Bruce Blakeman's voice reminds me of this strange story from 1991. I can hear one of his ads playing on TV downstairs right now. I can't wait until we won't be exposed to that irritating sound any longer. Just shut up already!

 One of my classes has too many disorganized procrastinators. I do understand procrastination, because I was one myself as an undergraduate. I mostly overcame it as a result of graduate school and professional work, and the reduction in stress was a welcome revelation. I was never disengaged or disorganized like these students, however. Sigh.

 It has been a beautiful fall. I took this photo yesterday, while sitting in my car in front of our house.

Bruce Blakeman is a liar. I was going to write "bullsh*tter," but that's too kind. He's a nasty corrupt ahole and his voice is like fingernails on a chalkboard. If Anthony Constantino is stunad, Bruce Blakeman is skeevatz. (Thanks Daddy.) What a pair of losers, so eager to serve their maniac cult leader.

I can hear the "debate" downstairs on television. What an idiot Constantino is. OMG. Just another Trump boot licker -- so dumb (yeah it has a b, you moron). I don't live in that district thankfully but this is how listening to Constantino makes me feel. 

 I am so tired of this racist, fascist administration full of idiots. I am sick of media normalizing the president's behavior. There is nothing normal about any of this, and he is not just the worst president of my lifetime, he is the worst president in US history. What disgusting, vile creatures.

Today I am 65. It is hard to believe. It's not that I don't feel 65. In a few ways I don't, but in many ways, I do. It's just that...how can it be? I am thinking about my father, of a day in 1993 before he turned 66 when he took me for a ride in his ATV around the pond and back field and spoke about how he hoped to live five more years. Is that how everyone thinks at 65? It is the kind of thing that looms more as you age. He lived nearly 30 more years after turning 65. I miss him so.

September is a month of important dates. I don't think I feel that way only because of my birthday tomorrow. Aunt Jean's birthday. Mimmie's birthday. 9/11. Gary died September 8, which is also a cousin's birthday. Howie died September 10. Rudy died September 25. September 17 has more than one anniversary. In 1982, college friend Don committed suicide. In 1995, Rudy was born at the shelter. And today, Aunt Dot died.

Yesterday was Mimmie's birthday. She was born in 1904, so it was her 122nd birthday. She died 33 years ago. Today, my sister texted me and our niece that she mentioned Mimmie to someone and shared with them that we talk about her all the time and she is not forgotten. This is true. I think of her everyday. Happy birthday Mimmie. Have some cookies!

 Week one of the semester is done!

The sad news this week was that Dolly Parton died! How can this be? 😥

i was assigned a new child to sponsor: Akshay, an 8 year old boy from India. 

Life in Idiocracy continues with the asinine "renaming" of Lake Ontario. What a collection of losers in the administration, headed by stunad.

One week until my classes begin. Still a lot to do, but i will manage... 

I'm sad because recently I learned that my sponsored child, Esteyvin has left school and so that means he's out of the program. He's 16 and finished 9th grade. He has to work of course. He's from Guatemala. I hope he can pursue education again someday, because I know what a difference it makes in creating opportunity, but I'm not unrealistic. 

This is my second sponsored child with basically the same result. The last one, Myra, stayed in school longer, but she too eventually had to drop out to work. She was from the Philippines. May God watch over them both always. I can pick a new child to sponsor, but I don't want to choose, so Unbound will assign someone new to me.

 If Bruce Blakeman is so concerned about taxes, why doesn't he weed his own garden? Nassau County has notoriously high local taxes and ranks at the top both nationally and in the state. What a phony. He is a Trump boot-licker and I've no doubt he is corrupt and unethical. 

Preparation for the semester is going well.

Trying to stay focused rather than be distracted by the state of the nation. 

 Just under three weeks until semester begins...😖

 More work today! Yay, progress. Also, I'm still working on the story, but here is the photo!

 

I did some minor prep work since my last post, but today I seriously buckled down and started to get ready for Fall classes. I managed three hours! Feel pretty accomplished.😀

I've been trying to stay away from sitting in my office working on my computer for hours everyday, and as a result the summer has been glorious, but I know I have to start doing something soon or I will have to do a mid-August marathon. 😭

I was 14 during the summer of 1976. It's a memorable year for me. I was not crazy about ninth grade in 1975-76 (mostly because my best friend moved away at the end of eighth grade). I started tenth grade and turned 15 in September 1976 and had a much better year in school. A brilliant nephew was born in November. And of course, it was the country's bicentennial. Flag themes, red,white and blue, colonial decor and minutemen statues were everywhere. It was all so exciting. 

Fast forward 50 years. I see no signs of patriotism or pride. Perhaps the cost of living has erased consumer's ability to buy luxuries like white petunias and red geranium hanging baskets? The garden centers seem overflowing, when they should be sold out. Bob purposely chose yellow flowers for our yard. The malevolent president, his vile administration and the incompetents in congress have crushed all enthusiasm. What a shame.

The Electric Chair (Draft) -- I really need to post this today even though it will be extensively revised and a photo added

By Gina Giuliano (2026)

My mother has been gradually shedding possessions since 2022, when my father died. Recently she moved from an apartment to assisted living. One beloved item that remains in her apartment is the electric chair. This sturdy chair was an important piece of furniture when she was a child, growing up at the Axinn Farm in West Shokan. Mimmie, my grandmother was always interested in True Crime. The biggest story in the 1930s was the kidnapping and murder of Charles Lindbergh's baby. A man named Bruno Hauptmann was arrested and put on trial for the horrible crime. Mimmie never skipped listeneing to the case on the radio, and so my mother and her slightly younger brother Bud heard the details as well. In the evening they would act out the trial. Eventually, he was convicted and sentenced to die by electrocution. In the living room of their house at the Axinn Farm was a solid wooden chair, painted green in Mimmie fashion. My mother and Uncle Buddy would take turns sitting in the wooden chair, tying each other to it with a rope, dramatically pretending to be executed, while the jailer would pantomime pulling a big lever that sent juice through the body. The unfortunate imitation Hauptmann would jerk and flail while tied to the chair, eventually slumping forward, limp. Several years later my grandparents moved from that house where these antics took place and the electric chair was stored in my grandfather's sister’s barn. It stayed there over 60 years, long after my great aunt sold the little bungalow and barn, and incredibly, no-one disturbed it. One day many years later, Uncle Bud explored the old dilapidated barn and was surprised and delighted to discover the electric chair. Remarkably, it was not at all damaged by the leaking roof. On my mother's birthday, Uncle Bud visited her. He went inside and said, “I have something in my truck for you.” She followed him outside, wondering what it could be. He opened the back of his truck cap and there it was: the electric chair!

So I have finished all minor tasks and AY 2025-26 is totally done. Later in the summer, I will do a deep dive and extensively revise my foundations class. It really needs it! I had planned to wait a year but after this spring I am deeply aware it has to change.