Monthly Archives: May 2018

Bravo TV, Reality TV

#SouthernCharm: Rumors of a Ravenel Firing

According to Amy Feinstein of Inquistr.com, rumors are flying about a Thomas Ravenel firing from the Bravo show Southern Charm. It’s been a tough time for one gossip site that’s been chomping at the bit and working overtime to malign TRav’s sexual assault accusers and paint him in a favorable light. They are quite unique in this regard as others are believing the women alleged to have been victimized by Ravenel.

However, online observers have noted that the above-referenced curmudgeons of the reality TV gossip site have shifted focus to other reality characters, perhaps knowing the Ravenel story is now beyond resuscitation.

As Amy Feinstein writes: Bloggers and commentators on social media have declared that Thomas has been fired from Southern Charm. However, as of now there has been no official announcement from Bravo or from Haymaker productions.

Developing story. Stay tuned.

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Bravo TV, Reality TV, Television

#SouthernCharm: More from Luzanne Otte Who BRIEFLY Dated Thomas Ravenel

Since my last post about Southern Charm, I have had certain haters come out of hiding. (Last post: https://wordpress.com/post/shirasgotthescoop.com/482) These are not people I know IRL (as the kids say, the abbreviation for “In Real Life”), so it’s alright for the most part. These are the types of individuals who use cartoons of animals as profile pics and pseudonyms to protect their real identities. They’ve made sure to rub it in that there is no longer a Huffington Post Contributor platform for the 100k writers who were on it. Some of them even claim to be responsible for the Huffington Post no longer having that platform – they say it’s because of a Housewives show on Bravo that I reviewed unfavorably. Now THAT would be quite a feat if it were true! Instead it’s laughable to think that a small group objecting to some show recaps I wrote sank an entire platform of 100K writers.

Simultaneously, there have been so many clues that actually STARE YOU IN THE FACE so you know exactly who these people – these “trolls” – are. It’s clear that the folks who are now tweeting about me since I interviewed Luzanne either work for Thomas Ravenel or conduct some pro-bono activity on his (and his girlfriend Ashley Jacobs’) behalf.

In other news, today there were questions raised by bloggers as to whether Luzanne was auditioned for the show Southern Charm. Luzanne swears to me that because of her insane 9-5 job working for the archdiocese and an overall lack of desire to be on television, she was clear about it never working out in a million years when Patricia Altschul and Thomas alluded to the possibility.

Tamara Tattles wrote this great piece in support of Luzanne. However, she also questioned whether Luzanne auditioned for the show: http://tamaratattles.com/2018/05/24/my-post-about-the-luzanne-otte-situation/. I respectfully agree to disagree on certain topics with Tamara Tattles, but I commend her on her overall support of and belief in Luzanne Otte who became an unwitting victim of salacious (and false) website gossip. Her article was well-written.

I asked Luzanne today about the whole notion of “auditioning” for the show and here is exactly how she responded to me:

“Not at all. I thought Thomas was trying to become a better man and looking for a strong woman to help him get there. I really thought he’d turned over a new leaf. It wasn’t until sitting with Pat and Thomas when I kept saying I wouldn’t be on the show, then the look on his face and not hearing me that I realized he may be looking for a woman to redeem himself. ‘Look I’ve got this debutante, church lawyer, friend of Pat’s who likes me.’ But the fact of the matter is, even if I didn’t object to reality TV, I love my job and need a job to pay my bills.”

On a related note, FitsNews.com recently reported that Thomas Ravenel has been in a depressed, anxious and highly agitated state since the sexual assault allegations came to light (Luzanne’s disclosure – let the record state – was NOT at all sexual in nature. She spoke of  a Jekyll and Hyde switch from sweet by day to volatile at night). Sources in Charleston and others in the know, tell me exclusively that he’s been fretting significantly since the interviews with Luzanne ran yesterday and the day before. He’s been trying to figure out the best ways to do some damage control, say these sources.

As for the sexual assault allegations and the resulting “investigation,” at this point we are waiting for an update from Charleston Police. Sources in the know tell me that Bravo has stated: What a reality TV personality does off camera is none of their concern.

