I’m trying to make the absolute best of it because not only is the weather perfect — and the rest of the week, we’re supposed to have a lot of rain.

But also, tomorrow morning is when I’m supposed to report for Jury Duty again. I will find out later tonight if I do indeed have to show up, so we’ll see.

But regardless of tomorrow, I am trying to just have a really nice morning here.

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Before I forget!!

Facebook is just so strange.

Yesterday, I got another really cool “friend request” from someone I’ve only known for 54 years!!

She was, basically, my best friend all through Jr. High, high school, and most of adulthood… It’s only been a few years since I last heard from her. But we’re supposed to catch up in the phone sometime today!!

We met in the 7th grade, in September of 1972.

Yes!! There is someone still alive on Earth who knew me when I looked like this and wore plaid palazzo pants to school!!

When she and I were teenagers, we had mostly the same tastes in music, movies, literature, theater. We were both really smart and we laughed so hard about so much insane stuff.

I don’t know, but if you’re familiar with the playwright Eugène Ionesco, and his Theatre of the Absurd plays, our lives were kind of like that. 24/7.

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Okay!

Let’s go straight to the “here’s this’s” today!

Apparently, I need to get back to Shanghai by Sunday! (Which is also the start of Yom Kippur, so that’s dicey, right there!)

But I’ve already bought all 150 of the available tickets, so it only seems polite that I make the effort to show up…

Johnny Depp will be appearing at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai, in connection with his exhibit there, “Figures of the Fringe”!

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And here are a couple of great photos of Richard Hell!

Again, from the fantastic Phyllis Stein!!

Here, Richard Hell is seen with the “tiny Richard Hell head” that was really popular back then!

And here he’s seen at CBGBs in 1978 with Elvis Costello, who was also really popular back then!!

And I can’t help it, gang — we gotta hear this one, one more time!! Elvis Costello, 1977, “Mystery Dance”!!

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And here’s this!

Warren Ellis and one of his dogs appear to be very excited by Sundays!!

And taking a cue from Warren’s t-shirt, how about this? An AI version of the other Elvis singing Kris Kristofferson’s song, “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” the way Waylon Jennings sang it… (that’s right, but it’s actually pretty good…)

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And here’s that other thing that Facebook is good for!!!

Old photos of Nick Cave!!

I don’t know if I posted this one here before, but I love this!

And here’s Nick Cave, either taking off his coat, or pretending to wear handcuffs — or perhaps both! A long time ago! In color!

And this wasn’t on Facebook, but here it is anyway!

Nick Cave on TV in NYC, in 1990!

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And here’s this — from my own life!

This movie came out in 1968, when I was 8, and my mom and I went to see it together in Cleveland and I just loved it.

Throughout my whole life, really, I wanted to have a huge family. I really did. I used to think about it all the time. (And by the time I was in my early teens, when things in my home life were getting really bad, I had a huge imaginary family in my head that I would retreat to all the time.)

In fact, the hardest part about leaving Wayne, in 2003, was knowing that I would never have even one child, let alone the 14 or so that I wanted…. I was 43 when I left Wayne and I was already in early menopause. Wayne had finally decided that he didn’t want to have kids. So that whole dream was all over.

Anyway.

I am currently re-watching “Yours, Mine, & Ours” on TUBI. From 1968. A glorious family with 18 wonderful children —

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And that’s it for today.

I will let you know early tomorrow morning if I have to report for Jury Duty again or not.

Meanwhile, enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

This was sort of magical, gang.

I’m still reading the Conversations with Tom Petty book (2006) at night.

And last night, Tom was telling the part where he was going through his divorce, and to pick up his spirits, Rick Rubin had Tom (and the other Heartbreakers) come onboard the Johnny Cash albums Rick was producing at the time, on his American Recordings label.

Tom had such an incredible time doing that — it was very detailed in the book. He loved Johnny Cash.

I knew I had all of those Johnny Cash American Recordings on my phone, but I wasn’t sure which ones I still had on actual CDs. So I got out of bed, went downstairs in the dark, went to one of the many CD racks I have and turned on the light — and the very first CD I saw was Johnny Cash’s American III: Solitary Man–– with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers!! (And others.)

It really felt like magic, gang. I still had it!

I hurried back up to bed, popped the CD in the retro boombox next to my bed, turned out the light and just listened. And, wow, was it good!!

And, oddly enough, it’s the CD that has Johnny Cash’s cover of Nick Cave’s classic, “The Mercy Seat”!

So, let’s listen! From 2000, Johnny Cash’s version of “The Mercy Seat.” So different from Nick’s version, but still so good. Okay. Enjoy, gang.