Tag Archives: family

What’s Wrong With This Picture??

June 9, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 6 Comments

Well, mostly, it’s raining here again!

But other than that — yes, it’s going to be another day of driving hither & yon. And I am determined to just be in a good mood.

Yesterday was insane, gang. It didn’t resemble any kind of a day off that I’ve ever had. I already had a few errands I’d wanted to run yesterday — locally. Which I did do. But yes, I added a 60-mile drive to go see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man, fix him some breakfast and a cup of coffee. And then quickly train a substitute caregiver to take care of him yesterday.

And then back home I came — only did SIX loads of laundry yesterday. I’d been planning to do all the bed linens for when the cat sitters would be here, so I went ahead and did all that anyway, even though my trip is cancelled. And then, yes, I vacuumed the whole house!! Again!! (But, wow, does it look great now that all the carpets have been shampooed.)

And I took care of all the flowers outside, and all the cats, both inside and out (got the outside cats ready for flea season). Cooked up some dinners to have in the fridge through Thursday. Etc., etc.

I was absolutely wiped out by 4PM.

And, yes, I did get a text from the Agency at 5PM, asking if I could quickly go back to my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house this morning, before my regular Tuesday shift in a different (nearby) town, to quickly train another new substitute caregiver…. (His regular caregiver that works on my days off is still sick, and I think the woman I’m training today is going to cover my shifts on my upcoming days off.)

And the worst part is that he is still having trouble with his new artificial leg and he fell on Sunday and gashed his head and the paramedics were called in.

It doesn’t stop….

Anyway.

So, yes, I’m driving back out to his house this morning, then over to my regular Tuesday clients, and then after that, the Agency has their annual caregiver appreciation gathering! So I have to go to that before finally coming back home.

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Meanwhile!

Happy Birthday Johnny Depp! I think he’s 63 years old today.

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Okay.

Yesterday, Simon Parkes had a really great update. If you aren’t a member of Connecting Consciousness (it’s free — join here), you can’t watch the video. But it was very, very encouraging. I think good things are going to finally be happening later this summer, gang. We shall see!

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The Max’s Kansas City Project — a charitable foundation — is having it’s 60th Anniversary!

The NYC night club has not been in operation for decades, but the Project is:

“…dedicated to providing emergency funding and resources to financially distressed individuals in the creative and performing arts for housing, medical and legal aid. One time grants are awarded ranging from $500-$1000…”

“… committed to empowering teens through the arts with a focus on substance abuse and suicide prevention by mentoring and motivating them to make healthy choices…introducing teens to the creative arts as an outlet to meet the challenges of life in constructive ways, mentoring them and raising awareness on the dangers and consequences of substance abuse and addiction,”

You can donate here!

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I was very happy to learn yesterday that I can still at least watch the Lambda Literary Awards live on YouTube on Friday night, since I won’t be able to attend the celebration in NYC (which was the primary reason for my trip).

You can tune in here if you also want to watch:

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Legendary Country singer/songwriter/musician, Rodney Crowell, will be on TalkShopLive on Thursday June 11th at 6:30PM, Eastern Time.

He has a very interesting new album coming out on June 26th:

“I guess you could call it a lost album. I stumbled upon it in my vault at home. I’d forgotten about it completely. Largely recorded two decades ago, this record includes features by some of my great friends including Guy Clark, Lyle Lovett, Benmont Tench, as well as Emmylou Harris and Lera Lynn.”

You can pre-order it HERE.

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Something’s happening tomorrow but I can’t remember what…..

Oh! THIS!! FINALLY!!

You can still by tickets HERE, gang!!

And meanwhile…

I’ve been watching this documentary from 2011 on Amazon Prime the last couple of nights. “Autoluminescent” — about the late Rowland S. Howard.

“…featuring rare archival footage and exclusive interviews with the likes of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Phil Calvert, Lydia Lunch, Henry Rollins, Thurston Moore, Ollie Olsen and Bobby Gillespie.”

It’s really good:

And here’s this, while we’re at it! “Autoluminescent”, from Rowland S. Howard’s incredible album Teenage Snuff Film, 1999:

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And other than a bunch of other frustrating stuff that’s involved with trying to maintain a 125 year-old house out in the middle of nowhere all by myself…

I keep checking in on Tommycakes. She is still with us, but very much declining. Honestly, I didn’t think she would live through the night last night, but she did. And she’s still eating, so that’s an encouraging little sign.

