Time Off

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Taking some time off for a variety of reasons. Hopefully I'll get back to posting soon. Take care, my friends.

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#SongoftheDay Working in a Coal Mine (Lee Dorsey)

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Last week, I wrote you a post about spending 7+ hours at the hospital with my partner. Just a day in the life of Giselle. When we got home from the hospital, I wanted to crash. I was exhausted beyond exhaustion, but I had to make dinner. My partner's doctors keep emphasizing to us how important it is for him to keep eating, even though it hurts, even though he can't stand the sight of food sometimes. They want him to keep eating in order to keep his swallowing muscles in working order, and in order to keep his weight up. The oncological dietitian we met with explained how important it is to pack every bite with protein and fats. He's supposed to eat dairy with the highest fat content we can find. Put butter and gravy on everything. If in doubt, add ice cream. Sounds like a dream, except that my partner can no longer taste anything. Plus, it hurts. It hurts so much my partner's doctors have prescribed him all kind of pain meds to take prior to eating, plus a disgus...
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#SongoftheDay Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)

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I was walking down the street where I live, on the way home from my local library, the summer sun blazing down on me, when a car stopped at a red light. It was blasting this song. Right at the chorus, too. This mundane occurence filled me with the feels, and I wasn't sure why. Then I looked down and realized I was wearing a dress I've owned since this song first came out. I've got the 90s all over me, baby--head to toe. Well, shoulders to toe. My dress didn't cover my head. And it occured to me that I feel like exactly the same person I was in 1994. Am I? Am I really? Will I always be the same little me? The more I change, the more I stay the same. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Infl...
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#SongoftheDay The Dress (Dijon)

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The other day, I mentioned a dream I had that characterized marriage as being locked in a dull, dark room. Well, the next night I dreamed that I showed up at my aunt's cottage (my aunt doesn't have a cottage) with my wedding dress (I don't have a wedding dress). Clearly, marriage is bubbling around in my unconscious mind. I never wanted to get married, when I was young. Now... I'm not sure I have particularly strong feelings either way. If I lean toward wanting marriage in my life, it's more for practical (legal, financial, etc) reasons, at this point. My partner and I were both self-sufficient adults when we joined forces. I don't feel like we ever really "built" a life together. I still have my own home. He has his. His is better. We spent the summer at my place while he underwent daily cancer treatments in the city. I've never taken care of anyone as intensively as I've taken care of him, except when my siblings were young. We've kn...
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#SongoftheDay Don't Leave Me This Way (Thelma Houston)

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Yesterday I told you about the Dwayne Gretzky concert I saw at the CNE last Friday. Earlier in the afternoon, my mother and I happened to be walking by the bandshell while Dwayne Gretzky was performing their soundcheck. Well, this was one of the songs they went through. They performed it again in concert. The whole time, I was wondering, "What is this song?" Usually I recognize the songs they cover, but I don't remember ever hearing this one before yesterday. Not sure how I missed it.  I spent way too long asking Google what the song could possibly be, trying to describe the sound without remembering a single lyric. Google didn't come close to finding me an answer. ChatGPT got it right away. If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also...
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#SongoftheDay The Love Boat Opening and Closing

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The other day, my partner went out to visit a friend who has had multiple strokes and now resides in an assisted living facility. While my partner was out, I watched The Love Boat. Why? Because it was on. And because I remember watching it as a kid. It was pretty hard to sit through, as an adult. The laugh track, for starters. I found I kept leaving the room. When my partner got home, I asked him how his friend was doing. He said, "He was watching The Love Boat." If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . I also recommend subscribing to my newsletter. I generally e-mail subsc...
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#SongoftheDay Obsession (Animotion)