I sincerely hope that those sources have gotten it all wrong here: Rape (as Nanny Dawn alleges in the statement she brought to the Charleston PD) is something to take with extreme gravity. Bravo is part of NBC Universal, so it seems ironic to me that Matt Lauer was so quickly dismissed from the network when more serious accusations currently plague Thomas Ravenel. We think of all the men who were immediately let go during this #MeToo and #TimesUp era: Mario Batali, Charlie Rose, Kevin Spacey and so many, many more. See this list: https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/sexual-misconduct/weinstein-here-s-growing-list-men-accused-sexual-misconduct-n816546 .

I’m happy that after months of being unjustly maligned by gossip sites (allegedly ones that ate up sordid tales fed to them by TRav and Ashley), Luzanne Otte has had a chance to finally clear her name. I hope she can get back to the private life she so desperately craves.

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Cults

#NXIVM: Time for Major Media to Focus On 1)Nursery Schools 2)Mysterious Deaths

kristin snyder

FRANK REPORT, Kristin Snyder was reported missing and she was in a lesbian relationship. However, it was reported that she may have been pregnant with Keith Raniere’s child when she went missing. Although her body was never found, her death was ruled a suicide.

While the national news is most focused on the sexual slavery (DOS) division of NXIVM, I have written before about Rainbow Cultural Garden, a chain of daycares/nursery schools that focus on extreme language immersion in a matter recommended by no linguistic or child development expert. The New York Times, if you are reading by some miracle: I think this is something you really need to explore a bit more.

Not only are underage women being recruited for DOS, but apparently Rainbow has recruited women from other countries illegally, who have no teaching degrees to be the teachers at these centers. So there is no confusion here: These women – “nursery teachers” – are also said to be recruited for DOS, servicing Keith Raniere sexually and with menial tasks when they’re not confusing tots by speaking 7 different languages to them simultaneously. This type of “immersion” doesn’t end up working and the children are said to speak in confusing babbles, not to mention have extreme attachment issues with their parents since the daycare hours are exorbitantly long and time with parents is restricted. Also, during the time language teachers work with kids, the parents are instructed not to speak with their offspring. I don’t need to tell you that Keith has no training in child development and there is nothing documented in peer review studies about this ass-backward methodology.

And on the subject of Keith Raniere’s methodologies in general: There have been some suspicious deaths tied to NXIVM. Two top women in the organization reportedly perished quite young of cancer, but like Scientology, Keith’s belief in the power of the mind to cure the body overrode his desire to get these women true medical intervention. In addition to those deaths, one woman who wrote a note about being brainwashed and unable to think, feeling dead inside, went missing and since she was never found, her death was ruled a suicide. Another woman was a victim of statutory rape at the hands of Raniere and after being missing for a while, she was found with a bullet to her head. Although that death was also ruled a suicide rather than a murder, experts say it’s very uncommon for a woman to commit suicide by shooting a bullet through her own head and too many suspicious circumstances preceded her demise. On the night she went missing, some very thin women ranging in age were seen outside her house, presumably they had visited to speak with her. The theory goes that these were Raniere groupies/NXIVM members and lord only know what they said to her. The women were characteristically skinny because NXIVM ladies are reportedly forced to adhere to an 800 calorie a day diet and encouraged to run for exercise.

The treatment of young children and the suspicious deaths connected to NXIVM are something I hope major media will focus on more. The Frank Report by Frank Parlato has a lot more details and information. I encourage you to read his website: FrankReport.com

 

 

 

 

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Bravo TV

#SouthernCharm: “I NEVER Wanted to Be a Part of the Storyline” Says Luzanne Otte

If you are a fan of the Bravo show Southern Charm and you’ve read some of the more salacious – and completely outrageous – reports, you may recognize the name Luzanne Otte. However, Luzanne is pretty adamant that she never wanted you to know her name at all. No, she really did not intend to be a part of this in the least.

