On the old 60's TV show Get Smart, secret agent Maxwell Smart used to talk to his boss and his fellow agent 99 under the "Cone of Silence."   The Cone of Silence was this clear, molded, plastic half-sphere that came down from the ceiling at secret agent headquarters and covered Max and whomever he talked to.  They employed the Cone of Silence when they wanted to talk about super-top-secret stuff.

I will employ my own Cone of Silence now, between myself and the readers of this blog, and talk frankly about Schmaylor Schmift.  In late February, Schmaylor became a thing again for me.  By March I figured she might have actually taken something of an interest in me, romantic or otherwise.  If one wants to go back to those blog posts of February, March, and April of this year, they will see that I bring up the subject of a woman who first came at me in an aggressive, adversarial manner, but later took an interest in me based on how I managed all of  that bad behavior on their part.

I made it very, very clear that I didn't think that my immediate acceptance of this type of woman would work out very well.  I spoke from experience on this.  I basically stood out on the runway of my heart and waved off any landings on it from such a party. I said  that I could possibly be platonic friends with such a person, at best, for a period of several months, and only AFTER such a probationary period, would I even possibly consider dating such a person as Schmaylor.  I totally take seriously  the possibility that Schmaylor came at me in an adversarial, aggressive manner, starting in 2016, and I guessed that she stood totally unwilling to relent from this posture only until late February of this year.  

As it became apparent soon after those posts in March that Schmaylor found herself recently single, that opened up a can of worms for me.  In those posts of February, March, and April, I said a period of time where someone such as Schmaylor and I were just friends would allow for one or both of us to find someone more suitable for each of us over the coupling of me and Schmaylor.  It's there, bald-faced and on the internet in all its glory, my words in February, March, and April of 2023, paraphrased in the above sentences.

So it now appears as if Schmaylor has exercised other options she considers more viable.  I say, good for her. She's a grown ass woman, she should be able to run her life the way she sees fit, just as I should be able to run my life in any way I see fit.  I only wish I'd articulated my reluctance to try to couple with such a person earlier in my life as well as I expressed my reluctance in those posts of this past February, March, and April.

In my last post, I talked about how notions of women such as Schmaylor go in and out on my schizoid psyche like the tide.  The Cone of Silence is back up, and now I will bet my bottom dollar that my notions of Schmaylor Schmift that I've harbored these past seven years or so will go out with the tide soon enough.  Sigh of relief, or sour grapes?

My dad, who was a psychiatrist, told me something about treating patients who'd diagnosed in the schizophrenia spectrum.  He talked about the delusional constructs they could get caught up in.  He told me the prognosis for such a patient, if they complied with their medications and took care of themselves alright, would see them getting caught up in day to day routine so much that when he would ask, for example, "Frank, what about the CIA and how they wanted you to do some work for them?"; the patient would say something like, "Oh man, what are you bothering me with that stuff for?  That's the last thing on my mind these days."

I've replied that way to a therapist when he asked me about something of that nature.  It was a long time ago.  However, for me, at least, the grandiose, fantastic things I can get caught up in come in and go out like the tide.  For example, I hadn't really thought about Schmaylor Schmift to any extent for a long time, until my notion of her came roaring back to life late last February.  Now, I probably thought a lot about equally bizarre stuff at that time, but I do remember how Schmaylor made a big comeback late last February.

I had dinner with friends this evening.  I'm comfortable talking about the specifics of all that can go on in my head with them, so I did.  I said that, hopefully, this latest Schmaylor intrusion will go out with the tide soon enough.  Maybe just talking to them initiated that process.  Maybe just thinking along those lines before I visited with them initiated that whole process.  That's why I'm so keen on treating this whole "love" issue with this notion of Schmaylor in my head as a symptom of my illness, and not some REAL THING, because the day may very well come when I dismiss all talk of this time and my delusional notion of this person as trivial stuff in my past.

So, right now I'm happily refraining from looking up Schmaylor Schmift on the internet.  The last time I looked up her was about this time last night/ yesterday morning.  I realize that the idea of treating whatever feelings I have for this person (whom I've never met) as an illness based on illusion and delusion rather than a REAL THING might come off as negative to a lot of people.  Well, maybe to a few people out there.  

In the days since I've decided to regard my fixation on Schmaylor as the symptom of an illness and I therefore feel absolutely no need to "keep my end up" in some supposed deal I have with her, a funny thing has happened.  A whole new world of possibilities has opened up like a fat, fresh raw oyster for me to just dig into.  I see my move as turning away from a solid brick wall of undeterminable height and width and turning instead to MY LIFE and seeing all that I can work on in that sphere.

And it's not as if this notion of Schmaylor has disappeared from my being as I've talked about with other women.  The only notions of Schmaylor that appear now are happy, joyful fantasies that involve connecting with her on a talk show panel and shit like that.  Not bad at all.  So, concentrate on doing laundry and cleaning my apartment instead of racking my brain on how to get with Schmaylor, and I find myself in a happy, joyful place in regards to the notion of her that resides in my head.  Not bad at all.

