All 8 of my self-published books on Amazon have been officially approved to become audiobooks on Audible!!
Still need a producer and to audition narrators, but we are good to go!!
I will keep you posted…
What were you doing at 2:43am??
I’ll tell you what I was doing —
I was lying in bed, in the dark, thinking about the new novel coming out in 3 days.
And I was thinking that this will be my 8th published novel.
And I was thinking that it would be my 21st book, until I really started adding everything up. And it was a LOT of math to do in the dark at 2:43AM!!
Not just the novels, but all the many short story collections of mine that have come out, the books I edited of other writers’ and photographers’ works, and then I also added in the various different editions of my books that came out, too.
And I was astounded to discover that The Curse of Our Profound Disorder will my 32nd book.
How did that happen??
Gang, I do not know where the time went. But I do remember every single book I worked on, wrote, or edited, as well as every different edition that came out — in the US, UK, France, Mexico.
And every single one of those events made me so happy. There were just so many publishers back then.
And this doesn’t count the short stories and essays that I’ve had published in other people’s books. I can’t even begin to remember all of those.
There were just so many books over the course of 28 years. And almost all of them are out of print now. So I’d kind of lost track of how many there actually were. (And before the books, my short stories were published in underground zines for 8 years! That whole zine culture was so cool, gang.)
And then next year, The Muse Revisited Volume 4 will come out, along with the M. Christian tribute anthology I’m editing.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around where the time went to, though, you know?
And this doesn’t count the 24 years of songwriting that I did, or the plays, screenplays, TV pilots I wrote or co-wrote. Or the diaries & journals I kept in NYC for 16 years — until I began working online for a film production company in 1997 and then started building publishing-related websites. Which started me writing my journals online and brought my blog into the world!
I’ve continuously kept an online blog now for 29 years.
I don’t know, gang. I felt like I was looking at someone else’s life. Even though I remembered every minute of it.
For instance —
When I was 10 years old (1970), I wrote my first real song. I composed it on the piano. It was a song about air pollution (I was against it!). And it was used in a short film that my art teacher, Mr. Quinn, at my elementary school made. It starred my Girl Scout troop! And we all sang my song in the film. And the film was shown at an exposition in downtown Cleveland.
Wow, was I thrilled!
And then the Synagogue my family attended, printed the lyrics of my song in the members’ newsletter. And my parents and grandparents — and my piano teacher!! — were really proud of me.
It’s like everything I ever wrote came back to me last night while I was trying to go back to sleep. But it took a while.
I don’t really know why I have become so obsessed with TIME. And how fast it’s flying and how little of it I have left, compared to what’s already gone by.
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Okay.
I’m not going to go into the details because it was absolutely traumatizing — it involved a car accident that happened yesterday, right in front of me.
But I had a really bad day yesterday. And then to top it all off, THIS happened when I answered my phone at 5PM!!
Yes! I’ve been called up for fucking JURY DUTY. AGAIN!
Next Tuesday… Jesus Christ.
Here’s hoping it goes pretty much the same way it went last month and then it will just be over for a few years.
But the long and the short of it is — I got NO writing done yesterday!! (But I did get a little writing done over the last 56 years…)
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Anyway.
The Public Theater in NYC announced yesterday that the play I posted about here recently, “How Shakespeare Saved My Life,” has already been extended!
It will now run from Sept 15th through October 25th! The play looks like it will be really great. You can read about it and buy tickets HERE!
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Did you know that Elvis Costello is on a North American Tour??
Including CLEVELAND! Yay!
You can buy tickets HERE!!
And in celebration of the 49th anniversary of his fantastic first record, My Aim Is True, he has a special 5-CD box set coming October 2nd. You can read about it HERE!
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And from Lambda Literary today:
“Lambda Literary has teamed up with Fine Arts Work Center to celebrate the successes of our Retreat Alumni!
“Join us for a free, virtual event Thursday, September 17th at 6pm EST to hear more about how these storytellers found success in their journeys from emerging writer to celebrated author.“
Find out more and register here! Free!
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Oh!
Simon Parkes had a great update yesterday, about upcoming healing centers and MedBeds, and also banking system changes, worldwide. You need to be a member of Connecting Consciousness to hear Simon’s updates, but it is FREE to join. Check it out HERE.
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Okay!!