She agreed to date Thomas Ravenel because she is a friend of the show’s matriarchal character Patricia Altschul who was intent on this match. It took much prodding from Patricia to convince Luzanne that the former felon had turned over a new leaf. As a Christian, Luzanne desperately wanted to be compassionate and forgiving and to see Thomas in the new light that Patricia apparently saw him (As we now know, Patricia also has changed her tune and perception of Mr. Ravenel since filming of the current season wrapped). She decided to get to know him, but unlike some reports you may have read, she was never his “girlfriend.” They merely dated for one week.

Luzanne reflects upon that week in which she dated the show’s playboy, now under investigation for sexual assault allegations, as a “blip” in time. Unfortunately, that blip would come back to bite her in the ass when Thomas’s jealous girlfriend Ashley Jacobs began desperately poking around, determined to figure out why Southern Charm cast mates disliked her so much.

I connected with Luzanne because I would frequently see the articles in which she was maligned, where one set of allegations would quickly be followed by another and I was able to recognize she was an unwitting victim of clearly concocted tabloid tales. Through our conversations, I would determine that here was a timid woman trying to avoid the public eye rather than running toward it. In this regard, she held out for as long as she could, remaining admirably tight-lipped for many months. When we spoke initially, it was off the record and Luzanne and I had connected for very personal reasons.

Last year, like Luzanne, I found myself the subject of some insane tweets and read things about myself that were completely false. For me, it was because I had criticized a reality TV personality in recaps of a show. I wrote about the experience for my Huffington Post blog around last Christmas and Luzanne read that article. It resonated with her (months later) in light of what she was experiencing and as soon as we connected, she let me know. We instantly bonded over how insane reality television can get behind the scenes – It is a surreal phenomenon and hard for others to even fathom, but yes, it happens.

Luzanne told me that the only press she ever desired in life was a birth announcement followed by one for marriage, ending with one for death with no headlines in between. She now regrets ever dating someone who is on reality TV and swears she will never do so again. Her day job is completely incompatible with the reality television lifestyle and she looks at being on these types of shows (and the attention it brings) as her “worst nightmare.” She even advised Thomas to get off the show to focus on his turbulent personal life.

The two of us have spoken for a few weeks now and Luzanne never wanted to go public in defending her name. Unfortunately, as Ashley Jacobs spoke more and more about Luzanne (in Instagram Live posts, on the podcast The Morning Toast and quite often to a reality TV fan site), Luzanne felt compelled to break her silence. Today, The Daily Mail published an interview with her. In order to garner headlines, they focused on the fact that she is a childhood friend of Kim Kardashian’s. Luzanne tells me that she greatly wishes they had left out that one detail. Had they done so, it would have accurately reflected her desire to be a private person rather than one seeking the lime-light. However, the website chose to include it because one of Ashley Jacobs’ claims is that Luzanne desires fame. Furthermore, Ashley has cited Luzanne’s friendship with Kim K to attest to that (mis-)characterization.

Luzanne tells me that the unwanted attention she is receiving has caused her much anxiety and stress. Her father is unwell and a troll account on Twitter was created in order to mock her father as well as malign her. (I really hope that Ashley Jacobs realizes all of this does not reflect well upon her.)

Luzanne says she came forward now to help the women who spoke out about sexual assault by Thomas Ravenel, women who seemed frustrated and hurt by the experience and the response of others in the aftermath. She is also speaking out because she felt that she has no choice but to clear her name after months of being slandered. Despite a Cease and Desist and her pleas for the attention to stop, the smear campaign against her continues. She had hoped to resolve all of this privately and those efforts were for naught. She had absolutely no choice but to opt for her very last resort, something she had hoped to avoid all-together: Going public in order to state the truth, give the background and the facts.

Following is an interview that my friend Amy Feinstein conducted with Luzanne Otte for FitsNews.com. It gives you the full scoop on the reality show behind the reality show, the character who did not sign up to be a part of it and what she experienced: https://www.fitsnews.com/2018/05/22/amy-feinstein-interviews-luzanne-otte-about-her-experiences-with-thomas-ravenel/.

