seeds

I met Edward Guthmann 18 years ago but we've only seen each other a couple of times since. so I don't know him well.

today his book Wild Seed: Searching for My Brother Dan arr'd in the mail. I'm a slow reader & was going to put it in the huge to-read pile. but I opend it. & there I sat reading it all the way thru.

now I know Edward Guthmann better than I had before.

this isn't a review. I won't go into the particulars of the book. but allow me a personal reflection. I like knowing abt people I don't know. but even better I like learning new things abt those I think I do know. I have great appreciation for this author's task. & as so often happens when I read it prods me to dig into my own.

thank you Edward for letting me know more abt yr life. that last photograph of yr brother looking so happy & sexy on the beach makes me wish I'd met him. but of course because of yr book I already have.

Blue Hole

I remember visiting this place when I was a boy. it seemd like a magic spot. its blueness remains as vivid as the first Technicolor movies.

the other day I was sorting "things" & found this small medallion which I presume I bought there so many decades ago.

I saw Jennifer Holliday

play Effie in "Dreamgirls" on Broadway 36 years ago. it was electrifying.

last nite I saw her on stage again. she looks different (200 lbs lighter) & speaks more quietly & deliberately. when I first heard her do her signature song it was so raw it hit you in the gut. because of the life she's had what she sang last nite is still powerful but deeper.

not all performers can use the patter between songs to dole out anything meaningful. but as Holliday tells some of her story the audience is totally with her & quite literally cheers her on. here's a woman who's taken the considerable shit that's come her way & produced a beautiful life. she continues to grow as person & performer. when I stood for her at the Imperial all those years ago it was for a dynamite performance. when I stood for her last nite it was for both her performance & her life.

this is the only photo I got of her at the Tony ball in 1984. it's much better of her mentor/tormentor Michael Bennett. but all these years later it teases. her fabled weight is hidden as was her depression. it's a quick moment from a troubled life that turnd out to be a powerful example of positivity.

"The Urine of Russian Hookers"

rushes thru American history
flushing integrity
down the Volga
it oranges the face
of duplicity
but cleanses
a nation's psyche

revelation of piss
promises a path
to healing

fashion week

taking advantage of this annual event to wear some old but new to me items for the first time.

(photo by Estee Huff)

painter Ross Bleckner created this vest in 1993. it was produced in an edition of 100 for sale at Barney's to raise funds for AMFAR. when I bought it at a consigment store last year it was in a frame. but I needed to wear it so released it.

at another consignment store I bought this vintage satin suit by Bally. I'm wearing it with a tie hand-paintd by Marconi Calindas which was a birthday gift from my friend Phil Andrews.