Honestly, gang, if my neighbor hadn’t shoveled out my car yesterday, I don’t know how I would manage to get my car out today.
And with the below zero weather for the rest of the week, I probably would have been stuck here that whole time.
Well, there are tons of car accidents already, out over there in the next county (where I have to drive to), but most of the accidents are at the far end of it, heading into Columbus.
Still, I’m sort of a nervous wreck this morning.
I’m planning on taking L-Theanine before I leave the house, because that usually calms me down without making me sleepy. So here’s hoping that will help.
There’s a very high chance my client today will need me to go out and buy groceries, so I might have to be out & about all day. We shall see.
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Well, okay.
Sly Dunbar died yesterday. (He was a very popular reggae drummer; part of the reggae rhythm section known as Sly & Robbie.) He was 73.
From Keith yesterday:
From Ronnie yesterday:
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And here’s a shot from one of the Bad Seeds’ Sydney shows, but I’m not sure which one:
The Brisbane show is probably going on right now.
The upcoming two nights in Melbourne are sold out. But you can still get tickets to the 3rd night HERE.
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And I think that’s it for today, gang.
I just need to try to calm down and get the heck outta here.
Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!
Stay safe and thanks for visiting!
I love you guys. See ya!
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I’ve been singing this hymn all morning. I tend to sing it automatically when I’m stressed.
Oddly enough, my birth dad told me once that his mom always used to sing this same hymn around the house (whether or not she was stressed), and it made him nuts.
Anyway.
From the Trio — Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Emmylou Harris. “Farther Along,” 1987. Enjoy, gang.
In fact, there is so much snow, that it was over Kon Tiki’s head yesterday and she was stranded on the porch of the house across the road from me.
I had to make my way over there (the snow was higher than my snow boots, so that was fun!), and pick her up and carefully carry her home.
And since there will be temperatures around -25 degrees Fahrenheit the next couple of nights, I can’t let her leave the house for a few days.
She’s not entirely happy about this…. (sarcasm)
But here she is, in a quiet moment, in my room a few minutes ago:
Anyway.
The fact that we have gotten so much snow, and so much of this part of the country got it, with unbelievably cold windchill factors…
We (me and my Q-friendly friends) are pretty sure it’s engineered to hide something else.
And then I saw this last evening, re-posted by il donaldo trumpo:
So there we go. Make sure everyone has to stay home in order to see all that on the TV…
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Well, anyway.
Whoever sent the snow did a really great job of it.
Meanwhile.
Here’s this!
You know for sure that you love someone when your heart sort of swells just at the sight of their profiles from 51 years ago…
Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards, backstage, Cleveland, US Tour 1975:
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And here’s this– yay!
Which led to THIS — Lo! these many years later!
From the Sydney shows over the weekend:
You can still get tickets to the Brisbane show tomorrow (January 27th) HERE. (Next 2 nights in Melbourne are sold out.)
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Okay, so yesterday was a little weird.
If you saw my post yesterday morning about my discovery that most of my current novels are currently delisted on LULU and so you can’t actually buy them anywhere… not until they are reformatted, anyway.
Well, I just had a difficult time focusing yesterday, but curiously enough, the moment Sandra called and we began discussing the synopsis for the TV project, my brain was suddenly back and we had a really productive call.
So that felt great.
And then I did my yoga, and even though I missed the Zoom call with James Tabor at noon yesterday, I did manage to complete another lesson in the “Christianity before Paul” course before dinner. (I can re-watch the Zoom call but it was 3 hours (!!), so I’ll get to that later.)
So all was not lost. Plus, I was just so relieved that I saw Kon Tiki from the upstairs window and was able to rescue her before she disappeared under the snow.
Oh, and last evening (Sunday, no less, and a Sunday during a snow emergency) I got an unexpected email from one of the lawyers handling my dad’s Estate and they said they had sent me something of his by Registered Mail.
I won’t say exactly what it is, but, wow, I hit the moon! I was just thrilled and it was totally unexpected.
So I ended the evening on a very good note: All the furry critters were safe inside, and my brain was working again, and not absolutely everything of value went to my dad’s stepkids… Yay.
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I guess on that note, I’m gonna get started around here.
The laundry is almost done, and then I have to go outside and start the process of unburying my car so that I can actually use it tomorrow.
And then this coming week, I have 5 regular shifts, and then I have 8 (!!!) days off!!! My stay-at-home-and-write vacation begins!!
Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world. If you’re under snow and ice, stay safe!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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I leave you with this!
This morning (after yesterday’s post inspired me), this fabulous CD from 1988 went into the kitchen CD player!! I hadn’t heard it in a few years and it was so fun.
So, with Kon Tiki constantly asking to be let out, it was a lively breakfast!
Here’s “Dirty World” by the Traveling Wilburys. I love this song! Enjoy, gang.
