slouching toward Oscar nite

here are a couple of shots I took of Bette Davis in Beverly Hills in 1988

Musicarnival

was a big tent in Warrensville Heights where shows were presentd in summer.  I believe the first time I went was in 1963. John Schuck was a member of the resident company & Eliot Feld was one of the dancers.

as I age my memory of plays fades. I've seen thousands over the decades & now only a moment here & there remains.

so it's wonderful news to hear that the producer of those shows secretly recorded them & that those recordings will one day be abailable to scholars at Cleveland Piblic Library.

covers

I consider myself to be one of the luckiest poets ever. over all the decades that small presses have been issuing my work I've been able to ask some remarkable artists to do covers. here's a little film I did which shows some of them:



& now another is forthcoming. Poet's Haven will release my first flip book. on one side will be Another Book of Rain Poems.  here's a preview of the painting Eddie Jelinet did for the cover:

on the other side will be Lives & Deaths of the Poets. & here's the art that Izayah Jeffrey did for that cover:

Marilyn isn't forever in Palm Springs

just got word "Forever Marilyn" is leaving Palm Springs next month

glad I took a final photo with it last week:

Aztec Ruins

the group did its first overnite. we drove to Cuba for lunch then on to the Aztec Ruins. after settling into a motel in Bloomfield we dined in Farmington.

Presidents Day

but First Ladies are in the news.

& here I am with the best of them:

one last

shot from Palm Springs

from salty to sweet

Palm Springs always thrills with sights & sounds & tastes.

this is calld a bacon flight. it was servd at Cheeky's:

& at the fine art fair I cdn't resist posing with this dessert-inspird art.

but also on hand were little packets of the real stuff -- rose saltd caramels.

back from

spending Valentines Day in Palm Springs.

someone else had the same idea:

thinking of everyone I've ever loved

reading

that University of Akron is dropping its degrees in theater brought to mind their long ago production of "Hamlet."  I knew the lad who playd the prince.  his name was Michael Williamson but I don't know what became of him.

Nancy Holt (1938-2014)

a terrible shock.  I'd known her for more than 40 years -- in NYC & Kent & finally here in Santa Fe.  altho we didn't see each other all that often I'd see her at the grocery store & she even sent me her first ever e-mail.

here she is (with Harmony Hammond) at my Xmas party some years ago:

from the 1936 Olympics

"Frank Kurtz" by Hubert Stowitts

earlier portraits

Wallie Spatz (1960)

Jacqueline Horner (1962?)

"The Poet and His Mews" (1982)

& in the same year P. Craig Russell also captured me with Toby. this was used as the cover for Cat Scratches.

"Portrait of Alex & Tobias" (1982)

not sure I ever postd this painting which I commissiond from Billie Jo Clayton

another portrait

here's an old photo of me with the painting Robert Mayer did years ago

me by Bree

we all know Bree as poet & publisher but the artist in her has been working recently doing portraits of writers.  I was surprisd this morning when she postd this portrait she did of me on Facebook:

William S. Burroughs (1914-1997)

the only time I met today's centennial celebrant was 30 years ago when he came to Kent State with James Graurholz.  a group of us had dinner with him before his reading. some time later Sandy Marovitz surprisd me by giving me this portrait he did which he askd WSB to inscribe.

22 years later I stayd at the Beat Hotel in Desert Hot Springs.  it was run by Burroughs' one-time assistant Steven Lowe. the novelist's desk was in my suite.  & there were artifacts from his career all over the place.  I took this picture of Steve with his hand on a mugwump from the movie of "Naked Lunch."

Culver City Ice Arena

is set to close today. it has a long history of both figure skating & hockey. protestors are many & there are various schemes underway to keep the old place from being demolishd.

when I went to LA for Xmas my friend Billy & I visitd (he actually lives within walking distance).  I took this picture of the famous skater figure:

remembering a murder

on this day in 1922 director William Desmond Taylor was murderd. altho most think it was the work of Charlotte Shelby   it remains unsolved.

I've been to his grave -- which isn't far from Valentino's.