Tag Archives: fiction

Another Happy Sunday in the Hinterlands!

August 30, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I think today the heatwave officially begins creeping in, so the AC is back on, but other than that, it is yet another really gorgeous morning here!

I did indeed complete the book edits yesterday evening, and this afternoon, I’ll chat with the writer and make sure he’s okay with everything. But as of now, it is complete.

And YES! I’m heading back to town here soon to buy more groceries and never-ending food for the cats! But it should be another really lovely drive to town and back.

Me, going to town! The guy driving is A.I.

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Wow, so, yesterday’s Zoom call with James Taber was so exciting!

Basically, all we talked about was our upcoming conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, the last weekend of September. I can’t discuss on the blog what we will be discussing at the conference, but I can at least say: Historical Jesus, John the Baptist, and things concerning ossuaries!! (This is primarily an archeology conference.)

Even though I have never been to Charlotte, I’m planning to just stick around the hotel, even when the lectures are over for the day. I love hotels, and this one sounds like it will be a really nice one to just hang out in– and of course, chat with other conference goers!!

And I recently discovered that going there and back, I have a layover in Detroit!!

I have not been to Detroit in a really long time. I realize I will only be in the airport, but I’m actually kind of looking forward to that, too.

So, the plane ticket is purchased, the hotel room is reserved, the cat sitters are lined up, and my girlfriend is taking me to and from the Columbus airport so that I don’t have to pay for an Uber!!

So, pretty soon, off I go!

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Oh, and before the trip, of course, I have a new novel coming out and a book signing!!

And the minute I come back from the trip, I start editing the tribute anthology for M. Christian!!

(I’m guessing that somewhere in the middle of all that, SANDRA will suddenly call and say, “I need you to come to Rhinebeck ASAP…” (I sure hope I am just kidding about that!!)

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Today is the final day of the Kindle eBook sale for my novel, The Guitar Hero Goes Home (2020). It is 99 cents in Kindle Unlimited. You can purchase it HERE!!

Thanks, everybody!!

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I don’t really have much to post about this morning, because yesterday was booked solid with the Zoom meeting and the book editing.

But I do have this!

A photo of Keith playing a guitar a long time ago and not smoking in black & white!!

And there were a TON of just beautiful videos of the final Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds show in Paris, but no photos that jumped out at me.

So here’s this instead!

Nick Cave & Mick Harvey not smoking in London in 1981!!

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Other than that, I guess that is it for now.

Tomorrow will be FUN! I get to wait around all day for the Visiting Nurse from my Medicare Insurance Company to stop over and give me my annual “how long until you will be dead” checkup!!

Of course, while I’m waiting I can always do this!! Yay!

All right, gang, I’m going to head to town now.

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 this!!

Late-night-listening-in-the-dark music from last night!

I don’t recall why I was suddenly compelled to listen to Neil Diamond’s album of cover songs, Rainbow (1973), but that’s what I did.

My mother was a huge Neil Diamond fan and had a lot of his records. I liked him, too, and would usually abscond with one of the records and take it up to the record player in my room.

Rainbow was an album that I not only absconded with, but kept!!

All these decades later, though, I stream it on my phone… It’s just as beautiful as ever, although it has some really intense memories attached to it, seeing as how it was a record I listened to a lot in 1974 (the Nadir of My Existence year)…

Anyway.

YOU don’t have those memories!!

Here’s the opening song from the record. Neil’s version of “Everybody’s Talkin'”. Enjoy, gang.

A relaxing Saturday, indeed!

August 29, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Okay, gang. Happy Saturday!

And it’s another truly gorgeous day here in the Hinterlands. (I haven’t even needed to have the AC on for about 5 days!) (However, another heatwave is on its way next week…)

I am almost done editing the writer’s book. I will try to complete the edits this afternoon, after the James Tabor Zoom meeting. But I will most definitely have it done by tomorrow. A day before it’s due!

What a book, gang. I do not know how this man lived through what happened to him.

And I also am curious indeed how his book landed on my desk — of all people to be editing a book like this! (Referring to my 4 recent years of nonstop digital soldiering…)

Anyway. It is definitely a story that needs to be told.

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Okay!

Here’s a happy thing!

Last evening, I got a text from my 93-year-old uncle down in Virginia. I had sent him a review copy of my upcoming novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder.

He has read everything I ever wrote, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to read the new book, since it is just really raw, with some unhappy things that are always sort of just right in the reader’s face. But he said he would try his best to read it all the way to the end.

His text last evening said, in part:

“Just finished reading your book. It was strangely entertaining and a shift from my usual reading material. You have an unusually creative mind…”

He said some other nice things, but I don’t want to spoil the book for you! But it made me really happy that he had not only finished it, but that he also liked it! (You can pre-order it in print or eBook HERE. It will be released on Sept. 11th by Parisian Phoenix Publishing.)

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Speaking of writing!

This newsletter for writers is the best! Not only is it very informative, but she gives you all the information for FREE. Including all sorts of calls for submissions!

I get so disheartened how, nowadays, writers often need to pay someone to get access to calls for submissions or other paying publishing markets. It was never like that in the old days.

But now it seems there are so many people out there who just want to make money off of writers.

Here is Erica Verrillo’s The Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity Newsletter

You can read her current newsletter HERE and also sign up for it, for free!

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Okay!

Get ready for THIS today!

It’s Australian musician (and former Bad Seed) Mick Harvey’s birthday!! He turns 68 today!

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And on a similar theme–

It’s the 40th Anniversary of the release of the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album of cover songs, Kicking Against the Pricks! From August, 1986!

