Politics, like rust, never sleeps

East is West, left is right
Up is down, and black is white
Inside-out, wrong is right
It's back to front and I'm all uptight

~~ "Back To Front" by The Kinks

All is well on the homefront. Ken continues to do well with his treatment and is feeling good. So it's time for a political post! I might not be as obsessive consumed as I usually am but politics ain't beanbag and politics never sleeps. 

The constant news cycle is exhausting and I have to step away at points. This week has been particularly exhausting as the "president" ramps up his attacks on Mueller and his investigation. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say that a certain orange toddler is a wee bit scared! And well he should be. 

While I continue to read my political newsfeed and keep up with what is happening, I have come to a conclusion on a related matter. I'm done debating with Yampeople. Finished. I just won't do it anymore. It's a futile effort. 

This was actually a hard conclusion to come to. I feel okay about saying that I pride myself on putting forward a cogent and often convincing argument when it comes to debating things. I can be passionate and persuasive and fiery when I need to be. But this attitude towards debates assumes that the person is operating from the same place as I am—one of objective truth and verifiable facts. It has become increasingly obvious that his supporters and I are not in that same place. Hell, I sometimes wonder if we're on the same planet. 

This decision came about because of a recent CBS poll that showed that the "president's" supporters trust him for their truths over friends and family and certainly over the media. By a huge margin. So that's that. If I state a verifiable statistic and they say, "I don't believe you," we are done. I don't make this shit up and I don't just pull stuff out of my ass. If you are coming from a place where you refuse to believe something that is a verifiable reality, why am I wasting my time with you? It's very similar to anti-vaxxers and I stopped arguing with them a long time ago. 

I have friends on the left who continue to debate in the hopes that they'll reach one of those truly independent people who question what is going on and is possibly questioning their support of this "president." This is reasonable and I applaud them for it. However, I can recognize those people and if they want to reach out to me and discuss things with me, I'm happy to. But I also recognize those who will continue to support this "president" no matter what. I see the stupid, easily-debunked memes my right-wing cousin shares and the latest is learning about this bonkers Q-Anon conspiracy bullshit. If you believe that crap, I am no longer going to waste my brain cells on you. My patience is at an end. 

I still enjoy reading about what might be motivating some of these people, whether it's books like Hillbilly Elegy or others in that vein. It's an interesting exercise and I learn things but I'm never going to be able to relate to someone who completely ignores facts and blindly accepts what someone is telling them. I just can't. There are all kinds of stories about trying to reach out to these voters and bring them back to the Democratic fold. Why? Why waste your time, resources, and energy? The "persuadables" are easily identified. Watch a couple of minutes of that rabid crowd at the rally in Tampa yelling "CNN sucks!" and the lovely flower flipping the double bird at the camera and tell me if anything you say can convince these people that they are getting duped. 

If you tried, you'd probably get back something like, "I don't care. I like him because he tells it like it is and he talks just like me." Well, if you're an ignorant racist yahoo, you're right. He does talk just like you. 

There are certainly non-stupid people who follow him and if they have rational arguments, I'll talk to them if they want. I still have hopes for those people. But I've decided that it really is pointless to seek out a debate. I've lost my objectivity and I'm sure my disdain and frustration would show through. (I have a terrible poker face.) But I'll keep doing my thing and posting my opinions and they can make up their own mind. 

So what to do if we don't reach out to them and try to understand them? That's easy. 

We beat 'em. 



Our friend Bob and his daughter Una have an album coming out this fall. Here is their video of the title track, "For Tomorrow." Put this in your ear and eyeholes and get fired up and ready to go. The protest song lives!

Beth’s Music Moment: A Live Twofer

There's just something

In that music that makes us

Do that dance

In that special brew of tears and

Beer and fear and romance

~~ “Another Guitar” by The Rainmakers

The amazing Richard Butler

Hey, pals! It’s been a while, but I’ve been busy with stuff like going on vacation, getting ready for a party, and just generally trying to take care of business in a world that seems to have gone quite mad.

But I’m still here and most importantly, I am still rocking out.

This is not in chronological order because I’m saving the best for last.

