And it’s supposed to last all day.

But you know what?

On my way home yesterday, I got all my flowers for the summer! It was sort of on impulse, since I was driving past the place where I usually buy all my flowers and I’d gotten off my shift a little bit early.

So I stopped in and they still had tons of healthy flowers, even after the Memorial Day weekend sale, which I’d missed. So I got everything I needed and now it’s all sitting out on my porch.

Tomorrow is my day off, and it’s supposed to be really pretty all day tomorrow. So! I might actually have my whole yard ready to go by tomorrow afternoon!

I’m really, really happy about all this. And so I don’t care that it’s still raining…

Plus, today — I’m only working for about 2 hours, because my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s daughter is taking him for a medical appointment in Columbus.

So I’m going to be taking a trip down Memory Lane!

Online, over the weekend, I bought some very much needed new bed pillows at Kohl’s.

I used to shop at Kohl’s all the time. I loved that store. But I haven’t been there in years — I usually just order stuff online from there and have it shipped to me. But since I’ve become so incredibly bored with how repetitive my life has become lately, I decided to go to the store and pick up my package instead! Wow!

This is about 30 miles from me, but not too far from my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house! So I’m gonna go there today and have a nostalgic stroll around Kohl’s! Be sort of like the shopper I used to be, before I ordered 99.9% of everything online!

And since it’s grocery-shopping day anyway, I’m going to the Aldi’s around the corner from Kohl’s, instead of to my usual Aldi’s.

This other Aldi’s by Kohl’s was the one I used to shop at all the time, when I lived in the rental house in town, before I bought This Old House, out in the middle of nowhere.

I have not been to the old Aldi’s since the lockdowns. It will be very interesting to see how it feels in there now:

Even though these are 2 really simple things, it adds up to not only a huge change of pace for me — instead of just driving to & from client after client after client — but I’m also really curious to see what kind of memories will spring up. My life was so different back when I shopped at those 2 stores all the time.

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Okay, so last night was a little weird.

At 2AM my time — I was sound asleep — my iPhone on my night table rang and it was Wayne!! WhatsApp-ing me from Vietnam!!

WTF!?

Right away, I was alarmed. I answered it, but his voice was all garbled. I could not make out what he was saying.

If he wasn’t in Vietnam while he was calling me, I wouldn’t have felt quite so alarmed. I’m thinking: Oh no, he’s in some kind of terrible trouble! Something really bad has happened!

But he kept on talking, not realizing that I couldn’t understand him. So I disconnected the call and texted him on WhatsApp to let him know I could not understand what he was saying.

HE (texting back): “Oh, sorry. I’m just sending you some photos. I must have hit the call button by mistake.”

So he was really just strolling around Saigon with his brother , having a fun day, not realizing that I’m hanging out with them on the phone… at 2 in the morning, in a panic.

Anyway!

Wayne sent over these photos at 2:01AM —

About this one, Wayne said: “He’s everywhere!!”

And here are some little friends Wayne made in the park:

And a not-so-little friend his brother made in the park, as well! (Wayne added that he was not jealous at all, since he had his own friends…) (Wayne’s brother below.)

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All righty!! Time for another one of these!

Happy Birthday, Stevie Nicks!!

And here’s this fantastic duet , while we’re at it! I was just listening to it at breakfast this morning!! “Insider,” from Hard Promises, 1981. Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks — & the Heartbreakers:

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Here’s that photo of Keith from his pinup calendar that year!! (Whenever it was…)

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Here’s Steve Vai, in flames!!

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Tom, George, Gary, and BB, at the Hard Rock Cafe in NYC!! (They invited me to drop in but I was busy that day…)

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And here are a few photos of Nick Cave with interesting hair!!!

If you want to see what his hair is going to do next–

Buy tickets HERE and go see him this summer!!

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Okay, I gotta scoot and get this Brand New Day underway!!

Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world (even if you’re just going shopping!!)!!

