Soon I will be off and running to Day #2 at the health & wellness store!
I’m thinking that today should be really fun, since my favorite Q-following girlfriend in town works today, too! She wasn’t there on Monday, it was her day off. She texted me last night from her grandson’s football game — a bunch of happy smiley face emojis! “Looking forward to tomorrow!”
So I’m thinking it’s going to be a great day. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to have somewhere to go now that really makes me smile and feel energized, gang. It has been such a long time.
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Okay, here’s an interesting update. I guess we’ll find out soon enough if it’s true–
My new guy texted last evening from Florida, saying that trying to get to know someone through texting is making him crazy so he’s thinking of flying back to Ohio for a few days in early November!
Wow. It sounds serious!
I’ll keep you posted, of course.
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All the houseplants that were outdoors have now been brought back inside. And so far, there have been only two incidents between the plants and the cats –and one of them was a pretty BIG one!!
An absolutely gigantic spider plant toppled down onto tiny little Calico and scared her to death!!
So maybe they’ll give it a rest for a while and leave the houseplants alone… we shall soon see.
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All righty!!
Here’s this!
Nothing says “Keith Richards on a European tour in 1990” like a good wholesome game of dominoes!! (It almost even looks like he’s keeping score!!)
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And here’s this!
From my wee bonnie teenage “I’m dropping out of college after about only 12 weeks” girlhood!!
The First Time Tom Petty Ever Played “Refugee” Live | Winterland 1978:
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And here’s this!!
Smoking & drinking with Iggy!! Yay!!
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And this!! From Facebook!
Nick Cave sitting on stage somewhere!! And smoking!! And looking at something or other that has to do with Blind Lemon Jefferson!!!
And I guess here’s this, while we’re at it!! Almost 100 years ago!! Shit.
BLIND LEMON JEFFERSON – One Dime Blues [1927]:
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And this was on Nick Cave Official yesterday–
From July — a few photos from just before the Bad Seeds did that surprise gig on the rooftop of the Resident record store in Brighton!
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And I guess that’s it for today!
I’m making steady progress on editing the M. Christian tribute anthology — and getting a sense of how I want it to feel, overall.
And I will soon be proceeding with the audiobook version of The Guitar Hero Goes Home, so I’m looking forward to that!
Other than that, I’m still sort of astounded by how much my life has turned around in only a handful of weeks.
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!
A short with Nick Cave, a long time ago!! (1 minute):
Before I talk in detail about my great morning, let’s do this!!!
Happy birthday Richard Hell!!!! Born this day in Lexington , Kentucky, in 1949!!
Smoking, gun-toting, shade-wearing, black & white, in NYC, 1976!! (Photo by Roberta Bayley)
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And on a more somber note–
Tom Petty has been gone 9 years, as of today. I hope he is having the time of his (after) life!
Mature Tom!! Shade-wearing, writing, guitar-playing in black & white!!
Attitude Tom, 1 & 2!! Smoking!!
(The only song of Tom Petty’s that I ever played live in NYC folk clubs!! “Don’t Do Me Like That” !! 1979)
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It’s time for the Story of the Week over at Brown Hound Press!
And it’s a really good one!! (And the editor claims the story is the author’s first publication! And it was submitted as a typewritten manuscript! Wow!)
“And the World Was Wide Open” by Willie James Bess
Here’s Gram Parsons in one of his many Nudie suits!
And here’s this! Gram, with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt, “In My Hour of Darkness” from Grievous Angel, 1974:
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A couple of Stones smoking — but Brian has TWO!!!!
KEITH (looking away, quietly thinking): “Greedy bastard.”
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A couple of great ones — Jack Kerouac, October!
And if you STILL haven’t read or listened to On The Road, get with it already!! He only wrote it 75 years ago!! God purposely made cigarettes and amphetamines so that we could HAVE great literature like this!! What are you waiting for??
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All right!
It has become clear!!
He is WITH the band!! Not hanging out in the audience!!
From Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos yesterday (meaning that, if you were waiting on me, you missed the show in Porto!):
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Facebook has let me down, gang. They had photos of Nick Cave, but not any good ones today.
I had to go to the desktop stash for this one:
Nick Cave!! (Wondering: What the fuck is the deal with Facebook??)
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All righty!!
Here it is: “The wonderfully true tale of LUNCH and how it went!!”
Wow, gang.
I’m not even sure where to start. I can at least start by saying again: What a nice man. And it is safe to also say that it looks like we’re officially DATING.
