American women over the age of 40 are encouraged to get mammograms to help prevent breast cancer. Moonie, being the curious type, asked what mammograms are like.
“Put your breast on a windowsill,” a friend told him. “Then slam the window shut. Then open and slam it again. Then switch to the other breast.”
I winced. Moonie beamed. “That sounds more like a WHAM-o-gram!” he shouted. He loves the word “wham.”
I winced again.
When it came time for our first “wham-o-gram,” Moonie stood guard in the waiting room, daring anyone to bother us as we prepared for my appointment.
Once again, Moonie had cause to join a women’s rally in Providence on January 20th. He said he’s disappointed that the leader of the country he lives in doesn’t respect women, or pretty much anyone who isn’t a rich, white, straight male. So Moonie, who DOES respect women, decided to make his little voice heard on behalf of his other colorful-haired troll friends.
He made some posters: first of his front…
and then of his back (because we all know he’s very, very proud of his backside, which he inspected closely to be sure he’d captured its voluptuousness).
Then Moonie and thousands of other women lovers went down to the State House
where he saw lots and lots and lots and lots of posters.
His friend Diana made a sign that said, “perSISTER” on one side and “reSISTER” on the other, which earned her a high-five from little Moonie,
and his friend J.J. had a terrific sign for her dog Alfie, which earned her a big bout of giggles from Moonie.
Moonie was most excited to see his friends in the Extraordinary Rendition Band, who opened and closed the rally with red, white and shiny outfits and upbeat songs. Little Moonie continues to be a BIG fan of ERB! Look how excited he looks to hang out with his friend Greg, who plays washboard for the band.
ERB member Jessica Brown was a spectacular emcee throughout the rally and gave a really thought-provoking talk near the end about both inherent racism and inclusiveness, with great points on how we all have a responsibility to be aware of our thoughts, actions, privilege, and prejudices. Moonie nodded along with every word, enraptured with truth.
And then (if you look very, very closely you might see his little pink head running around between people’s feet) he got down and danced to ERB’s music with the Brick by Brick activists before joining their rally-ending parade that marched down and across the street to a park.
It’s not good news that we have cause to be even more worried about our country than we were on this date last year. There is more to fear for Moonie’s friends who aren’t straight and who aren’t white and who aren’t cis and who weren’t born here, and there’s a lot to worry about concerning threats to our natural and cultural environments. We’re marching a bit more towards a police state each month, and I’m sad to report that little Moonie, who used to have a smile permanently plastered to his little face, has been frowning with worry, concerned that the country he loves and the people in it aren’t being treated with the respect he thinks they deserve and cringing every time the press or any agency or organization is suppressed when trying to reveal or share truth that differs from what the president wants people to hear or think or believe. Little Moonie never envisioned this after decades of living in the land of the free, and I hadn’t, either.
So as long as it takes, Moonie will stand every bit of his three inches and speak up for those who can’t. And he is glad that he has friends like ERB who commit their time and energy to speaking up for others and spreading positive vibes. We have to look out for each other, Moonie is telling me. Let’s spread the love for every person of every color, gender, size, age, and religion. He’s starting out by giving me a big hug…And he has one for you, too.
The other week, it was that time again – time to head down to the Rhode Island Blood Center and donate. Moonie couldn’t wait!
He’s always quick to donate his little thimble of rainbow-colored troll blood, and then he’s usually nice enough to come cheer me on, because he knows I’m not crazy about needles.
He got so excited when the nice Rhode Island Blood Center ladies gave him his very own RIBC sticker, he climbed right up onto my freshly-donated blood and sang (to the tune of the Village People’s “YMCA”), “It’s fun to come to the R – I – B – C!” We had to ask him nicely not to tap dance on the blood, though.
Last Saturday I woke to find Moonie all ready for the women’s march here in Providence.
He’d been up all night making his sign.
The march through the streets of Providence was too scary for me to snap any pics. It’s awfully easy to lose an excitable little troll pal in a big crowd, so despite all the energy and camaraderie I was fixated on keeping an eye on his pink spiky head (which people kept complimenting, thinking he was wearing the world’s tiniest “pussy hat”). Read More
Moonie loves the town of Westerly – its beautiful beaches, its cute little shops, its Dave’s Coffee, and its budding music scene.
When he’s not grooving to nightly music at Perks and Corks, he’s around the corner at The Knickerbocker Cafe, enjoying crowd-drawing acts like Martin Sexton and Duke Robillard and, two of his favorites, Ian Fitzgerald and Haunt the House. Ian and Haunt the House will be playing the Knick again tonight, and you just might see a pink-haired dude enjoying the tunes and the holiday decorations.
He does like to admire Ian’s hair (they have the same barber).
And he loves when Warbler Roost’s Bessie Bee joins Haunt the House frontman Will Houlihan on beautiful songs.
Last year Ian, Bessie, and Will brought the house down on a three-part harmony of “Good Night Irene.” Moonie was doing backflips.
He then ran around the corner to catch his friend MDB (“Emmm Deee Beee!” an excited Moonie is shouting over my shoulder). MDB, also known as Marc Douglas Berardo, was having his own holiday fun around the corner at Perks and Corks with his friends Phil Adams and Ken Serio.
Tonight’s live music at Perks and Corks will feature The Free Radicals, starring Moonie’s friend Pete Vendettuoli. So if you do make it to the Knickerbocker for amazing folk, don’t forget to pop around the corner for amazing roots and rhythm right after!
Oh boy! One of Moonie’s Lord of the Pies 2016 passport coupons was for Elmwood Diner. Moonie loves Elmwood Diner!
As it was a nippy November day, his very first order of business was to ask our server, Debbie, for a hot chocolate made with milk. He giggled joyously when it arrived in a special mug for blood donors. Moonie loves donating blood, too!
When you’re three inches tall like my pal Moonie, you like short things.
So Moonie is a really big (but really little, too) fan of the Short Short Story Film Festival, which just celebrated its tenth year this past week. The festival, consisting of two different programs of 17 films each, attracts filmmakers from all around the world as well as superstar folks in the film business to serve on the jury. The resulting films are funny or cute or sad or beautiful or disturbing – but all have one thing in common: a length of six minutes or less.
We joined dozens of people last week at AS220 to enjoy the festival. Toni, who doubles as a world music DJ named Madame B, spun tunes in between the programs.
Moonie tried to worm his way up front, but people had to ask him to crouch down. His punk-rocker pink hair was too tall.
But he was pretty happy with the seat he took. Everyone seemed pretty happy that night, with 34 interesting films to watch and DJ Madame B to pump up the crowd.
This year’s Short Short Story Film Festival was extra special. For its 10th anniversary, the founders arranged a spread of food for a reception, and artist Mark Zajac made a special limited edition poster just for the occasion.
“So cool!” Moonie said of the poster. And the 34 different movies. And the music pumped between programs. And the food and popcorn. Good job, people at Merging Arts; you made this little dude happy once again.
It’s November, which means we’re participating yet again in Rhode Island Food Fights‘ annual Lord of the Pies event. Which means my little dude was armed with enough coupons to treat us and our friend Dan to pizza at The Fire in North Providence.
“Why are jokes about bread so funny?” Moonie asked our server as she brought him some rolls and garlic-infused olive oil.
“Why?” she asked.
“‘Cause they never get MOLD! Get it? Mold?” he hooted.
“What do bakers give to ladies on special occasions?” he asked.
“Er, what?” she asked, looking around the room.
“FLOURS!” Moonie shouted, but our server was backing away. She suddenly had another table to take care of. Read More
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