& in the roads

of Bob's corduroy shirt he felt the year finally slip away. feverd nites of madness on the couch. ache of a loved one on the floor. thug's footprint on his door. a bad year. but almost gone.

just survive one more nite he told himself   coffee cooling in his mug. there's another coming. only hours away. let it have light. allow it to swim with mirth. permit this new year to blossom.

Tavern on the Green (1934-2009)

at a 1989 dinner party for Bette Davis

upright subjunctive

when I saw Freud's couch all I cd think was who cd possibly feel comfortable on those old rugs. then I got on the Vienna trolley & returnd to ElDorado Park to swim naked. now that was comfortable. & when I viewd the Venus of Willendorf she was naked & lookd comfortable too. in that same week I saw Mr. Vienna crownd at my hotel. he wasn't totally naked. but in that skimpy outfit & grimacing thru those muscle poses he didn't look comfortable at all. then there were the others who shared the long table at Figgulmuller's where we all felt comfortable eating weinerschnitzle that floppd over the edges of the plate.

I'm not sure why Freud put rugs on his couch. I suspect he had no design sense. but you'd think he'd have tried out the couch before having his patients recline on it. it's less an issue of a discerning eye than of a comfortable ass. but that was a long time ago. maybe Austrians then threw rugs all over their rooms.

barn door

I thot the Bush admin was bad. given its first threat from another religious loonie & the Obama team over reacts bigtime. flying is unpleasant enuf but now there are more restrictions. I'm less afraid of being blown up than peeing in my seat.

Mary Wickes

yesterday morning I was in need of a laugh. so I went to You Tube & clickd on "I Love Lucy." I chose the ballet episode gueststarring Mary Wickes. then in the evening I learnd that You Tube had a pilot for an unseen series calld "The Decorator." its star was Bette Davis but in support was Wickes.



here's a picture I took of the character actress in Beverly Hills in 1992. we had a sweet chat. I was happy to be able to tell her that she'd brought me a great deal of joy over the decades.

boxing day

began as a time to give to charities but like all holidays has been turnd by business into another party day.

__________________________________________

after writing the above I encounterd this.

sometimes I need to smack myself. I'm not always gloomy. I'm emerging from a challenging year.

so Stephen.... enjoy the day & yr whole week.

off

to the gym
in my Taco Tonto tee

good

to see birds feasting on dry cat food I put out on the back portal.

Olga sends me

spam
from Russia.

13 ladies
wish
to date me.

that's
not the mail
I want.

but
the old lover
I think

will write
fills
my in box

with
invisible kisses
& ghost embraces.

"Brent Goodman woke up with the stars."

I read that on Facebook this morning. my simple reading is that he woke up in the middle of the nite.

I often wake up with stars. but they are movie stars who come to me in dreams. those who leave us their images on screen never die. & those screen images ooze into my head & bleed into my dreams.

Marilyn Monroe is a frequent visitor. I never met her in life but went to her grave again last month. the Marilyn I see in my dreams isn't the character she workd hard to present to the world. she's a quiet young woman who enjoys listening.

these nite movies my mind makes often disappear even as I lift my body from bed. but sometimes the forgotten ressurects itself with a word here   a line there. where else does poetry come from? it comes as much from the movies I see as from those my head makes in the nite.

so good morning Brent. how splendid we both woke up.

aging

I took dinner at a middle eastern place yesterday before going to the theater. the large table next to mine was full of nattering seniors fresh from church. they began to grumble abt technology. one complaind that her grandkids no longer spoke cause they were constantly on their Blueberries.

Alaina Reed Hall (1946-2009)

walkd to town & back -- happy I'm not on the east coast.

calming down

let Michelle Bachman pray against health care while the pope picks out his xmas frock. it's time for me to turn off the news & get silly.



all right. I feel a little better.

impeach Congress

Lieberman may be the biggest shit in the Senate but he doesn't hold the patent on dishonesty or greed. & then there are those neanderthals from Nebraska & Oklahoma. I don't remember ever having been so disgustd with our government. nothing seems to be working.

& what to make of Obama. the last president was so bad that we all had expectations too high for any mortal to meet. I still want this guy to succeed but we need action & not more speeches. if he isn't strong enuf to pass legislation when his is the majority party what will happen when the GOP makes its expectd gains next year.