Thanks for visiting, gang.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Sorry to keep doing this to you, but–

Some very PRIME making-the-bed music, from the Oldies FM Radio Station on the bedside retro boombox this morning!!!

Tears For Fears, “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”!!! Yes!! 1985!!! Sing along and enjoy, gang. We sure did!!

It’s not raining.

It’s not totally cloudy.

No wind.

Not too hot.

But really high humidity, so the AC is back on!

And the laundry is already underway.

And around noon, Rasha’s mom and her baby — and (!!) her baby’s daddy are stopping over to meet the cats and see the house… (Rasha is the cat I’m currently cat sitting until her mom can get her own apartment again.)

I think that’s too cool. That there might actually be some frisky young people around here while I’m in NYC. (God knows, this house hasn’t seen anything like that since before the scamdemic….)

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After the meet & greet and house tour, I’m planning to get more work done on those Caiaphas notes today, including a general outline for the play.

Honestly, I’m really hoping to have a good day here. I just feel so different from how I felt yesterday. The depression has lifted. And I feel really rested, too.

I had a really enjoyable time with the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat yesterday, too, so that also helped pull me out of the doldrums.

Oh!

And the cell salts (also called “tissue salts” if you live in the UK) are really making some great progress with my eyes, so that is making me happy, too. (I’m taking #1, #3, #10 & #12.) (And an added bonus is that they’re also helping tame that free-floating anxiety stuff that was getting off the charts around here.)

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Wow, so Wayne’s WhatsApp texts today were incredibel. (Almost as incredible as how the word “incredible” is actually spelled!)

He took a “Tunnel Tour” over there in Vietnam!

The tunnels are leftover from the war and you can actually go down inside them — if you can fit and aren’t totally claustrophobic.

But first–

Wayne, in Vietnam earlier today, doing what the Lewis boys do best!!

And here are some photos from outside the tunnel. About the insides of the tunnels, Wayne said:

“Mind-shattering. Took me 2-3 minutes to duck walk 20 yards. The tunnels are only about 1-meter high. They were dug by hand at night. Different levels, hospital rooms, kitchens, mess halls, attack bunkers up top, bamboo ventilation tubes to lower levels.”

An exposed cross-section of a tunnel:

The 5’7″-tall guide in the entrance to the tunnel. The slash on the tree marked the tunnels entrance:

A ventilation tube hidden in a termite mound:

Wayne added, “God bless Don for what he must have endured.” (Don was my birth dad who was a Navy SEAL throughout the entire Vietnam War. )

Wayne went off to have dinner but he said he will tell me more details about the tunnels later.

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Okay!

Yesterday was apparently Waddy Wachtel‘s birthday, too! He turned 79!!

Birthday wishes to him from Keith yesterday:

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And here’s this!!

Some solid proof, if you ask me, that Johnny Depp was also heavily influenced by my 12-year-old Jewish girlfriend, Karen!!

(See previous posts recently about how Karen introduced me to Jack Daniels and smoking when we were 12…)

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And, no, I haven’t had time to continue my scroll-through of the Kylie documentary on Netflix yet. (I’m pretty sure I will fast-forward through all the parts with Michael Hutchins because anything to do with him anymore makes me so sad.)

Mostly, I am looking for all the parts with Nick Cave.

And someone posted this lovely photo to Instagram last night, regarding having watched the Netflix doc. (I think that Nick and Kylie really adore each other so much — even now. They always look so freaking happy in photos together.)

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And I’m thinking that is it for today. Gonna get this day started here.

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world (and if it’s SUNNY where you are, enjoy your Memorial Day!!).

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!

From 7 years ago!

11 seconds!

Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave hug on All Points East stage! Enjoy, gang!!

We shall soon see, gang.

When I was with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man on Wednesday, his daughter (who is visiting again from Seattle) said there might be some people coming to clean her dad’s home today and if they are there, she wants me to take him out to lunch.

She knows how much housecleaning agitates him.

