Why Is It ...

… that when I think of Maddie, I always think, ‘Let the fun begin’ … wait, that’s not right. Oh, yeah, I think, ‘Let the fun be gin.’

… that people never learn that, before they try to hurt my feelings, take into consideration that I don’t have any and they probably do.

… that nothing brings out my inner sarcasm like being asked stupid questions at work.

… that people always ask why I post so many memes; short answer: I don’t have the body for an OnlyFans. Next question, please.

… that I often wonder if clouds look down on people and think, ‘That one is shaped like an idiot.’

… that people should remember that if I ever win the lottery, nobody around me will be poor and I mean that. Right after cashing that check I will be moving to a rich neighborhood.

… that it’s a 5 minute walk to the bar but a 45 minute walk home … the difference is staggering.

… that no one realizes how much I hate when they ring my doorbell because then I have to drop to the floor, lay there in silence and pretend I’m not home.

… that seeing people walk out of my life is really painful because I want to see them run.

I Didn't Say It ...

Barack Obama, former President of the United States, and calming force in the nation speaking plain common sense in the way of the Kirk shooting:

“What happened to Charlie Kirk was a tragedy … [but] we can also, at the same time, say that I disagree with the idea that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake. That’s not me politicizing the issue. It’s making an observation about who we are as a country. We have to recognize that on both sides, undoubtedly, there are people who are extremists and who say things that are contrary to what I believe are America’s core values. But I will say that those extreme views were not in my White House. I wasn’t embracing them. I wasn’t empowering them. I wasn’t putting the weight of the United States government behind extremist views. And when we have the weight of the governemtn behind extremist views we have a problem.”

And the problem is Cankles and his Regime of boot-licking goose-stepping Nationalist Christians, AKA Nat-C’s, Nazis, bigots, homophobes, transphobes, pedophile rapists and racists.

Vote them out at every single level of government.

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Hannah Einbinder, on the backlash after she shouted ‘Free Palestine’ during her Emmys acceptance speech:

“It is my obligation as a Jewish person to distinguish Jews from the state of Israel. Our religion and our culture is such an important and long-standing institution that is really separate to this sort of ethnonationalist state.”

The Jews aren’t trying to demolish Gaza and the Palestinians; it’s Israel and Netanyahu who are the war criminals.

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Eric Swalwell, Democratic Representative from California, suggesting FCC Chair Brendan Carr “get a lawyer” for when Democrats take the majority in Congress:

“I want to make it clear, there’s going to be a Democratic majority in just over a year and to the FCC chairperson and anyone involved in these dirty deals, get a lawyer and save your records because you’re going to be in this room and you’re going to be answering questions about the deals that you struck and who benefited and what the cost was to the American people because that happened.”

I am already investing in a popcorn machine so I have something to nibble on when Democrats destroy the fascists.

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Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Democrat Governor, speaking at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit:

“During moments like this, I believe we have a responsibility to be clear and unequivocal in calling out all forms of political violence and making clear it is all wrong. That shouldn’t be hard to do. Unfortunately, some from the dark corners of the internet all the way to the Oval Office want to cherry-pick which instances of political violence they want to condemn. Listen: Doing that only further divides us and it makes it harder to heal. There are some who will hear that selective condemnation and take it as a permission slip to commit more violence, so long as it suits their narrative or only targets the other side. He [Trump] claimed, in the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk, that he wanted to heal this nation. You don’t heal this nation by attacking your fellow Americans, by calling some of your fellow Americans ‘scum’—his word choice, not mine. The president is using this as a pretext to go and undermine people’s constitutional rights. That is dangerous, it is wrong, and it needs to stop.”

The fish rots from the head and that fetid orange gelatinous gasbag  in the White House is spreading its stink all over America.

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Jon Green, chair of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors in Iowa, defying an order from GOP Governor Kim Reynolds that flags on public buildings be flown at half-staff in honor of Charlie Kirk:

“On my personal authority as Chairman of the Johnson County Board of Supervisors, I have determined to defy [Governor Reynolds’] order that our colors be at half-staff through Sunday on behalf of Charlie Kirk. I condemn Kirk’s killing, regardless of who pulled the trigger or why. But I will not grant Johnson County honors to a man who made it his life’s mission to denigrate so many of the constituents I have sworn to protect, and who did so much harm not only to the marginalized, but also to degrade the fabric of our body politic. Johnson County flags will fly as usual. I will accept any consequence, whether legal or electoral, for my decision. It is mine alone.”

Green said he came to the decision in part because a similar order was not given for other victims of political violence, specifically Minnesota Democratic lawmaker Melissa Hortman, who with her husband was killed in June.

This is the Resistance

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Starex Smith, AKA The Hungry Black Man, food critic and citizen with zero fucks to give, on the death and subsequent canonization of Charlie Kirk by the right:

"America lost Charlie Kirk a couple hours ago, violently, tragically, and in a moment that was recorded, and is circulating social. I will not post it because it’s absolutely horrific. Charlie was not a figure of grace or empathy; history will not remember him as a voice of unity or a champion of justice. He will be remembered for the words he chose, words that often wounded and divided. As he lay bleeding out onstage, those words, once weapons, became dust. When he was shot, he was speaking about one of America’s deepest wounds: mass shootings. When asked about school shootings, his response was not measured compassion but deflection. 'Counting or not counting gang violence?' he said, as if the grief of families who send their children to school only to bury them could be minimized by a technicality. And then, almost instantly, a shot rang out. He fell, his voice instantly silenced. This is not eulogy-flattery, this is memory. We remember the things he said about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: 'MLK was awful. He’s not a good person.' We remember his calculation on gun violence: 'I think it’s worth … some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights. That is a prudent deal. It is rational.' These are not the words of healing, not the words of unity. And yet they, too, are part of the ledger he leaves behind. So what do we do with a legacy like this? First, we tell the truth. We acknowledge what he said, how he said it, and the hurt it caused. Second, we resist the temptation to let violence beget violence. For if this act tells us anything, it is that political violence has become a siren call to the unhinged, a spark they would gladly use to ignite the tinderbox of racial and class resentment. Today it was a conservative voice silenced. Tomorrow, it could just as easily be a progressive one. We must not let this become the currency of politics. We should also understand the warning buried in this moment; what we say matters. How we live matters. The words we choose, the causes we defend, the way we treat one another, these become the bricks of our legacy. Kirk’s words were often sharp, sometimes cruel, but they are now etched into his memory as surely as his death. Let the rest of us take note: legacies should be rooted in love, in justice, in equality, not in division or deflection. Rest, if you can, Mr. Kirk. May your final act teach us something lasting: that even in grief, we are called to choose better."

Kirk's assassination is a dark time in America when you have one political party trying to glorify and sanctify and celebrate hate and it’s a direct result of allowing the United States of Guns to push guns over children, citizens, politicians, and rightwing podcasters.

If we want to create a safer, more peaceful America we need to see the things that Kirk said and spread as hate speech, albeit Free Speech.

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Bobservations

Since Carlos’ eyesight has gotten worse I have taken over the banking and paying bills and such. The other morning I was going to drop him off at court for a translation and then head to the cabinet make and give them a downpayment for our new kitchen and said to Carlos:

“I transferred $10,000 from savings t checking this morning—”

“TEN THOUSAND!!! For what?”

“For what? The first payment for the new cabinets, or maybe for my trip to the Bahamas—”

“You’re going to the Bahamas?”

See what I deal with?

This Tuxedo Says is from April 2021:

 I mean, come on. Tuxedo can’t even vote or fire a gun and he understands this nonsense. Sheesh!

