27 January

Birthday Girl (And Support For My Work)

by Jon Katz

Monday is Maria’s birthday, and in keeping with our recent traditions, we’re going off for one night to a favored spot in Vermont. Real vacations don’t seem to work out for us lately, aside from the cost, it would be hard to get away for more than a few days.

But it would also be nice. One day. I’ll have to miss my acting class for the second week in a row.

Actually, it’s hard to get away for more than one day. We both are busy all day every dat.

I’m determined to get Maria a good winter jacket over the next couple of days, her bout with hypothermia got my attention, and she needs a strong coat to deal with the new media hysteria, the Polar Vortex.

I’ve got to go to the dentist first thing Monday morning, then we’ll take off, we’ll be back fairly early Tuesday. I’m bringing two books: Frederick Douglass, Prophet Of Freedom by David W. Blight, and Prisoner, by Jason Rezaian.

Both of them are gripping in very different ways.

We went to Williamstown planning to see the new movie about Laurel & Hardy, Stan and Ollie,  but there were problems in the theater and we ended up seeing The Favourite, starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz.

The Laurel Hardy movie is supposed to be funny and sad, and I want to see it while it’s still in theaters. The Favourite is one of those gorgeous period piece movies, and also centered on some remarkable strong but ambitious and conniving women.

It is a beautiful movie – the critics are crazy about gorgeous movies about old England –  about nasty people trying to carve each other up in the court of Princess Anne, one of Britain’s troubled manic depressive Queens. It’s a terrific movie, but an unrelentingly nasty one, about 30 minutes too long.

I’ll check out after the dentist in the morning.

P.S. A reminder to please think about supporting my work. I ask for lots of money for the Mansion residents (I brought Art his new wristwatch today) and for the refugees, but I also need to ask for support for my blog, it is the engine for all of the work that I do, and I work hard on behalf of the blog and my photos. Both are expensive to maintain. The recent blog re-design will cost between $4,000 and $5,000.

The blog is a primary source of my income these days, there aren’t many royalty checks or big advances any more, so if you find it valuable or entertaining or inspiring, please consider supporting it either with one-time donations in any amount or inexpensive subscriptions which can easily be cancelled at any time.

You can check out both here. No financial information of any kind is stored on my blog,  you can subscribe for $$5 or $10 a  month or for $75 for one year. One time donations in any amount are also welcome.

Like everybody else, I need to be paid for my work in order to pay my bills. Thanks for considering supporting my work. You can check it out here, you can contribute via Paypal, [email protected] or with major credit cards. Right here.

If you prefer, you can send a check to Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.

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2 Comments

  1. Why do you never talk about Carol Gulley? I noticed that she’s not even part of your writer’s group any more. Seems very sad to me.

    1. Marilyn, I find your questions both inappropriate and presumptuous. Have you asked Carol if she wants public attention right now? Have you discussed with me who is and who isn’t in my writing class right or who wishes to be reading in public right now? I don’t recall giving out a list of my students, or a list of whose taking time off from the class. Is that really your business? Carol’s life is not for your amusement, and I do not write about people who seek or need privacy so they can grieve or for any other reason. There is nothing sad about the decisions Carol is making about her life, or her right to make those decisions. If you wish to communicate with her, you can do so anytime via her lovely blog, the bejoshfarmjournal.com. Ed asked me to chronicle his death and I did so. That does not mean Carol wants to chronicle hers in public. Please don’t send messages like that to me again. You don’t have the right in my mind to decide what is sad or happy for Carol, just because it’s what you want. Thanks.

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