18 meets 81

 with Elio Ambrosino

(photo by Kate Winslow)

happy holidays

 

(photo by David R. Larson)

Hockney

 

a major exhibition of his work opend at Palm Springs Art Museum last nite

election day

 woke at 3:30. room was cold. furnace man not coming til next week. I turnd over. then it hit me. what day it is.  my stomach did a somersault. I had that almost giddy feeling that precedes an anxiety attack.

then my mind began what minds do. a cascade of unrelated images. & my body felt off. a precursor of fear.

for reasons I don't know I began to focus on a single image. the antique ice tongs Mom bought me at a garage sale. they hang above the door in the guest room. a piece of perfect sculpture. I wasn't awake enuf to make sense of that image but something abt it was calming & I fell back asleep.

I woke again a few minutes after 5. my usual time. I got up & did my exercises. now I'll dress & go on my walk.

my take on Warhol

official Halloween 2024 portrait

by Randall Whitehead

Modernism Week

 

outfit:

Aneka Brown

sunglasses & sandals:

Mr. Turk

location:

The Shag House

Jim Cory (1953-2024)

 I was first in touch with Jim some 20 years ago. I'd discoverd Karl Tierney online. Jim was his literary executor. we began writing to each other & he sent me the manuscript of Tierney's collectd poems which he'd editd.  every poet deserves an executor like Jim who guided the book into print.

abt a year later I visitd Jim for a week in Philadelphia. that's when I discoverd just what a fabulous person he was. & our connections with such poets as James Broughton & Robert Peters.

Jim participated in my piece "Tie One On" (2010) & I blurbd his book No Brainer Variations (2011).  we're both talking heads in the documentary "Big Joy."

he was my last out of town guest at my Santa Fe house. we talkd poetry & music & art. he had a special interest in Cleveland artists -- which always surprisd me.

our last texts were 2 months ago.

my Daniel Bateman story

 in march of 2020 I went to a concert by Max Von Essen & Billy Strich. as I was leaving I saw Jeffrey Norman & Daniel Bateman. after a bit of a chat I huggd Jeff & then Daniel. a few days later I went into self isolation as the Covid pandemic began to take more lives.

it was a scary time. a major vulnerable population was the elderly. of course I didn't feel old but I knew the numbers were there. I didn't want my life to end with tubes stuck into me. so I was drastic in my isolation. at first I only left the house for short walks. I was afraid to go into grocery stores which introduced me to services such as Instacart. if someone came to the house -- & that was rare -- I spoke to them thru the window in my guest room. because I wasn't going to the gym I devisd my own exercise regime which included long walks. if I encounterd anyone I knew I spoke but kept my distance. it was a time with no physical contact.

11 months after going into isolation I waitd in line for the first available Covid shot. the woman who gave me the injection of course took my arm first. I was overwhelmd. I told her she was the first person to touch me in almost a year. that was the longest period of my life I'd gone without any kind of touch.

last nite Cinema Diverse came to an end with the world premiere of an indie film calld "Love, Venezia." its star was Daniel Bateman. on screen he has physical contact with several men -- concluding with some intense interaction. I was full of emotion remembering that he was the last person I touchd before my 11 months in a quiet life of distancing & masks. as I was leaving he ran up to me & gave me a hug. he had no way to know how much that meant to me. my 2020 hug to him & now his to me. 

life is full of twists & turns. I always try to make sense of them. to put things in order. to make art out of everything. writing this brings back that strange time with which we all dealt. & how the simplest of touches can resonate.

on the Poet's Bench

 wonderful to have a visit from Bryan Borland

"I'm just Ken"

 there's a Barbie collectors convention in town. so one of our gallerists askd his artists to make Barbie-inspired art. the opening was last nite.

short poems

 

Luchador Press presents Alex Gildzen's Poems that Fit in a Shoe. The bulk of the book is his collected short poems written between the ages of 19 and 80. As a bonus is a recent group of short poems carved from a 1973 travel journal. The book is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

a hundred years later

yesterday there was chatter online abt the centennial of the first version of "The Enchanted Cottage." the stars were Richard Barthelmess -- one of my favorite actors from the silent era -- & May McAvoy -- who I was lucky to meet.

I did a search & found it on You Tube. not the new restoration but an old muddy print. not knowing when I'll be able to see the new print I watchd what's available. & what pleased me most was May McAvoy's performance. today she's best known for the female leads in a pair of classics -- "Ben Hur" & "The Jazz Singer." however both films are vehicles for strong male leads. she's almost window dressing.

I met May thru our mutual friend Lois Wilson. she was a delight. I have this great memory of her driving us around Beverly Hills showing us where the great silent stars lived. I wish I'd taken notes after our meetings because I've forgotten so much. but I remember her telling me that she considerd her performance in "The Enchanted Cottage" to be her best screen work. & she indeed is luminous.

