Group Therapy

            On Monday morning I memorized the third cop dialogue in "Le java des chaussettes à clous" (The Dance of the Studded Stockings) by Boris Vian. 

            I finished memorizing "Adieu California" by Serge Gainsbourg and then I worked on revising my translation of the second verse so that all the words rhyme with "California." But I still have to find a rhyme that says the same thing as "The only thing I've left behind." 

            I weighed 89.8 kilos before breakfast. 

            In the late morning I finished scrubbing the black off the inside edges of the grill that I use to cook my meat. Then I cleaned and scraped the smaller grill that also came with the little barbecue that I never use. It didn't have much caked in grease but it was very dirty just from being stored under the stove. The rest of the things in the tray under the stove won't be as much work to clean although there are at least ten pans all together. 

            I weighed 89.7 kilos before lunch. I had some of a carton of squash soup cold with salsa and kettle chips. I poured the rest of the soup into some gravy that I made last week that was a little too thick. 

            After I flushed the toilet Benji knocked on my door asking if anything was leaking in my place. There wasn't but he had me talk on his phone to the landlord. He said he's coming by to look at it. I assume it's the same internal plumbing problem from a couple of years ago that resulted in Raja installing a new toilet in my place. 

            In the afternoon I took a bike ride to Yonge and Bloor. I had been dreading riding in the heat but it was actually cooler on the bike than it was in my apartment. But the pollution seemed to be very high because the air pressure was holding all the bad smells down. 

            I weighed 89.5 kilos when I got home. 

            I talked to Benji and the problem is that there's water leaking downstairs in Popeyes. But it's definitely not coming from my place.

            I worked on my poem series "My Blood In A Bug." 

            I did some sewing of the leather cover for my Roland amp towards it's role in the video I'm making for my song "Instructions For Electroshock Therapy." I stitched the left side to secure it but I still have to wrap the leather on the bottom left of the front around to the left side and make it look tighter in the front. It doesn't have to be pretty because in fact some degree of ugliness is good for my purposes, but there has to be a balance. 

            I rubbed eight chicken drumsticks with olive oil, salt and chili powder and grilled them in the oven. 

            I colourized three more damage spots in my photo of the skateboarder. 

            I had a potato with gravy and two drumsticks while watching the first two episodes of the first season of Mayberry RFD. 

            But just as I started watching the first story the landlord banged extremely hard several times on my door like a SWAT team and started shouting for me at the top of his lungs. When I came to the door he walked in and immediately started yelling about how he was going to evict me, without even checking to see if the water downstairs came from my apartment. Even after checking he was still certain that it was my fault and said there is $900 worth of damage downstairs. He and his handyman checked my bathroom thoroughly, he flushed the toilet several times and said he was going downstairs to check. On his way out he still said he was going to give me a bill for the damage. I asked, "You're going to bill me for damage that I didn't cause?" I told him, "When you come back upstairs he can apologize." What an obnoxious person! I went back to finish eating and watch my shows. 

            In the first story Martha tells Emmett she wants to start a boutique in Mayberry and she needs $500 to start. Emmett tries to talk her out of it but finally gives in, thinking that failure would teach her a lesson. But it turns out that it's a big success and she starts making more money than Emmett. He begins to resent her success. Martha senses this and comes to Sam for advice on whether or not she should sell the shop. Sam says either way the most important decision is the one that makes for a happy marriage. Martha pretends to Emmett that the pressures of business are overwhelming and so she's going to give up the boutique. It makes Emmett very happy. The logic of Martha's resolution is bizarre. It implies that her husband is no more than a child and an entire successful career has to be curtailed just to satisfy his ego. 

            One of Martha's most prominent customers was played by Amentha Dymally, the first adult black woman with a speaking part in this series. She also had supporting parts in the films "Baby Boy" and "Sweet Jesus Preacherman." 

            The second story was the best and most interesting of all the Mayberry RFD shows so far and even better than most of the last few years of The Andy Griffith Show. It begins with Howard saying goodnight to a date at her door. He shakes her hand and she asks, "Is that it? Aren't you going to kiss me?" He says a gentleman never kisses a woman on the first date but suggests that he might on the second. She tells him there isn't going to be a second date because he's too stuffy for her. Then she starts telling him about the sensitivity classes she's been attending that have helped her to be honest with others and to realize her true self. Then she grabs Howard and kisses him. He asks, "You mean you wanted to kiss me?" She answers, "Not really, I just wanted to find out how it felt to kiss a guy with a moustache." The next day Howard cuts an ad out of the paper for a sensitivity class and attends. The people are all dressed like Hippies while Howard is wearing a suit. Everyone is talking very honestly about their problems. A woman asks Howard if he thinks she's sexy and inquires if he wants to kiss her. Someone suggests that Howard take his shoes off and he reluctantly does so but points out that he has a hole in his sock with the big toe sticking out. Another woman tells him he has a lovely toe. Howard concludes that "We are what we are" and everyone thinks that's beautiful. The next day Howard goes to work without his suit, dressed casually and wearing sandles. He decides to run a sensitivity class in Mayberry and Millie is all for it. Eventually Goober and Emmett agree to come and Sam finally gives in to please Millie. But it doesn't go as well for Howard as it did in the other teacher's session. When people try to be honest it just causes arguments and finally everyone storms out. In the end Howard concludes that sensitivity is not for Mayberry and that if the truth is going to hurt somebody then maybe it's better to lie a little. 

            The woman who compliments Howard's toe was played by Lavina Dawson, who played the script girl in the film, "The Last Porno Flick." 

            The sexy girl was played by Maggie Malooly, who voiced eight characters in the radio program "Adventures in Odyssey." 

            Howard's date was played by Susan Alcott, who played the secretary in Childish Things.