You can listen to the entire remastered album HERE. (Choose your preferred platform.)

I recently posted this one from that album, but here it is again!! Their cover of “Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart”!!

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And speaking of Nick Cave!!

The final show of the tour is over!! And here’s what he had to say this morning!

Dear All,

Our tour has come to an end: thirty-two shows across Britain and Europe. Thank you to everyone who came along to make it what was, by any measure, a momentous summer. You were the most amazing, engaged and responsive audience, and it has been a true privilege to play for you.

People often ask how I stay so emotionally engaged night after night. The answer is, The Bad Seeds – the greatest live band a singer could wish for. So powerful, so vulnerable, so nimble, gloriously anarchic, and utterly committed to their own brand of lunacy. They really are the best. And it is you, the audience, who give so much. That connection sweeps us all away. People call it transcendent, even religious. Well, it is exactly that. The audience becomes a vast church into which the band pour their love, and that love, that devotion, comes surging back. For me, this is where the power resides. It’s love, plain and simple.

My manager just sat down with me at breakfast here in Paris and said, “The tour’s over. You did a good job. Now, let’s talk about The Bad Seeds and 2029. I have a very interesting idea.” Weirdest thing, I felt a surge of excitement.

Love, Nick

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And here’s a photo from last night’s show in Paris!

Here’s the set list!

And from Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos in Paris yesterday–

And the tour is officially over!!

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Okay, gang.

That’s it for now.

I’m gonna finish up the laundry. Maybe take a quick walk out there in the glorious sunshine, and then settle in for James Tabor‘s Zoom meeting. (They usually last at least 2 hours.)

Then, editing!!

Enjoy your Saturday, 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!

From up there on Jim Sclavunos’ post from Paris yesterday!!

Perry Como, 1955, “It’s A Good Day”!! It certainly is! Let’s enjoy it, gang.

Holy Cow! What A Beautiful Morning!

August 23, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I decided to make a quick trip to the Dollar Store as soon as it opened today, get it over with so that I could focus on the editing later — I’m going to need to stop early today because of the live Zoom with Ross K. Nichols and James Tabor later this afternoon.

It was about 8:15AM when I ran to the store. And it was only 67 degrees Fahrenheit outside, a very light breeze, blue skies for miles, birds singing — and also for miles, everything was green! The trees, the hills, everyone’s lawns. And over where the Dollar Store is, the cornfields start. The corn is tall and just so green, too.

It kinda took my breath away, gang. Everything was just so beautiful.

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Okay.

Just a reminder — the week-long sale for my experimental novel, The Guitar Hero Goes Home, (2020) begins this morning at 8AM, Pacific time. The Kindle edition will be 99 cents, in Kindle Unlimited, until next Sunday.

You can buy it HERE. (Suitable for mature readers. This book is not erotica.) Thanks, gang! And if you do buy it and like it, please review it!! Thank you!!

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I think this is awesome!!

The GoFundMe fundraiser for guitarist Richard Lloyd is already almost at it’s goal!!

Since yesterday morning, when it launched, they have raised $31,117 of the $40K goal!!

From bassist Sean Seymour:

“I’ve organized this fundraiser for Richard Lloyd, my friend and bandmate in the Richard Lloyd Group. For those who don’t know him, Richard is a founding member and guitarist of Television, the legendary New York band whose album Marquee Moon became one of the most influential records in rock history. In March 2026, Richard was diagnosed with cholangiocarcinoma, a serious form of bile duct cancer. He has tumors in his liver, including one located dangerously close to a major blood vessel. Because of its location, doctors cannot safely operate to remove it at this time. Since his diagnosis, Richard has been through an extraordinary amount. He has been in the ICU seven times, dealing with serious complications including sepsis twice, as well as complications involving his liver and kidneys. And through all of this, he’s fighting….”

Please donate! Any amount will help! (I’ve heard that Richard and his wife actually need way more money then they’re asking for.)

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Okay.

Yesterday, the new Autumn comforter for the bed arrived so I went ahead and put it on the bed.

It is UNBELIEVABLE how much the cats love this comforter, gang!!

This morning, literally one minute after I made the bed:

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Yesterday, this happened!

It was John Lee Hooker’s heavenly birthday!!!

Happy belated heavenly birthday John Lee Hooker!

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And I kinda can’t believe this one, gang.

Tom Petty’s granddaughter turns 13 this weekend. (She was 4 years old when Tom passed away.)

Happy 13th birthday, Everly!

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Speaking of things I can’t believe —

Today marks the 100th anniversary of silent film legend Rudolph Valentino’s tragic death.

Yesterday evening, I sent the above photo to Wayne and told him that it was the 100th anniversary of Rudy’s passing, and then Wayne texted me this!!

“Seems like only yesterday…”

It so totally made me smile!! (And I’m pretty sure he’s wearing a Ramones t-shirt…)

And if you’d like to know a lot more about the amazing and very short life of Rudolph Valentino—

Check out my book Twilight of the Immortal (2011)!!

“As historical fiction, it is rich with detail and imagery, providing a strong ‘you were there’ experience for the reader…For me, the only disappointing part of the reading experience was reaching the end.” – MB Austen, BiWomenBoston.org

You can purchase Twilight of the Immortal in eBook or print HERE. Thank you!! (It is suitable for all readers.)

And, YES!, while we’re at it–

This is the very same novel that my agent said was my masterpiece, as we sat together, having breakfast out on the sunny patio of the Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood.

As she held the lofty manuscript that it had taken me ten years to research, she said, “I can only compare this to F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is just that good.”

