slatherd on

sunscreen & took advantage of this spectacular weather. got on ladder to accomplish some painting.

my fingers are blue (from paint & not what Miss California does when she isn't praying).

a page from my baby book

yesterday's news had me thinking abt my early time in Texas. I was abt a year & 2 months old when I walkd for the 1st time. it was in Gatesville. that meant that Dad was stationd in North Fort Hood. I certainly have no memory of those initial steps. but I knew it was record'd in my baby book. so I draggd it out. this page tickles me. I need to use it as a basis of a piece.

tragedy in Texas

a sign of the times: before hearing abt the Ft. Hood massacre via usual news sources I learnd of the shootings thru a Facebook posting from a relative of a soldier.

the obit

of biologist Clinton Hobbs brought back a memory from a class I took with him eons ago. for reasons I no longer recall he was talking abt the spread of germs. he sd he'd known a man who was so germophobic that he wore gloves to open doors. a deadpan pause. then Dr. Hobbs sd "of course he never married."

elections

too early to tell what today's voting means. but it's clear Obama's base isn't turning out.

pool door

Room 112
Blue Moon

dia de los muertos

Durl took this of me at Springs Preserves:

may the pumpkin be with you

years ago Dad bought me some Halloween decorations at a garage sale. I used the mint Hallmark items at the house one year & then hid them in a nook in the hall closet. but I rememberd them & brought them to Las Vegas & decoratd my room with them.

John Kenley (1906-2009)

don't have access here to my programs & other Kenley Players memorabilia. but that summer stock venue meant so much to me as a kid. so many stars -- from Gloria Swanson to Margaret Hamilton. so many memories. & Kenley himself was quite the character.

Jodi

I first saw her in "Calamity Jane." altho it was performd in a Broadway house with an audience this Carol Burnett version of the Doris Day film was a tv special. years later Jodi moved to Las Vegas. along the way she became a friend of collage artist T. R. Queen   my best bud in high school.

in the years since Tom's too-early death Jodi has become a touchstone. we met for lunch today at Cuban Cafe. a good meal & lovely chat.

arr'd safely in Las Vegas

but it's cold here.

travel

has become trying. in a bit I must go thru this light snow to the airport & ascend into a wind advisory to fly west.

naked coffee guy

perhaps all the facts aren't in yet.... but if the nosey parker was on his property looking in his window why hasn't she been arrestd for trepassing.

down home

Steve Martin lived here in the '70s. he came back last nite with his banjo tour playing the Lensic with Steep Canyon Rangers. it was a fun evening. the band has got to be among the best bluegrass ensembles around. & Martin plays well. of course he did schtick in between. stuff like suggesting the audience sing along to a tune that had no lyrics. & the final encore was none other than "King Tut." but over all it was a good blend of music & humor.

another beautiful Santa Fe day

bus to town

Joel Fan eating a cookie in front of the art museum before his rehearsal

Ali MacGraw plunking coin in a parking meter

fruit smoothie at Aztec Cafe

matinee of a Cole Porter musical

long walk home before sun sets

things #4

in 2000 I did a rubbing of this plastic token for a piece which appears in Making Circles.



I got the token back in my drinking days. it was from a favorite West Village bar calld the Ninth Circle.

the building at 139 West 10th has quite a history. constructd in 1845 it opend as a townhouse. by 1898 it was a popular Italian restaurant. but its primary claim to fame came in the 20th century. Mickey Ruskin opend it under the name Ninth Circle as a steakhouse & bar in 1962 (3 years before he gave the world Max's Kansas City). at first it was a watering hole for artists (John Chamerlain) & poets (Joel Oppenheimer who claimd to name Max's Kansas City for Ruskin). but the place steppd into history when Edward Albee went to the bathroom there. on the mirror someone had written in soap "who's afraid of Virginia Wolf?"