So, even though it’s sort of cold and rainy again today, it will still be delightful to take him out for lunch!!

And if so, then of course you know where we’ll be!!

And then this evening, I will be meeting a brand new client for the first time. I will be with him every Friday evening for the rest of the summer.

He lives on a farm way out in the hills, here in Muskingum County, so I’m looking forward to everything being totally NEW for a change.

We’ll see how it goes.

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Okay!

From WhatsApp yesterday–

A sunset cruise on Katherine Gorge, in Australia! (I’m guessing that Wayne and one of his brothers have landed in Vietnam by now, but no word yet.)

Wayne — taking the photo while sitting across from his 2 brothers, and sitting next to his sister-in-law’s arm:

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Another announcement from Johnny Depp’s production company!

Johnny’s new supermarket thriller — excuse me — SUPERNATURAL thriller with Penelope Cruz has a release date!

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Yesterday was Stan Lynch’s birthday! (He was the original drummer for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.)

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Speaking of original drummers–

A beautiful photo of Keith & Charlie Watts! Not smoking, but still happy!

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From Phyllis Stein!!

Johnny Thunders and Stiv Bators , in London, 1985, working on Johnny’s album, Que Sera Sera.

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I don’t know if you guys remember Phoebe Legere, but, wow, was she popular in NYC clubs back then.

The only song of hers that I actually remember is, of course, her song, “Marilyn”! I used to hear it everywhere back then.

In fact, a music producer that I worked with in NYC at that time, also produced Phoebe and was very good friends with her.

I wasn’t crazy about the sound he got for me, though. The only reason that I still listen to the demo below (which he produced) is because Wayne really liked it (and still likes it). It’s a song for a young woman who committed suicide — “Deep Into Frost” (1988):

"Deep Into Frost"

Here is a sound that I know
That cry in the fire is the rose
She tore off her petals and flew
At the blaze that would
Rage at her…

Here is a silence I know
It is frost creeping deep into snow
It clung to her petals like fears
That did quietly keep at her
Haunt her and lead us
To tears

CHORUS
His is the face we might turn to
To gather us in from this darkness
Hers was a garden of silence
Whose blooms turned to ashes
Petals to dust
A rose shaken deep into frost

Now, here is a sound I have heard
An echo of joy undisturbed
In the shadow of peace that abides
By the light that will
Linger here…

Here is a silence we know
It is frost creeping deep into snow
The rose tangled deep in her thorns
Ceases to weep
And surrenders to sleep evermore

CHORUS
His is the face we might turn to
To gather us in from this darkness
Hers was a garden of silence
Whose blooms turned to ashes
Petals to dust
A rose shaken deep into frost

© – 1988 Marilyn Jaye Lewis
First of May Songs, BMI

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I’m part-way through the “Kylie” documentary on Netflix, but since I don’t really know any of Kylie Minogue’s music, I find I am fast-forwarding through it, looking for that part of her career when she was with Nick Cave!!

I haven’t found it yet.

However!

From my desktop stash!

Conway Savage lighting up Nick Cave!

And Nick Cave’s desk!! (About ten years ago maybe??) (I can’t remember if this was his actual office that was in the “20,000 Days On Earth” film, or his office, recreated in an art exhibit…)

And don’t forget!!

This gets underway in just a couple of weeks!!

Buy tickets HERE!

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And that is it for today.

A few days ago, I began a tissue salt protocol (minerals) to help with some problems I’m having with my eyes.

Boy do they make me relaxed… I am definitely not used to being relaxed, gang. But I am already noticing improvement in my eyes. I will keep you posted!!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!

A nanosecond of advice from Tom Petty! (Does it matter what he’s talking about?? I don’t think so. It’s still good advice!) (FYI: he’s talking about the Earth…)

I actually wasn’t planning to post today because, at noon, Valerie and I were going to do our first test run of the mini-podcast and I was planning to go over the Substack recording studio thingie this morning, and get my bearings with that again.