This past Wednesday, we went up to Chicago to see The Psychedelic Furs at Thalia Hall. I’ve been a Furs fan since the early ‘80s, and like many of the ‘80s bands, I took a hiatus over the years but revisited them recently and loved them all over again. When I saw that they were playing in Chicago, I knew that I had to see them live. I’m happy to report that they absolutely blew me away. Ken wasn’t a long-time fan like I am, but he was blown away, too. He agreed that we’ll go see them whenever we get a chance!

Richard and Tim Butler

They sounded incredible—one of the tightest bands I’ve ever heard live. They looked fantastic, with the Butler brothers, lead singer Richard and bassist Tim, wearing these super cool military-style frock coats. They looked just as cool as they did back in the day! And Richard Butler...good lort. I’ve always loved his voice and it was as powerful as ever. He has that deep-edged baritone with a slight raspiness to it, but still smooth as silk. And what a frontman! As soon as he stepped onto the stage, he owned it. There wasn’t a lot of banter with the audience beyond “Hello, Chicago!” but his presence said everything that needed to be said.

The best part, and something that I always notice whenever I see a band, is that they all seemed to be having a good time, especially Richard. The camaraderie and affection seemed genuine to me, as did Richard Butler’s smile. He has that elusive quality of stage presence and talent and he worked us all for everything he could. I was mesmerized!

Absolutely in my top ten concerts (I should probably try to make that list again soon) and I look forward to seeing them again!

Speaking of stage presence, I’ll go back a few days and talk about our fourth house show with Bob Walkenhorst, the Kansas City musician and artist. He is the frontman for The Rainmakers but also travels to do house shows. We have enjoyed these shows so much that this was the fourth in a row and this one was so amazing that the bar is set really high to top it!

Bob Walkenhorst (Photo by Jenn Riches)

We have a crew who usually attends these shows and they were in full force on Saturday. It was a full house. I told Bob the next day that I’m not sure if it was just the atmosphere in the country, or what, but it was like we were all primed for something special. Planets aligned or some shit like that. I don’t know, but everything converged to result in one of the most amazing evenings I’ve ever experienced.

Bob sang his heart out (including a couple of my requests), he told stories about the songs, he talked about my experience seeing The Rainmakers way back in the late ‘80s, he welcomed us all and made us a part of his world as much as we made him a part of ours. As he wrote in the song quoted at the beginning of this entry, it was a special brew. It was certainly an intoxicating one. I wrote him a letter a couple of days later and said that it was that amazing dynamic between a performer and an audience where we feed off of each other. It’s nothing less than synergy! The very day that letter went out, I got an email from him in which he said that it was one of the best nights he’s ever had playing and that he was in heaven. I believe him because after four years, I know that Bob is not a bullshitter (and I have a pretty good BS detector, anyway). He said it wasn’t just him, it was US, and the “common desire to FEEL something.”

That is it exactly. That connection is amazing and it is one that I treasure. I feel music so deeply and it means so much to me. What a wonderful thing to enjoy a performer like Bob who connects on the same level and is able to bring us all to the Promised Land. (I’d dare to say that based on Richard Butler’s performance and demeanor, he feels that same connection with his audience.)

We also had a little dance party after Bob’s performance and let’s just say that booties were shaken and selves were gotten down! (A lampshade may or may not have been worn. I can neither confirm nor deny that. But it wasn’t me!)

In the space of a few short days, I got to enjoy two utterly amazing performances from two amazing artists, Bob Walkenhorst and the Furs, and it renewed whatever passes for my soul. This is why live music is so important and absolutely vital for me. I am often moved by recordings that I listen to, but nothing—NOTHING—beats seeing a band or performer live. Other planes and other dimensions are reached. Hearts are touched, minds are sometimes changed, and as Bob said, we “FEEL something.”

Support musicians, especially your local musicians, by going to see them live! And as I always say, be sure to show the band some love. Chances are good that you’ll get some back and everyone benefits from that.

Rock on, Warriors!

Party in the Bend!

Pardon my brief absence here (I’ve been trying to update much more regularly), but it was a busy weekend, and Monday was my Introvert Recovery Day. As much fun as I have on weekends like that, I’m exhausted by the time they are done and have to spend some downtime to recharge my battery. I’m feeling quite a bit better now!

