After today, gang, the fucking snow should be entirely gone!

Yay!

I usually love snow, but this time. I don’t know.

My best friend on Earth, Valerie in Brooklyn, and I both agreed — there was something that felt evil about this past snow. NYC got it just as bad as we did out here in the Hinterlands — along with the below zero temperatures for nights on end and the high winds. And she also takes care of about a dozen stray cats — but they all live outside in her backyard. In little cathouses. So she was constantly worrying about them.

Anyway.

Everyone survived. And I’m just so glad to finally see this rain today.

**********

Okay!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine’s Day yesterday, if you celebrated it.

I got texts from quite a few people from hither and yon, so that was nice! Even a text from Dennis, threatening to go out to lunch again soon!

And I got this in a text from Wayne yesterday. He’s in the Dominican Republic, visiting his niece, Tessa, and her husband.

I absolutely cannot believe she’s old enough to be married! The last time I saw her, I think she was about 7 years old.

************

I had a wonderful time with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man yesterday, too.

I brought him a single red rose, that I put in a really beautiful blown-glass bud vase that I found in his dining room.

And I brought him some of these —

— which I put in a small and very colorful ceramic bowl.

And then a small cordial glassful of this (which he still had leftover in his fridge from when we celebrated Martin Luther King Day!):

I brought this all out to him as a surprise, a couple hours after he’d had his breakfast and coffee. And, wow, was he delighted. It was so much fun.

**********

Today, I head over to see the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat!

I’m bringing this DVD along with me because the last time I was there, before my vacation, his wife talked about wanting to see this movie again. I told her I was pretty sure I had it on DVD and when I came home and checked, I did indeed have it:

I don’t know if she’ll want to watch it while I’m there later, or I will just leave it with her so she can watch it some other time. But it would be nice to watch it with both of them. I haven’t seen it in years. Obviously, I really liked it, though, or I wouldn’t have bought the DVD.

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Okay!

Here’s this!

Janis Joplin smiling in London in 1969!

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And this!

The Rolling Stones not smiling in London, in, like, 1963?

And then smiling in Regents Park, London, in 1964!

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From Phyllis Stein’s Instagram page.

Keith, talking to Jerry Nolan out on the street in NYC, after Johnny Thunders had just died:

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Jerry Nolan and David Johansen, sometime in the 70s:

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Keith drinking onstage, 1975:

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And this from the Kerouac Estate yesterday–

A Valentine Jack made for his mother when he was 10 years old:

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And, yes!

Nick Cave!

A photo from George Vjestica’s Instagram page on Friday — from the Wild God tour of Australia:

And in just under 4 months, the Bad Seeds’ tour of Europe and the UK begins! You can buy tickets here!!

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And I’m thinking that’s it for today. I got stuff I need to do before I head to town later today.

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*********

I leave you with this!

As I got out of bed for real this morning, slid that nicotine toothpick into my mouth and then turned on the retro boombox next to my bed, this came on. It’s on the “Beat Generation” Anthology cassette.

Tom Waits, “Diamonds On My Windshield”, taken from his album, The Heart of Saturday Night, 1974. Enjoy, gang.

“Diamonds On My Windshield”

Well, these diamonds on my windshield
And these tears from heaven
Well, I’m pulling into town on the Interstate
I got a steel train in the rain
And the wind bites my cheek through the wing
And it’s these late nights and this freeway flying
It always makes me sing

There’s a Duster trying to change my tune
He’s pulling up fast on the right
Rolling restlessly by a 24-hour moon
And a Wisconsin hiker with a cue-ball head
He’s wishing he’s home in a Wisconsin bed
But there’s fifteen feet of snow in the east
Colder than a well-digger’s ass
And it’s colder than a well-digger’s ass

Oceanside, it ends the ride
With San Clemente coming up
Those Sunday desperados slip by
And cruise with a dry back
And the orange drive-in, the neon billing
And the theatre’s filling to the brim
With slave girls and a hot spurned bucket full of sin
Metropolitan area with interchange and connections
Fly-by-nights from Riverside
And out-of-state plates running a little late
But the sailors jockey for the fast lane
So 101, don’t miss it
There’s rolling hills and concrete fields
And the broken line’s on your mind

