Yes, dear readers, the universe has FINALLY decided to smile on me! Well… sort of, anyway. I suppose it depends on how you look at it. It’s complicated, so I thought I’d start out with the least complicated part of things to get us started. I got a Gatchaman Pop!!!! Yes, here he is, Condor Joe, sitting next to my glass and cigarettes in all his glory! LOOK AT HIM!!! Isn’t he beautiful?!? Okay, okay… I know I’m going overboard, but it’s so fucking hard to find anything from this anime because they didn’t make much and the quality was bad. The original series ran in Japan from 1972-1974, so you can imagine the lack of products. Hell, even when they Americanized it into Battle Of The Planets (my first introduction) that was 1979? There wasn’t much product then and, much as I loved the show, my mother never bought me anything from it. I did get an old lunch box from Facebook Marketplace, but that’s a story for another time… Anyway, I’ve loved this anime most of my life, so this is an exciting moment!

Okay… if you really want to see a beautiful collectible, it has to be this one…

I think I paid $50 for the set of all 5 main characters on eBay years ago, but it was worth every penny! It’s difficult to see in a picture, but there’s so much detail in this figure that’s maybe only 4 or 5 inches tall. It even came in a decorative package. Needless to say, Joe hasn’t been in that package since the day I got them. He’s stayed out of the box…

I bought a few other collectible figures on eBay as well. I have a set that’s nice but nowhere near as nice as this set (and it was a lot cheaper). I also have a set where they look like little Lego figures that comes with one of the other main characters. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to have it! Gatchaman in Lego form?! It was hilarious! Once I was done laughing my ass off, I bought the set and I just love it! Sadly, that’s really all I’ve ever found that I thought was worth buying. Or what I could afford, anyway… Like I said, it’s an old anime that has been forgotten except by old farts like me who watched Battle Of The Planets as kids. And since it didn’t gain the popularity of Speed Racer (Mach Go Go Go in Japan), it fell by the wayside and that was that. It always made me sad as it’s a wonderful anime. So any time I hear it mentioned or see it in a magazine or a collectible, I tend to freak out. It happens…

Now, onto the more complicated tale…

If you’ve been reading my weird ass entries for a while, first of all, thank you. Second, you’ll recall the frustrations with my friend Morticia and her asshole boyfriend Gomez. If not, you should really read them. I could write a drama with all the shit that went on… Anyway, this is where the universe really smiled on me. After telling her for, what, maybe the past 5 years that he was using her, he was mentally and emotionally abusive, all he did was take, never give and she should dump him… they FINALLY broke up! For GOOD! Jesus Christ! It’s about fucking time! The downside was having to be comforting and sympathetic (sympathy not being one of my strong suits in the first place) when all I could think was “thank fucking god I won’t ever have to listen to you bitch about how poorly Gomez treats you and have you not take my advice and dump the loser!” I know that sounds harsh, but if you knew the situation, no one would be on his team…

So, to give you a good example of what kind of asshole Gomez is… For Christmas, Morticia bought him a $300 weed whacker (which he needed and wanted). He bought her chocolates (which he knows she doesn’t eat), a set of 4 dish towels (of which he kept one) and a Hickory Farms basket… So like $30… But it’s not the price. It’s that he got her things she doesn’t like and things you would buy for maybe your neighbor or boss. Gee, nothing says “I love you” quite like a basket full of smoked meats and cheeses… And the towels send a great message, “Hey bitch, wash my dishes.” His excuse was he couldn’t shop for her because she had to take him. Then stop being cheap and buy a car, you fuck! He really is a cheap prick. He has money, he just won’t spend it, hence the reason he has no car and Morticia had to drive him everywhere. But really, that’s still no excuse. And those gifts send a bad message. Well, that night, they got into a fight and he told her he didn’t love her anymore. Yeah, the meat basket didn’t make that clear… So they’re officially done.

So I’m now free of listening to all the whining and bitching about Gomez, but it comes at a price. And it’s a hefty one…

Morticia has very low self esteem and is very soft hearted. If he would ask her to take him back, she’d be stupid like the other times and do it. I honestly can’t understand… She didn’t even want to ask for the present she gave him back! She said she couldn’t be cold hearted, something she apparently thinks I am at times. Damn right I am! No one would treat me like that… So now I need to toughen her up so she doesn’t cave. Worse, her job got taken over by a new company that’s just horrible and the stress made her snap. Guess who’s been having to play shrink-dink? Yup, it’s been me… And when her family doctor put her on anti-depressants yet again, guess who’s been the one making sure she takes her pill every day? Yup, that’s been me, too. I know she hates the idea and she claims they make her nauseous. But she never takes them consistently, never takes them long enough to adjust and let the side effects go away or let the pills work.

We need a happy break… Have a happy Baxter picture to break up the bleakness. Isn’t he cute? He actually wanted me to take this one!