The busy weekend was because we had the super talented and amazingly cool Bob Walkenhorst back in town! We had Bob out last year for a house show and it was so wonderful that we had him come back this year, again at Shane and Matt’s house. In the year since we had him out last, we’ve been to Kansas City to see him a couple of times. Once for New Year’s Eve (a show with the Rainmakers) and a business trip for Ken, in which we got to see him play at the RecordBar with Jeff Porter (the guitarist for the Rainmakers) and Norm Dahlor (bass and banjo player for the Elders). Bob and his super cool and groovy wife Michele invited us into their home and we got to meet the rest of the band and friends and family and...well, we seem to have ended up friends!

This show started turning into something special pretty quickly. Many of the attendees last year were happy to join us again this year, and we had friends from Detroit (Tony, Alaina, and Winston) come down, friends from Chicago (Joe and Maria, George and Karen...we met them through Bob), and of course Bob and Michele from Kansas City.

It was another great night of fun and friends and family, and Bob brought it, as always. He is an amazing performer and is capable of connecting with an audience to a degree that is a rarity. It was even more special for us this year after getting to know him and Michele and enjoy and cherish their friendship. It really was another magical night.

Oh, and this happened. One of my favorite photos of all time is this one of a young Elvis fan at a Philadelphia concert in 1955. This young lady embodies everything I feel about music. The craziness, the joy, the fandom, the sheer ROCKITUDE of it all. I’m not sure how Shane and Matt and I came to the conclusion that we would try to recreate this photo, but we did, and Bob was a great sport and played along as Elvis. Bob. Elvis-Bob. The angle isn’t quite the same due to the constraints of the room, but we all had a blast with it and it was a very fun time! (Thanks for doing the photo, Dan!)

On Sunday, we all met at South Bend Brew Werks for brunch and for some of us, beermosas. (Yum!) We had a wonderful time talking and it made me sad to have to say goodbye to Bob, Michele, Joe, and Maria. But not as bad as last year, because I know I’ll get to see them all again. In fact, we’ll be seeing Joe and Maria (and George and Karen) this weekend when we go up to Chicago to see a Cubs game! They very graciously invited us to come over to their place after the game, so that will be fun!

After brunch, the rest of us went back to Nutwood Junction so Tony and Alaina could see the place. After being blogger friends for years, I think they really enjoyed getting to see a place they’ve seen so many pictures of! We even took a little hike through the wetlands and the woods. We didn’t see any critters, but we saw lots of bees (so happy our bee population is fairly healthy here!) and a couple of Monarch butterflies! They also got to see the Retro Lounge. Then it was back to Shane and Matt’s to load up the truck with the borrowed chairs and coolers. We then waved like crazy people when the Detroit gang drove off, and I felt sad to see them go, too.

But as we discussed with Shane and Matt afterwards, it really wasn’t quite the feeling of sadness after last year’s party. We’ve all become friends (Tony and Alaina went to Vegas with us, Winston has done several things with us, we’ll see the Chicago and KC gangs again as I mentioned above), so it’s more of an auf wiedersehen moment than a sad farewell. We WILL see them all again!

I’ll end this story of what was really a wonderful weekend with something that was truly one of the most joyful moments of my life. And no, I’m not exaggerating! When we saw Bob, Jeff, and Norm in KC, one of the songs they did was “Daydream Believer.” There is something about that song that just brings out the Full Happy in me. After that set, I told Bob that I loved it and would he maybe sing that at our house show? He said, “I’ve never sung it by myself before...but I’ll learn it for you.” And by golly if he didn’t sing it as the last song, and I get a little teary-eyed just thinking about it! It was a perfect ending, and he gave me a big hug afterwards. Thanks to everyone who helped make this shindig happen, and thank YOU, Bob, for such a special music moment!

Video by Dan; photos by Dan and Tony. Thanks guys!

Beth’s Music Moment: Music is Magic

Imagine, if you will…

You’ve admired a musician for decades. Three decades, in fact. You first saw their band on MTV, and then you saw them live, back in 1987. You have almost all of their albums, you know the words to many of their songs well enough that you can sing along. As you are recommending the band to a friend (who is also a musician), you decide to visit the band’s website again, just to see what they’ve been up to.

As you look through the pictures, the tour dates, the updates...you see a spot to contact the band. Because you’ve loved them for years, and because your Official Fan Motto™ is “show the band some love,” you send a message saying that their music has meant a lot to you over the years and you tell them how much you’ve appreciated them and loved them all this time.

