Of all the unexpected bad news out of left field, Catherine OβHara suddenly passing at age 71 made me cry OH NO at top volume.
Like literally everyone else, I LOVED Catherine OβHara.
There are currently about one million tributes to Catherine online, so Iβm just going to pick one favorite memory to share and that is: I honestly donβt know how we wouldβve made it through the pandemic lockdown without Schittβs Creek and Moira Rose. She was such a bright spot during that awful time. I absolutely loved all of the scenes involving the Womenβs Choir (probably because Iβm a lifelong Choir Lady myself), but remember her audition? The bizarre scat singing and the shaker egg in one hand. π€£ How on earth did she come up with that? I often wondered how the other actors made it through even one take with Moira Rose without cracking up.
Thanks for the laughs Catherine, but you left us way too soon! There are so many other Baby Boomers that shouldβve gone before you (especially the one in The White House). NOT FAIR. I was so looking forward to seeing you in Season Two of The Studio and whatever else you ever decided to do.
Itβs a winter wonderland here in Massachusetts. No sign of the plow guy yet this morning, but the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl – again. Therefore many New Englanders (husband, sonβ¦) are in a much better mood than they otherwise would have been. Go Pats!
And some good news: our whiny-ass, murdering, rapist, senile, spray-tanned orange President has announced heβs not going to attend the Super Bowl because he doesnβt like the halftime performer. Heβs probably afraid all those Boston and Seattle fans would boo him into oblivion. In any case, Long Live Bad Bunny!
Iβm continuing to work my way through βWatercolor Workbookβ by Sarah Simon. If interested, sheβs on Instagram: @themintgardener. All designs are hers.
Buttercup Wreath I like how the βwet in wetβ worked out in the lower yellow flower (upper flower was too dry when I added the darker color). I also like the berries. Author suggested droplets of paint rather than brush strokes.Fiddle Leaf Fig
Unfortunately my paint set doesnβt have one important color for botanicals: Oxide of Chromium. Iβm having to make do with Sap and Veridian.
Wildflower Swag This is painted in the so-called βundefined boundariesβ style. Itβs fun to somewhat ignore boundaries and let the paint and water do what it will.
Alex Pretti, registered nurse, United States citizen
Statement from the family of Alex Pretti:
“We are heartbroken but also very angry.
Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the hero term lightly. However his last thought and act was to protect a woman.
The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trumpβs murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He has his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down all while being pepper sprayed.
Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man.β
It is currently 4 degrees Fahrenheit in Minneapolis and both the current and former ministers of my Unitarian Universalist Church in Massachusetts are there to answer a call to clergy.
I hope the media will cover their act of courage.
Iβd like to say that what weβre seeing in Minnesotaβand now Maineβis not America, except it is. This is what Trump voters wanted. He was perfectly clear on this.
Greg Bovino (aka Colonel Lockjaw) really looks the part.
Heβs even got the coat.
I somewhat resisted the whole Fuck ICE thing. I havenβt been to any protests specifically targeting ICE. Iβve been more concerned about womenβs rights, abortion, democracy and healthcare.
But what Iβm seeing now has pushed me right over the edge.
FUCK ICE
This is not the America our grandparents fought for.
As the arthroplasty recovery continues, Iβm indulging myself in a ridiculously vain social media trend. People are uploading photos of themselves as teenagers to ChatGPT (possibly started by the women abused by Jeffrey Epstein as young teenagers) and asking how Chat thinks they will look at their actual current age. The comparison inevitably makes people feel good about their looks.
Me at 13How ChatGPT thinks Iβll look at 60.The real me last month
Also, we shouldnβt even NEED the Epstein files to force Trump to resign in disgrace.
If you havenβt read the entire transcript of Katie Johnsonβs 2016 testimony as reported by Andy Borowitz of the Borowitz Report, you really should. It sounds π―% true to me. Trump should be in prison.
In 2016, a woman using the pseudonym Katie Johnson filed a lawsuit alleging that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and Donald Trump raped her when she was a 13-year-old child.
