TMi

"Great men are not born great, they grow great." - Don Vito Corleon This is some crazy auspicious month this year with so many overlapping holiday observances– and an eclipse– With a sprinkling of social unrest in Mexico. I'm writing from Mexico. When they kind of do hits on cartel bosses it does kind of does ripple out to people who aren't directly involved.  (Fun fact! I used to bank with Wachovia. Look them up. They were accused of money laundering for Mexican drug cartels. So... I have been involved.) Taking it back down from a global scale, the month is dedicated self-love. And nothing says sexy good times more than dental work! We must keep a Cronenberg / Clive Barker perspective on sensuality, no? Ok, if that is too much for you, then just think of it as self-care and maintenance. I continue my healing journey with a discomfiting jaunt to the dentists chair to have cavities addressed, crowns replaced, and best / worst of all three posts inserted int...

  W elpy-welp. I’ve officially arrived at the ass end of the snake year. The boulevard outside my door was soaked in pooling sewer filth from the 27th of December to about January 20th. The snake has incontinence in it’s old age. Or it is terrified of the coming hooves of the next year. I remember once being at a picnic with my family on some bright New England day. I don't know who spotted it, but we– us kids got excited about finding a snake nearby. I believe I was the quickest one and was able to catch the garter snake with my hands. I did not keep hold of it for very long. It was terrified of being snatched up out of the grass by a child and it wet me in defense. And it 𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓀 . I remember the talk turn immediately to best practices for nullifying strong animal odors, skunk smells especially. Tomato juice seemed to be top of the list. We did not have that available– and perhaps orange juice was used instead? I have trouble remembering if it was me who actually caught a wild...

san miguel adventure fun time part six of six- para concluir I have no brain power any more today so I’m going to finish up this bloglet listicle style.  ( ¿qué? ) Here are some random final thoughts, random images, and a few places worth checking out if you are ever in the neighborhood. San Miguel is a tourist trap you WANT to be in!   It is a fantastic, safe place to visit in Mexico. Coming from a much rougher part of the country, I can’t find big negative things to say. Some have tried. They come off as incredibly spoiled. At times the level of hospitality made me want to cry. We stopped into the hotel next door to check out their cafe/bakery situation. We sat up on the roof and our server would walk up several flights of stairs every 20(?) minutes to see if we needed anything!  Travel light. Passport cards alone seem acceptable for domestic fights, but don’t press your luck. If you travel in the summer, be prepared for all the sun and some rain.  I cannot stress...

san miguel adventure fun time part four of six-    recorrido The major take-aways: do your homework and take a tour or two Guided, unguided- whatever you choose get out and tour around San Miguel. If you are able to deal with cobble stones and comically narrow sidewalks, walking ultimately is the best way to see the city.   You never know what you will find when out on foot.     Within a few days we got to see several wedding parties in El Parque Benito Juarez. A place which seemed to be the epicenter of all boda -dom, of all wedding-ness. These festive events are called callejonadas . The ones at the parque would be something like this: At an appointed time people would gather at this one particular gazebo. There would be wedding party guests dressed in white clothing with small clay drinking cups hanging at their necks, a mariachi band, a man with a festive donkey bearing tequila, two sturdy people wearing the appropriate mojigangas , and at least one professi...

flea bites and rash all over the torso The saga of tm's questionable health continues. Tests came back positive for Bartonella. Due to my wonderful  third world living circumstances, I contracted a new bacterial infection from fleas brought into the house by a kitten. The kitten was brought into the house by a certain SOME ONE. No one else has been effected by the bacteria. Just me. Just me because I was the one trying to build myself up after a year dealing with Brucella only to then be given the gift of COVID (thanks to SOME ONE) and while trying to recover from that, Bartonella took the opportunity to walk right on into my system. I fought it valiantly for two months. By April, I felt almost the way I did when I had Brucellosis. I saw a doctor. I traveled to New Jersey/NYC keeping myself going with herbs. And then the fun really began! As soon as I started taking antibiotics, the ever delightful Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction took center stage. But no one warned me about it so I ...

Happy Halloween, biz-nich-izzles! Photo by  Karolina Grabowska  from  Pexels It's May. It's spring!  It's time to celebrate Lemuralia! Wut?  Is that a kind of lemur party? Well, no, not quite.  Before the Catholic Christians messed around with the dates- as they always seemed to do- the month of May was the time when some ancient Europeans would turn their thoughts to lemures  or the dead- the scary, unhappy dead. And how to make sure they weren't a bother to the living.  Romans, in particular, held observance for lemures on May 9th, 11th, and 13th.  May 11th just happens to be my birthday and it's an "unlucky" day according to the Romans. Which would explain so much about me? They warn against people getting married in May, but what of those born in the month? Are we screwed? For me, yes. I've been sufficiently, quietly screwed right over in so many ways through the years. Given the list of things that are wrong with my existence, I'...