Shucks this was so beautiful Tonika--congrats to yer boys--what a lovely lastin' gift to them--my favorite part was yer poem (mantra, affirmation, however called)--that's just SO perfect ya need to print it out on nice paper an' make sure it's in their scrapbooks. Ya look healthy an' content in the viddeyo--hope all is "well" an' may ya live to AT LEAST 90, we gotta look forward not back. An' I liked the "who's on first" kinda clip (like Abbot & Costello, no?)--sometimes a dose of absurdity is the BEST medicine--an' certainly when yer 13!
I have to acknowledge the millennials for bringing back absurdity. It’s great medicine but was somehow too obscure for my generation. We were sandwiched between the mighty Monty Python and the likes of Robot Chicken without any absurd shows of our own but I have appreciation for both myself.
Thanks for checking out the vid, Daisy, and yeah, the mantras are stolen from inspirational sayings and quotes but I’m collaborating with a friend to turn them into a children’s book.
Love the idear of making 'em a kids book! mebbe a viddeyo too (once book is done?)--now I dunno but (bein' a little longer in the tooth than yerself mah dear) it seems you got a passle'of yer own joyful sense of absurdity with or without a "show" here 'er there--it's the SPIRIT! some'a my most favorite absurd-ditties come from maaaaany generations 'fore my time an' carry on to the present... Melies, Chaplin, Dali, Imogen Coco & Sid Caesar, Ernie Kovacs... Jacques Tati, an' any commercial with a dancin' Fig Newton! An' thankfully the Pythons kept on makin' us all laff--bless 'em all (livin' an' passed on) an' those sillly walks! Oh, an' yes, Who's on First"---which is where that clip harkened back to. (Haven't seen the movie but Jackie Chan's in it! Talkin' about physical comedy--he rocks!) Enjoy yer "young fellas"--I love the way they balance out each other--they're blessed ta have you as a mama (da little one too!) an' of course they're a blessin' to you too--to keep ya smilin'! xos thar an' I'll look forward ta seein' yer book come out!
Tonika! This post was solid💰! First of all, that video made me giggle, too! Next giggle was “This poll is so stupid!” I love your sense of humor so much.
I wish that I could have looked lovingly at the rat photos…really I do. I feel like I’m a bit of a Nature racist. Chip, my adorable Chipmunk friend, gets treats on my kitchen stoop every morning…but the mice in the barn… 😳 I’m absolutely terrified of them. There’s no rhyme or reason other than perhaps a past life with some serious mouse trauma. Or, maybe it was this lifetime living in NYC…
I was reading along, and got to the part about age and I thought to myself “Wait till she's 70, like me.” And there was my name, and you asking for a little Pond Love. :) Total synchronicity! If the deer flies weren’t so vicious now I would collect some Gone Away Pond water for you - kind of like the holy water people get at Lourdes (I should know…I was there!)
And, oh my, the ceremony for your dear sons. It was so beautiful and poignant and full of love. I felt a twinge of parent envy…wishing I could go back and do some repair work on my own mothering.
You are an amazing human being, dear Tonika. So happy to have met you here in SubstackLand.🩷
😭 the feeling is absolutely reciprocated, Barbara! Substack has value way beyond its monetary offerings. It’s the connections that hold the true benefit. ❤️
You know, I don’t mind the mice so much, but speaking of NY, once when I was on tour there, I saw a rat the size of a cat and it crawled out of a dumpster and it lazily looked at me without being afraid AT ALL and continued on its merry way. The flex on the rat was the real deal.
I will cherish your metaphorical holy water in my thoughts. Will use it as part of my positive visualization in my meditations. 🙏
Thank you for checking out the ceremony. To be clear, it was their fairy godmother’s idea, but I’m glad I’m weird enough to execute it. I think the day made an impression on them.
Thank you, dear heart. Your comment made me feel quite special.
Thank you, April! Btw, Jaxon is the one that went on that cold plunge with me. And on the video you could see him being “tough” holding his hands in the iced water for longer than the minute. 🤣 it’s funny because he is otherwise all too cautious and timid.
