so happy to have work in this anthology
because it's important
& because I share its pages
with so many good writers
because it's important
& because I share its pages
with so many good writers
11 March 2019
04 March 2019
last year was hard to beat
but already this year looks like another milestone one for me.
it's the 50th anniversary of publication of my first book
plus the forthcoming publication of the first 30 years of Alex in Movieland (Crisis Chronicles Press).
& this morning I got notice of the upcoming publication of Lovejets which includes my work with poems by an amazing group of gay male poets honoring Walt Whitman.
it astounds me that I'm still here & still producing work & still dancing naked whenever I get the chance.
it's the 50th anniversary of publication of my first book
plus the forthcoming publication of the first 30 years of Alex in Movieland (Crisis Chronicles Press).
& this morning I got notice of the upcoming publication of Lovejets which includes my work with poems by an amazing group of gay male poets honoring Walt Whitman.
it astounds me that I'm still here & still producing work & still dancing naked whenever I get the chance.
21 February 2019
another doc
old friends Todd Hughes & P. David Ebersole are editing their Pierre Cardin documentary. but they've also begun filming the next. & that subject -- Trini Lopez -- did an interview & mini-concert in town last nite for the cameras.
13 February 2019
28 January 2019
"I am the Night"
is a mini-series which debuts tonite on TNT. however it actually debutd last nite. I know. I'm confused too. yesterday was that rare day when I felt chaind to the tv. but when I discoverd TNT was screening a "preview" of the mini-series I added it to my hours before the small screen. I did so because the show is partly abt the Black Dahlia case.
anyone who knows me knows of my interest in true crime. & my particular passion for this case. so it's seepd into my work. my pal Todd Moore encouraged me to make Elizabeth Short work for me as Dillinger did for him. but I've never been ready to become that immersed.
last nite I was able to watch only the first hour. there was no mention of Short. there were 2 different stories which I knew wd merge & eventually involve the case. one story was abt a supposedly interracial child. it was so ordinary it was boring. the other was abt an old school journalist. it was pretty cliche as well but had the advantage of being playd by Chris Pine who is so watchable.
I know enuf abt the case that I bet I can predict where this is going. if I decide to follow it thru it will be less abt the case & more abt Pine's appeal.
anyway....... if you don't know I do have a small chapbook abt Elizabeth Short.
Green Panda Press publishd it in an edition of 40 copies a decade ago. it's already a collector's item.
to observe the 70th anniversary of Short's murder Green Panda brought out a second printing in 2017.
anyone who knows me knows of my interest in true crime. & my particular passion for this case. so it's seepd into my work. my pal Todd Moore encouraged me to make Elizabeth Short work for me as Dillinger did for him. but I've never been ready to become that immersed.
last nite I was able to watch only the first hour. there was no mention of Short. there were 2 different stories which I knew wd merge & eventually involve the case. one story was abt a supposedly interracial child. it was so ordinary it was boring. the other was abt an old school journalist. it was pretty cliche as well but had the advantage of being playd by Chris Pine who is so watchable.
I know enuf abt the case that I bet I can predict where this is going. if I decide to follow it thru it will be less abt the case & more abt Pine's appeal.
anyway....... if you don't know I do have a small chapbook abt Elizabeth Short.
Green Panda Press publishd it in an edition of 40 copies a decade ago. it's already a collector's item.
to observe the 70th anniversary of Short's murder Green Panda brought out a second printing in 2017.
14 January 2019
wonderful visit
Regina left this morning after 5 days of gourmet meals & museums & shopping & films. we also visitd Marconi Calindas in studio.
04 January 2019
Palm Springs International Film Festival
before the awards presentation began at opening nite gala I was walking among tables when I spottd Dale Chihuly. no one else was at his table so I askd if I cd chat with him & he agreed. I told him that years ago (when I later lookd it up it was 38) I'd seen him blow a piece of glass when he was in residence at Kent State.
"don't do that anymore" he sd. "but let people know I did."
he askd if I knew Henry Halem. so I told him the story of buying a piece of Henry's for Mom years ago & that it's now in the collection at Allen Memorial Art Museum. he askd me to give Henry his good wishes.
we took the obligatory photo & then I was off to my table for the show.
"don't do that anymore" he sd. "but let people know I did."
he askd if I knew Henry Halem. so I told him the story of buying a piece of Henry's for Mom years ago & that it's now in the collection at Allen Memorial Art Museum. he askd me to give Henry his good wishes.
we took the obligatory photo & then I was off to my table for the show.
17 December 2018
13 December 2018
04 December 2018
A Plenitude of Pennies
I was naked & sweating in the sauna at World Gym (same one in which I wrote "Sauna Poem" & "Poetry Inferno"). my fingers slid across hot wood & felt something. no. it's not that kind of story. what I felt turnd out to be a penny.
suddenly that hot copper was a madeleine as I became flush with memories of all the pieces I've done featuring this lowliest of coins.
I began "Pennies from Heaven" at the end of 2000 & finishd it in summer of 2011. there were 120 coins in that piece. it's "sequel" was "Pennies from Heaven: Part 2 (The Leaving)." it was done from 2010 until 2014.