But I ended up doing that part last night, and it does look extremely easy — except that there is no editing feature within the program. You have to use a desktop editor for any of that.

Anyway, I hope I never have to edit anything because I don’t feel like re-learning my desktop-video-editing thingie… (That’s the spirit!! Yay!)

I imagine that at some point, I will be in a peppy-er frame of mind and will be pleased as punch to re-learn the desktop-video-editing thingie.

Anyway.

Valerie, alas, is sick today and stuck in bed. So we have to postpone.

Since I wasn’t planning on posting here this morning, I don’t have much to post about.

Plus, I’m trying to pull myself out of a gloomy frame of mind here. I am so tired of the lousy weather.

We went from having that unbelievably gorgeous day on Monday, to that really HOT day on Tuesday — Central Air-Conditioning and all that.

Yesterday, rain and cooler temperatures.

Today, GLOOMY and cold. I was even tempted to turn the furnace back on, it got so cold in the house…

Until my heating bill arrived and my wee little (but quite bonny) eyes popped out of my head when I saw what I owed for April and I decided to forego kicking that furnace back on.

Anyway!!!

I did begin watching this last night — but I was watching it on my phone, in bed, and immediately realized it was much better suited to watching on the actual TV, so I’m going to watch this today:

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Oh, and Patti Smith posted this music video to her Substack yesterday — “Last Night in Vienna”:

“Last night Jackson, Seb, Tony Shanahan and I performed a small acoustic concert in Vienna. We decided to try our hand at trying out a stripped down version of Fireflies, a song I wrote with Oliver Ray for Gone Again. It speaks of a widows deep longing and I have always found it too difficult, too sad to perform. It’s hard, if not painful, to try something new; the risk of failure walks with you, but it’s necessary to the process. The video was taken by Janine Bub at the side of the stage. It’s quite raw, delicate, and held together by the thread of determination.”

The song is just beautiful. You can listen at the link above. (6 mins.)

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Oh!

This is super important. I know you don’t want to miss this.

From WhatsApp very early this morning — one arm’s worth of Wayne’s mosquito bites in Australia! (He and one of his brothers are heading to Vietnam tomorrow.)

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And yesterday, (the late) Waylon Jennings’ son, Shooter, turned 47!

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I’m not sure if you can actually read this, but it’s an excerpt from one of Kafka’s beautiful letters to Milena, 1920. (I have posted about his love letters to her before and what a profound affect they had on me.)

In fact, here is my copy from the bookshelf just now!

Apparently, I’ve had the book since back when I was still using my maiden name!

The title page (Schocken Books was such a great publishing house. They’re now an imprint of Penguin Random House):

My copy of the book was published in 1962 (you probably can’t see it):

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Okay.

More of Mick & Keith at the Alamo in Texas, at the start of the Rolling Stones’ 1975 tour:

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And very, very soon, we will be getting brand new photos of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds from their upcoming UK & European tour (!!) —

Buy tickets HERE!

Meanwhile, from my desktop stash!!

(I can’t remember when this photo was taken, but I love it!) Nick and Warren on a bus! With a cellphone! And some bananas and perhaps coffee and maybe some cookies??

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And that’s it.

Okay I’m going to get on with my day here.

I will say that I hope the mini-podcast thingie works out, because I am already hearing from other writers that they would LOVE to promote their work on the podcast! (We will be happy to help promote other indie writers and painters/artists.)

All right.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

My very early morning bedside-listening music, as I eagerly awaited the upcoming day and for the sun to come up!!

The sun never did fucking come up… hence, my mood tanked.

But anyway. I listened to this whole album on my bedside retro boombox! But what prompted me to play it, was that my sweet little cat, Queenie, was snuggling next to me on the bed.

“Little Queenie” — from the Rolling Stones’ incredible live album Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out! — from their legendary Madison Square Garden show in NYC in 1969. Enjoy, gang.