#ThrowbackThursday: 2015

This is an old Joe Show webisode, the first one we did featuring a guest, in the form of one Ian Adams. I love this one, even with all the flubs and silliness!

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Get Yourself A Fairy Godmother

Today I talked with Sharon for nearly three hours. 

"AUNTIE Sharon" is what she'll say to that sentence. Yes, Aunt Sharon, in that she is one of Louie's little sisters (there's a load of other aunts). But Lou is my mother's husband, not my "bio dad" nor my "on paper" father at all, and regarding that fact, the Lombardi family (including those other five aunts) never let me forget it. Not for a day. Except for Sharon. Beautiful, sweet-smelling, musical and creative, Sharon was the first "grown woman" that I knew, besides my mom, that carried a kind of tanglible energy. I don't know if there's an English word for it, but it's like a light...it's a kind of light of love...it's a luminous energy that women know how to exude, and receive, and carry forward to other women. It happens when we hand someone a tampon in the ladies room, or when we catch each others' eyes across a crowded train whenever one of these guys starts acting up (y'all know what I'm saying.) It's how your friend takes your kids after school so you don't go insane if you hear "mom? mom? mom?" one more time, and how your sister-in-law instinctively knows you will take care of her baby. It is like a luminous energy river flowing. So when I was a little girl, Sharon is the first female person, who wasn't my mom, and in fact bore zero relation to me in any way at all, whose flow joined mine, wordlessly. She danced with us, she colored and drew pictures with us. She introduced me to music, art and books that I still own today. Even though I was just the deformed, unwashed little runt that Lou's latest "girl of the week" brought around the house, Sharon had my back, even though she was, actually, just a girl herself.  A teenager when her big brother knocked up my mother, who herself had been a teenager when she'd had me. They were all so young that it boggles the mind to consider what life was like? When Michael was born, Sharon became his cummari. That's pronounced "goomba" and it's Sicilian for "godmother." Michael called her Auntie Sharon. I called her Sharon ("AUNTIE!") but what she won't know until she reads this is that I thought of her as my godmother, too. Because her flow of strong energy was so tangible to me, I knew, if anything ever happened to my mom, Sharon would have taken care of me, too. The Lombardi family made sure I didn't forget I was not a blood relative, but the covenant of a woman's love has nothing to do with blood. Thank you, Sharon. ("AUNTIE.").  ⾎

You May Also Like: If It Ain't One Thing It's Your Mother

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That One Friend With No Chill

via me.me

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I Really Should Have Moved That Tee-Shirt First

So I was exchanging Christmas decoration photos and video with my friends, and this is what I sent, you guys. I snapped the pic, sent it to our chat, and then I saw the tee-shirt Joey got from his friend at work, draped on the chair right there. Doh!

🎅🎄🤶

 "Merry Christmas! Fuck off!"

 

 

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You Know What My Library Really Needs? Coffee.

Because this is gonna require coffee. 

I'm at the Honan-Allston Library again today, doing research for a possible new client. One of my favorite things about freelance work, even if it's only writing a simple Artist Statement for a graphic illustrator, is the prep work. Freelancers learn a lot about a wide range of subjects. That's why we're all such strange people. That's my theory, anyway. 🤓

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RIP Sondra Locke

You guys, Sondra Locke died. Sure, yeah, she was in all those Clint Eastwood movies and look what has happened to him. She did other stuff too. She directed and starred in Ratboy. Ratboy is the absolute 1986est thing you could ask for, and I mean that sincerely.

"Ratboy: It's so hard being different"

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#ThrowbackThursday: 2001

This #Throwback is so old! Diaryland entry from April 16, 2001

Just How Big We Talkin'? And How Easy?


I can't focus on work today. How the shit am I expected to focus on work today when tomorrow at this time I'll be in New Orleans, a whole city I've never visited and always lusted after? New Orleans. N'awlins. The Big Easy. With my fascination with death and penchant for the unexplainable things that lurk in the dark corners of the world, I am of course drawn to the history of the place, the "real" city that makes it unique from any other city. I don't want to see the stuff that's already been in syndication, in other words. It's kinda like when my distant friends come to Boston, and they immediately want to go drink at the Cheers bar while I want to take them to The Middle East for indie rock & falafel. The Cheers bar is crap. It was a bad show, they only shot the OUTSIDE of the bar, and nobody needs a T-shirt that might as well say "look how dumb I am, I actually gave somebody money for this shirt." 
(More...)