"The 1943 Pennies" was a little work from 2003-04.
more recently I collaboratd with Tyler Alpern on a penny piece a bit too naughty to share here.
finding this morning's penny also made me remember I had a baggie full of coins I'd found & labeld. I decided it was time to conceive a work which wd distribute those.
my initial notion was to list the origin of those pennies. then to mail each to someone whose name supplements the list. but that seemd merely a variant of "Matchless."
so I go to bed knowing I need to stretch. & also that this morning's coin -- which I now call "the sauna penny" -- shd not be used in the new project but kept as a talesmanic muse with a possible future as yet another work.
29 nov 18:PS
_________________________________________________________
over the weekend I put on for the first time the CD I bought a few weeks ago from Linda Lavin. I opend the baggie of saved pennies. one by one I took out a coin & "unwrapped" it. I then put each penny with its original notation into a tiny baggie.
this process turnd out to be a major memory trip. the collection mostly reflectd my day-to-day life in Santa Fe. pennies pickd up in various locker rooms & store parking lots. but there were also many found at airports which in turn included ones from vacations. gay resorts such as Inn Exile in Palm Springs & Blue Moon in Las Vegas & Coral Sands in Hollywood & Alcazar in Fort Lauderdale were spots holding pennies for me to gather.
because the work was surprising tedious I did it over several days. I now have that original baggie full of 68 tiny baggies. what to do next will take time to ponder. I have some ideas but will wait for the new year to complete this.
4 dec 18:PS
suddenly that hot copper was a madeleine as I became flush with memories of all the pieces I've done featuring this lowliest of coins.
I began "Pennies from Heaven" at the end of 2000 & finishd it in summer of 2011. there were 120 coins in that piece. it's "sequel" was "Pennies from Heaven: Part 2 (The Leaving)." it was done from 2010 until 2014.
"The 1943 Pennies" was a little work from 2003-04.
more recently I collaboratd with Tyler Alpern on a penny piece a bit too naughty to share here.
finding this morning's penny also made me remember I had a baggie full of coins I'd found & labeld. I decided it was time to conceive a work which wd distribute those.
my initial notion was to list the origin of those pennies. then to mail each to someone whose name supplements the list. but that seemd merely a variant of "Matchless."
so I go to bed knowing I need to stretch. & also that this morning's coin -- which I now call "the sauna penny" -- shd not be used in the new project but kept as a talesmanic muse with a possible future as yet another work.
29 nov 18:PS
_________________________________________________________
over the weekend I put on for the first time the CD I bought a few weeks ago from Linda Lavin. I opend the baggie of saved pennies. one by one I took out a coin & "unwrapped" it. I then put each penny with its original notation into a tiny baggie.
this process turnd out to be a major memory trip. the collection mostly reflectd my day-to-day life in Santa Fe. pennies pickd up in various locker rooms & store parking lots. but there were also many found at airports which in turn included ones from vacations. gay resorts such as Inn Exile in Palm Springs & Blue Moon in Las Vegas & Coral Sands in Hollywood & Alcazar in Fort Lauderdale were spots holding pennies for me to gather.
because the work was surprising tedious I did it over several days. I now have that original baggie full of 68 tiny baggies. what to do next will take time to ponder. I have some ideas but will wait for the new year to complete this.
4 dec 18:PS
02 December 2018
festival of lights
went to Riverside last nite with friends. it was cold. & there were too many people.
26 November 2018
the morning I wrote 2 poems
I was sitting beside a pool with a notepad
when I wrote this:
when I face a blank page
I feel a need
to search that place
within me
that collects every word
I've ever read
I need to scoop
into that trove
to find a combination
never seen before
to spread
across the page
& when I'm finishd
I turn the page
to find
another blank one
my work
is never done
pause while I walk to another pool
& discover another poem:
after writing a poem
I treat myself
to a trip
to the tangerine tree
it's so beautiful
I don't know
which fruit to pick
but the one I do
makes me want
to write another poem
when I wrote this:
when I face a blank page
I feel a need
to search that place
within me
that collects every word
I've ever read
I need to scoop
into that trove
to find a combination
never seen before
to spread
across the page
& when I'm finishd
I turn the page
to find
another blank one
my work
is never done
pause while I walk to another pool
& discover another poem:
after writing a poem
I treat myself
to a trip
to the tangerine tree
it's so beautiful
I don't know
which fruit to pick
but the one I do
makes me want
to write another poem
24 November 2018
17 November 2018
remembrance
last nite Linda Lavin playd the Purple Room. at 81 she's pitch perfect & put on a show so much better than my expectations. she was backd by the best musicians -- starting with her musical director Billy Strich on piano. he's a cabaret legend & the valley is grateful to have him leave NY so often to perform here.
but there was yet another treat. at the beginning of the show & then again at the end a young man with a violin & almost a smile performd. I confess to having never heard of Aaron Weinstein. but now I'll be checking his progress. he plays his instrument with skill. & his bit of patter was a sweet throwback to vaudeville.
when the show was over I saw him in the lobby & nearly rushd to get to him. after praising him on his performance he complimentd me on wearing an ascot. "not everyone can pull off an ascot" he sd looking me straight in my eyes. I meltd. there were other words abt this & that & then I was off into the dark.
but as I was enjoying tea on the patio in morning sun he wdn't leave my mind. there was something abt Aaron Weinstein that brought back an era of my past. when I was the age he is now I visitd Manhattan with regularity & panache. there were the Broadway shows & boy bars & museums & bookstores & concerts. endless cocktails & cruising. flirting with waiters & chance encounters with chorus boys. lads who with a wink & a word had you out of yr pants.
