M.F. Hopkins's Blog
June 9, 2023
I haven't been here in months, so I return with some burning bitching.
So, yesterday my apartment complex was on fire. Not the whole building, but enough of it to ruin seven apartments, displacing the tenants.
For me, the fire was the nasty icing on a stale-ass cake. A non-profit took over the building around five years ago, and we’ve had 6 managers so far. When I first moved in, in 2012, it was a nice place ― clean, well-kept. When the owner sold the building, it was more of the same, even though the new owners raised the rent at every opportunity (Thank God for rent control here). The building got more upgrades, and the tenants were still normal. By ‘normal’, I mean hard-working, mostly blue-collar workers and a few college students. It was quiet and clean, and folks got their ‘peaceful and quiet enjoyment’.
Now? Most of the tenants are criminal and/or crazy, and at this point, I don’t give a rat’s ass about being politically correct with my terminology. On any given night, the chaos ranges from arguing to physical fights. Breaking glass—i.e. windows—and screech-cussing is the latest in modern music, and it’s generally played from 8pm to 3am.
Some highlights of the last two months to today:
* A lesbian couple was arguing on the top floor; the little one is a bully and pushed the big one down the stairs.
* Leaving for work one morning, I had to step over a homeless guy sleeping on the stairs. At least he was polite and moved some of his shit out of the way.
* There was an almost West Side Story scene going on (again ― on the top floor) between 4 to 6 people. Most of them were NOT tenants. One could hear the punches, body slams, and screams. There was a trail of blood drops on the floor when I headed out to work the next day. Cops never showed up. Some of us gave up on calling the police weeks ago, since they rarely respond. Hell, when I called 911 about yesterday’s fire, they put me on hold five minutes before transferring me to a live human.
* One night, a different set of women were arguing, with one standing in front of MY door yelling and threatening to kill the other one. Why?
* Late one night, a woman was running up and down the halls, screaming and banging on apartment doors. Then she started singing.
* Two weeks ago, I was taking out my trash one early morning before work, and a straight couple is arguing. I almost got hit with a huge glass container flying through a plate-glass window. Two days after that happened, I discovered my door mat missing. Who the hell steals a doormat? Granted, it was a nice coir mat that was given to me as a housewarming gift back in 2012, but still… WTF?
* 2 ― 3 nights ago, the cops came to pick up an elderly tenant, who was strutting back and forth in front of the complex swearing at no one in particular… naked.
Which brings me back to yesterday’s fire… the rumor is that it was possibly started by someone ‘melting something’ to inject into their veins. The fire started on the first floor and worked its way to the third. I was very lucky, since most of the damaged apartments were on the second floor—where I live—with one being right across from my place. The tenant let me peek in after we were allowed back into the building, and he lost everything. (He’s one of the ‘normal’ people). I was lucky, as I only had the entryway of my place flooded from a fireman’s hose, with the doorframe being broken by the firemen. Losing two small rugs won’t kill me. My poor neighbor, though. I assumed he was partially in shock when he started laughing.
Many of the ‘normal’ tenants have moved out, and I hope I can soon. I’ve had it with this damned place. I'm too old for this shit. It’s gone from a nice apartment complex to an institute for the criminally insane.
For me, the fire was the nasty icing on a stale-ass cake. A non-profit took over the building around five years ago, and we’ve had 6 managers so far. When I first moved in, in 2012, it was a nice place ― clean, well-kept. When the owner sold the building, it was more of the same, even though the new owners raised the rent at every opportunity (Thank God for rent control here). The building got more upgrades, and the tenants were still normal. By ‘normal’, I mean hard-working, mostly blue-collar workers and a few college students. It was quiet and clean, and folks got their ‘peaceful and quiet enjoyment’.
Now? Most of the tenants are criminal and/or crazy, and at this point, I don’t give a rat’s ass about being politically correct with my terminology. On any given night, the chaos ranges from arguing to physical fights. Breaking glass—i.e. windows—and screech-cussing is the latest in modern music, and it’s generally played from 8pm to 3am.
Some highlights of the last two months to today:
* A lesbian couple was arguing on the top floor; the little one is a bully and pushed the big one down the stairs.
* Leaving for work one morning, I had to step over a homeless guy sleeping on the stairs. At least he was polite and moved some of his shit out of the way.
* There was an almost West Side Story scene going on (again ― on the top floor) between 4 to 6 people. Most of them were NOT tenants. One could hear the punches, body slams, and screams. There was a trail of blood drops on the floor when I headed out to work the next day. Cops never showed up. Some of us gave up on calling the police weeks ago, since they rarely respond. Hell, when I called 911 about yesterday’s fire, they put me on hold five minutes before transferring me to a live human.
* One night, a different set of women were arguing, with one standing in front of MY door yelling and threatening to kill the other one. Why?