I'm not certain exactly when it became a popular gay dance spot but that's how I knew it. by the '80s it was a hustler bar & then went thru a couple of incarnations before turning into its present self DeSantos   an Italian restaurant co-ownd by a Mexican rock drummer.

for the record

IMDB lists "Broadway Nights" as the 1st film of Sylvia Sidney.

at lunch at Kent's Stag Bar many years ago I mentiond to SS that I'd read she made her movie debut in this 1927 silent movie whose star was my friend Lois Wilson. Miss Sidney told me that she'd actually first appeard the year before as an extra in Lothar Mendes' "Prince of Tempters" with Lois Moran (best rememberd today as the starlet behind F. Scott Fitzgerald making a screen test).

altho I haven't read everything ever written abt Sylvia Sidney I don't recall this information being publishd. so it occurrd to me to set it in print.

____________________________________________

next day addition (esp for Stephen):



she came to the university for a performance. in addition to lunch I treatd her to a post-perf party at my house. she was a witty lady but sharp of tongue which didn't endear her to everyone. (& yes.... I once had hair.)

I try

to live in the moment. but I've been around so long that my past is vast & likes to intrude.

much of today was spent in a back & forth online with someone once close with whom I've had no contact for at least 15 years. all manner of memories came to the surface. then I saw the Hockney doc "A Bigger Splash" for the 1st time in decades. it was finishd just months before I met David. so it's a true time capsule for me.

my favorite part is mid-film. you see him enter a quite fabulous shower at his place in Powis Terrace. then we cut to naked boys in an LA pool. finally back to the shower. using that shower is a special memory for me. & then one of those LA boys is Mark Lipscomb who I met at Mr. Henry's in Georgetown a few months before meeting David in London.

so a swirl of past faces & bodies. but all in context of now so that the past becomes present as I process. I avoid analysis because it's such a jumble. those words I wrote at the beginning of this are already past. not as past as the smell of David's cigar at breakfast but still a past.

so I'll finish this & press "publish post." I'll get back to my green tea & make a list of things to do manana.

I am
my own ghost
in that photo
Billy took
at Musso & Frank's

skin then
since scrubbd off
nails
cut & flushd

even bones
not quite the same

the stranger
in bed
when I wake
is me

bringing back Bruz

I remember driving back from Malibu, with Bruz Fletcher and finding his house, in Laurel Canyon burned to the ground
-- James Broughton



Bruz Fletcher was on his way to being forgotten when Tyler Alpern found him. he dedicatd a website to the performer & now has producd a book. Bruz Fletcher: Camped, Tramped & A Riotous Vamp is for the moment "a private, collector's only edition." it includes my poem "Bruz Fletcher Entertains at Club Bali." there are wonderful photos & loving research into Hollywood's gay scene in the 1930s. it's my hope that the book will find its way to a wider audience.

the actor who likes gay poets

James Franco made a student film based on a Frank Bidart poem. he playd Ginsberg in the upcoming feature "Howl." & now comes news that he bought film rights to Hart Crane's "The Broken Tower."

my busy day

yesterday I was up at 6. an hour later Rita & I were off to St. John's College with Cinco hanging his head out the window. we hiked to the top of Atalaya Mountain.



a quick shave & shower & I was off to the state capitol building for an Equality New Mexico rally. the group was attempting to enter Guinness Book of World Records by making the largest engagement ring.

here we see local tv personality Gadi Schwartz filming the end of the process of unrolling the gold band. the unroller was James Herrera.



back home I expectd to spend the rest of the day filling requests for Making Circles. so much for high expectations. only one person wrote me asking for the pdf.

the day peterd out with "Slumdog Millionaire." what an unlikeable film.

"Making Circles"

for some years now I've been trying to get this book out into the world. no need to chronicle publishers or delays. the other day I was talking to Todd Moore abt my frustration & my feeling to self-publish it as an e-book. he encouragd me. so here goes.