Asphyxiation seems like a terrible way to go (no matter what your species is). It never freaked me out until I shattered my clavicle. Spending a couple months where it was difficult to breath made a huge impression on me. I'm still working on getting back to holding my breath underwater for a long time without having some "panic".
I'm afraid I don't like to murder unwanted guests in my home so even with mice I trap them in live traps and take them outside (only to have them run back in).
Very sweet "coming of age" speech! Wow! I'm honored to know someone so talented at crafting words together.
Just reading your story makes me grasp for breath. Looking at fish out of water will send me into a panic. Maybe that’s how I died in a past life or something. The thought of being buried alive brings on high anxiety.
Yeah, my son had a few pet mice. Sweet creatures. But very stinky. Still don’t want them in my house.
Damn your kids are fortunate in their mom! If I could go back, I'd do exactly what you did with this coming of age ceremony! What a wonderful marking.
Beautiful. Big hearted and big minded and humorous and real; such a very hopeful glimpse of humanity happening right there in your 'humble' backyard.
Thank you for sharing this, Tonika - for being you and sharing you and your fortunate family.
The insightful words you relayed to your children about their strengths and essence of them, and what to keep an eye out for (annoyingly made me cry) what a priceless gift to give them. ❤️
PS - And I'm gonna get around to ordering Issac's astro-readings one of these days and I look forward to what you send our way next.
Greetings and encouragement from a smallish city in North Carolina. Impressive young men, family and clan. It was a pleasure getting to know y'all a bit. Looking forward to more as time goes on.
🙏 Very grateful for our email correspondence as well. I love North Carolina, btw. Fell in love with Pilot Mountain. Did a show on the stoop of someone's property there. Huge bonfire afterward. Many fond memories.
I'm about 3 hours mostly East and a little South of Pilot Mountain...if I don't move back to Costa Rica (or Albania...new Plan C), feel encouraged to drop by for a visit. I haz rooms.
Alright!! What a fabulous invitation! Thank you! Btw, if you're gonna go to Albania (not a bad plan C), check out Croatia. It's in the same hood, it's beautiful, and the people are extra hospitable. I'm eyeing my home country of Bulgaria myself.
One thing that makes Albania interesting is that, unless something changed fairly recently, with a US passport, you can basically show up and have a one year visa w/o any fuss. If you're planning on staying long term, I think you need to start the residency process within the first 30 days. But from what I've gathered, you could stay for a year, then move to a nearby place (Croatia, eg) for 30-60 days (don't quote me on the number of days), and move back with a new one year visa clock. The way I've heard it explained is that during Woodrow Wilson's time in office, Albania was in serious jeopardy of experiencing a famine. Wilson arranged for massive amounts of grain to be supplied...Albania didn't starve...since then, they've felt a combination of debt and gratitude and let US passport holders do what nobody else can do.
Synchronicity strikes again!! I just hopped on the computer to text you and discovered this beautiful, heart-aching post from you, Tonika, and I am doubly honored to learn my piece helped inspire your own poignant recollection of the poor pregnant mama rat. I still need to finish reading this but have a time-sensitive opportunity to ask you about so keep an eye on Substack Chat :-)
Inspiring
I've barely read Substack for a year, but I love this. <3
Thanks for taking a gander. Hope you’re enjoying your digital-free trip while I enjoy your Coley’s. Watch out for that moose!
Another unique and good piece!
Your "knowing yourself"/mid-life crisis/Miss America/aging-out reminded me of a song by RUSH; Losing It
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scFykNMqaws
What a thoughtful jam! I appreciate you sharing it!
Shucks this was so beautiful Tonika--congrats to yer boys--what a lovely lastin' gift to them--my favorite part was yer poem (mantra, affirmation, however called)--that's just SO perfect ya need to print it out on nice paper an' make sure it's in their scrapbooks. Ya look healthy an' content in the viddeyo--hope all is "well" an' may ya live to AT LEAST 90, we gotta look forward not back. An' I liked the "who's on first" kinda clip (like Abbot & Costello, no?)--sometimes a dose of absurdity is the BEST medicine--an' certainly when yer 13!
