I’m Laughing Until The End

My mom and I (and assorted others) have been taking weekend walks. We needed it. It’s good to spend actual time with Martha.

Martha has decided that no matter what happens in November, she was going to laugh. We would laugh.

Sure, the election could be really bad, but as long as we are here, we’re going to find ways to laugh.

I’m totally with Martha on this. We might as well.

Laughing is almost always better than crying. Almost.

We’re days away, you guys.

No matter how this plays out, it’s going to be stressful. There isn’t anything we can do about this. Bad shit will happen. We just have to watch out for each other and hope for the best possible outcome.

Okay, so it is stressful now. For those of us isolating, it’s fucking weird. It just is. I mean, we’re fine. But it’s still fucking weird.

We’ve been mostly isolated for 8 months now. We don’t visit and we don’t have visitors. It’s just not a thing.

So, yesterday, I open the front door, and I see this.

The visitor, a halloween cat, mentioned in I'm Laughing Until The End

I stared at it for a minute, then called for Randy and Joey to come and see. They wanted to know what I was talking about.

There was just no way I would be able to describe this without sounding like a crazy person.

Randy and Joey and I stared through the storm door at the stuffed Halloween cat and discussed the possibilities.

Randy: Is this a political message or something?

Me: Well if it is, it’s a targeted message. I can’t imagine any local candidate with thousands of those stuffed cats. That doesn’t seem reasonable at all.

Joey: Yeah, this is freaky. There’s a note in the bucket.

I went out and got the note and this is what the note said.

I called my sister and asked if they left anything on our porch. She said “Maaaaaybe. Mom wrote the note.”

I told her it was the best Halloween trick ever but actually did freak us out a bit.

That made my mom super happy.

What I’m trying to figure out now, is who to pass this along to and how we could pull it off.

Our Halloween will consist of attending the virtual Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop. I was selected to perform stand up again which is so exciting. It’s virtual and two minutes, so you know, super easy. I’m not terribly nervous, but have no idea how it will turn out. I’m sure I’ll tell you all about it next week.

We’re also celebrating with The Madison’s on their new single release, The Universe Inside.

Also, the Bass Player was in a band called Bone Simple. This single, Conspiracy, is being released.

18 Thoughts.

  1. I’ve said it before – you’ve got a great family (mostly). Personally, I would keep the cat and put it in a special place of honor (that is to say, away from the real cats) so I could look at it from time to time and know that there’s love during all this craziness. Happy Halloween and we’re all keeping our fingers crossed on the 3rd.

  2. Just another little add-on…..I listened to The Madison’s song – lovely. But is Country Girl wearing antlers? I couldn’t blow up the picture enough to be sure, but I know I want to hear the story about that!

  3. You’ve been BOOED!!! I LOVE it!

    I got stuck in the middle of a political car parade on Saturday .. for a full mile… with my lights flashing in the mail truck. Not a way to get my vote, let me tell you.

  4. This little story brought back a childhood memory and I now have a sentimental tear in my eye. (thank you for that I am at work and have to act normal) One Halloween when my sister and I were 7 & 6, there was a knock on the door. We opened the door to find the scariest gypsy standing there. My sister and I screamed and slammed the door. I can still hear my mother laughing… I enjoy you. Thank you!

  5. I want to laugh, but I just don’t know if I can. I get paralyzed with anxiety and sick to my stomach. My daughter has married into a family of hillbilly right wingers. So in addition to all the stress of what’s going on I have to deal with their facebook shenanigans. I wish I could just unfriend them, but that’s really not an option. I am glad you have some things to celebrate and some positive to focus on. Keep on keepin on.

  6. Holy shit, for a moment there I thought that was a real cat standing up like a person somehow and now I can’t stop laughing.
    Anyway after months of this weirdness I’m glad there’s still good, there are still things to laugh at, and I’m looking forward to your stand-up and thrilled to have two new songs to listen to.

    • Not gonna lie, it startled me. Then it startled Randy and Joey, I only captured the spirit of our conversation, the actual conversation lasted a bit longer. Mostly one of us saying “Who the fuck would do this?”

  7. Follow up to my getting stuck in the Trump parade… apparently the parade made it’s way downtown and another person in a mail truck made a not so nice gesture towards them. Except they caught it on camera and reported it to the office. *sigh* So hostile… and yet so far from over.

    At least you couldn’t hear what I was saying in the mail truck, or I’d likely be in the office too.

  8. The Kelly green hat is what really did it for me.
    Sorry I didn’t get here yesterday, but PG&E decided that its power infrastructure was too dangerous to operate when the wind blows and cut off our power Sunday night. At least it came back on a couple hours earlier than what they projected.
    Living out here in the boonies, we don’t get cell reception without Zsuzs’ cell spot being operational, and the power took it down, leaving us with no real contact with the news of the outside world.
    That would normally sound like blessed relief during this full on shitstorm of lies and insanity, but there was one small problem with that: The Creek fire. You know, that 375,000 acre thingie burning about four ridges due east of here. And those winds, the ones PG&E couldn’t feel confident that its equipment wouldn’t spark another bankruptcy inducing wildfire like the “Camp” fire that leveled Paradise, CA and killed 85 people a couple years ago over? Yup. forecasted to be 40 to 50 MPH out of the northeast.
    So we were a little bit stressed over it, but not too badly, as the winds themselves never really got as strong as they had been predicted.
    So what did I have to show for 37 hours of solitude, as it were? Well, that would be 475 emails in my inbox this morning. Listen, I know that email is a big factor in what’s driving the massive influx of money the Democrats are currently surfing (hopefully to victory) on, but the tone of many of them is beyond annoying. As in perhaps I might be more likely to take your pointless online survey if I didn’t have 474 MORE GODDAMN EMAILS TO READ before I can even activate my new phone.
    Oh, did I mention I got a new phone? PG&E was down for the count, but FED-EX was Johhny on the spot.
    So the battery is up to 57% and I think I’m gonna try to activate it now.
    Wish me luck, I’ve never had a “smart” phone before, and I’m finding it a little intimidating.
    I have to say that because of the life I’ve lived, it’s normally difficult to move the needle on my Weird-o-meter, but your porch cat thingie made that sucker jump right into the glorious grin zone, so thanks for that.

    • Okay, here’s the thing. You’re going to be FINE with your smart phone. It won’t seem like it at first, but I PROMISE you will. Randy did it. And if Randy can do it, I know you can too.

      Stay safe, Doug.

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