The scenes that unfolded today at the U.S. Capitol dramatize the importance of listening to survivorsβ voices. In that spirit, I am posting below the full transcript of Katie Johnsonβs testimony.
~Andy Borowitz
Warning: it is extremely graphic and disturbing.
I came to this interview of my free will. No, there was nothing promised to me for doing this interview. Yes, everything that I say in this interview will be the truth.
I met Donald Trump at some parties that I was working for Mr. Jeffrey Epstein. There were about three or four times that I had encounters with Donald Trump. I was 13. The first time that I met Donald Trump was at a party at Jeffrey Epsteinβs mansion. There was an orgy going on and he was kind of watching off in the distance.
He basically asked if I could come over and give him a hand job. At first I wasnβt very comfortable with it. This was my first party and I didnβt think that that was my responsibility. But my recruiter told me that I needed to do it. So I agreed to it and then he, you know, I began toβsorry this is a little difficult. But before I gave him a hand job he kind of slapped my hand away and said, βYou need to use a glove.β The recruiter ran over and handed me a glove and said, βNo one touches Mr. Trumpβs penis without a glove.β So I needed to use a glove. I gave him a hand job and then immediately after he had an orgasm he left and I didnβt see him again at that partyβ¦
I originally came to New York trying to be a model and in my travels I met a girl named Tiffany there who was very interested in me and said that thatβs what she did is that she helped girls, you know, get what they wanted. She could help me get into modeling, that she knew a lot of people that were higher-ups and that it would be no problem. And so thatβs why, you know, I would just basically have to come model at a couple of events and meet some people, there would be no sweat.
So of course I went, you know, that sounded like no big deal. And she was recruiting the girls to come to these parties and they all looked, I mean most of them were my age. There were maybe a couple girls that were maybe 14 or 15 but it seemed to me like we were all very young.
Jeffrey Epstein knew that I was 13 years old. When he interviewed me, he asked me to get down to my bra and just my panties and I thought that was weird but, I mean, modeling. Maybe it was something about my figure. He asked me to give him a massage. He asked me my age, I told him that I was thirteen, I told him why I was there, and he basically said, βWell, youβll do, you know, Iβm sure that youβll fit pretty nicely here.β And then he tried to basically slip himself inside of me. And I pushed him away and I said, you know, Iβmβbecause at that point in time I still believed that there were models and then there was the girls that did that. Like I thought there was a separation. So I told him that I wasnβt interested in that but he said that I would do.
And as far as Donald Trump, he knew that I was 13, and I believe that Tiffany told him. He seemed to take a liking to me because I was so young and I was also a virgin. So, I donβt know, he seemed like he wasnβt really into having girls that were liked by the other guys. The whole glove thingβhe kind of liked things to be his first, you know, for lack of a better term. He was the one who wanted to get to a girl before everyone else did.
Donald Trump knew that I was 13 because the first night that I was there, Tiffany actually suggested that and she had a whole bunch of different wigs and I expressed interest in them and I always told her that I would love to walk around with blue hair. And so I tried some on and there was a blonde wig that she said that looked great on me. So, I wore that wig and Donald Trump had specifically asked about me because I remind him of his daughter and she said, βWell, sheβs 13 as well.β So, he knew the first time that he saw me. He took a liking to me because I looked like his daughter.
The reason Iβm coming out now isβwhen it happened originally, I just wanted to forget about the whole incident. And when I saw that he was running for president, I felt that it was my responsibility to come out and tell our country what kind of man this person is. I donβt think that he should even be the dog catcher, let alone running the greatest country in the worldβ¦
The first time that I met Jeffrey Epstein, he did try to force himself inside of me without getting the go-ahead or anything. And then it was probably about the third or fourth party is when he basically forcedβit was another massage and it was basically like, it wasnβt sex, but it was, there was penetration. And I told him that I didnβt want that, but he kind of got a little irritated. So, I donβt know, there was something about him that, I guess I kind of held a lot of resentment towards him. By the time that that happened, I already started catching on that maybe I wasnβt there for modeling and maybe I was just getting used for things and I kind of held him responsible.
