Hoping this is on the horizon today!

May 2, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

The weather is very sunny today but still really cold.

Nevertheless, my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and I decided yesterday to go out for sashimi & sake today. Now that his private nurse is gone, he hasn’t been out for lunch since he and I went to the golf course last Friday.

When I’m around him, it’s easy to get my energy into a good place and keep things upbeat and happy, so I’m looking forward to going out with him today if he feels up to it. But I have to say, gang, that on a deep level, it feels to me like everything has changed.

The feeling of loss is like a blanket over everything in that house now. He knows something is missing but he doesn’t know what. He also knows that something big in his life has changed forever. He doesn’t remember his private nurse’s name, or who she was, or anything like that — he only knows that there was a girl who used to come see him but that she had to go to the hospital.

His daughter is going to tell him everything when she sees him in person, tomorrow.

Since his daughter has been texting me the last couple of days about her upcoming trip, I finally decided to just text her this morning and ask her if she’s planning to put her dad into a nursing home soon. I want to start getting the hanging flower baskets for his back deck, but it’s a lot of money to spend if he won’t be there much longer.

We’ll see what she replies. But I’m thinking that I already know what she’s going to say.

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On a happier front…

It looks like Rasha’s mom and her little baby will be staying here, to take care of Rasha and all the other cats, while I’m in NYC.

This is such a relief to me. I’ve been worried that all these cats now — including Rasha, who is still unwell — will be too much for my birth mom to really handle, even though she’s happy to do it. (My birth mom is 79 now.)

I feel so much better about this arrangement, though. Because the girl knows full well that Rasha is sick, since Rasha is her cat. It’s not going to be any sort of unhappy surprise for her.

And I also talked to a friend of mine yesterday about her and her husband staying here the last weekend of September, when I go to North Carolina for James Tabor’s conference thingie. They had offered to cat-sit before, so she’s thinking they probably will.

And by September, Rasha’s mom should be in her own place and able to take Rasha back. So that is potentially another huge relief.

Now all I want is for my birth mom to just come out here and visit for a few days, just to hang out again. To smoke and drink beer (her, not me).

What I would really like her to do at this point is answer her phone... she’s not a really big phone-answering kinda gal.

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Anyway.

So there’s good stuff going on and sad stuff going on. But meanwhile, here’s this!

If you’re too young to know that Patti Hansen used to be not only a top super model in the late 70s, early 80s, she also had a reputation for being a real party girl!! (To me, she always just seemed like a down-to-earth girl from Staten Island.) It did not surprise me a bit that Keith fell in love with her.

Anyway! Here they are in 1981, and Patti does not seem to be in any way intoxicated!!

And here’s this!

Keith smoking in 1972, maybe overdoing the guitar thing a little bit…

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And here’s this!

Nick Cave!

I’m thinking “just out of the shower” but not 100% sure:

I’m also thinking the reason my really cool Tom Petty zippo lighter has not arrived yet is because they sent it to Nick Cave!! (Not 100% sure on that, either, just thinkin’…)

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And that’s it.

I guess I better get moving here and plan on having a great day, come what may!

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!

Something else that reminds me of the old New York…with the old skyline and everything.

“The Critic” is also free now on Tubi!! I loved this show. I’d forgotten all about it! (From 1994-95.) Enjoy, gang.

A happy May Day to one and all!

May 1, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

If you are a long-time reader of this lofty blog, you no doubt recall that, in honor of Elvis’s marriage to Priscilla, Wayne and I also got married on May 1st!! (Elvis’s wedding day, about 25 years earlier.) (And we walked down the aisle to “Hawaiian Wedding Song” from Elvis’s movie, “Blue Hawaii”.)

So here’s this!

33 years ago today! When I was still very much a brunette and Wayne still had all his hair! (The bride & groom decoration on top of the cake was from my maternal adoptive grandparents’ 50th Wedding Anniversary cake in 1977. I still have it.) (The decoration, not the cake.)

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Wow, gang, so yesterday was another incredible day for me.

I discovered that on the Internet Archives, they have now added both the Masquerade Books 1st trade edition and the Blue Moon mass market 1st edition of Neptune & Surf!!

This just thrills me, gang, because now not only can you read Neptune & Surf online for FREE (these are not eBooks, these are the pages of the actual books), my beloved first book will also live on sort of indefinitely for all time.

You can find them HERE.

And FYI, Internet Archives currently has 6 of my books in the archives that you can read for free. Plus a few erotica anthologies that have some of my stories in them.

But this next part almost blew me away even more yesterday — and it can be found at the same link.

It’s a podcast from France, in French –it was uploaded to the Archive July 1, 2017 — where the podcaster discusses the 2nd French edition of Neptune & Surf.

The 2nd edition was titled, Sex In America [<– AmazonUS link] and was published by La Musardine, Paris, in 2011.

Her beautiful forward to the podcast reads:

Sex in America, mon coup de coeur du moment ! Non vraiment, mon seul regret c’est que l’autrice n’ait pas écrit beaucoup car perso, je lis sans hésiter n’importe quel autre de ses ouvrages. Alors pourquoi ce coup de coeur ? L’écriture me plaît, comment la décrire … Je dirais que l’autrice a l’art de vous emmener, de vous immerger dans le monde qu’elle raconte. Oui, car elle raconte des mondes, des époques.

Translation: "Sex in America, my current favorite! No, really—my only regret is that the author hasn’t written very much, because personally, I would read any of her other works without hesitation. So, why did this one capture my heart? I love the writing style—how to describe it? I would say the author possesses a gift for sweeping you away, for immersing you in the world she portrays. Yes, for she tells tales of worlds—of entire eras."