I try not to be negative but the bombardment of bad news is daunting. & it coincides with the most depressing time of the year. screw the plum pudding. just pass a bowl of Valium till we're well into 2010.

Jennifer Jones (1919-2009)

hair blacker than nite. bright red lips. & a white gown of classic simplicity. it was Jennifer Jones right there in front of me at one of those all-star parties I went to years ago in Beverly Hills. I'd heard she was private   even aloof. but this was a public event so I shyly went up to her. when she lookd at me I told her how beautiful she was. her smile was a dazzler. she reachd out her hand to me & askd my name. our conversation was brief. but it was one of those lovely moments one remembers on days like this.

"they've forgotten me"

that plaintive phrase is part of the final speech in The Cherry Orchard. it's spoken by the old butler Firs. altho I didn't see that production he was playd in 2006 by Lee Kissman.

while I was still on my 1st cuppa (& shortly after the morning news announcd that Tiger Woods had been named Ho of the Decade or something like that) I saw on Facebook that playwright Robert Patrick calld Kissman a "superstar."

I think the only time I ever saw Kissman was in "The Hawk" more than 40 years ago. O-Lan Jones & her mother were also in the cast. & I think I went to the play with Jean-Claude van Itallie.

reading that Kissman is/was a superstar has me cogitating. what exactly is fame? I've been contemplating this theme in my work for many a year. & I still have no clear answer. even if a poll were taken & Kissman came out as one of the dozen best actors in the history of off-Broadway does that kind of fame put him in the same category as one of the current famous-for-no reason folk like Paris Hilton. indeed in 50 years how many will remember either Kissman or Hilton?

perhaps all this is on my mind because last nite I sent Mike Busam a response to his e-mail suggesting a possible publisher for Making Circles. I wrote: I have the feeling that after my death my career will go one of 2 ways: either I'll be completely forgotten or I'll be "rediscoverd" & become another famous dead writer.

I really don't spend much time at all considering my own spec in the writing firmament. but I know I always will find intrigue in the theme of fame in the lives of others. it's especially poignant in my focus on film. I have always been a major fan of the silent era. & time after time I feel so sad when I see one of the great stars of that era playing a bit part in some forgotten talkie.

when I startd this ramble I had no idea where I was going. I suspect that by beginning with Lee Kissman I shd end with him. so if that philandering golfer is getting some kind of award this morning let me make Lee Kissman "Star of the Day." that won't make him any more famous to the universe but it makes me feel good to recognize someone who has given us a life in art.

one of the many reasons

I dislike the holidays is the congestion at the p.o. what a surprise today to discover next to no line. perhaps the lousy economy is responsible.

another resident of Fort Lauderdale

this blog's newest fan

    Samantha     resort kitten

Winter Fest

yesterday's weather worse than day before.

when I arr'd on the 29th floor of Las Olas Grand to watch the boat parade the rain was so bad we cd hardly see down to ground. but we had a lucky break. it cleard up for the parade. then minutes after I returnd to the resort came the 1st in a series of torrential outbursts. & during the nite the winds were so fierce I cdn't sleep.

of course

forecast for weekend was sunny & hot. this is my 2nd day of overcast with fringe precip.

fort lauderdale

this resort computer is
d
oin
g straneg
things

off

to
warmer climes
for the weekend

for Bob (because he likes snow pix)

obelisk left by Valentin Hernandez at the edge of the patio

behold... is that winter before me?

last nite was lovely. with just a light snow Rita & I took Cinco on a run at the nearby football field. but during the nite there was a storm loud enuf to wake me. then in the dark of morning I went out to help neighbors who work shovel their driveways.

dinner party

with John Ericson & David Frankham

Santa Fe Film Festival

Ellen Kuras


Dabney Coleman & Mark Rydell


Wes Studi


Anna Gunn

another day begins

slippd into
my Jim Dine bathrobe
cut a piece
of Wayne Thiebaud cake
to eat
beside a David Hockney pool

Richard Todd (1919-2009)

for Rebecca Loudon

Santa Monica Farmers Market

Rudolph Valentino

walking around Hollywood the other day I stoppd at DeLongpre Park where there are 2 statues in memory of The Shiek.

