let Michelle Bachman pray against health care while the pope picks out his xmas frock. it's time for me to turn off the news & get silly.
all right. I feel a little better.
18 December 2009
impeach Congress
Lieberman may be the biggest shit in the Senate but he doesn't hold the patent on dishonesty or greed. & then there are those neanderthals from Nebraska & Oklahoma. I don't remember ever having been so disgustd with our government. nothing seems to be working.
& what to make of Obama. the last president was so bad that we all had expectations too high for any mortal to meet. I still want this guy to succeed but we need action & not more speeches. if he isn't strong enuf to pass legislation when his is the majority party what will happen when the GOP makes its expectd gains next year.
I try not to be negative but the bombardment of bad news is daunting. & it coincides with the most depressing time of the year. screw the plum pudding. just pass a bowl of Valium till we're well into 2010.
& what to make of Obama. the last president was so bad that we all had expectations too high for any mortal to meet. I still want this guy to succeed but we need action & not more speeches. if he isn't strong enuf to pass legislation when his is the majority party what will happen when the GOP makes its expectd gains next year.
I try not to be negative but the bombardment of bad news is daunting. & it coincides with the most depressing time of the year. screw the plum pudding. just pass a bowl of Valium till we're well into 2010.
17 December 2009
Jennifer Jones (1919-2009)
hair blacker than nite. bright red lips. & a white gown of classic simplicity. it was Jennifer Jones right there in front of me at one of those all-star parties I went to years ago in Beverly Hills. I'd heard she was private even aloof. but this was a public event so I shyly went up to her. when she lookd at me I told her how beautiful she was. her smile was a dazzler. she reachd out her hand to me & askd my name. our conversation was brief. but it was one of those lovely moments one remembers on days like this.
"they've forgotten me"
that plaintive phrase is part of the final speech in The Cherry Orchard. it's spoken by the old butler Firs. altho I didn't see that production he was playd in 2006 by Lee Kissman.
while I was still on my 1st cuppa (& shortly after the morning news announcd that Tiger Woods had been named Ho of the Decade or something like that) I saw on Facebook that playwright Robert Patrick calld Kissman a "superstar."
I think the only time I ever saw Kissman was in "The Hawk" more than 40 years ago. O-Lan Jones & her mother were also in the cast. & I think I went to the play with Jean-Claude van Itallie.
reading that Kissman is/was a superstar has me cogitating. what exactly is fame? I've been contemplating this theme in my work for many a year. & I still have no clear answer. even if a poll were taken & Kissman came out as one of the dozen best actors in the history of off-Broadway does that kind of fame put him in the same category as one of the current famous-for-no reason folk like Paris Hilton. indeed in 50 years how many will remember either Kissman or Hilton?
perhaps all this is on my mind because last nite I sent Mike Busam a response to his e-mail suggesting a possible publisher for Making Circles. I wrote: I have the feeling that after my death my career will go one of 2 ways: either I'll be completely forgotten or I'll be "rediscoverd" & become another famous dead writer.
I really don't spend much time at all considering my own spec in the writing firmament. but I know I always will find intrigue in the theme of fame in the lives of others. it's especially poignant in my focus on film. I have always been a major fan of the silent era. & time after time I feel so sad when I see one of the great stars of that era playing a bit part in some forgotten talkie.
when I startd this ramble I had no idea where I was going. I suspect that by beginning with Lee Kissman I shd end with him. so if that philandering golfer is getting some kind of award this morning let me make Lee Kissman "Star of the Day." that won't make him any more famous to the universe but it makes me feel good to recognize someone who has given us a life in art.
while I was still on my 1st cuppa (& shortly after the morning news announcd that Tiger Woods had been named Ho of the Decade or something like that) I saw on Facebook that playwright Robert Patrick calld Kissman a "superstar."
I think the only time I ever saw Kissman was in "The Hawk" more than 40 years ago. O-Lan Jones & her mother were also in the cast. & I think I went to the play with Jean-Claude van Itallie.
reading that Kissman is/was a superstar has me cogitating. what exactly is fame? I've been contemplating this theme in my work for many a year. & I still have no clear answer. even if a poll were taken & Kissman came out as one of the dozen best actors in the history of off-Broadway does that kind of fame put him in the same category as one of the current famous-for-no reason folk like Paris Hilton. indeed in 50 years how many will remember either Kissman or Hilton?
perhaps all this is on my mind because last nite I sent Mike Busam a response to his e-mail suggesting a possible publisher for Making Circles. I wrote: I have the feeling that after my death my career will go one of 2 ways: either I'll be completely forgotten or I'll be "rediscoverd" & become another famous dead writer.
I really don't spend much time at all considering my own spec in the writing firmament. but I know I always will find intrigue in the theme of fame in the lives of others. it's especially poignant in my focus on film. I have always been a major fan of the silent era. & time after time I feel so sad when I see one of the great stars of that era playing a bit part in some forgotten talkie.
when I startd this ramble I had no idea where I was going. I suspect that by beginning with Lee Kissman I shd end with him. so if that philandering golfer is getting some kind of award this morning let me make Lee Kissman "Star of the Day." that won't make him any more famous to the universe but it makes me feel good to recognize someone who has given us a life in art.
16 December 2009
one of the many reasons
I dislike the holidays is the congestion at the p.o. what a surprise today to discover next to no line. perhaps the lousy economy is responsible.
15 December 2009
14 December 2009
13 December 2009
Winter Fest
yesterday's weather worse than day before.
when I arr'd on the 29th floor of Las Olas Grand to watch the boat parade the rain was so bad we cd hardly see down to ground. but we had a lucky break. it cleard up for the parade. then minutes after I returnd to the resort came the 1st in a series of torrential outbursts. & during the nite the winds were so fierce I cdn't sleep.
when I arr'd on the 29th floor of Las Olas Grand to watch the boat parade the rain was so bad we cd hardly see down to ground. but we had a lucky break. it cleard up for the parade. then minutes after I returnd to the resort came the 1st in a series of torrential outbursts. & during the nite the winds were so fierce I cdn't sleep.
12 December 2009
11 December 2009
10 December 2009
09 December 2009
08 December 2009
behold... is that winter before me?
last nite was lovely. with just a light snow Rita & I took Cinco on a run at the nearby football field. but during the nite there was a storm loud enuf to wake me. then in the dark of morning I went out to help neighbors who work shovel their driveways.
07 December 2009
06 December 2009
05 December 2009
another day begins
slippd into
my Jim Dine bathrobe
cut a piece
of Wayne Thiebaud cake
to eat
beside a David Hockney pool
my Jim Dine bathrobe
cut a piece
of Wayne Thiebaud cake
to eat
beside a David Hockney pool
04 December 2009
03 December 2009
02 December 2009
Rudolph Valentino
walking around Hollywood the other day I stoppd at DeLongpre Park where there are 2 statues in memory of The Shiek.
01 December 2009
Eric May (1939-2009)
"Thoreau Mask" (1975)
Eric taught graphic design at Kent State. he coordinatd the work of Type High Press. & he was an able practioner of the drawing arts. I've had this piece of his since it was in the 1975 KSU faculty show.
Eric taught graphic design at Kent State. he coordinatd the work of Type High Press. & he was an able practioner of the drawing arts. I've had this piece of his since it was in the 1975 KSU faculty show.
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