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Happy Birthday, Donny Osmond

Joe's got a certain level of respect for Donny Osmond.

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EIGHT DAYS A FREAK

RIP Michelle's Facebook Account (2008 - 2018)

Facebook self-disrupted in three ways in my opinion. So I'm out, at least for having a personal profile on the platform. At some point I'll likely create a #GenXReport Group or Page or whatever the new thing will be, by then. Because they keep changing the platform for no reason. But for a personal Facebook account, since December 1st, I am Deactivated.

#DeactivateFacebook

I went with Deactivate for now because that allows me to keep using Messenger. Simone told me that in October when we all spent the weekend together, and that's when I decided that it was finally time to get the hell outta there. Speaking of Simone: Always keep your friends who are way smarter than you are, thank you, Simone. Speaking of smart friends? Today Jenny messaged me with the video below. It is a musical number about the unfortunate devolution of Facebook. "This made me think of you,"Jenny wrote. "Love it," I replied. And I do.

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Thrift Stories: "And I Thought I Have Trouble Finishing Thi--" Edition

The funny thing about this barely-begun canvas I saw at the thrift store? I almost bought it...because I need something else to hoard in my studio? I pick up too much random shit thinking I'll make something cool out of it. I have too many things in my studio that I need to finish making, and too much writing left unfinished! I resisted the urge to get "Once Up..." but snapped this photo as a reminder: I have a book to finish! Or...um...start, really. ⚐

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New Holiday Tradition: Watching the Emmet Otter Outtakes Reel

"Who are they, ma?"

This is a reel of bloopers. It is very funny.

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#Throwback Thursday: 2008

Ten years ago this week! Seems like only a hundred years ago this week. (I'm so tired).

...click to read more...

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HAPPY SAINT NICK'S FEAST DAY!

Y'all, it is the Feast Day of our only Klingon saint! Here's the deal...when I wrote the post titled "Smile When You Bless The Gagh!" in order to explain how I am sure that Santa is definitely a Klingon, I hadn't realized that many other me's agree! So here's an illustration by graphic artist Brandon Carr that pretty much nails it. Don't you just love it when you find your fellow travelers?

@brandonjcar

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Currently Reviewing Business Ideas Like

Underpants Gnomes

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Hold Your Antasy Draft Here

Cool cool cool cool cool. I din't have a single F left to give. In Allston Rock City extra F's just layin' on the ground here. Ⓕ

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"While you were sleeping..."

I woke up to this photo Joey took just before he left for work today. He texted that he wanted to show me how cute I am all snuggled up with my bear on cold mornings. 😴 I love him so much. If you can marry your best friend, I highly recommend it.💖

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Pandorable!

Pandora sent me an email. I like it, Pandora. Give a raise to the person who thought of this. I think I even like the toxic green & pink color scheme maybe.

I clicked the thing and Tweeted it, as suggested. But I had to change the auto-gen line. I'm not saying "Sharing is caring" for the love of all that doesn't suck. That's like "spring has sprung" and "it's all about the ________" and other such drivel. Like I'ma put my name on "sharing is caring, here's my Pandora station." What does it even mean. GOD I hate lazy writing so turkducken much.

And, yes I did guess my go-to station for November! There's one I put on quite a lot lately. I've been listening to a lot of electronic artists, older like Bill Laswell and a lot of guys like DJ Krush & Toshinori Kondo, also Skalpel, Villain Accelerate, Prefuse 73. Joey bought a few of the albums that we discovered through this station. You should do that.

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This is how lucky I am

Joey brought me a second mug of his delightful French press coffee, but he wouldn't put it into my hands because it was so piping hot. He waited while I cleared a space on my messy desk, then he put down the coffee mug. "Did you not want me to burn my fingers?" I asked, "But what about YOUR fingers?"

"My fingers have callouses from playing," he said, kissing me on my head. "The heat doesn't bother me."

Awwww, what? That's like the most romantic thing I've ever heard. You guys. I love him so much.😍

DEC 1: WORLD AIDS DAY 

Total happenstance...I picked this photo of me 'n Joey and then realized this was snapped by Terence  Burke at a World AIDS Day charity concert in 2007. Eleven years ago tonight.