Eric May (1939-2009)

"Thoreau Mask" (1975)



Eric taught graphic design at Kent State. he coordinatd the work of Type High Press. & he was an able practioner of the drawing arts. I've had this piece of his since it was in the 1975 KSU faculty show.

palm at Coral Sands

I postd 2 entries via my phone. neither one is here. have no idea why. sometimes machines work   sometimes they don't.

hanging out with Emma

Thxgiving in Marina Del Ray

Bill Berger et moi

at Percy's grave

my old friend Bill Berger took this today in Westwood. after viewing the marvelous Charles Burchfield exhibition at the Hammer we walkd a block to the cemetery where Marilyn Monroe is. & of course I had to pay tribute to character actor Percy Helton.

westward ho

leaving for airport soon.

amusing

to find an article abt fashion at last nite's music awards. when Paula Abdul is the best-dressd person at an awards show that tells you something.

but what was truly appalling was the lack of talent in the musical numbers.

o to have had Piaf & a piano & a single spotlight.

I'm walking

along Winckles St to Garford School
    to absorb books in the tiny library
down East Broad to Rivoli Theater
    to see faces on a big screen
across town to Elyria High
    to struggle with algebra
between Euclid & Prospect
    for plays & Chinese food
from Stopher Hall to Stag Bar
    to get drunk
from Twin Lakes to Stag Bar
    to get drunker
up 8th Ave to 42nd St
    in the middle of the nite
down Kings Rd
    in search of men
up Commercial St
    in search of more men
from Chateau Marmont to Grauman’s Chinese
    to chase history
over bridges
    all across Venice
from the top of Meteora
    down to Kalambaka
from Copacabana to Ipanema
    to watch the sun set
beside the curves
    of Serpent Mound
from Brother Abdon to the Plaza
    for carne adovada
from Bourbon to Louisa
    to swim naked
along Ramon Rd
    to look for pennies

I’m walking
    I’m still walking

anyone else gulity?

I don't follow soaps. but I just watchd "General Hospital." yup. I fell for the hype. James Franco is a fascinating young actor. & I wantd to see him in this unusual venue.

altho I had no idea who the characters were or the plot   it was easy to fall into the show. before Franco spoke a line there were tears   shouting   cheating   murder. but by the end of the hour we finally see that handsome face. Franco plays a Banksy-like artist by the name of Franco. the p.r. of the entire event is superb. esp since Franco not only promotes his own career but that of his younger brother. a promo for Dave Franco's upcoming appearances on "Scrubs" is prominent. whoever put this package together deserves the salary one presumes he or she gets.

"Big Joy"

Big Joy Fundraising Trailer from Eric on Vimeo.

remembering Bing

one of my all-time favorite xmas presents came from my parents in 1954. it was a box (complete with key)containing 5 Decca lps & a booklet. "Bing: A Musical Autobiography" was playd endlessly on Winckles St. in addition to all of Crosby's hits there were duets with everyone from Judy Garland to the Andrews Sisters.

what made me take this childhood artifact from its shelf was the memory of his duet with Jane Wyman in a Frank Capra film I haven't seen in ages. it's on TCM tonite & even tho it's on no one's list of Capra's best films I can't wait to see it again. if for nothing else the movie has a cast which wd delight any cinephile -- everyone from silent star H. B. Warner to an extremely young Patty McCormack.

null sets on a chilly morning

there was no battle in the sky. maybe more stars than usually visible but lacking the expectd shower. & when I woke because of uplateness the sun was already brilliant. it was over coffee that I read Dennis Cole died. he'd been a Hollywood minute with teeth & blondness. & I read that that Levi will take the money & run: another no show. so I had more coffee   pondering day's direction. had change in sleep routine producd a grog that wd ruin my next moments. surely not   Leslie Neilson   surely not. mornings like this steel one to a work ethic that requires a tear in yr briefs. I raise my third cuppa to Tennessee Williams   newly enshrind in Poets Corner. emptiness is the starting point to fulfillment. & when that emptiness is full of all that warmth from my brick floors I can expect this day to shine. I declare it so.

machines

the other day my printer was whacky as Sarah Palin. today I'm having internet probs. I do adore all these accoutrements of modernity. but when they don't function properly I have to work to avoid seething.