Honestly, it just blew me away. And the podcast has already been streamed in the Archives 7,566 times!!

And it’s been up there for 9 years already. In French, no less!

And I just had absolutely no clue until I found it yesterday, basically by accident.

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Okay.

On a totally different topic.

From James Tabor yeseterday:

“In this video I invite you to join me in an interactive test of when and how AI can go wrong dealing with Historical Research.”

When AI Gets History Wrong (33 mins):

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All righty!!

Here’s this!

A great shot of Roy Orbison in a UK hotel, in 1964!

And here’s this! I love this song! But who doesn’t?? “Only the Lonely”, 1960:

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And I guess since it’s May Day, all my hashtag streams on Instagram updated because there were a ton of photos on there that I hadn’t seen before!!

But first, here’s this!

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A couple of gorgeous shots of Keith!!

By Annie Leibovitz, 1975:

In NY, 1988:

And a photo by Fernando Aceves, 1995:

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And some great ones of Nick Cave, which I’ve actually seen before but they haven’t popped up in my stream in, like, years.

Nick in Paris, April, 1997:

Nick in April, 1992:

And Nick Cave, more recently, but I don’t know the actual year:

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And with that….

I will add before closing and heading to town, I did spend a good amount of time on the short story yesterday. I did not finish it, because now I’m not sure if I want it to be a short story or a novella.

I just don’t know. I don’t think it’s working as a short story.

But I still have a few more days to work with it and maybe make it work as a short story, assuming I can get time to focus on it before the deadline.

I guess we’ll see.

And today, I’m back with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man, but now I have stuff to do that the private nurse used to do: pick up his prescription at the pharmacy, and get his hearing aid batteries, and also locate the office of his primary care physician, which I know is near the hospital but that’s all I know.

If he doesn’t want to run these errands with me and wait in the car (it’s cold today and sort of rainy), I’ll go by myself. If he does want to come with me then we’ll go have sashimi & sake after the errands and behave like our old selves!! We shall see.

Meanwhile, have a great First of May, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

I now have Tom Jones’ fantastic album, Reload, from 1999, in my retro boombox next to my bed!!

So now I regale you with what me and the cats have been digging the heck out of in the mornings while we make the bed!!

“Sexbomb” (with Mousse T.) So much FUN. Enjoy, gang!!

Hoping it’s this kind of day!!!

April 30, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Yes! An unlit Pall Mall (aka “fake Chesterfield”) with it’s filter mercilessly snapped off!!

And me, sitting at my desk!!

It means I’m focused and getting some writing done!!

(Me, not smoking at my desk, back in 2019!!)

You can tell this is an old photo because I don’t have gouges on my chin curtesy of my delightful cat!!

Meanwhile–

I was going to disturb you last night with the following happy update, but I decided to wait until this morning, when you were awake–

1954 Powder Blue Pickup reached #25 in Historical Erotica last night!!

The sale is indeed over today, and so the eBook no longer has “sales rankings”. (Darn it.)

However, I still have access to the sales reports and I want to continue to THANK YOU!! –because it keeps on selling!!!

Yay!!!

She is just being used as a visual emphasis. Not only is she too young to read yet, she’s way too young to read 1954 Powder Blue Pickup! Nevertheless, she’s still really happy because she knows it’s waiting for her in her happy future…

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Okay.

Things continue to be a little strange with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man. His daughter texted me at his house yesterday, letting me know she was not going to be able to call him and will tell him, in person on Sunday, about his nurse being in a coma and near-death.

Meanwhile, we decided that it would be best coming from her, so I haven’t said anything to him. Still, he knows something is off. He knows he hasn’t seen the nurse in a while, that she’s been sick, but that’s about all he can process. He can’t even remember her name now.

I still get the feeling the daughter is planning to put him in a nursing home, but she hasn’t said anything to me about it.

I have sort of released my desire to somehow make everything go differently in this. It’s really the only way I can handle anything and still act like everything is okay when I’m around him.

Taking it the proverbial one day at a time. Just being in the here & now with him. And just being his friend. And when I gave him his little vodka cocktail yesterday, he told me again that he loved me and again, he said, “Thank you for showing me what a wonderful life I’ve had.”

And then he also added: “The spirit is more alive than the physical.”

So I think something’s up, but I have to just let life and/or death happen.

*********

All righty!

I don’t want to tarry here, because I want to finish writing that nearly-finished short story today.

So let’s get to the “here’s this’s”!

Here’s this!!

From the Franz Kafka Museum.

And I have to say that I have read everything he ever wrote, including every collection of letters he wrote that were posthumously published and which are all staggering and amazingly honest. And most of his stories and novels were published by his friends after he died (he was only 40 when he died from tuberculosis, and he was not a well-known writer yet). I just love this man’s beautifully neurotic mind; but the whole idea of anything being “Kafkaesque” did not come into being until long after he died. And we would not have ever known his work if his friends hadn’t stepped in and ignored his wishes at the end.

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And here’s this!

Sun Studios!! The birth place of rock & roll records!!

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And here’s this!!

Some rare finds, indeed!

Keith, smoking while holding a guitar!

From NYC 1975 — only a handful of weeks before I got to see the Rolling Stones onstage in Cleveland for the first time!!

And some other place, some other time (1988)!!

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Okay.

Nick Cave sent out another one of those Red Hand Files yesterday, wherein he answers many readers questions with “irreverent answers”! (I’m guessing he is hard at work on writing those new song lyrics and can’t really spend time right now on lengthy replies!!)

Anyway, this wasn’t necessarily my favorite question, but I identified with the reply a lot!!

Q: “On the song ‘Carnage’, there is a lyric ‘sitting on the balcony reading Flannery O’Connor with a pencil and a plan’, that really resonates with me. Now I am reading Flannery O’Connor. Any more recommendations?”