And here’s this!!
Mick — bored with golfing??? It seems to be affecting the attitudes of the other Rolling Stones…
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A great Polaroid of Keith! Mid-1960s, in front of Olympia Recording Studios in London!
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Keith and the late, great horn player, Bobby Keys! Drinking!! On a plane!!
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Joe Strummer! Leaning!!
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And last but not least, gang!
Nick Cave and some of those Birthday Party boys! Smoking, not smoking!!
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And that is it for now.
I am seriously hoping I will have a much better day than the one I had yesterday, gang.
We will soon find out.
Meanwhile, have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for vistiing.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this!
Tom Petty and the Heartbreaker’s entire story in 60 seconds!!
You can’t beat a day at the bowl-o-rama!
No, you can’t.
And I so wish my day was going to be spent bowling with the cats, however…
It is another really beautiful morning here and I am struggling to just be happy and at ease in life!!
We shall see.
I am still up to my eyeballs with doubts about the best way to present the new memoir, but I’m still working on it…
And still up to my eyeballs in doubts about how the new novel will be received — early reviews should start getting posted in 3 days…
But you know, I can’t un-write it, so here’s hoping that at least one advance reviewer liked it!
And if you have not yet pre-ordered The Curse of our Profound Disorder, you can do that HERE!! It gets released on FRIDAY!! (Mature themes, but not erotica.)
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Okay.
Let’s just get to the happy stuff!
Here’s this!!
Not sure what he’s smoking, but here’s Tom! Officially Smoking!!
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And here’s Keith!!
With a towel!!
Keith with no towel, but with Mick!!
And here’s Mick, with tea on Montauk in 1975!
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And this wonderful stuff came up in my feed this morning.
I used to love this Instagram account!! I cannot believe they haven’t posted anything since 2023. Where did the fucking time go??
Anyway.
Old school Nick Cave!! Smoking!!
Nick Cave with old school HAIR!!
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And that is really all I have time for today, gang.
I gotta get down to the hard stuff now (no, not drugs, although, you know, it holds a certain appeal at this point…)
No, I gotta get some brand new words onto the PAGE!! Please wish me luck!
I hope you have a terrific Tuesday, gang, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this.
This was actually great!
If you do not know much about how different “Christianity” was before the official New Testament was created, about 300 years after Jesus’s time, you will learn a lot from this video. Enjoy, gang.
Myth Vision TV — Bart Ehrman REVEALS the CHAOS of Early Christianity (24 mins):
Happy Labor Day from the sunny Hinterlands!
Wow, what a spectacular day here today.
The windows are open, the house is cool, the skies are sunny for as far as the eye can see!
I am in a much better mood this morning about everything.
Oh! I forgot to post this, in case you or someone you know was having the same problem– about the wireless printer no longer working right with a new fiber optic Internet connection.
Since I don’t really like wireless printers, in general, and since I could not for the life of me understand the written instructions online about how to fix it myself, and since the HP printer tech support line involves NO HUMAN BEINGS WHATSOEVER and I was ready to tear my fucking hair out….
It finally occurred to me to check the back of the printer for a USB cable port and VOILA!!!! It had one. So I went and bought a USB printer cable and then carefully did this very complicated procedure:
I plugged one end of the cable into the printer and the other end into my laptop and in 0.2 nanoseconds, suddenly the printer was working just fine….
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Okay, gang!
It is official!
On Saturday, October 3rd, from 1-5PM, at Holland’s Book Nook in the really lovely Historic Arcade in downtown Newark, Ohio–
I will be singing — well, I won’t be doing a whole lot of singing, mostly I’ll be signing copies of my brand new novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder!
2 other local writers will also be there, but I don’t know who the writers are yet.
If for some inexplicable reason you will be in the area that day, please stop by!!
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Okay, I don’t have a lot to post about today since I spent a good chunk of yesterday in town, running errands. And then the remainder of the afternoon working on the new MEMOIR… and I finally found a way to approach it without totally depressing myself.
But here’s this!
From the wonderful Phyllis Stein!
Richard Hell in NYC in 1977!! (Photo by Stephanie Chernikowski)
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And here are 2 great ones from that Nick Cave/Facebook account that I love!
Absolutely SMOKING!! (Nick Cave, and then The Boys Next Door)
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And honestly, that is it for today, gang.
