
I’ll be at the museum today. I have to go to the dentist first to get a permanent crown to replace the temporary crown that I got a few weeks ago. After that, I will be at the museum. I have a few meetings and a few things to wrap up before I am out of the office for the rest of the week. I leave tomorrow for a museum conference in Newport, Rhode Island. I’m looking forward to this conference because I have always wanted to go to Newport. The city is most known for its Gilded Age mansions built by many of the nation’s wealthiest families as summer “cottages.” Newport is described in Edith Wharton’s novel The Age of Innocence, was featured often in the A&E Network television show America’s Castles, and most recently a summer vacation setting in the HBO series The Gilded Age. I will have tomorrow afternoon to explore the city before the conference officially begins on Wednesday. I already bought tickets to see The Breakers, a Renaissance Revival mansion, and Marble House, a Beaux Arts mansion, which were both built by the Vanderbilt family. As part of the conference, I will also be visiting a couple of museums in the area and listening to a lot of presentations.
By the way, if you are wondering, I have a neighbor coming to check on Isabella, and I have some cameras set up so I can check in on her. My neighbor checks on her food, makes sure her self-cleaning litter box is not stuck, and plays with her a little bit. I don’t have him feed her the wet food she likes because she won’t eat it if anyone besides me feeds her. I’m not sure why she is so finicky about who feeds her, but it’s a waste of the wet food to try to feed her. She’ll get wet food and lots of love when I get home. She doesn’t like being by herself and is always very happy to see me when I get home. I wish I could take her with me, but that’s not feasible. She’ll be fine, and I can check on her to make sure everything is okay.
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Also, please go vote BLUE tomorrow if you haven’t voted already. I cast my ballot last week since I would not be here to vote tomorrow in person. Even if you are in a state where the result is a foregone conclusion Kamala Harris needs every vote she can get. She not only needs to win the Electoral College but also enough individual votes to provide definitive proof that she won. Trump will declare victory regardless, but the proof needs to be indisputable. We cannot let a wannabe fascist back in the White House. It’s also not enough to just vote BLUE for president, but we need to win majorities in both houses of Congress.









November 4th, 2024 at 10:37 am
Joe there is a fascinating story of gay prostitution connected to Newport Naval Station in WWI. My grandfather was stationed there then too. An Episcopal priest was running a male brothel out of the YMCA to service the sailors. His sex workers were typically employees from the cottages. There was a book published on it called “Perverts by Official Order” by Lawrence R. Murphy. FDR was undersecretary of the Navy and he was glad to fan the flames. Criminal trials and Congressional hearings followed. The NCIS was created precisely because of this sex scandal. Large amounts of cocaine escaped from the infirmary into the community. Other free lance male sex workers operated in a city park where they would offer the sailors “a bit of brown….” Indeed, some photographs are included in the book.
Have a good conference!
November 4th, 2024 at 10:54 am
I hope you have a great trip and conference! Enjoy the sights and food and maybe some local hotties along the way! 😏👍🏻🗳️💙