Around the Block, Episode 1: Meet the Girls!

Just like any other street, you'll find ordinary people doing ordinary things.  Loads of hardened laundry. Washing stacks of dishes. Combing their plasticized hair. Picking at putrid scabs. You know, the usual daily activities of life.

But not here. Nestled between Al and Bruce's Bushwhacking Salon and Paula's Pampered Pet Boutique, you'll find number 17 Ash Street. It's the home of two gals just eating up life... and occasionally a box of chocolates...

Meet Joan. She's single, vibrant, sassy, and spunky. She shares her brick brownstone with her bestie, Kathy.  Joan lives a curler-free life with one mission... Retire!
Although she has her days, for the most part, she's pounding the sidewalk. Checking out the art. Checking out the theatre. Checking out the hotties.  And occasionally, reading the best seller on a rainy day. But when that sun shines bright, she's out and about.





Meet Kathy, Joan's roommate. Shy, modest, quiet and your typical American girl.  Often mistaken as lesbian lovers due to the large number of cats seen hanging around, Joan and Kathy are nothing of the sort.  In fact, they both dating hotties.
Running, walking the dog, being carefree, Kathy doesn't have time to pick her nose. Kathy works at the local coffee shop, serving hot toddies to hot bodies.  She's often out and about with Joan on the town.

Down around the corner on Block Street lives "Cat Woman"... Aka Jackie.  She got that nickname by the jumpsuits she wears.  In all honesty, she prefers dogs.  Often the leader of the pack, Cat Woman is always on the prowl.  Joan and Kathy adore her. She's hip. She's always up for drinks. She's also doesn't shed fur which makes cleaning up easy.









Together this trio makes the world fall to their feet.  Make the hearts of many men go pitter-patter while sending a few to early graves. They're just three girls out on the town...










Meanwhile, down the street...
The "Text M for Murder" Detective Club had just finished their weekly meeting.  The mystery of the week: The Strange Case of Lawrence L. Lawrence.  A bizarre case of a murdered year-round nudist found, fully-dressed including hat and scarf, outside of a Tito's Turkish bath and candy shop.

How I Lost Everything in the Post-House-Buying Depression.

What was that? Was that the furnace? Or the hot water heater?  Hmmm... Has that spot always been there? Where is that smell coming from?  Why is this toilet moving?  And oh dear god, who planted English ivy that never dies?  Where do I turn off the gas in case of post-earthquake disaster?  And for heavens sake, who thought that red would be the perfect color for the kitchen walls?!

You've been there at some point in time. Living with these types of questions. Possibly when you were a first-time home owner. That mental exhaustion that creeps up on you. I've named it "New House Paranoia." It really hit me the moment I realized I could no longer call a landlord to come and fix it.  I was now the landlord. And I'm not sure how well I would fare.  And I was sure that I would lose my mind. And my savings.

Of course this led to combing over the finances.  So long to the "Sunday Morning Trip to Starbucks" funds. I'll just filter that into the savings.  So long to the "over-priced, poor-customer-service Internet" expenditure line.  And how about those Porterhouse steaks.  Now it's the economy-sized package of frozen chicken breasts.

When it comes to repairs or replacements, for some odd reason, I have one figure stuck in my head. $5,000.  No matter what it is.  It is going to cost me 5 grand.  Need a new furnace.  That'll be $5,000. Need a new hot water heater.  Add on another $5,000.  Damn, that drawer handle in the kitchen that just broke... Well, it's gonna break the bank...  There goes 5,000 smackaroos.  Where did I ever get this notion that everything would cost that much?

Buying my first home was a major move for me.  I still haven't convinced myself that it was the right thing to do, but it was certainly a leap of faith.  Personally I would have preferred a leap of faith that would have landed me somewhere near a sandy warm beach with rolling ocean waves.  Maybe next time, but until then I'll have to skip merrily along.

Regardless, the people who find this the funniest are my long-time-home-owning friends.  I think they may be having too much fun sitting back and watching the newbie on the block fret over it. Ahhh... just like that new car smell, that "new house paranoia" will subside... At least I hope...  I better knock on some wood just in case... Damn... knocked too hard... Now that's going to cost me 5,000 bucks to fix.

Goodbye money.  Goodbye savings.  Goodbye sanity.