A: “If you are reading Flannery O’Connor, be sure to read her short story A Good Man is Hard to Find. If you enjoy Flannery O’Connor, read William Faulkner – As I Lay Dying is a great place to begin.”

I adore Flannery O’Connor!! And that short story is a really great one. A couple of years ago, while I was vacuuming, I noticed that on one of my bookshelves, Flannery O’Connor’s short story collection is right next to Nick Cave’s novel And the Ass Saw the Angel!! So I have never moved them apart!!

I also love William Faulkner and have read all his novels — although Sanctuary was sort of an intense one. (Oh, and if you’re new to the blog — back in 2001, my then novel-in-progress, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, was a finalist in the William Faulkner Writing Competition in New Orleans. I was so thrilled by that!!!) Anyway.

Also from this morning:

And here’s this! A song I love!! (mentioned above.) “Carnage” by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, 2021:

Meanwhile–

You can read the above-mentioned Red Hand File in full HERE.

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And now I better scoot and I am so hoping that today remains stress-free, distraction-free, and full of an easy flow of joy and wonder!!

I guess we shall see…

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.

Another — but very, very different — song that I love.

Morgana King, “It’s A Quiet Thing.” 1965. Enjoy, gang.

Back on the Happy Track

April 29, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Well, at least for now, the Agency has added NO ADDITIONAL shifts or hours to my schedule. So it’s looking like they have found other caregivers to help out at my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house.

Today will be, well, I don’t know if “interesting” is the right word. But his daughter will be calling him from Seattle while I’m at his house today, to tell him that his private nurse — the nurse who has been a constant presence in his home since about 2018 and taken such great care of him — is dying and will never be coming back.

I don’t know how he will process it. I really don’t. It might go right over his head, at first. But eventually it will register with him. Ultimately, I know he will say that she’s gone to a better place. But how he will actually feel about it — I just don’t know. We’ll soon find out.

Yesterday was rough for me, but today, at least so far, I’m better. One thing about this job — death is part of it. But this one really came out of left field.

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This morning, gang. Wow. Actual royalties in my checking account from Amazon!

And also!! After having been banned for 5 years, and back on sale for less than a week–1954 Powder Blue Pickup is ranked #41 in Historical Erotica!!!!! Thank you so much, gang. This just makes me so happy.

The eBook is still FREE on Amazon Kindle, with or without Kindle Unlimited. But I think that ends today. I’m actually not sure. But the eBook is HERE.

1954 Powder Blue Pickup is absolutely for Adults Only. Thank you!!!

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Tomorrow is my day off. And once again, I am hoping to complete that short story that still only has about 400 more words to go.

I think back on my life, and up until that scam-demic and the lockdowns, I spent so much time every day, getting my writing done. And now, it’s like whacking my way through an emotionally draining jungle of distractions, just trying to get even an hour to write each day, where my brain and heart are focused.

I come up with weird thoughts, like: Am I not getting enough coffee? You know, I cannot figure out how to get back to my old life. I have so much new writing I want to do. Not just to finish the short story that’s been hanging on forever (which is under a deadline now), but I really, really want to get down to writing the memoir about my life in the 1970s.

To the point where I say to myself, Please, God, don’t let me die before I have a chance to write that book!!

Not to mention, an almost-complete erotic memoir, Girl in the Night: Erotic Love Letters to the Muse, and the half-finished erotic novella, Novitiate ’66. And the not even halfway started non-erotic novel, Down to the Meadows of Sleep. And the almost finished non-erotic flash memoir about my childhood years being raised by a narcissist, In the Shadow of Narcissa. And 3 barely started scripts for streamers that have nothing to do with Sandra. And 2 plays.

All this stuff on my desk.

Anyway. On we go. At least it’s finally getting better!

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

Okay.

Here’s this!!

Keith.

Wow, did this make me smile. I don’t think I need to explain why:

And not-so-smiling, but boy, do I remember Keith in 1978!! Keith had finally kicked heroin after the horrible drug bust in Toronto, in ’77.

Keith in South Salem, NY, 1978:

And here’s Keith looking really seriously sleepy (?) at the Excelsior Hotel in Rome, in 1984:

Just because he quit heroin finally, didn’t mean he quit doing other stuff. I remember when my best friend Valerie in Brooklyn was working for Mica Ertegun in the early 90s and doing some specialized painting in Keith’s house in Connecticut, she used to tell me that he’d go down to his basement recording studio at, like, 8 in the morning, with a glass of Vodka and Orange Crush…. something like that.

Anyway….

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Here’s this!

A wonderful blast from the past!

Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld in 1985!

And from the not so distant past at all!

Nick Cave decides to take John & Yoko’s advice and “Give(s) Peace A Chance”!

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Here’s this, while we’re at it —

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And I think that’s it because I gotta get ready to head to town and see what this day with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man is going to bring.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this, while we’re still at it.

From the Oldies FM Radio Station on the retro boombox next to my bed this morning.

From John & Yoko’s final album together, Double Fantasy. Which was released two days after I arrived in NYC (released November 17, 1980), and I remembered looking at the album cover displayed in the window of a record store in Midtown Manhattan and just feeling so happy to see John Lennon looking so happy (and sounding so happy, finally).

My very first hero, gang. I really was so happy for him.

When I was 11, his massive interview in Rolling Stone Magazine introduced me to a new side of Bob Dylan that I’d never seen, to Brian Jones and the Rolling Stones, helped me see Elvis in a whole new way, and tons of other musicians and types of music.

I loved music. By then, at age 11, I played violin, piano, and guitar. (In fact, music was what made me want to go live in NYC in the first place, back when I was only 7 years old.)