Then she added, “Unfortunately, no one is buying F. Scott Fitzgerald right now…”

And she was 100% absolutely correct about that!! Every single publishing house turned it down!!

The self-published book is currently ranked at #2,037 in Historical LGBTQ Fiction on Amazon.

Not too shabby for a 16-year-old book that every publishing house turned down…

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OKAY!!!!

Speaking of not too shabby–

Check this out!

Congratulations, Johnny Depp!

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And from Phyllis Stein–

Another lovely photo of Willy DeVille! In Belgium, 1990. (Photo by Gie Knaeps)

And here’s this, while we’re at it!! “Cadillac Walk,” Mink DeVille, from his debut album Cabretta, 1977!

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And here are some more photos from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ show at the Cabaret Vert Festival in France the other night!

And I’m not sure if this was in France or at a different show, but I love this photo– Nick Cave relaxing with a few of the Bad Seeds!

They play Munich, Germany, tonight. You can buy tickets HERE!

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And I guess that is it for now.

I’m going to get back to editing that writer’s amazing book. (And by amazing, I mean an unbelievably intense memoir.)

And then I will get ready for that Zoom meeting, which promises to be so much fun– Ross K. Nichols and James Tabor discussing the various translations of the Bible — both Hebrew and New Testament — over the centuries, and who did it and WHY. (Because once you get into the various ways the Bible was translated, gang, it practically becomes a whole different book…)

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 this.

For some reason, when I awoke this morning at 5AM, this song was going over and over in my head.

So maybe it can get stuck in your head now, too!

“Letting You Go,” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. From their Platinum-selling album, Hard Promises, 1981. Enjoy, gang.

“Letting You Go”

I used to think that when this was all over
You might feel different about me
Yeah, I always knew one day you’d come around
Now I wonder if dreams are just dreams

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh
I’m having trouble letting you go
Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh
I’m having trouble letting you go

Baby look out your window, it’s raining on your summer home
You’re by the fire keeping warm and dry
There’s no one as honest as those in pain
Oh honey can’t you see me, will you let me inside?

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh
I’m having trouble letting you go
Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh
I’m having trouble letting you go

And it’s a restless world, an uncertain time
You said hope was getting hard to find
But time rolls on, days go by
What about the broken ones?
What about the lonely ones?
Honey, I’m having trouble letting go

It’s off in the distance, somewhere up the road
There’s some easy answers for the tears you’ve cried
And it makes me uneasy, makes me feel different
Do you get scared when you close your eyes?

Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh
I’m having trouble letting you go
Whoa-oh, whoa-oh-oh-oh
I’m having trouble letting you go
I’m having trouble letting you go

1981 – Tom Petty

Another happy Saturday at my desk!

August 22, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

It’s not really that extreme — I do get outside and take walks. Still get the laundry done and the house vacuumed. Still do yoga, wash my hair, eat meals and take care of 15 cats…

But all that stuff aside, I’m once again spending a whole lot of time at my DESK!!

Yay!

Oh, and speaking of cats — yesterday I lined up Rasha’s mom & her baby boy, Jude, to cat sit for us while I’m in North Carolina next month for James Tabor’s TRG conference! (1st century archeology pertaining to Jerusalem and the historical Jesus and John the Baptist.)

Now I’m just waiting to hear if one of my girlfriend’s in town can take me to & from the airport, or if I need to plan on Uber. But the trip is basically on my horizon for sure now and I can’t wait!

And speaking of James Tabor — tomorrow afternoon, Ross K. Nichol‘s private Yachad is having a Zoom meeting with James Tabor!! We’re all going to be discussing the various English translations of the Bible (Hebrew and New Testament). It should be so much fun, all together like that on Zoom!!

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Okay.

An important message from Phyllis Stein on Instagram.

Guitarist Richard Lloyd (one of the founding members of the seminal NYC band, Television, along with Richard Hell, Tom Verlaine, and Billy Ficca, back in 1974), has cancer.

You can donate to Richard Lloyd’s go fund me account HERE.

They are already closing in on $10K of their $40K goal!! Any amount helps!

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All right.

Look what we forgot yesterday!!

That’s right! It was Joe Strummer’s heavenly birthday!

Happy belated heavenly birthday, Joe Strummer!

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And look at this!

TODAY is Roland Orzabal’s 65th birthday!! Happy birthday, Roland!!

And here’s this, while we’re at it!! Tears For Fears! “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, from their hugely popular album Songs from the Big Chair, 1985!

And here’s a pop quiz for loyal readers of this lofty blog!!

TRUE or FALSE:

Every time I hear the song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World”, I am instantly reminded of hanging out in the bar next door to the Museum of Modern Art in NYC in 1985, with my co-worker and best friend Valerie from Brooklyn, both of us smoking and drinking and laughing on our work-break! And then that song came on the bar’s radio…

If you replied TRUE, then you know me really, really well! Congratulations!! And– Yay!!

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And here’s something I don’t think we have EVER seen!!

NO!! Not Mick talking on a telephone!

KEITH, stubbing out a cigarette!!

Smoking, not smoking — all in the wink of an eye!

And here’s something I wish we could see ALL THE TIME!!

Keith drinking and smoking in his rented home in Bel Air (Los Angeles) back in 1970!! Yay!!!

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Oh, gang, here’s something that made me SO happy!

I checked in on the Facebook app on my phone last evening, and found this message from my long-time friend in NYC, the poet Iris N. Schwartz!!

(Honestly, it made me so happy. Especially since I have gotten a lot of not so great feedback on that same book, my upcoming novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder. Iris has a review copy.)