“Dirty World”
He loves your sexy body, he loves your dirty mind He loves when you hold him, grab him from behind Oh baby, you’re such a pretty thing I can’t wait to introduce you to the other members of my gang
You don’t need no wax job, you’re smooth enough for me If you need your oil changed I’ll do it for you free Oh baby, the pleasure would be all mine If you let me drive your pickup truck and park it where the sun don’t shine
Every time he touches you his hair stands up on end His legs begin to quiver and his mind begins to bend Oh baby, you’re such a tasty treat But I’m under doctor’s orders, I’m afraid to overeat
He loves your sense of humor, your disposition too There’s absolutely nothing that he don’t love about you Oh baby, I’m on my hands and knees Life would be so simple if I only had you to please
Oh baby, turn around and say goodbye You go to the airport now and I’m going home to cry He loves your…
Electric dumplings Red bell peppers Fuel injection Service charge Five-speed gearbox Long endurance Quest for junk food Big refrigerator Trembling Wilbury Marble earrings Porky curtains Power steering Bottled water Parts and service
Dirty world, a dirty world, it’s a …ing dirty world
c – 1988 Tom Petty, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison
Me and my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man are going out for sashimi & sake today.
Right now it is very cold but it is sunny. It’s supposed to stay sunny most of the day. The snow isn’t supposed to start until tomorrow, but you perhaps recall that this past Wednesday, it was also supposed to stay sunny, however, the minute I went outside to get into my car and drive to town to see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and take him out for Japanese food, a sudden snow storm blew up and fell right down on me from the sky.
But since a huge snow & ice storm is supposed to come this weekend, we are going out for sashimi & sake today no matter what! Yay!
And I also want to give out a great big THANK YOU to M. over in Austria!!
The other day, she encouraged me to go out and stock up on food and on cat supplies, so I did. I believe that this weird, practically nation-wide awful storm is somehow related to what she told me. I really do. (They are predicting not just snow and ice, but power outages, the internet going down, etc.)
And if I hadn’t already stocked up on everything the other day, because of what she told me, then I would be panicking now, since the local grocery stores are already running out of food. I’m hearing from friends that a lot of the shelves in the stores in town are empty.
So thank you again, M. in Austria!!
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Okay.
Yesterday, the AC guys did indeed show up. But they could only do the inside part of the installation. They have to wait until it gets a little bit warmer before they can install the outside stuff. But, wow, were they nice.
First off, they really liked my house. They were surprised by how large the rooms were for such an old house — and one of the guys actually owns a house built in 1833! So they really like old houses.
Oh and one of the guys used to live on my street a few years ago. (He’s in his 20s now.) He said, “I even came over and cut your grass one day.”
And I remembered that day! It was during that summer when I had a really unreliable lawncare guy and my grass was out of control. And I also remember that, when it was time to pay him for cutting my lawn and he was knocking at my kitchen door, I had just gotten out of the downstairs shower. Yes! I was dripping wet and wearing a towel when I hurried to the screen door to pay him.
ME: “I’m so sorry! Here’s your money! Thank you so much!!”
HE (staring at me for a moment with his mouth hanging open): “Okay. Well. Thank you.”
Neither one of us mentioned that part yesterday.
HOWEVER!!
They both also said yesterday that they couldn’t believe I had as many cats as I said I had. (All the cats except for Lulabelle were closed up in the upstairs bedrooms the entire time the AC guys were here.)
They said that the house was so clean and so organized, that it didn’t seem possible that I had 15 cats in here.
You know what a lunatic I am about trying to keep this house clean and to take care of all these cats. So that just made me feel incredible. No one had actually ever said that to me before. I really appreciated it.
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And while the AC guys were here, I was working at my kitchen table and I got really good work done on the synopsis for the TV project I’m working on with Sandra.
I still have a few more paragraphs to pull together, but I was really happy with how it started to come together yesterday.
And, OH!
Before I forget.
I still have to say thank you again to all of you who are buying the eBook edition of my novel from 2020, The Guitar Hero Goes Home.
I honestly cannot tell you enough how happy that makes me. That book means so much to me. So thanks again, everybody.
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All right.
Here’s this.
Another great one of David Johansen from Phyllis Stein. This one taken at the infamous NYC nightclub, Max’s Kansas City, back in the 1970s:
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And just FYI — here’s a photo of Max’s taken in 1976, by legendary rock photographer, Bob Gruen:
He has lots of photos of Max’s from back then, inside and outside, HERE.
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And here’s this!
A great photo of the late Link Wray!
And here’s this, while we’re at it. A great song by Link Wray, “Deuces Wild,” 1964 (I play this in the car a lot) (which is probably why I often look at my speedometer and discover I’m going 95 mph):
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And as I type, I’m guessing the Wild God show in Sydney is well under way! If not almost over??
