Good morning. It is I Gigi the parti poodle here to introduce our blog and to tell you it has been a brutal week. I had terrifying appointments back-to-back. On Tuesday morning I was rudely awakened and whisked off to the groomers where I was bathed, trimmed, buffed, brushed and every horrific thing you can imagine. After it was over I was certain I was done with all the nastiness for the week. And then Wednesday morning, I was snatched up, put in the car and dashed off to the vet. THE VET! I was not ill. I eat healthily and keep myself in good shape. But there I was at the vet. Whilst there in that cold minimalist building, they poked, prodded, snogged and weighed me. I was escorted into the dreaded back room where I was administered shots. Shots that hurt. They also drew blood out of my neck. It was mortifying. All just to be told I was fine and to come back and get my teeth cleaned. TEETH CLEANED? That’s near surgery! They knock me out and when I wake up, I am in unbelievable agony. I was terrified getting my teeth cleaned was on today’s agenda. I mean, why not? I’ve been thoroughly tortured two days in a row, why not make it three? Fortunately, my sarcasm led to nothing. I am writing this in the safety of my home or my palace, as it should be. But just to be safe as soon as I finish this, I am spending the rest of my day hiding under the bed covertly penning my blog story. Until next week, I bid you adieu.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!

STREAM OF THE WEEK: UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE HIGH SCHOOL CATFISH (2025)-NETFLIX

Here is a popular, riveting documentary that plays out like a dark twisted fairy tale. After you reflect on watching it, you’ll know what I mean. Without giving too much away, the story focuses on the first love of a couple of middle school students. Lauryn is a quiet, pretty athlete, and Owen is a likeable more outgoing one. The two are happy and have a lot of fun together. Their parents befriend each other, and everything seems idyllic in the kids’ small-town world.

And then when the young couple enters high school, Lauryn starts receiving angry, vicious text messages from an unknown source. Shortly after, Owen starts to receive angry, vicious text messages as well. Whoever is sending the texts seems to know a lot about the two kids’ lives. Disturbingly so. Suddenly, the texts stop for several months…and then they start up again with the messages becoming more brutal and relentless than before.

Everybody becomes a suspect: fellow students, rivals, teachers, cousins. Paranoia abounds and fingers get pointed at everyone, while the two kids spiral further into despair. The principal is alerted, the police are brought in, and then the FBI is assigned to the case as all of them try to sort out this dirty snowball that continually rolls, grows, and barrels out of control.

Most profoundly is the oddity of the perpetrator. But even more illuminating is how bad humans are at recognizing when someone close to them is mentally ill. And of course, in the end it is technology/science that finds resolution where people fail. Some viewers will find the whole story disturbing, unbelievable, and disgusting. Others will see it as a study in psychology. Although I did not know who the perpetrator was until their reveal, once I did, all the puzzle pieces fell into place. Because the bottom line is trying to apply logic to the actions of a compromised mind is an act of futility. And believing the words of a pathological liar is the folly of fools. Anything they say is up for debate. Overall, I found the film to be a well-executed exercise in predictable human behavior.

After watching the film, you can read this article which may give some insight into the perpetrator’s actions.