The ghost has no home

Yesterday was Auntie April’s birthday. I wished a Happy Birthday to her urn, which rests on the fireplace downstairs. J. got in yesterday, so I finally got to meet him. I was a little nervous beforehand, but not as soon as I met him. He’s very down-to-earth and has a Continental charm and we were all laughing within minutes of meeting. I had really good sashimi for lunch, because we went to Costco for grocery shopping in the morning before J. got in. It came to $1100, including a $540 case of Veuve Clicquot champagne, cousin’s preferred brand. (He says he likes Cristal too, but Dom Perignon is gross. He’s like me in this respect: it doesn’t matter how much something costs or how high it ranks as a status symbol, if it doesn’t taste good, that’s all we base our opinion on.) So we should be set with food for a while, especially since I’ve whittled down my eating to one big meal and a couple snacks per day. (Staying slim!) Nice and sunny yesterday at last, too. My Ben Whishaw portrait number one (“Her Beautiful Son” is the title) has become quite nice indeed since I started over on it. I’m almost to the point of adding text, which is the last thing. Alex Grey says somewhere that a work of art made with love and spiritual intentions will radiate love and warmth to those who view it, so that’s what I’m going for with this painting. I want to see if people will sense that from it, even if they’re not crazy for the subject like I am. I’ve started on the second BW portrait as well. J. said if he had to guess my nationality and didn't know me he would say I was English, otherwise possibly Dutch (because I'm so tall and, formerly, blond). This meshes well with my increasing anglophile sentiment. J. also said there will be lots of opportunity for me in San Francisco (jobs, love, creative outlets, etc). I spoke with Mother yesterday, and broke the news gently that she will probably have to get her own urn, since Auntie April isn’t going to be giving hers up any time soon. Cousin says we'll go on a drive and visit various abandoned places, which there are a lot of here. I love old houses and buildings that used to belong to people and have now been reclaimed by nature. They are ghostly in a good way. I'll take photos.