my papers

if seeing my life unfold in M.A.G.'s Gildzen edition wasn't enuf later I stumbld across an entry for my papers at Kent State University Libraries. I knew this was going to happen but didn't know when.

before the move to New Mexico I left the bulk of my manuscripts & correspondence at Kent. this catalog reflects the 38 boxes of catalogd materials. in addition there are many boxes which I'm sure haven't been touchd since my departure   including a full box each of letters from Ira Joel Haber & the late Richard Martin.

I'm pleasd that these materials are safe & available for study.

back from oblivion

several years ago August Highland ran a special edition of Muse Apprentice Guild to honor me for becoming old. at one point it disappeard. but just now I discoverd that it's back in the ethers.

unhappy news

just as some of the more strident presidential candidates are dropping out there's new indication Ralph Nader may jump in. what kind of ego propels a person to be so stupid? any good reputation he may have had early in life has been destroyd by his last role as spoiler. does he learn nothing from history?

real estate

3 houses on my street are now for sale

found some old journals

how much one forgets

South Carolina prooves

it's time for Bill Clinton to shut the fuck up.

2 saturdays / 2 tall men

a week ago I saw Kevin Aviance shopping at Parliament House. it was easy to see he walks with a limp from his broken leg. however several hours later he put on a costume & make-up & attackd the stage with such determination you don't notice his limp at all. he gives an outrageous performance.

tonite Ian Bostridge sang Schubert lieder with the kind of exhiliration I don't expect to experience again. he is a master of art song. he gives a physically quiet but vocally powerful performance.

the group

these are the guys with whom I dine every tuesday nite. the one on the far right is Greg Teakle who died yesterday.

finally... a smile

I enterd this url on Blog Readability Test.

my blog's level: genius.

boys nite out

every tuesday nite I meet up with a group of men for dinner. it's something to which I've come to look forward.

yesterday I was in a precarious emotional state over the death of Heath Ledger. his single performance in "Brokeback Mountain" will live as long as anything on celluloid. so I felt being with the guys wd be helpful. then I learnd that one of the group sufferd a massive heart attack followd by a stroke.

Heath Ledger (1979-2008)

the trip

I went to Florida to see my friend Nancy at her new home in The Villages. we had a fine time talking   talking   talking.

on one overcast day we went driving & end'd up in Tarpon Springs   the Greek community which was once famous for its sponges. I remember as a boy seeing Robert Wagner as a Greek sponge diver in "Beaneth the 12 Mile Reef." location scenes for the movie were shot in Tarpon Springs. we had a sumptious lunch of saganaki & scordalia & grouper. I bought neighbor Rita a small sponge & posed with it at the statue of the diver.



because I'd never been to that part of the state I tackd on a few resort days in Orlando. I simply wasn't ready for such harsh weather.

no need for sunglasses

one doesn't expect to spend nearly a week in Florida & have to cope with such miserable weather. everything from cold rain to a tornado watch. yesterday's high in Orlando was 45.

more on the trip after I get caught up...

visiting a friend

no
laptop so
some silence here

from the archives

with Brooklyn Bridge (1986)

"Pained with the pressure of unfriendly hands"

Joseph Rodman Drake (1835)

so

Mamie Van Doren's wine never touches my lips. will that make Eileen Tabios laugh or cry? I get these thots while waiting for the farfalle to approach al dente. that's what my life's become. meatballs stewing while Medicare kicks in. I pick up an old book: Kenneth Patchen dead at 60. did I write that? yup. I've been putting those black boxes on everything I write. too old to change. I have no mozzarella. maybe blueberry juice instead of Mamietage. if I can keep tomato sauce off my gray turtleneck I'll write to Jim Cory. if I'm still alive tonite I'll watch the western John Ericson made a year or so ago. yes. I eat mucho pasta.

"maxing out on obits"

for Jack Kimball

I'll
stop posting
when people who
have
crossd my
path stop dying

"Raging Bull" on ice

obituaries of Christopher Bowman noted that he weighd in at 300 pounds when he died.

if you're too young to remember him at his peak 20 years ago then this isn't shocking. but I knew him as an attractive slender young man. I saw him skate several times -- both in competition (World's in Cincinnati in 1987) & on tour. he was as dazzling as any man who ever laced up a pair of skates.

I also have a quick personal memory. in 1991 I arrivd at Richfield Coliseum early. as I was walking around I got a backstage peek at several of the performers having some fun. Bowman was playing table tennis with Tonya Harding   Brian Orser & Todd Eldridge. they were all giggling.

in the past few years rumors abt Bowman's drug use quietd down only because no one spoke of him any more. he seemd to have disappeard & as so often happens with celebrities he was forgotten. his death in a cheap motel brought him back into the headlines.

all day yesterday I was depressd thinking abt his inability to deal with his demons. those sad last photos of the bloatd man he became are disturbing. but I will try to always remember him as a brash beauty catapulting thru air with a devilish smile on his face.

in today's paper

Pasatiempo is our local newspaper's "weekly magazine of arts, entertainment & culture." Robert Nott -- biographer of John Garfield & Betty Hutton -- has a column. in today's he recounts my meeting with Mamie. it's a bit difficult to read the print in a scan so I didn't copy the article part.

Christopher Bowman (1967-2008)

Johnny Grant (1923-2008)

my friend Billy took this picture at the Hollywood Roosevelt exactly a year ago

& the Oscar goes to

Hillary Clinton.

needing women voters to win Mrs C stages an Oprah moment for the cameras & granite shatters.

if she's yesterday's big winner   the big loser is the pollsters who haven't screwd up this badly since they gave the presidency to Dewey.

reading

Mollie Andrews' Mi Familia I encounterd this sentence: "Soon after he came to Pena Blanca, Father Chavez and George Rivera from Sile removed the pitched roof of wood shake shingles from the Ohio-looking church in Pena Blanca and gave it a Spanish territorial appearance."

I lived the largest part of my life in Ohio. I was never aware there was an Ohio look in architecture. & as hard as I try now to visualize such I have no idea what an "Ohio-looking" building looks like. I remain quite amazd at this description.

another intersection

when Alex Gildzen introduces Mamie Van Doren to Ray Craig:



see Ray's blog

presidential history

the debates & primary coverage brought to mind my first visit to Washington DC. it was the summer I was 13 & while there with my parents we saw Edith Bolling Galt Wilson lay a wreath on the statue of Rochambeau in Lafayette Square. she was the first of 8 First Ladies I've seen.



over the decades I've also seen 8 presidents -- altho not always ones wed to the same First Ladies.

throw the bums out

McGovern's editorial

depending on technology

yesterday I had no e-mail for a spell.

last nite my satellite tv went out.

I woke to no internet.

it's frustrating when these things on which we depend suddenly are gone. at least I'm back online & in a while will see if I can watch a movie.

e-mail woes

I have no idea how the internet works.

there have been times when my e-mail service has been down for one reason or another. abt an hour ago I found I was unable to even retrieve Microsoft Outlook. when I click on the icon nothing happens. this is a first. & of course frustrating.

in politics

the Iowa caucuses are the Golden Globes.

so what if Rev. Huckabee won.

anyone remember Pia Zadora?

progess

not long after Melina's death I began to fill her food bowl & leave it on the back portal. in the year plus abt a half dozen felines have been stopping back to sample treats. the only one with whom I seem to be able to communicate is Jonathan who lives nearby. altho skittish for some time he finally trustd me enough to come to the glass door & peer in when the bowl was empty. he now tolerates my coming out to refill the bowl while he crouches a short distance away.

however today when he requestd a fill-up I went out & he came to the bowl immediately after I put out food. so I slowly put out my hand & for the first time was able to pet him.

movie bliss

international news was so bleak on New Year's Day that I was happy to put on a PRC potboiler to accompany my chocolate & green tea. the movie was "Lady from Chungking." definitely minor. however the stars were 2 of my faves -- Anna May Wong & Mae Clarke.

good neighbors

Rita & Phil & I went out to dinner last nite.

then just now we walkd Cinco...