, the Statesman published it under a full-timer's name. Also, she was once accused of using the newspaper camera to take pics of her kids, which Fiorella had never even thought of doing. When she looked at the shots, she was even more confused--those kids weren't hers.
    One of the joys of the job was talking to the full-timers when she waltzed into the newsroom with her copy, but technology was beginning to rear its evil head and personal relationships were being replaced by metal things called modems, which were not your girl's cup of tea. Needless to say, she soon parted ways with the Statesman, although she's kept up her subscription through the years. It's not just the news--it's the comics.
     Your Fio can't go a day without the funny papers.

The DNA Gets You Every Time

Judging by notes written many, many years ago, Fio did quite a bit of car-pooling and volunteering in her day. She was also at her kids' school a lot more than the teachers probably wanted her to be. Although her boys didn't mind, her daughter did--Daughter was furious when Fio brought her forgotten lunch to the elementary school, and again when Fio showed up at a junior high awards ceremony when she was an honoree.
     Hmm...Fiorella may have showed up more than her own mother ever did because she could drive, which her mother couldn't. Also because as a child, she was jealous of the kids whose mothers did visit school.
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Fiorella took notes during vacations and road trips too, and she's planning to make copies of them for the kids for their own horror and enjoyment. She won't be handing out copies of her notes about Mom's last years, though. Mother could be vicious, maybe because of her own pain.
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Digging through her past, Fiorella's also came across the name of a high school friend who became a college friend. Carolyn Evans had divorced her husband, changed her name to Katya McCall, and picked up a new last name (Walter), then, as far as Fio could tell, has drifted off to double-bubble land when he died.
     Can't help but wonder if she's still alive under any name.
     L'envoi: Strangely enough, her mother and Fio's father became great friends when the two of them were in a home for the elderly together.
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Some of the things Fiorella is digging out from the mess are heartbreaking, but she's also found a few gems like this one:
Can't control
What I do or say
Don't blame me
It's the DNA

Library Rap

As you know, Fio is going through everything she's written since the beginning of time--the stuff her mother didn't throw out, that is--so buckle your seat belts. You're in for a ride, and it starts at the library of the last college she taught at. After taking roll of her students, whom she had told to meet her in the library, she launched into Rap:

     Now that you
     Have found a seat
     I want to introduce,
     I want you to meet,
     Ms. Fulton, Ms. Fox,  
     And Mr. Hive-lee
     Who are all your guides
     To the libraree--

      If you wanna learn,
      If you wanna know---
      The libraree
      Is the place to go.
      If you wanna read,
      If you wanna just sit,
     The library's
     The place that's it.

     If you want some help
     Or just a nice space,
    The library
     Is your kinda place.
     I'll end with this--
     I guarantee
    You'll benefit always
     From the libraree!
    
    (The librarians, warned beforehand, stepped forward
with smiles on their faces when their names were called.)

Catching Up with This and That

Fio's has built up big pile of trash in the fireplace so she can start another fire tonight. Her do-it-yourself tactic not only lightens her trash-can trundle, but reduces her heating bill. Also, she likes to watch the flame (insert devil face emoji.)
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Why is it that hatefulness has become stylish? That education is derided and kindness has been shoved into the back closet? That our world, which a short time ago was dreaming of settling Mars and beyond, is now intent on destroying Earth and each other?
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Pray for Fiorella. After losing five pounds by swearing off chocolate, she's gone on a Hershey's Nuggets binge and is gaining it all back.
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Hmm...checking her blog stats, Fio noticed that although the US is still in the lead, France and Russia, once her major audiences, are back in the running again.
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Friend Judith posted a photo of their elementary school Campfire group on Facebook, and Fio was top and center, but by the time she hit high school, the other girls had caught up with her height. It was a real shock when she was moved down to the bottom row in P.E. class.