but the sun's out

yes there's snow on the ground. yes my printer's being a pain. yes my stats here are down. yes the response to my first Facebook poem is minimal. yes the response to Making Circles was even worse.

but I've lived a long time & been thru much harder periods. minor aggravations are part of it all. I try to scream & get them out of the way. because I've had a remarkable life. & I've survivd one of the most difficult years of my life. & I'm as happy as an old fart can be.

as Yvonne DeCarlo sang many years ago "I'm Still Here." but the important part is I'm producing some of my best work. & I can't wait to see what the next hour brings.

one of Mom's collections

the reason I became a collector is because both of my parents were. Dad's collections were mostly usable tools -- altho he also had some antique ones. he also had a small gathering of duck decoys.

Mom collectd everything from watering cans to ceramic chickens. but her most famous collection was autographs.



being the generous person she's always been Mom made a decision when I annouc'd my retirement as curator of special collections at Kent State University Libraries. she wantd her autograph collection to go to KSU as her own thank you to the university for employing her son. so abt a thousand autographs were boxd & sent to Kent. the gift was written abt by future novelist Thrity Umrigar in the Akron paper & was duly noted in Library Hotline.

in 1997 the library mountd a major exhibition of Mom's collection. this is the literary section where you may be able to see cards signd by Robert Creeley & Maya Angelou.



in other cases were signatures of Lucille Ball & Bette Davis   Leonard Bernstein & Frank Zappa   Muhammad Ali & Andre Agassi   Gerald Ford & Bill Clinton   Francis Bacon & Andy Warhol   Robert Altman & Ingmar Bergman   Rosa Parks & Wilma Mankiller.

here are my parents at the festive opening of the exhibition which was attend'd by director Bobby Lewis   poet Maggie Anderson   comics artist P. Craig Russell.



Mom's wearing her squash blossom necklace. in keeping with her lifelong spirit of giving she's willing it to Kent's fashion museum.

changes

transition day. temps in flux. gray morning. a whisper of wind before some drops of rain. but now sun's returnd.

the joy of the unexpectd

hadn't expectd to buy anything but lunch when Phil & I went to Madrid today.



but when I walkd into Chumani Gallery I saw a silver belt buckle that had my name on it. featuring a horse stone   the buckle is the work of Peter Johnson.

Veterans Day

painting finishd.

my routine

is to eat my big meal midday. in the evening I have a salad (& dessert). the salad is generally a variation of greens. tonite I had a delightful change. pears   walnuts   blue cheese.

fried pickles

1st time I had them was at Cafe Sbisa on my intial visit to New Orleans. they were memorable enuf to mention to neighbor Phil on my last trip there. he rememberd & yesterday when he found them on the menu of a new place in nearby Madrid (birthplace of Mae Marsh)he brought some back for me.

just had them as part of lunch. gracias Felipe.

slatherd on

sunscreen & took advantage of this spectacular weather. got on ladder to accomplish some painting.

my fingers are blue (from paint & not what Miss California does when she isn't praying).

a page from my baby book

yesterday's news had me thinking abt my early time in Texas. I was abt a year & 2 months old when I walkd for the 1st time. it was in Gatesville. that meant that Dad was stationd in North Fort Hood. I certainly have no memory of those initial steps. but I knew it was record'd in my baby book. so I draggd it out. this page tickles me. I need to use it as a basis of a piece.

tragedy in Texas

a sign of the times: before hearing abt the Ft. Hood massacre via usual news sources I learnd of the shootings thru a Facebook posting from a relative of a soldier.

the obit

of biologist Clinton Hobbs brought back a memory from a class I took with him eons ago. for reasons I no longer recall he was talking abt the spread of germs. he sd he'd known a man who was so germophobic that he wore gloves to open doors. a deadpan pause. then Dr. Hobbs sd "of course he never married."

elections

too early to tell what today's voting means. but it's clear Obama's base isn't turning out.

pool door

Room 112
Blue Moon

dia de los muertos

Durl took this of me at Springs Preserves:

may the pumpkin be with you

years ago Dad bought me some Halloween decorations at a garage sale. I used the mint Hallmark items at the house one year & then hid them in a nook in the hall closet. but I rememberd them & brought them to Las Vegas & decoratd my room with them.