I’m hoping that I have a productive day of writing ahead of me here. We shall soon find out.
Meanwhile, if you live State-side, have a fabulous Labor Day. Otherwise, have a great Monday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this!!
Continuing from yesterday’s post…
A little more Lou Bega!! (Get in the car and drive, gang!!)
“Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of…)”, 1999. Enjoy!!
Letting these guys do the driving today!
Yes!
A lovely day for a drive but I’ve decided to just be the passenger today and let my neighbors do the actual driving since they obviously love it so much!
Yes, I am heading back to town here soon. Groceries, cat food, etc. I guess that Sunday is now my day to do that.
It’s still a holiday weekend here in the US — and it’s that end-of-summer holiday weekend, where folks around here head out for the campsites on the lake, and so the highway will likely be deserted. We shall see!
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Before I forget!
The print edition of A Man in Her Arms & Other Stories did indeed go live last evening on Amazon. $12.95 You can buy it HERE.
Adults Only please!! Thank you!
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I did indeed spend most of yesterday here at my desk, struggling like crazy with the new memoir.
My main challenge with it is that I don’t want the book to be depressing. And while, for the most part, every single thing that happened to me in the 1970s was unbelievably depressing, the thing that got me through, that kept me alive and filled with joy, was the MUSIC and the guys who made the music.
They were like saviors to me. They literally kept me alive. When I say that men like Keith Richards were father-figures to me, I am not kidding. They were guiding lights to me — to somehow stay alive, get to NYC, and make my music there, professionally.
I remember one afternoon in the cafeteria at my high school, probably around the fall of 1977, I was sitting with a girl I knew. We never really socialized, but we knew each other. And she said that Aerosmith would be staying at the local Holiday Inn after their concert on Friday night and she asked if I wanted to go over there with her.
ME: “Why?”
SHE: “You know, to party with them. Have sex! It’ll be fun.”
I was absolutely flabbergasted by this. I wasn’t a virgin, by any stretch of the imagination by that point, and even though I loved Aerosmith and had their records, it would never occur to me in a million years to have sex with any of them!
Anyway. Music was everything to me and I wouldn’t have survived the 1970s without it. But I am struggling with how best to present the memoir — the reality of my life — and somehow capture the joy that bubbled beneath the surface of my mind because of all those incredible musicians back then.
And I don’t want it to be a book that blames my adoptive parents for anything. They were just as bowled over by trying to live in the huge cultural shifts of the 1970s as I was, but in their own ways.
But everything I had to confront on paper yesterday, about my life in the 1970s, was unbelievably depressing. So I am struggling to find my best way in.
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Anyway.
Speaking of music!
This happened yesterday!!
Happy heavenly birthday, Freddie Mercury!! He would have been 80 yesterday.
And speaking of the 1970s!!! Here’s this!! I absolutely loved this song! Especially those lyrics. What a great story they told. From 1974, “Killer Queen” by Queen.
“Killer Queen”
She keeps Moët et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
“Let them eat cake,” she says
Just like Marie Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Khrushchev and Kennedy (Ooh, ooh)
At anytime an invitation
You can’t decline (Ooh, ooh)
Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice
She’s a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
(Pa-pa-pa-pa) Anytime
Ooh
Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?
To avoid complications
She never kept the same address
In conversation
She spoke just like a baroness
Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minah (Ooh, ooh)
(Killer, killer, she’s a killer queen)
Then again incidentally
If you’re that way inclined
Perfume came naturally from Paris (Naturally)
For cars, she couldn’t care less
Fastidious and precise
She’s a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
(Pa-pa-pa-pa)
Anytime
Drop of a hat she’s as willing as
Playful as a pussycat (Ooh)
Then momentarily out of action (Ooh)
Temporarily out of gas (Ta-taaa)
To absolutely drive you wild, wild
She’s out to get you
She’s a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam (Pa-pa-pa-ra)
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime
Ooh
Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?
You wanna try
c – 1974 Freddie Mercury
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This happened the other day. I forgot to post it yesterday.
Terry Lemerond, the founder of Terry Naturally supplements, passed away. This guy did incredible research on healing the body naturally. His supplements are a little expensive but absolutely worth the extra money. And he also wrote some great, easy to understand books about health. You can find them HERE.
