"Band of Bags"

the tote that holds them:

I've never been to Dinkel's. however I ordered from them for my parents. one of the gifts included this tote bag. my parents told me they had no use for it & gave it to me. it immediately became a favorite. I carried it around town. & since its dark green matchd my roll-on it joind me on years of travels to countless cities. when I got to Palm Springs I felt it no longer fit & put it in a drawer -- until I decided its forever home was as container in this piece.

the bags:

Silver Threads was a store next to Captain Brady's & across the street from the original Kent State University Library (now the fashion museum). I think this small bag dates from early to mid 1970s.

I was in Venice at the very end of 1983 with David Meredith & others. an admirer bought me a black silk Iparalleli scarf at La Couple. it remaind in this bag for 40 years.

while in Budapest (again with Meredith) in may of 1985 I bought several bags of paprika. the spice was in plastic bags which were then placed in these attractive cloth ones.

for Valentines Day 1989 my partner gave me a gift in this bag showing Judy Garland wearing the ruby red slippers.

legendary Santa Fe artist Bernique Longley made drawings on both sides of this bag. if memory serves it containd a Valentine gift in 1996.

in may of 2002 I took a bus trip to Marfa sponsored by Site Santa Fe. my travel buddies included philanthropist Hope Aldrich Rockefeller & textile artist James Koehler. we stayd at Hotel Limpia. while there I bought a jar of peach spread which was in this bag. that vessel is now half of my piece "2 Jars." 

in june of 2002 I attended Kennedy Center's Sondheim Celebration. this bag held my souvenirs -- a mug & several pens (all with the same illustration).

on a flight to Maui in may of 2004 I was given this little bag. I have no memory of what was in it but have kept it waiting to put it in an art piece.

I bought gala apples from Mrs. Grobe herself in sept of 2011. Grobe Fruit Farm is an Elyria tradition.

the first piece of art I bought after moving to Palm Springs in may of 2016 was a small drawing by Tod Bailey at Ted Casablanca. gallery owner Bruce Bibby put the work in this bag.

on visits to Palm Springs I usually stoppd at See's Candies on La Plaza. so it was a natural place to go after moving. this bag is circa 2017.

in sept of 2021 I lunchd at Norma's with Sheryl Berk (aka Wendy Wonder). following our meal she drew me in The Parker's lobby on a bag from the restaurant. 

in mar of 2022 I purchasd a small work by Nikki Verbitsky from Artize Gallery in Backstreet Art District & it was nestled in this bag.

for my 80th birthday Gary Sielaff & I did a road trip. the first nite we stayd at Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo where we got birthday cake from the bakery. it came with this bag which containd a pair of pink napkins which I later put in my art books.

a sad morning

on this day for decades I'd call Mary Ann Begland for her birthday. we'd talk for at least an hour. it was a tradition we both cherishd. 

this is the first birthday since she died. 

"Gildzen at 80"

 I woke on my 80th birthday (25 apr 23) in the city of my birth -- Monterey CA. my friend Gary Sielaff (who drove on my Big Birthday Road Trip) & I walkd from our rooms at Monterey Bay Inn to the nearby public beach at Monterey Bay Park. I was wearing an Elyria High School t-shirt & carrying a large envelope containing the makings of a piece.

I had ripped out all the pages of a copy of Gildzen at 50. my intention was to make a large 80 from these pages on the beach. but I hadn't taken one thing into consideration -- the weather. as I began to lay down pages to make the 8 the wind took the pages away. I was disconsolate. I knew I had to get the gears going. I cdn't find the many stones needed to weigh down the pages. so I decided to put batches of the pages into crevices on the rock slope beside the sand.

I found a stick & drew an 80 at the slope's base. then I posed for Gary in the middle of the 0 waving Dad's garrison cap (which I like to think he wore on the presidio where I was born) & one of Mom's envelopes from my 2006 piece "85 Envelopes." they were with me when I was born & I made sure they were here for my celebration. 

I scoopd up some sand from the middle of the 0 for my piece "earth jar" & gatherd up the batches of pages. then we were off to visit the presidio. later in the day I returnd to the spot & of course the 80 had washed away.

a tale of red feathers

 one of my town's best annual social events is the Red Dress/Dress Red Party. it's a fundraiser for our gay community center & is held at the Air Museum. 3000 people attend.

I long hoped that my Fort Worth friend Bob Barnes wd come to the party one day.

after he died his estate sent me a number of his effects. among them was a carnival mask with red feathers. it still had the price tag on. in my heart I knew Bob bought it to wear to Red Dress.

so last nite I finally brought him to the party.

strange

I just got an e-mail from "The Blogger Team" claiming that a post of mine called "The Dissolve" from June of 2010 was reportd. it was reviewd & deemd to violate guidelines -- specifically "our Malware & Viruses policy." & thus was "unpublishd."

I have no idea what this entry was. nor how one's writing can violate a policy on malware & viruses. I do get an occasional suspicious comment but for the most part this blog has a low readership. & I doubt any of my readers are a Gladys Kravitz keen to report activity outside the norm.

it feels odd that in a writing career of some 65 years I'd have something of mine "unpublishd." perhaps I shd be happy that some snoop is going back to read my old posts. however it does raise questions abt the "mortality" of what we put online. I'd hate to see this blog which I began in 2004 dissolve. & it does make me happy that last year Crisis Chronicles Press publishd my "Arroyo Chamisa: poems rescued from a blog." I'd hate to have all those poems disappear.

& the Oscar goes to

 

Best Actress

Best Costumes

Best Adapted Screenplay

Best Poet