Tues. June 16, 2026: Sometimes It Feels Like a House of Cards

image courtesy of Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

Happy new week! I hope your weekend was lovely. Pull up a beverage for a long Tuesday chat.

There’s a lot that’s not lovely in the world right now, and we need to acknowledge it and do our part to demand/create change and make sure the despicable and the cruel face consequences.

What happened to Karmelo Anthony was racially motivated injustice, and I hope he wins on appeal. They let white boy rapists and shooters get away with anything, but if a young Black man defends himself, they throw the book at him.

Again, more racism – a neighbor in LA  called the cops because a woman was cheering on the Knicks victory and the cops shot her dog, who was wearing a Knicks jersey – and NO ONE gave her any help. Because heaven forbid a Black woman and her dog celebrate without punishment. I wish every bad everything on both the neighbor and the cop. There is NO excuse for that behavior. It wasn’t a mistake. It was deliberate on that neighbor’s part, and that despicable individual needs to face consequences. And those neighbors who stood there and did nothing as she wept over the body of her murdered dog, whom she loved deeply – every single one of them deserves to suffer a similar loss. There is NO excuse for this behavior.

And this weekend was the anniversary of the murders of Melissa and Mark Hortman, and their dog Gilbert. Their killer hasn’t faced justice, either.

Why is anyone surprised that Gwyneth Paltrow is a shilling sleaze? She’s always been a waste of space.

Tim Allen blaming the actors who played his sons (who are now grown up) as having issues and that’s the reason there’s no HOME IMPROVEMENT reboot just made me roll my eyes. Like re-casting isn’t common in the business. Another waste of space, and again, not surprising at all.

So happy That Thing was forced to remove his name from the Kennedy Center. And not just removed – the façade had to be restored to its previous state. Now do the Rose Garden and the East Wing. Algae in the reflecting pool is just symbolic of this entire regime.

As I prepared the switch over to the ghostwriting on Friday, I heard a fire alarm going off. It wasn’t in our building. It was in the college’s science building a block away. A couple of minutes later, two fire engines came howling up.

I couldn’t smell any smoke, and I didn’t see any (I can see the building from my bedroom window). But the alarm kept going and going and going. I don’t think there was any damage. Not sure what was going on. Or maybe there was an issue with the buildings behind the science building, that are in the process of demolition to make way for a new art center, and the alarm in the science building picked up the issue. I don’t know.

Dug into the ghostwriting assignment for another revision pass and polish. Did the best I could with it, and got it out the door just before noon. Very frustrated and burned out.

The next 20K assignment has to be turned around by tomorrow, but those notes make a lot of sense. We’ll see what they come back with after this revision.

I was really out of steam by then. Plus, it hit 90F with high humidity. We were promised severe thunderstorms, which never materialized. After lunch, I was cat furniture on the couch with the fans and cooler going. I read this month’s Agatha Christie book club pick, THE MURDER OF ROGER ACKROYD, which I’ve read multiple times over the years, and actually remembered!

I’m also reading a book called WE KILLED IT, about women in comedy from the 60’s through present day. It’s very interesting, and studying how these writers and writer/performers create and structure there work is useful.

We had an early dinner, I got dressed and got my act together, and headed over to the Clark for the opening of the exhibit that was discussed at the preview presentation in Lenox a few weeks back. It was packed. My friend arrived, and we had a drink and caught up on life, the universe, and everything, and then meandered downstairs for the opening remarks. We wandered through the exhibit, which is gorgeously curated (as usual). It was hard to really take it in, because it was so busy. We will go back early on a weekday in a few weeks and take our time. There are some specific pieces we each want to sit with for a bit.

Drove home, peeled off the dress, hosed down in the shower. I fixed myself a Blue Angel (vodka, blue curacao, lime juice), and enjoyed that with some snacks. I keep my vodka in the freezer, so it was nice and cold. I guess I got very dehydrated over the course of the opening, because after I finished the cocktail, I downed two cups of tea, and then drank everything in the water bottle I usually take to yoga.

Read some more. I had the fan going in the bedroom, and then used the cooler for about a half hour. I figured out how to turn off the lightshow. Unfortunately, Charlotte figured out how to turn it back on around 2 AM, so I was startled awake, thinking I was in a disco. I guess I should be glad it doesn’t also play music?

