Got a long update, both good and bad. As I said before, I had no idea that my journal/stories would become what they are today and that they would end up sort of famous in a crazy and funny kind of way. So many people I know and have known read this journal. And while it’s important to me that I be myself, say what I want in my own journal, and let those who don’t like it take a hike, I also want to make it clear up front that the last thing I want to do is turn this thing into a gossip fest.

I don’t always like my mother, for example, but I do love her. Maybe I shouldn’t, but in some ways, I really do love her. And let me also make it known up front that I don’t care if one loves my dad, likes my brother, and hates my sister. They have a right to their own feelings, beliefs and opinions. But this isn’t high school either, and the last thing I want to do is pit people against others, take sides, or tell people what they should do. Especially if I’m not asked for my advice or opinion. To me, it isn’t who you were in the past that matters as much as who you are today. Understandably, though, some people are pretty set in their ways and so I prefer to just avoid those whose ways I don’t agree with rather than stick around and try to change them.

Anyway, Andy’s still vacationing back east. He said he decided not to tell his family we’re back in touch again, knowing how judgmental they can be, and I can understand this. Sometimes it’s best not to say anything at all than to tell it like it is. He gets along with his mother, David and Eric, even though Eric’s still a pothead, but not with Gary and his sisters.

The saddest news is that Charlotte lost her oldest of 3 kids to cancer last week. I intend to send a letter of condolence to her soon and have been thinking of writing her for a long time now anyway. But I’m not going to tell my folks about it because my hunches were right; she’s no longer close to my mom, she told Andy many years ago. Andy said she didn’t say why, but he got the impression my mom dumped her. Hey, if you can dump your kids on various institutions, why not your friend, huh?

Her other son, the only one with 3 daughters, runs the cottage. Andy’s family’s is up for sale.

I looked up the obit on Legacy and saw that Sharyn, now that I know how to spell her name, signed the condolence registry as did I. I guess she is kind of famous, but not for singing. She’s published 5 self-help books and has appeared on tons of talk shows, including Oprah. She also sells jewelry.

I looked her up on Facebook. She is now living in New York, also very liberal, and I swear she looks gayer than gay, LOL. I know she’s been married before, though she has no kids. Perhaps she’s bi. So I said, what the hell, and I sent a friend request with a brief note attached, giving her the highlights of my life/interests, and assuring her, for whatever it may be worth, that I absolutely did not prank call her mother years ago, despite all the pranks I made in my prankster days. I don’t know who did, but I do know that her mother was always a very nice lady and I never cared to harass her in any way.

To my surprise, she accepted, though we haven’t talked. Not yet anyway. She is a distant cousin and I’ll admit that I not only haven’t read her books but that we only saw each other a few times. I was only around 10 when I last saw her. It was at the JCC where she was directing a musical that I had participated in. Unfortunately, this was back when I was a lousy singer. I really didn’t start getting good till my 20s, then I improved a lot more in my 30s after quitting smoking. My voice and knack for learning languages are like a blessing that helps make up for any curses I may have on me, even though I haven’t desired a singing career in ages and don’t really sing as much as I used to since I’m busy with work and writing.

It’s cool that she’s a fellow author, though certainly more published than I am, and very liberal as well. I almost didn’t send her the friend invite because I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea and think I wanted help with publishing. I can always publish my own books myself if I want them published that badly. This is 2010. People can do that these days.

Marie’s looking for a job in New Hampshire now, saying that even if it’s always platonic, she’d like to be closer to Tammie. This is understandable; to want to be close to those you care about, and I know she’s not happy with her current roommates. So along with telling me about all those x-rated dreams she had of me (that’s ok, Tom won’t mind. He’s a very open-minded, easygoing individual!), she’s hoping to make a change for the better soon.

As for me, I still feel the same: I’ve gone so far in life, but absolutely nowhere, LOL. And I’ll probably always be the family’s most strange, nutty and eccentric outcast as well as the poorest. And while I still don’t know if we’ll survive this recession, I do know that PublishAmerica really wants to know what’s up with my College Romance manuscript they accepted a while back. They have messaged me from time to time, saying to let them know if I have any questions, and I kept ignoring them. Finally, I decided it wouldn’t hurt to tell them why I was hesitant to use them, and mentioned the dirt I dug up on them on Google, and that I didn’t want to bother with any publisher that was simply out to try to sell me something. In their defense, they said that if I Google other companies, as well, I’d find the same complaints and that it’s a whiner city out there. In the end, they assured me that they would publish my book at NO cost to me.

I had decided that once I built up a bigger library I would launch a website and have my books available as clickable downloads for a small fee much like many writers have these days. And while I still may do this, I’ll have to think about PA some more. If I do give them a chance I’d rather submit the manuscript I’m working on now as I feel it is longer and better written. The more we do something, the better we tend to get at it, and the other book was written when I wasn’t as experienced with these types of stories. If I do give them the one I’m working on now, then it will not be posted on Blogger. I’m going to talk to Tom about it and see what he thinks. IDK, maybe they were a little shady in the past but have since cleaned up their act.

Other than the internet cutting in and out like crazy, I told Maliheh on FB that she didn’t have to reply, but that I just wanted her to know that I had to temporarily “unshare” her, saying that a relative was coming to check out my page and I didn’t want her profile link to be the first thing she saw, so I’ll share her again later, LOL, and will send her the story when it’s done. Sure enough, she didn’t reply, but she didn’t block me either. Guess she’s really looking forward to the story!