Starting out this new blog. So first, I've exhausted every single avenue to locate a photo I thought I'd saved or at least posted on Facebook. It's something I put together years ago to represent what dash who I am. Bunny Rabbit, the sarcastic Captain Kangaroo character. Wendy and Lucy, the Michelle Williams film about a woman and her dog. And lastly, but not leastly, a photograph of Lois Henrickson, Grace Zabriskie's wonderful Big Love character aiming a shotgun at somebody. I cannot find it anywhere, not in all my files, the cloud, or any of the social media platforms I use. All I could find was an old video of Lois chopping off Hollis's arm.
First thing in the morning, I get up early. I mean early like sometimes 1:30 or 2:30 in the morning. I just can't wait to get started. Don't ask me why. Numero uno at the kennel club features Major Dickason, good old Peet's coffee. The story seems to be:
"A loyal customer of our original Berkeley store, retired army sergeant Key Dickason brought the idea for our most beloved blend to Mr. Peet in 1969. Intrigued, our founder worked with the local gourmand and coffee aficionado to refine it. They sampled countless combinations before arriving at what is now our all-time bestseller. The result was so good, Alfred Peet decided naming it after his friend wasn't enough—Dickason's rich, complex blend also deserved a promotion from sergeant to major.
"How DARE you lay a hand on my boy!"
Major Dickason's combines the best origin coffees from the world's premier growing regions, each imparting its distinctive regional characteristics while still effortlessly rounding into a smooth, balanced cup. Over the years, it has become the coffee that epitomizes Peet's: flavorful, deeply roasted, and unsurpassingly satisfying. But for us, "Major D" is just like a relationship with an old friend. We'll always remember it as the story of a customer's passion, an expert's palate, and a shared love of coffee."
Who knows whether or not it's true, but sounds good to me. In fact, I'm pouring myself another cup of this wonder brew while I write. I look outside and it's still dark except for one house high up on the hill past the canyon with their Christmas lights still up. The black sky is getting itself ready for daybreak with just the slightest inkling of teal and fuchsia peeping their ass through the last of the night. It's a good time to be alive, even though dot dot dot.
That gets me going on current politics. While I usually drink my first cup of Peet's, I scroll through Twitter. I still call it that even after the buyout. Coffee's about to go up they keep warning us. I'll pay it though. I can't live without my daily dose of Major Dickason. I've tried for over 30 years to find its equivalent with no success. And I've tried a lot of coffee.
So the usual offenders on Twitter. Trump, of course. And Melanie. There was a funny meme today featuring he gone down to focus, bofus, flotus. She's sitting on a sofa with an ipad asking questions like "What is this word - 'human'"? "Can you help me find Waldo?" "How do I Google 'Shirtless Justin Trudeau'?" "Help me move bitcoin from USAID into my personal account" "Look - I gave Ivanka donkey ears" "Can I photoshop myself onto the cover of Vogue?" I still believe Melanie could've found a great vocation in stand up. Unintentional, of course.
Let's see. There's so many to pick from. There's Musk, RFK, Jr., bleached out aging Pam Bondi, our own legless fiend Greg Abbott. And that horrible racist Broderick Crawford on a bad acid trip, Tom Homan heading up gangs of racists to infiltrate our state of Texas and harm the wildlife among other things. Who even knows where this slob is from. Just another big old bottom feeder from some slimy horrible place. You know he, like the rest of them, chow down on cruel factory farm foods and this super-sized character has more than the average while male with 7 pounds of undigested red meat in his intestinal cavity. Stop me here, cuz who wants to even go there and picture that. A real horror show. Which gets me to the point at hand. I'm writing a new novel. Project 25 is a dystopian thriller set in the not too distant future. The protagonist is a woman, Carly Dean, who's been sentenced to hard and cruel labor in a gov't run factory farm prison. In fact, it's the old Huntsville system which has been turned into a giant nasty place called Maidenfarm. The new government is run by Supreme Leader Jeremy Duke and called Metatron. The United States of America is over with as is Carly's former home town, Austin, Texas. Like Carly says, "Nobody ever thought they could kill Austin. But, in fact, it was the first thing to go." I always cast every character in every book I write. Being an armchair frustrated Hollywood casting director, this pastime satisfies my urge to insinuate my personal preferences while giving the books a lively and colorful visual. What do you think of Seth MacFarlane as Olan Thorn, the oligarch everybody hates but can't do anything about? Or J.K. Simmons as Jeremy Duke? His performance as Uncle Miltie in Saturday Night inspired me to take it up - or down - a few notches and really blow it out. I even gave J.K. a fun red-gold wig. Kristin Wiig is Melanie. I don't think anybody could play that role better. Please feel free to improvise, Kristin!
And the lead, Carly Dean, I am writing for Rooney Mara. The theme of the entire book is how animals are trying to tell us humans we are destroying the earth, the environment and ourselves as we keep on crashing and keep on burning. Rooney Mara, a devout animal rights advocate, is my inspiration for a lead character in rebellion against a terrible and powerful regime. Stay tuned. More to come...and the playlist is to die for, literally.
In between all this politick-ing, coffee-drinking, sunrise-watching and book-writing, there are the Reunion Rescue animals. We have a houseful, but just because I'm writing about them last doesn't mean they do not come first. My chores start with vacuuming of course, then pulling out the wash and starting another load. Empty the dishwasher and then feed the birds, Persia and Eddie first. They get homemade mash twice a day with fresh sprouted grains and legumes, an organic seed and fruit mixture, Avi-cakes, greens and veggies.
Next come the cats - Wtich's Toe, Spooky, Marshmellow, Freddy and Germ. Fresh chicken and lots of supplements. In between, I'm letting out the dogs in playgroups. Wally and Roo, then Hub, Roo and Cracker Jack. The four top - Mannie, LuLu, Cricket and Paolo. Then last, Cheeto and Cracker Jack again.
Mondays I pick up dog food and donations from two Tomlinson's Feed Stores and Healthy Pet along with Just Food For Dogs. I drop off at our good friends Carla and Debbie who deliver the goods to Dogtown Ranch Rescue in Rockdale. If you are thinking about adopting a dog or know somebody looking, Dogtown can meet your needs. Until then, we're working hard to keep them healthy and happy with all this great food and supplies. Last of all, I try and find a little time for reading. I go in depth on a couple of recent books I've read in this interview. I've just discovered Louise Erdrich and love her stuff. Into my third book by her LaRose and it's very inspiring. She is her own kind of writer, which I love, and follows her instinct. Every writer should be inspired to do this. To listen to that voice inside encouraging us to dig deep, try hard, march to our own beat and be true to ourselves.
Do you mean Melania when you say Melanie? Second - was Broderick Crawford a bad racist? My grandma knew him and was on a couple Highway Patrol episodes with... Thirdly - Louise Erdrich is really good. Fourthly - I enjoyed reading your ideas, and hope to catch up sometime by reading some of your previous works. Also, if you see me hanging out somewhere immobile, holler at me. Project 25 sounds good already.