autumn in Santa Fe

the pumpkin is a Hallmark product.  it's one of several Halloween items Dad bought me at a garage sale in Elyria in the '90s. I took it with me to decorate my room at Blue Moon when I spent Halloween of 2009 in Las Vegas.

& of course that's my beautiful apricot tree.

Elyria

I was away when the NY Times startd running its series on my hometown.  immediately I startd getting e-mails from friends & other former Elyrians.

this is a bittersweet series which captures the good & the bad.  what I particularly like is that the story lives both in print & on film.  I'm so happy that one of the short films is abt Loomis Camera.  since that landmark is no longer this important part of city history is capturd just in time.

my most popular Facebook post ever

Romney's great-grandfather had a binder full of women & he married them all

my Hollywood interview

back from Phoenix

quick weekend getaway. went to hear "Lucia di Lammermoor."  my kind of opera: blood / madness / death.

before the curtain went up I walkd over to San Carlos Hotel where I left a penny on Marilyn's star.

I knew Charles Farrell

as a mature man before I knew him as a young hunk. when I was a boy Farrell -- who was mayor of Palm Springs at the time -- made an acting comeback.  he playd the lead's father in the sit com "My Little Margie."  this was so popular that when it ended he got his own series "The Charles Farrell Show."

but he began his career in silent films. he went from extra to leading man.  Farrell was over 6 feet tall & built -- often appearing shirtless. historically he's best rememberd for his work with co-star Janet Gaynor & director Frank Borzage.  last nite I saw one of their collaborations.  "Lucky Star" has a ludicrous plot but I was taken by Farrell's touching & natural performance. when it was over I sent him a kiss backward thru time.

I enjoy visiting Palm Springs where Farrell is an institution.  he was one of the founders of the famous Racquet Club where some claim he inventd the Bloody Mary. & others claim he was gay. it's been some time since I had seen one of his films & after watching this endearing performance I'd like to see more. perhaps one of the many film festivals which Palm Springs hosts will offer a tribute to him.

Turhan Bey (1922-2012)

I took this of the actor in Beverly Hills in 1988

new anthology

my contribution is a poem from a collection calld The People in the Pictures.
the source: illustrations in Joan Severa's Dressed for the Photographer: Ordinary Americans & Fashion, 1840-1900.

my Texas penpal did a holiday visit & took this with his phone:

bad dreams & noisy winds = restless nite

that debate

everyone declares Romney the winner.

I was so depressd I had to clean house.

but the more I see clips from that nite the more I wonder how history will judge the debate.  it's clear that Obama was off stride. but that take-charge facade Romney presentd seems less lustrous with time.  I'll avoid discussing his obvious lies & flipflops. his rudeness was unpresidential. can anyone see him acting that way on the world stage?

Romney's unpredictibility caught both president & moderator off guard.  that doesn't excuse the poor performances of either.  but in the long run it works against Romney.  it enforces the fact he has no core.

I suspect I won't watch any more debates.  I know Obama is the superior human being & the better intellect. & my penchant for anxiety doesn't need the stress.

Chasen's (1936-1995)

here I am on my last visit

a film brim with dash & fetish

the debate was a bummer.  so this ayem I postd this on Facebook:

historically I've found meds & therapy less helpful for depression than housework & movies. so this morning I've been cleaning up & tonite will be Frances Farmer.

& here's one of the comments:

Oh, Frances Farmer, the role model for mental health. (thx Stephen Rutledge

wellllllll... tonite I saw "Son of Fury." it's not a great film but is so watchable. the black & white cinematography is luscious. & it has a good cast. yes quite the assemblage of troubld souls. it was the last film Farmer made before her downward spiral. the other female lead was Gene Tierney who had her own fragile grasp on mental stability. then there's the men: Tyrone Power (who had a kinky private life) & George Sanders (who committd suicide on my birthday). but it was a romp & did ease me out of my depression.

& I still think we have time for Romney to hang himself with all those lies.

happy birthday Stan

famous parapsychologist Stanley Krippner turns 80 today

Chichen Itza

this morning my dental hygienist was telling me abt his recent Cancun trip. in our discussion he told me that the pyramids are no longer open for climbing.

so when I got home I lookd up these photos of me climbing them in 1987.

out of the past

Santorini : 1987

distant capabilities

cat that visits
spends long time
sitting beside water bowl
looking out into yard

I stand
behind screen
yearning to learn
his secret

the Y

Iss-See-Kes was the summer camp of Elyria's YMCA which I also wrote abt in Postcard Memoirs. it was built in the teens & demolishd in the 1990s.

so many early memories from that building. & of course across the street from it the public library -- also destroyd.

they both figure in my poem "Straddling Third St."

"The Nearness of You"

in Postcard Memoirs I recount my counselor at Camp Iss-See-Kes singing that song.  I wrote that my memory was it was the summer I was 10.  but looking at an old album I found these camp pictures from the summer I was only 8.

memory from that far back is tricky.  I think the counselor I was remembering was Jerry Marshall.  schoolmate Tom Sessler took this double exposure which has me in the dominant image beside Marshall in a sort of shadow image.  that juxtaposition at this far remove seems both appropriate & haunting.

& here's a clearer image of Marshall

downtown Elyria changed forever

2 weeks ago

Chronicle Telegram documents the dismantling of the sign