CSI: Stranger Than Fiction

Remember this one? From 2018, Author of "How to Kill Your Husband" Arrested for Killing Husband.

Looks like her trial is finally getting underway. And that damning "How to Kill Your Husband" essay has been ruled inadmissible and therefore will not be presented to the jury. How's that for a plot twist?

I still maintain this would be a bang-up TV crime show episode. CSI in its early, glory days would have had a field day with it.

Via Post Secret's early, glory days.

As I mentioned in my original post, if I've learned anything about researching crimes and investigations, it's not how to get away with committing a crime - on the contrary, I've learned I wouldn't get away with it. I guess we'll find out how Nancy Crampton-Brophy's research will pay off. Oh, and also, don't be worth more dead than alive to anyone. Bad things happen when you're worth more dead than alive.

A welcome sense of normalcy

Yes, I live in The People's Republic of Commiefornia, but even we are beginning to see a return to normalcy. Sort of. Finally.

The past week or so I have not worn a mask into grocery stores or at the car wash, and it hasn't been a problem. Some customers are still wearing masks, while others are not. Most employees seem to still be wearing them, probably required by their employers just to err on the side of caution. 

In the past week, I registered for two in-person 2023 writer's conferences and gotta say, it felt kind of weird (but a good weird) to be looking at hotel info, indicating what kind of meal I'd like at the banquet, offering to serve as a volunteer and requesting to be put on panels, all in person. It was delightfully normal. On the other hand, I should be at Left Coast Crime in Albuquerque as I type this. I was signed up since it was originally scheduled in 2021, but in December they sent us an email stating that vaccinations would be required to attend, so that ruled me out. I can understand that four months ago they weren't sure how things would be going at this point, but fingers crossed that next year this won't be an issue.

 

Also, today I submitted a story for the first time in over a year. I have been writing and publishing, but the writing has been ongoing works in progress and the published stories have been out there for a while. The one that was accepted in March was submitted over a year prior. I did "win" NaNoWriMo in November, but even that project is in first draft condition, not anywhere near ready to go out into the world, so getting something out, even a flash fiction story, still felt good.

I like the feeling of not being on hold anymore, even as our political and media overlords seem to be tentatively floating the idea of yet another deadly strain of COVID. But I think people are sick of it, sick of having their lives and livelihoods put on indefinite hold by the powers that be despite the fact that COVID did not turn out to be the black plague we were promised. People are not dropping dead in the streets, populations are not being wiped out. There are numerous deadly diseases and medical issues out there, many of which are contagious and most of which have been around for years, and we never shut down our entire society for any of them, at least not in my not lengthy lifetime. Not sure what ultimately was the point of shutting it all down for this one, but I look forward to books that will no doubt be published on the subject in coming years. Yeah, I'm a little skeptical.

Fortunately, one constant that can be relied on to make life better is Sophie being ridiculously cute. Enjoy!

GIANT. BUNNY. FEET.

April 24 can't get here fast enough

HBO's fantastic Barry returns in a little under three weeks. I can't wait to see how they deal with the corner they painted themselves into. I think it's going to be a different show that the first couple of seasons. 

Here's the latest trailer:

 

Soooooo looking forward to this! 

 

Holy moly, I will watch the crap out of this

Next installment of Feud will be Capote's Women. From the linked article:

 

Ryan Murphy and Plan B have set a second installment of their FX anthology series Feud. Titled Capote's Women, the project will star two-time Oscar nominee Naomi Watts as Babe Paley who ruled the glamorous world of New York society in the 1960s and 70s.

 

*****

 

An adaptation of Laurence Leamer’s bestselling book “Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era,” the miniseries is set in the 1970s, and ends with Truman Capote’s death in 1984. It chronicles the tale of the famous wunderkind author as he stabs several of his female friends — whom he called his “swans” — in the back by publishing a roman à clef short story called “La Côte Basque 1965” in Esquire in 1975. 

 

*****

 

La Côte Basque‘s characters were thinly disguised versions of Capote’s  female confidants and exposed their shocking secrets and scandals, from adultery to murder. Its publication destroyed Capote’s friendships, with all of his swans cutting him off, as well as his reputation and his social standing.

It's been a long wait for the next Feud. The first installment was 2017's awesome Bette and Joan. At one point they announced that the second season would feature Prince Charles and Princess Diana, but that never happened.

This should be so good. Can't wait for more casting news, especially for Capote himself.

 

March Words of Wisdom

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island. --Walt Disney

 

We are in the golden age of music. There will be a time when technology becomes so advanced that we'll rely on them to make music rather than raw talent. Music will lose its soul. --Freddie Mercury

 

A good song should give you a lot of images; you should be able to make your own movie to a good song. --Tom Petty

 

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. --Jim Davis

 

I am devoting the rest of my life to healing, so that my soul will always feel like home. --Janine Tamis

 

You become what you give your attention to. --Epictetus

 

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done, the zest of creating things new. --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 

I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be. -Joan Didion

 

Keep your eyes ahead and focus on how you can be a better version of yourself, not looking from side to side and watching what everyone else is doing. --Mariah Walton Bensik

 

Giving yourself a little time to appreciate something that doesn't move as fast is very important. --Mindy Staton 

You can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love. --Jim Carrey

If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you're fooling yourself. That's like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn't eat him. --John Spence

 

Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner. --Lao Tzu

 

I glory in publicly avowing my eternal enmity to tyranny. --John Hancock 

Justice is a big rug. When you pull it out from under one man, a lot of others fall, too. --Dorothy Kilgallen

 

I love walking in the rain because no one can see my tears. --Charles Chaplin

The slap heard 'round the internets

Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars because of comments Rock made about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and the internets had a field day.

Via act4america on IG

Via mostly.peaceful.memes on IG

Via truenorthpolitics on IG.

Let it go, dude. Let it go.

Goals

You had one job

Back to the parking lot

Spotted this car in the parking lot when I was leaving the salon this morning:

 

 

I can't remember the last time I saw a working DeLorean. Bet that car is a boatload of fun. The owner probably can't go anywhere without someone wanting to chat him or her up about it.

Submitted without comment

Jump around!

I love Daylight Savings! We should be on it year long.

Don't forget to spring forward tonight!

 

Now we know why the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are on horseback...

The way gas prices are going, riding horses is going to be cheaper than driving cars. And horses are expensive. You never pay them off. You pay and pay until one of you finally dies. They are money pits. Beautiful, wonderful money pits that I would like to have about a dozen of, but money pits nonetheless.

 

The internets have spoken:

 

 

For the record, late night host Stephen Colbert is paid $15 million per year by CBS. He has an estimated net worth of $75 million. So yeah, he can afford to be flippant not just about the price of gas, but the price of well, anything. Most people however do not have that luxury. Yeah, like Kyle Kashuv said above, they're laughing at our pain. Message received: The elites, our betters as they consider themselves, don't care about our suffering. They'll be fine and that's all that matters.

 

The cheapest gas at the cheapest station in my town (we have four) skyrocketed from $4.65 to $5.29 within the last week. Previously it had been inching up 10 cents/gallon at a time every four weeks or so.

I don't know how people who have to commute are doing it. They have to really be hurting. And what are our so-called leaders and elite doing? Blaming it all on the war in Ukraine, despite the fact that everyone knows prices have been going up for months. That's what they think of us. Blatant lies and they don't care. They are vile.