My clinic called today.  The lady said that my lab reports on my cholesterol and blood sugar and all that were great.  I've lost about twenty pounds since last fall.  I had a diagnosis of pre-diabetes based on my blood sugar levels of these last several years.  The medical advice says the best thing to do about that is to lose weight.  I'm curious to see the actual number on my blood sugar level to see if I am indeed out of the pre-diabetes range on that.

Which, of course, brings me to the point I want to make about Schmaylor Schmift.  I think I will have much more success dealing with that situation if I regard the whole phenomenon of  the notion of her I have in my head...: I think I will have much more success regarding all of that as the symptoms of a chronic illness rather than making any attempt to "keep my end up" in a supposed deal I have going with this person.  The whole situation will prove much more manageable if I take care of it much as I would if I had diabetes or high blood pressure.  That is all. 

In 2009 a friend of mine had two girlfriends. One was his "real" girlfriend, and one was his sidepiece.  My friend lied to me about the nature of his relationship to his sidepiece in an effort to foist her off on me, because she proved inconvenient to his relationship with his real girlfriend.  His sidepiece lied to me about the nature of their relationship as well.  All the while I had issues with my antipsychotic medication, because I had recently quit drinking and drugs, and the sedating effect of the excessive alcohol use wore off as I withdrew from that drug.

Amidst all of the storm in my head as a result, I blew off my friend's sidepiece girlfriend and stopped calling her.  My friend started squawking about how hurt she was that I wasn't calling her any more, and called me a piece of shit etc., etc.  After I told him off and got him to stop bothering me for a while, I also never heard from his sidepiece ever again.  All I had to do involved refraining from calling her, and it was like, 'Poof!', she disappeared.  

At some point in this process, I told myself that she might call me or come see me at my house to try to talk to me, but that never happened.  As mad as I was at her, I imagined presenting her with a crude sexual proposition if she did show up at my house, but I then thought better of it.  I figured that should this girl actually go to the trouble to come see me and talk about my issues with her, that I'd do well to regard that as a potentially very good sign, and that I could give her a day in court to present her case to me.

Recently, I had another unavailable woman dilemma in the form of how I should handle that situation with that girl who used to work at that grocery store I patronize, and how I thought that another young woman who worked at another business I patronize might have been the former grocery store employee's sister.  I asked the "sister" if she knew a girl by the grocery store girl's name, and she said no.  Soon afterwards, I decided to stop patronizing that business where the "sister" worked, and again, 'Poof!', the dilemma disappeared.  Was the "sister" lying to me about not knowing a girl by the name of...the grocery store girl's name?  Who cares!  Once I stopped buzzing that store where the "sister" worked, that issue, along with all of my other issues with this former grocery store employee went, 'Poof!', as well.

I had a similar experience recently regarding these young women in this up and coming band I like, and I did pretty much the same thing.  I decided I wouldn't find anything I'm looking for by following this band on social media, or going to their shows, so I stopped doing those things.  I made an exception a few weeks ago when I saw this band play on the same bill as a band that had some of my friends in it.  Other than that, 'Poof!', they disappeared.  I still see videos of theirs come up on YouTube, but no big deal.  Right?

Therefore, in regards to the celebrity person who I've never, ever even met, what to do?  I decided to sharply curtail the occasions I look this person up on the internet, and to give myself token reward stickers on my calendar for the daily observance of this effort.  I give myself a heart sticker for looking up this person only one time or so in a day, and I give myself a daisy sticker for not looking this person up at all over the course of twenty-four hours.  I predict, once again, 'Poof!', there will go my issues with her, before too long.

Of course, I have scenarios go on my head where this celebrity person, whom I've never met, mind you, comes into my world try to talk to me.  The sidepiece girlfriend of my friend could not even be bothered to call me herself, come over to my house, or anything else.  Again, all I had to do was refrain from calling her and, 'Poof!', she disappeared.  I emphasize this: the sidepiece resided in my active social circle, and all I had to do....Therefore, the restrictions on my internet browsing of this celebrity for news and whatnot should take care of that unavailable woman dilemma.  And I reiterate, if this celebrity person actually took it upon herself to come into my world somehow, that might actually be a good thing, and not an occasion for shitty behavior from me towards her at all, but I'm not holding my breath, to say the least.

Any woman who throws the curve, yet again, after each and every critical juncture I go through with them puts up a giant, red, red flag of all red flags for all the world to see, and that includes me.  A couple of posts ago I vowed to refrain from retaliating or otherwise lashing out at someone I've come to care for a great deal.  I have not wavered at all on that commitment.  

​In August of 1988, I took yet another curve ball from Sara in the form of her friend demonstrably coughing in the painting studio at UT one night a full two months after I last laid eyes on Sara.  I didn't even know Sara's name at the time, but by the time Eva stood there, just me and her in the studio, and coughed as if to cue me to action somehow, well, I decided that was enough of Sara's shit.  

