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.