It kinda made my whole evening.

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Okay!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds played the Cabaret Vert Festival in France last night.

Prior to the show, from Bad Seed George Vjestica —

And as of right now, this is my FAVORITE photo of Nick Cave from Cabaret Vert !! (It was the first photo I saw posted last night!)

I’d recognize the bottom of that Gucci shoe anywhere!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Munich, Germany, tomorrow (Sunday, 8/23). Then they play Bonn, Germany, on Tuesday 8/25. Then Paris on August 28th!

And then the tour is OVER!! Buy tickets HERE!!

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And that is it for this sunny, happy Saturday in the Hinterlands.

I’m gonna put that editor’s cap back on now, and get down to editing that local writer’s new book.

Have a superb Saturday, 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.

Another HUGE hit from early 1985.

By this time, my guitar player and his wife (who were both from Buenos Aires, Argentina) had had their first baby, a girl. And one evening, while hanging out in their apartment in Brooklyn, this video came on MTV and he raised a glass to the TV set and dedicated this song to his brand new baby girl.

What a happy evening. I always think of that whenever I hear this song.

“I Want to Know What Love Is”, by Foreigner, 1985. Enjoy, gang.

A pleasant day ahead in the Hinterlands!

August 20, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Although it’s raining here this morning, it’s supposed to get really nice out there by this afternoon.

But I will be at my desk the entire day today.

I am editing that local author’s new book (I’m aiming for 30 pages a day for the best turn-around time). But at 2PM this afternoon, the Alliance of Indie Authors is having a live update on everything that’s new in eBooks, audiobooks, formatting, platforms, etc.

So, as much as I’m thinking that will be an overload of overwhelming information, I still want to attend.

And then yoga. Then prepare dinner. Then reading, reading, and some more reading, then study French! And it should be a good day.

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It feels sort of incredible to look at my schedule for the remainder of the month, gang, and all that’s on there is one more Zoom meeting, a visit from the Medicare Insurance nurse — to make sure I’m not dead yet? — and then nothing else for the rest of the month but editing.

Wow.

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Okay!

Not many “here’s this’s” today. Not sure why.

But here’s this!

Speaking of not being sure why, I have no clue what the facial expressions are all about, but here’s Mick and Keith and producer Jimmy Miller not smoking in the studio in LA, while recording the album “Let It Bleed” in 1969!

Photo by Robert Altman/Michael Ochs, Getty images

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And I know I’ve posted something similar before from Allen Ginsberg’s page, but I just love this because it reminds me of the view out my own back window on E.12th Street in NYC back then — just a few apartments down from Allen Ginsberg’s.

So, here’s this! From August 18, 1984! 42 years ago!! (Of course, the view out my own back window was in living color!! And yes! The courtyards in back, between all the tenements, were FULL of trees!!)

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Okay.

Here’s this!!

The Warren Ellis mostly-hair Odyssey!!

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And THIS awaited me upon opening my wee bonny peepers at 4AM this morning!!

Yay!

And even though the above photo was accompanied by a much more raw -sounding song, I could not help but be reminded of THIS song, too, and eventually, I leaped out of bed this morning, singing it!

“Too Young”

They try to tell us we’re too young
Too young to really be in love
They say that love’s a word, a word we’ve only heard
But can’t begin to know the meaning of

And yet we’re not too young to know
This love will last though years may go
And then some day
They may recall
We were not too young at all

Oh, Oh

And yet we’re not too young to know
Oh, This love will last though years may go
And then some day
They may recall
We were not too young at all

c – 1951 Sylvia Dee / Sidney Lippman

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And speaking of Nick Cave —

He sent out a Red Hand File this morning that was rather riveting. All about a young woman’s mother’s addiction. He begins:

“The problem with your mother’s motto is that it is everyone else around her whose lives she is setting on fire, including yours, it seems, and the people who are fanning the flames are those desperately trying to put them out…”

It’s a quick read, but very powerful. You can read it HERE.

FIRE AT NIGHT BY FRANCISCO GOYA, 1793-94

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ Tour of Europe resumes tomorrow in France. You can buy tickets here!

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And that is it for today, gang.

I’m gonna go down to the kitchen and get another cup o’ joe, then put on my editor’s cap and get the day underway!

Have a great Thursday, 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!

Another gem from my wee bonny girlhood!!

INSTANT KARMA! (WE ALL SHINE ON) – Lennon/Ono with The Plastic Ono Band, 1970!! Enjoy, gang.

NSTANT KARMA! (WE ALL SHINE ON)

Instant Karma’s gonna get you. Gonna knock you right on the head
You better get yourself together. Pretty soon you’re gonna be dead
What in the world you thinking of? Laughing in the face of love
What on Earth you trying to do? It’s up to you. Yeah you!

Instant Karma’s gonna get you. Gonna look you right in the face
Better get yourself together darling. Join the human race
How in the world you gonna see? Laughing at fools like me
Who on Earth d’you think you are? A superstar?  Well right you are!

Well we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on. Everyone come on!

Instant Karma’s gonna get you. Gonna knock you off your feet
Better recognise your brothers. Everyone you meet
Why in the world are we here? Surely not to live in pain and fear
Why on earth are you there? When you’re everywhere
Come and get your share

Well we all shine on, like the moons and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on, come on and on and on on on

Yeah yeah alright. Uh huh ahh

Well we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on. On and on and on on and on

Well we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on like the moons and the stars and the sun
Yeah we all shine on like the moon and the stars and the sun
Well we all shine on

c - 1970 John Lennon

Here’s to things getting better and better!