​Eva had Sara's tacit approval to treat me that way.  I cut Sara loose.  I DID NOT retaliate, okay.  I just said, "Enough," and cut her loose.  Sara has no cause to complain about how I treated her to this day, because it was my prerogative whether I wanted to have anything to do with her in the first place.  Just as it's my prerogative now, and I don't want to have anything to do with the person in question any more.

In December, 2015, I had one date with someone.  On our date, she repeated something she first said to me over the phone a week or so before.  On our date she said, "I don't compete for men."  She had the same smirk on her face that she had in her voice when she said that to me over the phone.  I think one of the most intelligent decisions I've ever made in my relationship with women, thus far, came later that night when I turned down a chance to have sex with her.  

ANYONE who gets arrogant enough with me to say they don't compete for men while I'm on a date with them has to know about some things. They are competing with things like music practice, art making, performing on stage, selling comics at conventions, going for walks, cooking recipes I like for myself, hanging out at Pocket Fishrman shows with friends, getting new tires for my car, watching The Rockford Files and Smiley's People on DVD, listening to baseball games on the internet, the list goes on and on. If ANYONE out there thinks that kind of attitude will get viable attention from me, well, I tend to set about letting them know the fact of the matter.

Why do I consistently see such an attitude towards me from so many women?  Is it because I have a major mental illness?  Is it my age? Both?  I really don't know why those things would prompt such an attitude from so many women towards me, but I get that attitude so often in a variety of ways.  My recovery from love addiction is progressive, I think, and that generally means I recognize that shit earlier and earlier in the development of a deal, and I take increasingly proactive steps to counter it.  That is all.

Apparently, according to the celebrity gossip sites I choose to believe, Schmaylor Schmift has a new boyfriend!  My personal assignment remains the same: Don't try to retaliate against her for any alleged past wrongs she may have done me, because she won't feel as if she deserves it.  I'd like all of the problems of the world now to run through this one assignment I have towards Schmaylor and kill about eight birds with one stone.  That is my fondest wish. Unlikely as such an outcome would prove to pull off, I will, however, I will concentrate on this one mission towards Schmaylor, irregardless.  I won't write anything shitty about her on this blog, and I won't write anything shitty towards her on her social media accounts, or my social media accounts for that matter.  In the EXTREMELY unlikely event that I run into her in my world somewhere, somehow, I won't act shitty towards her in that realm, either.

I had to read in the self help book Feeling Good that people don't feel as if they deserve to be retaliated against for whatever misdeeds they may have committed against the reader.  Yes, I had to read that in a book, and it's true.  This notion of certain people I have, in the world we live in, would not respond well to my efforts to obtain some equal measure of justice for whatever they did to me.  People simply don't work that way.  This insight offered by Dr. David Burns, in Feeling Good, goes a looong way towards giving me a measure of peace and allows me to let go of the loads of pain people in the world we live attempted to, and sometimes succeeded in their attempts to, inflict what they felt was a justified measure of pain upon me.  Someone's got to just let it go, and, as usual, it falls upon dangerous, mentally unstable Richard Alexander to function as the adult in the room.

Forgiveness of these people does not constitute acceptance of these people, fortunately, or I could never go through with it.  I'm not obliged to be friends with anyone whom I suspect, rightly or wrongly, of trying to be some abuser towards me.  I'm not obliged to try and be some good guy and try and work things out with this or that attractive woman I suspect wanted to just function as my tormenter for a time, and I certainly don't have any obligation to accept such a person to the extent where I would actually try to date them.  That is all.

In a blog post from August 13th of 2020, I bring up Snolly, a young woman I found myself in a situation with in 1996 through 1997.  The post has the title, "They're not me."  I go into this story in more detail in issue five of my Richy Vegas Comics, and I know I went into greater detail in another bog post from before 2020, but I don't exactly remember exactly when or the title of the more detailed post.  Those people acted like preprogrammed robots towards me, for all I could tell.  I've found myself dealing with these same types of people in similar situations since then too.  I don't mean fifteen or even ten years ago, but more like up until recently.

I went to a recovery meeting tonight.  During the meditation portion of the meeting, how I interacted with Snolly the last time I saw her came to me as I sat there trying to chill out.  I knew I didn't want to ardently pursue her in light of the notion of me she played to the previous year.  I just made small talk with her at a Halloween party in 1997, and decided after a few minutes of that to go to a grocery store and get cigarettes.  The whole tone of our small talk remained friendly, non-confrontational, and not at all accusatory from either one of us towards the other.  When I returned to the party with my cigarettes, she had left, and I've not seen her from that day to this.

I decided that's a good way to be towards any attractive young woman I might see these days who might have had the idea of going on some kind of crusade to take me down.  The young guys like David and Joel who knew all about the situation concerning "Snolly" and "Lane" would invariably act really happy to see me in the years that followed, and they would go out of their way to say hi to me and talk to me at places like the Scratch Acid show in 2007.  David saw my name and contact info on a comic book convention exhibitor list and took the trouble to write me in 2011, a day or two after the convention.  Yeah, I wouldn't have any trouble being nice to someone who reminded me of Snolly if I saw them these days.  I may not really want to put myself out there in order to get with them, but that doesn't mean I couldn't talk to them a little.