Here’s a photo of her in the dining room from a couple of years ago. Weenie is on the chair under the table. The two were inseparable! He was her nephew… He passed away in May of last year.

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I’m thinking that is it for today. I have a lot to get organized here, mentally, before I get into that Honda Civic again and head back into town!!

Have a Terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world, gang!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

I don’t know if they’ll be opening their shows with this song again, but let’s get ready anyway!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, LIVE, “Get Ready For Love”! Enjoy, gang!!

No, Not Here!!

June 8, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 4 Comments

I mean, aside from the fact that the above is a depiction of a skyline that doesn’t really exist anymore…

Anyway.

I am really trying hard to not get depressed over not being in NYC this weekend. Aside from the fact that I love NY, I also really need some time away. I was looking forward to just being in the hotel room. Just being away from everything, if only for a few days.

But on we go.

And depending on what Sandra has to say when she gets back from Atlanta, I’ll find out if I’ll still be going to NYC in November. We shall see.

Meanwhile, Tommycakes is hanging in there. (See posts from the last few days if you have no idea what I’m talking about thus far.)

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Okay.

Not positive, but it looks like Johnny Depp is back in the Bahamas! (Perhaps to celebrate his birthday, tomorrow??!!)

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And from George Vjestica (one of the Bad Seeds) over the weekend– the rehearsals are over!

And now it’s only TWO DAYS until showtime!!! You can still buy tickets HERE!!

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From Phyllis Stein —

Another great shot of Willy Deville in New Orleans, 1992:

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And today is the heavenly birthday of my most favorite person that ever lived.

I know I say this every year, when I post a photo of him either on his birthday or the anniversary of his death, but I’ll say it again– life on Earth has never been the same for me since he died.

We met in our Junior year in high school, in the theater department, and remained best friends up until he died from AIDS in October of 1999. Here, he is in my kitchen in the paradise apartment on E. 12th Street in the East Village — visiting for Thanksgiving. I think it was 1986 or 1987.

Happy heavenly birthday, Paul. I miss you so much.

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Okay. I’m gonna close with this today. Hopefully, my spirits will be better tomorrow, gang. The Agency just texted and begged me to go stop in at my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house and at least make sure he gets something to eat, because the caregiver who was scheduled called off. Jesus.

But here’s this — beautiful Nick Cave in beautiful color:

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

Thanks for visiting gang.

I love you guys. See ya.

Here we are in the Hinterlands!

June 7, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 5 Comments

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning here. After thunderstorms all night long…

But the new Central Air Conditioning is unbelievably fantastic. What a godsend, truly. I slept really well. We ignored the thunder and lightning and high winds all night long…

Plus, I had moved all the outdoor potted plants and flower pots onto the kitchen porch yesterday, to keep them safe from sailing away on the wind, and when I went out onto the kitchen porch at 4:45AM this morning , not only was everything perfect, but Tiki was out there, sleeping happily in a veritable jungle of blooming flower boxes.

I am of course trying to just look at the positive stuff this morning, although yesterday was a really difficult one — having to decide to postpone the trip to NYC, which I was really looking forward to.

But now I have a total of 6 days off to just relax — and God knows, the house is CLEAN!!

I found out yesterday that the “trip insurance” is practically a scam. So I am out the cost of the airfare to NYC, but it wasn’t that expensive. Still. It was sort of the final straw (I also found out yesterday, by way of a “little bird,” that Sandra might be going into semi-retirement but hasn’t told me yet… She’s currently in Atlanta, shooting another episode of the “Ms. Pat Show” for Paramount+. So we’ll see how she’s feeling when she gets back.)

When I got home from my shift yesterday, I called Wayne to sort of vent about everything — he and I were going to be having dinner together on Thursday in NYC. He told me the same thing had happened to him once, regarding “trip insurance”, but it had ended up costing him almost 3 times as much money as I’d lost.

Later, during the night, Wayne sent me this on WhatsApp. It made me feel better because I had sent a REALLY nasty email to Travel Guard yesterday, and I hate sending nasty anything’s to anybody, but after reading this, I’m guessing mine was just one of millions they probably receive:

And then, around 3AM, when I got up to use the bathroom, I saw on my phone that my niece had sent me a friend request on Facebook! Yay!

Technically, we follow each other on Instagram but she hasn’t posted there in a few years. She is my half-brother’s daughter — the half-brother who is half-Cherokee and absolutely nothing but trouble.