I've turnd it into a PDF file. it takes a bit to download (5.2 MB) but if you want it send me yr e-mail address & I'll forward it. it's not perfect: original spacing got alterd for reasons I don't understand & I'm still not savvy enuf to know how to correct.

for some years I've been working outside traditional forms -- sometimes outside words. I'm not much for schools of poetry or labels for art. so is this vispo or conceptual art or something else? I don't care what it is. but I do care abt it & want it out in the world. & if this is the only way it is a way.

Thank Gauguin It's Friday

o to be in Cleveland
celebrating the zincographer

Railrunner

earlier this year train service began between Santa Fe & Albuquerque. there's a station a block from my house. but local politics has kept the station from opening. so I've resistd taking the train.

finally I felt I had to do the Railrunner at least once in its inaugural year. so I walkd the half hour to the next nearest station -- all the while cursing those keeping the Zia station from opening.

Todd Moore met me in Abq. we had a Middle Eastern lunch & went booking. then I took the train back. it was all good -- except when we sped past Zia station & I knew I faced another half hour walk back home.

Allen Memorial Art Museum

this video was postd over a year ago but I just found it:



Oberlin is near Elyria. the Allen was my first art museum. in my will my art collection will go to the Allen. besides being a splendid small museum it runs this super program for students.

my guv

Bill Richardson has been calld many things but I think this is the 1st time I've seen him labeld obese.

humbling

my newest publisher John Burroughs is blogging abt our new chapbook.

among the touchstones John didn't mention which is particularly poignant to me is that he lives across the street from the funeral home where Dad was.

Freddie Herko
(1936-1964)

Herko

a few quick moments of his beauty appear on tv

I still like Obama but

the Nobel committee awarding him the peace prize now is like the American Film Institute giving its lifetime achievement award to Dakota Fanning.

shooting the moon

NASA crashes a rocket into the moon in the morning.

this makes me chuckle because it brings back one of Dad's favorite beefs. he'd go on & on abt climate change happening because of our fiddling with the moon. I can't remember how many times I had to to listen to him excoriate the government for leaving "junk" on the moon's surface. I know if he were around now he's be beside himself with this new developement.

introducing

coming this weekend from Crisis Chronicles Press which just happens to be an Elyria imprint (love child of John Burroughs).

Prince Felipe of Spain

is in town to help kick off Santa Fe's s 400th birthdday celebration.

Guy shows Judy his gun

why (#2)

am I getting more spam trying to sell me watches than attempting to enlarge my penis?

why

have I been getting friend requests on Facebook from Republicans I don't even know?

"Ohio is a piano"

turning the state into a song is possible at this site.

one of my books-in-progress is Ohio Triangle. the points of the triangle are Elyria-Cleveland-Kent. not all are listd here so I'm unable to compose a background tune for the collection. but it's fun to fool around.

the only member of Congress with spine?

lest we forget

Cholame (1987)


Fairmount (1988)


Griffith Observatory (2007)

Cinema Diverse

director David Kittredge


writer/director Everett Lewis & the co-star of his last 2 films Dale Dymkoski


actor/director Jason Bushman

a reunion

a few years ago I wrote here abt meeting Boyd Willat & staying at his family residence Harper Housewhere I wrote the poem "Reading Hafiz in Billie Dove's Bedroom on a Rainy Morning" 30 years ago.

I lost touch with Boyd & Harper House was leveld for a project calld 7 Fountains. but almost as in a movie I found Boyd again.

Cinema Diverse was yet another film festival bringing me to Palm Springs. opening nite was a double feature of the films in which John Hurt plays Quentin Crisp. & the after party was at the Lucy House. before leaving I read online that the recently-opend onetime Lucille Ball getaway residence was ownd by Boyd Willat & run by his daughter Amber. I was excitd to see it & tell Amber I'd known her father years ago.

so after the screenings Thomas Ethan Harris -- the fesitval's artistic director -- kindly drove me from the Camelot Theater to the house behind the property which had been El Mirador. & suddenly there was Boyd. he was busy meeting & greeting but we had some time to reconnect.

& I found out what happend to the staind-glass windows his father had creatd for Billie Dove's bedroom. they were installd in the living room of the Lucy House. here I am with Boyd & Amber in front of the windows:

at the Lucy House

between films

At another festival. 112 outside.,

last post was my first

via phone. small screen. big fingers. so short posts while traveling.'.

106

when I arr'd in Palm Springs.

westward bound

for another film festival

another Yahoo(na)ku

phobophobia is a
fear of
fearing

remembering Melina

up & down day

but I got thru it.

summer ends

with a splendid day.

& as if on cue there's a threat of snow in the mountains tomorrow.

things #3

I don't smoke. but I like souvenirs. so there are a few ashtrays in my house. this one brings back so many memories.



Cleveland-born Ted Hook was a dancer. he appeard in some 400 films -- from "Miss Sadie Thompson" to "Some Like It Hot." later he was a Las Vegas chorus boy. then personal assistant to Tallulah Bankhead & Joan Blondell. in the '70s he opend a restaurant calld Backstage next to the Martin Beck Theater on Broadway. it quickly became my favorite NYC watering hole.

the stories -- mine & those of others -- are endless abt this special place. I became addictd to the brandy alexanders made by Kim the bartender on whom I had a terrible crush. one year I even had a birthday party there.

like so many other things that shine & disappear Backstage is no longer. it became an Asian restaurant & then I think a sports bar. but for a decade it was an integral part of my visits to the City.

"God chose me"

the world has longd sufferd from the actions of the religious. but lately things have gotten out of hand. everyday we hear of a local church scandal. & the national news bulges with nonsense spewing from the mouths of "the chosen." from the governor of Arizona to Miss California come the silliest utterances. & then there's the confederacy of dunces who have taken to the streets proclaiming the president a witch doctor.

I try to laugh off the rantings of the pious. but it's seething into a dangerous stew.

Yahoo(na)ku

emus
& kangaroos
can't walk backward

Henry Gibson (1935-2009)

reunion

a surprise guest at Mom's birthday celebration on sunday was Michael Pierce. we met more than 30 years ago but haven't seen each other in at least 15 years. Michael brought Mom a basket of beautiful mums & me some old photos I've either never seen or have forgotten. this one of us in Twin Lakes dates from probably 1977:



& here we are the other day:

flying frays the nerves

3 of my 4 flights were late.

all had some degree of turbulence.

off to Ohio

to celebrate Mom's 88th.

going international

quite the surprise to discover this blogroll.

o noooooooooooooooooo

just when the rightwing media were prepping us for the president to pull the plug on granny

we discover that wasn't it at all. the plug has been pulld on "Slim Windows."

yup.... Tom Beckett's blog is gone.

I'm old but I seem to recall this happend before.

so if we're lucky Tom's blog will reappear -- just like Esmeralda's virginity in "Camino Real."

our dumbest citizens

are those pulling their spawn from school today.

it's tough staying cool with so much ignorance in the land.

some mornings

I feel as old as Semiramis. you'll recall she was the madam who became Queen of Babylon for 100 years. if you too are a movie freak you may remember Rhonda Fleming playd her more than a half century ago. & if you're truly a movie freak you'll recall in a later Italian version John Ericson was her enemy the king of the Dardanians.

this is that rare Santa Fe thing   a damp morning. we had some rain during the nite. with the air clear & sun shining it's a pretty morning & I shdn't feel any older than I am which is old enuf. I am 66. that's a sort of rime. later this week I return to Ohio where Mom turns 88. another rime.

at this stage of life I'm grateful for clear sunny mornings. earlier this year I didn't think I'd be alive now. & here I am   sipping coffee   comparing myself to a brothel keeper who staged the ripping-apart of her husband. I've watchd David Muir present the news. I've fed the neighborhood cat who's adoptd me. I've exchangd e-mails with Jim Cory whose birthday it is. it's a good day. & if it startd with me feeling like an old queen I'll just have to straighten up my crown & get on with it.

things #2

yesterday's photo brought back memories of that bracelet. I no longer remember where or when I bought it but I do know I had it on my 1st trip to Europe. was I wearing it when I dined with Kitaj in London or was drawn by Hockney in Paris? perhaps. for years it's been hidden away but I dug it out to wear last nite when the neighbors took Rita to Old House for her birthday dinner.

Kent State centennial

Special Collections & Archives has put together a collection of historical photos to mark KSU's 100 years for an online album. among the items is this photo of me with my library mentor Dean Keller who creatd the department. right now the photo is in the decade of the '80s but I'll write to the current curator to correct that. that fanciful shirt I'm wearing was cut up in 1978 for a series of valentine collages.

things #1

No ideas
but in things

William Carlos Williams

its thingness

Howard P. Vincent



when I lived in Twin Lakes I bought a long piece of butcher block to use as a desk. I brought that with me when I moved into town. at first it was in the dining room as a sort of serving table. when I turnd the garage into a great room that piece of butcher block became a counter. a piece was cut out to make room for a sink. that piece I used as a cutting board & still do.

eveything old is new again

I'm tickld by the new interest in those old vaudevillians Sophie Tucker & Trixie Friganza.

Trixie Friganza sélectionné dans Musique et Clips

type lice & other memories

in case you don't read comments here's something Jim McCrary left:

what a world...when i think of the blue wax stencils we typed for mimeo here in lawrence in the 60's...and hanging out with Paul Mariah in Glen Ellyn learning how to set type on his 1857 letterpress...it was pretty funny what with the wine, dope and dsylexia trying to set type upside down and backwards. He was a good friend at a time when I was having lots of trouble.....miss him. so yes, Alex, we struggle on with this new business.

so many memories. blue stains all over face & hands from working with mimeo stencils. & being exposd to the whole world of typesetting. have any youngsters out there experiencd type lice?

at Commercial Press in Kent I once had a try at working a linotype machine. & on campus for a journalism class I struggld with setting type. in Dean Keller's basement I workd his antique Chandler & Price. & all those years of correcting galleys. how few still know that special shorthand indicating mistakes & corrections.

this nostalgia shdn't imply I'm against progress or that I don't embrace what new technologies offer. it's all amazing. only a few years separate the scalawag mooning a xerox machine & the tsunami of sexting. but sometimes I feel bad for a generation who haven't blackend their fingers in the dance from type drawer to composing stick.

frustration

so
I continue
the tech grapple
getting
older with
every wrong touch

better twitter Witter Bynner?

now that I have a phone that does everything but kiss me I'm trying to be a modern man. yesterday I sent Bob in Fort Worth what I thot was my 1st text. turnd out I pressd the wrong whatever. so just now I tried again.

I don't quite get texting. why not just stick with e-mail? & as far as twittering again I'm in the dark. cd it simply be that it's the newest thing?

payback

one of the cats who come to the bowl I keep full on the back portal left a gift for me this ayem: a big fat dead gopher near the mounds at the side of the house.

transfixd by history

spent hours watching television today.

from the archives

Tulum (1987)

why people hate government

I've lived in this city for 15 years & always pay my bills on time. last month I forgot to pay the city utility bill.

I just got a disconnect notice in the mail.

Ellie Greenwich (1940-2009)

Shakespearian

that term is appearing in most of the commentary abt Teddy Kennedy. surely no politician of my lifetime has dealt with so much tragedy.

when gray

comes to Santa Fe it's so surreal that my mood alters. I'm not addictd to sun but I do have a natural inclination against gray.

from the archives

with Tobias & Melina on Morris Rd

rain

this month usually is our monsoon season. but it's been terribly dry. late today a bit of precip with a piddle more predictd for early week.

we need a soaker.

how fortunate

Santa Fe is to have Yuja Wang perform every summer. tonite was Bach & she was divine. between pieces I chattd with tenor Jorge Prego who calld Wang a genius.

journal entry from 1968

        13 may

I was "lecturing" my poetry class on Robert Creeley, projective verse & direct communication between poem & reader. As I was reviewing Creeley's biography, he walked into the classroom! The "quick surprise" was the kind of meeting which shd occur between poet & audience. (Creeley's entrance was, unfortunately, a mistake -- he was looking for Jake's classroom.)

a day in Cundiyo

unveiling the patio

the finishd work of Valentin Hernandez & his father

mail woes

for some reason my Cybermesa account is down this ayem. so if you need to reach me I now have another address as well. it's Alex_87505 at Yahoo.com.

patrician blue

instead of going to the gym this ayem I paintd window frames while that part of the house was in the shade.

step by step

I'm learning what the new phone can do. here's the 1st picture I took with it:



& it functions here as an update to the progress of the patio.

learning curve

I rarely use my cell phone. I got one after 9/11 to use mostly during travel. so I've kept it simple. but I felt it was time to get with it & purchase one of the smart phones. so I got an Instinct. I've already had to call Sprint's customer service twice while trying to learn to use it. (& I must say I'm totally pleasd with the quality of service they provide.) of course it does more than I need it to (but so does my computer & almost every other machine I own).

Instinct won't accept my e-mail address which comes from a local ISP so I'm re-establishing a Yahoo account to be able to e-mail when I'm traveling. I suspect having 2 accounts will be more than simple me can handle. but it's important for those of my generation to keep up with technology.

shopping

except for bookstores it's an activity I avoid. however Regina loves it. so between 4 operas & 2 movies & a score of galleries & museums we hit the shops. I actually made a list of things I wantd ahead of time. & naturally -- my cousin got me thru the whole list in 2 hours the very first day she was here.

I did get a flat screen tv & a new phone. the latter does more than I need & it's complicatd as hell but I'm determind to be a 21st century citizen in good standing.

wonderful week

Regina just left. she always wears me out but I'm grateful for her visits.

Medal of Freedom

I took this of today's medal winner Chita Rivera with Bobby Lewis when they both were inductd into the Theater Hall of Fame.

divas

consecutive nites of powerhouses:

Christine Brewer as Alceste
Natalie Dessay as Violette

patio-in-progress

at Embudo Station

with Michael Mulcahy   an assisatnt director waiting to direct his own script "Chasing Blood"

"The Letter"

Somerset Maugham's short story has been adaptd for stage   screen   tv. now it's an opera.

last nite we saw the premiere production of the opera & today the William Wyler film version. in almost every aspect the movie is the superior work of art. Max Steiner's score is more memorable. the screenplay trumps the libretto (altho the latter steals huge chunks of the former). Bette Davis is more engaging than Patricia Racette. Orry-Kelly's costumes are sublime whereas Tom Ford's are a disaster.

whirlwind

when my cousin comes to town I don't get much computer time so this coming week I may miss a day here.

today we did a great deal of shopping & a fun movie & a swell dinner & a disappointing opera.

Regina arrives today

combine

full moon
with beastly heat...
throw in
a bit of a queasy stomach

& I was up
off & on
all nite long.

I remember
dream sequences:
one was
a romantic interlude
at a time share
another
abt a dog
that was Cinco
but
didn't look
like Cinco.

bandstand series on the plaza

Cathryn McGill & Larry Mitchell



Ryan McGarvey

national underwear week

me in Rio de Janeiro (1988)

to avoid

cleaning house
I'm spending
too much time
on Facebook.

one of

my boyhood favorites was Sessue Hayakawa.



it was during the height of his comeback which culminatd in his role in "Bridge on the River Kwai." it was later that I found his spectacular work as a leading man in silent films.

last nite TCM did a Hayakawa salute. both films I saw were clunkers   "Three Came Back" & "Tokyo Joe." however he was captivating even in these minor movies. & it was heartening to know that tribute was being paid to an important actor.