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Uncategorized

#NXIVM: “They Tried To Recruit My 17 Year Old Daughter”

Katherine Wall recently contacted me when she saw I was writing about NXIVM. I had done so for Huffington Post and FitsNews and I have weighed in here on this little blog that could that’s chugging along. Brandon Porter, the physician who allegedly conducted fright experiments creeped on his old school friend’s Facebook account and sent her some overly friendly messages in an attempt to recruit her 17 year old daughter – presumably to the DOS division – first connecting her To Allison Mack.

Wall tells me exclusively:

“I was surprised to hear from him, as we hadn’t spoken in years. I was honestly flattered that he thought of my daughter, but yes, then it got uncomfortable. I watched the videos but didn’t research beyond that; honestly it was always a no bc of the money.

I definitely got to the point where I felt like he was bordering on inappropriate which is why I wrote the message- hey let’s focus on the now, you have a beautiful wife/kids, etc.

Retrospectively it is terrifying. My daughter is a gorgeous woman; tall, blonde, model like. I never assumed that a childhood friend from Iowa would have such nefarious intentions.”

I immediately put Katherine Wall through to Frank Parlato, the NXIVM whistle-blower deserving of first dibs on any story related to the cult. Here are the details of Wall’s weird correspondence with Brandon Porter courtesy of The Frank Report (by Frank Parlato):

How Dr. Porter and Allison Mack worked to recruit a teenage girl to the sex slaver cult of NXIVM

May 19, 2018

Constantly on the lookout to recruit fresh young women for NXIVM, Dr. Brandon Porter – recently notorious for his human fright experiments on woman – reached out to a childhood friend who, it so happened, had a 17 year old daughter. He hadn’t spoken with Katherine in probably 20 years. In December 2014, he sent her a Facebook message.

[My notes are in brackets and bold]

[Dr. Porter wrote to Katherine on Dec. 10, 2014]

Katherine,

Long time, no chat! I don’t know if you feel this way, too, but because I read your Facebook posts, I feel closer to you than I probably should. I tend to think about your posts and you become a part of my life in that way.

So, on that note, I was just thinking about a string of posts about your daughter, Jane, and her acting. I’d like to invite her to take a fairly exclusive acting class that I’m taking. It is taught by a friend of mine, Allison Mack (she was Cloe on “Smallville”),and designed by a guy [Keith Raniere] I do research with. I have talked with the professional actors who are taking the course and they say the course has tools for acting they have never experienced before and these tools help them build deep characters quickly and reveal aspects to acting they hadn’t considered in their whole career.

In my experience, the class includes life skills (like building wisdom) that I want my daughter to have and don’t exist any place else, to my knowledge. This is when I thought of you and Jane. The class is 5 weeks long and is from January 25 to March 1. There is also a slower version that meets 3x per week and this runs from January 25 to April 5. The classes are outside of Albany, NY in Clifton Park and Troy.

I hope this note finds you doing well! I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully talking more!

-Brandon

[His message came from out of the blue.]

Katherine wrote:

Whoa! Brandon Porter! What a pleasure to hear from yoU!

Katherine

Your message was awesome, SO great for you to think of Jane!

Brandon:

She looks like an amazingly wonderful human being!

Katherine

She is a crazy talented girl, so much more talented than I ever was…

A challenge to parent, don’t let facebook posts fool you, but she is great!…

Brandon:

… How old is she?

Katherine

17

Brandon:

We have an 18 year old taking the acting curriculum right now. He has matured quite a bit.

Katherine

So wait, where are you living? Albany?

Brandon:

Yep.  Smallbany, as the locals call it. I live in the suburbs, Waterford/Clifton Park.

Where in California are you?

Katherine:

… We are in Redlands, it is about an hour east of LA…right along the San Bernardino mountains…we actually live in Loma Linda…

Brandon:

I have heard of Loma Linda. I am taking the acting course because the philosophy is that actors represent the true humanitarians. Ideally, actors can accept all aspects of humanity….