Thanks for everything, Terry. You got a whole lot of people, the world over, off of pharmaceuticals.
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Okay!!
Here’s this!
Joe Strummer in Hollywood in 1989!! (Photo by Bob Gruen)
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And here’s this!!
A couple of great photos of Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard!!
Smoking!!
Not smoking!! (Photo by Bleddyn Butcher)
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And these next 2 photos —
Hmmmm, what to say, gang??
Warren Ellis on movie night! Wearing a Sid Vicious t-shirt?? (Not sure.)
And this one — wow.
Lou Reed singing “Vicious”…. (which is not about Sid, btw)
And Warren Ellis’s bedside night table!! I think it technically qualifies as “not smoking” but that’s an awful lot of nicotine… And then the No. 4711 cologne — is that in place of water, since the water bottle is not within easy reach? Or does he just like to smell nice in a hurry? Not sure!!
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And that is it for today!!
Laundry is done! The day out there is glorious! And so I am off to town to get the groceries!!
Then, this afternoon, I will attempt, yet again, to get the memoir into some sort of higher plane. We shall see.
Meanwhile, have a super Sunday, wherever you are in the world, gang!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this!!
And, NO! It’s not from the 1970s.
It is however from 1999.
Mikey Rivera (of Freak Parade fame! The character of Eddie Ramirez, in my novel Freak Parade, is based on him) — we used to love listening to this CD in the car back then. We lived for awhile in the foothills of the Pocono Mountains, right on the Delaware River, in Easton, Pennsylvania. And we used to love to just go out and take drives…
After 9/11, about 150,000 New Yorkers moved to that area of Pennsylvania at the same time, because rents in NYC had gone into the stratosphere, and this part of PA was reasonably close to Manhattan. You could live out there and still work in the city.
It is safe to say that the life-long residents of that part of Pennsylvania did not appreciate us descending on them like that (driving their own rents higher). They hated New Yorkers… However. It was really, really beautiful there.
Lou Bega!! From his 1999 album, A Little Bit of Mambo — “I Got A Girl”!! Enjoy, gang!!
Rain now, sun later!
Happy Saturday — and if you’re State-side, I hope your holiday weekend is off to a great start.
Here in the Hinterlands, we’ve already had a couple hours’ worth of thunderstorms, but it is supposed to clear up here soon and then the rest of the holiday weekend looks like it is going to be PERFECT!!
Sunny and not too HOT! Yay!
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Okay, before I forget–
I decided to remove my short story collection, A Man in Her Arms & Other Stories, off of Lulu and publish it on Amazon, instead.
Lulu had removed it from global distribution almost the moment after I’d published it there, because they wanted me to reformat it. So I’ve now published it with Amazon, instead.
You can buy the eBook HERE (print edition will be live later today).
The eBook is $2.99, or free (!!) in Kindle Unlimited.
The collection includes a never-before-published novelette, “A Man in Her Arms.” The other stories have either been published in print or online, 2005 -2021.
Table of Contents:
- A Man in her Arms
- A Path to the Woods (A Ghost Story)
- Score
- Code
- Alter/Soldier
- To My Beloved I Am a Stranger
- Common Place
- Wanted
- Legacy of Boy
- Half- Moon Bride
Most of these stories are erotic, so Adults Only please!!
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Yesterday, I also got my remaining self-published books uploaded for audio books on Amazon. So now all of them are in the queue, awaiting producers & narrators! (A total of 8 books.)
And at the risk of becoming the blog that’s all about how “publishing used to be so much better in the old days”– I have to say that, for self-publishing, LULU used to be the absolute best & easiest.
But I’m talking 20 years ago… it is SO different now.
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And, you know, part of what made the Indie Press world “better” in the old days, is that it was so much easier to find!!
