She So Funny

I finally saw “In the Heights” this past Saturday night at a friend’s house.  Originally, four of us were supposed to get together.  One woman went to her car and discovered it had been towed.  She canceled.  So it was my buddy Judy and I going to Steve’s house in New Jersey.  He cooked lots of delicious food, we brought wine, and Judy also brought pastries from a bakery.  I stayed with food and wine, while they also had mixed drinks.  Judy is not the drinker she used to be, so she slept through most of the movie.  Steven and I watched the movie.  I did have a small non-speaking part in it.  Several people had written to me when it first came out, “Did I just see you in ‘In the Heights’?”  I was background but was placed next to one of the main actors, so I was clearly seen in the rally scene.

It is a good story, but way too much singing for my taste.  I liked the cast and many things, but it could have been shorter.  My “LA Law” heart throb, Jimmy Smits, was in it.  

Though he had no idea of my relationship with him, I was glad to see him again.  😊  

I have a feeling the show might have been better as the play it originally was.  I do think it was important, and I am glad I saw it.  And though my role was only background, I am glad I was in it.

On a totally other subject:  I want to give credit to this man, Katt Williams, who helped me survive at times on a former job.  It’s less than a minute.  Use headphones if you are at a job or near children.  Enjoy.

For more funny, mark your calendars for my fall comedy show at The Artist on City Island on 10/22.  (Must bring vax card.)  I am proud to announce that the funny will be brought to you by Pudge Fernandez, Jean Kim, Linda San Lucas, and me.

Heartfelt love to CGG-M ❤❤❤

Mindy Matijasevic

September 2021

My feel-good moment of the day was an email from Home Planet News letting me know that my slice of memoir “Not S’posed to Win” is accepted for publication.  I’ll share the link when I get it.  I wrote it to read at one of Kathryn Adisman’s events, What Were the Sixties Really Like?  It was well received.  I am unsure how it will come across from the page, but I am glad it will be in print.  Thank you, Frank Murphy, editor of Home Planet News.

If you know someone who is gratefully divorced, consider this as a unique gift.  Contact me in the comments or on Facebook or at mindyinthebronx@gmail.com.

I spent Labor Day afternoon enjoying and participating in this festival: Poetry on a Caribbean Breeze.  Curator Heather Archibald told us everyone was Caribbean for the day.  There was calypso music, workshops, featured readers, open mic, and snacks.  I was all set to join the haiku workshop, but then I saw lots of art supplies on another table for Comic Poetry.  I got seduced by the crayons and colored pencils.  I had no idea what Comic Poetry meant.  It had to do with drawing frames a comic strip would have with words, but it had nothing to do with comedy.  I like new creative experiences.  I do believe a certain part of the brain needs stimulation from time to time in order to get juiced up to create whatever one creates – poetry, music, comedy, dance, visual art, etc.

I also read three poems at the open mic.  They were all serious, but the third one made women crack up.  It was a wonderful way to conclude.  I felt good about that for days.  And to think, I almost didn’t go.  It’s been a struggle to get my self to places.

I am so glad that three friends and I are going to see “In the Heights” at a friend’s house and have dinner, wine, etc. this Saturday night.  I had a tiny part in the movie in the rally scene toward the end.  It wasn’t with lines or anything, but several people wrote me asking, “Did I just see you in ‘In the Heights’?”  Yes they did.  I haven’t seen it yet, so I’m looking forward to the whole evening.

Human contact.  Friendship.  Feels good.

Love to CGG-M ❤❤❤

Mindy Matijasevic

September 2021

I was supposed to attend a poetry festival on Saturday afternoon.  I was really looking forward to it.  An hour of workshopping, an hour of featured poets, and an hour of open mic-ers.  Free.  So when I couldn’t bear to wake up in time, I felt so disappointed that I was opting to sleep.  Yet, I spent so much of my life sleep-deprived for different reasons, that my need to sleep and have disturbing dreams feels crucial.  Later, I saw I had an email announcing that the event was canceled due to the possibility of storms.  I felt much better.  I’m assuming it will be re-scheduled, and I hope to get there.