The eights go east and the fives go north
And the merging nexus back and forth
You see your sign, cross the line
Signaling with a blink
And the radio’s gone off the air
And it gives you time to think

And you hear the rumble
As you fumble for a cigarette
And blazing through this midnight jungle
Remember someone that you met
And one more block
The engine talks
Whispers, “Home at last.”
It whispers “Home at last.”
Whispers, “Home at last.”
Whispers, “Home at last.”
Whispers, “Home at last.”

And the diamonds on my windshield
And these tears from heaven
Well I’m pulling into town on the Interstate
I got me a steel train in the rain
And the wind bites my cheek through the wing
Late nights and freeway flying
Always makes me sing

It always makes me sing
Hey, look here, Jack
Okay

c – 1974 Thomas Alan Waits

Wow, gang. Me and my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man had the best time yesterday.

It started out great because as soon as I got there, I went over the notes from the caregivers who had worked with him while I was gone. I had given my supervisor a full page of ideas for how a stranger could get the best results with him, and she printed it out and gave it to the other caregivers.

And they each followed it completely and they all had “an enjoyable time” with him!!

He got out of bed, got dressed. Took his meds. Ate his meals. And even chatted! No one was kicked out of the house!!

That made me so happy.

And we did indeed go out for sashimi & sake yesterday — by some miracle, the sun actually came out and stayed out through my whole shift.

He was alert and focused and chatty during our meal (during my whole shift, actually). But I tell you what, gang, he absolutely broke my heart yesterday, in the best way.

He likes to see photos of my cats, so I showed him this recent photo. And just FYI, he also studied for & got a degree in the Christian Ministry — at a small college in Kansas, for 3 years in between working on his Engineering Degree from NYU in the mid-1950s. So Jesus and Christianity are a big deal to him, too.

He has seen photos of the cats on my bed before, but he never saw that full corner of my room. The print of Christ Pantocrator or my cross from Bethlehem, in particular.

He looked at the photo and was spellbound. He got tears in his eyes. He said, “Your room is so beautiful.” And then with so much emotion, he said, “I love you.”

He has never said that before. And to be honest, gang, no one I have ever known has ever said to me “I love you” and meant it as deeply as he did at that moment.

It was incredible.

And then, after our meal was over!! It turns out that the Peony Bistro has yet another new supplier of fortune cookies!! So much better than the last ones. Sort of mystical this time. His fortune is on the top:

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Before I forget!

It’s Abraham Lincoln’s heavenly birthday today. Happy Birthday, Abraham Lincoln. RIP. You did great things.

And here’s this. Johnny Cash sings the Civil War classic, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”:

(BTW, when I was 11 years old, I came in 2nd place — city wide!! — in an oratory competition: reciting Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. I was so proud of that plaque they gave me. It disappeared sometime after I moved to NYC. I think my mom eventually threw it away…)

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Anyway!!

Here’s a big bunch of stuff from Instagram today!!

A great photo of The Clash in Paris, in 1981:

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And here’s this!

Warren Ellis celebrating jet lag, to the tune of Johnny Thunders singing “Jet Boy”!!

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And here’s Tom Petty smiling — wow! This actually made my day:

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This brought back memories!!

The poster from Patti Smith Group’s second album, Radio Ethiopia. Photo by Robert Mapplethorpe:

The album included this song — which made my mom declare disgustedly, “She’s an animal!” (And she didn’t mean it in a good way.) “Pissing in a River”:

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And here’s this!!

From Pamela Des Barres Instagram page! A great old photo of her and Iggy!

(Excuse me — I meant to say a “groovy” old photo…)

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Okay!

Some great photos of Keith!!

I love this one — I have no idea what he’s doing but his expression is so intense, and Ronnie’s is sort of like “not this again”:

And some happy photos from Keith’s autobiography LIFE:

And here’s Keith, bored with Mick in 1975, while being photographed by the great Annie Leibovitz:

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And yes!!

