Venice Cafe (1941-2014)

one of the popular watering holes in Kent is this place:

today those glass blocks were removed.  why? I guess some call it progress.

the final poem in the Kent section of my forthcoming collection Ohio Trilogy is called "Thru Glass Blocks in Venice Cafe."  I was planning on being photographd in front of that fabled curve on my next Kent visit.

technically this is not a death. the Venice will remain open.  but the next generation of students will have no idea of how it lookd all those years.

Game of Thrones

our new mayor Javier Gonzalez proclaims George R.R. Martin Day.  the author has lived in Santa Fe since 1979.

on hand was series actor Pedro Pascal.

HBO was there to capture footage & do massive publicity.

full confession: I've only seen the first 2 episodes (highlite of which was Jason Momoa's ass).

another day another hike

Grasshopper Canyon

at times

in my life I've been calld a critic   but I never learnd how to write criticism. that's pissd off some people who have askd me to write a review of this or that & get a play instead.

Tom Beckett is a friend who sent me his new book in trade for my next one. thank god he's a friend because he won't expect me to write a review. like most of Tom's books I alternate between crying & laughing while reading it. sometimes I have to stop because I feel a line bubbling up   a line other people wd put in their review. but I catch myself & fail to write it down. because I don't write reviews.

after the first time I read Tom's new book I wantd to write to him to ask if I cd reprint "I Forgot" in my anthology of lists. once again I have to catch myself (isn't that an odd image?) because as often as Tom has pushd me to do that project I simply haven't.

what I did do was write this poem:

PRETENDING TO BE TOM BECKETT

pasta sauce simmers
in kitchen

guitar rests on couch
in there

where do I go

here in the hall
floor looks good
but if I sit
it'll hurt
to get up

___________________

I know Tom reads my blog. sorry I'm unable to write a review. but thx for sending me yr book. hope the poem doesn't embarrass you. it it does tell me & I'll delete (it).

day 3

of no desserts.  

why?

sadly it'd become another addiction.  I was eating even when I wasn't hungry.  I was getting panicky if there wasn't a sweet to gobble during evening tv watching.

the other nite I was stuffing myself   eating one M&M after another with no joy.  I suddenly stoppd. just the other day there was a sale at my nearby store so I bought 5 lbs of M&Ms. I thot to myself   how long before I'd eaten every one?

last nite I was watching some true crime show. I wasn't hungry. I ate nothing.  I felt fine.

so we'll see where this goes…..

Craig

been thinking often of P. Craig Russell of late. it startd when I finishd the manuscript for Ohio Triangle.  I was working on the Kent section & mentiond Craig in a poem abt Halloween. then he broke the news of the sudden death of Ron Burr. here are the 3 of us the last time I saw them in Kent:

next I discoverd Yale's online site of Jonathan Williams photographs. they include polaroids he took of me & my dinner guests in 1986. here is a picture I took that nite of Joanthan with Craig & Mark Jamison:

David Meredith introduced me to Craig in the fall of 1980. so we do have some history. & that history is in the air lately.

new old portraits

Jonathan Williams is famous as both poet & publisher. but he also was a photographer of note. & I've learnd that his collection is now at Yale.

the Polaroids have all been put online & I was delightd to find some of me.  these were taken on Morris rd in 1986:

it's a large collection to go thru & not all is representd online. I'm hoping that the photos he took of me swimming nude with Thomas Meyer at the pool in Twin Lakes are there.

today's hike

back to Tent Rocks 

it's raining in hell

a couple of days ago I postd the mock-up for the covers of my flip book.

welllllllllllll…. this morning I woke to mail from the publisher.  something I don't understand happend with the printing & this is the result for the Eddie Jelinet art:

(to be continued…..)

a look back

the folk group Magpie has just releasd this tribute to James Thornton:



my photo of him with the Tracey Twins is included.

our involvement was primarily with Kent Acting & Touring Company (KATC).  I was on the board & wrote an adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" for the company.  many lovely memories.

phones

yesterday on my landline I got 3 calls.  all askd for money. it's rare that I get any calls at all.  probably because I don't phone people with any frequency.

after 9/11 I got a cell phone. but few have that number because I hardly ever use it. I take it with me on trips because pay phones have pretty much disappeard.

I love the internet & travel with an ipad which I consult frequently.  but I disdain the constant chatter I hear from people on their cells. I once heard a woman at an airport breaking up with her boyfriend ever so loudly on a phone.  I don't care. & I must restrain my belligerence when people at my grocery store slow down in front of me because they're trying to talk & shop at the same time. & where are the stats on the number of fools who have killd themselves & others by yaking while driving.

the down side of not using my cell is I don't get naked pix on instagram or tweets from some red carpet or whatever happens on Grindr. if that makes me a fossil so be it.

my first flip book

what a thrill to have 2 books in one. you can order it here.

RIP my past

I read in the NY Times that San Vicente Inn is the latest gay resort to no longer be that.  I took this picture of it in 2002. 

I have many pictures of other places where men were free to be themselves. I've been lucky to have stayd at so many of them because fewer & fewer exist.  it looks like the price paid for assimilation is loss of some elements of our community. hopefully this history isn't being lost as well.  there's a long essay in all this but I'm not really an essayist. I'm simply a man "of a certain age" remembering what it was like to be a young outlaw.

plants in exile

the cactus came from one small cutting I brought back from Palm Springs. that other plant is a starter Billy made for me from his fig tree. can't really tell in this photo but it's just beginning to green up at the tips.

Bill Knott (1940-2014)

Death
by Bill Knott

Going to sleep, I cross my hands on my chest.
They will place my hands like this.
It will look as though I am flying into myself.

maybe it's time for a second edition. you hear that Lindsay Lohan?

SxSW

all the news out of Austin reminds me it's been a whole year already since "Big Joy" had its world premiere.

the next major announcement will be its forthcoming release on DVD.

"Route 66"

back in the '60s this was one of the best series on tv. for the most part the writing was good.  the directors & cast members were first rate. & it was so refreshing to have location shooting.

tonite I watchd an episode shot in Santa Fe. it was calld "A Skill for Hunting." here are some photos I captured on my iPad:

series stars Martin Milner & George Maharis on the plaza

at La Fonda

& in a room at the hotel with guest star Gene Evans who plays one of the most disgusting villains on tv. his wife is playd with gusto by Joanna Moore who had a successful tv career but is largely forgotten today.

much of the episode was shot in areas outside town where I've probably hiked. there are also glimpses of Palace of the Governors & the cathedral.

David Evans

for a Facebook page abt musicals I lookd up this Playbill article:

haven't been in touch with David since his days in "La Cage…" hope he's well.

in dreams

time & space are a jumble.  last nite I was in Kent one minute then in Hollywood.  zero transition.

I've already forgotten most of those dreams but I was delightd for the cameo by art historian Richard Trump.

farewell sale

Red Cell & JC Gonzo are 2 of the most fascinating citizens in this city full of fascinating citizens. but they've decided it's time to move on.  so at the end of the month they're on their way to new digs in Tangiers.

this morning was the first day of a 2-day "get rid of everything" sale. my house is so full I don't need to bring anything new into it.  but I wantd to say good-bye & support the guys if only in a small way.  so I pickd up a handful of books.

as Santa Fe bids them adieu I have a feeling the rest of the world will just be getting to know who they are.

"Toucan"

yesterday I postd a picture which includes the first issue of "Toucan." that batterd copy is the only one I still have. here is the table of contents:

for me it's a real time capsule. so many histories interweaving.

Smullen

in 1967 some friends & I decided to put out a magazine. we calld it "Toucan." the first issue featured a short story by George Smullen who was a grad student in Kent State's English Dept alongside my co-editor Bob Carothers & myself.

George had already publishd a couple of stories but this was early in his career. we kept in touch over the years.  here we are in the front yard of Morris Rd in 1988:

yesterday's mail brought me a copy of George's novel A Price to Pay.  its a hefty book. & it already has its own handsome website & a video teaser.

the way we were

it's early sept of 1963 on Winckles St in Elyria.  & I had a dinner party for some high school friends before going back to our respective universities.

now this was more than a half century ago.  so I'm wobbly on details. such as why these friends were wearing chitons.  I presume it was because we knew we'd be celebrating the grape.

from left to right: Sally Hewitt   Martha Braun   Charmaine Szanyi   Roberta Elzey.

I believe Sally married early on. she disappeard from my radar. last I heard she was living in South Carolina.  the other three have remaind friends over these decades.  Martha is an artist who lives in Massachusetts.  Charmaine & her husband are retired high school teachers who came to my farewell party for 429 last year.  Roberta is a poet/teacher in London.

Kim

social media continues to comment on Kim Novak's Oscar appearance.

back in 1959 she had some medical event & I sent her a get well card.  she responded with a note which is in my papers at Kent State.  but she also sent 2 signd photos which I've kept these many yerars.  here's one:

on the rocks

Mexico 1987

New Mexico 2013

the only time I went to the Oscars

down the street from MGM

photo by Bill E. Berger