Unplugged it, and went back to sleep, getting up at the usual time on Saturday. Morning routine was fine. I’d gotten my first word for the exquisite corpse poem overnight, so I acknowledged that, and used the morning free-write session to start work on it. Tessa supervised me when I watered the plants.

I worked a few drafts of the poem, then did morning chores and got my act together to get out the door by 9:30. I headed to Williamstown, to be the extra set of eyes for a friend looking at a property there at an open house. It was very interesting, and we both really liked the realtor showing the property. I was surprised the place wasn’t swarmed, and disappointed that several of the other attendees were dicks.

After the open house, we headed over to Wild Soul River for an iced herbal tea and a debrief, hashing through various impressions.

It was quite hot by the time I headed home. I had a bite to eat and changed into more comfortable, casual clothes. Again, having a functional closet again makes such a positive difference. I have plenty to wear, and most of it mixes and matches well, provided I can get at it.

I came home to find my check from the LAVA Center reading, which was a nice perk.

In the afternoon, I helped my mom turn her closet over for the summer, then worked the poem a few more times before I sent it off. I should get my second word around 4th of July weekend. The poem flows in one direction and then comes back, so each of the 30 poets writes 2 short sections. My first word, around which I build the poem, is the previous poet’s last word. My last word becomes the first word for the next poet. I can continue to work the poem until performance day, provided I keep it to 30 seconds, and the first and final word remain as set. I may do some more work on this one. I’m worried it’s too much rant and not enough rhythm (as inspired by my starter word), although I worked the beats quite a bit in each draft. I’ll let it sit for a week or so, and then look at it again.

I read a bit in the evening, but I was pretty worn out. The property we’d viewed in the morning was quite large, so there was a lot of tromping around inside and out, and stairs and fields and all the rest. I hadn’t realized how much I walked. I didn’t even have a glass of wine with dinner. I had several glasses of peach-cranberry juice instead.

When I turned on the cooler in the bedroom, the light show came back on, which delighted Charlotte. I made sure to unplug it before drifting off to sleep. It cooled down overnight enough to be reasonable sleeping weather.

Up at the usual time on Sunday morning. Morning routine was fine, although I felt a little burned out in the morning free-write. But got everything done. Made omelettes for breakfast, because I was going to be out of the house before lunch and not back until dinner.

Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. We’ve got an interesting set of cards this week. I mean that in a good way!

I worked on the June newsletter a bit.

I got my act together to head out to Lenox. I realized I’d gotten a bit of a sunburn the previous day. Not too bad, just enough to notice.

The drive to Lenox wasn’t too bad. Pittsfield, as usual, was a little sticky, but I made it through. I was certain I would be late, but I was at Ventfort Hall early. Ventfort is a restoration in progress, and it’s lovely to see what they’ve done at each interval when I visit.

The reading of AMANI, by a.k. payne, was beautiful. The cast and director were fully committed, and brought the love and the beauty of the play to life, along with the harsher aspects, in ways that could open the audience’s heart. Really lovely work. I hope we can nurture this script from reading to full production next year.

There was a short talk back after, and then I headed home. Except for a few sticky bits in Pittsfield, the drive was fine. I stopped in Adams and picked up a cherry pie.

Home, heated up leftovers for dinner, enjoyed the pie. Read a bit in the evening. Intentionally stayed away from the disgusting display down in DC. It takes white trailer trash  to a whole new level, and the comments made against Michelle Obama were a new level of despicable. There is no low too low for this administration. I do not want my tax dollars spent that way.

Gave Charlotte a few minutes of her disco light show at bedtime. Slept reasonably well, although Tessa got me out of bed at 4 on Monday, and I couldn’t get back to sleep.

It rained quite a bit overnight, and the morning was gray and gloomy, but cooler.

I needed to flip my workday somewhat, since we had an Honor Roll session from 12-2. That meant working on the ghostwriting in the morning, instead of in the afternoon. Not to mention all the admin that had backed up over the weekend.

I tried to get some of the admin sorted out first, while dealing with the repeated requests to confirm my mother’s Wed. appointment. I should be able to confirm ONCE and be done. I shouldn’t have to reconfirm 5 times on the same day. I’m going to start invoicing them for administrative time.