I have to acknowledge the millennials for bringing back absurdity. It’s great medicine but was somehow too obscure for my generation. We were sandwiched between the mighty Monty Python and the likes of Robot Chicken without any absurd shows of our own but I have appreciation for both myself.
Thanks for checking out the vid, Daisy, and yeah, the mantras are stolen from inspirational sayings and quotes but I’m collaborating with a friend to turn them into a children’s book.
Love the idear of making 'em a kids book! mebbe a viddeyo too (once book is done?)--now I dunno but (bein' a little longer in the tooth than yerself mah dear) it seems you got a passle'of yer own joyful sense of absurdity with or without a "show" here 'er there--it's the SPIRIT! some'a my most favorite absurd-ditties come from maaaaany generations 'fore my time an' carry on to the present... Melies, Chaplin, Dali, Imogen Coco & Sid Caesar, Ernie Kovacs... Jacques Tati, an' any commercial with a dancin' Fig Newton! An' thankfully the Pythons kept on makin' us all laff--bless 'em all (livin' an' passed on) an' those sillly walks! Oh, an' yes, Who's on First"---which is where that clip harkened back to. (Haven't seen the movie but Jackie Chan's in it! Talkin' about physical comedy--he rocks!) Enjoy yer "young fellas"--I love the way they balance out each other--they're blessed ta have you as a mama (da little one too!) an' of course they're a blessin' to you too--to keep ya smilin'! xos thar an' I'll look forward ta seein' yer book come out!
Thanks, Daisy!! 🤗
Tonika! This post was solid💰! First of all, that video made me giggle, too! Next giggle was “This poll is so stupid!” I love your sense of humor so much.
I wish that I could have looked lovingly at the rat photos…really I do. I feel like I’m a bit of a Nature racist. Chip, my adorable Chipmunk friend, gets treats on my kitchen stoop every morning…but the mice in the barn… 😳 I’m absolutely terrified of them. There’s no rhyme or reason other than perhaps a past life with some serious mouse trauma. Or, maybe it was this lifetime living in NYC…
I was reading along, and got to the part about age and I thought to myself “Wait till she's 70, like me.” And there was my name, and you asking for a little Pond Love. :) Total synchronicity! If the deer flies weren’t so vicious now I would collect some Gone Away Pond water for you - kind of like the holy water people get at Lourdes (I should know…I was there!)
And, oh my, the ceremony for your dear sons. It was so beautiful and poignant and full of love. I felt a twinge of parent envy…wishing I could go back and do some repair work on my own mothering.
You are an amazing human being, dear Tonika. So happy to have met you here in SubstackLand.🩷
😭 the feeling is absolutely reciprocated, Barbara! Substack has value way beyond its monetary offerings. It’s the connections that hold the true benefit. ❤️
You know, I don’t mind the mice so much, but speaking of NY, once when I was on tour there, I saw a rat the size of a cat and it crawled out of a dumpster and it lazily looked at me without being afraid AT ALL and continued on its merry way. The flex on the rat was the real deal.
I will cherish your metaphorical holy water in my thoughts. Will use it as part of my positive visualization in my meditations. 🙏
Thank you for checking out the ceremony. To be clear, it was their fairy godmother’s idea, but I’m glad I’m weird enough to execute it. I think the day made an impression on them.
Thank you, dear heart. Your comment made me feel quite special.
You are BEYOND special, Tonika! XOXO
XOXO
That Yu-Mi video is hilarious! And the letter to your kids was very touching <3
Thank you, SF! Yeah, I think that clip is from one of the Rush Hour franchises. Definitely not the type of humour that would fly today.
Wow - so wonderful! Great speech too. How lovely that you shared some of your life with us. Thank you so much ❤🙏
Thank you, April! Btw, Jaxon is the one that went on that cold plunge with me. And on the video you could see him being “tough” holding his hands in the iced water for longer than the minute. 🤣 it’s funny because he is otherwise all too cautious and timid.
That great! Interesting too because my son is also the cautious timid one out of my two children!! ❤️
Oh my gosh this made me tear up. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Thank you for appreciating a personal share. 🙏
I love all your work.
Great speech to the kids
🫡 🙏
Keep on fighting!
A great video about cancer, the issues of treatments and alternatives that work better https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isnN-Z9MU28
Thank you. Adding the video to my queue.
Asphyxiation seems like a terrible way to go (no matter what your species is). It never freaked me out until I shattered my clavicle. Spending a couple months where it was difficult to breath made a huge impression on me. I'm still working on getting back to holding my breath underwater for a long time without having some "panic".
I'm afraid I don't like to murder unwanted guests in my home so even with mice I trap them in live traps and take them outside (only to have them run back in).
Very sweet "coming of age" speech! Wow! I'm honored to know someone so talented at crafting words together.
Thanks, John, very sweet of you to say.
Just reading your story makes me grasp for breath. Looking at fish out of water will send me into a panic. Maybe that’s how I died in a past life or something. The thought of being buried alive brings on high anxiety.
Yeah, my son had a few pet mice. Sweet creatures. But very stinky. Still don’t want them in my house.
Damn your kids are fortunate in their mom! If I could go back, I'd do exactly what you did with this coming of age ceremony! What a wonderful marking.
Beautiful. Big hearted and big minded and humorous and real; such a very hopeful glimpse of humanity happening right there in your 'humble' backyard.
Thank you for sharing this, Tonika - for being you and sharing you and your fortunate family.
The insightful words you relayed to your children about their strengths and essence of them, and what to keep an eye out for (annoyingly made me cry) what a priceless gift to give them. ❤️
PS - And I'm gonna get around to ordering Issac's astro-readings one of these days and I look forward to what you send our way next.
Oh Kathleen, what a generous thing to say! Humbled by your words, thank you, dear kind consciousness-expanding human, you. ❤️
😘
Greetings and encouragement from a smallish city in North Carolina. Impressive young men, family and clan. It was a pleasure getting to know y'all a bit. Looking forward to more as time goes on.
🙏 Very grateful for our email correspondence as well. I love North Carolina, btw. Fell in love with Pilot Mountain. Did a show on the stoop of someone's property there. Huge bonfire afterward. Many fond memories.
I'm about 3 hours mostly East and a little South of Pilot Mountain...if I don't move back to Costa Rica (or Albania...new Plan C), feel encouraged to drop by for a visit. I haz rooms.
Alright!! What a fabulous invitation! Thank you! Btw, if you're gonna go to Albania (not a bad plan C), check out Croatia. It's in the same hood, it's beautiful, and the people are extra hospitable. I'm eyeing my home country of Bulgaria myself.
One thing that makes Albania interesting is that, unless something changed fairly recently, with a US passport, you can basically show up and have a one year visa w/o any fuss. If you're planning on staying long term, I think you need to start the residency process within the first 30 days. But from what I've gathered, you could stay for a year, then move to a nearby place (Croatia, eg) for 30-60 days (don't quote me on the number of days), and move back with a new one year visa clock. The way I've heard it explained is that during Woodrow Wilson's time in office, Albania was in serious jeopardy of experiencing a famine. Wilson arranged for massive amounts of grain to be supplied...Albania didn't starve...since then, they've felt a combination of debt and gratitude and let US passport holders do what nobody else can do.
Speaking of war criminals... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOdMSmxTPXo
Maybe in our cases it's 'take the servants and fly East', not 'ride West'? Mo latah
Synchronicity strikes again!! I just hopped on the computer to text you and discovered this beautiful, heart-aching post from you, Tonika, and I am doubly honored to learn my piece helped inspire your own poignant recollection of the poor pregnant mama rat. I still need to finish reading this but have a time-sensitive opportunity to ask you about so keep an eye on Substack Chat :-)
🙏