Katherine:

…  this is so awesome. I would love for her to do it but not sure how it would ever be possible… there’s that pesky living across the country along with the whole obligatory high school thing…

Brandon:

… Would she be interested in doing it this summer?… We could let her live at our place, probably.

Katherine

Wow, what a generous offer! she is a delightful person…

Katherine

Summer would probably work better…maybe if you could connect us with your friend Allison we could chat…

Brandon:

I’m sure she would love to talk with you guys.

Katherine

… I haven’t talked to you in SO long…not sure we even talked much IN high school…lol… but besides FB I really don’t stay in touch with any of those folks…  I am just recalling you as tall, blonde, swimmer, super smart… guess it doesn’t surprise me that you became a thoughtful and successful human being…

Brandon:

That is sweet of you to say. I’m still working on not being an arrogant son-of-a-bitch. Hahahaha. I still remember how much we used to joke with each other in English class in 6th grade. Or was it 8th grade.

I don’t remember….

Katherine:

Oh dear! I have done my best to blank out middle school and high school entirely…

You should feel blessed that I remember you were a swimmer!

Brandon:

Hahahaha. I feel blessed….. I remember you lived on the same street I lived on when I was 2 years old and I walked over to your house with the intention to say hi, but wimped out….

Katherine

hahahaha! oh dear! I remember meeting you at Waveland tennis courts to talk… in like 6th grade…

Brandon:

So, you do remember!

Katherine

just that moment… I was pretty smitten I believe… but it quickly passed! ha!

Brandon:

Me, too.

Katherine

awwwwww, adorable!….

Brandon:

I know. Those days of hormone were pretty amazing and pretty tough.

[After some exchanges about people they knew, Brandon writes]

When would be a good time for the two of you to talk with Allison. We can try to schedule it in the next few weeks.

Katherine:

Sure! Email works well if you want to connect us that way…. Jane has finals week next week and then kids are off for the holidays, etc..

Brandon:

Will do. I’ll send an email.

[Brandon did not let a few weeks pass. He sent Katherine and Allison an email two days later. BTW I think it curious that Allison’s email is ‘Scout 82’ – for she truly was a scout for Raniere. I wonder she if she brought in 82 young women?]

From: Brandon Porter <brandporter@gmail.com>

Subject: Acting classes

Date: December 12, 2014 at 1:29:03 PM PST

To: Allison Mack <scout82@gmail.com>, and Katherine [email redacted]

Hello Katherine and Allison,

I’m writing to introduce the two of you so you can make some time to talk about the acting program and determine if it would be a good fit for Katherine’s daughter, Jane, and if Jane  would be a good fit for the program.

Katherine,

Allison is a close friend of mine. She started acting professionally at a very early age and does beautiful work. She worked with the guy I am doing research with [Keith Raniere] to design one of the most impressive tool sets around to help people learn short cuts to building deep characters and help people discover how they can use their body as a tool to tell a story. She brings her care and compassion to the course and this really makes the curriculum shine.

I think she will be able to help you and Jane figure out if this is a tool set that would be helpful for Jane.

Allison,

Katherine is a friend of mine from middle school and high school (we actually lived down the street from each other when we were about 1 or 2 years old, then we dated for about 2 weeks or a month in middle school). Her daughter, Jane, is an accomplished actor and is spending a decent amount of her effort in this direction. It excites me to think about a young person like her having these tools. I hope you find her to be a good candidate for taking the program.

If you would like for me to introduce the two of you on Skype, I will make time for this.

Regards,

Brandon

[After receiving the email, Katherine messaged him on Facebook that day]

Katherine:

Ha!!!! I don’t recall that we ever “dated” but I’ll let that slide! Thanks for the email, I’ll look forward to hearing from Allison!

Brandon:

I was in love, so it felt like dating to me.

Thanks for letting it slide.

Katherine:

Oh stop!!! Hindsight is 20/20!

{They chat more about each other’s families.]

[Almost as if she and Dr. Porter were tag teaming Katherine, Allison ‘Scout’ Mack sent Katherine an email that same day.