You can buy tickets for tomorrow night’s show HERE.
And here’s another photo from the show in Adelaide the other night:
And here’s this, because I fucking LOVE IT!!
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And on that note, I need to sort of relax a little bit before I head to town.
I have a rough weekend ahead. I’m doing a double-shift tomorrow — they need me to cover a shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat. And then of course, I see them again on Sunday afternoon/evening.
But I have already been told by the Agency that if the snow is as bad as they’re saying it’s going to be by Sunday, I can cancel that shift.
We’ll see, gang. I am already stressing about doing 200 miles of driving in the snow and ice this weekend, and it hasn’t even started yet.
Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world, regardless of the weather!!
“Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Levon Helm, John Prine, Bruce Hornsby, John Hiatt, and Rosanne Cash. It also features legends like Earl Scruggs, Roy Acuff, Jimmy Martin, and Vassar Clements. “
“Will the Circle Be Unbroken”, 1989, from the tribute album of the same name, by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Enjoy, gang!!
All the cats, except for Lulabelle, who is sleeping here in the kitchen near me, are safely closed up in the upstairs bedrooms, as I await the arrival of the AC guys to install my central air conditioning!
Yes, it’s a balmy 27 degrees Fahrenheit, with a “feels like” temperature of 14!! So I’ll be needing that AC as soon as possible!!
But honestly, I still find it a little hard to comprehend that I’m getting all this stuff done for free. A grant, gang.
“Advancing and amplifying LGBTQ literature and supporting LGBTQ writers whose stories preserve legacies and build community.”
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While not on a similar note…
I also thought that this was really cool.
Over in the next county, there is a professional theater company, and they just announced their first ever film festival:
Weathervane Film Festival
“Join us for our first ever film festival! Modeled after other two-week festivals, you’ll be asked to create a short film quickly and with specific guidelines. “
Films must be under 8 minutes and submitted by March 6th.
If you live around here and want to enter a film, or know someone who might, visit this link.
I was really impressed to see all the local businesses that are getting behind this and supporting it. I am planning to attend the festival (on March 13th).
(Oddly enough, as I type this, I’m getting constant updates from Variety for the 2026 Oscar nominations…)
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Ronnie Wood wants you to know that you have until the end of January to buy this new painting (and everything else on his website) at 20% off.
So if you want to get this for me at a decent price (normally $1650), you gotta hurry:
“Keith and Mick Onstage 1991”
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Ditto if you want to get me anything over at Nick Cave’s Cave Things!
If you subscribe to the mailing list, you get 30% off (!!) plus free pencils with every order (subscribe here!!), until the end of the month.
Including but not limited to this lovely rejected album cover art! $21, before the discount and free pencils! (Adults only please!! “Thank you for your attention to this matter! – DJT”)
I’m sure you can imagine how thrilled I would be to receive this, so I’m thanking you in advance!
Do not look at this if you are under 18
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Okay!
Here’s this!
Lisa Robinson was my absolute favorite rock journalist back in the old days.
Here’s this from her Instagram account — Lisa, with Keith and Iggy, in the 80s:
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And here’s this.
I’ve heard that Jack’s spirit is alive & well & living in his old house in Florida (where he died, in bed, in 1969). I really cannot decide if I want to visit there or not. After what I went through encountering Rudolph Valentino’s spirit in his old house in Beverly Hills — he took over my life for over 10 years after that, albeit, in a really beautiful way and it yielded probably my best novel. Still, I’m gettin’ really, really old now…
Anyway:
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Before I sign off for today and get to work on the synopsis for the TV proposal with Sandra, I have to tell you about something that happened during the shift with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man yesterday.
It turned out that, right when I was getting ready to head into town, we got a crazy snow storm! (We were supposed to have sun yesterday — see yesterday’s post). So we weren’t able to go out for sashimi and sake.
Right before I left here, I grabbed some eggs and cream from my fridge, in case his private nurse still hadn’t done the grocery shopping. She hadn’t — well, she’d done part of it, but hadn’t bought him eggs or cream for his coffee. So when I got to his house and opened the fridge, I was super glad that I’d had that premonition. I was still going to be able to make him his breakfast without having to order in again.
However, I also saw that he still had some of the vodka cocktail thingie that I’d brought him on Saturday! (He does not ever remember to open his refrigerator, which is why he needs someone to stop in everyday and make him, or buy him, a meal).
I was super excited that he was going to be excited all over again about the vodka.
So, a couple hours after he’d eaten his breakfast and had coffee, I brought him out a little cocktail glass with the vodka in it and he was thrilled! He was just having the best day. I went back into the kitchen to get him some potato chips and suddenly saw EIGHT beautiful deer in his backyard. Eight of them. It was incredible. It was like his backyard was so suddenly full of life.