Then Lennon was assassinated a couple of weeks later, on December 8, 1980. Jesus. NYC in the 80s was just so intense.

Anyway. When this came on the radio this morning right as I was getting out of bed, my whole adult life went walking across my brain. (And of course, it only made me want to write about it…)

“Watching the Wheels” from Double Fantasy, 1980. Enjoy, gang.

So this is where THAT’S going

April 28, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 4 Comments

A grey Tuesday morning here in the Hinterlands. It’s supposed to get sunny later. We’ll see.

But my overall mood — I’m really battling an entire brain full of grey rain.

Yesterday afternoon, my wonderful day off came to a screeching halt when I got a phone call from Seattle. It was my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s daughter. She has never called me before — she rarely even texts me. She had awful news — and she was just as shocked by the news as I was.

Her dad’s private nurse — who has been with the family for 6 or 7 years now (she was the private nurse for his 2nd wife when she got ill), and who has had “health problems” for the last week or so, is dying.

As in — in hospice already, in a coma, with only a few days left to live.

I had no clue she had cancer. She’s about 20 years younger than me, and always seemed full of energy and life.

So, not only am I stunned that I will never see or speak to her again, but it also sounds like I’m going to be needed to pick up more responsibilities — time-wise — with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man, and even though he matters so much to me, I am just not prepared to take on anything else. I’ve been aiming all my energy and attention at the writing projects.

We shall see.

I immediately called my supervisor at the Agency yesterday and asked her to please start lining up some additional caregivers for him. But since this is catching us all out of the blue, I might have to pick up some extra hours until the schedules can be arranged. I will find out more later today. But I have been praying, gang, that they find people right away, even though, obviously if they need me, I won’t say no.

The daughter is flying in from Seattle on Sunday, just for 2 days, and she hopes to take her dad to say goodbye to the nurse, if she is still alive by then.

I’m also worried that with the nurse gone now, and since she oversaw his meds, his doctor appointments, his trips to the barber, his lawncare service, etc., there’s even more reasons for the daughter to put him in a nursing home now.

I’m really trying to just sort of ignore everything I’m feeling and just see where everything falls. I think it’s called avoidance, but it’s almost the best I can do right now.

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Meanwhile, before I forget.

A continued thank-you to everyone who is buying 1954 Powder Blue Pickup.

After all these years of watching it sort of float out there in limbo, it really makes me feel so happy to see people have access to it again.

If you missed my post yesterday, I believe the eBook edition is free to download all this week, with or without Kindle Unlimited.

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That’s really kind of it for my brain right now, so here are few “here’s this’s”.

The beautiful Charlie Watts at Villa Nellcote in 1971, during the recording of an album that certainly changed my 12-year-old life forever: Exile On Main St.

And I’m not kidding you when I say that I actually have the very same creamer that’s on the table there. It’s by Johnson Brothers/Wedgewood Group. Back then, the dishes were made in England. (I have the whole set, service for 8.) (I’m a dish-a-holic, if you’re new to the blog. I live alone and yet have more fine china than you can possibly imagine.)

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A very early shot of Keith! 1963:

And then a few years later… he switched out wearing the watch for a pair of handcuffs:

And here’s Keith with Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar, the greatest reggae rhythm duo that ever lived:

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Oh!

Here’s Cuddles McGee this morning, looking out the bedroom window:

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And some more wonderful old photos of Nick Cave.

A multi-patterned Nick in London, 1989:

I don’t know where or when or photo-by-whom, but I love this:

And this one is by Mike Owen:

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And that’s it for now.

My best friend Valerie in Brooklyn and I had a great phone chat yesterday — before the call from Seattle came in.

We are aiming to start the mini-podcast of “Marilyn’s Room” in mid-May. And we’re hoping to have 2 if not 3 episodes out there before I leave for NYC in mid-June. We might even try to do a mini-podcast from my hotel room in NYC, or someplace where we can be in the same room together while we tape it.

That’s the plan, anyway. (And wow, did she tell me a really fun story from the early 80s that she’d never told me about!!! It involved Debbie Harry!!)

So even though I’ve known Val since 1983, there are still great stories for me to hear, too!

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Okay.

I gotta put on my “I’m happy and here to help you” face and scoot to town to see my clients for today.

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world, gang.

Thanks for visiting. (And for buying my books. It means so much to me.)

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

The awesome Debbie Harry, onstage with Blondie — 1978!

“One Way or Another”. Enjoy, gang.

Brain Starting to Function!!

April 27, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I’ve been having a really nice morning out here in the Hinterlands, and now my brain is actually putting in an appearance, too!

So it should be a nice day-off.

Yay!

Before I forget — it looks like the eBook edition of 1954 Powder Blue Pickup is totally FREE to download this week, with or without Kindle Unlimited. The link is HERE.

And that said — a continued thank you to all of you who have continued to purchase the book!! I just appreciate it so much.

I was actually glancing through the book last night for the first time in a few years, and I just want to say that I don’t remember writing all that filthy dirty stuff!!!

Actually, I do remember.

I remember every moment of it because the Muse was in high gear throughout the writing of that book. (I originally wrote it for Black Lotus Books, and they designed the cover, which I love. But the company soon closed down when they couldn’t get a distributor.)

Anyway, whenever I’m working on a novel, I always have an unlit, unfiltered cigarette in my mouth — usually a Pall Mall, because they are the closest thing to a Chesterfield that is still in circulation.

I haven’t smoked a lit cigarette in about 16 years. Luckily, I never had a real smoking habit. I was what was called a “social smoker” — I smoked when cocktails or wine were lurking about.