August 19, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Well, if you can believe it, gang, one month ago today, I retired from professional caregiving to go back to my writing fulltime and, wow. What a difference it has made in the quality of my own life.

And yesterday, my new publisher in Pennsylvania did indeed get back to me, saying that she wants to publish The Muse Revisited Volume 4: Selected Taboo Erotica of Marilyn Jaye Lewis. (A completed manuscript from 2021 that I found in a file while looking for something else!)

Yay!

And also yesterday, one of those local ads I placed, offering writing coach/editing services, got me a book editing job!

So, another yay! (I especially like it when I can help other writers, one on one, with no agency taking a fee.)

It seems like every day, something new pops up that I wouldn’t have had time for, wouldn’t have been able to focus on, only a few weeks ago.

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Okay.

Apparently I’m in the Bart Ehrman- MythVision algorithm on YouTube because it keeps popping up in my stream first thing every morning!

I don’t mind, I love both of them, but I’m just saying…

Anyway. This has some interesting stuff about the discoveries of ancient gospel fragments and how they can differ from what we read in the New Testament and why.

From 3 weeks ago. Everything You Know About the New Testament Could Be Wrong | Bart D. Ehrman (51 mins):

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And here’s Keith not smoking!!

Onstage in 1981:

Not smoking with his family in Connecticut in 1986!! (You’ll note that no one in the family seems to be smoking!!)

And Theodora Richards posted the first photos of her newest baby boy, born back in April!!

Here’s both boys, Gus and Tarka, not smoking!!

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And speaking of people not smoking!!!

My heart hit the jackpot this morning!!

And here are a bunch of photos from Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ show in Lithuania!

If you can read it, here’s the set list!!

This was cool. I don’t think this is AI or anything — usually the song lyrics on the big screen are in English!

Here’s ~~Jesus~~! Oops, Nick Cave!

And that’s it. There were tons of photos and videos, though, and it looked like everybody had a really great time.

The Bad Seeds play France on Friday the 21st of August. You can buy tickets here! And then there are only 3 more shows left…

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All righty!

I’m gonna head to town here soon and head over to the Rural King to buy a carload of catfood!

Then stop in at my favorite health & wellness store to say hi to my girlfriends and buy some organic goji berries , some nonGMO bathsoap made from roses in Provence, and then the all-important taste-temptingly delicious organic SNACKS!!

And then it’s back here to my desk in the Hinterlands to begin editing the local writer’s new book.

(Oh, and in case you are interested, there are only FOUR things left on my To Do List, and 3 of them are books that still need to be uploaded to the audiobook submission thing on Amazon, and the 4th thing is get that Writers & Artists podcast thing off the ground with Valerie in Brooklyn!!)

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!!!

Breakfast-listening music!!

A great Tom Petty song from 1981!! And it is so 1981!! (About being in London back then.)

“King’s Road”, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Orignally from Hard Promises. Enjoy, gang!!

You Won’t Believe It!

August 16, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Okay, gang.

Happy Sunday!

You’re not going to believe how yesterday went.

Since I’m in the process of getting the sample “scripts” together for the upcoming audiobooks, I was trying to get all the original manuscripts of my self-published books into one separate folder.

Just trying to get organized.

I have 7 self-published books that are being submitted to become audiobooks. Not only do I have a stack of those books perched precariously on the corner of my really tiny but beloved desk, I also have a stack of books and many papers on my desk for the M. Christian tribute anthology I’m currently editing.

And I am addicted to small notebooks for keeping notes on absolutely every project, phone call, zoom call — including a TON of notes for “The Guide to Being Fabulous”, my play with Sandra Caldwell. And my in-progress play about Caiaphas. Those notebooks are in a stack on my tiny desk, too.

And little scraps of paper are on my desk — notes to myself. And all of those notes to myself amount to my “To Do List”.

So I finally decided I needed to get better organized in order to somehow move the audiobook project forward, right?

Wow. Trying to find the original manuscripts for all 7 of these books — some of them going back to 2005 (!) — I’ve moved 4 times since then, and I’ve had no less than 6 laptops since then.

Anyway.

As I was locating the various original manuscripts and moving them into a new folder on my laptop, I discovered a completed manuscript for a book that never got published:

The Muse Revisited Volume 4: Selected Taboo Erotica of Marilyn Jaye Lewis

Whoa! WTF??

I scrolled through it and it was a completed manuscript, formatted and ready for publication. A collection of previously published short stories, from 1994 – 2021 (!!). All of them in the decidedly “taboo” erotic vein. Volume 4 in a series that had already been really popular for about 10 years.

I had totally forgotten that Black Lotus Books was supposed to publish it, in print, but then they suddenly folded.

They gave me the rights back to everything when they folded, so I immediately moved forward with self-publishing the 2 books of mine they had already published (1954 Powder Blue Pickup and a long short-story, Half-Moon Bride). This was January 2021.

And just prior to that (in 2020), I was absolutely overloaded with projects — screenplays, TV pilots, plays, short stories, novels-in-progress, and I was working nonstop with Peitor Angell on our Abstract Absurdity Production micro-minis — we were taking all kinds of meetings with producers and production companies, both in LA and in Europe.

Then absolutely everything came to a screeching halt because of all the lockdowns. And life suddenly got crazier. (My life as a digital soldier for 4 years…)

As near as I can tell, I just forgot that the other manuscript was ready to go. I definitely remember (now) that I was planning to self-publish it after Black Lotus folded.

Holy cow, I thought. I can publish this in a heartbeat. It’s all ready to go!