And when I sat back down in the living room with him, TWO Christmas-light thingies, that I hadn’t turned on since New Year’s Day, suddenly came on, all by themselves. Both of them. At the same time. (They run on batteries.)
It suddenly felt like the whole place was full of wonderful spirits. He agreed with me. It was incredible, gang.
I tried to get a photo without invading his privacy and showing you the whole living room, so these are not great photos:
Anyway, it was just such a wonderful feeling. Magical.
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Okay!
The Oscars just nominated Nick Cave’s song from “Train Dreams” for Best Song! (Netflix film.)
Don’t forget, you can buy tickets to the Sydney shows, Jan 23rd & 24th, HERE.
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And now I’m gonna close this and get started around here.
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!!
More breakfast-listening music from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s tribute album, Will the Circle Be Unbroken #2, 1989 .
Roseanne Cash and John Hiatt, “One Step Over the Line”. Such a great song, written by John Hiatt!! Totally addictive. Enjoy, gang!!
As part of my home improvement grant from the USDA — they are coming to install my central AC!!
They called me while I was at my shift yesterday. And they said, “Okay, we’re all set. All the paperwork’s in place. When can we come out?”
I was just flabbergasted, but in a good way. It was about 12 degrees Fahrenheit outside, with very high winds, and the last thing on my mind was air conditioning…
But there you go, gang. I am sort of stunned but it’s really happening — central AC installed in my 126-year-old home, absolutely free of charge to me.
(If you’re new to the blog — I had applied for a home improvement loan, but they said that since the house is old and because I’m old, they’re giving me a grant instead of a loan.)
But anyway, I’m very happy. And during the first week of February, both the carpenter and the plumber are coming to do the other upgrades. So, after 6 months of waiting, I can’t believe it’s all suddenly happening so fast.
Me, this coming summer, drinking coffee, chillin’ and reading with short red hair
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Tomorrow, I’m planning to work at the kitchen table while the AC guys are here, instead of up here at my desk. I’m really eager to get all these notes from Sandra sorted out, so we can make headway in getting the TV proposal back to the producer in Atlanta, who’s waiting on it.
Today, though–
It’s going to be sunny and not too terribly freezing out (34 degrees Fahrenheit), so my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and I will be going out for sashimi and sake!!
And, YES! When I went to see him on Saturday, I did stop off at the gas station and bought one of those little bottles of pre-mixed vodka cocktails (and also another packet of those little bow-tie shaped snacks, because he loved those when I brought them over for Christmas Eve).
Well, he was so happy!!!
Not only that, but for some reason, the private nurse hadn’t done the grocery shopping yet, so there were no eggs for his breakfast when I got there. And it was about 5 degrees Fahrenheit, and snowy and icy outside, with high winds, so no way was I taking him out to eat.
He was super excited about that, too. It was more food than he normally eats in a week, let alone eats for breakfast, but he loved it. (Eggs, sausages, fried potatoes, biscuits, coffee and pancakes!) And since I knew I was giving him a “bottle of (diluted) vodka” later, I really, really wanted him to eat.
Okay, so that was really fun. And he had such a great time.
HOWEVER, when I got there and read over the notes from the caregiver who had replaced me the day before (I had called in sick), it turned out he had been unbelievably impossible to her.
Refused to eat. Refused to get dressed. Refused to speak to her. Refused to take his meds. He even called the private nurse, demanding to know who the stranger was that was in his house and why she was there, and then he actually threw the caregiver out! Made her leave the house and not come back. Even though the nurse explained to him that I was out sick and the girl was replacing me.
Of course he didn’t remember having done any of that when I got there on Saturday, but it kind of made me doubly happy that I had stopped off and bought him that vodka. He had such a great afternoon.
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Okay.
Here’s this.
I’m not sure why, gang, but when I saw this photo yesterday, it just sort of ignited my whole heart. (I think it’s his eyes.)
Keith onstage, somewhere at some point:
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And here are a couple photos from the Bad Seeds’ show in Adelaide!
I’m actually not completely certain which show this photo is from, but I loved the photo:
Photo by Marnie Richards
And you can buy tickets for the Sydney shows, January 23rd & 24th, HERE.
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And if you’re keeping track, right this minute:
GOLD: $4,866.94 per troy ounce
SILVER: $95.03 per ounce
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And on that lofty note, I gotta scoot!!
Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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I leave you with this!!
I hadn’t listened to this song in forever, but I put it in the CD player in the kitchen this morning at 4:15AM and then immediately hit REPEAT, and I listened to it over & over & over, while getting the many cats their breakfasts, and me, my breakfast, then washing up dishes, etc.
I’d forgotten how much I loved this song.
Johnny Cash, “Life’s Railway to Heaven”, from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band tribute album, Will The Circle Be Unbroken, Vol. 2, 1989.