While I did indeed try to find a photo of Nick Cave on Instagram, post-tour…

Here’s one of my all-time favorites from my private desktop stash instead!

Nick with Luke — just yesterday:

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And I think that is it!

It’s another splendid sunny day here in the Hinterlands. I have the entire day to myself.

I’m still waiting to hear back from Sandra re: the TV project proposal, which we will be sending off the moment I hear back from her.

Meanwhile, I might get started on those LULU videos on how to format an eBook nowadays… We shall see!!

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

I leave you with this!!

I absolutely loved this song, gang. It was a huge Top 40 hit in 1974. I had the 45 rpm and played it on my little portable record player in my room, over and over and over.

I think it’s kind of a huge blessing that the record came out right on the heels of the film version of “The Exorcist” being such a huge sensation. I didn’t see the film back then, because I was too young, but I read the book and was absolutely terrorized by it.

Maybe that’s partly why I played this record over and over and over, even though I was Jewish. It helped calm me down. (I was already secretly way over in the Jesus camp by then though. Unbeknownst to my family.)

Sister Janet Mead, “The Lord’s Prayer”. Enjoy, gang!!

All righty, gang.

Most of the snow is gone, but it’s grey and dismal out there. Friday will be colder but very sunny. So I’m gonna let my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man decide if he wants to go get that sashimi & sake today, or wait until Friday!

We shall see! But either way, I’m really looking forward to seeing him again today. It’s been 12 days!

************

Okay. Before we go any further, I’m afraid I’m going to have to insist that you listen to at least one verse of THIS!! It is the essential background music for what I will say next!

Did you play it??

Okay. I’ll wait. One verse is enough….

Okay!! Yes!!!!!

I had to run a couple of errands for my clients yesterday, and one of the stores I needed to go to was right next to the Rural King, so I dashed in for some cat food and what to my wondering eyes should appear????

Yes. ‘Wild Thing’ was there.

And not only there, but he was just standing there. With nothing to do. No customers in his check out lane.

However. His little green light wasn’t on, so it looked like his lane was closed. I went to the lane next to his and he actually called out to me:

HE: “Hey! What are doing?”

I turned and looked at him.

ME (smiling, my heart beaming): “Are you open?”

HE: “Yeah, I’m open. Get over here.”

ME (as I went directly over there): “But your light isn’t on.”

He turned his light on.

HE: “It is now.”

And then guess what happened, gang?! We had an actual conversation. And guess what it was about?? He was very excited because he’d just bought one of THESE and had gotten a great deal on it:

Yes! ‘Wild Thing’ is into guns. Does it get better???

When he said he had just bought an AR 15, my eyes popped. And when he told me what he’d paid for it, I literally said, “Holy cow!”

(BTW, the Rural King sells fire arms.)

Anyway, he was sort of excited that I knew what an AR 15 was.

I won’t go into the whole conversation but I wanted to whip out THIS!! (92 out of 100 bulls eyes.)

However, I don’t actually carry it on me…

But seriously, gang. It was so fucking cool! We had an actual conversation. And it was about guns.

Does it get better?? We shall see.

************

On another happy note–

The weather was so beautiful yesterday, and it got up to 52 degrees Fahrenheit, and a lot of the snow did indeed melt so there were patches of green grass everywhere.

I could not wait to get home yesterday and let Kon Tiki back outside!

Wow, was she happy. A little stunned, because there still is a bunch of snow out there, but I knew she was going to be okay.

It really made me so happy to know she was back in her element.

*********

All right.

If you are into LGBTQ literature, or want to support Lambda Literary, there is a virtual Town Hall meeting next Wednesday, February 18th, at 4pm. It is free but you have to RSVP.

“The event will be moderated by Executive Director Jozie Clapp and Board Chair Gary Mobley. Jozie and Gary will share updates about Lambda Literary, their visions for the future, and answer questions from attendees.”

You can register HERE.

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And over at the Merwin Conservancy (“Rooted in the convictions of renowned American poet W.S. Merwin, The Merwin Conservancy imagines ways of engaging with place, poetry, and practice), they had a few announcements to make.

This one popped out at me. It suggests a donation of $15.

Tuesday, March 10, 2 pm HST/ 5 pm PDT/ 8 pm EDT on Zoom

“Join us for a virtual screening of acclaimed writer & visual artist Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ Green Room presentation at the Honolulu Museum of Art, which coincided with her recent residency at The Merwin Conservancy.”

“Rachel Eliza Griffiths is a poet, visual artist, and novelist. She is the recipient of the Hurston/Wright Foundation Legacy Award and the Paterson Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the NAACP Image Award…”

–among MANY other achievements.

You can register for the reading HERE.

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Okay.

Here’s this!

A few from Phyllis Stein:

The New York Dolls at Max’s in NYC in 1973:

Iggy on the cover of the French magazine Rock & Folk:

Keith on the cover of Rock & Folk:

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And here’s this!

I don’t know who took the photo, where it was, or when it was but–

Keith smoking! Oh, and Eric Clapton smiling:

*********

And here’s this!!

Oh no!

No photos of Nick Cave!!!

Aw, well.

The tour’s over….

*******

And Letter from Ireland has a special podcast about St. Valentine and his connection to the city of Dublin:

“…if you ever happen to find yourself in Dublin on this special day, be sure to drop by the Whitefriar Street Church (The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel). This church houses the remains and relics of St. Valentine himself, and many couples visit to ask for his blessing as they embark on this new journey together…”

You can listen HERE (30 mins).

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And that is it for today, gang. I’m gonna get ready to head to town and see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man!

Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

********

I will leave you with this.

Yes, when it was finally time to get out of bed for real, I hit “PLAY” on the retro boombox next to my bed. There’s a “Beat Generation” Anthology on cassette in there, and this is what came on!

I listened to it while making the bed, getting dressed, switching between my nicotine toothpick and sipping my already cold cup o’ Joe, and I was kind of blown away by the courage so many writers had back then. I used to take it as a given that writers had courage.

I used to have courage. I don’t have a whole lot of it right now, because of The Curse of Our Profound Disorder getting ready to be unleashed on this currently very chaotic and polarized world. But I’m working on it.

Anyway. Allen Ginsberg, reading his poem “America”. Enjoy, gang.

Yes! I am going to do everything possible to make this day drag on forever! Because tomorrow is my last day of vacation.

But on a happy note — chances are that my next “vacation” will be because I’ll have to go back to NYC to work with Sandra.

So. Yay! For the next vacation!

I sat at my desk for quite a while yesterday, trying to focus on all the notes for the primary characters in our TV project, and bring them into some sort of organized paragraph(s), but it did not happen.

However.

When I awoke at 3:12AM this morning!! It was all there in my brain and starting to take shape. So that was exciting!

I know today is going to be really productive.

Overall, it has been a really productive vacation.

**********

I found this online yesterday — I was only about 2 weeks late in seeing it.

The publisher of my upcoming novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, made an announcement all over social media about contracting the book.

This is taken from their official website, where they said, in part:

“Something about her writing style drew me in and mesmerized me. In general, I cringe at first-person stories, passive voice and dialect, but in Marilyn’s hands, something magical happened as I read.

I stood uncomfortably in the middle of her grand boudoir while I watched her light a cigarette. Her room was filled with furniture, most of it white, and on every available table, bureau, and shelf, there were pretty things. Things made of crystal or porcelain, things that looked old and expensive. It was a huge room with a very high ceiling. Even with all that furniture and all those pretty things, the room didn’t feel crowded.

“Main character Jemima always knew that she was the illegitimate offspring of the local married preacher. Her mama, impregnated in the backseat of a Plymouth at age 15, explains lust and sexual pleasure as the presence of God. Jemima has a hard life, but sees the world pragmatically, with beauty at times.”

Coming soon, gang!

**********

Okay!

A couple of heavenly birthdays today!

First, one of my favorite rebels of all time!

Happy heavenly birthday, James Dean. RIP.

If you’re too young to have ever seen this movie, here’s a great clip. I still get chills and some tears in my eyes. “Rebel Without A Cause,” 1955 (3mins):

James Dean was killed 5 years before I was born, but back in the old days in NYC, there were plenty of retro movie houses where you could go see all the great old movies.

So I was able to see all of James Dean’s movies on the big screen. Incredible.

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Apparently, it is also Neal Cassady’s heavenly birthday today:

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And speaking of NYC (well, I sort of was, up there above)–

One of my legendary abodes there, the Camelot Bldg. on W.45th & 8th Ave, was only a few blocks away from the infamous Peppermint Lounge!!

By the time I lived there, though, the Peppermint Lounge had closed and then briefly re-opened (still on W.45th Street), and in that immortal & fleeting time, I saw many bands play there, including many of my friends’ bands.

And here’s this!!

From Phyllis Stein’s re-booted Instagram page!! Johnny Thunders at the Peppermint Lounge in 1981:

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And here’s this!

The New York Dolls in LA, at the Whisky A Go-Go in 1973!

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Okay, gang. Who knew??!!!

I sure did not!

But it turns out that the Orient Express has an Instagram page!! Yay!!

I immediately started following it. And then noticed, with overjoyed excitement, that the Orient Express is also followed by Marlon Richards’ wife, Lucie de la Falaise!!

This ad was in my Instagram feed yesterday. Yay!!

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And speaking of Keith Richards, smoking and barefoot! (sort of…)

Here are Marlon Richards’ illustrious parents, Keith and Anita:

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And here’s Keith, smoking but probably not barefoot, but I’m not 100% certain:

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And here’s this!

Nick Cave in London in 1982, in no way interested in getting up to get an ashtray!! (I think he actually quit smoking because he was tired of having to always get up and get an ashtray, but I’m not 100% certain. That might just be part of the myths & legends.)

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Okay, so is anybody in the US going to watch the Super Bowl tonight??

I probably will not. Only because, well, I don’t have a huge interest in football, but it also has sad memories for me now. Especially with my favorite client, Molly, passing away last year right after the Super Bowl, which we were supposed to watch together but she was taken to the hospital and then she died.

And now of course with my dad being dead now, too. He was a big Super Bowl watcher. Well, football, in general. The Cleveland Browns were always on our TV in the 1960s.

And Wayne, who is still very much alive, always had his guy friends over on Super Bowl Sunday, and they ordered in pizzas, and drank beer and smoked Camel cigarettes and got rowdy and had fun.

I usually sat in the back bedroom and quietly drank Saint-Émilion and smoked a Chesterfield or two and watched an old movie, but it was still fun having all that noise in the apartment.

So I miss all that.

Here’s this, from back when my wee bonny girlhood life was actually sort of good:

Cleveland Browns win the 1964 NFL Championship (1 min):

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And now I’m gonna get this very productive Sunday underway!

Enjoy yourselves, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*********

Okay!!

In honor of James Dean, I leave you with this.

The Crystals’ smash hit, “He’s A Rebel,” 1962. Enjoy, gang.

When was the last time I had a Saturday off where I didn’t actually have to do anything at all, but write???

It feels really great, gang.

And I finally had a chance to chat with Sandra yesterday afternoon. She’s been in NYC this past week, moving into a friend’s apartment so that she doesn’t have to stay in so many hotels. Her primary home, with her husband, is in Rhinebeck, NY, about an hour’s train ride up the Hudson. And she’s having to be in NYC a lot right now.

Oh! Before I forget.

If you have the BET+ streamer channel, Sandra has a special guest role on a 2-part episode of “The Ms. Pat Show” sometime next week. It promises to be excellent!!

Anyway.

We had a good chat. And we have both signed off on the synopsis (yay!), so today I begin working on the 2 character breakdowns/arcs for our TV project.

Ever closer to turning it in, gang!!

**********

Before I forget–

Last night, I started listening to a free audiobook of James Joyce’s 1916 novel, A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man.

I first read this book back in 1982 and absolutely loved it. I became a diehard Joyce fan from then on.

But as I was listening to the audiobook last night, I found it incredibly peculiar that I could very clearly remember reading the book, and how much I loved it, and where I lived at the time (W.45th Street) and where I worked and who I worked with and I even recalled reading the book while standing in line at the bank and I recalled that a lot of my co-workers were also in line at the bank so it must have been payday–

Anyway, I remembered all that stuff, but I had no memory of what the book was about anymore!! I found that so weird.

And then also, early in the book, one of my favorite lines ever — well, I still knew the line by heart but I had forgotten it had come from that book! (“one time it would come because the earth moved round always.”)

I remembered perfectly lying on my bed in the afternoon and reading “a book” and then reading that line and stopping dead in my tracks. I was so moved by that line that I immediately put down the book and copied the line in the front of my journal, then went back to reading the book!

I remembered all of that stuff, but I had not remembered which book it had come from.

Anyway. James Joyce. Wow. He was definitely a big influence on me, gang.

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And Dennis sent me this yesterday! In honor of the upcoming Super Bowl and my love for Tom Petty —

In Remembrance of Tom Petty: Super Bowl XLII Halftime Show – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (12 mins):

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If you are not aware of the Nag Hammadi Library —

It is “a collection of early Christian and Gnostic texts discovered near the Upper Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945.” There were 52 texts discovered, and they date to around the mid-2nd century AD.

The religious texts, essentially, became illegal after the New Testament was established, so it is assumed these 52 texts were buried to keep them safe.

The texts, collectively, are also considered “the secret teachings of Jesus”. The “Gospel of Thomas” is probably the most well known one.

Here is a free audiobook on YouTube but it had a lot of commercials.

The Gospel of Thomas Full Audiobook (No Commentary) (38 mins):

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And here’s this!

The earliest known photo of Neal Cassidy, from the Allen Ginsberg Instagram page:

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And here’s this!!

If you don’t know who these two are, that’s David Cassidy (R) and Danny Bonaduce (L) from “The Partridge Family” TV show, which was super popular in the early 1970s (I never missed a show and I had all their albums!!):

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And I thought that this was really interesting.

I’d never heard of her before, and I was sort of thinking that gender surgeries didn’t start happening until the early 1950s (in Europe).

The anniversary of her death was yesterday.

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And here’s one more great photo of Nick Cave from the Wild God Australia/New Zealand tour, but I don’t know from which city:

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And I’m thinking that is it for today, gang! I’m gonna get to work now.

Enjoy my Saturday off, wherever you are in the world!!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*********

Yes, I leave you with one more!

From the Special Deluxe Re-issue of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 1982 album, Long After Dark, Disc 2.

This song is one of the songs that did not appear on the original album. I really like it.

“Never Be You”. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1982. Enjoy, gang!!

“Never Be You”

Take a look at my eyes
It’s been a long, long time
I used to feel so strong
When I knew you were mine

But since you let me down
I’m hard to be around
I don’t know what I’m gonna do
She could never be you
She could never be you

Uh-uh, uh-uh, huh
She could never be you

I guess it all comes around
Baby, please don’t cry
Love is gonna be a little reckless
Oh, lovers all have to stand trial

But since you let me go
There’s nothing going on
I don’t know what I’m gonna do
She could never be you
She could never be you
Uh-uh, uh-uh, huh
She could never be you

Yeah, she knows the rules
She plays the part
But she only has me
She don’t have my heart

She could never be you
She could never be you

So take a look at my eyes
No, you can’t hide the truth
No, you don’t get by on pride
It’ll run over you

But since you let me down
I’m hard to be around
I don’t know what I’m gonna do
She could never be you
She could never be you
Uh-uh, uh-uh, huh
She could never be you
Uh-uh, uh-uh, huh
She could never be you
Uh-uh, uh-uh, huh
She could never be you

c – 1982 Tom Petty, Benmont Tench