But then I thought: Maybe my new publisher over in Pennsylvania might be interested in seeing this…

Long story, short — she emailed me back yesterday afternoon, saying: “Um, yesssss”

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

So.

That was a real thrill.

And then I realized that since I made the difficult decision to retire from professional caregiving back in July, and focus on my writing once again– well, what a great decision that was.

I have the new novel coming out in a few weeks. A book signing. The staged reading of the play coming up in NY sometime this Fall. Perhaps give a talk and be on a panel at a writers conference in the Spring.

And the M. Christian antho has helped me re-connect with so many wonderful writers from my past — and that book will come out next year. Plus this new book that materialized out of thin air yesterday! And 7 audiobooks. Plus, even though I cancelled my association with fiverr, I still have ads posted at local places as a writing coach, and school is starting up around here soon.

Wow. It’s like overnight, I finally went back to being a writer.

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Okay!

I discovered THIS amazing website last night. Wow. I am going to spend the next year just exploring it!

TomPettyTrail

Explores sites connected to Tom Petty in his childhood hometown of Gainesville and throughout Florida.

“This is the first website dedicated to documenting and pinpointing Florida sites connected to the life of, and songs written by, Tom Petty. It serves as a roadmap for Petty fans traveling there to learn about — and navigate to — these sites in his hometown, Gainesville, and elsewhere in the state. This website will help facilitate your Tom Petty tourism by giving you the information needed to create a self-guided tour that most interests you.”

And it’s totally free! A labor of love created by Shawn Murphy.

If you love Tom Petty like I do, it is amazing! It is so detailed, it is just incredible. Where he was born, where he lived. Where his family lived. Where his friends lived. All the schools he went to. The store where he bought his guitar strings — immortalized in his song, “Dreamville”…

And so here’s this, again. Tom’s tribute to his rock & roll-loving boyhood in Gainesville — “Dreamville”:

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Okay.

I think this is going to be great!

If you live in NYC, it will be at the Public Theater, September 15th thru October 18th:

“How Shakespeare Saved My Life”

“In the Red Bull Theater production of HOW SHAKESPEARE SAVED MY LIFE, Jacob Ming-Trent dares to rescue himself from the “slings and arrows” of his past. Born with a gift for poetry but rejected as unfit to play the part of the poet, Ming-Trent invites us to take a deep dive into the crevices of his youth. His search for home is relentless, and the results are by turns hilarious and tragic. Calling on the Bard and a host of genius rappers, half-crazed preachers, and soulful poets to throw him a lifeline, he takes us on a propulsive ride that reaffirms the power of language. It all adds up to one man’s attempt to reclaim his life, and through that journey we connect to the deeper parts of ourselves, and, ultimately, to each other. Directed by Tony Taccone.”

You can buy tickets HERE.

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And, well, what can I say?

There are now an absolute TON of photos and videos from the Bad Seeds show in Sweden the other night. Way too many to start posting here.

I’m not positive, but it looked like, at one point during the show, Nick Cave couldn’t find a microphone that worked. I saw that video a few times.

Anyway–

Here are a couple photos from that thing I mentioned yesterday — about Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds chilling and taking in The Cure’s show over on a different stage:

And here are a few from the actual show:

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Finland tonight. Followed by 5 more shows in Europe between now and the end of August. You can buy tickets here!

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Well, we were supposed to have more thunderstorms today, but for some reason, the sun is now out.

So I guess I’ll close this and head out for another splendid walk in ~~Dreamville~~ — Oops! I meant, of course, Crazeysburg! And then I’ll get down to some work.

Have a great Sunday, wherever you are in the world, gang.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

Let’s close with this!!!!

One of my all-time favorite songs from my wee bonny teenaged girlhood! By one of my all-time favorite groups!!

It popped up on my playlist yesterday morning, when I ran out to the Dollar Store to run a quick errand for my beloved cats….

“Stayin’ Alive” by the immortal Bee Gees, 1977!!! Enjoy, gang.

Taking it a moment at a time here

August 10, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Or at least I’m trying to.

Having this jury duty thing hanging over my head for tomorrow has sent me right back into that terrible depression I was struggling with for most of this year before I finally retired from caregiving.

Obviously, I’m hoping that I won’t get assigned to a jury tomorrow and that it will be all over in one day. And even if I do get put on a jury, it’s not like how it was back in NYC, where there were high-profile murder cases that you could get stuck on for months.

Anyway. It’s more of a trigger — this feeling that my time (my life?) isn’t my own.

If I do get put on a jury, I will try to at least post updates to the blog in the evenings.

**********

Let’s move on to something happier!!

Marlon Richards turns 57 today!!

Keith had a total of 5 children — 2 sons and 3 daughters. But one of his sons with Anita Pallenberg, Tara Jo Jo Gunne, died back in 1976.

Out of all of his children, my guess is that Marlon, his first child, is the most well known, since Marlon famously went through it all with Keith.

Here’s one of my favorite photos of Keith with Marlon:

A more recent photo of them (and Marlon himself recently became a grandfather):

Happy Birthday Marlon Richards!!

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Okay.

Here’s this! The complete tour dates for the Hollywood Vampires (I think the Cardiff show just sold out):

Buy tickets HERE!!

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Yesterday (that lofty day wherein I was NOT depressed) was actually sort of magical.

Regarding yesterday’s choice for the Sealey Challenge— I very suddenly got the impetus to check one of the bookshelves down in my family room for 2 chapbooks I knew I still had of Michael Perkins’ poetry.

