Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

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Saturday Potpourri

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• Sophie as Barbie.

Pardon all the Blythe pictures this week. I haven’t really been able to get outside to take any pictures, so Blythe is what you get.

• Thankfully, this oppressive weather is supposed to break later in the day when storms roll through. And the forecast is for much better weather for the week ahead, including much less rain. Huzzah!

• The same guy who looked at the washing machine last February came to look at it yesterday. We are greatly relieved that it is hanging in there. Something or other in the washer was a bit corroded and clogged, which was causing it to leak small amounts of water during the wash cycle. He cleaned and cleared everything and said it’s been fixed. This washer/dryer combo was purchased not long after we moved into the cottage, which would make it nearly 18 years old. He said that everything seems to be working well. Of course, we had to pay for the initial visit and for labor, but it turned out to be about the same as the charge in February and was much less than we were were fearing and, of course, much, much less than replacing the unit. Very good news!

• I haven’t had a vicious comment in a long, long time but the one brief sentence I wrote in yesterday’s post – “I’m on indictment watch” – apparently set someone off. I didn’t mention any names and that was all I said, but heavens, what vitriol! So easily triggered. I won’t share the vile content and Don did say I should have left it there for you to see, but I thought I’d spare you that. Why bother? She’s not worth our time. Blocked, of course – she’s a repeat offender.

• Don has a gig this evening and he’s looking forward to it. It’s not all that far away and I know he’ll have fun. Lucky audience, to hear him sing and tell his stories!

Every once in a while we think about doing a podcast together, sharing our many stories about our work in the performing arts. It’s still something that comes up every once in a while and, darn it, I’m now thinking about it again. Would you be interested?

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

On Strike

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Don is officially on strike. I will periodically talk about the real perils facing actors (and writers) and the outrageous offers from the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers). You can Google what they are trying to do to actors. And by the way, no actor currently gets residuals for anything filmed for streaming. The producers and CEOs get millions. The actors? Nothing. Streaming series can be played again and again, are watched by millions of people, and the actors get nothing. Not so for the corporations and CEOs.

They also want background actors (formerly known as extras) to submit to an AI ‘scan’ and sign over the rights to their image forever. Then the studios can own that image and use it in other projects. If that happened all the background people you see in any film would be AI-generated. Fake. Background actors get a paltry $200 a day for what are often hours and hours of work. And they’re supposed to sign away the rights to their image (for no fee, by the way) so that the studios can save money by not hiring background actors? Their ability to work would be eliminated. This disdain for human beings who play all of the characters you see in the background in any film, that make the film come to life, is disgusting. I watched the background actors work on Spoiler Alert (and there were a lot of them) and they were truly excellent at what they do. It takes a special skill to be real on screen and not steal focus. I don’t know if I could do it.

Just as the studios are attempting to use AI to write scripts, they’re also trying to use it to eliminate the need to pay actors for their work.

Don and I have been extremely wary about AI for a long time. And don’t think it’s just about actors and screenwriters. It can and will impact everyone if it isn’t regulated ASAP.

If you have a minute go to YouTube and listen to SAG President Fran Drescher’s speech yesterday. It was magnificent.

On a lighter note, Don says he can now change his status from ‘unemployed’ to ‘on strike.’ 💪

It’s raining. It’s hot and humid. My brain is in a fog.

I took this picture to show those of you who are unfamiliar with catalpa trees the bean pods hanging from the branches. It’s often called the ‘bean tree.’ The pods begin to appear in mid to late summer. Makes for a messy cleanup later on, but I wouldn’t trade my catalpas for anything.

And a photo of Livvy and Ella.

They’re darned cute.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

Twenty-Nine

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Happy “Don and Claudia Met on This Date” day. Twenty-nine years ago, in fact.

Which means that October will bring our 25th wedding anniversary.

Who would have thought?!?

I’ll keep this simple and brief. This man is a gift from God and every day I acknowledge that truth.

We both carried a load of baggage when we met but somehow, despite our fears, we opened up about all of that quite early on. We wanted to be better at this. Cautiously optimistic, we moved forward. We always talked things through. We were granted the gift of time and space when Don had to go to Arizona for another commitment. No cell phones then. No Face Time. Just a land line on which we talked every Monday night, our mutual day off. We really got to know each other. By the time he came back to San Diego, we were ready for the next chapter.

I never thought I would marry anyone, not because I didn’t think I was deserving. It was more about my fear of getting bored with someone and of sharing my space with another human. Me: introvert who needed privacy and to have her things all in one place, under her control. Don: Extrovert, married before, impulse guy who would move in with me without blinking an eye because why shouldn’t we?

Somehow we worked it all out.

And here we are 29 years later, loving nothing more than spending the day together in our cottage.

Anyway, I’m grateful.

The 4th of July has never been a big deal for me and lately I’m not feeling very patriotic.

But our anniversary is.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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