Greetings from the Hinterlands!

April 30, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

What a beautiful morning today! (And, no, I’m not going to say: why can’t this be Friday?? But, you know — why can’t this be Friday??)

Anyway. Enough complaining about Friday’s upcoming weather…

Today is lovely. And I’m working with 2 clients today, so it will at least be a nice day for driving around.

And assuming that my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client has his dentures again (!!), we will be having sashimi once more, at:

He’s going to be very excited. All last week, he would ask:

HE: “When are we going back for sashimi?”

ME: “As soon as you have teeth.”

So, here’s hoping all went well at the dentist yesterday.

***********

Well, last night, was interesting!

It was after 8pm, I was already in bed, lights out, watching a movie, when I got a text from the guy down the road who takes care of my cats when I’m away.

TEXT: I’ll be there in a few minutes!

ME (to myself): Oh shit!

MY TEXT: Please forgive my appearance!

I had been expecting him to come over around 4 o’clock yesterday afternoon, so I had long since given up on him. But I need to show him the setup with the kittens and introduce him to Little Blackie before Friday.

So out of bed I got. Over my summer nightgown, I put on my worn out but beloved flannel robe (it belonged to a man I loved who died so I refuse to part with it) and my well-worn Isotoner slippers. Then KonTiki and I stood out on my kitchen porch and waited for him.

Here’s hoping I looked really alluring in the street lights because quite a few cars and pickup trucks drove by, which is really unusual for my little village.

Anyway. He gets along great with all the cats, but, wow, did he love those kittens!

They were out of their little playpen and toddling around. Little Blackie hid under the bed, but the kittens really responded well to him. So that’s good.

Okay, I digress.

The “interesting” part was that it’s been a while since I’d even had a conversation (in person) with someone who isn’t really old and cognitively impaired in some way — least of all, in my bedroom. And who actually knows me as something besides a caregiver. (He’s known me now for about 3 years.)

He’s about 35 years old, married, with a young son who has severe autism. He’s really nice and really reliable with my cats. And he just lives right down the road.

But we were in my room — it was his first time in there. And at one point, his focus wandered from the kittens and he turned around and saw my desk — more specifically, he saw all the PHOTOS I have stuck on the wall all around my desk. And he was completely awestruck.

He said, “Whoa! This is sick!!” [If you’re as ancient as I am, that translates to: “Wow, this is so cool!”]

He looked at every single photo, and really was just kind of swept away by all of it. He just loved it and it really sort of surprised me.

A view of my desk, circa November 2024:

After he left, it struck me that it has been a really long time since anyone at all has been in my room — besides my birth mom. And that kind of made me sad. It used to be that everyone was in my room, in various cities, because it’s always been my office, as well. Colleagues, freinds, relatives, lovers — everyone was always in my room.

But it’s part of not only aging, but living in the middle of nowhere when everyone I know, who is still alive, lives someplace else.

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

Okay!

Here’s this. I don’t know from which concert:

And, as always, you can buy tickets here for the upcoming shows — including Columbus!!

And now I gotta scoot because I am officially running late!!

Enjoy your Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

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

Willie Nelson’s new CD arrived yesterday, and it’s really beautiful. All the songs are written by Rodney Crowell. Here’s another one of them. Enjoy.

Okay! Back to Work!

April 29, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

But what a great couple of days off it’s been around here, gang.

More great feedback yesterday on our pilot script, this time from a European producer. (If I may quote just one line of his email: “I absolutely loved it.”)

AND — great feedback from Wayne! He liked this version better than the first draft he’d read.

Yes, Peitor asked me to give Wayne a copy of the revised script, so I did. He was really busy but when he finally got a chance to read it yesterday morning, he texted back his various thoughts and all of them were good! So, yay!

I also sent Wayne a photo of my target practice from yesterday at the shooting range.

Wayne texted back last evening that someone owed him some money and when he showed the guy my target practice from the shooting range, the guy said that he’d pay up, pronto — “Thanks, Marilyn.”

I found that so funny.

Anyway!

**********

The weather report for Columbus on Friday — and now, also on Saturday! — continues to be absolutely lousy, gang.

Obviously, it doesn’t matter what the weather is outside while the Bad Seeds are inside onstage, but I really hate driving to (and from ) Columbus, just in general, but I also really hate driving anywhere in the rain.