Even though he leaves for Florida later today. So it’ll be “long distance, over the phone” dating for a while. (He’ll be back for a week in January, to check on his house — furnace, water pipes, etc.)
We share the same sense of humor and he is so easy to talk to. He says the sweetest, while totally unexpected things. For instance:
“You should enter a beauty contest, you know, in the category of women your age — you’d win that, easily!”
Okay, here are a few things, in no particular order.
In all the best ways, I feel like my dad is back. This guy is taller than me, bigger than me, older (mid-70s), he gives great hugs, he’s smart and he likes to laugh, and he can fix absolutely everything.
And he has plenty of money and property (3 homes in Florida and one across the road from me!).
But 2 of the homes in Florida are up for sale. He loves to buy older homes and rehab them and then sell them. He can’t stand being retired and needs to stay busy… The one remaining home that he is keeping (and living in) has 4 bedrooms and 2 baths and is really pretty– he said (more than once) “Come visit me in Florida! I’ll pay for it! I’m all by myself now.”
He’s a widower with grown children and a couple grandchildren.
And probably most importantly of all!! He owns an enormous RV. He keeps it parked on some property not far from my house, where other campers are parked, but his is in an isolated area because it is huge.
(BTW, he was showing me all this stuff on his phone while we were at lunch.)
I love RVs and campers. I love to go camping. But this RV is 2 stories tall. It’s nothing like the campers of the 1960s. The bedroom is upstairs. It looks a lot like this, but this is not his:
He said, “I really hope you’ll come out and see it. It’s just sitting there now.”
And then he showed me the view outside the upstairs bedroom window — green fields and tons of trees . He said, “You could run around naked out there and no one would see you.”
I thanked him for the head’s up on that…
Anyway. He is of course retired. He worked various kinds of construction his whole life. He’s very down to Earth and just very nice. And after lunch, he came inside for a few minutes to meet the cats and they seemed to really like him, too.
He did not ask me anything specific about my life yet, he was being very polite — he knows I’m divorced, that I’m a writer and that I lived in NYC and worked in publishing for about 30 years. He didn’t ask what kind of writing I do, so I didn’t tell him. I have decided I’m not telling him anything unless he specifically asks me. (Oh, and I mentioned I’m returning part-time to the health & wellness store in town and he has actually shopped there before, because his son is into natural healing and health food, etc.) (He grew up, got married and raised his family in that area of town where the store is now, a long time ago, when it was still just cornfields and farms.)
So we’ll just see how it all goes.
We texted quickly this morning around 6AM and he does indeed use smiley-face emojis!!
I thanked him again for lunch yesterday — I really did have a nice time with him. And he texted back that he feels “good vibes”! (So, yes, we are both kinda OLD!!)
But I’m excited to see where it goes. We’ll likely be talking on the phone for 3 months before I see him again. So I should have a pretty good idea by January.
Meanwhile!!
That’s it for today, gang! Gotta work on the M. Christian anthology now, and tomorrow– my book signing!!
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Enjoy your Friday, 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!!!!
I don’t think it needs any explanation. Enjoy, gang.
Although I really did miss being in Charlotte last night, gang.
Still, it was so fun to get out of bed here at 6AM today and say a happy hello to all my many cats!
Even though they got along great with my mom, it was so clear to me that they were excited that things were back to normal this morning. They were all frisky as heck!
Oh, here’s something kind of exciting — I don’t know yet if it will really happen, but I hope it does!
One of my girlfriends who works at my favorite health & wellness store in town (I used to work there during the lockdowns), put in her 2 weeks notice while I was away, and I’m looking into taking over her hours!
It would be so cool to be back there, especially since I’m still friends with everyone who works there. Plus, the store is privately owned and only open a limited number of hours/days a week.
I had to leave there once the lockdowns were over, because I couldn’t afford to work retail back then. But now that I have Social Security and the money I inherited from my dad, I can afford it.
So we shall see!! It would certainly take care of this problem I’ve been having of feeling unbelievably isolated out here in the middle of nowhere since I retired…
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Okay!
This week, I have:
The deadline for receiving contributions to the memorial tribute anthology honoring M. Christian. (Meaning, I then have to start editing it.)
My lunch date with the gentleman across the road.
And on Saturday, is my book-signing at the bookstore in the Historic Arcade in Newark!
So it should be a fun week with a nice, even sort of pace.
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Other than that —
I have a TON of “here’s this’s'” that I accumulated while in Charlotte, NC!!
So let’s get started!!
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Most importantly, it seems that this past weekend was International “Bad Seeds Take Their Dogs Out” Weekend!!