[Dec 12, 2014; Allison Mack <scout82@gmail.com> wrote Katherine and copied Dr. Porter]

Hey there Katherine.

So lovely to meet [by email]. I always love to know about about my friends’ [Dr. Porter] past… it is so nice when the 2 worlds (old and new) collide.

Thank you for the complimentary intro Brandon, so nice.

I would be more than happy to make time to talk to you about The Acting Program. I will be available starting Sunday. Would you like to make a time?

xo

Allison

[About a week later, Katherine emailed Allison. It is understandable she might do so. Her daughter wants to be an actress. Mack was an actress. She was teaching an acting course. Someone from her home town recommended it. Katherine emailed ‘Scout’ Allison and sent her daughter’s resume. On Dec 20, 2014, Katherine wrote:}

Hi Allison-

Sorry for my delayed response, it has been a crazy week!

We would love to know more about your program. Can you tell us a little bit more about what you do?

Brandon mentioned classes this January but also this summer as a possible option?

Jane is currently weighing her options for this upcoming summer break so any information would be very helpful.

I am attaching her resume for your review. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Thanks-

Katherine

[On the same morning Dr. Porter nudged Katherine.]

Brandon:

Hello Katherine, did you get a hold of Allison?

Katherine:

Hi Brandon! Ironically I just emailed her back!  It was a crazy week here of final exams and holiday prep! Hope  you are doing well!

Brandon:

So funny. Cool. I think you will like her. She is one of my favorite people in the world. Have a great Christmas!

[Allison ‘Scout’ Mack wrote back that same day]

Hey there Katherine.

I’m so glad to hear back from you.

Yes we offer our intensive course 4 times per year. One every season. So there will most definitely be one in the summer.

I would love to chat with you and Jane in person to discuss this further. When would be a good time for you?

We are offering our lowest price right now and it is scheduled to increase on December 24 so if we could speak in the next couple of days we can make sure you receive the lowest price if you want to sign up!!

Let me know your schedule and I will do my best to work around you.

xo

Allison

[A few days passed. On Dec 25, 2014, Katherine wrote Allison about speaking. Allison Mack scout82@gmail.com wrote back the same day]

Yes! I am more than happy to make myself available over the next few days.

When works for you?

xo

Allison

[Katherine did not get back to her right away and they did not meet while Allison was in California. Two months later, {3/01/2015} Katherine messaged Dr. Porter on his birthday]

Katherine:

Hey Brandon I hope you had a wonderful birthday. I just wanted to let you know that Allison and I never ended up connecting…. Thanks again for thinking of Jane, it means a lot!

Brandon:

I had a wonderful day! I’m sorry for not following up with Allison to see if she got in contact with you guys. I’ll see her tomorrow and chat. They just finished teaching another round of the class and people had great experiences. If she is too busy trying to get the classes going and helping run a woman’s organization [Jness maybe DOS in its beginning stages] I can also find one of the other professional actors who can talk with you guys. Would that work for you? I get the sense that the most helpful perspective would be from a professional actor.

Katherine:

Honestly I’m not sure it would work out with timing et al, but feel free to follow up if you would like. I’m kind of hoping Jane will stay around here this summer honestly, but who knows. I’m so glad you had a good day!

A month passed and Dr. Porter initiated a conversation on 3/31/2015]

Brandon:

Hello! Here is the acting class’s website. They have a new video describing it a little more.

http://www.ultimasource.com/ If Jane likes it I’m pretty sure I can get Allison to give her some time.

Katherine:

Hey Brandon! Thanks so much for sharing, I’ll check it out!

Great video for sure!

Brandon:

Yes, I love it! Marc Vicente does good work.

Katherine:

I know the course runs 5 weeks but how often does it meet?…

Brandon:

It meets about 5 days a week with homework in between.

Katherine:

Full time during the day?

Brandon:

I don’t think so, but I will check. Combined with the course is a new type of yoga [exo/eso] and this is about 2 hours at least 3x per week and more if she wants to.

Katherine:

Oh geez just stop! Lol

Brandon:

What do you mean? I’m not joking.

