Fascinating episode

I'm watching the new episode of Hoarding: Buried Alive and it's about a trust-fund baby who became addicted to possessions. I didn't expect this episode to be much different than any of the other hoarding shows I've seen, and as is fairly common, it began with a bit of her personal history, the statement that she has never allowed any of her friends inside her home, and then a shot of a friend walking down the sidewalk to her place. I thought to myself, "Holy cats, does he ever resemble Ron Jeremy." Well, come to find out her friend *is* Ron Jeremy. On the Judge show, whatever that was, I discovered he's funny and surprisingly personable. Tonight I learned he can play Bach on the harmonica. And he's impressing me with his questions and comments -- he was very obviously surprised and concerned but he was also supportive and generally complimentary about her possessions. (Although he was also clear that she has *way* too much stuff.)

This woman has so many beautiful things -- and literally tons of cool stuff -- and she may be the most in denial of any of the hoarders I've seen. I do not have a good feeling about how she's going to do in the long term.

I also wish Ron Jeremy had more time on screen. I think he was the best part of this episode. I will also say that this particular episode makes it clear that hoarding is a result of some sort of mental illness.

Drive-by Update

Two Fridays ago we went to spend the weekend with my mom. I went with her to her Literary Guild meeting and was enchanted by the speaker, a librarian who talked about the reading group she started when she worked for a school system and the things she learned by doing so.

We drove home Sunday afternoon, later than we'd hoped but more-or-less on time for a St. Patrick's Day dinner with some friends. While at my mom's, jebra was tasked with removing a virus from my mom's computers. It turned out that all of her computers were infected and they had multiple infections. Then when we arrived for dinner we discovered our host was having trouble getting the operating system reloaded onto his laptop after replacing the hard drive.

The following Friday we went to see Easter Parade at the Redford Theater. Saturday we managed to sleep in a little, then it was time to start getting ready for a gig at one of the local dance schools. This was the first time they had live musicians play for the dancers. mbumby and I were drafted to work the ticket desk. I brought my knitting with me, so after the sales slowed down I was able to listen to the music and work on my shawl. I was really glad mbumby was there as I needed much help deciphering the pattern.

This week, when I haven't been at work or asleep, I've been sorting out my photos, I'm pleased to report that for the first time in ages my photo galleries are completely up to date. I've also been busy sorting through my digital files and backing up my files. I still have tons of unread email and even more fic, but at least I'm trying.