Here she is at age 6 months, in 1997! I had bought her that little dress she’s wearing:

So that was a very nice alert to find when I looked at my phone at 3AM.

And late yesterday afternoon, I finally got an email from my best friend Valerie in Brooklyn. Mentally, she’s doing better, but she does have to have surgery on both hands on June 15th.

So here’s hoping that when I finally get back to NYC, she and I will both be back to normal.

And as soon as we can get everything sorted back out, we’ll get that mini-podcast up and running, finally.

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At least both of my shifts yesterday were really nice ones. And the torrential rains didn’t start until early afternoon, so my drive back out to that guy’s farm yesterday morning was just lovely.

And his home was almost an hour’s drive from my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house. And from a whole different direction than I usually take, so that was a lovely drive, too.

And, yes! Me and my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man had a great day!! Finally, we were alone! The house is back to normal!! And we went out for sashimi & sake and had a really lovely time (ALONE) together!

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As for Tommycakes, I’m just taking it moment by moment, and I hope she will last for the whole summer but when she goes, hopefully I will be here for her final journey.

For readers who are new to the blog — Tommycakes is one of my rescued feral cats. Meaning, she is not domesticated. Feral cats attack people, so they can’t be put into pet carriers– you have to trap them in order to transport them anywhere.

I have (humane) traps in the basement, but the traps are so traumatizing to them that at this stage, since she is so frail and thin, I doubt Tommycakes would survive getting trapped. And even then, no vets around here will handle feral cats. When Daddycakes (her brother) was dying, I found one vet 45 miles from here, who was willing to let me bring him in. He was so far gone and suffering at that point, that I just wanted him to be put to sleep. So the vet was willing to do that for me.

Otherwise, with the ferals, I have to just let God take them in their season. So far, Tommycakes is at least still eating.

Tommycakes with one of her kittens, 13 years ago

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Okay.

Speaking of trying to look at the bright side of things!

74 years ago today, my adoptive parents were married!

Their wedding day was a really happy one. And so was their honeymoon. I’ve decided to just think about that part of it today and let all the rest that came afterward just go…

Happy heavenly anniversary, Mom & Dad. RIP.

And on June 4th, Tom Petty’s 2nd wife, Dana. posted this:

They had gotten married earlier, in Las Vegas, but had their official Wedding Day on June 3rd. Little Richard (on the far right) was the Minister who married them.

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And here’s this!

My birth dad, Don May, and his older brother, Earl, were friends with the Country singer, Johnny Paycheck. They all grew up together in Greenfield, Ohio. My dad’s younger brother, Ralph, who was a professional Country singer as an adult in Nashville, was friends with Merle Haggard.

When Johnny Paycheck met my Uncle Ralph in Nashville and found out he was one of the May boys from Greenfield:

JOHNNY (to everyone in the room): “Those Mays were so poor, that when they had me over to lunch, they fed me mustard sandwiches!”

My dad later concurred that they’d been very poor…

And meanwhile, here’s my favorite Merle Haggard song — a song I first learned about in an interview Rolling Stone Magazine did with Keith Richards!

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And here’s this!

The Rolling Stones in London, 1971!!

And the Rollings Stones at some other time, backstage someplace!

And the Rolling Stones, nowadays:

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And here’s this!!

The Birthday Party by a swimming pool!!

And don’t forget!!

THREE days away!! Buy tickets HERE!!

And Nick Cave sent out a really lovely Red Hand File the other day! Wherein among other things, he had some great things to say about Freddie Mercury!! I loved Freddie Mercury!! And I got to see Queen in concert in Columbus in the mid-seventies. Wow, what a great show!!

But Nick also had this to say about the upcoming live shows this summer — for the band and audience alike — a quote from the song “Rings Of Saturn”:

“This is the moment, this is exactly what we were meant to be“

To read it in full, visit HERE.

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And that is it for now.

I’m gonna do some yoga. Water some flowers. Then head out to see the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat.

I am doing my very, very best to just keep moving forward, gang.

Enjoy 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 these.

A song from 1980 that ALWAYS reminds me of those first months, living in NYC right after moving there from Ohio.

Queen, “Another One Bites the Dust”, 1980, from their album The Game:

And here’s this!

“Rings of Saturn” by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 2016, from their breathtaking album Skeleton Tree. Enjoy, gang.

Crazy days in Crazeysburg!

