La Bene Vita

Dresden and Ohio Idol Update

We cleared 260 students again - finally - after finally clearing 250 again - at MTMS  . So that's good. I also took care of the cash flow situation with a big, shiny bank deposit (granted, and a longer loan payback period), so my anxiety about running out of funds has decreased substantially. I've started to catch up on my to-do list, or, rather, I've stunted its growth, which also helps my anxiety. I've always been a summer girl, so I can't believe I'm saying this, but bring on fall, Baby.

Student count = 260.5.

I realize I've been absent from blogging and social media for the last month or two. That's because my life is a spiraling hurricane. Every once in awhile, I find myself sitting in the eye with a moment to breathe, only to find that the winds have swept away the dregs of my sanity, and I have no idea what I should be doing to take advantage of the lull. But like we say in Ohio: If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes. Or play a video game. Or read a book. The storm shall return momentarily.

I've nearly completed Ghost Story, the last of the (published) Dresden files, not counting the short stories compiled in Side Jobs. Once I finish the series, I'll kick Jim Butcher in his lazy ass for not publishing more, and then I'll move on to The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, which I am apparently reading with the book club I apparently joined. (I'm not sure how that happened.)

Still pending attorney intervention regarding Ohio Idol, but are the facts:

OI offered cash, food and parking for each judging day. MT accepted OI's offer and agreed to judge five days in exchange for said cash, food and parking. OI had some last-minute problems filling judge seats and asked MT for assistance. MT provided MTMS employee LL. Now that four out of five judging days have passed, and both MT and LL have judged four out of five judging days, OI claims that OI never agreed to pay for cash and parking (or food, apparently, since we weren't fed on Judging Day 4), and that we, rather, agreed to judge in exchange for a contact list. We have documented evidence to the contrary in the form of THREE SEPARATE EMAILS outlining the agreed-upon compensation for judging.

Another fun fact: We have documented evidence that OI originally said they expected 5,000 contestants, and we know (since we judged on Judging Day 1) that only 500 contestants competed. At $25 per head, OI is short 4,500 contestants from their initial projections, or $112,500.

Those are the facts and can in no way be construed as slander, but readers are of course encouraged to infer whatever they like from the facts as stated, because MT, MTMS, and Brandiwyn🎶 cannot be held accountable for the thoughts that go through readers heads (or happen to show up on her blog comments, which MT, MTMS, and Brandiwyn🎶 neither endorses nor condemns.)

Because OI is throwing around (presumably, supposedly scary) words like "slander" and "attorney", we are minimizing how much information we report and keeping it to JUST THE FACTS, but we're really not scared. Because if OI could afford an attorney, he could afford to FUCKING PAY US THE MONEY HE OWES. Luckily, MT and MTMS are fully capable of affording an attorney and in fact already have one on retainer. And she's spitfire, so I'm very much looking forward to seeing this amateur put in his place at the bottom of the feeding trough.

Moving on.

........I can't remember what I was going to say. Or do. I think the winds are kicking up again.