Here’s hoping that just being with Kara will be enough fun to make the rain and cold temperatures unnoticeable. But I still think it sucks…

***********

Yesterday evening, I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready, chatting with all the crazy cats who follow, quite exuberantly, every move I make in every room I’m in, when one of the little girls from next door was suddenly on my kitchen porch, tapping on my screen door!

A visitor!! I never have visitors!!

Not only a visitor, but she had a little fistful of “flowers” — mostly bedraggled dandelions, but there was a pretty iris in the bouquet, and a couple of wilting parrot-tulips.

She wanted to know if I would buy the bouquet!

ME: “How much do you want?”

SHE: “$5. I want to buy my mom a cake. But it’s a secret.”

She was so cute. She’s only about 8 years old and she was clearly very proud of her fistful of bedraggled little flowers…

And it’s been a REALLY long time since anyone brought me flowers (although I didn’t ever have to pay for them in the past, but still, beggars can’t be choosers).

And since, for some long-forgotten reason, I knew I had a stack of $5 bills stored up in my room….

So I came back and gave her TWO 5-dollar bills and she was absolutely thrilled. It was so fucking cute!!

And, yes, I put the flowers in a vase full of water, dead dandelions and all.

And, NO — I didn’t do it as a sort of pre-planned bribe to get her to persuade her mom to adopt a kitten come June….

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

Okay!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds played Chicago last night and it looks like it was just off the charts, gang (even though, rumor has it, that Nick Cave called it Detroit…):

But he also sent out a great Red Hand File yesterday, clearly stating that he knew he was in Chicago last night!

But, seriously, it was a great Red Hand File — basically a love letter to the whole world. You can read it here.

You can buy tickets to tonight’s show in Chicago (and tickets for other shows for the rest of the tour) HERE.

********

And that’s it. I gotta scoot!

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world (Chicago, Detroit — you name it; have a terrific day!!).

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

********

For obvious reasons, I leave you with this gem , performed live in 1972!!

The Rolling Stones, “Dead Flowers”. From their classic album, Sticky Fingers, 1971. Enjoy, Gang!!

100 Bullets!

April 28, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Alas, only 92 bullseyes, but still!

Actually, the rental SIG 22mm they gave me had one of those red dot thingies for aiming, and it needed adjusting because I guess it’s a really popular gun over there, so you can see that almost everything is over to the right this time.

But the 22mm was so much easier on my whole body!! I was able to shoot a lot faster today.

And what was very interesting today — I wasn’t really thinking that much about my birth father, instead, guess who kept popping up? And with which song??

My great-great-great-etc.,-etc. grandfather John May, who fought in the Revolutionary War! And even though this song is not about that war, it’s still kinda interesting, right? Especially since only the chorus would start playing in my head whenever I could feel him around (“Battle of New Orleans”):

We fired our guns and the British kept a-comin'
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

What I thought was really interesting, though…

After I was all done at the range for the day, I stopped in at the Dollar Store. For no particular reason. I just like that specific store and I felt like stopping in. (And I actually didn’t buy anything.)

I wasn’t in there one minute when this song came over the sound system. This is the song I sing to myself whenever I’m thinking about the shooting range. I haven’t actually heard it in years. So how incredible is that, gang? It felt like ALL of my ancestors were in the Dollar Store with me. Most of them fought (some died) in various US wars.

I stayed in the store long enough to hear the whole song, because I figured that was the only reason I was drawn in there.

********

Okay! I gotta get to work here! See ya!

Monday in the Hinterlands!

April 28, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Yes, assuming nothing horrifyingly unexpected happens in the next couple of hours, I’m planning to go back to the shooting range today.

However–

I’ve decided to drop back to a 22mm today. Last time I was there with the 9mm, my arms and neck and shoulders were sore for 3 days.

Since I’m not planning to join the military or go hunting or kill anybody, I’m going to slow down and see if that helps my nearly-65-year-old body handle the impact of shooting 50 bullets. We shall see!

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

Okay, *creepy alert* !

I found this while changing out the training pad in the kittens’ playpen yesterday!

Yes, it’s the tiny, shriveled, dead back paw that finally fell off of the little grey kitten a couple days ago!

I actually have a little blue porcelain box wherein I keep tiny body-part things that have fallen off of my kittens or cats in the past.

I know it’s creepy, but for some reason, I can’t part with them. I can’t simply just “throw them in the trash”.