CSM

My New Writing Space

Looking back over last year blog posts, it's no wonder that I only wrote a few of them.  I didn't get anywhere near my goal.  I should have been cranking them out every other day.  Let's face it.  The year 2017 was the biggest year of change since probably 2013. I have a new job, a new car, and a new house.  But just as important, I have a new lease on life.
As I sit here in my new office space, trying to get the mojo on or get in the mood or find my new voice...  I feel different.  I look around and see a very similar set-up.  The computer is on my desk.  The shelves above are filled with souvenirs from my travels and gifts from very old and dear friends. Inspirational framed art is hanging on the wall.  But there's that one part... The mojo that hasn't quite set in.  That little part that says "Hey, this is your writing space now.  Get crackin'.  Hmmm... I wonder if they make a sort of Viagra for writers to get their groove back or get their words on.  I'm digressing.
I feel different as a writer and I'm not sure how.  Maybe I just needed the long break to refill my imagination.  To let life fill me up. Or may I just have to get back to drinking wine again.  Whatever it is, I feel different.  Part of it is the new space.  I've not taken the time to sit and write.  To be in the space.  To feel that desk chair's hard seat... And boy do I mean hard seat.  Dear god, my ass is starting to hurt already.  Maybe I've lost my writer's butt.  I can work on that.

One thing for sure that I know I don't have is writer's block. You've all heard of it.  Writers who have mental constipation.  They sit there waiting for a movement day after day.  Hoping for something to break loose and let it all flow.  I don't have that.  I have plenty to write about.  You haven't heard the toilet story or the one I call "I am David.  See me pack this moving van."  Or there's the one about being told that a man died in my new house... right where my coffee table sits.  Oh, and how about the prostitute red paint on the kitchen walls.  So many layers of paint to cover that up.  And I can't forget about the last dating adventure...  I've named that story "He's 26 going on 17."  I have totally got to set that one to the cadences to the songs of The Sound of Music.
No matter what the reason, it is time to break in the new writing space and let the words roll.  I have so many ideas...  Oh wait... I can't forget this...  I want to make my blog more illustrated.  I did it with some of the family research, but I know I've got fans out there just waiting for more Lego stories -- The Further Adventures of Joan and the gang.  It was something I did on Instagram, but I so want to do them on here.
Look at me... Just busting at the seams with ideas.  Just gotta get the ball rollin'.

CSM

Marmaduke Scott of Pasquotank County, North Carolina, Part 3

Here a Child, There a Child...

Marmaduke Scott married Miriam Jackson... daughter of Simon Peter and Mary Jackson... on December 30th, 1789. (If they were alive today, they could celebrate their 228 wedding anniversary.)

More importantly, that means we can get a good sense of just how many people were in the family in the 1790 census.  From what I see, in the Marmaduke Scott household, we have one male over the age of 16 and two females.  Obviously the male has to be Marmaduke.  And one of the females has to be Miriam, but who is that second female? Perhaps a daughter who could possibly be a month or two old, meaning she was born in 1790.  The census was taken on or about August 7th, 1790.  About eight months. On the other hand, she could have been somebody's mother, aunt, sister, niece, or a vagrant off the street. But judging by the 1800 and 1810 censuses, I think this person may have been a daughter.

Marmaduke also had a son with Miriam -- Harvey, who was born after the census.  He was born in 1791.  He would be the "one male under 10" in the 1800 census and "one male 10-15" in the 1810 census.  (Harvey went on to marry Keiza/Keziah/Kesia/Kesiah Clark.  I'm still thinking about a seance to get the correct spelling of her name... if she's willing to chat.  They would move to Indiana and have kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and so forth, and eventually I show up in there.)  But I digress...

Back to the census...  According to the research from my previous post, Miriam died in the mid-1790s, like around 1794 or 1795, and Marmaduke remarried Mary Polly Jackson and had several children. So, by 1800, the household looks different.  To start... more children.

In the 1800 census, the household of Marmaduke includes -- one male under 10 (Harvey) and one male 26-44 (Marmaduke); 3 females under 10, 1 female 26-44 (Mary Polly), and one female 45+.
And by the 1810 census, you find one male under 10, one male 10-15 (Harvey), and one male 45+ (Marmaduke); 3 females under 10, 2 females 10 -15, one female 16-25, one female 26-44 (Mary Polly), and one female 45+.

Now... Let's chat about the second female from the 1790 census.  If you peruse the 1790, 1800, and 1810 household make up, you will see 3 females in 1800.  I can account for two of them from the estate files.  One could be exactly 10, being born in 1790...  Add 10 years for the 1810 census, you've got someone who's 20... and in that census, there is someone who falls into the 16-25 range.  I can't look any further because Marmaduke died in 1813 (with not one person in his estate papers to match that enumerated female) and Mary Polly died in 1820 and since that enumerated female wasn't her daughter, there is no reason for her to appear in the estate papers.

So, did that female die?  Did she marry?  At this point, I don't know.

The second female in the 1790 census could be the female who appears in the 1800 and 1810 census as being over the age of 45.  It could be Miriam's mother. Or it could be Marmaduke's mother. Or someone else.  I'm pretty sure that it's not Mary Polly's mother.

The bottom line is that there is nothing that I have found to give better insight.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.  Zilch.  So if anyone out there can help, email me... please...

Whew!  That's enough info for the moment.

CSM