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Fact: I hated All in the Family. Hated. I never really got Maude (too young, I guess). The Jeffersons and Good Times were mildly amusing, but paled in comparison to other sitcoms–at least for me. Still, I knew they were all related, and Bea Arthur’s death yesterday spurred me to understand how.

I half-jokingly suggested to my friend Tina that I ought to consult a flowchart. Then I half-heartedly went in search of one, but couldn’t find anything. So I built one: an All in the Family tree. I really need to find other ways to occupy my Sunday mornings.

FYI: In case you’re curious, here are links to some of the shows listed in the graphic. Knock yourself out: Till Death Do Us Part (Till Death, In Sickness and in Health, The Thoughts Of Chairman Alf at Christmas, An Audience With Alf Garnett, It Stands To Reason – The Thoughts Of Chairman Alf); All in the Family (Archie’s Bunker’s Place, Gloria, 704 Hauser, All in the Family 20th Anniversary Special); Maude (Hanging In); Good Times; The Jeffersons (Checking In).

It’s been a brutal week, but I’m alive. And although I was hauled into a work-related dinner on the night of our 12th anniversary, Jonno is still speaking to me. I consider myself lucky.

In other news, I finally finished processing all my pics from our European “vacation”. It’s an accomplishment, I suppose, though they’re nothing to write home about. If you really want to see Italy as we did–and even prettier than we did–you should check out Jonno’s shots of Venice, Florence, and Rome. Seriously.

Alright, I’m heading home, then to the gym, then to my sofa where I hope to do the gayest thing I’ve done all week: watch Valley of the Dolls and edit the screenplay into a form that’s suitable for staging. No kidding.

And so, he‘s managed to put up with me for twelve years.

It’s strange, when you reach that point in a relationship–the point at which you can’t remember not knowing them. Maybe it’s my advancing age, or maybe it’s just really hard to recall what it was like before. Either way, I don’t mind.

Anyway, for Jonno:

Originally done to Little Red Corvette, but the dance is still, um, good.

GREAT MOMENTS IN MEDIA BUYING (VIA JONCARNERO)

I would just like to mention:

That is all.

Alien Hand Syndrome & Involuntary Masturbation

When transferred to the rehabilitation service 4 days later, he was noted to have left upper limb apraxia with involuntary movements. He stated, “my left hand has a mind of his own.” He developed a tonic grasp reflex with inability to release…. The patient’s wife also expressed deep concern when her husband’s left hand would publicly expose his genitals and begin masturbating. This occurred on many occasions when the patient was conversing with his caregivers and was confirmed by the authors on their daily rounds. The behavior was never seen to occur through the action of the right hand. The patient also denies any history of excessive self-stimulation, sexual dysfunction, or exhibitionism. During his hospital stay, the patient expressed frustration and dismay when he realized that he was masturbating publicly and with his inability to voluntarily release his grasp of objects in the left hand. [emphasis mine]

—Plover.com vaguely via BB

TEABAGGING, FOR REALZ

Rest in peace, Donnie Jay. You were a great Liza and a great man.

Matt Tyrnauer: When Bruce Weber [the photographer] heard I was doing a film, he said, “Oh, you’ve never done a film before. I’ll take you out to lunch and we can talk about it.” He said, “Hire male models to work for you. It doesn’t matter if they know how to do anything; you’ll get double the time with Valentino and Giancarlo.” And let me tell you, no better advice has been dispensed. We did hire male models, and eventually the job they ended up doing was putting the mikes on Valentino and Giancarlo before we’d start filming each day. You know, it has to go under the clothes. Well, they loved that. They’d say, “Is it time to get our mikes on yet?”

—NYMag

I know it’s not technically any good, but it’s Jonno to a tee.

Anyway: the point is, I’m making headway on my minimal collection of vacation pics. The boyfriend has made significantly more: he’s completed Venice, Florence, and is well into Rome. But then, he’s obsessive about such things in a way that I am sadly not.