the world & my bed

hundreds dead in earthquake in Japan

crazy man killing his own people in Libya

Republicans stealing workers rights in Wisconsin & Ohio

__________________________________________

me sleeping in the middle of my bed
means nothing

a life change?

even tho I haven't had a partner for years I still sleep on the right side of the bed. when traveling I pick a side depending on the bed's placement in the room.

last nite I put one pillow on top of the other in the middle of the bed & slid under the covers.

it was an odd feeling.

"lundin"

discoverd this word in a restaurant review.

it means "between lunch & dinner."

will

winter never end?

what searches reveal

"arroyochamisa.blogspot.com is ranked number 16,045,745 in the world according to the Alexa Traffic Rank."

& who is 16,045,746?

Jean Harlow

born 100 years ago today

Eugene Fodor (1950-2011)

I never saw him perform live but in 1980 I was at the Grammys when his screw-up was one of the highlights of the show.

it's Small Press Month.

everybody buy a book.

Jane Russell (1921-2011)

final photo

not much left of "Dad's Last Garden." the pay stubs either blew away or simply rottd.

altho I eschew

awards as political claptrap I still watch the Oscars. they often make me mad but I try to calm myself & say it's simply a show.

& while I watch tonite I'm rather amazd that it's been 30 years since the one time I attend'd the ceremony. in those days it was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. & for a change there were a couple of winners who were deserving.

a lovely tribute to Darryl

from Auntie Vera

Max Wilk (1920-2011)

anticipating spring

I workd in the yard this morning

I've heard

horror stories abt people met online: stalkers   con men   even murderers. yes middens are everywhere.

but the death of my friend Darryl reminds me how much richer my life is because of the internet.

Darryl was one of a group of guys I met in a chat room abt 11 years ago. the wit that flowd there still brings smiles to me. & over the years many of us met in real time. we were a sharing caring bunch. in fact the person who visitd Darryl the most in his final days was one of our group.

so even tho I'm sad right now there is a part of me where joy dances. some of my internet buddies have brought light to a life that too often seems dark to me. & to them I'll always be grateful.

Darryl Grimm (1950-2011)

we met online several years ago & in person at Cafe DuMonde in 2001. Darryl moved to Las Vegas after being flood'd out of New Orleans. he & our mutual friend Gary Sielaff & I did some good traveling & eating & laughing together in this past decade.

a cupcake calld Strawberry Blonde

1st photo taken with my Olympus FE-47

o Wisconsin

I feel sorry for its citizens. but they did elect that man governor.

occupying the square

perfect square:
an integer that's the square of an integer

an integer:
a complete entity

a bullet:
a slice of lead

a head:
home for wonderment

Bahrain of terror

this is the 21st century

why are there still kings?

Franke reads Gildzen at Snoetry

Christopher Franke

Ashley reads Gildzen at Snoetry

Zach Ashley

on the edges of history

part of me has always wantd to be a historian. I'm fascinatd by the stories behind the stories. & there always seems so much to learn & try to understand.

there was a great deal of joy in the revolution in Egypt. I watchd its coverage for days & often wept.

but now we learn at least 2 disturbing back stories. in the unfortunate attack on the Egyptian Museum perhaps as many as a dozen items were stolen   inc a piece from the Tut collection.

& during the celebration on the square following Mubarak's resignation there was at least one brutal attack. reporter Lara Logan was beaten & sexually assualtd.

these 2 incidents are disgusting footnotes which must always be part of this story.

a valentine

for those who visit here
& another
for those who don't

there have been
& are
so many people
in my life

a kiss
for those who kissd me
& another
for those who kickd me

in my way
I love you all

such a gorgeous day

I took a little walk
then sat on the blue swing
watching a dog frolic
in the field across the arroyo

feeling low

& friends come to my rescue. today's mail was full of kind & sweet remembrances from friends around the country. & a neighbor brought me brownies.

"Tie One On"

my version:



here

Obama's version:



here

good news

anyone who stops by here from time to time know of my affection for Lois Wilson. this important star of the silent era is best-known today for her performance in "Miss Lulu Bett."

as with several other silent stars & directors it's difficult to accurately judge their careers because so many of their films don't exist. it's estimatd that 80% of all silent films are lost. in Lois' case one of her most important films is gone -- "The Great Gatsby." she once told me that she'd heard there was a copy in Russia.

today we learn that Yeltsin Presidential Library has made a gift to the US of 10 silent films previously considerd gone. one of that number is "The Call of the Canyon" in which Lois stars with Richard Dix & Ricardo Cortez. it may not be "Gatsby" but it's good to know another of her films is back.

Snoetry

has broken the record for world's longest poetry reading. it's still available on livestream till 11 (EST) tonite.

in Tahrir Square

an Egyptian did an art piece with rocks from last week's clashes

why I'm NOT celebrating Reagan's centennial

"Cold Morning in Santa Fe"

as I slip on a flannel shirt
my mind joins the 2 million
in Tahrir Square

technology makes me
part of the protest

by the time legs fit into jeans
I'm in Ely Park
twirling in the snow
I walk a block to a coffeehouse
where poets gather to read forever

my body isn't in Cairo
it isn't in Elyria
but I'm in both at once
knowing the world's no bigger
than a spitball
whizzing past me
in Mrs. Beck's class

          4 feb 11:SF

homes of the stars

fasccinating site featuring these vintage postcards

14 below

this was my coldest nite since moving to the southwest. broke records.

happily the sun's out already & we shd get back into the 40s over the weekend.

Snoetry

what an appropriate name for a poetry event that begins today. & in my home town of Elyria. so far the world record for longest poetry reading is 120 hours. the goal of Snoetry is 150 hours.

& at 10 p m (EST) tonite John Burroughs will be reading some of my poems. & it'll be streamd live here.

Serge Lifar (1928)

newly discoverd footage of Ballet Russe

"It's All a Movie"

gets its own Facebook page.

"boogie woogie bugle boy"

after days of watching the revolution in Egypt it feels good today to relax & watch figure skating.

& it startd with a reprise of what may be the sexiest short program in the history of US men's competition -- Ryan Bradley.

"write something good today"

a send-off from one of my gym cohorts as I was leaving the locker room this ayem

alternate versions

I was 16 when I learnd that the movie I see in a theater isn't always the only version to be seen. there was quite a bit of publicity abt a small film calld "Cry Tough." Linda Cristal has a love scene with John Saxon. in the movie I saw she was wearing a black slip. but there was a version with her topless which was releasd in Europe.

now we're used to seeing director's cuts & alternate endings & all manner of "extras." James Robert Parish informs me abt a website which tracks these various versions of films. here is an example.

the other

set of negs were from a summer 1980 shoot for Jim Hinchee. this was for the back cover of my selectd poems The Avalanche of Time.

going thru

old files I discoverd 2 sets of b & w negatives. I took them to my nearby Walgreens to have prints made.

the first set was taken by Doug Unger in the fall of 1977 to use for a painting I commisiond as a gift for my mother.

Bruce Gordon (1916-2011)

to those of my generation this character actor is best rememberd as Frank Nitti on "The Untouchables." I first saw him in the national tour of "Man for All Seasons" at Cleveland's Hanna Theater.

Gordon spent his last years in Santa Fe. I'd see him at my grocery store & around town. we had a lively chat once. he had a perfect memory of the Hanna.

in LaJolla

adding an entry to the Book of Java at La Valencia:

while my computer

was in hospital I flew to San Diego to spend a couple of days with my friend Craig in his new digs.

it was an exhausting trip -- but in the good way. we did so much in a short time. among the many special moments were seeing Alice Ripley in "Next to Normal" & this fabulous Modigliani:

"back where I belong"

I feel like Dolly Levi returning to the Harmonia Gardens. all I need now is a chorus of handsome men to welcome me back.

my computer

awaits an operation.

not sure when I'll be able to post properly.

Lois at Yale

James Robert Parish sends me info on various film collections from time to time. the most recent was a notice of a collection of lobbycards for silent westerns at the Beinecke.

when I went to the website I immediately found a lobbycard featuring my friend Lois Wilson. but then when I went into the illustrations of the whole collection I discoverd this exquisite lobbycard of Lois in her most famous western:

Ellen Stewart (1919-2011)

one of the great ladies of American theater

Park Cemetery (Fairmount)

Alex Gildzen



Rufus Wainwright

Elyria

poetry capitol of the world

a gun

again

Aron Kincaid (1940-2011)

my first visit to the Sunset Strip was in the fall of 1972. I went to a restaurant no longer there calld Cyrano's. one of the other diners was the blond Kincaid looking as if he'd just come from the set of one of his surfer moives.

Butterfly McQueen (1911-1995)

this is an old clip but brings back some of the wonderful moments in the career of this actress who died so tragically. this wd be her 100th birthday.

personal asides:

1) I first saw her on stage in "Curley McDimple"

2) we spoke at a 1989 screening of "GWTW" in West Virginia

3) in Gildzen at 50 Jonathan Williams wrote:
"It goes without saying that Alex will have sent Butterfly McQueen a birthday card on her 82nd anniversary (just the day before Elvis's)."

"Reading with Eyes Closed"

white deer in snow

words that sear lids

do my lips move?

Brookdale Cemetery (Elyria)

"Lila Lee walks by
the history of film on her fragile shoulders"

          Ely Park

Lila Lee cover

borrowd from Allure

KIMONOKIMONO

I'm delightd to receive a copy of Bill Berger's limitd ed book of his kimono prints. I'm a long-time admirer of this work he's been doing for the last several years.

& it's a special thrill that he's included the one of my father that appeard here as well as another with the same photographic source.

thx Billy.

Anne Francis (1930-2011)

one of my favorite photos

I believe Donna Walker took this at Kent State University Museum in early 1994.



Dimitri Karageorgiou
Henry Van Dyke
Henry Walker
me
Alfred Cavaretta

I was in bed

shortly after 10. so when someone startd blasting fireworks at midnite it woke me from a sound sleep. & I was rather pissd. I turnd a hundred times before finally getting back to sleep. & in that sleep a hideous nitemare abt a grisly multiple murder.

so when I woke again I was on the grumpy side. I began a load of laundry. & then I washd down my vitamins with coffee Bob Barnes sent me for Xmas. now I'll start to search the house to see where I put my smile.

last snail mail of 2010

in today's cold mailbox a pair of manilla envelopes:

novelist Henry Van Dyke sent an unmarkd CD which is spinning now. turns out to be him at the piano playing Albeniz & Poulenc & Granados.

poet Steve Tills sent his chapbook -- Mr. Magoo. it'll be my 1st read of next year which happens shortly after Rita & Phil & I return from the recently reopend Pink Adobe tonite.

how wonderful to end the year with friends remembering me. all day I've been visitd with memories of so many people with whom I've crossd paths. they are my fire on this chilling day.

quite a discovery

thx to Bill Fogle
for his Facebook post
on Vivian Maier

got

a snow shovel for xmas. broke it in last nite. but the predictd blizzard was a bust.

Gamboling in Las Vegas

         .   for Jean Vengua

the edge
of misery
can be
just off
the Strip
so we
create joy
in grotto
delirium in
steam room

Xmas now past

despite the ill bookends of flight delays the time I spent in Las Vegas was good. Garold Gardner pickd me up at the airport & whiskd me off to Ellis Island for super b-b-q. then I checkd into my favorite room at Blue Moon.

on Xmas Gary Sielaff gatherd me up & we went to the Strip to enjoy a sublime meal at Morels. then we were brave. we walkd thru mobs to LV's newest hotel -- the Cosmopolitan. I was disappointd   writing in my travel journal that it looks "like the aftermath of a cyclone having gone thru Cher's closet." here I am with a shoe:



from there we walkd to the Bellagio to see their holiday display:



I was so worn down by fighting the crowds that the next day I never left the resort.

my long dismal day

the storm in the east wasn't the only cause of today's air travel meltdown.

I spent Xmas in Las Vegas & wasn't expecting my short flight back to be delayd. before checking out I went online & saw my flight was "on time." major joke. when I got to the airport I discoverd I was in for a 6-hour wait because my plane was coming in from San Francisco where weather screwd up that schedule. every hour my flight status changd while I breathd in more germs. when I finally got to Albuquerque my delay messd up my shuttle connection. so I endured another hour & 45 minute wait before the hour drive back. I just got home with my grumpy quotient in overdrive.

Congress

finally

The Morning I Woke with Geof Huth

mother worries
preventd observation
of eclipse

my dreamless nite
sped by
till I woke
with his breath
on my shoulder
his song
in my ear

this man
I've never met
poked me
with the fullness
of his poet life

& I was able
to grind
my Tanzanian beans
with a grin

centennials

yesterday was Jean Genet's 100th birthday. so I had another look at "Un Chant d'Amore" in his memory.

next year is the centennial of America's greatest playwright -- Tennessee Williams. I'm not yet sure how I'll mark it but I just read this morning of an inventive celebration:

Beginning March 24, 2011, will be a tour of Hotel Williams, a collection of the playwright's hotel-set short plays, which will be performed in actual hotel rooms across the country. The tour will make stops in cities that figured into Williams' life, including New Orleans, LA; Columbus, MS; Sewanee, TN; and Provincetown, MA.

when I was a boy

we had twice-a-day mail delivery. & I seem to remember that the US Postal Service also had delivery on the sunday nearest Xmas.

yoyo

so many highs & lows in the past 24 hours my whole body is a mess.

amazing

Blake Edwards (1922-2010)

woke

to the heavenly sounds of rain.

we don't get all that much in this high dessert. & lately we've had such glorious weather. yesterday hit 60. but we pay for that when it remains dry.

"The list is the origin of culture."

Umberto Eco

where "was" is

front page of today's NY Times:

snow scene in Kent (maybe in front of Ray's?)

thx to Margaret Garmon for this tip & to Mike Busam for informing me that not only is Kent State closed but will postpone finals for a week.

centennial of modernism

according to Virginia Woolf

as

James Joyce programs Paul Panzer

Ginsberg returns to Santa Fe

I was surprisd that the matinee audience for "Howl" was so elderly & straight. but then this is the City Different.



(I cdn't find online the photo of Ginsberg sitting in the plaza. so here's a 1972 Nancy Fisher picture of him in Santa Fe with Corso.)

crimson pie

I'd never heard of this before. but when Rita & I stoppd at Dulce yesterday I saw one. liking both blueberries & cranberries I thot this wd be good. & indeed it was.

here's the recipe.

all right

we're facing the most depressing holiday of the year. our government is a mess. Wikithugs are trying to disrupt the internet. North Korea is attempting to out-bully China. & don't get me startd abt the whole of the Middle East. so what do I do? yup. watch a movie.

& for a true cinephile what better than to see Frankie Darro & Elisha Cook Jr together. in a Judy Garland movie. with smart sass from Sophie Tucker. & even a cameo by Francis X. Bushman. yup. for a short time I cd forget all that shit.

more disgusting politix

DADT repeal dead.

Congress is useless.

more Doris Day

I'm delightd that she's allowing herself a public persona again. she sounds wonderful.

angry

at ALL politicians

theater

last nite I saw "From Broadway with Love" featuring Kaye Ballard     Donna McKechnie     Liliane Montevecchi. the trio opend the show singing "Broadway Baby" together. ever since I heard Ethel Shutta introduce the song at the Winter Garden it's been one of my Sondheim faves. but this is the first time I've heard 3 performers sing it together. it was a fun evening. & in the audience was Hilary Knight who did the poster for the show but always has a place in my heart for the illustrations for "Eloise."

this afternoon something quite different -- a college production of Sam Shepard's "Tooth of Crime." it's been some years since I saw this off-Broadway. this production was surprisingly good with an accomplishd portrayal of Hoss by Aaron Lopez.

Jim Cory tells me that James Franco is playing another poet on screen -- Hart Crane.

here's my last encounter:



& for the record here's a photo I took of the statue's dedication in front of the library.

flannel shirts

I don't care if they're in style or out. I don't care if they're supposd to mean something. for me they're all abt comfort. I feel good wearing them.

DADT hearings

bravo to Admiral Mullen

shame on John McCain

another from "Ohio Triangle"

"Last Address"

Last Address from Ira Sachs on Vimeo.

I like

when
my barista
calls me dear

tension

while the Koreas glower at each other someone in Seoul did a Google search for Farley Granger & came to an old post of mine.

my own private white party

      after reading Facebook
      status report of Matt Skallerud

Mom sent me 2 teabags
(oriental white tea)

Sal Mineo liked blond twinks
in white jockey shorts

white dots on dark chocolate
(non-pareils from Rita Wood)

Tom Ford's white shirt
unbuttond on the plane

Pearl White had dark hair
but wore a blonde wig

Colin Coonsis didn't wear
the white suit to his opening

bah humbug

so cold walking to the gym I thot my nose wd fall off. got there at 7:30. lockd tight. on holiday schedule. shit. I must've been asleep when someone made Bleak Friday another fricking holiday.

today's menu

leftover pizza

since I was left out of the last 2 bios of writer friends that I've read I'm pleasd to be quoted in this bestseller. I didn't know Mineo. but I saw him in a stunning summer stock production of "End as a Man" which he also directd.

early Thxgiving

for the past several years I've spent this holiday with either Billy in Culver City or with Garold in Rockaway. but I'm getting older & crankier & wasn't sure I cd deal with the nuttiness that is flying on the busiest travel weekend of the year. so I told Billy I'd arrive the weekend before & we'd celebrate.

here we are at a favorite place. Miceli's -- the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood -- has been host to celebs from John F. Kennedy to the Beatles.