* Late one night, a woman was running up and down the halls, screaming and banging on apartment doors. Then she started singing.
* Two weeks ago, I was taking out my trash one early morning before work, and a straight couple is arguing. I almost got hit with a huge glass container flying through a plate-glass window. Two days after that happened, I discovered my door mat missing. Who the hell steals a doormat? Granted, it was a nice coir mat that was given to me as a housewarming gift back in 2012, but still… WTF?
* 2 ― 3 nights ago, the cops came to pick up an elderly tenant, who was strutting back and forth in front of the complex swearing at no one in particular… naked.
Which brings me back to yesterday’s fire… the rumor is that it was possibly started by someone ‘melting something’ to inject into their veins. The fire started on the first floor and worked its way to the third. I was very lucky, since most of the damaged apartments were on the second floor—where I live—with one being right across from my place. The tenant let me peek in after we were allowed back into the building, and he lost everything. (He’s one of the ‘normal’ people). I was lucky, as I only had the entryway of my place flooded from a fireman’s hose, with the doorframe being broken by the firemen. Losing two small rugs won’t kill me. My poor neighbor, though. I assumed he was partially in shock when he started laughing.
Many of the ‘normal’ tenants have moved out, and I hope I can soon. I’ve had it with this damned place. I'm too old for this shit. It’s gone from a nice apartment complex to an institute for the criminally insane.
December 23, 2022
No title. It's just... WTF?
I haven't been around here lately, due to:
*Having COVID for most of October, and as a result, I may have lost some sense of smell.
* A lot of eye irritation, which has interfered with my writing and reading. Some improvement now.
*On-going plumbing issues in my bathroom (over 3 months), with water leaking from somewhere around the sink. Management is taking forever to replace sink.
*Bag stolen from my job just two weeks ago; still not sure how the person snuck into the back. It sucks in that while all of us at work were distributing meals and boxes of produce to our students, an asshole got in and stole my bag. There is a silver lining to this though; my bag was found a few days later in a campus dumpster almost intact, and not trashed. Items stolen: money ($15 and some change); a transit card, hand sanitizer, and my phone. I'm guessing since I'm such a 'nice lady' at work, whoever stole my shit felt bad when he/she realized who they nabbed. In any case, I had to get a new phone. Replaced a few cards, even though there was no bogus activity on any of them.
* My cat was great just two days ago; now, she's sluggish and not eating much. She's also responsible for a few of the puddles in the bathroom now, and I can't smell her pee. Granted she's 18 years old, but still... I don't want to lose her.
I almost forgot, but Christmas is in 2 days, and I really don't give a crap about it.
*Having COVID for most of October, and as a result, I may have lost some sense of smell.
* A lot of eye irritation, which has interfered with my writing and reading. Some improvement now.
*On-going plumbing issues in my bathroom (over 3 months), with water leaking from somewhere around the sink. Management is taking forever to replace sink.
*Bag stolen from my job just two weeks ago; still not sure how the person snuck into the back. It sucks in that while all of us at work were distributing meals and boxes of produce to our students, an asshole got in and stole my bag. There is a silver lining to this though; my bag was found a few days later in a campus dumpster almost intact, and not trashed. Items stolen: money ($15 and some change); a transit card, hand sanitizer, and my phone. I'm guessing since I'm such a 'nice lady' at work, whoever stole my shit felt bad when he/she realized who they nabbed. In any case, I had to get a new phone. Replaced a few cards, even though there was no bogus activity on any of them.
* My cat was great just two days ago; now, she's sluggish and not eating much. She's also responsible for a few of the puddles in the bathroom now, and I can't smell her pee. Granted she's 18 years old, but still... I don't want to lose her.
I almost forgot, but Christmas is in 2 days, and I really don't give a crap about it.
November 17, 2022
Twit-what?
I don't care for social media. Other than being here on Goodreads, I finally broke down and created a little corner for myself on Twitter.
Since I've started following writers there that I like, bookish folks, history groups, etc., today I see a slew of RIP Twitter hashtags (I have to admit that most of them are OTT funny as hell). With Musk's rapid-fire changes, firings, and just plain weird-ass decision-making, Twitter may just be going the way of the dodo bird. If that's the case, I've been with Twitter for two whole days.
So much for social media.
For what it's worth (shit in Bitcoin), I'm M. F. Hopkins
@MFHopkins1
Since I've started following writers there that I like, bookish folks, history groups, etc., today I see a slew of RIP Twitter hashtags (I have to admit that most of them are OTT funny as hell). With Musk's rapid-fire changes, firings, and just plain weird-ass decision-making, Twitter may just be going the way of the dodo bird. If that's the case, I've been with Twitter for two whole days.
So much for social media.
For what it's worth (shit in Bitcoin), I'm M. F. Hopkins
@MFHopkins1
September 24, 2022
Current Word Count...
... 182,300 words!