My struggle with the f’n’ cigarettes continues.  I can’t stand the enslavement feeling.  I’m still at a better average than before my efforts, but still with a ways to go.  My breathing is still not as easy as I’d like and need it to be.  

My buddy/unofficially adopted brother helped me with many things on Sunday.  A leak from the toilet tank.  Brunch.  A trip to the rental office.  A ride to the bank.  I felt so loved.  It feels like it does something good to my physiology.  Tomorrow, I’m going to accompany him to his oral surgeon, and then a few of his errands.  After all that, if he is feeling okay, he plans to help me with some things in the apartment.  If he and I had both been born to his family or mine, I don’t think we’d be as close as we are.  We are each other’s chosen siblings.  👫

I had some affection sessions with my girl, Mustache, in recent days.  For those who don’t know, she is my feline friend who lives and works in a nearby store.  There is more to that story, of course complications, but that’ll be for another time.

Mustache ❤

198^th Street & Valentine Avenue

Constant love to CGG-M ❤❤❤

Mindy Matijasevic

8/31/2021

If you’ve never heard of Dr. Ramani, you might want to check out her videos on youtube.  I knew of her for over a year but just began to listen to her videos.  A lot of clarity for free.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dr.+ramani 

My buddy/brother, Bob, did come up and get rid of the water bug for me (for those of you who read my last blog http://www.shesofunny.org/2021/08/men-and-bugs.html).

I am happy to share that I had a very fun night with a friend and former co-worker, Steven, when we went to see a one-woman show at The Artist on City Island this past Saturday.  The show is definitely worth seeing, and The Artist plans to have the show again at some point.

My friend didn’t realize that for me to get there meant 3 buses.  We agreed to meet there.  But the plus side of having to take 3 buses meant I was in air conditioning and where I cannot smoke.  The show did not disappoint.  I always am very curious how someone puts together a one-person show.  Mary Goggin did it successfully.  I’d like to be able to do that.

After the show, Steven and I went to the bar nearby.  It was raining, so we couldn’t sit outside.  We had to be inside; again in a place I can’t smoke.  So each inconvenience actually turned out to be a positive.  I smoked less that day than I did in each of the prior 21 days.  When we were in the bar, I did step out a couple of times to have a few puffs, but, in total, that was a half of a cigarette.  This is still quite a struggle, so I am grateful for that day.

My last update is I finally got a date of expected payment from the IRS.  Hallelujah!  I still can’t understand why it took so long.  But it’s not here yet, so I’m not considering it a done deal until I can pay my backed-up bills with it.

My love to CGG-M ❤💕❤

Mindy Matijasevic

August 2021

A few days ago, I awoke due to my bladder.  Opened my eyes and saw a dark moving thing on a box.  It was a water bug.  Before I could scream, the phone rang.  It was my closest friend who is a man and doesn’t share my hysteria.  I gave him a play-by-play as I picked up a fly swatter and smacked the water bug.  It landed on the floor.  It was on its back and struggling to live.  As it moved, I screamed while holding the phone and the swatter, “It’s trying to live!”  I felt so awful as I hit it again.  It shot across the floor near a pile of my poems.  It looked dead.  My friend and I hung up since I had to pee so badly. 

When I returned from the bathroom, I didn’t see the corpse where I left it.  Now I was worried that it was crawling around somewhere.  I put on my sneakers and got dressed.  I decided I had to stomp and let creatures know I am the boss here.  Then I saw that water bug crawling again in my foyer near the bathroom.  I couldn’t believe how strong this thing is after being beaten.  I took a wine bottle and put it on the water bug.  The bottom of the bottle isn’t flat.  It curves up and makes an air bubble.  I then felt awful that the water bug was going to suffocate to death.  But I couldn’t deal with any other way of handling it.

