Holiday wishes

Here's hoping all is well with all of you. Nothing new with me but nothing bad, either. I'm looking forward to next year and getting my studio set up. See you then.

Update & RIP

Not much is going on. I'm still tussling with the shed company, trying to get the permit app ready, planning on doing the site drawing, etc etc. My brother has run into some legal problems with his boat title, just as he was ready to leave (no, really). Have been plagued with allergies for the last week but all seems to be getting better now (mucho rain helped).

Am going to try to find a haircutter who can do something interesting with my hair.

Geoffrey Holder has died. He was a great dancer & choreographer and also did some acting (such as the villain in the James Bond film "Live and Let Die"). Most people (of a certain age) will remember the Dr. Pepper commercials with the large (6'6") black man in a tropical suit with a sonorous voice and laugh. That was the Holder. Sad

DragonCon last & Personal RIP

Sunday evening, after Quinn's last panel, Amy and I and Quinn met in a large, noisy bar in the Hyatt. I got a plate of charcuterie and some kind of weird martini-like drink (it was green). We had a nice chat for an hour or so and then wheeled Quinn up to her room and said goodbye. I then went on home and Amy went back to panels and whatnot.

Personal apology to Stephanie Moss, whose last name I got wrong in the previous post. So much for my memory.

We left about 1pm on Monday in order not to have to deal with Labor Day traffic. At some point, about an hour from Atlanta, we saw bumper to bumper stalled traffic heading for Atlanta, and congratulated ourselves for going the other way. Stopped at Cupboard Cafe in Dalton GA for lunch -- got the Crabcakes plate with two veges and got a vege plate with four types, so six veges all together, and we shared everything down the middle. Got home about 4:30 or 5:30 ish -- was still light out.

Many thanks to Sharron and Luke for being excellent hosts.

Very sad news: Phyllis Palm died on July 10. She and I met in 2008 at the Madison KOA where we were both workampers. We hit it off immediately and enjoyed each other's company all summer. We stayed in touch and phoned each other about once a month or so. Last fall, when Amy and I took my RV on a trip to NY and PA, we stopped by her house for a few days. I'm so glad we did. She always sent cards for my birthday and xmas etc. so when I didn't get a bday card I began to get concerned. I called and her phones were disconnected, so I began emailing the only addresses I had for her (relatives, she didn't do email herself) but got no response. Yesterday, I googled her name and found her obituary.

Damn. A good one gone.

DragonCon

Amy and I drove down on Wednesday, arrived about 4:30 at Sharron & Luke's house, who are friends of Amy's (here, have a nice run-on sentence). Thursday early (10am) Sharron, Amy and I went for breakfast and then took Marta (subway) downtown to get our con badges. And it was a snap -- walked in, walked up to the counter, got badge, done. Back home by 1pm.

Friday, I went down early to get to Quinn Yarbro's first panel at 10am. Drove my car to the Marta lot, parked in the shade, was downtown in about 20 minutes. Sat in on the panel (forgot the name) for a few minutes: Kat Richardson was one of the panelists (love her Greywalker series). Came back in at the end and greeted Quinn. Turned out Stephanie Mills was up from Florida and sharing Quinn's room and wheeling her around in a wheelchair. It was nice to see her as I haven't seen her since ICFA in 1997.

After the panel we went down to a bar (had to wait until 12noon to get alcohol) and chatted a bit and made plans to get together for dinner. They went off to get ready for the 1pm panel (with Cherie Priest and others). I wandered in to that one for a bit, too. Mostly I sat in the lobby of the Westin and people/costume watched. Totally forgot to take any pictures.

I decided to take a shot at the vendor area in the AmericasMart -- and am really glad I had my foldup stool in my backpack -- made a good battering ram. Got out as quickly as I could.

Around 4pm I decided to stroll over to the Marriott for the autographing session at 5pm. Hot hot hot outside. Finally figured out how to get into the hotel from the skywalk (after some backtracking). And then I walked into the wall of people and noise and shouting and singing. Finally made my way down to the bottom floor to wait for Quinn and found there was no seating anywhere. Sat on my stool for a while and found it to be very uncomfortable, so that's getting returned Monday. Then I sat on the floor, which my knees didn't like (the down-getting and the up-getting).