June 3, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 1 Comment

It’s coming up on Homecoming Weekend here in Crazeysburg — wherein they block off 2nd Street and put up carnival rides and games and have live music, and all the local kids have a blast.

It’s called “Homecoming” because anyone who has prior connections to the village are encouraged to come back for an evening and reminisce.

The hard part about it for me is that it marks the anniversary of the horrible tornado we had 2 years ago. I can’t separate the sight of all the carnival rides going up now, from the sight of all that destruction the tornado caused that year. It happened the night before Homecoming Weekend. The rides were not hit, but many, many homes & a couple of businesses were destroyed.

And all the destruction happened literally 2 minutes from my house but the only street that got hit at all was 3rd Street. But it got hit really hard. No one died but a lot of people were taken to the hospital.

The gas station on 3rd Street that night:

Anyway. It’s over. The gas station, at least, looks better than ever. And I’m trying to just feel those “happy” feelings when I see the carnival rides getting assembled now…

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All right, so on a much less stressful note, but alas, still a little stressful–

I am hoping to take my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man out for sashimi & sake today because it is a STUNNING day out there today! His daughter is still there, though, so she might have other plans. We shall find out.

She heads home on Friday. It has been a really long trip for her.

At the very least, I hope I can get him over to the Nature Preserve near his house. Just getting him around trees in the sunshine makes him so happy. So we will see how today goes.

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Well, my relationship with the Caiaphas play deepens but I still have more questions than answers about how the story is going to unfold.

It requires a lot of sitting and staring. Or driving and staring, as the case may be.

Perhaps even flying and staring — if we cast our thoughts ahead to next week, when I leave for NYC!

Meanwhile–

Ronnie Wood has added another date to his upcoming tour. This one in Lisbon!! You can buy tickets HERE.

And here’s part of Keith’s heavenly birthday wishes to Charlie Watts from yesterday:

And speaking of Keith–

Obviously, I loved this!!

Keith and Anita in Venice in 1967. Maybe smoking, but I’m not completely sure…

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Okay!

Guess what happened 41 years ago on this very day??!!

One of those rare albums that absolutely stopped me in my tracks was released. The Firstborn is Dead. By Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

It was my first exposure to Nick Cave’s music and the scope of his songwriting astounded me. (I still have my copy from — lo! — those 41 years ago…)

And don’t forget!!!

7 more days and counting… (buy tickets here)

And here are these, just because I love them!!

Nick, proving he’s sober? Not sure.

And the happy Bad Seeds 13 years ago! (Their smiles are just contagious, right??)

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And that is kind of it for today.

I forgot to mention that the huge PRO carpet shampooer did indeed arrive and it has been assembled, and tomorrow — my day off — I am going to shampoo all the carpeting in the house.

And I’m also going to be putting out the last of the flower boxes — on the 2 windows of the barn. (Actually, they are fabric flower “boxes” that hang off the sills.)

So, summer will officially start around here tomorrow.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

Yes, it’s from the Oldies FM Radio Station, but it was when I was getting ready to get into bed last night — not getting up in the morning.

I loved this song when it came out, gang. I was living in the paradise apartment on E. 12th Street in NYC — just a stone’s throw from Allen Ginsberg, Richard Hell, and — a couple blocks over — Iggy Pop!

And upstairs from me was the awesome playwright Pamela Enz. We spent many an evening at her kitchen table, sharing a bottle of red wine, smoking cigarettes, while also sharing whatever writing we each had done during the day.

Anyway! This song reminds me of all that!

Pet Shop Boys. 1984 “West End Girls.” Enjoy, gang.

An interesting bunch of hours

May 23, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Well, me and my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man did indeed go out for sashimi & sake yesterday — we had a splendid time, even though it rained the whole day and was kind of chilly.

But he was in great spirits and happy to get out of the house.

And look at this most magnificent fortune that was in my fortune cookie after lunch!!!

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So.

I did over 100 miles of driving yesterday, because I had that new client out in the hills on a farm.

And it poured rain throughout most of that driving — including the 40 miles I had to drive to get back home last night.

But what a nice client. What a nice home, on a beautiful farm. He had a great cat. And what an easy shift. The day shift does everything. I was just basically on “standby” all evening. I didn’t need to do much, physically.

However…

That said.

That little extra money I would now be getting from having this new client every Friday night all summer long…

It turned out that yesterday was the final evening shift for that client. He is steadily improving and will now only need help during the days.