On Saturday!
George Vjestica apparently has a tiny little dog named Gucci!!
And on Sunday!
Warren Ellis took his pups out to the woods!!
And here’s this, while we’re at it! Does it get better?? Lou Reed & the Velvet Underground! The sublime “Sunday Morning”, 1966!
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It’s time for Erica Verrillo’s fantastic (FREE) publishing calls-for-submissions and writing contest updates for October!!
Visit HERE! And then click on the various links for current updates.
(You will notice that my old E.12th Street apartment is NOT part of the tour, but if you take the tour, please feel free to DEMAND that they stop at 511 E.12th Street anyway!! And honor all the LGBTQ cool shit that happened in my apartment!! Drugs! Booze! Sex! MUSIC!! Cigarettes!! Writing, writing, writing!! Thanking you in advance!!)
“Discover LGBTQ history hidden in plain sight on this 90-minute expert-led walking tour of New York’s East Village. Celebrate LGBTQ History Month and explore places and people that made this neighborhood a center of LGBTQ art, activism, nightlife, and counterculture.
“Visit the former residences of poet Allen Ginsberg and lesbian activists Ellen Broidy, co-planner of the first NYC Pride March (1970), and Ernestine Eckstein, who was active in the LGBTQ rights movement in the pre-Stonewall years. See if you can hear the echos of dance music as we stand outside the site of The Loft, where David Mancuso hosted egalitarian underground house parties that influenced the city’s club scene. Share memories as we arrive at the former locations of nightclubs The Saint, with its legendary interior dome, and Pyramid Cocktail Lounge, where LGBTQ performers included Andy Warhol, John Waters, performance artist Ethyl Eichelberger, and more.”
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YES!! For some inexplicable reason, this is NOT on the tour!!
Punk bassist/guitarist Blaire N. Bitch, smoking in my bedroom at 4AM!!
Me with my band!
My best friend on Earth — the notoriously gay and now dearly departed from AIDS Paul Martin, in my bathtub!!
And here’s the front of 511 E.12th Street as it looks today. My apartment was the 3rd one up , on the left, with the little AC in the window (back then the fuses in the building were so old, you could not have such a thing as a working AC!! It would blow all the lights out in the building!) (I know this, because we tried it once!!)
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All righty!
Phyllis Stein gave us a scare over the weekend, saying she was basically done posting all her great Punk music photos to Instagram. (But last night, she posted again!!)
But here’s some great photos from when she was departing us–
David Jo and Richard Hell! At Max’s Kansas City, 1976!! (Photo by Bob Gruen)
David Jo with Cyrinda Fox (married for only one year, then they famously split up). At CBGBs, 1976, photo by Roberta Bayley.
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And here’s this!
Also from Phyllis Stein as she was pretending to depart us…
Johnny Thunders in NYC in 1973!!
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And a couple of Keith!!
Smoking backstage at Madison Square Garden in NYC in 1969!!!
Keith comments on Bob Dylan!! (I think he’s saying what we’re all thinking!!)
And how about this??
I might have posted it here before, but I just love it!!
(I would not have survived 1975 without these 2 guys!!)
Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards:
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A little bit more info about the upcoming Johnny Depp movie ,”Day Drinker”–
Looks like fun for the whole family!!
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AND!!
A bunch more great photos of Nick Cave!!
From Facebook! Oh No!!
Priceless!
Nick onstage twenty years ago in Paris!! Smoking!! Singing!! Facial hair!!
And a couple more from long ago…
I believe this was 1990, photo by Peter Walsh (?)
And this was possibly LA in 1990, photo by Jonathan Kirn (?)
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And whew!
That’s it!
Gotta finish the laundry here and then head to town because I am ABSOLUTELY out of cat food here!!!
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!!
From yesterday!
Elvis Costello Unboxes ‘My Aim Is True’ 49th Anniversary Edition!
Yes, sometime in the next few hours, my birth mom arrives to spend a magical weekend with my many cats!!
(I’m hoping that the above illustration is a reasonable facsimile of how splendidly it will go!) (Except that my mom is a little tiny bit older than she appears in the above illustration…)
I’m excited, gang.
And I’m really, really hoping her visit here goes well. She knows some of my cats quite well, but as loyal readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall, I had quite a bunch more cats thrust upon me since my mom was last here.
But they are really sweet, really loving (if often super frisky) cats. So we’ll see!
I’m also excited to just be packing a suitcase again, gang.
I’m taking a smaller, lightweight one, since I won’t be checking it and I’ll have to wheel it around with me for an hour in Detroit, and I’ll only be gone for the weekend.