A job listing for script writing landed in the inbox. Sounded solid and well within my wheelhouse (mission-specific entertainment and comedy), although the pay was a little under what I charge. But, as I kept reading – there it was. “Answer this prompt” – in other words, write an unpaid sample script as part of the process. How many scripts will they collect, telling the submitters they didn’t get hired, then tweak them and use them? Nope, nope, nope. I do not do unpaid, project-specific samples or tests as part of the interview (or in this case, pre-interview) process.

I was already feeling grumpy and out of sorts (for no good reason), and this did not help. I am also tired of agencies sending me in-person non-writing listings when I have made it clear I am only interested in remote writing positions. If I am signed up for remote copywriter listings, why are you sending me in-person construction jobs? I’m not qualified for construction, and that is not why I signed with you.

Got about 6K done on the 20K ghostwriting revision.

At least I got another assignment from the client from whom I haven’t had assignments for the last two months. Maybe I’ll finally be eligible for the batch payment they’ve been holding since April. I am rethinking my association with them and actively looking for a replacement for this income.

I got my royalties from my books. I’ve slacked off the last few weeks on marketing, and it shows. I was hoping to take July off marketing, but I’m not sure I should.

Honor Roll writing session was fun. I managed to finish the script for the UK producer. I will give it a polish this morning and send it off. I hit the sweet spot of 13 pages (the script could be between 10-15). I only had to write the rest of the scene linking what I had to the last scene, and it clicked, which is always great. I did a pass to smooth over the bridge into the next scene.

Then, I switched over to the radio series. I integrated the producer’s notes into the first part of the pilot (the pilot episode is, technically, two episodes) and made a few other tweaks to make sure everything works. I then got to work on the second half/second episode. This is running a little short, even integrating the producer’s notes, so I have to write 1-2 more minutes. I filled it out a little bit, with some fun stuff that’s not padding. Each of these episodes has to be around 20 pages/minutes. I have a little flexibility, more so than with some other producers, where I have to be precise to the second.

It was two hours of writing time well spent. We had a larger group than usual, since it was End of Play, and it was the group leader’s birthday! So we celebrated her.

All in all, a good writing day. We love those, when we have them.

An interesting job listing landed in my inbox as I was shutting down for the day. I might send an LOI with more questions. If the price and the workflow are right, it could replace the client whose change of direction I find unethical.

Ate a late lunch and then took a break from all the screen time. Got some reading done. Pulled myself together and headed down to Bright Ideas Brewery at MASS MoCA for the Assets4Artists cohort meeting. Artists from the current cohort and the past two were there, so it was fun to chat, catch up with those I knew, and get to know those I didn’t.

A friend of mine from the cohort I was in arrived late (coming straight from work) and we sat and chatted for about an hour after everyone else left. He’s working on project that’s really cool, and encouraged me to be a part of the group and create my own section of it. It would be a dream of many years turned into reality, but I need more information, and I need to be sure I could afford the time and have enough other income steadily coming in to cover the time needed, since this is not a lucrative endeavor.

Came home, heated up some leftovers for dinner, read a bit before bedtime. Got an email from a theatre in the Midwest requesting a play submission. I’m not sure I have what they’re looking for, but I’ll go through my script roster today. If I find something that fits their guidelines and is available, I’ll send it off. Always nice to be asked!

Woke up at 1:30 from a dream that I was behind packing to move – sense memory stress from the move here. I’ve been pretty good about not having it this year, or at least having much shorter/lighter bouts of it, but this was bad, probably because I’d talked about how I arrived here at the cohort meeting. The worst of it is usually from around June 22 – July 5th, but it’s steadily lessened each year. I’d hoped it was almost gone this year, it’s been long enough, but maybe this was the big echo. I mean, there’s plenty of other stuff that needs my attention and causes stress, and there are also plenty of good experiences over the years since the move layered over that time frame (April 30-July 5) that positively adjusts the sense memory each year a little bit more.

On today’s agenda: polishing the script and getting it out to the UK producer, checking my roster for the requested submission, working on the radio series, finishing the revision notes on the ghostwriting. I hope to get to yoga this evening.

Have a good one!

#art #community #freelancing #injustice #life #murder #poetry #racism #radio #scriptwriting #theatre #writing