Anyway, I remember NOT smoking an entire pack of unfiltered Pall Malls while writing 1954 Powder Blue Pickup (whenever a cigarette got too soggy, I tossed it out) and I remember the Muse being a sort of palpable presence throughout that book. Which is the very best feeling when you’re trying to write something under a deadline.

All these years later, though — skimming through it last night. Man. Non-stop sexual shenanigans!!

ME (thinking): “Christ! Did I really go there??”

Yes, I really did.

What’s in those Pall Malls?!

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Okay!

Since it’s my day-off, I’ve got a load of laundry going. And at some point, I need to walk over to the dollar store and buy a can of coffee.

I usually buy hoity-toity fairtrade coffee from somewhere in Central America that “is characterized by balanced acidity, distinct tasting notes (chocolate, nutty, fruit), and a clean finish”, etc., etc.

But I ran out this morning. I guess my brain was elsewhere when I did the grocery shopping in town on Friday. And I absolutely need my coffee in the mornings, so I’m not going to get picky. (The dollar store actually has an interesting brand of coffee from Vietnam. It tastes, well, interesting.)

Other than that, despite living in a veritable cat sanctuary these days, I am hoping to have a totally relaxing day. And I really hope it includes finally completing that short story that STILL only needs about 400 more words… we shall see.

Not me! Since this gal appears to be smoking a lit pencil…

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This just in!!

Ronnie Wood has added a show in Barcelona on Saturday, September 12th! Buy tickets HERE!

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And this also just in!

“The Original Series Soundtrack for Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis is out now on digital and streaming services.”

You can LISTEN NOW!

I have already added it to my library on Amazon Music, but haven’t listened yet.

Even though the series is streaming now on Netflix, when I read stuff like this:

“We loved working on this adaptation – Harry Hole’s murky, morally complex world has been brought to life in all its darkly brutal glory, and it was an honour to work with the legendary Jo Nesbø.“ – Nick Cave

Methinks that I will likely be skipping the series itself. Just gonna listen to the music part.

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Which sort of reminds me — I’m really loving the Czech documentary about Libuse Jarcovjakova on Metrograph, “I’m Not Everything I Want To Be” (2024):

“In Soviet-occupied Prague, a young female photographer embraces wild nights of rebellion, desire, and resistance to conformity. Through thousands of her raw and candid photographs and personal diaries, I’M NOT EVERYTHING I WANT TO BE traces her twenty-year quest for freedom and self-acceptance.”

I started watching it last night, but since it’s all in subtitles, my eyes kinda wore out, but I’m hoping to finish it tonight.

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And meanwhile–

Here’s this!!

A lovely photo of George Harrison, almost smiling in Los Angeles:

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And a few of Keith!!

Keith, with a guitar, smoking. I don’t know where or when:

Keith, with a guitar, not smoking, I don’t know where or when, but it probably only lasted a minute — the not-smoking part, I mean:

And Keith, not smoking with his dog, his Bentley, probably London, probably 1966, etc.:

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And last but certainly in no way least!!!

Nick Cave!! Smoking and multi-tasking onstage in Melbourne, 1990!!

And here’s this ~~upbeat little ditty~~. Excuse me, here’s the above-mentioned song!

“The Carny”

And no-one saw the carny go
And the weeks flew by
Until they moved on the show
Leaving his caravan behind
It was parked out on the south east ridge
And as the company crossed the bridge
With the first rain filling the bone-dry river bed
It shone, just so, upon the edge
Away, away, we’re sad, they said

Dog-boy, atlas, half-man, the geeks, the hired hands
There was not one among them that did not cast an eye behind
In the hope that the carny would return to his own kind
And the carny had a horse, all skin and bone
A bow-backed nag, that he named “Sorrow”
Now it is buried in a shallow grave
In the then parched meadow

And the dwarves were given the task of digging the ditch
And laying the nag’s carcass in the ground
And boss Bellini, waving his smoking pistol around
Saying, “The nag is dead meat”
“We can’t afford to carry dead weight”
The whole company standing about
Not making a sound
And turning to dwarves perched on the enclosure gate
The boss says “Bury this lump of crow bait”

And then the rain came hammering down
Everybody running for their wagons
Tying all the canvas flaps down
The mangy cats growling in their cages
The bird-girl flapping and squawking around
The whole valley reeking of wet beast
Wet beast and rotten hay
Freak and brute creation
Packed up and on their way

The three dwarves peering from their wagon’s hind
Moses says to Noah “We shoulda dugga deepa one”
Their grizzled faces like dying moons
Still dirty from the digging done
And Charlie, the eldest of the three, said
“I guess the carny ain’t gonna show”
And they were silent for a spell
Wishing they’d done a better job of burying Sorrow

And as the company passed from the valley
Into higher ground
The rain beat on the ridge and on the meadow
And on the mound
Until nothing was left, nothing at all
Except the body of Sorrow
That rose in time
To float upon the surface of the eaten soil

And a murder of crows did circle round
First one, then the others flapping blackly down
And the carny’s van still sat upon the edge
Tilting slowly as the firm ground turned to sludge
And the rain it hammered down
And no-one saw the carny go I say it’s funny how things go

c – 1986 – Nick Cave

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And I believe that is it!

Have a great Monday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

I leave you with this!

Late-night listening music!!

I just love this song, gang.

From Tom Petty’s first solo album, Full Moon Fever — which recently turned 37 years old!!

“A Face in the Crowd,” 1989. The original official video. Enjoy, gang.