Eventually, the signing was over. Quinn had wanted to go to a restaurant a few blocks away called Fire Brazil (meat!) and Stephanie wanted to not go. But I told Quinn I couldn't push her chair as my knees and rest of legs were about to give out. So we settled on Sear Restaurant there in the Marriott. It was good but really pricey. Quinn got her meat (full rack of baby back ribs) and some wine. I had a good meatloaf ($10 less than the ribeye at $32) and a Lemon Drop Martini (with cointreau).

Then I took myself home on the Marta at about 8:30pm. And I didn't go into the Con at all today, a really good idea as Sat. is the busiest of all days, what with the parade and all the single-day people. And my legs felt like stumps, so I just hobbled around the house and stayed cool.

Tomorrow (Sun.) Quinn has four panels, and I may go or not. I'll give her a call later and maybe suggest breakfast on Monday (she has a panel at 10am and has to go to the airport by 2pm). I'd really like for her to meet Amy so we'll try to make this happen.

Amy's having a great time. She and Sharron and Luke got in about 1am and left about 10am today. It's being a fine time for all.

DragonCon

Yep, Amy and I are off to see the wiza . . . er . . . dragon in Atlanta. This is a huge con, uses five hotels in downtown, cosplayers everywhere. Fortunately, we're staying with some friends of Amy's and taking Marta in each day.

Quinn Yarbro, my writer friend, is scheduled to be on ten panels in the Fantasy / Urban Fantasy / Horror tracks, so I'll get to see her (last time was in SF Bay area in 2010 when I was still RV-ing. There was a big earthquake (6.0) this morning nearby so I'll call her and my brother soon to check in.

Not only will be it hot (like 88-90 or so), it'll be full of -- wait for it -- people. I plan to do a lot of drifting around the far edges and finding hiding spots to retreat to. If I can do those two things, I'll enjoy the people-watching in short snatches.

Of course, I have lots to do before Weds., like buy a jack & tire iron (just got a spare "space saver" tire), get cash, pack. Am also going to buy one of those canes that have fold-out seats so I can rest the knees from time to time when waiting in long lines. Also, host gifts. Also also -- check my list.

If I survive, I'll post.

RIP belated

Mary Stewart, author (birthname Mary Rainbow -- too cool)

How did I miss this? She died back in May (or so). I hadn't thought about her for many years, but she was one of my favorite authors for many years. I suppose you'd call her books "romances," but her heroines were intelligent and brave, her settings were interesting, her plots not too outrageous, and her dialogue was witty and true.

Of all the books she wrote, I most enjoyed Nine Coaches Waiting. 

 

RIP Robin

Robin Williams

genius, irritator, sentimental, driven -- he will definitely be missed.

Update 2

Linda wants to know more about the proofing gig and my brother's sailing plans. Anything to oblige.

The proofing/copy-editing gig came about from a post on our local Facebook page. I guess I replied with an amazing answer because she hired me. She'd written an 80-pg book of what she called "prose poems," which seemed to be little vignettes and commentaries that are all vaguely linked. So, not a big job, but interesting. It went to her editor/publisher a week or so ago. Also, she paid promptly. It was fun -- I love doing that kind of work.

A friend is now working for a large printing company (mass mailing type of stuff), so I may eventually get some part-time proofing through her.

As to my brother: He's finally about to realize a lifelong dream of sailing off over the horizon and maybe never coming back. He lives in San Francisco. He bought a 42ft ketch, which seemed like a bargain but has since required more fixing up than planned. So his intended leave date of mid-March is now going to be mid-August. He's got a crew of a woman named Katrine from New Zealand, who has sailing experience and wants to go home, and Mano, an old friend with no sailing experience who wants to go before he won't be able to (sort of like my brother). There was another guy with experience but he's just gone down with medical problems. First stop will be Hawaii, where bro has friends. Then off to the South Pacific islands like French Polynesia, then New Zealand.

If he's had enough of deep water sailing by then, he may sell the boat and use the money to travel, or come home (either back to SF or to NC).

This is all assuming he survives. I got him a ballcap from the USS Asheville (4th iteration--a submarine currently based in San Diego) as a bon voyage present.

He says he's alternately exhilarated and terrified. Me, too (he's the last of my immediate family).

Update

So another year has rolled around on my personal calendar. Unless we get rained out on Sunday, we're going to get a bunch together and go play miniature golf. This ought to be a hoot and a half, though one of us grew up on a putt-putt course, but the rest of us are normal folk and haven't played in years.