Katherine:

I know you’re not! Did you know Jane adores yoga?

Brandon:

I didn’t.

The people who love yoga love this new training.

Katherine:

So are you underwriting this adventure Dr. Porter? I can only imagine the tuition associated with this!

Brandon:

 it is $8000 or $10,000. More valuable than any acting class she will ever have. It helps her discover herself and gives tools to help her build compassion for whatever parts of herself she is scared to expose. And, then there is the yoga.

Katherine

Wow. That’s…a lot.

Brandon:

It is serious stuff.

Katherine:

Sounds like it! I mean it sounds awesome, I love the approach, the philosophy, the video, etc…

But…

Brandon:

 It is $8000 until April 18.

Katherine

If I had 8K laying around, I’m guessing 10K wouldn’t be much of a stretch! Lol

Brandon:

 $2000 is $2000 is $2000. They have a payment plan available if this is something that you would prefer.

Katherine

The level of faith and confidence you have in me is stunning! Touching! Heart wrenching!

WHY did we not date in high school?! Lol

Brandon:

I don’t know. You never asked me out!

Katherine:

Ha! Ditto!! You didn’t even talk to me! Damn, you could have saved me from my disastrous high school life. Maybe if we DID date, I would have $10K sitting around!!! Or even $8K… that wasn’t otherwise earmarked for things like college…and food!

Brandon:

I think everyone has a disastrous high school life. I barely had my head above water.

Katherine

Do you mean that literally or figuratively? I’m guessing both. Yep, both.

This conversation would be so different in person…

Brandon:

Let’s talk on the phone.  I want to know why you were a cheerleader for the swim team.

Katherine:

Hahaha! So your head WAS above water! Lol  Or you are sitting near your yearbook and you just looked that up.

Brandon:

It was always awkward for me to be wearing almost no clothes standing next to you guys [Cheerleaders].

Katherine

Too funny. I don’t recall that being awkward at all! Lol

Brandon:

You had clothes on.

…

Katherine

Oh dear. Boys in high school are so… sigh.  You’re just trying to woo me out of $10K!  You know you can message me anytime to reflect on the good old days, you don’t need to dangle this carrot to do so!

Brandon:

I’m trying to help you daughter have the best experience of herself she can.

Katherine:

I would love that for her too, believe me, I would love to give her that experience! More than anything!… And if anyone needs it, she does! But we honestly just don’t have the money. It’s pretty simple!

[Brandon Porter then called Katherine on Facebook. She did not answer.]

Katherine

I can’t believe you just called me!!! Lol

Brandon:

I cannot believe you didn’t pick up!

Hahahahaha

Katherine

That has SO many layers to it! SO. MANY!

I hope they are good layers.

Katherine

Oh dear…

Do you have a dirty mind? It wasn’t intended that way. I don’t know what to say now. Did I make your life difficult?

Katherine

I don’t think all layers are bad but there are layers. No, of course you didn’t make my life difficult.

I don’t know what layers are, then.

Katherine

My life IS difficult, or seems to be today, but you didn’t make it that way! How was your day?….

Brandon:

My life is difficult too. It seems like this is the way life is. I’m going to sign my wife up for a $10,000 ethics course that I just took. It was outstanding and I cannot see her living life and raising our kids without it. So funny.  We had dinner out together for the first time in months. It was pretty fun!

Katherine:

Ethics huh? Interesting…

I don’t know where I will get the money, either.

[Ed. note: this is a perfect example of how Executive Success Programs works. A medical doctor who does not know where he can find money to pay for his wife’s courses. Viva Executive Success!]

Katherine:

Where did you have dinner? That sounds delightful, I do hope wine was involved.

Yes. In the end, ethics are about joy.

Katherine

Seems ethics simple for some, complicated for others.

We ate in Saratoga. I had mushrooms and potatoes and she had salmon.

Katherine

Are you a vegetarian?

It hit the spot. She liked her wine. I am a vegetarian

Katherine

And you don’t drink?