I did receive money to go to these parties. After every party, I was paid by Mr. Epstein. There wasnβt, out of all the girls that were there with me, most of them were 13, 14. I think the oldest one might have been 16, but just turned 16 and sheβd been there for a whileβ¦ Second time that I saw Mr. Trump was, same scenario, he was an onlooker at an orgy and Tiffany came over to me and said that Donald Trump had requested that I perform oral sex on him. And never, Iβd never done something like that with anybody, so I was a little nervous. So, I walked up to him and he was sitting there very proud-like and I just kind of moved in that direction and he kind of slapped me away and said, βWhat are you doing? You need to put a condom on.β Like I was some dirty filth or something. Tiffany ran over and handed me a condom and apologized profusely and said that would never happen again. And she looked at me and scolded me basically like a child and said that, βThatβs not how: Donald Trump always, anytime anyone touches his penis it needs to have a condom on or a glove. Especially when it comes to performing oral sex.β So, I apologized and then I performed oral sex on him. And once again, once he was done, he hopped up and thatβs the last I saw of him at that party. Itβs like once heβs done, heβs out. Some of the things that I noticed that were weird with him: sometimes before the parties he would come over and Jeffrey Epstein and himself would kind of banter back and forth and he was very, Donald Trump was very racist. He said a lot of racist things. There was a lot of comments towards Mr. Epstein about being Jewish and he called him a Jew bastard, said that he was cheap and there were some words I didnβt even understand.
Something about his, you know, the shape of his penis being directly related to his mole or, I mean, Iβm not too familiar with the Jewish traditionβbut Iβm pretty sure that whatever he was saying wasnβt very nice. He also referred to, you know, people of Hispanic origin, he called them Spicks. That was around the first time that the World Trade Center had gotten bombed in the 90s. And he was talking about the towel heads and how we would just be better off if we didnβt let them in and basically got rid of everyone, every single one that was already here. And it made me really uncomfortable, really, really uncomfortable.
He also loved to call Black people n—– and Arabic people he called sand n—–. The only time that he tried to give me some money was our last encounter together, where he acted out a rape fantasy. I was forced to give that money back because Jeffrey Epstein paid us after the party. I donβt even know why he gave it to me, maybe to make me feel more cheap. It was a rape fantasy to him, but I wasnβt playing.
The next thing that Tiffany approached me with was that he had a fantasy where he walked in on his maids, maids basically making out and it was some type of fantasy for him. At that point, I was like, βI donβt want to be involved with anything that has to do with him.β But sheβs like, βYou are just basically the other one. So, thereβs nothing that you will have to do. Justβheβs requesting you to be involved.β So, I reluctantlyβI mean, I felt like I didnβt have a choice there, but it was basically, heβs walking in on his two maids, I was one of the maids, I was the white maid. And there was a Spanish girl, Maria, who was the Hispanic maid. And we were making out and he walks in and he gets really angry and threatens to call immigration on Maria if she doesnβt come over and make things right and give him a blow job.
So, while she is over there giving him a blow job, I am supposed to look scared like, βOh, oh no,β cleaning up things and pretending like Iβm trying to go back to my job as a maid. And then heβs being so rude to Maria. I felt so bad for her. It just didnβt seem like a fantasy. Itβs the weirdest fantasy as far as that goes. He was threatening, he was threatening to call immigration on her. She wasnβt even near going down to give him, perform oral sex on him before he slapped her away and said, βWhat are you doing? You know you need to put a condom on.β And sheβs trying to say βIβm so sorry.β And heβs like, βYou canβt even, I canβt even understand what youβre saying. Just speak English!β He called her derogatory comments. And then heβs like, βYou know what, you donβt know what youβre doing. Have her come over and show you how itβs done.β And so I, again, I said that I didnβtβI had to go over there or else he was going to call immigration on Maria. I didnβt know if it was true or not, but he said that if I didnβt show her how to perform oral sex on him, then he was going to call immigration on her and then get rid of us both.