I imagine that one day, after I’m dead and someone is going through all my things, they will look into the little blue porcelain box and say: “What the fuck are these??!!” And then they will perhaps be reluctant to go through anything else.

**********

On a fristrating note (often spelled “frustrating” but I don’t see any reason to constantly conform; life’s hard enough) — the weather for Columbus on Friday has turned bad again!!

RAIN!! Although, with milder temperatures than were initially predicted. But still it’s that rain thing that I’m so fed up with!

(See yesterday’s post if you have no clue what I’m talking about.)

***********

All right!!

I want to thank whoever’s buying the eBook edition of After Hours: The Best of Marilyn Jaye Lewis, published back in 2012. (It was first published by Robinson UK, but is now owned by Hachette UK.)

It is suddenly charting again in the sales ranking so I thank whoever’s buying it! (If you haven’t read it yet and would like to, here’s the Kindle edition. It is not in print.)

And, NO, that is not my tummy. My tummy has never, ever, ever looked like that.

It is really interesting though how, over the decades, people just assumed that I posed for my own book covers. Which sort of just shocked me.

That is not to say that there aren’t some random Polaroids floating around out there from my wild & bonny 30s that aren’t kind of spectacular though…

***********

Okey-doke!!

Another one from the Philly show!

Tonight’s show is in Chicago and it is sold out. But so far, tomorrow’s show still has some seats available. Buy tickets here!

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

And here’s this–

A sort of random quote from Keith Richards’ autobiography, Life, that I found on Instagram last night. (If you have not read Life from 2011 — wow, what a great book. A mere 576 pages, and I did not want it to ever end and I could not put it down!)

This is from right after he finally got off heroin for good and was gearing up for the Stones’ 1978 tour:

*********

And I believe that’s it for now!

I will pop back in with an update on my bullseyes later!

Meanwhile, have a great Monday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

I leave you with this!

For some (nice) reason, there’s been a sudden uptick in people listening to this song on my YouTube music channel! Thank you very much!

This is a song from 1994, and it was included on a promotional CD I did for Joe Queenan’s comedy/murder mystery movie for cable TV, 12 Steps to Death. (I wrote the closing song for the movie — “One Step Closer”.)

Anyway. Here is “Something Like the Railroad”, from 1994. There is a one-minute guitar thingie before the song actually starts. Thank you and enjoy, gang!

“I don’t get it — she keeps saying she’s exhausted.”

April 27, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Great news, gang!

Sandra and I had a long phone chat yesterday about the upcoming Off-Broadway staged reading for our play, “The Guide to Being Fabulous”. And her knee-replacement surgery is FINALLY healed now and so we are officially getting back to work!!

And this also means more trips to NYC in my upcoming future!! (As opposed to the “future” that is in the past….?)

Anyway! I am super excited.

And I am thoroughly convinced that I can somehow manage the upcoming insanity of my schedule. (You know how excited I get when I have trips to NYC on my schedule!!)

In all honesty, gang, I have simply decided that I can handle everything! So, onward!!

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

Okay.

Not to toot my own horn, but…

When I got to my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man’s house yesterday, things were not only back to normal, but better than it usually is!

He came out of his bedroom looking really spiffy, in a sport shirt and khaki trousers– and yes, he had his hearing aids in, his glasses on, his hair combed, his wooden leg on!! And he was completely coherent and smiling and he started conversing with me, right off the bat.

It was so heartening, gang. I wish we could keep him off the Boost completely, but his private nurse really likes that stuff and she does the shopping. So I’ve decided that on the days when I’m there, even after he gets his dentures back (on Tuesday) and I’ll be cooking solid food for him again, I’m going to at least bring the other protein drinks with me. (Isn’t that terrible? Trying to secretly keep some 94-year-old guy healthy??) (Of course, it will have to come out of my own pocket, but I just don’t care.)

And he seemed to really like the new stuff. While drinking them, he looked at the bottles and said, “What is this stuff? I really like it.”

So it really made me feel great.

For breakfast, I mixed a tablespoon of this with about a cup of sugar-free Greek yogurt:

Then later, a bottle of this:

And, later, a bottle of this (1 gram of organic coconut sugar in this one – plus caffeine, so this one replaced his cup of instant coffee):

He was in such great spirits yesterday, gang. Really back to being himself. It made me feel so happy.

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

All right.