That was a great event. Our dear friend Trish had gone to Africa to work as a volunteer, and when she got back, the following year, Trish sought out Low Budget Superhero for help organizing a fundraiser. I was happy to do it. I gathered a small but energized team, booked the venue (Harpers Ferry) and called some stellar bands (Ramona Silver, John Powhida International Airport, Specimen 37). We called around and got cool raffle prizes donated, other event promoters like me (Sue and Anderson) came to help, and all my people at newspapers promoted the event, as did the club. Trish herself, despite being a little nervous, told her story. Together we put on this wonderful World AIDS Day event to raise money for the kids Trish had met on her mission. I think we raised some good cash for the charity. Trish is amazing, right? I think of her every December 1st, honored to have helped with her wonderful event. 💞

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Happy Move-a-versary!

"I can't believe it's been eight years." - Joe Kowalski

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You Can "Take" Classes Online With Me If You Want To

I write a lot about the pure drivel that stood for "education" in the 1970s. That's because the rest of my life has been preoccupied with un-learning all of that baloney. Last month, over a reunion weekend that we try to do every-so-often, I consulted with my three girlfriends (great loves of my life!). These are the lifelong friends, and Michelle, Colleen and Simone were there with me from Grades 1 through 8 when we were at the mercy of some old nuns for showing us how the world works. But here's the thing...the old nuns didn't actually know how any of it works. And they didn't like questions. So they didn't like me. They gave us this Bible as big as our History book, and both books contained names and stories and dates, and it was all presented in the same way, more or less. So George Washington and Jesus and Santa all figured into the narrative about the same, more or less. They sent us off to high school with a right proper disaster of a world view. High school and college had a big job to do, which is UN-learn us and try to point us in the right direction. Every time I think about it, I'm staggered anew by the gall. It is so galling.

Of late, I've been availing myself of the great universities who've kindly posted full semesters on YouTube, with particular interest in history and literature. Right now I'm "taking" two classes, should any of you find yourselves seeking something better to do than poke around Facebook. At Harvard, Dr. Marjorie Garber knows a lot about every Shakespeare play, and at Columbia, Richard Bulliet knows a lot about how come my early education was such a load of crap. 

Course: Harvard, ENGL E-129

Shakespeare After All: The Later Plays 

Course: Columbia, W3902 

World History to 1500 CE

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Currently Listening: Must

Record: Androgynous Jesus

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This is The House That Carpenter Built

I hadn't seen The Thing in years. And all these years later, so many of my favorite creators call John Carpenter a big huge major influence, including the Ross and Matt Duffer, the Stranger Things guys. Of COURSE! Dude. Does anybody else think the two stories dovetail so neatly that the thing in The Thing becomes the stranger things in Stranger Things?

Feb 2018

"We wanted something in the vein of the classic films we loved growing up," Ross shared with IGN. "Obviously the influences are all over the show, whether it’s Spielberg’s stuff or John Carpenter or the novels of Stephen King. And I think for us looking at it, it’s like, 'What is it about these stories that resonated so much with us when we were growing up?' And I think really what it is, what connects all of them even though tonally sometimes they’re different -- but what really connects them is that these very ordinary people encountering these very extraordinary things. So I think those were the initial conversations, of can we get back to that style of storytelling?"

What I forgot I love about John Carpenter  is his storytelling prowess, like how The Thing ends on an open note where the protagonists' fate is left non-specific. Spielberg does great with this device too, as does Stephen King. These guys were the kings of 1980s storytelling and yeah, the Duffer Brothers are operating on a spectrum made whole through their absorption. I get that, and I love that. Y'all, I could totes hang with the Duffers. Do you have any idea how many hours of my life have pertained in some way to these storytellers?

Put super-simply: these stories persist because there's so much to speculate about, including whether or not The Thing ends with MacReady and Childs transmogriformulated into Thing 1 and Thing 2, and "it" is about to go back to sleep again until the rescue team arrives, at which point "it" can get a lift to a great food source: civilization. So I like to think of MacReady and Childs as a manifestation of the Thing finally getting it right, having perfected a viable human replication, after failing (but learning!) with all those dogs and men...and obviously some spiders. It likes spiders.
 

Something about 1983

In The Thing, it is 1983 in Antarctica. In Stranger Things, it is 1983 in Hawkins, Indiana. In common, there's a creature from another world that's been dormant deep below in a frozen realm. Now the creature has been awoken by the unfortunate antics carried out by a squad of researchers, and the deadly genie is out of its proverbial bottle. Also in common, this strange thing seeks to survive and to spread all across the planet, maybe all across the universe! The creature requires living hosts. It is impervious to everything except fire.

Creature Double-Feature?

