today's excuse

God, I haven't posted here in weeks and I feel terrible and stupid about it. I think about this story each and every day; pondering it is my pre-sleep meditation. But when it comes to actually writing things down, that's where I get lazy.

Today's excuse: Medicare Part D. I took the evening off from T'ai Chi to go to a seminar on the new Medicare prescription drug program, also known as Medicare Part D. I went because my Mom will become eligible for Medicare next year and is confused by the flurry of info out there regarding Part D. Well, so am I, and I work in the health insurance industry. And Mom used to run a pharmacy, so she's certainly no stranger to the health insurance racket.

Anyway, I went to the seminar and came home and called Mom to report, and we talked for 96:43. (I cracked a Heiniken at the one-hour mark. That's my new policy: talk for an hour, open a beer.) Not all 96 minutes were about Part D, thank God! Only about 5. But I was pleased to be able to provide information Mom needed in a form she could understand. I have not yet outgrown the desire — make that the need — to please my mother.

The rest of the conversation meandered richly, but kept coming back to Mom's friend Margaret and Marg's daughter Julie. Julie the Drama Queen, though she lives 400 miles away, is dependent enough on mother Marg that she rings at least 5 times a day and has Marg at her beck and call. This drives my Mom crazy because she raised Sister-san and me to be just a wee bit more independent than that. Mom thinks somebody ought to spank Julie the moment the wakes up in the morning in hopes that the cumulative whacking would someday knock some common sense into her.

Anyway, the Julie/Marg saga would make a great story in itself. But I'm not going to write it today because it's to late in the evening and I need to peruse the new L.L. Bean catalog. When I was going to school in Maine, I visited the L.L. Bean mothership store in Freeport a few times. Did you know they have an indoor trout pond right there in the store? True. And right down the street is where I had my first Ben & Jerry's ice cream, my first chocolate chip cookie dough cone. But I digress.

I'll tell you this much: I figured out how Quill gets his voice back after being shocked mute by a Major Event. I had thought for a long time that he would finally shout out of anger, but that's just not in his nature. It's love that cures him. And not even self-serving love, but love he wants for someone else and he has to tell them to go get it. Yeah. That's my boy.

Bill's hold on Quentin

Sorry it's been a while. Between partying hard during my last week of vacation and starting a new job, I seem to have pissed away a goodly amount of time. Fortunately, I'm not on deadline.

After giving the matter considerable thought — I do think about this thing quite a lot when I'm not writing it — I decided that Bill can't be blackmailing Quentin. Quentin is the straightest of straight arrows, so there are no skeletons in his closet Bill could use against him. So Bill is going to use his straightarrowness against him instead.

Bill Williams never married and has no heirs. However, he does want somebody to take the reins of his music empire when he retires in a few years. His sister's eldest son is the obvious choice, adn that's Quentin Kelly. Part of the reason Q has come on the Praise Caravan tour is to learn the management side of things by shadowing his uncle.

This is a grand plan except for one rather large snag: Q hates the business side of things. He's an architect and a teacher. He does not want to be a media mogul. He also hates being away from his family. The only time he mentioned these facts to Bill, however, he got such a long and impassioned lecture on family loyalties and legacies that the guilt drove him straight onto the tour bus. Bill was his nearest male role model growing up, and the last thing he wants to do is disappoint dear old almost-dad. Q has vowed to follow in Bill's footsteps because it's the Right Thing To Do.

To make matters worse, Q sucks at business. Sucks! He's terrible with figures and market trends and shmoozing. And to him, that's even worse than being chained to a job he doesn't like. He is an eldest son and a straight arrow and a former straight-A student and captain of the football team. He does NOT do failure well.

As added security, Bill has also hinted to Q that Q owes it to his brothers, espcially Quill, to do this tour. They deserve their chance at stardom, but they can't make it on their own; they need Q there to complete the trio.

Now that's emotional blackmail, and bullshit to boot. Quin probably isn't destined for the top of the charts, nor does he aspire to be, but Quill . . . he's exceptional. Heck, the other two are probably holding him back. And in the backs of their minds, they know it.

So Q's a little tense.