The Agency texted me while I was there last evening. Oh well. The extra money for the rest of the summer, evaporated.

However!! The good part was learning that I suddenly had every Friday night off for the rest of the summer…. yay!!

But he was a really nice man.

And you know you’re on a farm in Ohio when you hang out and watch old reruns of “Gunsmoke” from over 60 years ago, while your client has his gun in its holster, draped over the arm of his recliner all evening…

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All right!

I slept in a little this morning because I got in late last night. So let’s get moving!

On WhatsApp this morning!! From Vietnam, finally!

Wayne & I still call it Saigon, even though it’s not called that anymore. But here’s Wayne and his brother in Saigon yesterday!

Wayne does not know what they’re drinking, only that it was “2 for $5”:

Here, Wayne’s brother is learning from a native, how to fit-in in Saigon!

And Wayne took this photo of a photo because he felt my birth dad’s energy coming from it — my dad was on these types of boats a lot in the Vietnam War. This is at the War Remnants Museum:

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Okay.

Here’s this!

More stuff that Johnny Depp is doing!

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And on to another Johnny!

From Phyllis Stein! Johnny Thunders, in Amsterdam, in 1985!

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And here’s this!

Leonard Cohen at the Chelsea Hotel in NYC, in 1967!

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And here’s this!

From that same photo shoot that my favorite Rolling Stones poster came from in my wee bonny teenaged girlhood — only in this shot, Keith is up close and smoking!! Yay!!

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And a couple of great ones!!

First, an old favorite — Nick Cave at perhaps his finest!! And smoking!!

And second — a new favorite!!

Some of the Birthday Party & Lydia Lunch in Berlin in 1982!!

And don’t forget!! Coming up soon!

Buy tickets HERE!!

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And that is it. I gotta scoot or I’m gonna be late!

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

Driving in the rain for 40 miles music from last night!

I know I posted it here recently, but here it is again!! Play it loud, over and over, in the pouring rain in the middle of a very green & rolling nowhere for 40 miles, sing along, and you can still smile the whole way home. I did!

“Better Things” by The Kinks. Enjoy (again), gang.

Beautiful Day, Part 2!!!

May 18, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Okay.

More about what I briefly mentioned in my blog post yesterday, regarding the May family and the writer, Louisa May Alcott.

WOW! But first!!

Remember that I said I was back on social media platforms, to promote the new novel??

I just got a friend request on Facebook, from one of my former writing students!! How cool!!

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Okay. Back to our regularly scheduled program!

So, back in 1971, I started to get completely obsessed (and I mean, obsessed) with wanting to know who my birth dad was. (And that topic is basically the core idea of my upcoming memoir about my life in the 1970s, Joy: The Shortest Season.)

I stayed obsessed for 16 years. It was impossible to find out who my birth dad was, because no one knew.

And when I finally obtained a copy of my original birth certificate — in 1985, I petitioned the State of Ohio to have my adoption files opened — on the birth certificate, it had 2 really, really sad things: that my birth mom had only been 13 when I was born, and that my father was “Unknown.”

I won’t go into all the details of everything, because you can read the memoir (after I write it)!

But I will say, that I immediately found my birth mom, who was glad to have me back but who refused to say who my dad was.

And also that the man who I was eventually told was my dad — a cousin who had gone to school with my mom told me what the rumors had been back then — was not in fact my dad.

However, that guy’s mother — a lovely woman named Mary who lived in a small town in Ohio, whom I went to visit in 1987 — knew exactly who my birth dad was. She didn’t tell me — although she showed me an old photo of her son’s best friend and asked me if I thought I looked like him. I did!! But she didn’t say more than that.

And then, one night a couple months later, alone in my paradise apartment on E. 12th Street in NYC, I was watching a rerun of the Andy Griffith Show and got a phone call. A long distance phone call; a man calling from Reno, Nevada.

ME: “Hello?”

HE (a thick hillbilly accent): “Is this Marilyn?”

ME: “Yes.”

HE: “Well, Marilyn. My name’s Don May. And I think I’m your father.”

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That is the short version. But my life changed overnight. Finally.

And that was the beginning of finding out what it meant to be descended from the pioneering May family.

And somewhere in there, I learned that I was cousins with Louisa May Alcott — there were Mays all over Kentucky, but also all over New England. And they were all related.

Eventually I realized that back when I was still a young girl, and still obsessing about who my “real” father was, there were hidden clues to his identity all over my world.