Let's talk about the nature of the beast in both stories. This is the fun part. The creature requires a host in order to replicate, right? It is suggested that it would remain dormant for millennia until it finds a suitable environment. For most of the story, whatever screeching, writhing monstrosity manages to survive the replication looks like a wet pile of Starship crew after a transporter malfunction. As the movie progresses, the Thing gets better at attack, absorption and imitation, but first it tears mightily through all the Norwegians, their dogs, then all the American dogs and humans until the only surviving life-forms are MacReady and Childs. In Stranger Things, Eleven tells the other kids that it's her fault that the creature was awoken, insisting that she is reason that it has the ability to materialize from its icy realm in the dark depths she calls the Upside Down. Well how come that is? How does El know it is her fault? Well, how indeed, dear reader! And here is the apotheosis of my would-be cross-over fan fictionalizing...I love doing this stuff. And I love these Duffer Brothers.

The ancient alien is a Darwinian nightmare, defying everything we know about zoology, paleontology, genetics and developmental biology. The thing is a miracle of evolution, or one could argue, an abomination of natural selection. Like an undersea life-form, the thing thrives in dark, cold and hostile environments. Its core structure is kind of like a fleshy kelp tree, and it is strong. It throws thick, sinewy tendrils that can penetrate and grind up its hapless victims. It can also reproduce through spore production, propagating like a fungus by absorbing all carbon-based life-forms and appropriating whatever materials it needs to better adapt, survive and spread. What it does not use, it discards in favor of traits better-suited for adaptation. Not only can it absorb materials, but it can also imitate. So it can mimic blood, gristle, bones, teeth, even hair. The thing is capable of replicating the useful attributes of whatever life-form it consumes, be it insect, reptile, beast or man. As it replicates, it adapts. It learns. It mutates. If is is capable of replicating, adapting and mutating, then imagine what would transpire should such a creature take on telekinesis, clairvoyance, and the ability to travel back and forth between the physical world and a cold, dark psychic realm? The alien has adapted beyond the physical. It was never a thing of nature, not as mankind understands nature. But now it's a thing of super-nature. It is a much stranger thing. What a great place to restart the story.That's my theory, and I'm stickin' to it! You go, Duffer Brothers. Well done. 🔥

It loves spiders.

Related: Don't go to sleep on this Kurt Russell, he's still trying to spread all across the universe.

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Currently Listening: Arlo Guthrie - Alice's Restaurant (Live at Farm Aid 2005)

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In a column dated November 17, 1928

“I had been fed, in my youth, a lot of old wives' tales about the way men would instantly forsake a beautiful woman to flock around a brilliant one. It is but fair to say that, after getting out in the world, I had never seen this happen."
 —Dorothy Parker

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Currently Listening: XTC

Song: The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead

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Seasonal Defective Disorder

 

If you were thinking of me for this Christmas, and wondering how I'm doing, and if you're feeling particularly life-savior'y, I wear a size "I owe $1000 in medical bills with no plan on how to make that stop being a major source of debilitating anxiety."

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I Love The Sky When It's Gonna Snow Later

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Global Warning

"I'm one of those people who doesn't believe in global warming, but I'm pretty sure Noah's Ark was a true story. You know, where the guy was warning everyone about the insane change in the weather and everyone was like, shut the fuck up, Noah." - Rory Scovel

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Allston Christmas (*actual)

The tree is up at Jackson Mann! I think it gets all gussied 'n lighted up this weekend. The school kids make ornaments, the city puts lights on and there's usually some kind of lighting ceremony. Me and Joey attended one year when Mayor Menino was still kicking around (I liked him). So this means the Harvard Ave lights are about to flick on for the season. I'll go picture-taking next week. I love Christmas in Rock City! 🎄

*Note. This post was about actual Allston Christmas. Not Allston Xmas, what Rock City's genial citizenry calls late August/early September. That is a neighborhood-specific season, short but chaotic, as the Sun gets less intense about his work, and single flip-flops begin to materialize in the streets, discarded during some end-of-school-year walk-of-shame just before the students all clear out of Rock City for another year. Year-round residents navigate chock-a-block Uhauls and Riders and out-of-state SUVs piloted by bewildered parents. At all hours the members of this honking horde finally find the Mass Pike entrance and get the hell outta here, and they leave behind their security deposits along with towering piles of books, kitchen appliances, musical instruments, furniture, toys, clothes and whatnot, through which the locals go "picking" or "junking" for what treasure they may seek. I'm pretty good at it. Mark your calendar.