I have the next two days off! Doing laundry right now and also have a little housecleaning to do, but will mostly work with Peitor on the materials for the Pilot package today.

It is sunny today — but it got chilly during the night. So the windows are closed and the furnace is back on, but at least it’s sunny.

And tomorrow, I am planning to go back to the shooting range, so we shall see!

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

In the weather-miracle department (see yesterday’s post), Kara and I decided to ignore the official weather report and simply visualize the weather we preferred (for our trip to Columbus this coming Friday, to see Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds at the Palace Theater), and ALREADY the weather report has changed! Cloudy, with mild temperatures, but at least no rain.

We are aiming for SUN, though. Well, not during the concert, because that would be scary, since it’s being held inside, at night, and could cause a panic…

The last time the sun shone indoors at night at the Palace Theater…

The sun would be welcomed during our drive to Columbus in the afternoon.

Meanwhile!

From Philly, last night!!

The first Chicago show is sold out, but tickets are still available for the second show, on Tuesday night April 29th. And you can also buy tickets for other upcoming shows this week.

*******

Update on the kitten front —

The little grey kitten has indeed lost that tiny, shriveled dead back paw that he was dragging around and he now officially has two stumps for back legs. But he is alert and happy and sweet, and he can manage to “walk” around just fine. So that is a relief, gang.

And what’s really nice — when I kneel down in front of their little playpen now, they look right at me and all start hurrying over to me. Mommy watches me like a hawk (excuse the mixed metaphor), but she lets me pick them up and kiss them and talk to them in that really high-pitched little-girl voice that I guess is de rigueur for talking to kittens…

Yes, in my warped world, I am already thinking that I want to keep ALL of them….

********

Okay!

Gotta get ready here to work with Peitor.

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

********

Can’t help it, gang!

I am SUPER excited about the upcoming trips to NYC (that I don’t have to pay for!! Yay!!) (But I’d still go, even if I had to pay my own way. You know it.)

Enjoy!!

Yes! Again – Me!

April 26, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Jesus, gang. Yesterday was rough.

It turns out that my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man will not have his new dentures until TUEDSDAY.

Meaning : a total of 7 and 1/2 days without teeth.

And for whatever reason, the only liquid “food” that the nurse stocked in his kitchen were V8 juice (640 grams of sodium per glass) and Boost (15 grams of sugar per serving). And I found 4 empty Boost bottles in the kitchen.

I had assumed that there would be better options for him, so I hadn’t stopped at the store on my way over.

When he got out of bed yesterday, he was absolutely loopy and wobbly and practically incoherent. He came out of his room on crutches and in just his underwear — no hearing aids in, no glasses on, obviously no teeth, and he had not put on his wooden leg. He’s usually particular about his grooming, so I was shocked. I had to beg him to get dressed and put his leg on so that we could go get some groceries that would be better than what he had in the kitchen.

I was worried about him, but mostly I was really angry that anyone on Earth could think that it was okay to do this to him. Meaning, leave him on his own with so much SUGAR. And basically nothing else.

But I got him at least 5 days’ worth of green stuff and fruit stuff and protein stuff and yogurt; liquids and powders — organic and without any added sugars. (It can be done, gang, you just have to look at what you’re buying.)

After we got back home, within half an hour, his mind was at least functioning again. He hadn’t completely gotten his strength back yet, though. Still, I knew we were getting back on solid ground when he said, “You took me to that golf course, didn’t you? “

Me: “Yes. On Good Friday.”

He: “That was paradise.”

As for me, though, all that anger and despair wiped me out.

Anyway. I’m hoping that when I get there today, he will be in a little better shape.

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

Here’s a happy update (although it’s also part of my nonstop caregiving around here).

Look who’s up and about this morning!

**********

And if you missed this — it was circulating on social media right after he died — you have to watch it!! It is priceless!!

How David Johansen Started the Punk Movement | Late Night with Conan O’Brien, 1994 (5 minutes):

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

And in a decidedly different tone!!

A recent Q & A/ discussion with James Tabor that was sponsored by Bart Ehrman.

The Gospel Texts That All Major Christian Apologists for Jesus’ Resurrection Have Misinterpreted! (45 mins):

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

And another reason why I am feeling a little down this morning —

The weather report for Friday, when Kara and I are driving to Columbus to see Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, is lousy!! Cold and rainy.