“A Face In The Crowd”

Before all of this ever went down
In another place, another town

You were just a face in the crowd
You were just a face in the crowd
Out in the street, walking around
A face in the crowd

Out of a dream, out of the sky
Into my heart, into my life

And you were just a face in the crowd
You were just a face in the crowd
Out in the street, thinking out loud
A face in the crowd

Out of a dream, out of the sky
Into my heart, into my life

And you were just a face in the crowd
You were just a face in the crowd
Out in the street, walking around
A face in the crowd

A face in the crowd
A face in the crowd
A face in the crowd

c – 1989 Tom Petty

I wish Sunday morning went on all day!!

April 26, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

It’s not raining here, but it’s really grey and cool, and since it’s Sunday, it makes me feel like just being lazy all day.

Here were some of us being lazy about an hour ago — Freddie and Calico snuggling against my legs, on the bed; Cuddles McGee on the corner of my desk:

And here’s a couple of the things we were listening to while I had my coffee (in bed):

These hymns startled the cats because usually they prefer rock & roll…. so I switched back over to rock & roll!

Anyway.

The lawncare guy has already been here and my lawn looks great!! (He got here at 8:15AM. I’m curious if my neighbors appreciated that…)

And my Sunday shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat starts earlier now, so I don’t really have time to just hang out and do nothing…

So I’m up, and dressed (after being awake for 5 hours) and now here I am.

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If you saw my post from late yesterday afternoon, you know that yesterday was a really great day.

My trip to NYC is set. And my books are selling on Amazon!!

Plus, my shift with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man was just terrific. About 5 minutes after I got there yesterday, he was up and dressed — had his wooden leg on, his hearing aides in, his glasses on, his teeth in and he had even made his bed. He was still beaming and just so happy from our trip to the golf course on Friday. He made his way into the kitchen and said: ‘Thank you so much for that beautiful trip yesterday!”

He brought it up many times during my shift. It had made him so happy.

I find it so interesting, how he can remember our trips there so well, when he has almost no short term memory. Clearly, when he’s completely engaged in something, his mind connects. (He always remembers when we go out for sashimi & sake, too. And he remembers that I get off the freeway whenever possible and take the backroads, which are so beautiful. He always says: “You are the only one who takes me on this road. I love this road.” I love it, too.)

Anyway. We had another really great afternoon yesterday, just hanging out and chatting in his living room. He was thoroughly engaged.

Several times during the afternoon, he sang me the chorus of “You Are My Sunshine.” (So, yes — the thought of this man stuck a nursing home with no visitors, just waiting to die, breaks my heart. I have not heard anything more from his daughter, but she communicates through the private nurse, who has been really sick this past week.)

Obviously, I’m hoping his daughter will change her mind. But if he does get put away, I can’t imagine not visiting him all the time. And where I would find the time to do that, who knows…

Some neighbors are taking him to a guitar concert tonight in Granville. His neighbors all adore him, too. He is going to love that concert.

Just some random Japanese guy, 72 years ago…

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Since I get home earlier now on Sundays, this evening I’m planning on watching this on Metrograph:

I’m Not Everything I Want to Be (Directed by Klára Tasovská, 90- mins, 2024):

“Oft referred to as the Nan Goldin of Czechoslovakia, Libuše Jarcovjáková chronicled after-dark Prague in the 1970s and ’80s, her photographs of let-it-all-hang-out gay clubs, factory hands working the third shift, and clandestine parties giving a picture of communist-era Czechoslovakia very different from the official one. Klára Tasovská’s candid and compelling documentary provides Jarcovjáková with a platform to tell her story: that of one woman’s tireless search for liberation in an era of state repression.”

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And a slight, though none-the-less cryptic update regarding the streamer channel, BET+, closing down in June — a few of their shows have moved over to Paramount+, and Sandra will be shooting another episode of “The Miss Pat Show” with them in late June — and having a “discussion” with a couple of the producers who have seen our TV proposal and who also moved over to Paramount+….

So I’m extremely, well, interested.

However, this also means that when I’m in NYC in mid-June, I will be able to focus on just hangin’ out in NYC and seeing old friends (we’ll be working on the play later in the summer):

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Okay!

Here’s this!

A triple-play!! And of course, it’s from Phyllis Stein!

Patti, Bob –and Keith!! At the Bitter End in Greenwich Village, 1975!! (And I played on that same stage in the early 1980s, gang. What a history that stage had!! It was so cool.)

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This next one was very long but very informative and had a few photos. But here is the main gist:

Gram Parsons at Harvard in 1965:

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Which, of course, leads to Keith!

I liked these photos because they were just sort of a little strange — Keith, staring at something:

And Keith and Mick backstage in 1972 — on the phone??

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And I loved these!

Two photos of Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld in Japan in November, 1985. Photos by Midori Tsukagoshi:

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And I believe that is it for now!

I’m going to do a little yoga and then get ready for my drive to town!

Have a great Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

This is what the cats insisted on listening to after the Sunday-hymn-singing was over!!

A few great ones by The Kinks!

I have narrowed it down to the 2 that they seemed to like best!! (And it turned out they were also long-time favorites of mine!)

From 1981, “Better Things,” from the album, Give the People What They Want:

“Better Things”

Here’s wishing you the bluest sky
And hoping something better comes tomorrow
Hoping all the verses rhyme
And the very best of choruses to
Follow all the doubt and sadness
I know that better things are on the way

Here’s hoping all the days ahead
Won’t be as bitter as the ones behind you
Be an optimist instead
And somehow happiness will find you
Forget what happened yesterday
I know that better things are on the way

It’s really good to see you rocking out and having fun
Living like you just begun
Accept your life and what it brings
I hope tomorrow you’ll find better things
I know tomorrow you’ll find better things

I know you’ve got a lot of good things happening up ahead
The past is gone, it’s all been said
So here’s to what the future brings
I know tomorrow you’ll find better things
I know tomorrow you’ll find better things
I hope tomorrow you’ll find better things
I know tomorrow you’ll find better things

c – 1981 – Ray Davies

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And from 1983, “Come Dancing,” from the album, State of Confusion. Enjoy, gang!!

“Come Dancing”

They put a parking lot on a piece of land
Where the supermarket used to stand
Before that they put up a bowling alley
On the site that used to be the local Palais
That’s where the big bands used to come and play
My sister went there on a Saturday

Come dancing
All her boyfriends used to come and call
Why not come dancing?
It’s only natural

Another Saturday, another date
She would be ready but she’s always make them wait
In the hallway in anticipation
He didn’t know the night would end up in frustration
He’d end up blowing all his wages for the week
All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek

Come dancing
That’s how they did it when I was just a kid
And when they said come dancing
My sister always did

My sister should have come in at midnight
And my mum would always sit up and wait
It always ended up in a big row
When my sister used to get home late

Out of my window I can see them in the moonlight
Two silhouettes saying goodnight by the garden gate

The day they knocked down the Palais
My sister stood and cried
The day they knocked down the Palais
Part of my childhood died, just died

Now I’m grown up and playing in a band
And there’s a car park where the Palais used to stand
My sister’s married and she lives on an estate
Her daughters go out, now it’s her turn to wait
She knows they get away with things she never could
But if I asked her I wonder if she would

Come dancing
Come on, sister, have yourself a ball
Don’t be afraid to come dancing
It’s only natural

Come dancing
Just like the Palais on a Saturday
And all her friends will come dancing
Where the big bands used to play

c – 1983 – Ray Davies

Happy update!

April 25, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I just got a better deal on the same hotel in NYC (in Ye Olde Hell’s Kitchen) and I’m saving almost $400!!

My hotel is booked. My flight is booked. And the Agency confirmed my days off.

So — YAY!

And a big fat THANK YOU to everyone who purchased 1954 Powder Blue Pickup today!! I really, really love you guys!!

A sort of perfect Saturday in the Hinterlands!

April 25, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Except that, of course, I’m exhausted today. But it’s all good stuff.

I ended up driving about 110 miles, total, yesterday because my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and I did indeed go to the clubhouse at the golf course for lunch!

It was spectacular! But it always involves a ton of driving for me. Plus, I decided to go get groceries after my shift.

So I think that’s part of why I’m exhausted this morning. (For some reason, even though the golf course is only about 6 minutes from my house, I never go there from here. I’m always driving there from 30 miles away.)

Anyway!

It was a success! A truly gorgeous spring day and so the scenery outside the clubhouse windows was just so green and beautiful for miles and miles. And the sky was a perfect blue.

And when the waitress set the vodka martini in front of him — straight up with olives in a lovely martini glass — his whole face lit up. And the food there is always really, really good.

He was just so happy. Plus his energy, overall, was just really vibrant yesterday. We really had the best time.

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Okay!!!

So, day 2 (!!) and both editions of 1954 Powder Blue Pickup remain for sale on Amazon!!

So this could be real, gang.

Although when it got re-published, it lost it’s 5-star review from the first edition (that they banned 5 years ago). So if you have already read 1954 Powder Blue Pickup and want to review it, I would really appreciate it. (You can always just hit the “stars” review button, if you don’t want to use your name while publicly reviewing a hardcore sex book…) (Just sayin’…) The book is here.

Meanwhile!!

The eBook edition of The Curse of Our Profound Disorder is now available for pre-sale!! $7.00 (This will not be part of Kindle Unlimited.)

And a huge thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered it!

When I got my advance review copies, I sent a copy of it to a guy I know in NYC who had requested a copy last month. He has probably read everything I ever wrote over the years and often reviewed it.

He texted last night that he has read through Chapter 2 so far and is enjoying it.

So, yay!

This means that now an additional 3 people are reading the book…

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All righty.

Some quick “here’s this’s” for today because I gotta drive 30 more miles here soon and see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man again!

Another photo from the recent 60th Anniversary Sip-In, at Julius’s Bar in NYC the other night!

This photo is specifically staged to copy the first sip-in, back in 1966. (If you’re new to the blog, it used to be illegal to serve alcohol to suspected gays & lesbians in NYC, and the first sip-in at Julius’s Bar was the first public protest that eventually led to big changes for the rights of the LGBTQ community.)

The man at the far right actually participated in the first sip-in and was sitting in that same spot.

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And here’s this!

Apparently yesterday was the 37th anniversary of the release of Full Moon Fever!! Tom Petty’s first solo album.

And here’s this, while we’re at it. From Full Moon Fever, Tom’s fantastic cover of The Byrds’ hit, “Feel A Whole Lot Better” !!

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And here’s this!

A great photo of Keith. I have no clue where he’s at here, but gambling seems to be involved (my money is on him!!):

And here’s Keith at the recording session for the Stones’ song “She’s A Rainbow” at the Olympic recording studios in London, 1967:

And, yes! Here’s this! From Their Satanic Majesties Request album, 1967, “She’s A Rainbow”:

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The history of this next photo — according to the Instagram post, it maybe had something to do with honoring his legendary “suck my dick” comment and a girl said “I would!”(!) (I was not “the girl” btw, and whether or not “I would”, is a private thing that I probably wouldn’t post on a blog…)

And if you want to re-live his legendary comment, you can purchase these stickers from Cave Things and stick them everywhere!! ($21 plus shipping)

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And here’s this!

More from Johnny Depp and his duet with Imelda May on the upcoming tribute album to Shane MacGowan (you can pre-order the album here):

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And that is it!!

I seriously gotta scoot!

Have a super Saturday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

**********

Let’s leave with this!!!