In any case… I think I have her to the point now where she understands the importance of taking this pill and that she’s been depressed for a long time and has been self medicating with alcohol. The dumbest thing she’s ever said to me was, “What’s the difference if I have one drink every day or I take a pill? I’d rather have a drink.” Oh my god… What fun, trying to give her a lecture on being an alcoholic without telling her she’s an alcoholic and have her get argumentative. I tried talking to her about that before and she got pissed at me. Oh well… I’m sorry, she is an alcoholic. If you don’t want a drink, you need one, you’re an alcoholic. Drink because you want to have a glass of wine with dinner, that’s fine. Hell, I drink, but I do it because I want to have one, not because I need to have one. Morticia has been drinking for years because she needs that drink after work. She makes mixed drinks and puts them in travel mugs and takes them in the car with her. But she’s not an alcoholic… Nope, not her… You know, I want to help her, but I can’t unless she’s willing to admit she has a problem. And I can’t help her with anything, really, unless she’s willing to take the help that’s given.

Still, this is how Morticia is on a regular basis. The upside here is that there’s one less thing she’ll be bitching to me about and that’s Gomez. So yes, the universe is smiling on me in that aspect. It took away one of the stresses she dumps on me every single day.

We need another break in the gloom… so here’s some more puppy love! I don’t often get pictures of Miko because she really hates having her picture taken. I’m sure you can tell because she never looks at the camera… She’ll look you in the eye, no problem. But she knows when you’re going to take a picture and she’s not having it. I think the last time I got her to look at me for a picture was when she was a tiny puppy. Now she’s 12… Sometimes I get sad when I look at her, see all the white hair she’s getting mixed in with the red…

Anyway, I had gone to the craft store the day I took this to get a few supplies and bought a pack of Valentine necklaces. I tried putting one on Baxter, but he kept jumping around and trying to eat it! But Miko, she’s my lady… She loves her bling! I put one on her and looped it through her collar so she wouldn’t get herself caught (it was long on her) and she strutted around like she was queen shit! She was so proud of her bling that I wanted to take a picture, which is the only reason she reluctantly agreed. She’s a funny old girl…

As to why I was at the craft store…

This is the present Morticia got me for Christmas! It’s a paint your own nutcracker! I’m still not sure why she thought I may not like it… Anyone who knows me knows I have a fetish for nutcrackers and I get a new one every year (sadly I only have one I keep out all year because he’s very old and looks like a fisherman, my friend rescued him from getting tossed in the trash). And I’m an artist, so what could be better than making my own? I’ve actually looked at these for years, but they looked kind of cheaply made and were pretty costly for looking so cheap. I think Morticia got this at an outlet store, one I’ve gotten some pretty nice art supplies at for cheap myself. I think he’s supposed to be an elf based on the ears, the nose and the shoes… And the example picture on the box! Did you ever see the movie The Goonies? Remember Sloth? The picture they had on the box looked like Sloth’s retarded cousin… It was so bad! I was bound and determined to make him look like a proper nutcracker and bling him all up! Currently he’s a work in progress… When I took this picture, I had his mouth propped open so the handle was out of my way while I was working on his boots. I still need to figure out what color I want the handle and base, what other designs I want to add to his clothes… I got faux fur for his hair and beard, which I’m also planning to put around the top part of his boots. He’s going to be like an ice king or something to that effect. I don’t know; I was just winging it with the colors. I had to call my mom to see if she had dark blue ribbon because I only had a powder blue, which was too light for his belt, It looked so nice I decided to put it around his cuffs as well. I also told her I want her to make him a cape. I bought tassels for his shoulders, so I think he needs a cape. Hey, I can’t sew for shit… She’s like the queen seamstress. She can do that part. But I think he looks pretty good so far. I’m proud of him!

Okay, I can’t help myself…

Yesterday, while playing Animal Crossing, I decided to remodel Marlo and his roomie Hamphrey’s vacation home, the one I called “The Family Business”. Seriously, look at Marlo. You know they fashioned him after Marlon Brando in The Godfather! And Hamphrey looks like he’d be good muscle, so I moved him in as a roomie. So while they were checking out their newly remodeled place, I got these screenshots that were just too perfect! But… I’ve never seen any of The Godfather movies. So I went on IMDB and looked up some quotes and made this funny little comic of sorts because… Yeah, I don’t know why. Because my brain isn’t right on occasion… My sense of humor is a little bit off, so weird things strike me funny and I just run with it. These pictures struck me funny for some reason. I mean, look at them! It’s like watching The Godfather with fat little hamsters! Hahahaa!

Honestly, Marlo is the running joke in this game. Everyone can tell where they got the inspiration for his character and everyone refers to him as a crime boss. Even funnier, Nintendo’s description of him eludes to the fact that he’s a crime boss and may not exactly be on the up and up and may be engaging in criminal activity. And this is an E for everyone game! Hahahaa!

Well, despite the big shit show that’s still going on in the world (is this COVID shit ever going away?!?) I hope that you’re all having a great start to 2022 so far!

Stay safe, stay healthy… Be kind to each other. And for the love of god, don’t touch anything!!! Seriously, one of you keeps touching something… Stop touching whatever it is so we can resume normal life. Namaste, dear readers!