Later, I saw my buddy and updated him on the water bug situation.  He laughed and asked if it will stay under the bottle for a year now.  I said, “No. Just until you come up and get rid of it for me.”  He laughed and said that he will. 

20 seconds and hilarious!

Love to CGG-M  ❤❤❤

Mindy Matijasevic

August 2021

The show last Friday on City Island turned out very well.  The people who run The Artist make me feel so welcome and appreciated.  It’s a great way to start the evening. 

My buddy Bob and friend Ilona drove me to the place.  Otherwise it would have been a 3-bus, stress-filled trip.

I was honored to be joined by these folks:  Joanne Filan, Jose Angel Diaz, and Leighann Lord.

Plus, we had a Columbia Journalism student, Isabel, interviewing and taping Leighann Lord and Joanne Filan for a documentary she is doing for school.

I was very honored by surprise gifts sent to me at the place – an amazing bouquet with vase, water, and flower food plus a bottle of champagne.  The flowers live longer in my house than the champagne.  Lilies are still opening and making me smile whenever I walk past the bouquet.  The person who sent them told me she couldn’t be at the show but would be there in spirit with a cocktail in her hand and a smile on her face.  She did more than that.  It was amazing.  I’m not used to the royal treatment.  It feels good.  I should get used to it.

Audience members teased that it was from a man.  I announced, “Actually, it’s from a woman.” 

After the show and the hugs (yes, I hugged people!), my friends Judy and Steven and I went to a nearby bar at their outdoor seating.  The weather was perfect.  We hardly get to hang out together, so it was a treat.  To our surprise, many people we don’t know came over to us to talk about all kinds of things.  One yelled from across the street to a man outside the bar about a woman who left the bar, “She wanted to s—k your d—k!”  Then he saw my bouquet and us and came over to apologize for his language and went on and on about how he loves his mother, etc., etc.  More things like that went on.  By the end of the night, I told my friends, “I now officially consider City Island the Bronx.”  We closed the bar.  Judy drove me home at about 4:00am.

I truly enjoyed the entire night and, unlike when I was younger, I was tired for the following two days.

My next show at The Artist will be Friday, October 22^nd.  Mark your calendars.  Another line-up I’m proud of.  I’m so glad to be doing this again.

Constant love to CGG-M  ❤❤❤

Mindy Matijasevic

August 2021

It looks like I was dinner for part of the mosquito population recently.  My arm must be tasty. 

During several very hot days, whenever I went into the store where Mustache lives, she was sleeping and the air-conditioning wasn’t working too well, so I didn’t wake her.  Then when those days passed, she and I had daily affection-sessions for a while.  It is so uplifting.  She has so much to say.  And she is always so glad to see me and makes her feelings very known.  A delicious part of my existence.

My elevator wasn’t working for a few days which forced me to use the stairs which is probably a good thing but has become so difficult.  Since having Legionnaires in the fall of 2019, my breathing has not been what it was before.  Losing weight might help.  I’m working on the cigarette problem.  I’m smoking about half of what I was smoking before.  But it is with a ways to go.  I hope I can do this.

On Mondays, I am part of a support group, and it is helpful.  But it is still a struggle.  I struggle to maintain my lower number of cigarettes.  I hope I can keep going and get it down further.  I really need to.  My breathing is labored.

I am so excited about the comedy show on August 6^th at The Artist on City Island.  I so enjoy the comics booked – Joanne Filan, Jose Angel Diaz, Leighann Lord, and me.  I’m bringing my alcohol wipes to clean the mic after each comic like it’s a dirty d - - k.  Sorry men, but I don’t know what else to compare it to.  Open to suggestions.  A rotting zucchini?  A black cucumber?  I’m listening.

Much love to CGG-M  ❤❤❤

Mindy Matijasevic

July 2021