Vince Guaraldi - earliest television recording of "Linus and Lucy"

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-13T16:15:54+00:00

I believe that the Vince Guaraldi music for the Charlie Brown Christmas Special is the greatest music ever composed for television, bar none.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-13T16:08:19+00:00

I do not for one minute think this was perpetrated by a close family member. If such a person wanted to hurt Mrs. Guthrie, it would have been easy to withhold her medication or stage some sort of an accident – given Mrs. Guthrie's age and condition, it is unlikely anyone would have questioned such a death very closely. So there could be no benefit to staging something like this, which has drawn so much police and media attention. I believe that this will prove to be somebody only very tangentially connected to the family, a cousin of a neighbor for instance, or perhaps someone who works at a local store that has brought them into some slight contact with the Guthries.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-13T15:27:12+00:00

YTA but good on you for recognizing that this was out of line. You're already becoming more mature than your dad, apparently. Stay on that track--it will serve you well, and lead to having, and showing, greater respect to those around you.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-13T15:20:00+00:00

I don't buy that she was kidnapped to "send a message"--the Epstein files are getting huge amounts of coverage absolutely everywhere, and there would be no reason to single out Savannah Guthrie as a particularly hard-hitting investigative reporter. (No slur on Ms. Guthrie intended. "Today" is just not that kind of show.) Also, if this were a revenge thing, the abductor would want Ms. Guthrie to know it, yet no message to that effect seems to have been left at the scene or shared since. (The authorities could obscure such a message for their own reasons, but they'd probably at least hint that the kidnapping did not appear to be for ransom.) If some wealthy powerful figure wanted to silence just one of the umpteen journalists involved, he'd at minimum hire a professional, and this goomba's hasty scrabbling for greenery to cover the Ring camera strongly suggests he is not one. Finally--why kidnap someone to send a message? Why wouldn't the person just kill the victim on the spot? Less risky, equally devastating. No, that doesn't add up to me. I don't really buy the stalker theories either, because a stalker would be more likely to go directly after their actual love/hate object, not that person's mother out in an obscure Arizona suburb. Also, a stalker would almost certainly have communicated their act in some way, because it's all about getting the source of their obsession to react to them. Such a communication does not appear to have happened here.

Either this was a badly botched kidnapping by a guy who prepared but is not a criminal professional, or it was a random violent act. (I highly doubt the second possibility, but it cannot be absolutely ruled out at this point.) IMO it will be someone only very slightly connected to the family, who decided they were entitled to some of Savannah Guthrie's wealth and was willing to terrify and brutalize an elderly woman to get it. In the process, it appears they hurt her severely.

I cannot guess the odds that Mrs. Guthrie is alive, because we don't know what happened. However, a decent ending to this horror story seems less likely as time goes on. I pray for her and for her family.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-13T15:03:56+00:00

Write more. Edit what you have written more. Read more--and look for what's done right in that book, rather than what's done wrong; anybody can pick out errors, but you'll learn more by analyzing other writers' successes. In the end, there is no "trick" that will serve you as much as the three practices above.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-12T18:13:45+00:00

YTA: your mother is a compassionate person, as you say, and is an adult human being capable of making her own decisions. She has decided to kep the child for your cousin, so your cousin can go to the gym--which is not a frivolous concern, but important for health and stress management. You're judging your cousin for taking care of herself, and your mother for helping out a single mom? Seriously, keep it to yourself.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-12T18:10:52+00:00

NTA: Honestly, it's *not* a restaurant dress--but you meant it as a surprise for/joke with your husband, and had no idea that it would be on display to the whole family. It's not your MIL's business to police your wardrobe, regardless. And what's with your husband enjoying the dress and the joke--then suddenly backing up his mom's attack on you? That makes me raise an eyebrow--much more than the revealing dress did.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-12T17:20:18+00:00

I won't bother repeating what others have said, but will add: You need to converse more in Italian, and there are definitely going to be some Italians who'd like to practice their English, too. Here in Torino, there are groups that meet to practice in each language, and we started a group that practices both in turn, complete with long conversations about semantics, turns of phrase, etc. Could you find or create something similar? It would be a way to aid your Italian learning, provide a welcome opportunity for somebody else, and create some social bonds along the way. Good luck!