It’s my favorite suitcase. I’ve had it for quite a few years now. I was going through the outside pockets of it this morning and found a postcard from the Empire Hotel in NYC — where I stayed in July 2025.
And I found 2 receipts: one, from a dinner I had with Sandra that same trip to NYC; and the other receipt was from a newsstand in LAX airport! From a trip I took to Los Angeles to work with Peitor Angell in December 2018!!
I loved finding those!! So I stuck them right back in the pocket, to find again some other time.
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All righty.
I did have a splendid day yesterday. Mostly, my mood was just really good. Finally. It seems like I had some sort of turning point, energy-wise. Maybe it was the Equinox? I don’t know. But I feel a sense of relief, like I can finally move on from all the recent trauma.
I am indeed starting to get submissions for the M. Christian tribute anthology, so I’m thinking that I won’t really be doing any of my own writing until that project is complete. (The official deadline is next Thursday — a week from today — then my book signing is the following Saturday. After that, I’ll have to focus on editing everyone’s submissions.)
But whatever plays out, I’ll just flow with it.
Oh!
I loved this– Warren Ellis posted it this morning. It may seem a little down, but it had a really cool audio track that was extremely uplifting (plus I love F. Scott Fitzgerald). The 2 messages together captured how I’ve felt the last few weeks:
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And speaking of Warren Ellis–
A new selfie! Catnapping with adorable pups!
Although, on a sad note — the lead singer of Rose Tattoo, Angry Anderson, passed away on Monday:
“Rose Tattoo frontman Angry Anderson has died just weeks after being admitted to a hospital in Germany during the Australian rock band’s European tour.
“The 79-year-old singer spent 50 years in the music industry and also became a television presenter, charity worker and youth advocate.
“Rose Tattoo’s hits included ‘Bad Boy for Love’, ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Outlaw’ and ‘We Can’t Be Beaten’, while Anderson found solo success with the song ‘Suddenly’.”
And, from Warren’s selfie above — here’s this (1978):
RIP Angry Anderson
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And here’s this!
The Cars are taking requests!! What’s yours?? (Mine is probably still “My Best Friend’s Girl”.)
Okay– since you requested it! From 1978!!
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From Johnny Depp yesterday!
Another movie is on its way– “Day Drinker”! (More info is coming soon, but I know that Penelope Cruz is also in it.)
And just FYI — that is my least favorite Tarot Card (pictured above — The Devil), followed closely by The Tower…
But, oh! If you read Tarot Cards (I do), this woman in Australia has the very best site for reading them!!
I have used her website for about 20 years. Click on LEARN, then in the drop down menu: TAROT CARD MEANINGS
Her work is phenomenal.
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Okay!!
Most people probably know that London had a really hard time getting back to normal after WWII.
In fact, by 1966, still only the nouveau riche could afford outside plumbing!!
Keith, enjoying his nouveau riche lifestyle outside his legendary home, Redlands, with his pup in 1966!
And I loved this!
Keith doing what he does best!! Playing the guitar!! Smoking! Drinking! Wearing shades!! (1978)
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And I really, really did love this.
Keith with the Exile on Main St album cover art, 1972 (oh, and smoking):
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Okay, well, my Instagram feed yesterday was still jam-crammed full of birthday wishes for Nick Cave!!
So here are some more of those!!
Dinner? And smoking!
I loved this–
From Facebook!!
I had never seen this photo before. I love it!!
And one more!!
And that’s it probably — until September 22nd rolls around again (most likely in the wink of a fucking eye!!)!!
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Okay, yes.
I am going to quickly vacuum the house one more time before my mom and sister get here later —
Oh wait, I love this photo!!
This was from before I knew my mom. (I was raised by an adoptive family in Cleveland, and didn’t find my birth mom until I was 25.)
My birth mom and my 2 half-sisters and half-brother, on vacation, around 1970-ish. (The little tiny girl in the green pants is the one who’s driving my mom here today.) (Their dad, Sonny, is taking the photo.)
All righty.
Gonna get the vacuuming done and then pack my suitcase!!
Have a fantastic Thursday, 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!
A little music to pack suitcases by!!
I loved this album. It came out when I was already married to Chong and we lived in The Camelot Building, on the corner of W. 45th & 8th Ave. (I bought it in a record store that was just up the block from us, in Times Square. I bought all my records there back then, but I don’t remember the name of the store!)
Anyway.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ huge hit from 1981, “The Waiting”!! From their fantastic album, