silly musings (partly because serious ones are getting me down)

Bob   my Fort Worth pen pal   & I have an off & on discourse abt Martha Stewart. he's a devotee. I find her lacking as a human being.

however this morning I broke down & bought a product stampd with her name. I was in need of a new mattress pad for the bed in the guest room. & I found that she had an Egyptian cotton one on sale. so I brought it home.

it boasts a 200-thread-count. I realize I'm in peril of forfeiting my gay card but I have no knowledge of thread counts. so I don't know how good (or bad?) that mite be. & I wonder if the pad is under a sheet why its thread count matters.

"Mysterious Skin"

a sock in the gut film

but not to be missd

a little brings back so much

last nite on satellite I saw "The Fighting Temptations." not much of a movie. but what a thrill to see Melba Moore. of course I'd quibble with those who made the movie for relegating such a fierce talent to such a do-little role. however   there were a couple of quick moments when her voice soard. & that sent me back some 35 years when she was the toast of Broadway. her portrayal of Lutiebelle in the musical "Purlie" was the talk of the season. when she unleashd "I Got Love"   it was one of those electrifying moments in the theater that one carries to the grave.

we've heard that Moore has had as many ups & downs in her personal as in her professional life in the time between that triumph & now. but seeing those looks last nite producd nothing but reservoirs of joy. I wish some producer out there wd gift her with a role worthy of her talents.

love you Mom

the most important woman in my life turns 84 today.

Our Lady of the Dark

I'm at the Globe Theater
in West Hollywood
to see “Merry Wives of Windsor”
for one reason only:
Gloria Grahame
is playing Mistress Page

I’m early
in the small lobby
when suddenly
she appears
Gloria Grahame
wearing blue jean cutoffs
& high heels
as if she were still playing
John Heard’s mother

our eyes meet
quickly
I’m too in awe
to speak
she toddles
into the ladies room

our only moment
a glance
that takes less time
than scalding coffee
to cross a room

her eyes a portal
thru which I slip
into the black & white world
projectd onto
the screen at the Rivoli

a world
of cheap hotel rooms
with lampshades
coffee cup rings on mahogany
mirrors & window blinds
cum stains on carpet

in these shadows
Marie Windsor is bad
Ann Savage badder but
Gloria Grahame
best of all

she cd snuff
a cigaret in yr eyeball
or slide her novacaine lips
all the way down yr body

& if she took
a bullet to the breast
you’d imagine
her ascension
in a throne
of cigaret smoke
above garbage cans
in a rain-slick alley

Gloria Grahame
is heading to heaven
so the angels
better beware

yeah
I keep making crowns
for these movie dames
one glance & I’ve got
Gloria Grahame
a furlong ahead of the saints

after all in 1979
she’s merely
a rude mechanical
playing Shakespeare
to pay the rent

but I can’t imagine
Gloria Grahame
paying the rent
she’s better
than all the saints

she deserves
to have something
named for her
certainly not a church or school
shit no
maybe a bar
Gloria’s Café Noir
where the drinks
wd curl the hair
on Aldo Ray’s chest

it’s been a while
since I saw
Gloria Grahame
at the Globe
she died
2 years later
but as long
as I see
her movies
she’ll never die

& maybe
when the big heat
licks at my remains
my eyes
will still
be seeing hers

"developing story"

as soon as I heard there were major power outages in LA I calld my friend Billy in Culver City. he sd his just came back on. after yesterday's threat from the Islamic loonies   Angelenos are on edge.

of course   it cd just be more crap from the president's business pals who were responsible for the last rolling brownouts on the west coast.

an evening out

for the first time since Melina got sick   I went to town last nite. neighbor Phil & I took Rita to dinner for her birthday. afterward we walkd to our new gellato place. there I ran into Jesse Wood   one of my favorite young artists.

for several years now I've been enjoying this painting of his:


"Joyce's Chickens" (1998) 

if you want to see more   walk over to Canyon Rd & pop into Munson Gallery. I'm sure you'll want to leave with at least one of his paintings.

having fun with the Grand Old Party

what's wrong with Republicans? as if the president's failure isn't heartbreaking enough   every day a representative of the GOP misspeaks. Barbara "Read My Hips" Bush already has presentd the lead quote for her obit.

now criminal Tom DeLay joins the toxic stew. he was touring evacuees in his state & stopped to talk with three young boys on cots. he askd them "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?"

still depressd

my anger & frustration at the failure of this administration had to go somewhere. so I channeld it here. however my attempt at political commentary has been met with yawns. so to lighten up the mood here & to try to shove me in a direction other than dejection I tried returning to poetry & film all day.

it's nearly time for bed. my cat seems to be making better progress at returning to normalcy than I am. I still ache. the ubiquitous smirk of our president continues to make me seethe. Chertoff's arrogance today had me cursing at the tv. & Frist's smug face needs a proper slap.

I did hear something abt the newest polls. it seems I'm not the only one who can't shake depression because of the destruction of nature & government. like many others I'm trying to work my way out of this. I'll try to cease the harangues & think before I blog. that may be tough. what gives blogs their power is spontaniety. there are things I've postd that I later regret. but I leave them here. my only deletions have been spam left in the comments area (inc one left here immediately after I postd).

since I don't have the slightest idea of where this is going it seems best that I hit the pillows.

some see Jesus in their tortillas
I see Johnny Depp in my waffles

he’s naked & slippery
dodging blueberrries
as he swims in syrup

those who see Jesus in tortillas
make shrines in kitchens

while I eat my waffles

back where she belongs

a thousand trampld to death on a bridge in Baghdad. who knows how many thousand killd by Katrina. in perspective it may seem self-indulgent to expend so much worry on one cat.

but Melina has been my loving companion for 15 years. that's longer than either of my partners. she's both beautiful & intelligent. we "converse" so often that we truly do communicate.

befitting a lady of quality -- as well of a certain age -- it's best I provide no details of her health crisis. however she is back home. she had her first tentative bite of food this ayem. now her fretful nurse simply waits for a full recovery.


thinner for the ordeal but nonetheless pretty 

good tv?

I don't watch reality tv. but I'd love to see "Survivor: New Orleans." put the Bush family in a 9th ward house half underwater. no electricity. no working toilets. no running water. & of course no staff.

corpses corpses everywhere

the same administration that prevents the news media from photographing flag-drapd coffins of our young men being blown up in Iraq now has a ban against showing corpses being collectd in New Orleans.

sounds like a dictatorship to me.

alone

last nite was the first time in my 11 years in this house without Melina. if her recovery goes well   she may be able to return later today.

"the rich aren't like you & I"

we all know & dispise Daddy Bush & his inept son.

but all it takes is a national tragedy to bring out the true colors of Barbara Bush who commentd on the large number of mostly black refugees: "what I'm hearing, which is sort of scary, is that they all want to stay in Texas."

the crap gets higher

while Melina undergoes surgery   I turnd on the news. o boy. the man they call our president is appointing his cohort Cheney to go south to "oversee" progress. I'm certain his first act will be to announce that the government is awarding Halliburton the contract for rebuilding New Orleans.

I'm back

my rage at the president persists. he can come on tv immediately to announce his conservative choice for chief justice but he wasn't able to comfort the nation when we needed it.

however my cat is having a health crisis so I'm putting my energy there for the moment.

give me a break

before the malversation of the regime despoiling the White House turns me into a bitter old fart   I'm taking a few days off from blogging.

while I'm breathing deeply   here's a list poem from 2000:

NEW ORLEANS

chicken & shrimp yaya       Old Coffee Pot
beignets & cafe au lait       Cafe du Monde
crab & orzo salad       Bacco
poachd eggs on crabcakes       Cafe Sbisa
salmon caesar salad       La Madeleine (Jackson Square)
crabmeat cheesecake & potato pie       Palace Cafe
glazd duck         Emeril’s
filet mignon & mango lime pie       NOLA
buffet       Court of Two Sisters
muffaletta       Napoleon House

Congress stinks too

a friend just e'd me this:

How come Congress can convene from vacation on a Sunday night to figure out what to do about one person's feeding tube - but can't decide whether to come in on a Friday to discuss the death of thousands?

after we impeach Shrub   let's vote out every incumbent & start all over.

it's heartbreaking to see people still pleading for help. & apparently our government is so confusd we're not even accepting offers of foreign aid.

my heart is bleeding Fats