2008

hail
& farewell
my rotten annum

the way she was

that's how I'll remember Barbra Streisand. she was one of the most original performers of my generation. but watching her being honord at Kennedy Center was sad. & not just because she was sharing that balcony with President Worst Ever.

in clips we saw how great she was when she was young. I can still remember when I first saw her on obscure tv shows. then on Broadway in "Funny Girl." & those early tv specials. but can you remember the last time she matterd?

go ahead. take my gay card away. but what I found most moving on this year's Kennedy Center Honors was the tribute to The Who.

Savage Canticles

1
how many times
has yr intention
been toward here
but a detour
took you there

how many detours
have brought change
to the narratives
that become history

2
unwritten code
bludgeons pigeons
in that park
where squatters
squat

a nurse
shoots up
forsaking
footlight glamour

3
portfolio of malice
spiders into
every century
sans invitation
or strategy

lost pastry chef
discovers
physique model
trimming roses

4
dance in Manhattan
or die in Winnipeg
yr life cradles
crackers
broken by bandits

archive
each crumb
in redwood
coffins

Ann Savage (1921-2008)

in the bustle

of a week with houseguests & more activity than usually comes my way I pause for a moment to note I'm touchd by the kind words from Tom Beckett on his blog.

I do find the internet helps me keep in touch with friends old & new much better than in incunabular times.

Eartha Kitt (1927-2008)

Harold Pinter (1930-2008)

chicken paprikas

with her husband sick in bed for 36 hours Regina took to cooking.

socko

don't walk
run
to see
the new
Anita O'Day doc

they're on their way

& I'm almost ready.

houseguests

hopefully Regina & John will arrive here by noon after a harrowing travel day & unexpectd overnite in Dallas.

my office doubles as guestroom. so for the next week I won't have normal access to the computer. I'll post as able.

ho ho o noooooooooooo

Regina just calld from Boston. she & her husband are stuck on their plane & will probably miss a Dallas connection.

remember Kenneth Starr?

that skatole is now a dean at ultraconservative Pepperdine. but he still finds time to defend Blackwater. & now Prop 8 supporters have hired him to help nullify all same-sex marriages in California.

wdn't surprise me to learn he goes to Rick Warren's church.

a kick in the balls

I wd never have guessd the honeymoon wd be so short.

Obama's disastrous choice of Rick Warren to participate in the inauguration saddens me.

the presence of such a divisive person on the podium ruins what shd be an historic day.

today's

Betty Grable's birthday.

& the movie I watchd tonite featurd a video store which had a large cutout of Betty Grable in her famous pose.

broken lock

another item from my everyday life must be laid to rest.

for at least the past decade I've employd Uncle John's copper lock at the gym. it was his during his work life at US Steel in Lorain during the century just past. I've enjoyd its feel & look. but I discoverd it no longer locks. rather than fix it I think it's time to take up residencey in the antiques drawer. with thievery rampant in lockerrooms it's probably past time for its retirement.

& that clown keychain? I'm not at all into clowns but my parents brought that back from their only trip to Las Vegas. they stayd at Circus Circus which I see when I stay at Blue Moon.

mo flo

for Bill       for Roman

flokati in the snow

Regina sent me this

I'm presuming it was taken in early jan of 1975 because I'm reading Gerald Mast's The Comic Mind. I met Gerald in late dec of 1974 in NYC & visitd Regina in Boston right after.

I never had a copy of this. it's always an odd feeling to "discover" an image of yrself that you don't know. esp when it's such an old image.

back in town

Jessica Lange lived in Santa Fe some 20 years ago. she returnd for a signing of her new book as a photographer. she's a warm & genuine person.

greetings of the season

my friend Bob in Fort Worth used one of my photographs on his xmas card this year.

Van Johnson (1916-2008)

I took these at Shrine Auditorium in 1987. above Johnson is cavorting with Arlene Dahl & unknown men. below he's fondling Treat Williams.

emotionally this

has been a turbulent year for me.

yesterday the kitchen was my attack point in this housecleaning project. & it turnd out to be overwhelming. altho I always am aware of what's there & their particular histories the act of holding items from the dead was stirring.

romertopf from Paul Metcalf
Aunt Mary's plate
pitcher made by Julia Waida
cookbooks from T. R. Queen & David Meredith
even errant Melina hairs

but the object I found most moving was something my father made.



it was the cold-air return for the hallway of my house in Kent. it's such a competent piece of craftsmanship that I brought it west with me. it sits on top of kitchen cabinets as a free-standing sculpture. but as I held it on my lap dusting each section with an old toothbrush I was brought nearly to tears. it's not simply that it's a lovely piece of work but it was done by my father for me. & to me it's a demonstration of love. Dad & I had some tense moments in our relationship. both stubborn men with strong opinions. but holding that object that he made for me I knew he loved me as much as I loved him.

Bettie Page (1923-2008)

on Santa's lap

one of the reasons "A Christmas Story" is probably my favorite holiday movie is because it opens with a view of Higbee's in Cleveland in what's supposd to be the late '40s. that was the store & the period in which this photo was taken of me:

the thief in me

I have 2 cedar chests. Mom's is full of my publications & under this long white table I use as a computer desk. the other was Julia Waida's & contains linens & other cloth items. it's in my great room   a divider between livingroom space & that of the dining area.

as part of my housecleaning I'm moving things around & changing "stuff." I wantd to trade cloths under the teak tray that holds marbles. the brown plaid one from Mom was to be put away while I pickd something fresh. of course the chest wdn't open. it has a lock which somehow lockd itself for the 1st time ever. & I have no key.

after 5 minutes of cursing (I'm still pissd off that a mini-crash of my computer resultd in my no longer being able to save cookies)I realizd I must put all those movies I've seen to work. so I thot for a moment. I went to a kitchen drawer & producd an ice pick. with cunning & guile & hopefully some grace as well I manipulatd that tool till the chest sprung open.

now I have a new Greek cloth to put under the teak tray & a sudden feeling of suavity.

instead of giving xmas gifts this year

I've decid'd to buy myself the Senate seat in Illinois.

R.I. P. Polaroid

this is the last month Polaroid film is being made. who of my generation doesn't have fond memories of this process. I only have a handful of such photos -- including my earliest nude -- but always enjoyd making them.

the last time I posed for a set of Polaroids was 5 years ago when R. B. Sprague took this:

this is not a Christo

the cathedral downtown is undergoing some nip/tuck.

must see

the festival's documentary award went to "No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos." it's essential viewing for anyone interestd in the history of cinema.

festival awards ceremony

Giancarlo Esposito


Joan Allen


James Cromwell

from before memory

yesterday I went thru a box of old photos & came across this. I believe it's the 1st photo ever taken of me. I suspect I'm abt 2 months old. I'm in the arms of my godmother   the late Sophie Hause.

Santa Fe Film Festival

one of the greatest cinematographers of all time Vilmos Zsigmond was at today's screening of "Torn from the Flag"   a powerful documentary abt the Hungarian Revolution. it includes footage he & the late Laszlo Kovacs
shot while they were still in film school.

one last look

Phillip Caudillo sent me this picture from Thxgiving. we're on our way to what used to be calld Short Sands Beach.

some men smell
like bruisd limes

others
like dark tarn

more Oregon

back from the coast

Thxgiving at Rockaway Beach with a couple of Broadway veterans: Garold Gardner ("Most Happy Fella" & "Camelot")     Kenneth Carr ("No No Nanette" & "Seesaw").


Ken positions the Century Dimes at Lewis & Clark's saltworks.


on the beach