Then imagine that you get an email back from the FREAKIN’ LEAD SINGER of this band that you’ve loved for decades, and he thanks you for your email and for your kind words about his band and their songs...and he happens to mention that he does house concerts on weekends, and to let him know if you’re interested.

Thus was born one of the greatest nights of my life.

The band is the Rainmakers (I’ve written about them before) and the lead singer is Bob Walkenhorst. We started an email correspondence, and I scared him at first. I mean, I was writing to Bob Walkenhorst! And he was responding! Tell me everything! What about this song? What about that song? What does this lyric mean? I assured him that I would calm down, and I was true to my word. It took me a bit, but I did calm down. Bob is also an artist, and we bought a gorgeous painting from him, one that I get to look at every day.

I mentioned the house concert to Ken, thinking that he’d say, “Nah, we’ve got enough other things going on...we really shouldn’t spend the money on that.” He totally surprised me by saying, “That sounds pretty cool!” But we knew that our house wasn’t big enough to host 20-30 people in one room to hear Bob play, and that’s where Shane and Matt came in. They were on board immediately, and we started to plan this shindig.

We initially planned it for late May, but because the Rainmakers were leaving for a tour in Norway soon after that, Bob really needed to be home the weekend of our scheduled show. It was obvious that he felt really bad about having to reschedule, but it all worked out okay!

The big show was on Saturday, September 20th, and we had a nice turnout of about 20 people. I wish we could have invited more, but space was limited. Bob got there about an hour and a half before we asked people to start arriving, so he had plenty of time to get his stuff set up and we were able to get to know each other and do all the fan stuff like get things signed. I’m often very nervous and shy when meeting a new person, especially if that someone happens to be one of my favorite musicians! However, I didn’t feel that way at all. He put me immediately at ease, and was wonderfully friendly and kind. Of course, we’d been corresponding a bit for several months, so I had a pretty good idea that he was going to be a nice, fun, and funny person...I just didn’t realize how nice and fun and funny! He had said he’d bring me a t-shirt, but ended up bringing me three, and I got one signed. Awesome!

Bob brought along two of his friends from the Chicago area, Joe (an author) and George (an engineer and Notre Dame graduate). Joe brought some of his books, so we got a few of those, too...a couple of them signed. I was in fangirl heaven. They were both a lot of fun, and I enjoyed meeting them and getting to know them a little bit. I hope I run into them again one day!

People started arriving right on time, and we had an hour to talk and have some food before Bob played. I tried to invite people who I thought would appreciate this kind of show, and I think I nailed the mix. Everyone from a friend from high school, to a friend from college, to a friend from the lab (and a guitarist in a local band...another friend who came is the bass player for the band), to a recent friend we met online, to my sister Diana. I don’t know if the party planets were aligned just right, or what, but it was a perfect mix of people who love good music and love a good time. Everyone was talking and laughing and primed to hear some music.

Then Bob played, and it was great.

The End.

HA! No, there is much more to the story.

Bob didn’t just play. He told background stories about these songs I’ve loved for years. He talked and laughed with us and just generally charmed the pants off of everyone (not literally, of course...it wasn’t that kind of party!). He blew everyone away by how good he was. You know, I remember him always having a great stage presence, but to experience it up close and personal was a whole other story. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that he had us in the palm of his hand.

His voice was strong and clear, and it’s amazing how much sound he can get out of one acoustic guitar.

He took a half an hour break, giving everyone a chance to talk and laugh and eat and drink some more. He played a second 50-minute set, and then he was done.

I could have listened to him play two more hours. I could have listened to him play all night. I was mesmerized.

Then it was time for more talking, laughing, eating, and drinking. It really was a wonderful mix of people, and we had such a great time together. My sister told me that she’s never heard such a “buzz” among a party crowd. I couldn’t have asked for a better evening, and I think everyone felt the same way. We wound down around midnight, and Bob headed off to the guest room for some snooze time. (Shane and Matt were thrilled to have him spend the night there!) Everyone said their goodbyes, then it was just me, Ken, Shane, and Matt. We cleaned up a little bit, just what we had to, and talked about how it had turned out perfectly and how happy we were that it worked out that we could do this.

(See all the photos here.)

