June Words of Wisdom

To be good, and to do good, is the whole duty of man comprised in a few words. (Abigail Adams) 

 

The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous. (Frederick Douglass)

 

Being hated by idiots is the price you pay for not being one of them. (Jean Cocteau) 

 

Nothing but this gaunt quiet. (H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds)

 

I like being at home. My life is very simple. I read a lot of books. I watch a lot of movies, listen to a lot of music, walk the dog. Cook with my family. I am boring. (Cillian Murphy) (Note: Sounds like a good time to me!) 

 

 

The Daveigh Chase story just got worse. Again.

Per the Los Angeles Coroner's Office, Daveigh Chase's offical cause of death was AIDS, with "chronic polysubstance use" listed as a secondary cause. This story just gets more and more tragic. According to the linked article, her father stated that, "...she had been homeless and struggled with drugs since the age of 13." 

 

I had no idea she'd fallen into such a downward spiral and for so long. If I'd thought about it, I would have assumed she was still working even if I wasn't personally seeing her pop up in anything, but her last credits were in 2016, ten years ago.

I know I keep saying this, but every time I read something new about this story it just gets more and more tragic. Daveigh had such a unique look and was such a talented actress, she should have had an amazing career and life. I wish someone could have helped her. She deserved so much better.

 

Image snicked from her imdb entry. 

 

RIP Ann Blyth

Ann Blyth, who had a great career but is probably best known for playing Joan Crawford's snobbish monster of a daughter Veda in the classic film Mildred Pierce, died Wednesday at the age of 98. 

 

One of my favorite childhood memories was when I was about ten years old, and my Mom (who, like me, loved classic films) let me stay up late on a school night because a late night movie program was showing Mildred Pierce and she thought it was important for me to see it. To this day it's one of my all-time favorite films. 

 

In spite of how horribly her character behaved toward Mildred in the film, per Blyth she and Crawford got on well.

 

RIP Ann, and thanks for the great performances.

 

Two months

I keep a spreadsheet of my purchases and the other day I looked back and realized that June 22 marks two months since I last bought cat food. Today is two months since she died.

 

Such a bummer.

 

 

Too much counting

This is my 16th Father's Day without my Father. That's just crazy, but the time does go by. Between him, my Mom, and now Sophie, I can't stop counting the days/weeks/months/years without them. I wonder if everyone does it as obsessively as I do.

 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

I've commented on this one in the past, but this popped up on Post Secret this morning:

 

And again I say, NO! You don't need to temper your celebration just because there are people who can't or don't celebrate this day for whatever reason. Enjoy it and celebrate your Dad while you've still got him. Have a great day with him. No one gets to tell you that you can't or shouldn't. Today is for you and your Dad, no one else. Celebrate!

 

8 Weeks

Today I'm going to the local farmer's market, then will settle in for a quiet weekend. 

 

Eight weeks ago I was frantically calling the vet for help with Sophie, who was deteriorating before my eyes.

 

Eight weeks ago as I type this, she had about eight hours to live.

 

How I like to remember her:

 

 

I really miss her.

 

RIP Daveigh Chase

Today brought some totally unexpected news: Actress Daveigh Chase, who as a child star had a very eclectic career, has died at the age of 35 due to complications of meningitis.

 

Chase had a number of notable roles, including voicing the young Hawaiian girl Lilo who adopts an alien as a pet in Lilo & Stitch. But for me, her performances in The Ring (one of the all-time great horror films IMO) and Donnie Darko were what put her on the map. She was also in a Season 4 episode of CSI.

 

As Samara Morgan in The Ring, Chase's acting chops and offbeat appearance served her well as a child inhabited by an evil that perpetuates itself long after her death. In Donnie Darko she was Donnie's stone-faced baby sister Samantha, whose participation in the dance act Sparkle Motion was partially a catalyst for Donnie's bizarre death by airplane engine, not to mention it made great use of the Duran Duran song "Notorious". 

 

Daveigh's last acting credit was in 2016 and I don't know what she'd been doing since or what led to her illness, but her premature death is just tragic. It reminds me of when I learned that Jessica Campbell, whose performance as Tammy Metzler in Election should have led to a solid career, but whose last acting credit was in 2002, died in 2020 at the age of 38 (cause undisclosed). 

 

RIP Daveigh, and thanks for the fantastic performances. You deserved better, or at least longer.

 

Crazy talented kid. Godspeed, Daveigh.

Update 6/18/26: This story just got sadder. "...had long struggled with drug addiction and homelessness." "Daveigh was the sweetest girl who mixed up with the wrong crowd." People, keep your kids out of showbiz.

 

Update #2 6/18/26: This story just keeps getting worse. I had no idea she'd fallen so low. What a waste of someone who had so much going for her.  

 

Recent reading: "Mastering the Art of French Murder"

Mastering the Art of French Murder: An American in Paris Mystery

by Colleen Cambridge

 

This is the first in Cambridge's Tabitha Knight series, set in post-World War II Paris and featuring a young American woman who has been invited to the City of Lights by her French grandfather. Living on the same street are Julia Child, a student at Le Cordon Bleu, Julia's sister Dorothy, and husband Paul, who works at the American embassy in France. Although Tabitha is pretty inept in the kitchen, she's getting help in this area from Julia as the two women have become close friends.