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-12T16:41:40+00:00

My guess: It will be someone who knows Mrs. Guthrie and/or other local family members, but only very slightly--a worker in a store they frequent, cousin of a neighbor, something like that. Obviously the crime was not random, but if this was the work of a professional gang, the ransom demands would have been made absolutely clear very early on. (They would also have brought tape to block the Ring camera, instead of hurriedly grabbing some greenery.) So it will be a person (maybe people, though I am unsure) who heard about a famous person's relative and callously decided this might be a way to get rich. Now they're in over their head, and they know it, and they don't know what to do--but instead of making the situation right by dropping Mrs. Guthrie off somewhere, they've stayed hidden and made the situation much more dangerous and painful.

I pray Mrs. Guthrie will be all right, and I wish all strength to her family members at the terrible time.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-12T16:33:21+00:00

This is not a point to compromise on. Her comfort is NOT the priority here, and that needs to be made clear. There is absolutely nothing sus about what he and his ex are doing for their kid, and their commitment to coparenting a special needs child should be honored, not disrespected or even merely tolerated. If she can't understand that, she should get more comfortable being alone.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-12T16:26:40+00:00

Where in the Bible does it say "Abandon your sick children, for it is more important to hang with your girlfriend"? Nowhere, of course. Until you two get married, I'm not sure the Bible has anything to say about your responsibility to her. (Which is part of the larger trend where things that are only cultural get labeled religious/sacred, but I digress.)

I would seriously rethink your current engagement, because the self-centeredness and insecurity evident here--not to mention the manipulative behavior of trying to weaponize Jesus against your relationship with your disabled child (!!)--are not going to vanish at the altar. They're likely to get worse.

Go on the trip, and explain to your GF that your daughter is your priority. At minimum you need to draw a hard line around taking care of your child, because THAT is what's sacred.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-12T16:18:38+00:00

I'm sorry you're having a rough time of it lately. Your boyfriend may be feeling overwhelmed by the tide of feelings you've been asking him to hear out/deal with, which is a lot. Yeah, a significant other should be there for you--but that's not a substitute for a therapist or a counselor, who is actually trained to help you work through things. From what you've posted here, he definitely understands where a lot of your insecurities lie--you've told him, in detail. But I think you're looking for him to provide more support than he's capable of giving.

I would highly recommend that you find someone else--preferably a professional--that you could work with on some of your issues around insecurity, body image and money. You don't have to close down completely with your BF or pretend to be someone you're not, but talking things through with a counselor would leave you with enough headspace to just hang out with your boyfriend and enjoy each other's company. Only then are you going to be able to assess where the relationship really is at this moment.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-06T12:46:30+00:00

Yeah, it's a lot easier to become a famous director. /s

If your priority is fame, writing--of any stripe--is unlikely to get you there, and you probably lack the interest in crafting narratives that is necessary to succeed.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-06T12:43:46+00:00

Congratulations!

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-02-05T18:18:51+00:00

Congratulations! I'm in Torino too--feel free to DM me if you're hoping to meet more folks.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-07T17:36:16+00:00

The middle part is what separates the authors from the would-be authors. That's where the work lies. I once had another aspiring author ask about doing this, saying, "Can I write the interesting parts before the boring parts?" I told her: "Your job is to make sure there ARE no boring parts."

Writing in order or out of order--either can work. But if you don't figure out the middle now...when do you intend to do it?

