panhandlers

a couple of years ago when I was having my nervous breakdown I spent considerable time in the park next to my grocery store.  sometimes I sippd coffee. other times I wrote.  & there were days when all I cd manage was deep breathing. but mostly I simply lookd around me.  I was able to see the regular station where the "homeless" stand with signs asking for money.  one day I watchd a young woman finish her shift.  she walkd a distance away from the station & got into a new SUV & drove off.


I rarely sit in the park anymore but I do go to the store daily.  & in the process I see many of the regulars who seek funds.  recently as I carried my venti coffee from Starbuck's I saw a new young man. he was with a dog.  I've heard that panhandlers like to appear with dogs because they get more handouts. the man was new but I swear I've seen that dog before.  as I walkd home I began to wonder if the regulars share the same dog. perhaps there is a Fagin who organizes the panhandlers & rents the dog out. I'll try to be more careful in my observations of the regulars & check out the canine angle.

West Side Market

Cleveland is celebrating the centennial of this remarkable building.

the actual market began before the construction of this edifice. but the building itself is such a landmark for the city that much ado is being made of its 100th birthday.


here I am some years ago purchasing pierogies at the market.

& here's a hay(na)ku from Ohio Triangle :

WEST SIDE MARKET

pierogies

Hungarian sausage

dark cherry strudel

sometimes

memory lives

on the tongue

discovery

it's always a joy to find a photograph you've never seen before.  I have a box of old family photos which I enjoy going thru every once in a while.  they've become familiar friends. not long ago Mom gave me this portrait of us which I'd never seen before.  I don't know where it was hiding all these decades but it's grand having it in my life.

Memorial Day

Dad's brick in the war memorial in Ely Park

happy 75th birthday to Golden Gate Bridge

snail mail

there was a time when its delivery was a high point of any day. however in this internet age I usually only get bills & junque in my mailbox.


BUT today was a lovely surprise. there were 3 packages!!!


the biggest was from the artist Ira Joel Haber who I've known for more than 40 years.  he's one of two old friends who regularly sends me surprise packets.  this one has postcards & art announcements (one featuring a fetching portrait of Joe Brainard who IJH introducd me to many years ago) as well as a naughty Haber collage.


the other mailings were from Steve Tills (who sent me his new book Post Maiden) & Michael Alago (who sent night blooming jasmine will never smell the same).


suddenly this average day has become special.  it's a celebration of friendship -- old & new. as I begin yet another decade I value friendship so much. I got an e-mail this morning from an Elyria neighbor who I've known since kindergarten (64 years ago!). how splendid is that?


so a big hug & thank you to Ira Joel & Steve & Michael for turning just another day into a party.

morning song

on way back from gym gusts brought that '60s song "Windy" to mind.


& it looks as if my afternoon song may be "Smoke Gets in Yr Eyes."

wore

the tie Todd Moore wore in "Tie One On" while watching Monogram's "Dillinger" tonite

senior prom 1961

the Poni Tails entertaind

The Apricot Project

a work-in-progress

Gwendolyn Brooks stamp

alienist

saw a 20th century film last nite which used this 19th century term for a certain kind of pyschiatrist & feel it shd be reintroducd in the 21st century

good year for yucca

film noir festival

Pat Crowley (co-star of "Red Garters")

with Eddie Muller (author of Dark City Dames)

David Ladd (son of Alan / ex-husband of Cheryl / father of Jordan)

with Kathleen Hughes (co-star of "It Came from Outer Space")

back from my Palm Springs weekend

no Troy Donahue or Robert Conrad but I did spend time with

Izayah Jeffrey at Spencer's Restaurant

Rick Castro at Camelot Theaters

Beverly Hills Hotel

opend 100 years ago today.  altho I've never stayd there I have been to its famous Polo Lounge a handful of times.  


Jay Parsell first took me to the Polo Lounge in 1975. we had lunch outside at a table near a handsome Olympian.

just a few days ago

I lookd up Joyce Redman on IMDB. this morning I learnd she died.

footnotes

in my dreams I was having a political discussion & a woman demand'd that I provide sources for my opinions.

Mort Lindsey (1923-2012)

he was a giant in the music industry. many credit him for the shape & sound of one of the greatest live concert albums of all time.

his collaboration with Judy Garland was legendary. besides Carnegie Hall he workd on her tv series & last films. later he did the same for Barbra Streisand & Liza Minnelli.


I believe the only time I saw him in action was leading the orchestra for "The Merv Griffin Show."

3 poems

from Ohio Triangle will be appearing soon in Big Bridge.


I postd the link too soon so have revisd this post.

Bea vs Rufus

seems to be major internet buzz abt the meeting of the Golden Girl & Mr. Wainwright.  since I introduced them let me add a bit to the story.


it was 1999 & I was producing the first pop concert in the history of the Santa Fe Opera as a benefit for the AIDS charity on whose board I servd.  Bea Arthur was emcee & Rufus Wainwright one of the performers. at a party the nite before the concert I introduced the pair. Rufus immediately mentiond his song "California" which includes the line abt Bea Arthur being his "grandma."  from the look on her face it was obvious she was taken aback. but I don't recall her uttering the line which apparently Rufus now tells.  nor did she walk away from him.


in fact she came to like him when he did something sweet.  she was staying alone at a guest house near the opera & was feeling isolated.  Rufus was in a suite at a b & b in town. when he learnd of her plight he gave up his suite -- taking a small single room.


I wdn't mention any of this -- letting Rufus get away with his swell story.  but some of the comments left by readers were so mean I decided to tell what I saw.

it's Tom Kryss time

no Santa Fe spring before has had so many rabbits.  saw 3 on the walk to the gym this ayem.

I've known Nancy Holt

for more than 40 years. yesterday Santa Fe Art Institute opend a wonderful retrospective of her work.  Maggie Muchmore took this picture of me with Nancy.

the Gildzen bricks

years ago Akron was undergoing a downtown renovation. a gimmick to make money was selling bricks on which donors cd put names.  I purchasd one for Mom because she was born not far from there.

for decades Dad workd at General Industries.  not long after he died the buildings burnd down.  I was able to salvage this brick. I photographd it on my brick in Cathedral Park in dowtown Santa Fe which Nancy Cope gave me as a gift.

last month Tom Mahl took this picture of me leaving a penny on Dad's brick in the war memorial in Ely Park which is at the center of downtown Elyria.

"covers"