 

I had a little trouble getting immersed in this story, which begins with Tabitha and Julia perusing a French Market. I don't know if I thought it was a bit presumptuous to use someone like Julia as a major character. Cambridge did a good job of writing Julia, at least as far as I know about her from Julie & Julia and her autobiography. Still, I don't know how Julia (or any other chef) would really feel if her chef's knife was used in a murder.

 

I took the book with me to a lengthy hair appointment yesterday (color/conditioning/cut/blowout) and that's when I really got sucked into the mystery and I finished it today. Tabitha herself, along with Julia, Dorothy, and a group of Dorothy's local American theater friends who had partied at Chez Child with the victim are all suspects, so like any good amateur sleuth Tabitha lets her curiosity get the better of her as she embarks on her own investigation to clear her and her friends names.

 

One thing that I did find really interesting is that as Tabitha's investigation continued, what seemed like a simple murder evolved into a much deeper espionage plot involving Paul Child's place of employment. It was really unexpected and really expanded the depth of the mystery. And of course, the title is a nod to Julia Child's famous cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

 

Mastering the Art of French Murder is the first in a series of historical mysteries with Tabitha and Julia. Cambridge knows her post-WWII Paris and this story worked well not only as a mystery, but also as a fascinating history of the beautiful city emerging from the throes of occupation. 

 

Utterly joyful

I needed a palate cleanser after the Kimmel post and here it is: A German soccer fan has been live-tweeting his reaction to visiting the USA and it's some of the best stuff on the internet right now.

 

It really is. Freddy and his friends not only did a bang-up job of planning their trip, but his reaction to everything from Taco Bell, Wendy's, Waffle House, Buc-ee's, stadium rituals, the beauty of the rural south, public transportation, and America and Americans in general is not only adorable, but also eye-opening. 

 

 

You can follow Freddy's adventures here. 

One more day still wouldn't be enough

For some reason this popped up on my social media. And yes, I am missing her like crazy. I need another twenty years.

 

 

Tomorrow will be seven weeks and I can't believe it. Will we meet again? I could go for that. Can I have her back now? Even better. Not that I'm obsessing or anything...

 

Utterly classless

Late night host buffoon Jimmy Kimmel apparently thought it would be fun to mock someone whose house burned to the ground because he doesn't like the guy's politics. This is a perfect example of why late night shows are dying. 

 

Spencer Pratt ran for mayor of Los Angeles and was hugely embraced across demographics. The videos he ran on social media were off the charts amazing and should be studied by future candidates. Whether or not Pratt lost the vote legitimately is another conversation. For now I'll just say California never had these issues when we voted in person. Both California and Los Angeles politics are absolutely corrupt and like many here, I have little to no faith in the security of our elections these days. I do think it would have been interesting to have seen what Pratt could have accomplished in the role of mayor. A lot of people seem unaware of this, but he has a degree in political science from USC, so he's not as unqualified as many seem to have assumed or claimed.

 

Pratt has said he'd leave the city if he lost the election and I have to say I don't blame the guy. After all, it isn't like he has a house to come home to here now. It burned to the ground in the Palisades Fire, which is a whole other issue in terms of if that had to be as bad as it was, and who might bear responsibility for that.

 

But the point is that Jimmy Kimmel, his producers, and his writing staff thought this would be hilarious:

 

“I know things might be tight right now, especially with the out-of-state donation money running out,” Kimmel said during his monologue. “Moving is expensive, so to help you out we rented you a U-Haul. Our staff spent the whole day decorating for you, and everybody will notice you and wave goodbye as you leave.” 

 

The image shared by Kimmel shows Pratt appearing to cry, plastered across a U-Haul with the phrase, “Just defeated.” 

 

This is what passes for "comedy" on network TV these days. But what Kimmel and company forgot in their cruel glee is that Spencer doesn't need a U-Haul to move. Why? Oh, yeah...

 

 

Oh right, the thing that prompted Pratt to get involved in local politics in the first place - he lost his home in the Palisades Fire! It wasn't that long ago, Jimmy. Nobody local has forgotten about it. It hasn't faded into the past. Heck, there's a family who lost their home in the Palisades now living just a couple doors down from my apartment. They're all over the place. And Jimmy Kimmel thought it was acceptable to poke fun at these victims. I wonder if he'd volunteer to provide U-Haul's for the other 6,836 families that lost their homes. Also, twelve people died in this fire. I'm sure Jimmy will eventually get around to making them fodder for his "comedy".  Maybe his staff could mockingly decorate some hearses for them.

 

Honestly, if I ran ABC, I'd yank him off the air for this and not let him back on until he made a sincere, on-camera apology. The 2025 Palisades and Altadena fires and the lack of rebuilding support has traumatized not just the victims in those communities, but all of Los Angeles and it's not a wound that's going to heal anytime soon. Kimmel's mockery of a victim of this is just disgusting.

 

Full California Post article is here.

Agatha Christie lied to us