Of course, it’s still several days away, so here’s hoping for a weather-miracle. Plus, at least our hotel is right next to the Palace Theater.

Anyway. Here’s this from the other night! (Saint Nick proclaiming a weather-miracle!)

The next 2 shows — tonight in Philly, and then the first show in Chicago — are sold out. But you can buy tickets here for other nights this coming week, including Columbus!

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

Other than that, Peitor and I now have a truckload of stuff we need to pull together– sort through, organize, edit — for the TV pilot package. So, on we go, gang.

I hope your Saturday is splendid, though, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

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

I’m not a huge fan of Willie Nelson’s, but I am an ENORMOUS lifelong fan of Rodney Crowell. What a wonderful songwriter he is, gang.

Yesterday, Willie’s new album, Oh What A Beautiful World, was released, and all of the songs are written by Rodney Crowell.

Willie Nelson, *Oh What A Beautiful World*

Here is the first single off the album, the title song, “Oh What A Beautiful World”. Enjoy, gang.

“Oh What A Beautiful World”

It’s the time and the place
Every line on your face
It’s the truth and the lie
It’s to live and to die
Oh, what a beautiful world

It’s the girl and a boy
And that first taste of joy
And it’s that old photograph
Of two hearts torn in half
Oh, what a beautiful world

We build our hopes up high
Perchance to someday fly
Across a clear blue sky
To someplace new

It’s the walk in the park
Or a shot in the dark
It’s the thief in the night
Or the first ray of light
Oh, what a beautiful world

We live our legends down
Wake up in lost and found
Become that highway sound
And roll on through

It’s the rise and the fall
Of the clocks all on the wall
And it’s for the first and the last of your days
Well, I ain’t past
Oh, what a beautiful world

Oh, what a beautiful world

c – 2025 – Rodney Crowell

A beautiful morning!

April 25, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Even though it’s raining this morning, it is one of those really light and gentle rains, with no wind whatsoever.

When I awoke at 4AM, my bed was so comfortable, and the windows were open and it sounded so peaceful outside.

And the birds started singing at 4:20AM…

And Peitor texted at 4:30AM on WhatsApp: “Can you talk for minute?”

Of course, my first instinct was to say, no, I want to just lay here in bliss, in my bed in the dark, and listen to the birds sing and the rain falling on the leaves outside my open windows.

But then I figured there was no way he’d be texting me at that hour (10:30AM, his time), if he didn’t need to talk to me for a minute…

So I called him. And he wanted to discuss the pitch deck for the pilot script, and the price of hiring someone to do it —

And when I was done falling out of bed over the price of hiring someone to do it, I got back in bed and tried to regain my bliss.

So my day got a really early start here . But, honestly, it’s all good.

And yesterday morning, I heard back from the Finnish actor’s agent in Helsinki and she told me to send the script! So I did!

Honestly, gang, it was so nice of her to not only get back to me within 24 hours, but to get back to me at all, since I cold-called her without using our agent. (Well, I cold-emailed her.)

Anyway, that really made my day.

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

Okay!

Peitor and I still have materials we want to organize for the pilot package, but other than that, I am actually gearing up to get back to my own fiction writing. I’m trying to figure out a schedule, because I work really well with schedules.

And, really, nothing makes me happier than working on my own writing, and I currently have 3 memoirs, 3 novels, and 2 plays “in progress”.

Long-time readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall those heady days in years past, when I would be working on something and then you know, finish it.

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

Okay, here’s this! I found the photo on Instagram last night.

This is Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. This is where my very best friend on Earth, Paul Martin, lived. He had a beach house, and he worked in the movie industry — he was a set designer, set decorator, lead man, out of the movie studio there, in Wilmington.

He died 26 years ago. And my life was never the same since then.

It’s hard to see, but if you look at the very top of the island, and count down 4 houses — that was his house. I miss him so much. He was so passionate, so funny, so caring, so honest, and he had a filthy dirty mind. I really, really miss him.

***********

Three photos from Montreal last night!

Two of Nick Cave and one of Colin Greenwood:

The next 2 shows here in the States are sold out. There are still seats available for the 2nd Chicago show, which is next Tuesday, April 29th. Buy tickets here!

***********

And that’s it for now! I gotta scoot and head out to see my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client! I am hoping he has something that resembles teeth today. (See yesterday’s post.) We shall soon see!!

Meanwhile, take a quiet moment to thank God that it’s Friday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!!

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

I’ve posted this here before, but here it is again!

I love this song, gang. “Jockey Full of Bourbon,” from Tom Waits’ incredible album, Rain Dogs. 1985. Still one of my favorite albums of all time. Enjoy, gang.

Me, Again!

April 24, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I fully intended to post here yesterday morning before I scurried off, but Peitor was in touch EARLY, needing me to fix some grammar on a new synopsis for the TV pilot.

I was thrilled to do this, because I thought the synopsis we had was perfect…

However. You know. Pick your battles.

So I got out of bed and worked on the new synopsis. Then ran out of time to do everything else.

Plus, I was very stressed about my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man.

On Tuesday, while we were having our much-longed-for veggie sandwiches out on the very sunny back deck, his dentures suddenly broke in two.

So I was worried that he was really hungry by yesterday morning, since he couldn’t chew anything. And I was also worried that he would find something in the fridge and try to eat it and then choke to death…

So I wanted to stop at the store before heading the 30 miles to his house. And I only had to stop at THREE stores before I could find what I wanted (various smoothies and Greek yogurt that weren’t loaded with chemicals.)

However. It all worked out great. When I arrived at his house, he was still alive and in a rather chipper mood, besides.

And his private nurse is taking him to the dentist today. So, on we go.

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

So! I can’t go into details on the blog yet, but yesterday afternoon, yet another European production company asked to see our pilot script and this company is sort of a heavy hitter, gang. So exciting!

And I, personally (meaning without the agent), am trying to pitch a very specific Finnish actor that I really, really, want to play the role of the Finnish crime boss (my favorite character in the show, and I actually wrote the part with him in mind). Anyway. I’m trying to do that, so we shall see how that goes!!!

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

Okay!

Today’s special feature!!

This little quiz was on Instagram this morning. I scored FOUR points!!!

See if you can pick which 4 things I have never done!! (answers are down below, but don’t cheat!!)

I have never done:

8. Sung karaoke
11. Gone zip lining
13. Taken a cruise
17. Been skydiving

(And a few of those things posted above, as you can guess, I’ve done more times than you can possibly imagine.)

No, I wasn’t BORN glamorous, I had to work really hard at it!!

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

Okay!

I finally finished watching Tsai Ming-liang’s film, “Stray Dogs” (2013). It took me, like, 3 days, because I’ve just been so wiped out in the evenings, lately. (But last night, I slept SEVEN hours!!! So I am feeling really good again, finally.)

Overall, I didn’t relate to this film as much as the other three of his films that I’ve watched recently, but it was still definitely worth watching. (It’s probably because I had to keep starting and stopping and starting and stopping.) Anyway. it’s currently on Metrograph.

And if you live in NYC and can actually go to the Metrograph art-house theater, the actor Lee Kang-sheng (who stars in all of Tsai Ming-liang’s films) will be at the theater in person, presenting 4 films, including “The Hole”, which I loved!!

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

All righty!

Here’s what I was planning to post yesterday. Another photo of Nick Cave in Detroit last Thursday:

And today, here is a photo from their sold out show last night in Toronto!

And tonight they play Montreal. You can still buy tickets!

And then the next couple of shows back in the States are sold out. And then, ONE WEEK from tomorrow, Kara and I will be seeing them here:

And then spending the night here:

And probably eating dinner here (at the hotel):

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

Okay!

I gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

Driving to town music?? Maybe!!

“Joy,” from 1972, based on Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”.

I’ve posted it here before (it’s my brain’s theme song for my memoir-in-progress about my life in the 1970s – Joy: The Shortest Season), BUT HERE IT IS AGAIN! Enjoy, gang.

Wow! Who Could Have Predicted??

April 22, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

For some mysterious reason, I am not scrambling around here this morning, trying to get out the door!

I still have an hour and a half (before I scramble around and try to get out the door…)!!

I have to say, gang, that I am so happy with how the revisions to our TV pilot script have worked out. I like it so much better than the first draft.

I really want to send a copy of this new draft to Wayne — “read my script! read my script!” — but I know he’s busy. (He found the first draft confusing.) And he gave up all obligations to drop everything and read everything of mine when he signed the divorce papers EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO!!

That’s a long time to not be obligated to read every single solitary thing I’ve written…

(Although, in all seriousness, gang, he is usually very happy to read whatever I send him.)

