out of the past

Martha Braun just sent me this photo of a collage I made for her many years ago.  I have no memory of its making.

Harry Carey Jr. (1921-2012)

last poem of the year

WIRES FROM THE SCREEN DOOR

Buddy Guy
used them
to make
his first guitar

no keeping
the music inside
from getting out

do you think

my friends know I fancy chocolate?

Valley of Fire

just back from several days in Las Vegas. I had numerous adventures. the first was hiking here with my bud Gary.

the place is all natural.  with the exception of some walkways to keep tourists on course. & this fragment of a set built for the movie "The Professionals."

the highlight of the hike was encountering a herd of bighorn sheep. it was one of those humbling moments in nature when we stop & observe other creatures stopping to observe us. simply magic.

40 years ago

from The Year Book :

is today the end?

me at Chichen Itza

on the phone

this morning Sheila Smith told me abt this interview.

55 years ago

my parents at the front door of 429. unfortunately not a good picture of Mom.  but what excites me abt this is seeing the Jean Charlot print on the wall to the left of Dad.  that was the first piece of art I ever bought.

mayhem in the arroyo

I was awoken around 4 by the sound of a pack of coyotes.  they must've been cornering prey. Nature can be so brutal.  I was too disturbd to return to sleep.

family

this was taken in the backyard of 429 Winckles on Dad's birthday in 1981

weather

Palm Springs was so unseasonal I caught cold.  LA wasn't recognizable. so I return to Santa Fe last nite & wake up this morning to more snow on the ground.

________________________________________________

update:

the worst possible precip for walking to the gym: wet snow.  I was damp & cranky by the time I got there.  but it was even worse coming home.  I was so soakd I didn't even go to Starbuck's. ran home & rippd off my soggy clothes.  took a long hot shower during which I screamd frequently.  that's calld therapy.

sequential dates

for several years I spent Thxgiving with my dear friend Bill Berger.  but with age I've become too prickly to put up with the disaster that is traveling at that time of year.  so last year I visitd him early & we markd 11/11/11 with lunch at Miceli's in Hollywood.

it seemd only natural that this year I'd visit on 12/12/12.  so I did a quick trip.  yesterday we went to Santa Monica for lunch at Chez Jay where the stories drip from the walls.

co-owner Michael Anderson took this of us at the famous front door:

sequential dates are over till I'm long dead.  so I'm not sure abt 2013.  but we've got a year to think of something.

tis the season

a cat who visits my back portal every day is sunning himself & allowing birds to eat & drink just feet from him.

up early

to shovel snow

Santa Fe Film Festival

with Travis Fine (who I saw perform Shakespeare when he was 12)

Allen Memorial

my first art museum.  on the campus of Oberlin College. when I visitd in 2007 I took this picture.

I didn't know that a student there by the name of Lena Dunham was making a short film calld "The Fountain" in front of the museum.

later quick clips from the film wd appear in her feature "Tiny Furniture."

I love when

people send me photos of myself I've never seen before.

Mom just maild me this new-to-me old snapshot:

the adult is my godmother -- Sophie Kovach Hause.  the girl on the right is my cousin Regina Yando.  the child in the middle is another cousin -- the late Francis Kovach Jr.  & that adorable lad on the left is me.  how fashionable was I?

Jerry Wyatt (1940-2010)

I first saw him on Broadway opposite Angela Lansbury in "Mame" in 1967. then the next year in the same show opposite Sheila Smith. but we didn't meet till the spring of 1979 at Joe Allen.  I spent the nite at his apartment.

however we didn't stay in touch.  it was by accident that I ran into him again in 1983. that time we got roaring drunk together at the Plaza Hotel's famous Oak Bar.

as happens with so many with whom we share brief intimacy Jerry wd pop into my mind from time to time. but it wasn't till last nite when I was doing online searching in the Broadway database that I did a more exhaustive hunt for him. & I learnd that Jerry died from cancer over 2 years ago.

in my memory there's a special chorus line of all those boys from so long ago. each one gave me a flash of joy. & now each one has his moment in my spotlight.  

it's no secret

Mom loves desserts. in my waking dream she installd a bakery's glass case in her livingroom to display all her desserts at once.

Jimmy Durante (1893-1980)

tonite I saw a new tv commercial featuring the singing voice of Jimmy Durante.  in all these years since his death his singing has been used again & again.  the only time I saw him perform I remember tearing up when he sang "September Song."  it's wonderful to know that he's still in demand.

here's a picture he signd for me in 1958.  it hangs on the star wall in my guest bathroom.

after turning off the set I checkd my e-mail.  & there from Billy was a video of Sinatra warbling "Send in the Clowns" to clips of the great comedians of the last century.  there were  two moments of Durante.

that same Billy took this picture of me putting my nose to Durante's tombstone.

synchronicity again

while channel-chasing I caught some of the PBS show on rock stars who appeard on Ed Sullivan.  when I saw The Association I wonderd who the cute drummer was.  I lookd him up.



it was Ted Bluechel Jr. & this is his 70th birthday.

reviewing

Robert Altman's credits I decided to check out his early television work.

to my surprise Howard Wendell appeard under his direction in an episode of " U S Marshall" & two of "Bonanza."

my friend John Ericson did a 1958 episode of "The Millionaire" for Altman.