For instance, I loved Donny Osmond. And Donald was my birth dad’s name.

I also loved David Cassidy, and he and my birth dad had the same birthday: April 12th.

I loved the Rod Stewart song, “Maggie May,” from 1971.

I grew up in Cleveland, where the most popular department store was the May Company.

And at my adoptive grandparents’ home, there were 2 old books on the upstairs bookshelf that really appealed to me a lot; books that had belonged to my adoptive mother, Marcia, when she was growing up: Little Women and Aunt Jo’s Scrap Bag, both by Louisa May Alcott, who I already knew was a famous writer.

But for some reason, Aunt Jo’s Scrap Bag really stuck out and I ended up taking that book home with me and keeping that book, and I still have it.

It’s an edition published in 1929:

Here’s the inside cover — my adoptive mom’s Aunt Molly had given her the book (and oddly enough, I was almost named after that Aunt Molly, until my adoptive dad got his way and named me after Marilyn Monroe instead):

And here’s the beautiful title page, from a book that is now almost 100 years old:

So, it was thrilling to eventually discover, years later, that I was related to Louisa May Alcott, the writer (and by then, I had just become a published writer, myself).

But what thrilled me even more–

After my birth dad passed away in 1999, I began getting letters from his older sister, who lived in North Carolina, whom I had never met.

She sent me beautiful letters, along with old photos of my dad from various eras of his life– from little boy on a farm, to sailor in Vietnam. Really lovely letters. I still have all of them.

Here’s a sample — Yes, a letter from my Aunt Jo:

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There are a couple more things I discovered just yesterday , between Louisa May Alcott and the surname “Peabody”, in my new novel The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, but I won’t go into all that right now.

Just wanted to share some of all this today.

Okay.

Oh my goodness! My previous writing student just texted from Facebook: “Hi! How’ve you been?” (I haven’t seen him in about 10 years… where to begin???)

All righty!!

Thanks for stopping by again! Have a great Monday.

I love you guys. See ya!

WARNING: This site in no way idealizes smoking…ever.

May 11, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 3 Comments

Okay, so.

Day 2 in absolute mental overload — but the brain is still working just fine.

I am of course referring to the commitment I made to write an entire play about Caiaphas in the month of June (wherein I will also be in NYC for 4 days). (See yesterday’s post if you missed it.)

I have to say, gang, just going over the piles of notes — alone — will take an entire month, but I’m still moving forward. And I feel really good about it.

This bit of monologue floored me. (First, let me just point out that Caiaphas’ entire reputation for being the man behind killing Jesus is based on basically one line in the New Testament and it basically only states that the “trial” went on in his home. It was more the doings of his father-in-law and brothers-in law (also High Priests), but after 70 AD, Pharisaic Christians wanted to re-frame that. Hence, my desire to write a play about how a man’s horrific reputation, which, throughout eternity has basically been false, is seen from that man’s POV in the afterlife.)

Anyway. I digress.

I came across this scribbled bit of monologue in my notes from 2014 and I loved it:

(Caiaphas speaking): “The bounty I gave to the world because I gave it a picture of the crucifixion of God’s son.”

FUCK, right??!! Think of everything that has come from it: Religions, wars, art.

Anyway.

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Okay.

So I’m in a good place. I’m not losing my mind or living in overdrive. My only –albeit small — regret, is that I didn’t write the whole play back in 2016, when all the notes were fresh. (Most of the notes are historical and archeological, and now it’s looking like I gotta read all that stuff again.)

But I’m okay.

And yesterday, since it was Mother’s Day, I had a nice phone chat with my birth mom, finally.

Yes! I called her on the phone and she actually answered it.

But it appears that on Friday and Saturday, the other daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughter, celebrated Mother’s Day with her in various lovely ways.

And my brother was going to be stopping by later in the afternoon yesterday, so she was sitting alone in her living room with nothing to do and so when the phone rang, she answered it.

She sounded in good spirits and that always makes me feel great.

Regarding all the caregiving stuff in my world, though, it is still a bit overwhelming and I have to make a dedicated effort to draw some sort of inner emotional lines for myself. We’ll see how that goes. But meanwhile.

Oh! I finally finished watching the Netflix film, “Je m’appelle Anjeta” last night, and I really just loved it, all the way through. It was so fun!

And, speaking — sort of — of France (the movie is in Swedish and French and takes place in Provence), I’m still studying my French every evening and, after studying French for something like 57 years now–

This past week, I learned 3 new words. Well, I’m always learning new words, but these 3 are for common, ordinary things, but I am JUST NOW learning them. I find that so weird.