Digit Print Bookmarks

 

happy birthday

 

my friend Edward Field turns 100 today

Emeline Tate

 & I have collaborated several times -- most famously on the Poets Bench. recently she askd for some words for her letter pieces.

what we came up with debuted last nite at her gallery.

 

Wallace Colvard just sent me this new piece of his. I love collaborating with artists but this one was a surprise because I didn't know it was happening.

back story: some years ago I wrote these lines for the program of a Nickerson-Rossi Dance concert. then came Covid. concert cancel'd. lines lost. I vaguely recall that Wallace may have been designing that program which wd account for his having this miniature poem.

a lad with sass

 

I just postd this recent photo in a new Facebook group. one of the comments was from Thomas Dolby.  one word: "Sassy!"

I'll take that.

inside "Billy's Chest"

 

National Poetry Month

 

to celebrate the month I'm remembering my first chapbook: Into the Sea (Abraxas Press 1969). here I am at my reading to mark its 50th anniversary. it was at the Palm Springs gallery of artist Marconi Calindas.  the cake was the work of Over the Rainbow.

& here I am the other day with a print of the cover.

kinky pirate

 highlight of a busy weekend:

Red Dress / Dress Red Party

"Ten from Tenn"

altho I have the documentary pages I never photographd the envelopes for this piece. so I sometimes wonder what mite be left out there in the world. when I discover someone has saved it I'm thrilld. I'm grateful to Cynthia for saving & to Jenny for bringing it back to me. & then it will all go to my collection at Kent (which was Cynthia's wish if I died before getting her files).

yesterday I had lunch with Jennifer Pramuk. she's a biologist & artist. & the daughter of a dear friend who died 2 years ago.

 she found among Cynthia's "things" 2 packets with notes that they shd be given to me. & so she brought them with her. 

I'm working my way thru this treasure trove with great emotion. Cynthia saved every letter & photo & poem & art work I'd sent her. & I'll be sharing some of it here.

in front of the camera

 in my long life I've been lucky to have been photographd by some of the best. I now add to the list Randall Whitehead. he flew in from San Francisco for his birthday weekend & did a quick shoot in Sunny Dunes.

reflections of the dance

 from 11th anniversary concert of Nickerson-Rossi Dance

"Antipodism"

 sometimes writing poems

is like foot juggling

I try to remember

Lou Bogert performing 

at the county fair

when I was a boy

& he was on his back

balancing balls

on soles of his feet

writing this

I see myself

on my back

legs flailing 

in anticipation

of contact

with word balls

such a silly scene

seems perfect

for a poem

Tom Shales (1944-2024)

 another shock. in recent years I lost touch with Tom. but he was a meaningful person in my life.

film historian David H. Shepard introduced me to Tom & we had an immediate rapport. his wit & intelligence made him ever so likable. & at that time he was a cute twink as well. our flirtation didn't last long but our friendship grew. he of course became the best known television critic in the country. I believe he was the first tv critic to ever win the Pulitzer. with age he became a darker figure. but I can never forget laughing with him. the young Tom will forever be in my catalog of dear boys.

this is the only photo I have with him. it's not the best. & of course you don't even see my face. it was taken at the only Kennedy Center Honors I attended. & it was sweet Tom who got me a ticket because he knew how much I loved Stephen Sondheim who was being honord that nite.

send in the clowns

 I grew up knowing 2 clowns.

first there was Rollins the Clown. I recall few details of him. somehow my parents met him. we'd visit he & his wife in their small & messy house. they seemd old to me then. my major memory of that place were the plaster pieces they made. one that hung on the wall was the head of what mite've been a Persian prince. I remember being quite taken by his turban. I don't think we ever bought one. now I wish we had. I'm pretty sure I never saw him in his clown persona & can't be certain he ever made a living as one.  years later I askd Dad abt Rollins' clownness & he was unable to recall details.

then there was a neighbor named Tom Redockovich. he workd at Bendix. I doubt he was ever a professional clown but he'd appear at local events. I took this of him at a party in our backyard in the summer of 1958.

the biggest clown encounter of my life was when I was in high school. I took part in a Cleveland Press interview of the legendary Emmet Kelly. he may have been America's most famous clown. as Weary Willie he personified the role of "sad clown." I still have this photo he signd for me that day.

these memories are the result of an unexpectd happening yesterday. after a film screening I stoppd in Sherman's to get a piece for cake to bring home. & there was Harpo the Clown.  he appears in parades & other valley events. apparently he's a graduate of "clown college" at Ringley Brothers. Frank Sinatra paintd him & Snake Jagger has used his image for art pieces. he appeard in a film calld "A Thousand Cuts" (with a cameo by my friend Viga Dean).

Palm Springs International Film Festival

wearing my Ross Bleckner vest

Meryl Streep

Cillian Murphy

Lenny Kravitz & Colman Domingo