The seven of us met for breakfast the next morning before the guys headed out and we got to chat a little bit more. Everyone agreed that it had been a great party and a fun show. Shane told me later that either Joe or George asked him, “So what did you think?” Shane thought for a moment and said, “You know, I’d have to say this was one of the highlights of my life.” I completely agree, and feel the same way. It’s something that we’ll be talking about for a long time to come. I can’t begin to convey how special it was for me, and what a pleasure it was to meet Bob. He is a genuinely nice guy who is an incredibly talented songwriter and performer. What a wonderful evening. I was a little blue as we parted ways.

After he got back home on Monday, I emailed him to tell him how much everyone loved it and that I was getting some wonderful feedback from people. I said he’d made several new fans that evening, and that made me very happy. I’ve known how good he and the band is for years, so what a pleasure for me to share that with others who didn’t know! I got an amazing email back from him in which he said many nice things that absolutely stunned me, but the upshot was that everything was perfect for him, and that the evening would stay with him as one of the best nights he’s ever had playing. Wow! He thanked me for giving him a night that makes him know that what he’s spent his life doing has all been worth it, and said that “music is still magic” when you can share it with people like us and all the others who are brought together by it. Music IS magic, Bob, and I think we were all touched by your magic on Saturday night. I know I was.

I think that feeling is conveyed quite well by this song, one that he played for us that night. I don’t know if I have one single “greatest night,” but I can say that Saturday night is right up there. (And thanks to Eddie for posting this video!)

“Thanks for being here with me
On the greatest night of my life.”

It’s the end, the end of the summer days

Well, hello, you little maniacs!

Did you miss me?!

I’m alive and kicking, but decided to take the summer off. No apologies this time for not updating sooner, because I made the decision to take a break and I don’t feel even a little bit bad about it! (Okay, maybe 5% bad. But that is within the margin of error.)

It’s been a busy and fun summer, and I just decided to go with that and not feel obligated to write about everything. Plenty of updates on Facebook and Twitter (you can find me @Luvrte66), but I think all of us who are still writing blogs know that the readers just aren’t there like they used to be. I’m okay with that, although I did get quite a thrill when my hits went through the roof when Duran Duran posted a link to my review of my friend Andy’s book Beautiful Colors on their Facebook page! I do still enjoy writing, so I’ll ease back into it as we head into the winter and things settle down.

Man, we’ve had some fun. We went down to Indianapolis with Shane and Matt to see Presidents of the United States of America and then Smash Mouth; we went to a couple of RiffTrax movies; we went to several local events like Art Beat and seeing my friend Jim’s band High Gravity play; got to see a couple of Silver Hawks games; we got to party with some of my former coworkers when our friend Aubrey got married. We had our annual vegecation in New Smyrna Beach in July, and on the drive back, stopped in Atlanta to do a Walking Dead filming location tour, which was so awesome. Then we spent a couple of days in Nashville, where we visited the Johnny Cash Museum (it was wonderful), went to Printer’s Alley, and went honky-tonkin’ on Honky Tonk Row. It was an unusual weekend when we didn’t have something going on! As much fun as we had with all of these things, we appreciated those downtime weekends so we could recharge our batteries.

Our latest projects are getting ready to have our friend Mark come out from Omaha to spend a long weekend with us. We’ll be taking an overnight trip up to Detroit so that he can see his family, and we’ll be meeting up with some friends while there. I’ve also been busy planning a house party at Shane and Matt’s for later in September, where Bob Walkenhorst of the Rainmakers will play an acoustic show for a small group of us. I’ve loved Bob and the Rainmakers for going on three decades, so it is going to be wonderful to meet him and hear him play in such an intimate setting!

I’ve also been working on setting up a big vacation in October in Vegas, baby! A bunch of family and friends are converging on Sin City for a long weekend of partying friendship and fun. We’ve got people coming from the Detroit area, Texas, and California, and will be meeting up with several friends who live in Vegas. The long weekend will culminate with a meet-up for all of us at the Hofbräuhaus, an exact replica of the Munich Hofbräuhaus. We have some other fun things planned, and Ken and I will meet with Shane and Matt a few days before in Phoenix. Ken has a business thing he needs to go to, but we will definitely be hitting Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West while we’re there.