I killed a lot of mice doing my PhD and it is a penance of mine. I drink occasionally. I might have taken the lives of 4000 little animals. That is a lot of life. I killed countless bacteria, too. I didn’t take on a penance for that.

Katherine

That makes sense… Wow, 4000. That’s a shitload of mice! Wait, where are you working? Did you tell me and I forgot?

I know. Not quite the mouse Hitler, but I was definitely warming up to earning that title. I’m in Albany, NY. I stay up late.

Katherine

And occasional drinks are good. I’ve had a couple today! Now I know where you live just not what you do, like career wise! Lol

What’s going on with you and your layers? I am a hospitalist for 12 days a month and I research joy and ethics.

[Here Dr. Porter shows us why he may be broke. He only works 12 days a month as a physician. The rest of his time he researches joy and ethics – Bronfman -Raniere style.  That research includes human fright experiments – which may have given him joy, and taught him Raniere ethics – as he frightened young women with his gruesome experiments.]

Katherine

Ignore my layers. Not important. Oh wow, a hospitalist! Do you like that?!

Okeedokee.

I like parts of it….  I get to do a lot of cool things because of my job.

Like take ethics classes and acting classes…. What do you do with the rest of your time?

Are you in Los Angeles?

Katherine

Yoga, cycling, hiking, shuttling kids all over creation! We are about an hour east of LA…

Sounds good! It looks like you like it.

Katherine

Yes, more joy here for sure.

I like it! But taking Jane away from her theatre community sucked.

I like the distinction that joy is not conditional and happiness is conditional. [Raniere-speak]

Katherine

Oooooo, I want to hear more about that.

This [Raniere-inspired] theater crew is going to start making a new type of theater. They will start developing plays that help bring people to important experiences that are common life experiences, but we don’t plan for them. They are pre-experiences. Like end of life care questions. Things like that.

Katherine

Oooooooo….yes.

Let’s chat tomorrow. Do you have time to chat? I think it would be fun.

Katherine

Possibly. Maybe.

How about Thursday?

Katherine

When are you thinking? Time difference is a beast…

Not really. Is morning, afternoon or night best for you? I’m pretty open these next two days.

Katherine

Message me tomorrow… Want to send me some advanced reading on joy and ethics?

Okeedokee smokey. I don’t have much reading. I’ll give you another Web site.

Katherine

That works

www.espian.net

Katherine

I’ll check it out. Just for the record, I won’t have 10K tomorrow either…

Me either!

Katherine

Have a good night!

Katherine

You too, sleep well.

Will do, you too!

[Espian.net -like all Raniere websites has little information]

[The next day Katherine messaged Dr. Porter 4/01/2015]

Katherine

I thought that website would explore and ponder the meaning of joy and happiness in life… but sadly no. Lol. I don’t think I have money for that program either! …. What are you doing today?

I’m doing some research stuff. I’m available to talk right now if you want….  I’m available for the next hour or so. Then, I’ll be available later tonight.

Katherine

What is it that you want to chat about?

I was going to talk with you about the acting class. I can also talk with you about the joy classes if you are interested. I’m also curious about your stint as a cheerleader, but we can save that for a later conversation if you want.

Katherine

Lol, I think the acting/joy classes are moot unfortunately. I cheered for basketball too by the way!

That was much preferable as I recall, but literally a lifetime ago.

I’ll chat with you later!

Katherine

…. I do enjoy chatting with you, but probably best to focus on real grown up life now. And it is a beautiful life you have, yes? Your wife is gorgeous, your kids are adorable, and you have a wonderful job. I bet you are a fabulous practitioner.  I remain intrigued about your theories behind joy and happiness, perhaps we can discuss that at some point…

Yes. Let’s talk about now. Sounds good to me!

Katherine

….At some point…

Cool beans! It’s fun to hear from you. I look fo to hearing your voice.

Katherine

I’m still not sure why, but ok!

[Somehow the two never connected. Maybe because Katherine did not have $8,000 to pay to send her 17 year old daughter to a Raniere-Mack class. Lucky for Katherine and Jane.]

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