Buster Keaton and Natalie Talmadge

Those of you who follow silent film stars will know that Natalie Talmadge and Buster Keaton were married for several years and had two sons. There is a bit of mystery and controversy over their relationship and their divorce. Natalie is from a famous film family, and they apparently had a lot of influence over her and her relationship with Buster.
Anyway, I have a theory on Natalie's divorce from Buster. Buster and Natalie were married in 1921. Their first son was born in 1923 and their second son was born in February 1924. After the birth of the second son, Natalie's two famous movie star sisters, Norma and Constance Talmadge, along with their mom Peg, told Nat that unless she wanted to be pregnant every year she and Buster needed to sleep in separate beds. So Nat told Buster that it would be better if he slept in another bedroom. Then, Mother Peg told Buster that it would be better if he would have discreet affairs instead of having sex with his wife. I believe Buster and Natalie were very much in love even with no sex in their marriage. So, Buster had a series of affairs all through the 1920's.
I think Natalie started making her plans in 1930. That year, the Keatons got a bonus from M-G-M of $10,000 and a trip to Europe. Buster and Natalie's marriage was getting shakey so Louis B. Mayer sent the Keatons to Europe on the honeymoon that they never had when they first got married.
The first thing was an incident in Buster Keaton's dressing rooms on the Metro lot. The story has different versions, but the same outcome. An unknown actress either had a bet, or just wanted money, but she claimed she was raped by Buster. She wanted $10,000. Metro was going to pay her blackmail, but she wanted the check to come from Buster's personal account. Why would it matter what account the check was from?
Then, in 1932, a week after Buster spent $25,000 on a yacht, Buster was passed out on the yacht next to a stranger. Strangely enough, Natalie and her sister Constance showed up with a detective and a photographer. Constance was also really good friends with the Los Angeles County district attorney. So, although Buster had the okay to have discreet affairs, Nat was setting the stage so she could come out ahead in a divorce.
How did Natalie know that Buster would be on the boat with a girl? Was Natalie was paying these woman to be with Buster to set him up? As everyone knows, Buster did not fight the divorce and lost everything to Natalie. She even changed their sons' last name to Talmadge.

The Shoe Incident

Have you ever gone to Catholic school back in the day when nuns were the teachers? Well, I did, and what you might have heard about it is probably no myth. I only went to Catholic school in first grade, and that was enough.
When you attend a Catholic school, you have to go to church about 3 times a day. One particular day, as we were leaving church, this taller girl behind me lost her lunch all over the back of my shirt. That was one of the worst things ever. I had to spend the rest of the day in my undershirt. And speaking of lunch, you didn't get to choose what you ate. They served you everything. Brussel sprouts and all.
Another incident happened during recess. I was the last one to get back into the classroom. The door was locked and I didn't know what to do. I was only 6 or 7, so I was doing my best. At that age I wasn't too logical. Since I couldn't get in the door, I decided to just walk home. When I got in front of the school, I saw everybody looking out the window at me. So what would an illogical kid do? I hid behind a fire hydrant. That wasn't a good place to hide as I'm sure you know, and my teacher, whose name I think was Sister Hellonwheels, came out of the school and across the street and found my hiding place. Sister Hellonwheels grabbed my ear and dragged me through 4 classrooms before we got to mine. That hurts, being dragged by your ear.
And now the shoe incident. Do you remember penny loafers? I pestered my mom for a long time until she broke down and bought me a pair. Soon after, my mom went on a trip with my grandparents to Canada, and I was left in the care of my dad. Wearing my new shoes to school, I felt really cool.
Sitting in class wearing my new penny loafers, I was just slipping my shoes on and off. That doesn't sound like a big deal, but it must have been to Sister Hellonwheels. It was a nice early spring day and we still had some snow on the ground. She took my shoes from me and didn't give them back. At the end of the day I had to walk home sock-footed in the snow. My dad was a wonderful man, but he didn't think he should confront the school over this incident.
When my mom got back from Canada, the caca hit the fan. The next day my mom, with me in tow, went up to school and gave the principal heck. I finished my school year out, but I was enrolled in public school that fall.

At work

At work I do not get involved in other people's conversations. For example, John was talking about this sleazy dive of an exotic dancing club. He was telling what his pickup line was and he said it really worked. He would walk over to a dancer. (He called this one a "golf lick girl" but what he meant was a "gothic girl".) But to get back to his line, he would say "nice shoes, want to f___?" And he said all he needed was protection, mouth wash and rubbing alcohol. I am not sure what the mouth wash and the rubbing alcohol are for. That might be something new, but I didn't want to ask. Too much info and all that.
Another person named Bruce Wayne and, yes, that is batman's secret identity, believes that aliens are coming to earth to take over in 5 years. And I don't mean the ones from Mexico either.
Once I did get involved in the discusion. This one was about religion. One guy was saying that the only way to heaven was through a dead prophet named Jesus. So I put my in 2 cents and said that can't be right because a majority of the earth's population do not believe in Jesus, and I don't believe God would keep all those people out of heaven just because of that. I thought that was it until a few months later when he started accosting me about my religious beliefs. Then he started talking about the devil and hell. Well, that sent crazy Steve over the edge. He truly believes that I am going to hell because I do not believe in the devil or hell. If he hadn't quit his job, I would have had to quit to save myself. Then after he quit, I learned that he was kicked out of his church for being crazy. Now that's pretty bad when a church kicks you out.
I also found out that he had a bunch of guns spread out on his kitchen table and set his apartment on fire. He called 911 and the police and the fire department both showed up. When the fire department got there before the police, he opened the door and said, "You won!" Of course they took him to the "crazy person" place and adjusted his medication. Crazy Steve came to my job again one night, hoping to get his job back, but he didn't see me. At least I hope he didn't see me! Anyway, they didn't hire him back, and hopefully never will.
Well that's all for now. A lot of the little stupid things that they talk about at lunch and after work - well, I just keep my mouth shut.