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Currently Listening: Jobriath

Record: Jobriath

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Currently Listening: Voodoo Screw Machine

Song: Lotion (cover of Greenskeeper's song)

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Currently Listening: Fish

Record: Sunsets on Empire

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#ThrowbackThursday (Blogcast: April 10, 2018)

Here is one of my "Blogcast" posts from earlier in the year. Regular followers will know that I made an attempt to convert my blog to an audio-only format...no edits! But it didn't work. Because that was a truly terrible idea. And I am sure I'll try it again anyway, because I never learn, do I? This Blogcast, titled "We Got The President We Deserve," is about how digital marketers have been utilizing the data we all put online, that it was never a secret, how all of you opted into participating, and I give some examples in the retail world, and then I show how the same principles apply to CAMPAIGN MARKETING, which in the case of Election 2016 included Russian manipulation of public sentiment against Clinton. Because of the "no edit" rule I foolishly made, I ramble. I'm way better in printed material, guys.

I recorded this Blogcast while Mark Zuckerberg was testifying before Congress on April 10th, right after I heard some old fart politician ask Zuck a question and pronounce "content" as "conTENT," proving once again that these old farts have zero idea what they're even talking about because they're analog thinkers in a digital world, y'all. 
They don't get it. They gotta go, man.

  Listen as SuperLowBudge explains how some of this shit works.  If you don't know what you're doing, just get offline and go do something else.  Otherwise, you in danger, y'all.

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President Trump accuses people

President Trump accuses people of changing their clothes and returning to cast additional ballots in disguise.

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Thank you for your service, and your sacrifice

I wrote to a guy who has done a ton of research and he wrote me back! He said "The 14th AIB was part of the 1st AD."

The family is not close-knit. No one spoke of my grandfather James DiPoala; I was never told about his life, his years in service nor anything about him or his personality. All I knew growing up was that Grandpa DiPoala was "shell shocked" in the parlance of his time, and the reason he didn't live at home with Grandma was that he'd become violent then deteriorated to the point where he no longer recognized her or his children. My mom has no memory of her father at all, because she was just a baby when he went to live in a Vet facility where he would stay for the rest of his life. He died in 2001. I wonder what he was like. I hope he was nice. I know he was a soldier. I wish things had been different. A girl could use a grandpa and I didn't get to have one. Thank you for your service and your sacrifice, Grandpa D.🌎

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Spell check always wants to change my last name to "dipole."

"...a molecule in which a concentration of positive electric charge is separated from a concentration of negative charge."

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#ThrowbackThursday Election Day 2012

Today's #Throwback is a photo snapped by Joe at our polling place, as he does. I think I have a photo of myself at most polls for the past 16 years since I got myself a Joe. 

Speaking of 2012, is anyone else wondering just how strange it will be to see Mitt Romney as a Senator now? I actually think he'll do okay as soon as he uploads the Senator program into his central processing unit. Fucking Mitt Romney, am I right? 𛱠

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What Lies Beneath (Movie Summary and Review)

(2000) 2h 10min

It's weird that I didn't see it when it first came out. I mean, it's got Michelle Pfeiffer and Harrison Ford in the lead roles. One does trust A-Listers such as these to pick good scripts, doesn't one? After all, Pfeiffer and Ford have each been outstanding in everything, from comedy and adventure to dramatic roles. Moreover I can't think of a single clunker starring either of them, can you? And yet, whenever the conversation turns toward ghost stories, I'm always surprised at how few people have seen What Lies Beneath. 

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While you guys bicker about when to start decorating for Christmas...

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#RolandMartinUnfiltered

Hey, required viewing, okay? All I ask of you today. Please.

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Try 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner, They Said

This one works great for me!, they said. 

Yeah, that's gonna be another "no" from me, dawg. Imagine if this were August? My hair wouldn't fit through the door. This is pure Sicilian lockage, folks. If you don't know, the Sicilians hail from Arab and African cultures colliding and merging. Then invaded by Vikings. I looked it up, having always wondered why these green eyes and light brown hair when the rest of my family is so olive-skinned, dark-eyed and chestnut-haired. Because, invaded by Normans. Apparently I come from a long line of ice cream, spicy pasta sauces and religious tolerance as an ethical ideology. And that's how come this ghostly spectre half-lifer has got to have pistachio, fra diavlo, and zero assholes in my life. And, yes, a serious no-foolin'-around conditioner. Graci,

@SuperLowBudge

💓💙💚💛💜

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Reunion 2018 and #Throwback to 1984

October 2018 Reunion

1984

You May Also Like: What Story Will You Tell A 6th Grader?

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