John Kenley (1906-2009)

don't have access here to my programs & other Kenley Players memorabilia. but that summer stock venue meant so much to me as a kid. so many stars -- from Gloria Swanson to Margaret Hamilton. so many memories. & Kenley himself was quite the character.

Jodi

I first saw her in "Calamity Jane." altho it was performd in a Broadway house with an audience this Carol Burnett version of the Doris Day film was a tv special. years later Jodi moved to Las Vegas. along the way she became a friend of collage artist T. R. Queen   my best bud in high school.

in the years since Tom's too-early death Jodi has become a touchstone. we met for lunch today at Cuban Cafe. a good meal & lovely chat.

arr'd safely in Las Vegas

but it's cold here.

travel

has become trying. in a bit I must go thru this light snow to the airport & ascend into a wind advisory to fly west.

naked coffee guy

perhaps all the facts aren't in yet.... but if the nosey parker was on his property looking in his window why hasn't she been arrestd for trepassing.

down home

Steve Martin lived here in the '70s. he came back last nite with his banjo tour playing the Lensic with Steep Canyon Rangers. it was a fun evening. the band has got to be among the best bluegrass ensembles around. & Martin plays well. of course he did schtick in between. stuff like suggesting the audience sing along to a tune that had no lyrics. & the final encore was none other than "King Tut." but over all it was a good blend of music & humor.

another beautiful Santa Fe day

bus to town

Joel Fan eating a cookie in front of the art museum before his rehearsal

Ali MacGraw plunking coin in a parking meter

fruit smoothie at Aztec Cafe

matinee of a Cole Porter musical

long walk home before sun sets

things #4

in 2000 I did a rubbing of this plastic token for a piece which appears in Making Circles.



I got the token back in my drinking days. it was from a favorite West Village bar calld the Ninth Circle.

the building at 139 West 10th has quite a history. constructd in 1845 it opend as a townhouse. by 1898 it was a popular Italian restaurant. but its primary claim to fame came in the 20th century. Mickey Ruskin opend it under the name Ninth Circle as a steakhouse & bar in 1962 (3 years before he gave the world Max's Kansas City). at first it was a watering hole for artists (John Chamerlain) & poets (Joel Oppenheimer who claimd to name Max's Kansas City for Ruskin). but the place steppd into history when Edward Albee went to the bathroom there. on the mirror someone had written in soap "who's afraid of Virginia Wolf?"

I'm not certain exactly when it became a popular gay dance spot but that's how I knew it. by the '80s it was a hustler bar & then went thru a couple of incarnations before turning into its present self DeSantos   an Italian restaurant co-ownd by a Mexican rock drummer.

for the record

IMDB lists "Broadway Nights" as the 1st film of Sylvia Sidney.

at lunch at Kent's Stag Bar many years ago I mentiond to SS that I'd read she made her movie debut in this 1927 silent movie whose star was my friend Lois Wilson. Miss Sidney told me that she'd actually first appeard the year before as an extra in Lothar Mendes' "Prince of Tempters" with Lois Moran (best rememberd today as the starlet behind F. Scott Fitzgerald making a screen test).

altho I haven't read everything ever written abt Sylvia Sidney I don't recall this information being publishd. so it occurrd to me to set it in print.

____________________________________________

next day addition (esp for Stephen):



she came to the university for a performance. in addition to lunch I treatd her to a post-perf party at my house. she was a witty lady but sharp of tongue which didn't endear her to everyone. (& yes.... I once had hair.)

I try

to live in the moment. but I've been around so long that my past is vast & likes to intrude.

much of today was spent in a back & forth online with someone once close with whom I've had no contact for at least 15 years. all manner of memories came to the surface. then I saw the Hockney doc "A Bigger Splash" for the 1st time in decades. it was finishd just months before I met David. so it's a true time capsule for me.

my favorite part is mid-film. you see him enter a quite fabulous shower at his place in Powis Terrace. then we cut to naked boys in an LA pool. finally back to the shower. using that shower is a special memory for me. & then one of those LA boys is Mark Lipscomb who I met at Mr. Henry's in Georgetown a few months before meeting David in London.

so a swirl of past faces & bodies. but all in context of now so that the past becomes present as I process. I avoid analysis because it's such a jumble. those words I wrote at the beginning of this are already past. not as past as the smell of David's cigar at breakfast but still a past.

so I'll finish this & press "publish post." I'll get back to my green tea & make a list of things to do manana.