Anything that was in relation to him getting off or being satisfied or happy had to do with him being in power, extreme power. And it was always intimidating when he was like that. You didnβt really know if it was true. If you refused to play along, would he really call immigration on Maria? Would he really get rid of us both? And I didnβt even want to know what that meant. It wasnβt a game.
The one night that I had the blonde wig on, he mentioned that I reminded him of his daughter. And actually the maidβs fantasy, I didnβt have a blonde wig on. I was trying to stay away from blonde wigs at the time. But he actually requested, told Tiffany that thatβs what he wanted me to wear. Like he wanted it, and anytime I put it on, anytime I had it on and heβd see me, he would say, βOh man, you lookββ and it wasnβt like a, βOh, you remind me of my daughter.β It was this sick, evil βYou remind me of my daughter.β It was just this weird pleasure, sick smile. Like I donβt even want to know what he was thinking about. I could imagine what he was thinking about.
After the parties would end, we were to report to Mr. Epstein and basically tell him everything that happened, with who, what they liked, what they disliked, if there was any requests, if there was any talk about anything. Thatβs what we told Mr. Epsteinβeverything. And then he paid us, and then we got to go home.
The fact that Trump has a chance to be the next president makes me feel disgusting inside. Iβve always been proud to be an American. I think we live in a beautiful country. But I just see him ruining everything. Heβs horrible, what he portrays on the outside isnβt even that great, but people donβt even know the half of how evil, how sick and twisted that man is. I have a friend thatβs been my friend ever since the school year that I stopped going, the eighth grade. I confided in her, and she knows all about it. She knows everythingβ¦
Iβm prepared to do whatever it takes to save the country that I believe that we have. I know what he does behind closed doors. Iβm willing to sacrifice my life to put our country back in the rightβlike, going maybe in some type of positive direction. Not even, thereβs no right or wrong, but a positive direction. This guyβs not going to take us anywhere positive.
You know, as far as my life changing by coming out with this information, Iβve thought long and hard about whether or not I should. And Iβve gone back and forth. But I think that the American people need to know what kind of man this person is. And if my life changes because of that, then so be it. But the American people need to know what theyβre dealing with. If I had the chance to talk to Donald Trump, I would run the other way. Iβm scared of him like Iβve never been scared of anything else in my entire life. I canβt explain it to you, but the fear of him even being in a next room, I have a panic attack.
The last encounter that I had with Donald Trump, Tiffany approached me about a rape scene that was supposed to be played out. And I didnβt like the sound of that at all. But Tiffany promised, assured me that it wasnβt going to beβif it was anything I wasnβt comfortable with, we could stop. That she would be right there and that it wouldnβt get out of hand. And that it was just a fantasy, like it wasnβt really going to happen. And so I told her that I would. I mean Tiffany was always nice to me. I trusted her, or else I wouldnβt have always done what she asked me to.
But she was there and he came in and I was basically tied to a bed with pantyhose. And they were so tight it hurt to even lay there. And I tried to say something and he was just βShut up! Shut up, bitch!β He was being really, really rough.
It just didnβt seem like a fantasy. And I started to get scared and he was basically like ripping my clothes off. And I got freaked out. I told him that I didnβt want to do this. I screamed over for Tiffany and she was like, βMr. Trump, sheβs only, sheβs notβthis is scaring her.β And heβs like, βOh you shut up too.β He just turned into this animal. It was like a completely different, completely different person. It was like everyone in the room was scared of him. And I couldnβt do anything about it.
He ripped off all my clothes and he started to basically have sex with me and I was screaming. Iβd never had sex before, it was my first time and Tiffany was yelling at him too. She was saying I was a virgin and he told us to just shut the fuck up and just basically took my virginity while I was crying and telling him to stop and basically begging for him to just stop. And Tiffany didnβt know what else to do either. No one was there to help us, or me. And so, after the fact, he basically finishes. It didnβt take that long at all. But it felt like it was like five and a half hours. It felt like it was an eternity.