Percy Helton -- co-star of my Percy & Bess -- was under his direction in a 1960 episode of "Maverick."

& TCM's Robert Osborne -- back in his acting days -- did a bit for Altman in the Craig Hill series "Whirlybirds."

Marilyn

after

the publication of Frank O'Hara's "For James Dean" Paul Goodman was all aflutter.  he didn't think the actor was a suitable subject for poetry.

funny how all these years later Dean remains as alive as ever while Goodman is nearly forgotten.

sadness was choking me
like a serial killer
when the phone rang

it was a pharmacist in India
wanting me to purchase pills
to prop up my parts

I expectd to be angry at him
but he sounded lonely
so I invitd him to tea

3 years ago

I was at a resort in Fort Lauderdale & took this picture of a plant I liked. 

then I pickd a leaf to take back. I plantd it & now it's blooming.  a little hard to see the blossom but it's the tall plant in the middle.

other plants are from clippings I've brought back from Palm Springs & Phoenix & Culver City & Elyria & Ocean Beach & Hollywood. I love living with them as they keep travel memories alive.

black friday

the most disgusting day of the year in the USA

Thxgiving 1956

429 Winckles St
Elyria OH

cousin Bobby Nolan
Grandpa & Grandma (mostly hidden) Gildzen
Dad
Mom

there's an L
on the wall
of room 78
of Inn Exile

it files
last nite's giggles
in an encyclopedia
read only
by the O
in the next room

caught cold

yes. in Palm Springs. don't know if it's more of climate change but I recognize that I no longer can predict the weather when visiting places I've visitd often.

I packd tee-shirts & shorts.  it was overcast all weekend so never got hot.  & the nites were downright cold.  when I woke shivering in bed I had to turn on the heat.

& when I got back home last nite my house was cold.  the only bad thing abt radiant heat is that it takes time to reheat a house after you've turnd temps down.  I usually sleep naked but last nite I put on a flannel niteshirt & a stocking cap.  congestion woke me once during the nite.

so I suspect today will be abt nettipots & naps.

back from Palm Springs

where I met Sutton Foster

yesterday's hike

Tramway Trail in Albuquerque

Jack Gilbert (1925-2012)

I hadn't read him in decades.  then yesterday a Facebook friend alertd me to the LA Times article abt him.  after reading that I went back to his poems.

& today -- again on Facebook -- I just learnd he died.

the only time

I ever saw T. S. Eliot's widow was nearly 30 years ago. I remember thinking she was old. actually she was in her mid 50s & I was 40. it was the ceremony for the Tony awards when she acceptd an award given to her husband for that musical.

last nite I read she'd died. it was a surprise because I didn't know she had been alive all these years.

between

election's over
& next fight begins

autumn's over
& winter begins

too excitd to sleep

it was abt 1 in the morning when I finally turnd off the tv.  I sat on the edge of the bed & suddenly burst into tears.  a flock of bluebirds flew from my chest. all day I'd been on the verge of an anxiety attack. finally it was over.

there is greatness in Obama.  in his first term he didn't always please me. in his second term he won't always please me.  but I trust him.

& after just a few hours of sleep I feel this election was historic beyond his victory. I don't remember so many gay candidates ever winning or so many wingnuts falling from favor. 

I need more coffee. & after lunch I'll be happy to indulge in a siesta. this whole election process this time around has been exhasting. but just now I stood in the morning sun & filld my lungs with fresh air & felt good.

my Ohio

thank you

vote

november roses

I took this this afternoon at Museum of Fine Arts:

& Bryan Ockert did this combination of his photograph of me with my poem a decade ago:

no one likes a complainer

but I'm such an advocate for the abolishment of daylight savings time.  here it is 5:30 & I'm up & writing here.  my body AGAIN strikes out against this punishment.

West Side Market

today is the centennial of one of my favorite places in Cleveland

gotta love NYC

Living Theater still doesn't have power.  so they're performing tonite by candlelight......

13 Halloweens

(from Alex in Movieland)

1955

wears a dress to Susan Kirby's Halloween party

1958

escorts Ann Cantwell as Mata Hari to Pilgrim Fellowship's Halloween party

1978

accompanies Alfred Cavaretta & David Meredith to David Fisher’s Halloween party in Perkins Park in Akron

1980

sees "Love on the Run" with David Meredith & P. Craig Russell followd by Fred Freede's Halloween party

1981

poses as Hamlet to be photographd by Henry Van Dyke at P. Craig Russell's Halloween party

1982

receives Halloween call from T.R. Queen in Las Vegas

1983

impersonates Rudolph Valentino at P. Craig Russell's Halloween party to which Donna Walker comes as Charles Chaplin

1992

dines at Algesa & Joseph O’Sickey’s on Halloween eve

1993

attends P. Craig Russell’s Halloween party with guests including Marc Andreyko & Jill Thompson

2000

wears djellaba purchasd in Tangier & Provincetown sandals to Pooka Longley Glidden’s Halloween dinner with guests including Maggie Muchmore & R.B. Sprague

2003

lunches at Pierpont’s at Union Station in Kansas City on Halloween

2009

decorates room 112 of Blue Moon in Las Vegas with Hallmark Halloween items his father bought him years before at a garage sale

2010

listens to Bobby Pickett sing “Monster Mash”   nibbles pumpkin fudge from Phil Andrews & sees “The Monster Maker” on Halloween