Capodanno 2026 Palm Springs

 last nite: dinner at my neighbors. followd by a little poetry reading (at her request) which began with "Capodanno 1984   Venezia." I brought along the mask from Taverna La Fenice.

this morning: out of bed at 4:44. start load of laundry. morning exercises. squeeze half a grapefruit from tree outside bedroom window. check mail (celebrity obits & junk). spoon of Hemet honey. take off Monterey Bay Inn robe. put on white speedo. head to pool to greet the Andrews Sisters but stop'd by rain. return to put on Elyria sweatshirt & rippd jeans. breakfast of cereal in one of Julia's bowls & dark roast in Trevor's naked men mug.

after one of the darkest years in our nation's history I'm ready for a new year to bring justice against the criminals who spread hate in the name of religion & to restore dignity to a country nearly undone by fascism.

ho ho ho

                         Higbee's   Cleveland   1947

                                     Market Market   Palm Springs    2025

obituary for a gay landmark

 I first stayd at Canyon Club in 2013. on a visit the following year I found a black Bike jockstrap there. I'm wearing it now.

I'm wearing it because the gay clothing optional resort a block away from the Poet's Bench is closing. word is that the new owners will refurbish it but also degay it. this follows the shutting down of so many gay places of fable & merriment. soon young gays won't know what clothing optional resorts were. maybe gay bars too. thank you internet.

yes the physical quality of the place was in decline but it has many stories to tell.

my dear friend Bob took a great photo there of 2 naked men walking side by side toward the maze. not so long after a smidgen of his ashes were scatterd in that maze. & a sprig of the shrub above those ashes is now in my piece "box of little bags." when I did my piece "Bob Loves Lucy" I put one of the stamps in a locker one passes to get to the maze.

Canyon Club makes several appearances in Alex in Movieland. & this jockstrap shows up in several poems. one of them I read (with the jock hanging beside me) in Steven Reigns' "Subversive Ink" video in 2020.  I also made a little film of me reading a poem abt the maze while walking in the maze (available on You Tube).

in my last Santa Fe photo shoot JC Gonzo shot me both in & out of the jockstrap. also a circle of cord from the resort now rests in my piece "Billy's Chest."

strangely while writing this I sippd coffee from a random mug. as if it were meant to happen I realizd I unknowingly reachd for a mug I bought at another gay clothing optional resort -- Elysium in Fort Lauderdale. out of curiosity I goggld it & shockingly discoverd that it too recently shutterd.

so as the doors of Canyon Club close I present this as a way of keeping its memory alive for future generations. & tonite I'll slip out of this jockstrap hoping it still has some adventures ahead.

                                                    

                                    still from "Subversive Ink" (2020)

    

                        my favorite of the photos I took at Canyon Club

                         from "Billy's Chest."  see above photo for reference.

                           cover of my coloring book. orange building on the left is Canyon Club.                

Thxgiving

 it's no secret that I enjoy time on the patio chatting with birds & lizards. but today was special. I was sitting in the last of the day's sun when a rabbit poked out of the big bush which birds live in. he stoppd when he saw me. I began to speak quietly & slowly. his ears twitchd but he stayd in place. he didn't engage but finally felt comfortable enuf to sniff around for fallen berries. I tried to be cheerful. he appeard to not really care what I was saying. & finally he skippd by right in front of me.

it felt good to have met a potential new friend.

my Sherwood Anderson sonnet

 

                                                       Toucan (Winter 1968)         

a milestone addition

 near the entrance to Budman Studio is a vessel full of marbles. Jim invites visitors to take one. I see that as an art piece.

of course I was eager to have one. I chose a small one knowing immediately that I'd put it in "box of little bags." that piece began in 2018 when I found a penny in the sauna at my gym. as I baggd & labeld the Budman marble I realizd it's the 100th item in my work.

I love when art overlaps.

letters

 they've always been important to me. & the archivist in me developd at an early age because I saved them.

in my collection at Kent State the first letter in that vast holding was from the children's writer Lois Lenski. she was responding to a fan letter I wrote to her at age 10.

unfortunately a downside of technology is our group abandonment of letter writing. it's all quick e-mails. & yes I'm guilty too. so when I got a real letter yesterday I was thrilld. & its content elevatd my excitement.

I consider my gift of nearly 40 pieces from my art collection to the Allen Museum on the campus of Oberlin College to be one of the good things I've done in life. I will always cherish the memory of my first visits there. my first exposure to real art. to know that from time to time a piece that once adornd my walls is now on view for many makes me feel good.

I hope you don't find it immodest of me to share this letter but I'm feeling rather proud.