Sure enough, I checked and they were still there, however, I was you know, yet again stunned to discover both books are over 20 years old…

And one of them, The Persistence of Desire, still had a handwritten note from Michael stuck to the front of it. The note was written on June 23, 2004. And Michael mentions that he had just spoken to Richard Kasak (!!) and Michael congratulated me that Neptune & Surf had just gotten picked up for a mass market edition by Barney Rosset over at Blue Moon Books!

Crimony! Talk about blast from the absolute past. Richard Kasak had been my primary publisher throughout most of my early career, and had also been my business partner in Marilyn’s Room, Inc. Richard’s been gone now for at least 10 years. And Barney Rosset is of course gone now, too.

And then I thought — uh, oh— and I googled Michael and sure enough, he passed away back in 2022:

“Michael Perkins of Glenford died at Archcare at Ferncliff in Rhinebeck, New York of complications from Parkinson’s Disease on February 10, 2022, at age 79.”

Rhinebeck, of all my favorite places!!

It was just too — I don’t know the right word, it was just a sort of very fragile feeling.

I read the chapbook, I Could Walk All Day, yesterday and will read The Persistence of Desire today. Beautiful poems. (He also wrote amazing erotic fiction, published by Richard Kasak,)

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

All right.

From Ross K. Nichols’ Sunday School yesterday–

“According to one Gospel writer, Jesus twice pointed his listeners to the same five words—and on one occasion told them, ‘Go and learn what this means.'”

Jesus Said To Learn These Five Words (49 mins):

(HINT: “lovingkindness” is one of the words!)

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

Moving on to Romania!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds played the Summer Well Festival. Here’s the set list from last night’s show!

Here’s Warren Ellis from before the show! Shiny, indeed!!

And a few photos of Nick Cave! (The show looked like a really intense one.)

Starting on Thursday, August 13th, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds will play Norway, Sweden, and Finland. You can buy tickets here!!

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And now we have a really intense thunderstorm underway here in Crazeysburg.

Even though thunderstorms and high winds usually trigger my PTSD, it seems that, this time, the thunderstorm has actually sort of done the opposite and dispersed my feeling of intense depression. Interesting.

Well, at some point tomorrow I will check in and let you know if I’ll be posting to the blog or not.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

Let us close with this today!!

Jesus. When was the last time you heard THIS song??!!

Well, I heard it while making the bed this morning and listening to the Oldies FM Radio Station on my retro boombox!!

This song was a huge hit back when I was working at the General Electric factory. I was 19, and back in Ohio, living in a rooming house, after having lived briefly out in Ukiah, California… and dreaming of moving to NYC!

The Knack, “My Sharona”, from the album Get the Knack,1979!! Enjoy, gang.

Slim pickings but that’s okay!

August 9, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

It’s a really lovely, quiet Sunday morning here in the Hinterlands.

I spent all of yesterday getting caught up on stuff at my desk, so I don’t have too much to post about today.

However!

I did want to at least say that I was finally able to catch up with Sandra out in Los Angeles yesterday. We had a great chat! She flies back to NYC today. Then I think she’s planning on collapsing for a few days up in Rhinebeck and then we will get back to focusing on the staged reading of our play, “The Guide to Being Fabulous”.

While she was in LA, though, Sandra was involved with this amazing project, which happened this past Friday night (8/7)– since I found this posted online, I think it’s okay to post it here on the blog:

Apparently, it was a complete success!

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Okay.

Yesterday was International Cat Day!

Here’s Queenie just now, completely worn out from all the breathtaking festivities!!

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

Yesterday, when it was time to do yoga, I wanted something just sort of different to listen to (I usually listen to religious or spiritual stuff).

I found this radio interview with Tom Petty from 2003 and I just loved it. It was at that perfect era in his life — the drugs were well behind him, he was married to Dana, The Last DJ, an incredible album, had already been released and he and the Heartbreakers were, once again, on the road (1 hr 23 mins):

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

And as far as yesterday’s installment of The Sealey Challenge—

I decided I wanted to read something totally new. I was sort of worn out from re-reading poetry books from my past that were digging up all sorts of other emotions that weren’t necessarily related to the actual poems.

Since I had bought Drunk on Angel Breath by R. Nikolas Macioci last year and still had not had a moment to just sit down and absorb it, I chose to read that one yesterday.

Wow, gang. What an entrancing book of poems!!

If you’re new to the blog (i.e., you just started reading it this moment), R. Nikolas Macioci is not only an accomplished poet, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, and the author of 18 other poetry books — he was also my first Jr. High School English teacher back in 1972, when I was 12.

After I chose to write a poem as my “book report” for a book we had recently been assigned to read in class, he took an active interest in my writing and he took it upon himself — after class, on his own time — to teach me how to write.

That went on for several years, long after Jr. High School was over.

It was the only formal “training” as a writer that I ever had, but it totally and thoroughly served me well. It gave me an entire career.

Obviously, I have read his poems before, but this specific book had me spellbound. I could not put it down. It is safe to say that I had a really beautiful evening yesterday.

***********

Well, as far as “here’s this’s” — I only have ONE today!

But it is suitable for a Sunday morning!

From Warren Ellis!! In Bucharest!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Romania tonight. Then they have a few days off before playing Norway on August 13th. You can buy tickets here!

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

And honestly, gang, that’s all I have for today.

The laundry is almost done and I’m planning to try to take it sort of easy today. We’ll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, I hope you have a splendid Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

I leave you with this!

A song I have just loved from the very first moment that I first heard it!!

