Happy Hanukah or Chanukah or Hanukka or Hanukkah...and other fun stuff!

Dear Sillies,

Sorry I'm late to say "Happy Hanukah" (spelled per the steps below). It arrived fairly immediately after turkey was digested.

Debra She Who Seeks inspired the below tutorial, little does she know. Her very entertaining Festival of Lights post motivated me to provide a lesson on how to spell the Jewish holiday.

 4 Easy Steps to Spelling this Jewish Holiday:

1) Start with "Ha". Or start with "Cha" (pronounced the Jewish Bubbe's* way, with a bit of phlegm in the throat.) *the Jewish grandma. We all love her.

2) Next, write "new." No, not like that! It's "nu" or "nnu" (with extra emphasis on the 'n', or choose one 'n' and make that particular one silent. You can alternatively choose the other 'n' and make that particular one silent. See how easy it is!?).

3) Then, spell "caw." But spell it like "kah" or "kkah" or "ka" or "kka." Anything but "caw" or "cah" or "ccah" or "ca" or "cca." Easy peasy, latke squeezy, right?

Got it? No? No worries. Bubbe's passed out on the couch. She went heavy on the Manischewitz, which is spelled without a 'v'. <--see next tutorial for this spelling. Go on now and spin the dreidel.

This man, JT, is good with a dreidel. He'd never spun one before; amazing.

If you can believe it--I can't--we're approaching SIX MONTHS. I know. He's pretty good, I'm thinking, and I'm thinking he's thinking the same about me. I don't want to post much on JT because I have no dirt, no weirdness, nothing scandalous to tell you. I also don't want to be sappy, lovey, Hallmark-y annoying, either.

Anyway, we played dreidel tonight. He asked when the game ends. I glanced at my wristwatch and told him, "In approximately 6,000 years, hon." He spun faster. 

-------------------------In Other News:

InSanity, my latest book, a memoir and sequel to Woman on the Verge of Paradise, is coming SOON to an Amazon link near you.

Here's a snippet of a FAILED book cover design. I tried using someone through a site called www.Fiverr.com. Were it a creepy sci fi book, this might almost work, but . . . The words under the title bother me most. This contractor took way too many creative liberties.

   I don't mind disparaging Fiverr.com. They only permit happy customers to leave reviews. You can't leave a review for a canceled order. So I'm warning you HERE against using them unless you do very thoughtful research first. (I found a 5-star, popular designer, so I thought I was safe. I didn't look further into this person, which I should've done.)

Good news, I have a new graphic designer who's phenomenal AND local.

You'll see. The SUCCESSFUL cover's brilliant.

Be well, friends.

Deep breaths as we enter December!

Turkey Time, Thanksgiving Erotica

My Dear Sillies,

May you have reason to feel deep gratitude this season.

Thank you for your regular doses of loving support and silliness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

And now, for seductive feasting... 

 

Three Years Since The Camp Fire

Dears,

Today marks three years since the Camp Fire tore through neighboring Paradise.  Efforts at rebuilding have been slow, but life and hope can be seen. I even work with clients now in Paradise; they moved back after the Fire and have new homes.

Schools reopened. Businesses returned, and you can eat yummy meals, or drop by Starbucks (Starbucks never goes down).

With respect to this time, I'm re-posting this poem I wrote as a tribute to our beloved Paradise.

Goodbye?

How can we start to say "goodbye"
It's too godawful to believe
One merciless inferno
ceded far too much to grieve

When can we start to say "goodbye"
Each day's haze, too thick to clear
Death threats invade the nightly sleep
We're paralyzed by fear

Where do we start to say "goodbye"
Sans your crisp, brisk pine air 
One more slice of Black Bear pie
A final ounce of your down-home care

To whom do we start to say "goodbye"
Endearing senior pairings 
married fifty years or more
like the ones that owned and nurtured my favorite antique store (Treasures of Paradise)
Or the banjo picking cow folk, 
the flag-flailing Trumpeteers
The man who saved his neighbors' homes, then asked only for some beers

 

To the men resembling Santa

if Santa dropped one hundred pounds

The teens labeled "disabled"

who beat me in every Skip-Bo round

But if we start with children 

How can we best explain
Their rooms and schools, all burnt to ash
Not one swing-set remains

 

FACTS ABOUT THE CAMP FIRE:

It lasted from 11/8 to 11/25/18.

It incinerated an area the size of Chicago.

153,335 acres burned

13,972 single-family homes

18,793 structures  

85 identified deaths

296+ unaccounted for; may likely never be identified

52,000 people displaced 
over 90% of Paradise is no longer

                                                        

Honey Run Covered Bridge - before and after 11/8/18. Built in 1886 on the original road that connected Chico and Paradise, it was the last bridge of its kind in the US. Plans are underway to recreate it, as a memorial to those who perished.

 

 This one "goodbye"
spans miles beyond
the passing of a friend

                          How can we start to say "goodbye"
                             when "goodbye" has no end?

November, Stress Awareness

 Dear Sillies,

Some dim witted folks somewhere decided to call today, November 3, National Stress Awareness Day. Yeah, we need this like a hole in the head, am I right? Stress awareness? Who ain't aware? Those under the most stress, I'm thinking.

Suffice it to say that I hope you've had a relatively LOW STRESS start to November and that it continues the same.

Here are some recent memories from last month's shenanigans~

I competed in a local comedy competition. I lost but got this nice pic.

my covid warrior with his leprechaun

Have a safe and peaceful, low stress month. Damned be stress.

Love you.