& there was a kind of young man that enchantd me. I suspect my "type" -- if indeed I had one -- was the California surfer boy. a bundle of blondness & lithe body that requests licking. but often after the rush of sex there wasn't much more to do. but the guys that really got to me were the NY charmers. most didn't start out in Manhattan but once they claimd that real estate there was a stamp on them. rarely surfer boy beautiful but a package of wit & charm & accomplishment that beggd you return to them long after you entangled yrself from their sheets.
of course I miss the fervor of that moment. but I had it. I was a part of the whirl. so many of those young men are forever in my heart. & I hope that somewhere there's a not so young man sitting on a patio who remembers the me that was.
so thank you Aaron Weinstein. for what happend on stage & in the lobby. not often is a time machine so attractive.
 |
| (photo by Dennis De Groot) |
14 November 2018
changes
a friend took this from his moving car. my billboard has been altered. why they put me in sunglasses & a chain with money in my hands is baffling. but I'm still there. I guess that's show biz.
06 November 2018
Palm Springs Pride Parade
the float for the famous LA show "Best in Drag" featured Chico's Angels with a group of calendar men. on the right are Remy Cruze & Devin Franco. on the left Trenton Ducati is hidden behind S_H_A_M_O.
22 October 2018
40 years ago
the art faculty at Kent State University had its annual show. in a small adjacent space was a modest one-person exhibition. as I recall there were only abt 5 pieces. they were weavings by Lilian Tyrell. she wasn't on the faculty but her husband -- British sculptor Brinsley Tyrrell -- was.
I was taken by a piece calld "Tornado" & bought it for $300. it was not only the single sale from her first show but her first sale ever. I've lived with & loved this piece all these years. I loand it back to Lilian for an exhibition in 1980 & also her retrospective in 2006.
at a lecture abt her work Lilian acknowledged that the piece was a precursor to the work that made her famous -- the Disaster Blankets.
it was easy to love Lilian. she was a sweet woman with an appealing laugh. altho she had strong opinions which she didn't mind sharing she was never mean.
I returnd to Kent in the summer of 2007. a friend had a party for me. Lilian was quite ill but so wantd to see me that she came to the party. as she & Brinsley were leaving I walkd them out. Lilian coillapsed in the drive-way. Brinsley helpd her up as if it were nothing & I tried not to cry as I sd good-bye. I was so honord that she made the effort to see me. she died 4 months later.
I was taken by a piece calld "Tornado" & bought it for $300. it was not only the single sale from her first show but her first sale ever. I've lived with & loved this piece all these years. I loand it back to Lilian for an exhibition in 1980 & also her retrospective in 2006.
at a lecture abt her work Lilian acknowledged that the piece was a precursor to the work that made her famous -- the Disaster Blankets.
it was easy to love Lilian. she was a sweet woman with an appealing laugh. altho she had strong opinions which she didn't mind sharing she was never mean.
I returnd to Kent in the summer of 2007. a friend had a party for me. Lilian was quite ill but so wantd to see me that she came to the party. as she & Brinsley were leaving I walkd them out. Lilian coillapsed in the drive-way. Brinsley helpd her up as if it were nothing & I tried not to cry as I sd good-bye. I was so honord that she made the effort to see me. she died 4 months later.
20 October 2018
Khashoggi's Fingers
in this world
led by liars
we look to writers
to tell us
where we are
even in death
this man
lifts his bloody hands
his fingers
fill the sky
with lasers
that sear
gloat of prince
bloat of president
Khashoggi's fingers
light the way
to truth
led by liars
we look to writers
to tell us
where we are
even in death
this man
lifts his bloody hands
his fingers
fill the sky
with lasers
that sear
gloat of prince
bloat of president
Khashoggi's fingers
light the way
to truth
08 October 2018
stop the rallies
the "president" is opposed by two thirds of the citizenry & the majority of editorial boards. his ego is tender. he must go to his base for these events at which he spews lies & rants like Hitler.
these events aren't to present policy. they are purely ego massage. I've been told each one costs nearly a half million dollars to put on. if reports are correct some in the crowd are paid.
there is no reason for taxpayers to put up with this. clearly these are political events. they must be paid for by the Republican party. if Congress weren't controlld by that party they cd stop payment. here is another reason to vote blue next month. it's time to halt the madness.
these events aren't to present policy. they are purely ego massage. I've been told each one costs nearly a half million dollars to put on. if reports are correct some in the crowd are paid.
there is no reason for taxpayers to put up with this. clearly these are political events. they must be paid for by the Republican party. if Congress weren't controlld by that party they cd stop payment. here is another reason to vote blue next month. it's time to halt the madness.
07 October 2018
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