But my fondest memory of the song, was playing it for my (back then-film production partner) Peitor Angell one night — giving him my iPhone with ear buds, as we walked together along Sunset Blvd. after dark. As I had been, he, too, was blown away by it.

Anyway.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “We Call Upon the Author”, from one of my favorite albums ever, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! 2008.

“We Call Upon The Author”

What we once thought we had we didn’t, and what we have now will never be that way again
So we call upon the author to explain

Our myxomatoid kids spraddle the streets, we’ve shunned them from the greasy-grind
The poor little things, they look so sad and old as they mount us from behind
I ask them to desist and to refrain
And then we call upon the author to explain

Rosary clutched in his hand, he died with tubes up his nose
And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals chanted his name in code
We shook our fists at the punishing rain
And we call upon the author to explain

He said everything is messed up around here, everything is banal and jejune
There is a planetary conspiracy against the likes of you and me in this idiot constituency of the moon
Well, he knew exactly who to blame
And we call upon the author to explain

Prolix! Prolix! Nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix!
Prolix! Prolix! Nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix!

Well, I go guruing down the street, young people gather round my feet
Ask me things, but I don’r know where to start
They ignite the power-trail ssstraight to my father’s heart
And once again I call upon the author to explain

We call upon the author to explain

Who is this great burdensome slavering dog-thing that mediocres my every thought?
I feel like a vacuum cleaner, a complete sucker, it’s fucked up and he is a fucker
But what an enormous and encyclopaedic brain
I call upon the author to explain

Oh rampant discrimination, mass poverty, third world debt, infectious diseease
Global inequality and deepening socio-economic divisions
Well, it does in your brain
And we call upon the author to explain

Now hang on, my friend Doug is tapping on the window (Hey Doug, how you been?)
Brings me back a book on holocaust poetry complete with pictures
Then tells me to get ready for the rain
And we call upon the author to explain

I say prolix! Prolix! Something a pair of scissors can fix

Bukowski was a jerk! Berryman was best!
He wrote like wet papier mache, went the Heming-way weirdly on wings and with maximum pain
We call upon the author to explain

Down in my bolthole I see they’ve published another volume of unreconstructed rubbish
“The waves, the waves were soldiers moving”. Well, thank you, thank you, thank you
And again I call upon the author to explain
Yeah, we call upon the author to explain

Prolix! Prolix! There’s nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix!

c – 2008 – Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Sorry I’m Late!

August 7, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Wow, gang.

Just another one of those things that make me insane–

When I awoke this morning, I decided to register over on fiverr again — as a private writing/editing coach.

Many years ago, when it first got started, signing up was easy and everything was sort of immediate and personal.

I could put up an add that I was a writing coach and I listed my contact info — and then I got some students that I really enjoyed.

It was so simple.

Now it’s like you’re applying to be an astronaut. It has taken 3 hours so far– and now I’m waiting to get my tax paperwork approved. That could take a couple more days…

It doesn’t actually matter because it’s not like there’s any hurry or anything — especially since I might be on jury duty next week. I just suddenly thought it would be a cool idea to be back on fiverr. I enjoy helping other writers.

Anyway.

Things on the web that used to be easy and much more person-friendly are now few and far between. (And within a nanosecond, they want you on their phone app instead…)

(And don’t even get me started on the constantly swirling shark-infested waters that now pass for the endlessly, endlessly, endlessly updating “LinkedIn”… Jesus, you know? When do people find time to just write?)

All I can say, really, is that I’m glad I became a professional writer back when it was actually really fun. And full of people and community and in-person meetings.

I don’t know how new writers can even stand it these days. But I am an old-timer now. What can I say??

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Okay!

That aside!

Guess what I discovered about my brand new and super-fast Honda Accord yesterday, gang????

I will try to set this up so that you can feel the joy the way I felt it!

ME (on the highway heading home and going about 20 miles over the speed limit): “Jeez. This new car is so fast! I better slow down.”

MY HONDA ACCORD (woman’s voice suddenly filling my car): “Police reporting up ahead.”

Holy shit, gang! That’s, like, not legal, right??

But I went down to the the speed limit, pronto, and sure enough — up ahead on the left, a black & yellow Sherriff’s car was sitting there, waiting for speeders!!

Wow! I love my fucking new car!!!

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On the “read a poetry book a day” front —

I decided that today, I am going to read a slender, amazing book that I haven’t read in years. It was written by my favorite poet — Frank O’Hara — whose poetry I “discovered” when I was 15 and I absolutely fell in love with him.

By then, he’d been dead for almost 10 years.

But this particular book — which was already legendary — I didn’t find until 1984, when I was already living in NYC (not far from Frank’s old apartment, and I was working where he had worked: the Museum of Modern Art!):

I am really looking forward to reading it. To see how I am going to react to all his wonderful words, and all the fantastic NYC imagery, all these decades later.

I’m guessing it will be a little bittersweet.

**********

Okay.

Not much in the “here’s this” department, since I spent all those HOURS on fiverr this morning…

But here’s this!

And I’ve posted it here before, but I love this photo of Keith:

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Okay.

If you go to the UK side of the Nick Cave store — you can pre-order some of the Brighton Beach homecoming merch! But it is only on the UK side of the store.

And Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Belgrade, Serbia tonight! If it’s not too late, you can still buy tickets here!!

Then they’re off to Romania!!

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And honestly, that’s actually it for now. I gotta scoot! And a terrific thunderstorm is now filling the skies across the Hinterlands so I want to go down to the kitchen porch and check on a couple of those cats!!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

Let’s scoot outta here with this–

Live in Paris, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “God Is In The House”. 2007. Enjoy, gang.