I'm still planning on getting out of the RV and into a structure of some kind. I actually have plans on how to do it.

Sundry celebrity folk have died who were of passing interest to me but not enough to merit a blog post.

My brother is two weeks away from starting his deep-sea sailing career. He says he may never come back. That's okay. Survival is what counts.

I appreciate all the people in my life, the ones right here in Asheville and the ones whose blogs I follow. Thanks, all.

Freya the husky is blowing out her coat again so tufts of downy whiteness are everywhere. She gets combed every day now and each day there's enough to make a new dog. Good bird nest material. She's such a great dog.

I just finished a job of work, proofing and copy-editing an 80-page mss. of what the author calls "prose poems." Whatever. I love doing this kind of work, and we did all over the computer and have never met. Cool.

So, life's rocking along and will continue to do so for some years, one hopes.

RIPs

Elaine Stritch, actress
Johnny Winter, musician

RIPs

•Ruby Dee, actress, activist, partner to Ossie Davis for decades, great lady.
•Eli Wallach, actor, chewed scenery in many iconic movies, such as "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" and "The Magnificent Seven," but one almost no-one has seen his turn as a head in a barrel of oil (his body has dissolved away) in a martial arts film conceived by Bruce Lee, who died before he could star in it -- it's called "Circle of Iron."

Goats at Work

There are at least three goats in this picture. See that wall of green at the back? That's what the whole area looked like -- an impenetrable jungle. Not to goats, though -- they just started eating.

Lots of trash was found, as well as many loose stumps and a few logs and stomped-down remnants of a wire fence with barbed wire on top. Tillman is going to help me take away the brush piles left by the goats (just branches and sticks too big for the goats to eat). There are massive vines hanging off the trees where they cut the lower parts for the goats to eat. The hope is that the vines will die and eventually drop off the trees (and not kill them).

I'm probably going to have to have someone come regularly for basic maintenance -- I don't have the tools, knowledge, or strength to beat back a jungle every month.

At least now I can run a line from corner to corner and see what I've got. I'm pleased with the goats.

RIP

Maya Angelou

Sad sad sad. A great voice, stilled.

Goatness

Goats are coming, goats are coming.

Half my land is choked with vegetation, including some wild rose vines that will climb and then smother trees (like kudzu). It's so thick you can't see through it, which means that I can't use half my lot.

So, I've contracted with the Goat Lady to bring 4-5 goats, plus goatherder, to eat everything that's not nailed down. It'll take about five days. Goats will happily eat poison ivy, too. And they don't reseed in their shit. Seems that their stomachs are acid factories so seeds don't survive intact, unlike in horse and cow shit.

After that's done, I'll be able to tell where the lot line is and where I want to place my dwelling. Speaking of which, I think I've found what I want to buy for me to live in -- it's an Amish-built "cottage" (meant for storage) shed, 12x24 (288sf) that comes fully insulated with 3 windows and wired for electricity. All I'd need to do is plumb it.

What I'd like to do is build a deck of 24x24 and then put the shed on top of the deck, automatically getting the shed off the ground while leaving workspace underneath and providing an outdoor space to hang out on.

There's trees ringing the whole space so very little direct sunlight get in, except right where the extant mobile home is, which would suit me fine.

We'll see how it all goes. After I get my dwelling (of whatever kind) situated, I'll be selling my RV (sob).

Grand Budapest Hotel

Just saw this movie Friday and the word to describing it is "charming."

It's the first time I've seen Ralph Fiennes in a role that I liked him in. The story within a story within a story is satisfyingly convoluted, and is obviously a pre-WW II corollary. The many cameos were amusing (Bill Murray etc). Ed Norton is pitch-perfect as a military officer. And F. Murray Abraham is his usual brilliant self. Tilda Swinton is unrecognizable and excellent as a raddled old peeress. Harvey Keitel is almost wasted in a minor role but, as usual, does it well. And then there was Willem Dafoe who stole every scene he was in, even when he's just standing silent in a corner.

But the locations trumped everything. There were several real castles (in Germany) used and they were magnificent -- wood-paneled libraries, sumptuous dining rooms, and more. Fabulous scenery, too.

All in all, a fun flick.