From my retro boombox next to my bed this morning!!

From 1995!!

That wonderfully addicting hit from Musical Youth, “Pass the Dutchie”. Enjoy, gang!!

A very happy Friday!

April 24, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Okay, so–

It has happened.

As of now — 1954 Powder Blue Pickup has been published on Amazon Kindle, in eBook and in print!

The eBook is available now — $2.99 (free if you are in Kindle Unlimited).

And the print book is now available here!!! ($8.95) Yay!!

“A young man with a pickup truck in 1950s America, navigates the strict sexual morals of the era by introducing a pretty, unmarried virgin to the true joys of “backdoor” sex — how it can save her virginity for her wedding night so that no one will ever be the wiser. The two agree to embark on an affair of unbridled licentious behavior with no strings attached, in the privacy of his pickup truck out on the edge of town. However, neither of them is prepared for just how well suited they are to each other’s carnal appetites, as the young woman is introduced to more and more sexual surprises, until they are each forced to admit that they’ve crossed over a line they can’t come back from without each other.“

It is a love story, but it is absolutely hardcore and absolutely for ADULTS ONLY. (“Thank you for your attention to this matter!” — DJT)

(“Wow, Jane, this is the best book you ever wrote!” — my seriously open-minded 94-year-old uncle in Virginia.) (It’s a long story, but my uncle’s nickname for me is “Jane Galloway.”)

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I am just so thrilled, gang. And I’m still sort of holding my breath, because we’ve gotten this far before…

But so far, so good. And it only took me about an hour and a half, yesterday, to get both editions back up there.

I still had plenty of time to take that walk yesterday — it was unbelievably gorgeous outside.

And I did yoga. And I vacuumed the whole house. All the windows were open, so the air just felt so great in here. Like, I could actually breathe. Yay!

And I officially put in my request at the Agency yesterday for time off in June to go to NYC for the Lammy Awards.

As of right now, I will be staying in a hotel west of Times Square, in my old OLD neighborhood — in Hell’s Kitchen, between 9th & 10th Avenues.

I lived in that area briefly when I was 20 years old, from February 1981 until I married Chong, in April 1981, and then moved with him to 8th Ave and W. 45th Street and my whole life turned around .

I don’t have the best memories from that Hell’s Kitchen apartment, or of the guy I lived with there.

In fact, below is the song I wrote later in 1981, about that brief and intense time in my life!

However, the song was very popular when I finally started performing in the folk clubs in the West Village, a couple months later. (Photo below is of me in the E. 12th Street apartment, a few years later.)

My song, “Breaking Glass” — as it appeared on vinyl in 1982!! Still available on Folkways Records!!

“Breaking Glass”

I was doomed to live in New York City
On a block where accidental babies
Went out with the trash;
We shared a two-room apartment,
Tiny and cold
To the tune of a love, by winter,
Growing old
And the sound of an angry young woman
Breaking glass.

I recall our lives were never empty
There were tears enough for the third who entered
And beckoned your past;
The hours you kept were deceitful
And it had to show
The passion of time she burned
I couldn’t control;
I was trapped in my raging fury
And breaking glass.

CHORUS
There’s no telling how the coming of love
Will find us
There’s no guessing in what way
It’s gonna set us free
There’s no doubting that the anger of love
Can break us
When our actions don’t even come close
To the people we wanna be most
And our dreams don’t work out as the glories
They’d promised to be.

Without excuses I left the table
Well, I ran like hell while I was still able
I started anew;
I’ve lost some weight and I’m strong 
And happy now
I got over the fiery anger, though
I don’t know how;
The songs we knew, they don’t drive me crazy
Well, I stopped the drinking and being lazy
It’s over at last;
The painful sheer rejection has 
All gone past;
The tunes of deceit and loneliness
Fading fast;
Gone are the days of anger
And breaking glass.

CHORUS
 There’s no telling how the coming of love
Will find us
There’s no guessing in what way
It’s gonna set us free
There’s no doubting that the anger of love
Can break us
When our actions don’t even come close
To the people we wanna be most
And our dreams don’t work out as the glories
They’d promised to be.

c- 1981 Marilyn Jaye Lewis
First of May Songs, BMI

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Anyway. I digress. It will be interesting being back in the old neighborhood — in a hotel, no less. It’s a lot nicer there now than it was 45 years ago. (Unless of course, I end up staying with Sandra on the Upper West Side, then all of what I’ve just said, changes…)

Okay!

Here’s this!!

I have never seen these photos of Keith before and I just love them!!

Photographer is Jean Marie Mazeau. Not sure, but maybe 1966?

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And here’s this!

Two photos of Nick Cave that I don’t think I’ve seen before, either!

Nick, waiting on a phone call from the distant past??

And Nick, reading from his upcoming novel And the Ass Saw the Angel, in Melbourne, in 1988 (?) (I absolutely loved that novel!):

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And this just in!

Official lyric video of ‘Haunted’ performed by Johnny Depp & Imelda May. Written by Shane MacGowan. From the upcoming “20th Century Paddy – The Songs of Shane MacGowan”. (Pre-order here.)

Johnny Depp & Imelda May – Haunted (Official Lyric Video):

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Okay!!

You know, I forgot to mention that back on April 17th, my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and I were not able to go to the clubhouse at the golf course that has those fantastic views! (There was a health problem with his private nurse last week, so things got screwy for a few days.)

However!! Assuming he is up to it when I get there–

We are indeed going today!! And the weather is perfect once again!! So here’s hoping that in a few hours, he’ll be having his vodka martini while sitting next to one of these windows!! (I don’ t know where I’ll be, but my guess is that I’ll be sitting right next to him!! Minus the martini!!)