I looked at the “Maple Story” web page and they claim an incredible number of people are currently playing the game.

I’m mystified. From watching the boys play, it seems, as I said before, such a silly game.

Meanwhile, I’m playing a Gameboy Advance game called “Riviera” which was written by Sting [!!]. It’s an amusing game, but very difficult.

And what a tacky situation. I had to go into the bank and withdraw ten dollars because there wasn’t enough left in the account to use the machine.

Roll on, May Day.

I do think it is rather incredible that google.com found my references to those names even though I only posted them day-before-yesterday.

Incredible and, yes, a bit scarey.

I thought I’d do a web search myself on some of those names. Eeeek! A bunch of Kenneth Neville and Terry Ford, just to begin with.

Well, when they search on their names, maybe they’ll know they’re the ones I’m thinking of.

Meanwhile, I saw Rocky today. His hair is longer than I’ve ever seen it and he looks quite cute, as he always has. He seemed in a hurry so I didn’t interrupt his progress to greet him and say how good it was to see him after quite some time.

And meanwhile, it’s absurd to be jealous of a computer game but I am. The boys are so utterly engrossed in “Maple Story” that I hardly get any time with them at all unless I sit and watch them play what seems to me a rather silly game. It’s very old-fashioned “platform” style, two-dimensional back-and-forth, up-and-down, with no apparent goal or end.

Sigh.

I sold “Pokemon Platinum” this morning. The Pokemon Company is so lazy, releasing game after game which is essentially the same under a different name. Hmmmm, have I complained about this before in the Tales? Maybe. Anyway, unless I hear from a reliable source that there’s a genuinely new Pokemon game, I won’t be buying another one.

TCM is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary this month and as part of that is re-showing some hour-long interviews they’ve done with film people. I much enjoyed the one with the late Betty Hutton, but also those with Jane Fonda, Ann Miller and four child stars including Margaret O’Brien and Jane Withers.

And they keep on showing wonderful films. I stayed home yesterday to see the Fifties version of “Show Boat”, but would rather have seen the Thirties version.

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly…

I think anyone who uses the Internet eventually searches for their own name.

So I just want to say “I love you” to Kenneth Neville, Terry Kent Ford, Edward Menifee, Edward Meneely, Colin Thornton, Egbert Switters, Deepak Rattani and Coy Gilland.

[wave]

Here it is, nine days left in this month and guess what, I’m running out of money.

Even worse, the situation is invading my dreams. Well, I guess it’s better dreaming about being broke than a recent cycle where I was always in a situation where I was going to have to move from where I was living, had no idea where I was going to go. But I was more worried about what to do with my STUFF than anything else. Ridiculous.

When I decided to go homeless, I left a box with My Lawyer Friend. It was mostly office-suitable clothing, in case I changed my mind. When MLF had to move, I threw almost everything away, left only a small wooden box with her for safekeeping.

That contained my first India diaries and a few objects like the little jade “chop” given to me by my father, a bronze bell which belonged to my first lady friend, and a small bronze statue of Ganesh, all of which now sit ontop my television set.

Which recently showed me a strange double feature of “Gone With the Wind”, followed by “Singin’ in the Rain”.

When I see these things, for the umpteenth time, I think to myself, this might be the last time I see this.

Helen kindly treated me to a pre-birthday lunch on Good Friday, in anticipation of my Easter birthday. I told her 69 is such an inelegant age, I’m going to say all year that I’m 70.

Well, time for an update, I suppose. My domestic situation hasn’t changed much. The soon-to-be twelve-year-old has me wrapped around his little finger as they say. Anything I am able to give, he only has to ask for.

He recently begged so sweetly for ten dollars that I, of course, gave it to him. Both boys are totally engrossed in an on-line game called “Maple Story”. It’s a free download but the clever folks who devised it sell cards at local convenience stores. $10 or $25 allows you to buy better weapons, armor, etc. So, okay, JM now has better armor.

Health? Well, I’m still alive and that’s about all that can be said on the subject.

Finances? Let’s not talk about it. You’d think that as a person got older they could become more adept at controlling the use of their limited resources. Yes, you might well think that.