**********

It’s a perfect day here, weather-wise. It will be a nice day for driving to town. The backroads are really starting to look so beautiful now.

And after my midday clients, I have to go over and drop in on my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client! His private nurse can’t be there today, so I have to go over and make sure he eats something and then just visit with him for a while.

I think I’m going to stop at Subway and get us both veggie sandwiches!! That way, I can have lunch with him out on his back deck, rather than just stare at him while he eats…

He doesn’t usually get this dressed up when he eats out on the deck…but you never know

Regardless. It will be a beautiful afternoon!

(This is the very Subway I will go to — I used to stop in here for veggie subs all the time, when my adorable patient, Molly, was still alive.):

**********

Last night, there were TONS of (mostly) videos uploaded from the Bad Seeds show in Washington, DC. But here’ s one photo that jumped out at me!

They play Toronto tomorrow night, but it is sold out. Thursday, they will play Montreal and you can buy tickets here. After that, the next couple of shows back in the States are also sold out.

**********

Okay!

Peitor just texted me from the beautiful South of France, needing me to re-send the latest synopsis, so I gotta scoot and do that, and then I will have to formally scoot, and get to town.

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

Driving to town music? Not sure, but probably!!

Loyal readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall that this is the song playing in the final scene of our TV pilot, when the Finnish crime boss from Helsinki arrives at the Abstract Absurdity Film Productions office in Greenwich, Connecticut!!! (Great big smiley smiles, gang!)

Okay. Enjoy!

“She says this all the time. But it gets so hard to believe her.”

April 21, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Okay, I know you won’t believe me, gang, but….

The TV pilot script is DONE!!!

We finished it late yesterday afternoon, and then, early this morning — South of France-time — Peitor did the final trimming, to keep it under 60 pages.

AND —

We finished just in time. A couple of the contacts Peitor made at Series Mania in France, back in late March, emailed him yesterday, checking on the progress of the script!

And that, in and of itself, is exciting. Knowing that people in the industry really want to read it. It means that they are hoping it’s going to be a viable vehicle for their own careers.

And personally, I am really, really happy with this version of the script. It’s still quirky but also more emotional.

*********

Okay, on the kitten front — this may sound icky but, overall, I think it’s a good thing.

The little grey kitten whose back two legs are deformed — well, that one little tiny shriveled dead paw is in the process of falling off. So it will have two stumps for back legs, but at least it’s already very good at moving itself around.

It’s smaller than the other 3 kittens, so who knows how big it will eventually get. But we are onboard for the whole adventure. I just need to give it a name.

***********

Today this is not happening:

Aside from laundry, I wasn’t able to get any housecleaning done yesterday because I was at my desk all day, revising the script.

So today, I will clean house. If, by some unexpected miracle, I still have energy when I’m finished, then I might go to the shooting range. But I doubt it.

*********

Okay, as I was sort of expecting, Tsai Ming-liang has managed to make a really depressing plot into a mesmerizing film to watch!

I’m not done watching it yet. I’ll finish watching it this evening, but so far, it is very intriguing. “Stray Dogs.” (2013)

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

Here’s a great photo from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ show from Thursday night. Nick and Colin Greenwood, smiling!

They play Washington DC tonight. Buy tickets here! The next show, in Toronto on Wednesday night, is sold out.

***********

And aside from the actor who has been playing (the late) Pope Francis retiring today (after about 4 and 1/2 years in the starring role…), that is all there is for now!!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*********

A very happy 78th birthday to Iggy Pop!!

A great love song. From his fantastic 1986 album, Blah-Blah-Blah, the song “Shades”. Enjoy!

“Shades”

You gave me a present
The paper was blue and green
I unwrapped it with pleasure
These are the best shades I’ve ever seen
You can be my girlfriend
Forever and a day
I never thought I was worth much
Or that anyone would treat me this way

[Chorus]
I’m not
The kind of guy
Who dresses like a king
And a really fine pair of shades
Means everything
And the light that blinds my eyes
Shines from you
It makes me come in the night
It makes me swim with delight
I like this pain
I like this mirror
I like these shades

I could have had a problem
I might have never followed through
The other guys are in trouble
They wouldn’t listen to a girl like you
These shades say something
I’ll bet they cost a lot
I hope I don’t break ’em
I hope we don’t break up

[Chorus]

c – 1986 – Iggy Pop, David Bowie