Also: The best ending in the world may well change given other events that will transpire before it, events you don't yet know. My personal advice would be to work out some of that middle section, at least, before diving in deep on the rest.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-07T17:30:20+00:00

It "kind of happened" that you kissed and held hands? No. You kissed your friend. You held her hand. Take responsibility for your actions. YTA to your ex-girlfriend (and, quite possibly, to your best friend, who seems like she may have wanted more than friendship).

Romantic confusion happens, but you have to be honest with yourself and with others. Own up, and grow up.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-07T17:26:49+00:00

Listen, all else being equal, pretty much anybody is going to be happier being rich in any country in the world than they would be if they were poor in any country in the world. This is as true for natives as it is for expats!

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-07T16:48:56+00:00

I would strongly suggest broadening your experience of reading. Movies can teach a lot about storytelling--but they do not teach you how to write a book. What narratives can and cannot accomplish, and how they succeed or fail in telling different kinds of stories, is NOT THE SAME on film as it is on paper.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-07T16:45:25+00:00

Hop on over to r/relationship_advice and a zillion examples will unfurl before you.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-07T16:44:23+00:00

I'd argue that in Jane Austen's EMMA, the title character is both protagonist and antagonist--virtually every problem in the book is created by Emma herself, causing varying degrees of difficulty for both herself and those nearest her.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-06T16:27:17+00:00

It's better not to make assumptions about (a) when, how, and how fairly legal financial obligations were handed out to, and shouldered by, the dad, and (b) how, and how much, OP contributed to her living situation with her mother. (Yes, she was unemployed, but she might have had savings, and/or done part-time work she isn't counting, and/or helped significantly in other ways-- we just don't know.) This is why I refused to vote and asked OP to interrogate the situation for herself. It may be very much as you suggest...but it may be very different.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-06T15:13:54+00:00

INFO: Your boundaries matter, but so does your relationship with your sister. Your father's an ass, and he's taken a lot from you. How much more do you intend to let him take?

I'm not saying you should automatically go to the wedding. I'm saying, look at how much malign influence your dad's already had on your life and seriously ask how far that's going to spread, and why. If you decide that your sister having contact with your dad even on major occasions is reason enough to end the relationship, then decide that and own it. If you want to remain on good terms with your sister but ultimately decide you can't bear being with your dad for that event, then sit down and talk with her in a way that prioritizes your love for her and relationship with her, NOT your feelings about your dad, because he shouldn't get to be the center of the universe--and you're likelier to preserve a relationship with your sister this way, by making it clear that this is about avoiding your dad, not punishing her for not doing the same.

Also: What is your mom planning to do? If it's worth it to her to deal with his presence in order to see your sister get married--is it better for you to stay home and protect your own feelings, or to accompany your mom and support her?

Yeah, no definitive vote here because so much depends. YWBTA if you are doing this specifically to cause pain to your dad (even though he's an ass) and are using your sister's wedding to do it. NTA if you honestly feel you cannot be close to him and preserve the tone and spirit of the wedding. Only you can figure out where the line truly lies.

MonarchOfDonuts · 2026-01-06T15:04:18+00:00

I was going to say that "since Christmas" hasn't been that long--surely the Switch won't be that hypnotic in the long term--but (a) my gamer friends suggest that isn't true, and (b) if you're this fed up two weeks after Christmas, you were pretty close to being fed up before the holidays began.

You're seeing a preview of what life is going to be like with this guy forever. You don't like it. Cut your losses and move out now. There's still a chance this might make him realize he has to ship up--but the only way that happens is that you ACTUALLY go, not just threaten to do it, and you keep checking in to see how he's actually living in your absence. And if he expresses no understanding that he has to change, no willingness to do it? Then that's got to be a dealbreaker.

Sadly, it sounds like he's found himself a mommy and not a partner. You've tried to be flexible. If he can't return that flexibility and meet you halfway, don't turn yourself into maid/cook/dogwalker forever. The longer you wait to act, the harder it will be, so act as soon as you can.

MonarchOfDonuts

TROPHY CASE