The words are:

Plafond (ceiling)
Grenier (attic)
Toit (roof)

I guess, you know, I’ve always needed to learn about stuff that didn’t involve looking up in any way. But I just find that so weird. After all these years. And I did not even realize that I did not know these words.

ME (all over Paris): “Excusez-moi, où est le toit ?” [“Excuse me, where is the roof?”]

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Okay!

Yesterday was not only Mother’s Day (here in the USA) — it was also this guy’s heavenly birthday!

Happy Heavenly Birthday to Sid Vicious!

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And here’s this!

Keith, doing something he’s really good at besides smoking– being HAPPY!

And here’s this!

Keith and Mick, not smoking at a soundcheck in Malmo, Sweden, in August 1970. (I think they are singing that classic Beatles’ song, “Help,” but I’m not 100% sure.)

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I loved these!!

Nick Cave not smoking in a brownish suit!

And Nick Cave not smoking onstage in Hamburg in June, 1982!

And don’t forget!!

If you missed the Hamburg gig in 1982, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds will be all over Germany this summer and tickets are still available! Buy them HERE!!!

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And I think that is it, gang!

It is, of course, my illustrious day off.

Laundry is already done!

No vacuuming is needed today!! (I will give you a moment to pick yourself up off the floor after that shocking remark!)

And all that I gotta do now is take a deep breath and, I guess, dive into a truckload of notes I made 10–12 years ago, sort them all out, and create a play!

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world, gang.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you witih this!

Morning-listening music!!

I had it on “repeat” through most of breakfast.

I love this song so much. (It reminds me of most of my family, on my birth dad’s side, going back 150 years…)

Recording the song caused Tom Petty a lot of problems:

Story of Tom Petty punching a wall in 1984 breaking his hand (2 mins):

Originally from the album, Southern Accents, Tom Petty & the Heartbreaker’s “Rebels”, 1985. (This is an alternate take, from his posthumous collection, An American Treasure.) Enjoy, gang!

“Rebels”

Honey, don’t walk out, I’m too drunk to follow
You know you won’t feel this way tomorrow
Well, maybe a little rough around the edges
Or inside a little hollow
I get faced with some things sometimes
That are so hard to swallow, hey!

I was born a rebel, down in Dixie
On a Sunday mornin’
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel, born a rebel

She picked me up in the mornin’
And she paid all my tickets
Then she screamed in the car
Left me out in the thicket
Well I never would’ve dreamed
That her heart was so wicked
Yeah but I keep coming back
‘Cause it’s so hard to kick it, hey, hey, hey

I was born a rebel, down in Dixie
On a Sunday mornin’
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel, born a rebel

Even before my father’s father
They called us all rebels
As they burned our cornfields
And left our cities leveled
I can still feel the eyes of those blue-bellied devils
Yeah, when I’m walking ’round tonight
Through the concrete and metal, hey, hey, hey

I was born a rebel, down in Dixie
On a Sunday mornin’
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel, born a rebel

Hey hey hey

c – 1984 Tom Petty

Sorry I’m Late!

May 5, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 4 Comments

It’s Primary Election Day here in Ohio, so I had to go out and do that thing.

But I am back!

I don’t know if it’s just me, gang, but things feel so weird today.

For one thing, I had so many vivid dreams last night. Like someone was trying really, really hard to tell me something.

In one dream, I was in the house I owned about 10 years ago. I was unpacking and moving back in. And I was really happy about it, but it was as if I was returning there from having been in a sort of coma.

All the cats were there and happy I was back. And then at one point, an official sort of woman — don’t know how to describe her — brought in my Aunt Sylvia, my Great Aunt Gertrude, and my grandfather!!

All of these relatives have been dead for a really long time. But they were all really happy to be back and I was so happy to see them. (They were from my adoptive maternal side of the family.)

In another dream, I literally could not keep my eyelids open and I was going around doing important stuff (including driving on the freeway) with my eyes shut — trying really hard to lift my eyelids so that I could see.

But there was a lot more to the dreams than that, and all of it was totally lucid dreaming. Not something I’ve done in a really long time. So that, in itself, felt really strange.

But I did get the impression, when all the dreams were over, that I’ve been “asleep in the dream of life” for a few years or something and I’m trying to wake up again.

However — wasn’t it sort of like this image I posted yesterday??? About letting anxiety take a back seat for awhile?? Too weird!!

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Okay. Anyway.

I voted. I have the day off. I’m not super happy about losing all that money for today — Tuesdays are good money days for me. But I’ve decided that I will try to just stay relaxed (that’s my new “idea” — to relax). And have a good day.

We’re gonna see how that goes.

I just feel so fucking strange.

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Okay. Did you visit the Rolling Stones web site yet??

It’s too fun. It opens with a “studio surveillance system” — you click on the various cameras and get grainy black & white footage of the Stones in the studio, making the new album. Some of the cameras “don’t work.”

Anyway. It’s fun. And then you can also enter the main web site.

Tonight, Mick Jagger is going to be on late night TV, I guess introducing the new single from the upcoming album. Methinks I will not be awake, but I feel pretty certain I will get bombarded with it all over Instagram tomorrow morning…

Meanwhile, here’s this!

From 60 years ago… the original Rolling Stones:

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NewFest Pride announced their film line-up that will launch Pride Month in NYC.

There will be big outdoor screenings, but if you no longer live anywhere near NYC — you can get a virtual pass, and watch the films online.

There are many different options for purchasing passes to the screenings and parties and Q&A’s in NYC HERE.

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And by accident, last night I re-listened to chapters 12 -17 of The Dharma Bums on YouTube! I was listening to something else and trying to skip the ad, when it suddenly took me to a totally different video that I had listened to several months ago.

But I was quietly very happy with this twist of fate! I love that book. (Chapters 12 -17):

And I think maybe it was Jack, once again helping me make peace with the ever-upcoming release of The Curse of Our Profound Disorder and how it will likely be a book that won’t sit well with people….

Jack’s spirit is really good at helping me come to terms with that.

Jack Kerouac in Greenwich Village, NYC — looks like late 1940s or early 1950s.

I did get a really wonderful text from Wendy yesterday, saying she had finished reading the novel. It was difficult for her to get through (see yesterday’s post), but she liked how everything was resolved in the end.

And she also said: “If you don’t have a book launch, how will people know the book is out?”

Which, obviously, is a very good point…

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Okay. Well, on a somewhat different note!

Here’s this! So similar to yesterday!

Keith, drinking Jack Daniels onstage!

And so here’s the follow up to what I alluded to yesterday about my dad’s parenting skills in 1972:

I was 12, and closed up in my bedroom, as usual. I was always closed up in there, listening to music or playing my guitar and writing songs.

My dad came in and told me that my grandmother (his mother) had just called to tell him that Karen and I had been drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes.

ME: “How’d she know about that?”

HE (laughing but trying hard not to show it): “You mean it’s true?”

ME: “Yeah. But how’d she know?”

HE: “She saw you. You weren’t doing a very good job of trying to hide it. Do you even like whiskey?!”

ME: “No, but Karen does.”

And then my dad went on to tell me that I was too young to drink whiskey and smoke cigarettes, and that if I was going to keep on doing it, I better try harder to not get caught.

HE: “If you do get caught again, then I’m gonna look like I can’t control my own daughter. And then I’m gonna get angry.”

It is sufficient to say that, forever after, I tried really hard not to get caught drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes… the rest of the stuff I got up to, not so much.

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All righty!

And here’s this!

Nick Cave in Berlin, 1986! Similar, but different! (I think I posted this one not too long ago, but it came up again today!)

And this!!

Nick and Blixa in the 80s!! Yay! (Apparently having no trouble at all keeping their eyes open…)

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And with that, I should close this, because the morning is almost gone around here.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

Let’s close with this.

Morning-listening music!!

From Full Moon Fever, Tom Petty’s totally addictive “The Apartment Song”!! 1989. Enjoy, gang.

Hoping this is on the horizon today!

May 2, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

The weather is very sunny today but still really cold.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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On a happier front…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Anyway.

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

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

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

And here’s this!

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

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And here’s this!

Nick Cave!

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

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

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And that’s it.

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

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*********

Let’s close with this!

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

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

So this is where THAT’S going

April 28, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 4 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We shall see.

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

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

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

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

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Meanwhile, before I forget.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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A very early shot of Keith! 1963:

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

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

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Oh!

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

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And some more wonderful old photos of Nick Cave.

A multi-patterned Nick in London, 1989:

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

And this one is by Mike Owen:

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And that’s it for now.

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

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

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

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