This has to do with pesky algorithms, gang. In the event you are a writer, poet, zine-ster, you might be interested in my GROWING list:
Eggtooth Editions: https://eggtootheditions.wordpress.com/ (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid)
Spurl Editions: https://spurleditions.com/
DUMBO Press: https://dumbopress.com/
Clash Books: https://www.clashbooks.com/
Rinky Dink Press: https://rinkydinkpress.com/ (poetry)
Cosmorama: https://www.cosmorama.site/
Diode Editions: https://www.diodeeditions.com/home (poetry)
Able Muse Press: https://www.ablemusepress.com/
Milkweed Editions: https://milkweed.org/
Outpost 13: https://www.outpost13.com/ebooks.html (sci-fi eBooks)
Brooklyn Arts Press: https://brooklynartspress.com/
Augury Books: https://augurybooks.com/ (connected to Brooklyn Arts Press)
Abalone Mountain Press: https://www.abalonemountainpress.com/ (indigiqueer, trans, non-binary, Black Indigenous, and Indigenous feminist-friendly press)
Cardboard House Press: https://cardboardhousepress.org/ (Latin American and Spanish poetry in translation)
La Cartonera Collective: https://cardboardhousepress.org/Cartonera (one of Cardboard House Press’s community projects; bi-lingual Latin)
Wasted Ink Zine Distro: https://www.wizd-az.com/ (an alt zine distribution shop in Phoenix AZ; also has workshops)
Vishnu Temple Press: https://www.vishnutemplepress.com/ (Grand Canyon art and poetry)
Soulstice Publishing: https://soulsticepublishing.com/ (Books with Soul celebrating the Southwest)
Salina Bookshelf: https://salinabookshelf.com/ (multi-cultural indigenous publishing for children; Flagstaff, AZ)
Write Bloody Publishing: https://writebloody.com/ (poetry books with beautifully designed covers)
F*%K IF I KNOW//BOOKS: https://www.fiikbooks.org/ (handmade and limited-run poetry and art chapbooks; indigenous and Spanish-speaking)
Torrey House Press: https://www.torreyhouse.org/ (literal arts and environmental advocacy)
Noemi Press: https://www.noemipress.org/ (Non-profit prose and poetry identity politics)
Black Lawrence Press: https://blacklawrencepress.com/ (fiction, poetry, chapbook contests)
The Sapling (weekly small press updates — pay)
Lit Hub (daily) https://lithub.com/ (free or pay)
Collapse Press: https://collapsepress.com/about-cp/ (poetry, prose, monthly online poetry reading with open mic)
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Sorry. That was long!
But it’s good to know that there’s still a world out there, where you can get published and not have to go the self-publishing route if you don’t want to.
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All righty!!
Here’s this!
Such a great photo of Keith and Marlon, a long time ago!!
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And from Phyllis Stein–
Another great one of Willy Deville — smoking in NYC in 1977!!
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And here are 2 sort of related things–
The statue of Keith, made by sculptor Amy Goodman SEA. It is part of a tribute to Mick & Keith, and it is located in Dartford, Kent (England), where they both grew up:
And here is a mural in Canberra, Australia, that a man there just had painted on the side of his house!
Fellow Australians, Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue!! (Artist is Lawrence Tan)
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And that is actually it for today, gang.
But the good news is that — except for the Writers & Artists podcast that we have still not launched — everything on my To Do List is DONE!!!!!
Can you believe it??
I have been retired from caregiving for 47 days (as of today) and my To Do List is at long last Done!!!!
And even though I do have a new novel coming out this coming FRIDAY (on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which kind of freaks me out since 9/11 was such a traumatizing day for us in NYC), but yes, the new novel comes out on Friday– after languishing somewhere in the dark recesses of my desktop for 27 years...
However, I am still taking time right now to focus on getting my memoir at least on the page and underway.
So with that— I’m off!
Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world, gang!!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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It’s Friday! It’s better!
I say that as if “Friday” means anything to me at this point, now that I have every day off, basically.
But still.
Yay!
And I had a long talk with Wayne yesterday afternoon, about how terrorized I was feeling — about that AI-generated “review” with my name in the byline, suddenly attaching me, after over 25 years, to a photographer who turns out to have been a snuff-filmmaking serial killer…
WTF??!! — in a great big WTF way!! Why did they fucking choose me?? (Not that I liked the guy, but still…)
Anyway.
Wayne ultimately encouraged me to let it go and keep moving forward, and to concentrate on writing the memoir now. He even said, “Send me the pages as they get written. You know I always love reading your stuff.”
That meant the world to me, gang. Not only that he said that, but it also gives me a sort of goal. A reason to write. Because Wayne’s going to be reading it…
Sort of like in the old days, when I would come in from the other room and thrust new pages at him, saying:
ME (thrusting new pages at him): “Here, read this!”