We had such freakin’ high winds yesterday, that it blew almost all the snow completely away!
So, even though it is a hearty FOUR degrees Fahrenheit out there today (with high winds making it “feel like” -2), at least it’s sunny and I don’t have to remove any ice or snow from my car.
Yay.
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Well, yesterday, I did re-read the play “Cowboy Mouth” (written by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith in 1971). And I was indeed sort of fascinated by it.
If you missed my various posts about that play — I first read it 50 years ago, while in a mental hospital after a suicide attempt, and it was my first exposure to both Sam Shepard and Patti Smith. And I was completely in love with Patti Smith from that moment on — she gave me hope for my own life and a reason to go on living.
In fact, about a year after I was released (after Horses had also come out), I wrote Patti a letter, telling her that her writing had saved my life, not knowing that her mom got all Patti’s fan mail back then and her mom wrote me back the most beautiful, heartfelt, handwritten letter.
By then, I was 16, and that letter meant so much to me, gang. Kindness was in really short supply in my life back then. And I never forgot how that letter from Patti’s mom made me feel.
You know, in the decades when my books and short stories were really popular, I would always reply whenever readers would write to me. In the early days, before personal computers and email, they were handwritten letters, forwarded to me by various publishers. And I always wrote back. Even to that one guy in Oregon, who had written to say how much he hated a short story of mine which he had just read. I wrote him back a short note, thanking him for taking the time to write to me, you know? For expressing himself. And that, while I didn’t agree, it hadn’t fallen on deaf ears.
Anyway. Back to the play.
What an insane play. One act. About 21 pages. But what totally intense pages they are. It’s basically funny but it did take a lot of risks. With language and vivid imagery. And I can see why I was so taken with it — no woman on Earth that I had been exposed to by that point ever used language the way Patti did.
Another lovely photo of Johnny Thunders in LA in September 1973:
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And the photos from the Adelaide concert (just finishing up as I type), are already getting posted to Instagram!!
This photo, though — I’m not sure if it’s from Adelaide. but I’m guessing it is:
And the Nick Cave newsletter went out this morning, with some great reviews of the Perth show:
“…an electrifying crescendo of faith, fury and fragile joy” The Guardian
“From the moment Cave sauntered onstage and greeted the crowd with a wave and a high kick, it was as though there was a pact with the audience – much like his Red Hand Files website and mailing list, Cave and his people were here for each other.” Rolling Stone
“…his artistic evolution as a musician over the past 40 years is extraordinary.” WA Today
“Cave conducting the Fremantle Park choir. It was a truly special moment to end an amazing, intense show which reinforced the sheer power and beauty of music as art.” 100% Rock Magazine
And you can buy tickets to the Sydney shows HERE! (January 23rd & 24th)
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After completing the final edit, the publisher of my upcoming novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, sent me a one-sentence email yesterday:
“It’s a beautiful book.”
Wow, gang. That made my day. Especially since this particular novel sort of stresses me out a lot.
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Other than that, I guess I better scoot. I want to head into town early and run some quick errands before my shift.
Have a terrific Tuesday, 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 “get up and make your bed and start your day already” listening music! From the CD currently in my retro boombox: Billy idol’s Greatest Hits.
And this song makes it really easy to get up and out of bed and do stuff! (If you’re having trouble getting moving today, try listening to this!!)
From my absolute early days in NYC (released in the US in 1981) — “Dancing With Myself”. Enjoy. gang!
I don’t have to shovel the snow off my car today because I ain’t goin’ nowhere!!
Here is a photo I took of the view outside my bedroom window at 7AM, but we’ve since gotten about 2 more inches of snow, and it’s still snowing…
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Okay.
Today, it is Martin Luther King Day in America. A federal holiday. (Don’t quote me on this, but I’m thinking they give you a federal holiday when the CIA murders you for being against the Vietnam War and then they blame your murder on a lone deranged gunman??) Not sure. Anyway.
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Today is also the day that the plumber stops by to look at the bathroom pipes and fixtures again, before he signs off on his estimate to the USDA to get started on my home repairs!!
I’m guessing he’s going to be really happy to be out, driving around in all this snow today…
We shall soon see!
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Before I forget–
The late Sam Shepard’s website offers free PDF downloads of some of his plays.
After seeing that wonderful photo of Sam that the Hotel Chelsea posted to Instagram (it’s on my post from yesterday), it got me thinking again about that play he wrote with Patti Smith in 1971, “Cowboy Mouth”.
I looked but I don’t have a copy of it here in the house, although I have 7 of his other plays.
So I was curious if it was offered free online anywhere. I wanted to revisit it, to see why it had been so important to me, when I read it in the mental hospital when I was 15 (it was my first introduction to Patti Smith, too — just a few months before she released Horses and my life changed forever).
