Hey gang, in honor of Small Business Saturday and just plain small businesses in general, I have put EVERYTHING at Boveda Beads on sale for 50% off!

Nothing is over $25! And as always, FREE SHIPPING!

Please pass along to all your pals! Thanks for your support!

Don't buy the big-box Black Friday hype. Support small local businesses this holiday season and always!

I was a special guest on a recent episode of the groove-tastic movie podcast The Projection Booth! The subject? Timothy Carey and The World's Greatest Sinner! Take a listen!

I was interviewed about Radio Bastet for the splendiferous bellydance site The Gilded Serpent! Take a look!

An interview with me about Boveda Beads will soon be appearing on Judika Illes' newly designed site! Stay tuned!

I think that's all for now! That's enough!

It was so major, it took nearly 5 months!!

OK, so where should I start? Well, another name change. mousemessenger is now loxiesgirl. Loxie is the character Timothy Carey plays in his Untouchables episode, "Ain't We Got Fun." It's one of his best parts and he didn't even get any screen credit for it. Phooey.

Loxie is a bit of a pyro.

And speaking of Tim, that's the other major thing going on. I am writing a book about him. My writing mentor is the actor and musician Michael C. Gwynne, who was a good friend of Tim's and was one of the pallbearers at his funeral. The book is coming along, slowly but surely.

Gwynne in the "MacGyver" pilot. See Byron, I told ya.

I also started a blog about Tim, which I invite you to peruse and like and comment and etc. It's The Timothy Carey Experience, coming soon to a computer near you!

Let's see, what else? I'm still doing Radio Bastet. I've got all the archive shows posted, but I still need to work on putting some new shows together. Also still doing Boveda Beads, but the website has been pretty much a failure. I haven't done as much to promote it as I should, I know. But I'm seriously thinking of going back to Etsy. With the book taking up most of my time and being pretty much my job now, I'm going to have to make everything else a hobby, I think.

On the spiritual front, I am now a godmother! The beautiful nandithebull is my very first godchild. I am so very, very proud of her in every way. With the orishas' help I will be the godmother she deserves.

Nandi and me.

On the health front, I had my physical last summer, and with it a bunch of tests with interesting results. My cholesterol is a bit too high. I had an abnormal Pap smear, got another extremely painful endometrial biopsy, and all came up normal. I had two sleep studies and was found to have sleep apnea. I just got a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machine that I have to wear while sleeping. No big changes appreciable so far, but that's par for the course. And, I had my first colonoscopy, which revealed two adenomous polyps (the kind with the potential to be precancerous). Fortunately, no cancer was found. So, there's that! We did get a treadmill, which I enjoy but have to be prodded to use the damn thing.

That's the major stuff going on so far. Kitties are fine, byroncaloz is working hard in his new position at Intel. We're just plugging along.

I promise to write more often! I've missed it.

But first - Portland-area peeps, PLEASE COME SEE ME IN A PLAY!!!!!



I'm just an extra, but this production is going to be SO amazing, you will not want to miss it. Get your tickets here!

Click to embiggen!







I finally got the poster back from Michael's!!  They really did an excellent job.  I put it up with two lobby cards from Tim's films that I got recently, from Revolt in the Big House and Crime Wave.  I've got another one coming soon, from Waterhole #3, plus two original stills, one from Revolt and one of him man-handling James Dean in East of Eden.  So some rearranging will occur.  In the meantime, I keep glancing up at them all (they're on the wall just to the left of my computer desk) and sighing happily. I'm a happy camper again.

OH I almost forgot!  Here is a special present for you.  It's the A-Bones' 1993 version of the theme song to Tim's only directorial effort, The World's Greatest Sinner (1962), complete with Tim's priceless introduction.  It's possibly the last thing he ever did professionally (he died a year later).  Enjoy, won't we?

Thanks for all your kind words re Mom.  I still can't believe that she's gone, but strangely enough, ever since we picked up her ashes yesterday, I feel better.  On the way home I held the urn in my lap, and man oh man was she talking to me.  In her old familiar voice; I could understand every word!  She told me not to cry, she loved me, and she would always be with me.  So, it's getting better.  Life goes on.

Thanks to everyone who commiserated; you are awesome.  We're doing OK. We love you.

Mom passed away this morning from aspiration pneumonia. It all happened so fast.

Photo gallery, to which I'll be adding as time goes on.

byroncaloz and I got Mom transferred to Gracelen Terrace today. Everything went smoothly; she didn't seem too upset, but then she's been kind of out of it the past few days.  We were impressed by the staff and know that she's going to be well taken care of. 

Then we came home, and the house seems like a tomb.  Why does it feel like she's already died?

We are working on getting Mom admitted to Gracelen Terrace.  We took a tour there on Wednesday, and it seems like it's the right place for her.  Keep your fingers and toes crossed for us, won't you?

After discovering to our dismay that our favorite framing shop has gone out of business, we ended up going to Michael's to get my holy relic poster framed.  Fortunately for us, they're having a big 60% off custom framing sale.  The bad part is, I have to wait til the 21st to bring it home.  AAARRRRGGGHHHH.

So very excited for the upcoming Ile Ochossi Throwdown the weekend after this one!  Folks are coming from all over upper North America, including Canada.  We're having a misa, ceremonies, and just generally blessing Portland with our awesome presence.  Should be a blast!  We all need this really bad.  Speaking of which, my second ocha birthday is coming up in a little over 2 months.  A PARTY WILL BE HAD!

I'm feeling a bit calmer and more settled now that we're moving forward with transferring Mom to a place that will better serve her needs. It's going to be so weird around here without her, though, I'm gonna have to get used to that.  But we have so many plans and our lives together that we need to carry on with, so it's all good.

Oh, and I also have 11 volumes of Reel Wild Cinema to watch now!  How awesome is that?  About as awesome as it gets.

Speaking of awesome:



"You guys watch Joe Don Baker movies?" When Timothy Carey and Robert Loggia are in 'em, we do!

The autographed poster of Timothy Carey is here!!! Click to embiggen and get the full effect of his awesome forehead.

I have a theory of who "Herman" is. Tim says "Good evening" rather memorably in a Joe Don Baker film (YES I said a Joe Don Baker film), Speedtrap. The Internet Movie Data Base says the sound mixer on that film was one Herman Lewis. Hmmm. Herman, I have your poster! And you can't have it. Neener neener neener.

The above Herman theory is wrong, wrong, wrong.  Tim's son Romeo told me that Herman was Tim's uncle, who unfortunately, for reasons unknown, never received his poster.  I hereby vow to take the very best care of it, for Uncle Herman's sake.  He also said that his dad hardly ever signed anything just "Tim"; he usually signed his full name. So we have an element of rarity here as well. Wowzers.

I'm going to get it professionally framed, so no worries. Also, byroncaloz has made me promise not to go out and change my name to Herman so I can tell people that Tim signed it to me personally. Hardy har har, sweetie, you are funny. xoxoxoxo

I was so excited when I opened the package, I was on the verge of tears. It is truly a holy relic. I am a blissfully happy fangirl.