I am
my own ghost
in that photo
Billy took
at Musso & Frank's

skin then
since scrubbd off
nails
cut & flushd

even bones
not quite the same

the stranger
in bed
when I wake
is me

bringing back Bruz

I remember driving back from Malibu, with Bruz Fletcher and finding his house, in Laurel Canyon burned to the ground
-- James Broughton



Bruz Fletcher was on his way to being forgotten when Tyler Alpern found him. he dedicatd a website to the performer & now has producd a book. Bruz Fletcher: Camped, Tramped & A Riotous Vamp is for the moment "a private, collector's only edition." it includes my poem "Bruz Fletcher Entertains at Club Bali." there are wonderful photos & loving research into Hollywood's gay scene in the 1930s. it's my hope that the book will find its way to a wider audience.

the actor who likes gay poets

James Franco made a student film based on a Frank Bidart poem. he playd Ginsberg in the upcoming feature "Howl." & now comes news that he bought film rights to Hart Crane's "The Broken Tower."

my busy day

yesterday I was up at 6. an hour later Rita & I were off to St. John's College with Cinco hanging his head out the window. we hiked to the top of Atalaya Mountain.



a quick shave & shower & I was off to the state capitol building for an Equality New Mexico rally. the group was attempting to enter Guinness Book of World Records by making the largest engagement ring.

here we see local tv personality Gadi Schwartz filming the end of the process of unrolling the gold band. the unroller was James Herrera.



back home I expectd to spend the rest of the day filling requests for Making Circles. so much for high expectations. only one person wrote me asking for the pdf.

the day peterd out with "Slumdog Millionaire." what an unlikeable film.

"Making Circles"

for some years now I've been trying to get this book out into the world. no need to chronicle publishers or delays. the other day I was talking to Todd Moore abt my frustration & my feeling to self-publish it as an e-book. he encouragd me. so here goes.

I've turnd it into a PDF file. it takes a bit to download (5.2 MB) but if you want it send me yr e-mail address & I'll forward it. it's not perfect: original spacing got alterd for reasons I don't understand & I'm still not savvy enuf to know how to correct.

for some years I've been working outside traditional forms -- sometimes outside words. I'm not much for schools of poetry or labels for art. so is this vispo or conceptual art or something else? I don't care what it is. but I do care abt it & want it out in the world. & if this is the only way it is a way.

Thank Gauguin It's Friday

o to be in Cleveland
celebrating the zincographer

Railrunner

earlier this year train service began between Santa Fe & Albuquerque. there's a station a block from my house. but local politics has kept the station from opening. so I've resistd taking the train.

finally I felt I had to do the Railrunner at least once in its inaugural year. so I walkd the half hour to the next nearest station -- all the while cursing those keeping the Zia station from opening.

Todd Moore met me in Abq. we had a Middle Eastern lunch & went booking. then I took the train back. it was all good -- except when we sped past Zia station & I knew I faced another half hour walk back home.

Allen Memorial Art Museum

this video was postd over a year ago but I just found it:



Oberlin is near Elyria. the Allen was my first art museum. in my will my art collection will go to the Allen. besides being a splendid small museum it runs this super program for students.

my guv

Bill Richardson has been calld many things but I think this is the 1st time I've seen him labeld obese.

humbling

my newest publisher John Burroughs is blogging abt our new chapbook.

among the touchstones John didn't mention which is particularly poignant to me is that he lives across the street from the funeral home where Dad was.

Freddie Herko
(1936-1964)

Herko

a few quick moments of his beauty appear on tv

I still like Obama but

the Nobel committee awarding him the peace prize now is like the American Film Institute giving its lifetime achievement award to Dakota Fanning.

shooting the moon

NASA crashes a rocket into the moon in the morning.

this makes me chuckle because it brings back one of Dad's favorite beefs. he'd go on & on abt climate change happening because of our fiddling with the moon. I can't remember how many times I had to to listen to him excoriate the government for leaving "junk" on the moon's surface. I know if he were around now he's be beside himself with this new developement.

introducing

coming this weekend from Crisis Chronicles Press which just happens to be an Elyria imprint (love child of John Burroughs).

