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:

flying frays the nerves

3 of my 4 flights were late.

all had some degree of turbulence.

off to Ohio

to celebrate Mom's 88th.

going international

quite the surprise to discover this blogroll.

o noooooooooooooooooo

just when the rightwing media were prepping us for the president to pull the plug on granny

we discover that wasn't it at all. the plug has been pulld on "Slim Windows."

yup.... Tom Beckett's blog is gone.

I'm old but I seem to recall this happend before.

so if we're lucky Tom's blog will reappear -- just like Esmeralda's virginity in "Camino Real."

our dumbest citizens

are those pulling their spawn from school today.

it's tough staying cool with so much ignorance in the land.

some mornings

I feel as old as Semiramis. you'll recall she was the madam who became Queen of Babylon for 100 years. if you too are a movie freak you may remember Rhonda Fleming playd her more than a half century ago. & if you're truly a movie freak you'll recall in a later Italian version John Ericson was her enemy the king of the Dardanians.

this is that rare Santa Fe thing   a damp morning. we had some rain during the nite. with the air clear & sun shining it's a pretty morning & I shdn't feel any older than I am which is old enuf. I am 66. that's a sort of rime. later this week I return to Ohio where Mom turns 88. another rime.

at this stage of life I'm grateful for clear sunny mornings. earlier this year I didn't think I'd be alive now. & here I am   sipping coffee   comparing myself to a brothel keeper who staged the ripping-apart of her husband. I've watchd David Muir present the news. I've fed the neighborhood cat who's adoptd me. I've exchangd e-mails with Jim Cory whose birthday it is. it's a good day. & if it startd with me feeling like an old queen I'll just have to straighten up my crown & get on with it.

things #2

yesterday's photo brought back memories of that bracelet. I no longer remember where or when I bought it but I do know I had it on my 1st trip to Europe. was I wearing it when I dined with Kitaj in London or was drawn by Hockney in Paris? perhaps. for years it's been hidden away but I dug it out to wear last nite when the neighbors took Rita to Old House for her birthday dinner.

Kent State centennial

Special Collections & Archives has put together a collection of historical photos to mark KSU's 100 years for an online album. among the items is this photo of me with my library mentor Dean Keller who creatd the department. right now the photo is in the decade of the '80s but I'll write to the current curator to correct that. that fanciful shirt I'm wearing was cut up in 1978 for a series of valentine collages.

things #1

No ideas
but in things

William Carlos Williams

its thingness

Howard P. Vincent



when I lived in Twin Lakes I bought a long piece of butcher block to use as a desk. I brought that with me when I moved into town. at first it was in the dining room as a sort of serving table. when I turnd the garage into a great room that piece of butcher block became a counter. a piece was cut out to make room for a sink. that piece I used as a cutting board & still do.

eveything old is new again

I'm tickld by the new interest in those old vaudevillians Sophie Tucker & Trixie Friganza.

Trixie Friganza sélectionné dans Musique et Clips

type lice & other memories

in case you don't read comments here's something Jim McCrary left:

what a world...when i think of the blue wax stencils we typed for mimeo here in lawrence in the 60's...and hanging out with Paul Mariah in Glen Ellyn learning how to set type on his 1857 letterpress...it was pretty funny what with the wine, dope and dsylexia trying to set type upside down and backwards. He was a good friend at a time when I was having lots of trouble.....miss him. so yes, Alex, we struggle on with this new business.

so many memories. blue stains all over face & hands from working with mimeo stencils. & being exposd to the whole world of typesetting. have any youngsters out there experiencd type lice?

at Commercial Press in Kent I once had a try at working a linotype machine. & on campus for a journalism class I struggld with setting type. in Dean Keller's basement I workd his antique Chandler & Price. & all those years of correcting galleys. how few still know that special shorthand indicating mistakes & corrections.

this nostalgia shdn't imply I'm against progress or that I don't embrace what new technologies offer. it's all amazing. only a few years separate the scalawag mooning a xerox machine & the tsunami of sexting. but sometimes I feel bad for a generation who haven't blackend their fingers in the dance from type drawer to composing stick.

frustration

so
I continue
the tech grapple
getting
older with
every wrong touch