HE (glancing up from his coffee cup): “Ah, yes! Please allow me to drop everything and read this!”
So, anyway. I feel a lot better today! And now, onward to that memoir…
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And speaking of my memoir about my life in the 1970s… Here’s this!!
Lou Reed in 1974!! (Photo by Mick Rock)
And while we’re at it!! From Lou Reed in 1974 — I love this fucking song!! “Sally Can’t Dance”!!
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And here’s a bundle of Keith stuff!
Keith, thinking about drinking, and looking, I don’t know — sort of shiny in 1981!
Keith smoking! And looking sort of, I don’t know — thuggy in 1981! (On St. Mark’s Place with Mick)
And just being Keith! Smoking, attitude, guitar, etc.!!
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Yesterday, a posthumous Sid Vicious wished guitarist Steve Jones a happy birthday!! (Steve is in the bath)
And directly after I saw that photo on Instagram, I saw this!!
Warren Ellis, doing it HIS WAY! (Although I’m not sure exactly what he’s doing “his way” — driving, wearing a seat belt, wearing really huge sunglasses. driving on the wrong side of the road?? You decide!!)
And of course we can’t forget THIS!!! (And if you’ve never seen this before, gang, you gotta watch it. It’s legendary.) Sid Vicious, “My Way”.
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And here’s Nick Cave!! Smoking!!
And Nick Cave more recently, sort of easily confused by the presence of little dogs?? Not sure!
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All right, gang. On that happy note…
I’m gonna refill my cup o’ joe, and get back to the memoir!
It’s a gorgeous day — a little hot, so the AC is cranking. But it’ll be a nice day to sit at my desk and relive the insanity that was the 1970s!!
Have a terrific Friday, wherever you are in the world, gang.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this!
From some of the insanity that was the 1970s!
David Bowie, “The Jean Genie”, 1972.( Although I didn’t have his album, Aladdin Sane, until 1973… ) Okay. Enjoy, gang!!
Quite a mixed bag today, people
Wow.
Well, as usually happens when I miss a day of posting to the blog, I have a lot of stuff to post today.
It is mostly good stuff, gang, but I want to start off with something that is really disturbing to me today, personally.
Some stranger contacted me on Facebook yesterday and asked :
No, this was not me — I did not write it. I believe it is AI-generated.
First of all, I would never have called R. C. Hörsch merely “dysfunctional.”
We were colleagues — even friendly colleagues, I socialized with him when he would come to NYC in the late 1990s . He was a well known Erotic/Fetish photographer, and Maxim Jakubowski and I included Ray’s work in our internationally bestselling book, The Mammoth Book of Erotic Photography (UK, US, 2001).
I was no longer associating with Ray by the time the book came out in 2001, because he’d gotten fucking scary and was fucking nuts. I didn’t want to be anywhere near him anymore. (At different times, he had basically kidnapped, restrained in his home, sexually abused and photographed 2 young women I knew back then — over 25 years ago.)
So, no. Not only did I never write a review of Ray’s work, I wouldn’t have used the word “dysfunctional.” Plus, the photographs of his that we had published were nothing at all like what is described above, so apparently, his work got very extreme.
And now I am seriously disturbed to find out that, even while he’s been dead for over a year, the home he shared with his adult son in Pennsylvania is now linked to the deaths of 4 missing women — 2 of the women were allegedly killed on camera — the films found in the house. (Article is behind a paywall, but it is from only 6 days ago.)
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Okay.
Let’s move on.
On Tuesday, THIS wonderful thing happened to THIS wonderful human being!
The last surviving Bee Gee, Barry Gibb, turned 80! Happy belated birthday, Barry Gibb!!!
And here’s this! My absolute favorite Bee Gees song from back when I was 12!! “Run To Me”, 1972:
And yesterday, September 2nd, Keith wished Billy Preston a happy heavenly birthday!!
And Keith chose THIS beautiful song for Billy, from Exile on Main St, “Shine A Light” (1972):
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And here’s some hopeful news!
Remember I told you about how that beautiful convent here, Children of Mary, the one hidden away in the hills, was shut down recently by the Vatican?
Clergy in the Catholic Church are kind of outraged. Raymond Arroyo is looking into it.