Prince Felipe of Spain

is in town to help kick off Santa Fe's s 400th birthdday celebration.

Guy shows Judy his gun

why (#2)

am I getting more spam trying to sell me watches than attempting to enlarge my penis?

why

have I been getting friend requests on Facebook from Republicans I don't even know?

"Ohio is a piano"

turning the state into a song is possible at this site.

one of my books-in-progress is Ohio Triangle. the points of the triangle are Elyria-Cleveland-Kent. not all are listd here so I'm unable to compose a background tune for the collection. but it's fun to fool around.

the only member of Congress with spine?

lest we forget

Cholame (1987)


Fairmount (1988)


Griffith Observatory (2007)

Cinema Diverse

director David Kittredge


writer/director Everett Lewis & the co-star of his last 2 films Dale Dymkoski


actor/director Jason Bushman

a reunion

a few years ago I wrote here abt meeting Boyd Willat & staying at his family residence Harper Housewhere I wrote the poem "Reading Hafiz in Billie Dove's Bedroom on a Rainy Morning" 30 years ago.

I lost touch with Boyd & Harper House was leveld for a project calld 7 Fountains. but almost as in a movie I found Boyd again.

Cinema Diverse was yet another film festival bringing me to Palm Springs. opening nite was a double feature of the films in which John Hurt plays Quentin Crisp. & the after party was at the Lucy House. before leaving I read online that the recently-opend onetime Lucille Ball getaway residence was ownd by Boyd Willat & run by his daughter Amber. I was excitd to see it & tell Amber I'd known her father years ago.

so after the screenings Thomas Ethan Harris -- the fesitval's artistic director -- kindly drove me from the Camelot Theater to the house behind the property which had been El Mirador. & suddenly there was Boyd. he was busy meeting & greeting but we had some time to reconnect.

& I found out what happend to the staind-glass windows his father had creatd for Billie Dove's bedroom. they were installd in the living room of the Lucy House. here I am with Boyd & Amber in front of the windows:

at the Lucy House

between films

At another festival. 112 outside.,

last post was my first

via phone. small screen. big fingers. so short posts while traveling.'.

106

when I arr'd in Palm Springs.

westward bound

for another film festival

another Yahoo(na)ku

phobophobia is a
fear of
fearing

remembering Melina

up & down day

but I got thru it.

summer ends

with a splendid day.

& as if on cue there's a threat of snow in the mountains tomorrow.

things #3

I don't smoke. but I like souvenirs. so there are a few ashtrays in my house. this one brings back so many memories.



Cleveland-born Ted Hook was a dancer. he appeard in some 400 films -- from "Miss Sadie Thompson" to "Some Like It Hot." later he was a Las Vegas chorus boy. then personal assistant to Tallulah Bankhead & Joan Blondell. in the '70s he opend a restaurant calld Backstage next to the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway. it quickly became my favorite NYC watering hole.

the stories -- mine & those of others -- are endless abt this special place. I became addictd to the brandy alexanders made by Kim the bartender on whom I had a terrible crush. one year I even had a birthday party there.

like so many other things that shine & disappear Backstage is no longer. it became an Asian restaurant & then I think a sports bar. but for a decade it was an integral part of my visits to the City.

"God chose me"

the world has longd sufferd from the actions of the religious. but lately things have gotten out of hand. everyday we hear of a local church scandal. & the national news bulges with nonsense spewing from the mouths of "the chosen." from the governor of Arizona to Miss California come the silliest utterances. & then there's the confederacy of dunces who have taken to the streets proclaiming the president a witch doctor.

I try to laugh off the rantings of the pious. but it's seething into a dangerous stew.

Yahoo(na)ku

emus
& kangaroos
can't walk backward

Henry Gibson (1935-2009)

reunion

a surprise guest at Mom's birthday celebration on sunday was Michael Pierce. we met more than 30 years ago but haven't seen each other in at least 15 years. Michael brought Mom a basket of beautiful mums & me some old photos I've either never seen or have forgotten. this one of us in Twin Lakes dates from probably 1977:



& here we are the other day: