Josh’s Comments (group member since Jun 17, 2010)

Josh’s comments from the Q&A with Josh Lanyon group.

Antonella wrote: "I came home from Italy one day earlier than planned. There was no big blow-out with my brother basically because I avoided the current issue: I want to sell my ground floor flat in the two-storey f..."

Ugh. It's not fair or reasonable to expect you to take anything less than the best price you get for it. It is not a "brotherly" thing to do. Is there a way to put this completely in the hands of a professional third party so you don't have to deal with him?

Anne wrote: "I haven’t checked in much lately. This winter has for some reason been hard, I work a lot and have little energy when I come home. I guess I am starting to feel all my (almost) 63 years :).

I had ..."

it's always lovely to hear from you, Anne.

Sometimes you just need to take time and think. Sometimes you need time just to be.

Mymymble wrote: "Too much nostalgia is a waste of time but I do like this photographer's effort to recreate his old pictures.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&s......"

Oh that's cool!

Karen wrote: "I'm off to Washington State tomorrow morning for a three-day weekend, flying with my younger daughter and meeting up with my husband at SEATAC. Our excuse is a baby shower for my older daughter and..."

Lots of lovely family time.

Loretta wrote: "It's good to be able to have time to post again. ..."

I do agree!

Mymymble wrote: "So sad, Notre Dame cathedral is burning down (by accident probably). The beautiful spire just collapsed after nearly a thousand years.

I told my youngest (who's been there) and he asked if anyone ..."

Yes, I understand why people are outraged that billions of dollars can be raised in a matter of hours for a building, while people across the globe go hungry.

Some of that "grief for a building" is more about what that building represents: the very best of humankind. The best of Western Civilization?

I think we live increasingly in a time where such works of art are viewed more as monuments to a troubled past versus anything with relevancy for the present, let alone the future.

I've mentioned Kenneth Clark's Civilization before. It was probably one of the most influential things I saw as a kid.

This was the very end of the series, and while Clark doesn't specifically address what's so important about Notre Dame, he does answer (for me, at least) the greater question. I still find it very moving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xofk...

Antonella wrote: "This should be normal, it isn't yet, so it belongs to ''good news'':

Mayor Pete kissed his husband after he announced his campaign & it brought LGBTQ people to tears

See also six hilarious minute..."

I keep wondering if Mayor Pete can be as good as he looks at first glance.

It's early days yet, but my current front-runner is Kamela Harris. As much as I love Bernie and Biden, I just can't handle the thought of another over-70 man running this country.

Karen wrote: "Last weekend was a good one. I went to the opening night of "Beauty and the Beast," performed by my younger daughter's dance company. Not the tiniest bit Disney and too dark for children. My daught..."

Oh no! You were sick too? It seems to be the season for it.

Jordan wrote: "Trying to find new books on writing and publishing is a lot more difficult than I would have thought! I'm spending my Saturday at work trying to update our collection of writing books and anything ..."

Very true about the marketing.

At this point I'm not sure even writing advice is relevant, giving the new publishing paradigms.

Johanna wrote: "Josh wrote: "After all my talk about making sure we all check in regularly, I went a fairly long stretch of radio silence.

First I was getting ready for my vacation on Catalina with my sisters, th..."

I do hope this went well! What a lovely thing to do for your parents.

Antonella wrote: "Josh wrote: "First I was getting ready for my vacation on Catalina with my sisters, then I had my vacation, then I came home and had to immediately prepare for taxes (ugh) and now I'm sick and taki..."

We did the Casino tour last time and the guide said, YOU should be giving the tour. :-D :-D :-D

So apparently I have become that TRULY annoying person. ;-D

Josh wrote: "After all my talk about making sure we all check in regularly, I went a fairly long stretch of radio silence.

First I was getting ready for my vacation on Catalina with my sisters, then I had my v..."

hahahahahaha

It is so funny to me that I thought it would take me "a day to re-situate" myself! Little did I know I had not even begun to get sick.

In fact, I was sick for eleven days--in bed sick--the sickest I've been in years. It just kept getting worse and worse, until I was pretty sure I had pneumonia, and then the next day I started to feel better.

But anyway, that's over.

I finished Slay Ride (if you ordered through Amazon, make sure you get the updated version) and I kind of love how it turned out--although the idea of doing another historical any time soon fills me with dread (talk about all-consuming).

Now I'm working on the Chinese game (that's an experience!) and listening to the audio on Seance (which is pretty good--I'm pretty happy with it) AND working on Stranger in the House AND Mainly by Moonlight.

Mid-May I get back to work on The Monuments Men Murders.

It was so warm last week--and I was feeling so much better--I even went swimming a couple of times. On Saturday, the SO and I went to Lowes and bought some plants (trying for once to focus on more desert-friendly options) and naturally the weather turned rainy and cold today.

Teal wrote: ""I don't know if real courage lies in storming barricades or simply not denying the truth."

A Dangerous Thing, Josh Lanyon"

Ha!

This is a long road we have to travel.
Letter from Supreme Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower

The Monuments Men, Robert M. Edsel

The SO bought me a welcome home gift. :-) White roses and Patty Griffin's new album.

https://www.pattygriffin.com/

SamSpayedPI wrote: "So much for paradise! They raised my rent significantly, so I'm renting this house (starting April 15). Three bedrooms plus an office, two car garage, a fenced yard, and a pool, for about what I'm ..."

Oh that's very cozy looking!

The SO and I have been watching https://watch.mhzchoice.com/allmen?an...

Very relaxing!

Mymymble wrote: "I've been watching and screaming at the soccer FA cup semi-final.
We lost 1-0, and it wasn't a great game. But it's still heartwarming that when I started supporting my team 15 years ago they were ..."

:-D :-D :-D

Jordan wrote: "Josh wrote: "Jordan wrote: "I’ve been working on my habits, using Atomic Habits as my guide, and one habit I’m getting back into is reading at dinner. For a long time I was watching tv over dinner ..."

Well, if they really have nothing to talk about, then yes. That would not be a good sign! For the SO and I...we always have lots to talk about, but we are also comfortable being quiet.

After all my talk about making sure we all check in regularly, I went a fairly long stretch of radio silence.

First I was getting ready for my vacation on Catalina with my sisters, then I had my vacation, then I came home and had to immediately prepare for taxes (ugh) and now I'm sick and taking a day to re-situate myself.

The vacation was very good. The weather was gorgeous! Sunny and warm most days--it rained the day we left--and the island was green and everything blooming. It was busy so everything was open even into the evening, but not so crowded as to be unpleasant. I had hopes of working a bit, but three of us in one room made that an impossibility. And, after all, the point of vacationing with sisters is to focus on the sisters, so fair enough.

The taxes were painful. I talked to my tax lady about what she's seeing this year and she said lower income and wealthy clients are faring the best with the so-called "tax reform." Middle class clients like us are getting hit the hardest. We are apparently in the absolute worst bracket we could be in. :-D :-D :-D OF COURSE.

Anyway, although we take a lot extra out each month for taxes, we still would have come up about 10K short had it not been for my foresight in leaving last year's refund to be applied to this year's taxes. The cap on property tax would otherwise have had devastating consequences for us. GULP.

So this year I will have to (hopefully) figure out some new strategies to compensate.