It turns out, it is free to download on Sam’s website! You can download or read it HERE if you’re interested!
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Two days ago, Jami, one of Neal Cassidy’s daughters, died. She was 76.
The Kerouac Estate posted this to Instagram — Jack with Jami, a long, long time ago:
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UPDATE!!
Plumber has come and gone!!
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Okay.
Two more great photos from Perth:
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ Wild God Tour of Australia continues tomorrow in Adelaide! You can buy tickets here.
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I follow a few different Native American accounts on Instagram.
I have no idea who this young man is, or which tribal nation he’s from, I only know his birthday was yesterday and he is gorgeous!!
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If you’re interested–
Although my great-great grandmother was a fullblood Black Foot, so I am Black Foot through the May family, but only because my grandmother married into the May family.
My great-great-great-great Uncle, on the May side, who was from Germany originally, had the privilege of being killed here in southern Ohio by the legendary Chief Blue Jacket!
The Mays helped settle the State of Kentucky, and my great-great-great-great Uncle kept crossing the Ohio River and heading up here into Shawnee territory. (The Shawnee lived all over Muskingum County, too, which is where I live now. How cool is that?)
Anyway.
Chief Blue Jacket told my great-great-great-great Uncle that if he came back into this part of Ohio again, Chief Blue Jacket was going to kill my great-great-great-great Uncle.
And my Uncle came back.
And Chief Blue jacket killed him.
Here are two things we know to be true:
The Mays basically do whatever the fuck they want to do
Chief Blue Jacket was a man of his word
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This was really good.
From Ross K. Nichols Sunday School from yesterday:
“In this class, we examine a select group of archaeological inscriptions from the ancient Near East. These independent sources attest to the historical reality of certain biblical figures and events while offering alternative perspectives that confirm, expand, or contrast the narratives in Scripture. Can archaeology supply the missing pieces? Can foreign voices round out stories we thought we knew?”
The Bible’s Missing Pieces (1 hr 15 mins):
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I suppose I better close this and get my day started around here.
The laundry is already done. The plumber has come & gone. And I have a lot of work to do on the synopsis notes that Sandra sent over on Thursday. And I also want to get some work done on my contribution to the M. Christian tribute anthology. And I also really, really want to read “Cowboy Mouth” again! (After 50 years…)
So let’s get this snowy Hinterlands party started.
Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s leave with this!
It was my driving-home-from-town music last night. (On repeat.)
Once again, Tom Petty, with Mudcrutch in 2016, saving my life!
“Dreams of Flying”. Enjoy, gang.
“Dreams Of Flying”
See the bright lights of Memphis I got a friend lives down there
And I don’t know If I’ll go back again Givin’ up feels like dying
I get dreams of flying I get dreams of flying
Whatcha do lies behind us Better roll your window down And let it go Crashing down the road Truth is it ain’t worth lying
I get dreams of flying I get dreams of flying
Got a diamond on my finger Got a sapphire through my ear And for all I know I might go back again See what’s in there hiding
I get dreams of flying I get dreams of flying
Ooh, I get dreams of flying Yeah, I get dreams of flying Oh well, I get dreams of flying
Another sermon that was almost entirely political, gang.
You know, when I went to have my meeting with the new minister at the new church, we did talk about politics and its role in the church.
I felt it should be kept out of it. That Sunday mornings should be a break from all that, and focus on the teachings of the Bible. How things effected the people in the Bible, why things happened, and how it might resonate for us here, today.
And the new minister, in all fairness, disagreed. He felt politics in church was very important.
But I guess I wasn’t expecting to be hit over the head with politics. It makes for a really joyless atmosphere in the whole place.
And since the only thing I can genuinely look forward to is sitting next to that stained-glass window on Sundays…
I decided today, as I was leaving the church in a decidedly unjoyful state of mind… I won’t be going back.
It was really disappointing. But, no, I’m still not gonna start my own church…
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But all that aside —
I still have plenty to be joyful about!
For instance, here’s this:
Speaks for itself — unless, of course, this is the very first time you’ve ever been to this blog.
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And this!
Wow, gang.
I don’t remember which post it was, but a few months back, I wrote about how the play written by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith, “Cowboy Mouth,” helped me survive being in the mental institution when I was 15.
I follow the Hotel Chelsea on Instagram, and yesterday they posted this absolute gem — Sam Shepard, smoking, in 1971:
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And, of course, in the JOY department–
There is this!!
Luckily, it seems like Australians are really great about taking photos at concerts and immediately posting them online! Yay! (Or, as is the case in the photo below taken by Carly Paradis, even members of the Bad Seeds are great at taking photos at concerts and immediately posting them online!)
From Nick Cave Official:
And you can buy tickets for the show in Adelaide, on January 20th, here!
