The last coherent thing my father said to me was, “It’s hell when your brain doesn’t work.” Since I’d been knocked for a loop by the knowledge that we’d come to the end of the road, and now he’d have to go into hospice, I spoke without thinking. “Well, think of it as a vacation,”…
Beware what you wish for
February 18, 2024
I was once forced into a family dispute among people I neither knew nor liked. It started when I saw a young woman sitting on the porch of a house, waiting. The elderly man who lived there was a friend of my mother’s, so I approached and asked if there was anything wrong. My parents…
I love you but you are wrong
February 14, 2024
One of my favorite actors is Orson Welles. His masterpiece is Touch of Evil. It’s a perfect film. The characters, plot, music, pacing, dialog, delivery of the dialog, editing, camera angles—everything is exceptional. As an actor Welles conveyed pathos extremely effectively, even when he was a monstrosity. He played monstrosities often in his career: Charles…
Some victims are worth more than others
February 13, 2024
I wrote yesterday about how I can’t get anyone interested in how Mike Albee and Lura Dold of Sandpiper Publicity bilked me of $40,000 by exploiting the suicides of my parents. It’s a combination of factors, but the most decisive is that I’m not the right kind of victim. This bias permeates journalism all over…
Internet tough guys actually gutless invertebrates
February 12, 2024
Reddit.com—the self-proclaimed “front page of the Internet”—has refused my request to do an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) on how Mike Albee and Lura Dold of Sandpiper Publicity defrauded me of $40,000 by exploiting the suicides of my parents in 2013. Though I provided all the documentation, I got the following message. Please do not use…
Is culture a good thing?
February 12, 2024
First, no news on the Mike Albee and Lura Dold front. As you may know, they defrauded me of $40,000 by exploiting the suicides of my parents in 2013. I’ve made a few inquiries here and there, and I’m planning a couple of things that may result in more exposure. Right now I have to…
More evidence that Mike Albee is a fraud
February 11, 2024
Before I hired Mike Albee and Lura Dold of Sandpiper Publicity—the two frauds who conned me out of $40,000 by exploiting the suicides of my parents—I didn’t know much about book publicity. Now I know a lot more. Today I had a long phone conversation with a real publicist, a friend of Scott Thunes. He…
The best concert I ever saw
February 10, 2024
I can’t count the number of concerts, live shows, or performances I’ve seen. The most professional was David Lee Roth in Tokyo, with Steve Vai on guitar, Gregg Bissonette on drums, and Matt Bissonette on bass. There was literally not a single wasted second. I’ve never seen a band work harder for its money. After…
The urn does not care
February 9, 2024
I’ve been told that my posts about my father cause anger. Though I’m under no obligation to explain anything, I will. My intention is to chronicle a life gone awry. I do this to banish lingering pain. Some of that pain is the result of things my father did to me, and some is the…
The most judgmental person in literature
February 8, 2024
Recently a reviewer called me one of the most judgmental people she’d ever come across in literature. That really pissed me off. I want to be known as the most judgmental person in literature. So here’s part of a letter I wrote a lifetime ago. If this doesn’t cement my reputation for viciously expressing opinions,…