24 Comments

I too almost shit my pants the first time I had Covid. The horror!

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LOL. I was out on foot and 10 blocks away from where I was staying, so there was no turning back. I used to live in Montreal so I hightailed it to a little bar I knew, walked in like I owned the place, and went straight to the back to defile their bathroom. Good times.

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lol!!

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😆

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That photo is amazing. I don’t want to sling any mud at your family, but if there has to be a Judas at the supper I would nominate the young (adult, maybe) 3rd from the front on the left, casting a wary eye at the camera.

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Haha, YES, my cousin Walter. I thought of mentioning him, but didn't find a way that didn't cast aspersions in time for publication. The dark horse, the Judas!

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I'm very touched that the interview you did with me made the list! Onward with the winning indeed! xx

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NON-STOP WINNING FOR THE WIN 🏅

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Thank you for taking us along on your ride through 2024. I'm always left inspired and 'thought-full' after reading FTM.

That family photo is so full of story set in a time some of us grew from! I'm a 1959-er.

I love the blue dress that one lovely fam member is wearing. Classic.

Keep on keeping on B.A.!

xoxo

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Thank YOU Angela, for your thoughtful comments and your support ❤️‍🔥😘❤️‍🔥

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Here's to telling myself a better story! Thank you for all your wonderful writing and creative offerings, always delighted 🌟😍

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Thank you so much Gaye---I really appreciate you telling me that.

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I have always liked your posts---feel like we might be of kindred soul potential---you do BAL very very well, i always learn stuff from your posts---looking forward to tucking into the jillian artlcles and would love to do your collage class someday in the future . Hang in there BL and happy 2025

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Thank you so much. A comment and a sentiment like this is what keeps me going... what makes doing this newsletter feel worth it! A happy 2025 to you, as well ❤️‍🔥

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i'd only ever heard the meme-ified versions of "inside you there are two wolves" so thank you for sharing the full story!

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Haha---I've never seen the memes... they made me laugh (I'm a cheap laugh). The "full story" I gave is what Google came up with. Some say the story has Indigenous roots, but there's no proof of that. It could all be fake, but all the same it's TRUE!

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"inside each of us there are two wolves, both wolves are named toby"

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Thanks for sharing your pants shitting near miss. As you know I am waiting for the painting of that epic last supper-ish photograph and I love that sketchbook page with your Gramma's face. The wolf fable...makes sense. Suggestion for your word/phrase of the year: I Tiger, World Leaper.

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No problem... ready and willing to share pants-shitting near-misses any time.

"I Tiger, World Leaper" is a bit of a mouthful... doesn't exactly roll off the tongue 😅

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You could take one half or the other.... I TIGER or WORLD LEAPER. Will look forward to further pants-shitting episodes in '25

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Haha, I like both of those

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Love the idea book cover — evocative but ambiguous! I'm trying to take more handwritten notes in the new year: My version of that is a page-divided binder with different colors and styles of paper for different sorts of notes.

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YES! It's always better to do things by hand, if you can. I want to learn more about this, but research shows that writing by hand (as opposed to on a keyboard) uses more parts of your brain 🧠🥸

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