And here’s the set list from the show in Perth:
There were actually quite a lot of photos from the show that I liked, but I was with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man when all the photos started to appear on Instagram, and it would have been rude to start taking a bunch of screen shots right then, and then there got to be too many of them. So I leave it with the above for today.
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I have to start getting ready to head out and see the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat, but tomorrow morning, if I remember, I’ll tell you about what happened when I called in sick on Friday.
Meanwhile, enjoy what’s left of your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this today, in lieu of hearing a sermon that I actually enjoyed…
James Tabor:
“In this informal lecture I explore on a non-technical level some of the overarching themes of the Hebrew Bible, that surface in a composite way, here and there, in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms. What are human beings? Do they have any purpose or destiny beyond this world? What about death? What of the human future?”
Outside the Gates of Eden: The Hebrew View of Life, Death, and the Future (51 mins.):
I’m thinking this is gonna be a short post because I have a lot of snow and ice to remove from my beloved Honda Civic Sport before I head into town this morning.
At least it’s not continuing to snow, though, and the snow plows have already been by so the roads are clear.
But it still means that my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and I will not be going out for sashimi & sake today. Alas. It’s just way too slippery out there.
(Although I’m so tempted to stop off at the gas station and buy him another one of those pre-mixed vodka cocktail thingies, so that he can have a really fun stay-at-home snowday today!!) (But I’m thinking that if the nurse finds out I’m doing that when it’s not even a holiday (well I could say it’s for Martin Luther King Day!! Which is Monday!!), even though I dilute the vodka like crazy with water, I still think the nurse might not appreciate it.) (Although, MLK Day is a bona fide holiday…)
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Anyway!
Okay.
I actually slept great last night. About 7 straight hours, with really great dreams. So I am doing so much better today than I was doing yesterday.
And I think taking the day off yesterday was a great idea. I guess I got stuff out of my system that needed to get out. (Death, time flying, what is life, etc.)
When I get home from my shift later, I have to get started on some synopsis notes that Sandra sent over on Thursday.
Before we’d actually spoken on the phone, Sandra had left a voicemail Thursday, which inadvertently sounded like she had sent “78 pages of notes”.
I took a deep breath. Found the file she’d sent. And to my delight, I discovered that what she’d really said was “7 to 8” pages. Yay. And they were great notes, btw. So I gotta get started on that later.
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In other news!!
Probably happening RIGHT NOW!!! In Perth, Australia!!
And you can buy tickets for the Adelaide concert, January 20th, HERE.
And indeed!!! This just in–
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And here’s this–
Coming to Europe and the UK this summer!
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And yesterday was Kate Moss’s birthday.
Lucie de LaFalaise, Marlon Richards’ wife, posted this great shot of herself, Marlon, and Kate (with guitar) —
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And here’s this–
Keith and Ronnie smoking in NYC in 1979, perhaps celebrating Kate’s birthday many, many years before she was even famous, but I honestly don’t know:
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Keith, beatin’ out the timeless rhythm of great literature, in the privacy of his own home:
You know, that KINDA looks like it could be a rifle there behind him, so I’d think twice about breaking into his home library if I were you… just go get your books at a regular library. It would be safer.
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Here’s this!
A podcast of an interview Warren Ellis did live, on stage, a couple nights ago:
“Paul Richards talks to Warren Ellis. They discuss Ellis Park, the documentary film about the wildlife sanctuary co-founded by Warren plus the creative journey of Nina Simone’s Gum, working with Nick Cave and navigating personal breakdowns, live on stage at Picturehouse Central. ” (51 mins):
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Oh, and Ronnie Wood has a 20% Off sale on all T-shirts in January!
Yesterday, my best friend in the Universe, Valerie in Brooklyn, finally got word from her doctor regarding her heart problem. (Can you believe it took that long??)
But — YES– it’s looking like those two near-heart-attack episodes she had were caused by a bad reaction to a prescription drug she was taking (which she stopped taking a couple months ago, switching to herbal supplements from a Naturopath instead).
So when she went in for the heart surgery, the doctor couldn’t perform it only because he found nothing wrong…
So. Yay, gang. What a relief. (In fact, when I spoke to her on the phone, she sounded better than she’s sounded in a really long time. Another score for supplements over pharmaceuticals.)
In other news, though —
I am home “sick” today. Actually, I’m home trying not to be extremely depressed.
I was in such a bad state yesterday, which I couldn’t snap out of, that by early afternoon, I called the Agency and took today as a sick day. This gave them plenty of time to find someone to cover my shift with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man today.
I was doing fine yesterday until I started researching/making notes for my contribution to the tribute to M. Christian.
It wasn’t so much that I got depressed over Chris’s death, but the anthology I was skimming through, from 24 years ago, was filled with erotic works by terrific writers that I used to work with all the time — back before the global economy and self-publishing technology completely decimated the traditional literary erotica market — the anthology also included work by Bill Brent and Michael Hemmingson, writers with whom I was very, very close for many years, who are both also dead and have been for a while. And all three of us worked with M. Christian a lot.
Bill Brent
Michael Hemmingson
It just got to me. How much fun we used to have. How intense it used to be. The incredibly great work that writers, filmmakers, painters, poets were doing back then in the erotic arts. And because I was a publisher, editor, and a multi-media producer (and a constant marketer beyond your ability to comprehend), I got to work with ALL of them, from all over the world, in one capacity or another. (This was not traditional porn; this was art created by people, internationally, who were trying to make a statement about the eternal effects of Eros.)
It was so different from what most people create nowadays. Just because technology has just gone on in this unstoppable direction. Everything changed. You can’t go back. Perhaps people don’t even want to go back.
Well, it exhausted me, thinking about how Time is galloping on. It all went by so fast.
And since I couldn’t find a vacant spot to lie down on, on my own bed, because it was filled with many peacefully sleeping cats, instead, I went downstairs and laid down on the couch in the family room. Tried not to think about suicide. Tried to focus on people (and animals) who are counting on me to not die right now. Tried to take a nap.
But this change of location wound up having its own emotional perils because so many of my beloved books are down there in the family room–
And for some reason, I kept getting up from the couch, grabbing a book that I hadn’t read in decades, and would then start flipping through it.
Only to be confronted by the works of writers from the 20th Century — writers I loved but never knew personally; writers who all pushed the boundaries and paved the way for writers like me; who all knew each other and who were all published by a truly legendary publisher who was not afraid to take monumental risks to get the writers’ works out there–
Barney Rosset, 1922 – 2012
And all of those writers are dead now, too, and have been for a long time.
There it was again — Time galloping away.
I consider myself so fortunate to have met Barney Rosset when I was a writer in NYC, and to have been published by one of his imprints (not Grove Press, though), before he permanently retired (Blue Moon Books published the mass market edition of Neptune & Surf, but Barney was semi-retired by then).
And when I founded the Erotic Authors Association, to get better recognition (and better pay) for erotic authors worldwide, once a year, we gave out actual awards (engraved plaques), for Lifetime Achievements, and I was truly honored to be able to give out our first one to Barney Rosset and his legendary Grove Press.
And then when the Federal Government back then made it excruciatingly clear that if I kept up with the erotic literature stuff on the Internet, then I was going to prison –like, you know, they were going to frighten me or something…
Well, they frightened the fucking fuck out of me. And the moment I got home from my day of testimony in Supreme Court in Philadelphia, after having very, very politely explained to the Judge that erotic literature was not illegal (and even though the Judge sided with us and we won), I stepped down from the Erotic Authors Association and turned it over to other people who ended up trashing the whole venture and turning it into a porn site…
Anyway.
First I picked up Lost Words; The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs, which Wayne had bought me for Christmas in 2000. Edited and with an introduction by James Grauerholz (who had also just fucking died on New Year’s Day). But I couldn’t get past the part where James described how eccentric William was about cats — he’d had SIX of them. I have almost three times that many…
So I picked up another book. This one, by Jim Thompson. Wayne had bought that one for me, also. But when I saw how Wayne had inscribed it:
Well, that sort of devastated me because I didn’t recall Wayne ever having loved me at all. I was under the impression we’d been “really good friends” throughout our marriage and for the 19 years since our divorce….
There’s that pesky Time thing again.
But, at last! I picked up The Selected Letters of Jack Kerouac: 1940-1956.
599 pages(!!) of letters he’d written in the space of only 16 (!!) years, BEFORE he got famous(!).
And immediately, I was lost in something so beautiful. So full of fun and enthusiasm and passion. The book is just beautiful. The pages are brown and fragile now. But, wow, all of the Time that galloped out of Jack Kerouac’s life are still preserved there. And I read that for quite a while.
And I felt a little better about Time, because it comes for everybody. It’s simply part of being here.
And I calmed down.
And I felt like I should go back upstairs, do some yoga, listen to another lecture in James Tabor’s new course, “Christianity Before Paul” and be here now, and get my head back on straight.
And as luck would have it, just as I got back up to my cat-filled room, Sandra called and we had an extremely productive chat about both the TV series we’re developing, and the screenplay version of “Tell My Bones: The Helen LaFrance Story”. And you know, at least she and I both agree, we are in the final quarter of the 4th Act. We have to do our very best work now.
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And then I started listening to this last night. A free audio book. The guy reading it, Andy Marin, does a really terrific job. It’s been about 40 years since I read The Subterraneans, so it feels like it’s brand new, which is kind of a thrill:
Marilyn's Room 