I was crying and Tiffany was consoling me and she was apologizing. She told me that she would never put me in that situation again. But he comes over mad because I was crying and he said that I should be thankful that someone like Donald Trump took my virginity. Well, he didnβt say took my virginity. He said, I should be glad that someone like Donald Trump popped my cherry and not some pimply little 14 year old. And I just was like, βWhat if I get pregnant?β Not even talking to him. I didnβt want to talk to him. I was talking to Tiffany and he said, βWell youβll get an abortion then, bitch.β And then just walked away. And I told Tiffany I needed to go home. I never went back again.
I guess itβs for you to decide. I donβt have any kids myself because Iβm afraid to have kids because who knows what kind of damage they can get into, but if you have a 13-year-old daughter, would you be okay with the person whoβs running our country doing that to your little girl? And I just, I donβt know. I just want people to know. I think that I have a faith in our society that weβll make the right choice. He seemed to be taking great pleasure in dominance and control and the more I screamed, the more I got scared, the more he was enraged with power and it was like he was just charged with it. It was scary.
Two pro-choice women governors, Prop 50 in California, Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices, Virginia legislative seats, and a 34-year old NYC mayor who basically told Donald Trump to go fuck himself.
America hates Donald Trump and someday he will be gone. Thatβs what I take away from last night.
Good GOD Iβve taken a lot of photos of church doors over the yearsβespecially for a Unitarian.
Hereβs another one in the Protestant realm:
This is the entrance door of St. Annβs Chapel in Kennebunkport, Maine, which has to be one of the most beautifulβperhaps THE most beautifulβ seaside chapel in all of New England.
Built in the late 19th century (The Gilded Age), this church operates in summer only, when the well-heeled WASPy residents of Kennebunkport are in town (including the Bush Family).
What really got me was the OUTDOOR chapel with the sweeping views.
The rocky coast of Maine near the chapel
Nice view
Seriously, this chapel has the best New England location Iβve ever seen
As descendants of βpeasantsβ from Italy, our ancestors were more likely to have hauled the rocks to build this church than to have ever visited it.
Multiple Bush family weddings have taken place here. They are longtime, generous supporters of the church and their compoundβWalkerβs Pointβis close by. Not to get political, but I canβt believe Iβve lived to an age where I think of the Bush family with some fondness. Thirty-year old me would not have believed it! Iβll take Walkerβs Point over Mar-a-Lago (and all it represents) any day of the week.
Itβs great to see there was huge turnout out in the major cities, especially Boston (wow), but it was interesting to protest in a small town.
Iβd say we had about 400 people on the town green where I waved my sign.
We were mostly middle-aged and older white people. I chatted with a teacher, a dental hygienist, a grocery store worker, and a lot of retired people I know from church.
We were in a high-traffic area where we actually waved our individual signs at passing cars and got lots of curious stares, many supportive honks, a few middle fingers, and 2 to 5 dudes yelling βGo Trump.β
There was a small counterprotest (2 to 4 people at one end of the town green in full MAGA regalia with a Trump 2024 banner), but they were peaceful.
Oh, and there were two Jesus freaks (sorry, thatβs what GenX calls them) with βJesus IS Kingβ signs. They were fairly young skinny white guys with beards who were there to proselytize. I overheard one lady trying to find common ground with them on the immigrant issue (βbut Jesus wanted us to welcome the stranger and help the poorβ) and they were having none of it. They were much more aligned with the small MAGA counterprotest.
Oh, and thanks to the great city of Portland which started the trend, there were multiple inflatable costumes. We had a giraffe, several bees and a unicorn, YAY. The unicorn was adorable.
Onward.
And honestly, FUCK DONALD TRUMP and All Who Support Him. I kept the F word off my sign (both of them: Fuck and Fascism) and did not engage with any pro-Trumpers yesterday, but I need to be the real me on my blog and I really truly hate him.