Latest Doings

We closed on the property on 28 Feb. Then I had to get insurance on everything and wound up with Farm Bureau. Seems that NC insurers don't want to insure mobile homes but there's a risk pool, which I got. It's all very complicated.

I'm still having trouble getting the title on the mobile home transferred to my and my brother's names. First, there was an "adjustment" on the original title, which everybody had signed and it was notarized. The DMV voided it because of that adjustment. They gave me a new form to fill and said I had to have my brother's power of attorney so I could sign for him.

I sent him the form, which he filled out, got notarized, and sent back. It seems that in Calif. notaries fill out a separate sheet and attach it to the form they're notarizing instead of signing the form itself. Lots of officials here seem to know that but some don't. Also, on the PofA she wrote in "California" instead of the county, so she crossed that out, initialed it, and wrote the county name above it.

So today, for the third time, I stood in in line at the DMV (I was #20) and finally got to a person, who promptly told me that there couldn't be any alterations on a form so the crossout and write-in the notary did weren't acceptable. And on the title form itself one digit in the VIN I had written as an "I" when it should have been a "1" and that wasn't acceptable either.

So they gave me a set of new forms and told me to start over. I am enraged. I snatched the papers out of her hand and stormed out, fortunately without shouting in her face "jesus h fucking christ, lady!!!"

Tomorrow I'm going to Marshall, a small town north of here, and try them to see if these very minor errors can be overlooked. I've made the I's look line 1's so we'll see. I believe in striving for perfection but I also know that almost nobody can make it. There needs to be some compromise.

On the upside, a new driveway is scheduled to be constructed on the property starting on the 10th, which will make access and parking much easier.

Aaargh.

Oh yeah, I have a tenant who's put rent money down on the MH but doesn't seem to know when he'll actually move in. Being a landlady is hard.

RIP

David Brenner, comedian

I always enjoyed him, not least because his approach was low-key. He didn't yell, he didn't say fuck every other word (because he had a varied vocabulary), he didn't "punch down" like so many do today, and in general he didn't do sexist/racist jokes. He was a good guy who found the world funny and wanted to share it with us.

Property Owner

Well, my brother and I have purchased a piece of property in West Asheville. It's a little less than 1/4 acre and has a 6 year old mobile home on it. We just closed on it last Friday. I've got a couple of minor repairs and then I'm going to rent it out for a while so I can get a second mobile home on the property. Then I'll live in one and keep renting the other out until my brother decides to come home.

That's it -- settled for the rest of my life. I'm figuring about 15 years but maybe more -- you never know. Mom died at 86 but my great-grandmother was 92 when she died and her sister was 102, so I could be around for a while. But I'm using 86 as a guideline.

RIP sob

Paco de Lucia

great flamenco guitarist, full of duende

Hanging up the keys

Yep. Looks like I'm going to be an ex-RVer real soon now.

My brother is buying a place for me to live. It'll also be an investment for him and a place to stay when he comes to visit. It's a .21 acre piece of land with a small, fairly new,  mobile home on it. We're in the contract's due diligence period right now and should close by the end of February.

If all goes well, we'll put a 2nd mobile on it and rent it out for a little income. There are, of course, some issues that have to be resolved (surprise surprise).

When I get fully moved in, I'll put the rig up for sale. It's been my fulltime home since March 2008 (six years! in 100sf!) so I'll be sad to see it go, but it's not likely I'll be on the road again so it doesn't make sense to keep it.

We've been "enjoying" the polar vortex here in western NC but had nothing like the nightmare they had in Atlanta. I mean we had the same amount of snow but seemed to handle it way better. Of course, we're more used to it than they are, but still! Why didn't those people just take the next exit and get off the freeway? Humpf.

Got a few things to do to the car -- valve cover gasket, power steering pump, but it's basically been a good car so far.

I'm going to try to have a space where my RV friends can stay, if they're coming through here. Let's stay in touch.

UPDATE: just deleted a religious fanatic's comment about "dying in my sins." Fine by me.

RIP

Run Run Shaw died yesterday. If you're a fan of early kung fu flicks, you know who I mean. Here's a link to an article on Buzzfeed:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/johnstanton/zen-and-the-art-of-run-run-shaw

RIP

Phil Everly has died.

He and his brother Don were icons of my youth. Sappy songs, sweet songs, but the harmonies -- wonderful.