Robert Redford passed away this week at 89; a great actor, filmmaker and humanitarian, he’s like the last movie star … Barefoot in the Park … Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid … The Sting … All the President’s Men … The Candidate … The Way We Were …. Ordinary People .. The Natural … The Milagros Beanfield War … Quiz Show … and so many more, including producing a great TV show, Dark Winds. His movies often helped explain America to Americans and off screen he worked tirelessly for environmental causes and fostered the Sundance-centered independent film movement.

And he was hot, too.

I have been tasked with painting the new ceiling in the sunroom and started the project last Friday. On Saturday I was going to finish the primer coat and then start on the new color but I decided to change the sheets on the bed first. I grabbed a sheet, walked around the bed and then jammed my pinky toe against a bedpost and, yes, I now have a broken toe … black-and-blue and painful AF.

Sunday morning as I limped into the kitchen Carlos said:

“You gonna paint the ceiling today or should I have Alex come by and do it?”

Not a word about the toe, just the paint, and would I like to climb up a ladder and paint the top of the peak which is about 14 feet up.

He’s lucky I didn’t break his toe.

According to the GOP who are painting themselves as the poster asshats for civil discourse the Democrats must stop calling Republicans fascists but Republicans can still call Democrats communists, socialists, the enemy within, radical left Marxists …

Make it make sense. Never mind, it's the GOP, and they don't make sense.

Jennifer Lopez popped on a blond wig and, in her continuing thirst for attention, spewed photos of herself all over social media. Sadly, many of the people who saw the photos on her Instagram page were wondering why she was posting photos of Gwen Stefani.

Oh, Jell-O—as Carlos calls her—you are so high maintenance and thirty for social media clicks that you actually had someone hold the camera for the “selfies” you posted.

PS That’s the real G-Stef down there and not Jell-O.

The other day President Cankles said, and rightly so, that “smart people” don’t like him.

Crazy, but true and even better is the fact that he keeps insulting his base as being stupid and it’s completely lost on them.

As I was at the cabinet-makers on Monday paying the down payment, I sat and chatted with a couple of the women who worked in the front office and I am not exactly sure of all that I said, but both women have invited me back every Monday morning for another comedy performance so their week can start off fun.

Andreas Giesen is an actor and dancer and social media influencer and if that isn’t enough he wants to know: Would You Hit It?

Architecture Wednesday: San Francisco Italianate Victorian

956 South Van Ness is a historic grand Italianate Victorian built in 1872 by noted architect Edward Leodore Mayberry. Nearly 150 years later it was the subject of an extensive 2-year restoration and renovation that honored its history & artistic accents while upgrading the interior for modern living and fully upgrading all systems including the foundation, electrical, & plumbing. This is now a truly unique home, unlike any other on the market where high design meets functionality and quintessential San Francisco living.

The main level is an entertainer’s dream with grand living and dining rooms—all with soaring ceilings—a chef’s kitchen and family room combination and a sun-filled walkout garden. Up the original preserved staircase are three bedrooms, each with an en suite bathroom, and a large, finished attic with its own full bathroom, offering space for a rec room, media room, or guest bedroom.

The lower level was completely built out for additional living space—a bedroom and full bath or a future ADU with plumbing for a small kitchen. Additional features of this spectacular, fully-detached home include a two-car side-by-side garage, an 800-bottle wine room … I’m in heaven … two laundry rooms and abundant storage.

I love the glitz and glamor of the interiors and the fabulous tiles used in the baths; normally I don’t like dark trim and light walls but in this house it works. Things I don’t care for? No elevator. If I’m on the second floor and want a bottle of wine, am I schlepping down and then back up two flights of stairs? Well, of course I am but I’ll be kvetching about it the entire time. I am also unhappy about the garage being placed right in front of the house—though I know that was the only space for it—because it masks that fabulous black exterior.

One more quibble … the four bedroom, five-and-one-half bathroom, 5,158 square foot home sold for $4.5M … before I could scrape together my coins!!!

Dwell

Meme Dump