We’ve also had some very positive things happen on a personal level, and I’ll just say that I am very happy for Ken. Reconnections are great...never give up! There were positive things on a professional level for him, too, with a change of duties and director status at the company where he works. I’m very happy for him about that, too!

I always feel a little blue this time of year, because I love summer. It is definitely my favorite season. I love the warmth, I love sunbathing on the deck while reading and listening to music, and I especially love wearing as few clothes as possible. I don’t look forward to wearing all those clothes in the winter! I’m a big fan of not wearing pants. It’s not officially the end of summer yet, but doesn’t the end of August always feel like the end? It does for me. It seemed official this past weekend when I had my birthday, then celebrated with 80,000 of my closest friends on Saturday as the Notre Dame football season kicked off with a win against Rice. Go Irish!

As much as I hate to see the summer wind down, we have ND football, basketball, and hockey games to look forward to this fall and winter. In fact, we just got hockey season tickets! There are many fun things to look forward to, including a visit from our nieces and their family from San Diego over the holidays and some fun shows at the Morris for the Broadway Theater League.

But it still makes me sad when I fill the hummingbird feeders for the last time of the season, using extra-sweet nectar as they prepare to make their long flight south. I did that yesterday.

Farewell, summer. I’ll miss you. I’ll see you next year, though!

Please enjoy this song from Green Day. This is the aural equivalent of my feelings about the bittersweet end of summer.

The Return of the Prodigal Blogger

As Jim Kerr and Simple Minds sang, I’m alive and kicking!

Did you know that Jim Kerr was married to Chrissie Hynde? True story.

Anyway, I took a little hiatus, mainly due to being really busy around the holidays. It seems like we had a lot of stuff going on, going to Notre Dame games and family outings. It was a busy but fun couple of months. Our super cool niece Jennifer was visiting from San Diego, and we did quite a few things with her; we had family get-togethers for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve; I made contact with one of my favorite musicians, Bob Walkenhorst, and we bought a painting from him; our online friends (now real life friends!) Winston and Jen came to visit and we took them to see Cornerstone Blues Band; we spent a weekend in Cleveland and visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and saw their amazing Rolling Stones special exhibit; we dealt with a bona fide blizzard and the ominous-sounding Polar Vortex, which was about as pleasant as it sounds!

With all of this stuff going on, I felt the need to hunker down and withdraw a bit in my downtime. You know how us introverts are...we need to recharge after social activities. I am resolved to be more diligent in my reading, and I will do better with posting book reviews here. I am also getting more immersed in music, and will post reviews of songs and albums, too. I even took a hiatus from politics, and am slowly working my way back into my usual political involvement (it’s easy to take a break when you’re so disgusted by their ridiculous behavior that you want to smack a bunch of them upside the head). I want to work on writing other projects besides this blog, and am trying to wrap my brain around that and figure out exactly how to go about it. I bought a ¾-sized Fender Strat and want to work on learning how to play (a full-sized one is too big for my hands). I would like to get back into playing piano.

Coming up in just a little over a month, we have the cruise with Ken’s Mom to the Southern Caribbean, and I’ll need to start laying things out for that soon. In May, we are planning on a house concert by the aforementioned Bob Walkenhorst at Shane and Matt’s house, and that is going to be an amazing opportunity to meet and listen to one of my all-time favorites! (More about that soon!) Ken will be spending some time in Indianapolis in April, and I may spend a few days down there with him (firefighter’s convention…!), then we’ll do our usual Florida trip in July, and we want to plan a big family and friends get-together in Vegas in October for Oktoberfest at the Munich Hofbräuhaus replica there. So it seems that I’ll get a breather here and there, but there will be things to plan throughout much of the coming year.

My mind is just spinning with things I want and need to do! This is not a complaint. I’m having a lot of fun, but it’s easy to reach a point of sensory overload. Thus the blog hiatus. Something eventually has to give, and this time it was the blog. I’ve found that if you start feeling pressure to write, and that you feel you have to make an entry, or feel guilty when you don’t, it’s time to step away for a bit. Once it feels like a duty, it’s just not fun anymore, know what I mean? So I stepped away for a bit. When I started thinking, “Hey, I’d like to do a blog entry soon...I miss it,” I knew it was time to come back. I can tell you that it feels good, and I’m smiling as I type this.

So I’m back, you little maniacs! You can’t get rid of me that easily!