Still in the early stages of John's story (Penemuel). I've introduced his future love interest--Alyse--and now sending him and Aiden to the Mid East to discover some Dead Sea Scrolls.
This book is slow-going, but I'm enjoying the ride!
Still in the early stages of John's story (Penemuel). I've introduced his future love interest--Alyse--and now sending him and Aiden to the Mid East to discover some Dead Sea Scrolls.
This book is slow-going, but I'm enjoying the ride!
August 8, 2022
International Cat Day
Today -- August 8th -- is International Cat Day. How sweet!
August 6, 2022
Sinful Secrets and Dark Desires
Since I can't add a cover to a book that doesn't have an ISBN number yet, I'm placing it here for now.
(This is for the ebook version)
I'm not techy AT ALL, but I like how this turned out. It's good, coming from me.
In any case, it'll be FOREVER before I get around to finishing the damned book. LOL
image:
Now, back to writing Angelo II.
(This is for the ebook version)
I'm not techy AT ALL, but I like how this turned out. It's good, coming from me.
In any case, it'll be FOREVER before I get around to finishing the damned book. LOL
image:
Now, back to writing Angelo II.
June 11, 2022
Oh my God... How deep of a hole did I dig?
While adding more bullet points to my Penemuel outline, I've realize that in addition to doing some research on the Dead Sea Scrolls, I also have to do the following:
* Get some info/background on Chronicle Books. John's company, Peacock Publishing, puts out many beautiful, one-of-a-kind books, like Chronicle.
* I don't know jack on how to care for long locks/twists, so I need to learn. John now wears his hair long.
* With the later changes in Heaven, I'll need to create a new angelic hierarchy.
* Create John’s love interest! Name? Who is she? Her background? All I know for now is that she’s Black, and besides her love of books and research, she makes handmade Black folk dolls as a hobby. John makes handmade art papers and does bookbinding for fun. So... I'll need to do a little research on doll-making and paper-making and bookbinding.
What the hell is wrong with me?
* Get some info/background on Chronicle Books. John's company, Peacock Publishing, puts out many beautiful, one-of-a-kind books, like Chronicle.
* I don't know jack on how to care for long locks/twists, so I need to learn. John now wears his hair long.
* With the later changes in Heaven, I'll need to create a new angelic hierarchy.
* Create John’s love interest! Name? Who is she? Her background? All I know for now is that she’s Black, and besides her love of books and research, she makes handmade Black folk dolls as a hobby. John makes handmade art papers and does bookbinding for fun. So... I'll need to do a little research on doll-making and paper-making and bookbinding.
What the hell is wrong with me?
May 1, 2022
The Dead Sea Scrolls.
It's time to do some research on the Dead Sea Scrolls for Penemuel/John's story. The reasoning will become evident as his story rolls along towards the end.
Angelo II current word count: 178,575.
Angelo II current word count: 178,575.
April 24, 2022
An Angelo II snippet of info.
This novel is comprised of four interconnecting novelettes/novellas, with each one featuring a different couple (angel male/human mate). Half of the couples are mixed pairs, and all are American:
Book One: Chazaqiel
Features Charles ‘Chaz’ Arashi (Japanese) and Fenella Logan (Scottish)
Pet: Goldie, a Golden Retriever/Pit Bull mix
Book Two: Ramiel II
Features Raymond Vleugels (Dutch/Danish) and Carolina Mercado (Tejana)
Book Three: Dashiel
Features Dashiell Stone (White/presumed Celtic heritage) and David Andersen (Norwegian)
Pet: Buddy, a huge B&W short-haired tuxedo cat
Book Four: Penemuel II
Features John Peacock (Black) and as yet, an unnamed woman, who will also be Black
Book One: Chazaqiel
Features Charles ‘Chaz’ Arashi (Japanese) and Fenella Logan (Scottish)
Pet: Goldie, a Golden Retriever/Pit Bull mix
Book Two: Ramiel II
Features Raymond Vleugels (Dutch/Danish) and Carolina Mercado (Tejana)
Book Three: Dashiel
Features Dashiell Stone (White/presumed Celtic heritage) and David Andersen (Norwegian)
Pet: Buddy, a huge B&W short-haired tuxedo cat
Book Four: Penemuel II
Features John Peacock (Black) and as yet, an unnamed woman, who will also be Black
Book Three: Dashiel... is done!
After working on it for two years at a snail's pace, Dashiell and David's story is done!
Now, on to the final book of Angelo II -- Book Four: Penemuel II. As this will be the story that gives John his props while tying everything together, I'm hoping -- praying -- that I don't take two years to finish it.
Current word count: 178,500!
Now, on to the final book of Angelo II -- Book Four: Penemuel II. As this will be the story that gives John his props while tying everything together, I'm hoping -- praying -- that I don't take two years to finish it.
Current word count: 178,500!