Traditional Nuns SHUT DOWN After 24 Years — What Happened? | Prayerful Posse Clips (7 mins):
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Short story submissions to Brown Hound Press in Kentucky are now officially OPEN until September 30th!
“The time has come. We are officially open to submissions during the month of September!
“Quick reminder: Stories should be about 1,000-3,000 words. Mystery, Literary, Southern Gothic, Dark Humor. No AI allowed. Full details on our website. We pay our writers, and we respond to every submission within two weeks.
Brown Hound Press Season Two will premiere on September 17th with our season opener.”
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Okay.
Speaking of Kentucky!!
Here’s this!
From Phyllis Stein!
Native Kentuckian, Richard Hell, in a bathtub in NYC in 1977! (Photo by Kate Simon)
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And here’s some wonderful news!
The late John Lennon has become a grandfather!! (And Yoko has become a grandma at age 93!!)
Sean Ono Lennon and his girlfriend had a baby boy, Aurelius Lennon, yesterday!
Let’s take a moment to listen to this masterpiece! John Lennon’s song for 5-year-old Sean, recorded shortly before John was murdered. “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)”, 1980:
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Here’s this!!
Incredibly tiny shoes!!
Warren Ellis, allegedly gardening??
And Warren’s tribute to bandmate Conway Savage, who passed away on September 2nd, 2018:
And a great photo of Warren and George Vjestica, taken by Colin Greenwood, when the Bad Seeds played Munich recently!
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Oh! Check this out!!
Another great one from Phyllis Stein!!
A postcard that Bob Dylan mailed to his girlfriend, Suze, from Italy, back in 1963!!!
And another other great one from Phyllis Stein!!
A couple of New York Dolls in Los Angeles in 1973!! (Photo by Bob Gruen)
And another other other great one from Phyllis Stein!!
Here’s William Burroughs and Joe Strummer in Bill’s famous bunker!
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And here’s one that’s NOT from Phyllis Stein… (wtf? how’d that happen?)
Joe Strummer and Ranking Roger!
And here’s this!! The Clash’s awesome remix of “Rock the Casbah” ft. Ranking Roger!! 1982!
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And a lovely shot of Blixa Bargeld!! Don’t know where, when, or by whom!! But it’s in black & white, and he’s not smoking!! (Those are 2 things I do know…)
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And let’s just quickly revisit this!!
Still in black & white, but here Blixa IS smoking!! While the other Bad Seeds abstain…
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Okay!
So, I did do all my many errands in town yesterday, and also had a great time having a late breakfast with one of my girlfriends! Yay!
And the book signing event (for my upcoming novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder) will be sometime in October, at Holland’s Book Nook, inside the Historic Arcade in Newark, OH. There will be a total of 3 writers at the signing.
It will look just like this — except that the writer in the photo won’t be there!!
And in case you’re curious….yes, I have finally begun writing my memoir about life in the 1970s, Joy: The Shortest Season.
(And here’s a disturbing thing I discovered — from Fall 1971, until Fall 1980, I moved SIXTEEN times!!!! Jesus fucking Christ. From the time I was 11, until I was 20…)
That sort of explains a lot right there, doesn’t it, gang??
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All righty! That’s it for now!!
Have a great Thursday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiting!
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this.
Even though Tom Petty had recently died by the time I moved here in March 2018, I took this old song of his to heart and I played it all the time back then, and it kind of saved me.
I had been planning to move back to NYC, but on the advice of Gus Van Sant, Sr., who I worked for at the time, I bought a house in the middle of nowhere, instead — in the middle of the foothills of southeast Appalachia, to be exact. And it finally felt like home…
“Wildflowers”, by Tom Petty. 1994. Enjoy, gang.
“Wildflowers”
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
Sail away, kill off the hours
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, find you a lover
Go away somewhere all bright and new
I have seen no other
Who compares with you
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free
Run away, go find a lover
Run away, let your heart be your guide
You deserve the deepest of cover
You belong in that home by and by
You belong among the wildflowers
You belong somewhere close to me
Far away from your trouble and worry
You belong somewhere you feel free
You belong somewhere you feel free
c – 1994 Tom Petty
Not the morning I was expecting!
Happy Wednesday, gang!
Well, since I have to go to town today and pick up my money from the Honda dealership, my girlfriend and I decided to meet for a late breakfast today, instead of meeting for lunch tomorrow.
And since I’ll be in town, I’ll make trips to both of those bookstores that will be carrying my new novel soon!
I don’t know if I’ll be able to do a regular post here on the blog later, but I’m thinking I will likely not post again until tomorrow. But we will see!
If I don’t get back here, have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting. I love you, guys. See ya! 🙋♀️💖☕️☀️
Can you believe it’s September already??
Personally, I cannot.
Here’s something else I can’t believe — for the next 7 days, I have no appointments on my schedule.
I get to do whatever I want to do. (Including, I hope, have lunch with one of my girlfriends.)
I’m not sure I know how to handle that — all that free/me time.
The appointment with the Medicare Insurance Nurse yesterday was very interesting. We seemed to have a lot of opinions in common about things like vaxxes and pharmaceuticals vs. supplements, etc.
We chatted about a lot of things, there at my kitchen table. She was here for half an hour, even though her actual “work” was completed in about 10 minutes.
Anyway.
That’s done for another year!
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Even though Summer doesn’t officially end for 3 more weeks, everyone in the village seems to think that since school is back in session, the Summer is over and we should be putting all of our Fall decorations out…
WTF??!!
I feel like I’m the only one left who has “Summer” all over her front porch.
So, sadly, I’m going to at least take the Summer stuff off the front porch today. Move all the flowers to the kitchen porch, and try to conform to everybody else’s calendar…
But I refuse to put out my actual Fall decor until the last week of September. (Here’s hoping I don’t incur some sort of fine for that — you know, the Sherriff showing up on my kitchen porch, saying, “You’re neighbors have been complaining that this porch here still looks a little Summery…”)
I’m actually feeling kind of sad about all this — time racing away. But on we go.
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Okay.
As far as having a little window of free time to get some of my own writing done…
That feels really strange, too! My own writing?
We’ll see how that goes. It’s all about focusing and detaching from whatever is going on in the world around me. It’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to really do that, without feeling sort of guilty about it.
That’s leftover from the caregiving.
But I’m working on moving those feelings out. Last evening, I suddenly decided to delete all the texts on my phone that I was still hanging onto from clients of mine who have since died.
I deleted any texts relating to caregiving at all. It felt like the right thing to do, because my heart needs to move on and I need to get fully back into my own life, while I’m still alive in it.
I hope to make some true progress with all of that this week.
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All righty!
Here’s this!
Keith, on a boat on the water! Getting plenty of “Keith” time!
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And here’s this!
From the last show of the Bad Seeds tour — Nick Cave in Paris!
And Nick Cave sent out a Red Hand File today, responding to an inquiry about his favorite painting. He actually got to see his favorite painting while in a museum in Germany recently. He said, in part:
“… I had heard that they had the Lochner (painting), but once inside I couldn’t find it amongst the museum’s unbelievably beautiful collection of sacred art. In my mind, the painting had become so monumental that I guess I expected it to be huge, to have its own wall, or something.
“As I was leaving, disappointed not to see it, I walked into a small, annexed room and in the far corner, in the half-light, was the Lochner, only twelve inches tall, and rendered with such tender restraint and humility that I found myself overwhelmed….”
You can read it in full HERE.
And here is the painting:
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And that is it for now.
The first day in September is off to a sort of slow start, it seems. Even on Instagram.
But enjoy your day, wherever you are in the world, gang.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this…
From that legendary (now a little heartbreaking) album by Frank Sinatra, September of My Years (1965).
“Don’t Wait Too Long”. Enjoy, gang.
“Don’t Wait Too Long”
You are the summer and I am the autumn
Don’t wait too long
Your song’s beginning while mine’s nearly sung
Don’t wait too long
Fall is a lovely time of the year
When leaves turn to golden brown
But soon fall is ending and winter is near
And the leaves start tumblin’ down
Why must the moments go by in such haste?
Don’t wait too long
Winter is coming, I’ve no time to waste
Don’t wait too long
So while my heart’s gay and foolish and free and still can sing its song
Share every precious moment with me, don’t you wait too long
[instrumental-first line of a verse]
Don’t wait too long
[instrumental-second line of a verse]
Don’t wait too long
So while my heart’s gay and foolish and free and still can sing its song
Share every precious moment with me, don’t wait too long
c – 1965 Sunny Skylar
Marilyn's Room 