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Every time this song comes on the radio, I say to my partner, "This was the theme for Fashion Television, remember?"  He doesn't remember because he didn't spend the entire 80s watching CityTV (aside from Baby Blues, of course).  I never watched Fashion Television, myself (I am the least fashionable person you will ever meet), but it came on after something I did watch (I don't remember what), so I will always equate this song with that show. The other day, the DJ on my 70s/80s/90s radio station introduced this track by saying, "Taking you back to Fashion Television..." and I turned to my partner like: See? See? It's not just me! I didn't post the music video because the sound quality didn't seem amazing, but the video is honestly like the 80s threw up on itself. That decade, man--I'm still recovering from it. I met a couple of young people today, and I keep thinking they would look at any 80s music video and think it was all for sho...
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#SongoftheDay Day After Day (Badfinger)

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I'll be honest with you: I didn't know Badfinger was a band until I googled musicians from Wales. I was familiar with this song, but I never knew who it was by. Now I actually understand the joke that mentions them in the Rifftrax riff of Psycho II (yes, that's an actual movie).  (edit: the riff I was thinking of is actually from Amityville 4, which is another lousy sequel.)   If you're wondering how you can support me in bringing you songs and anecdotes, the easiest thing you can do is buy my books (most are for adults only!) or check them out from your local library.  Supporting my  AudioErotica  endeavour on  Patreon  would also help me hugely. I'm also an  Amazon Influencer,  so hopefully I can make a little pocket change when you buy stuff by clicking through  my affiliate links . I also recommend subscribing to my newsletter. I generally e-mail subscribers with a weekly update, and I would LOVE to have you on the list.  C...
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What is this? Where am I? What's it all about?

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All good questions. Let me explain. My name is Giselle and I'm your new best friend. Well, maybe not "best friend." A best friend usually listens in addition to talking, but that's not me. What I will do is be here every day, starting June 1 2019, to share with you whichever song pops into my head. Why?  What's the point? Well, here's the thing: I'm a writer. It's a pretty lonely job. Over the years, I've become increasingly socially isolated and you know what? It sucks. It sucks bad. The truth of the matter is that a lot of us are socially isolated, these days. And not just older people--younger ones, too.  There are "friendly visitor" programs for seniors, but those of us under 65 are kind of lost at sea. I speak from experience. Let me be your friendly visitor! If you need a no-pressure visit every day, let me be your visitor. I'll bring a song--whichever song pops into my head, gets stuck in my head, or seems relevant...
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#SongoftheDay I'm Not Like Everybody Else (Jimmy and the Boys)

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I am in so much pain I don't know how I'm even alive. My head hurts. My neck hurts. I would rather not be conscious, but here we are. We are in pain. You know how medical professionals ask you what your pain level is at and you're supposed to answer on a scale from zero to ten? When my partner took me to the emergency room last month, the hospital had a poster that sort of explained what those pain levels meant.  For ten, it said "Life is Pain." And, like, yeah. That's my life. Life is pain. I am never not in pain. It's not always a ten (in fact, it's rarely a ten--often it's hovering between six and eight), but pain is always present in a way that does not allow me to lead an anywhere close to normal life. Right now, I'm lying on a bed.  I'm almost always lying down. And I'm in severe pain. Chronic pain didn't enter my life until I was in my late 30s. Before that, I'd spent my entire adult life living with chronic mental h...
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#SongoftheDay Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)

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I've been meaning to tell you this story for months. I promised to tell it to you weeks ago. So here we are, finally: the watermelon story. So, I'd just finished shopping at the little grocery store near my building. I was using a walker that day. I can wedge the shopping basket between the metal bars on either side while I shop, then pile my bags on the seat to get them home. That works unless I'm carrying anything really heavy. One time my partner tried using my walker to bring home three cases (36 cans) of Ensure, and he ended up slicing open his finger. Blood everywhere. But that's not the watermelon story. I interrupted myself. Let's start again. So, I'd just finished my shopping and I was coming out of the little grocery store with my bags piled up on my walker when I noticed that there was an older woman trying to fish a watermelon out of one of those huge cardboard containers they keep watermelon in outside the store. With zero luck. She, like me,...
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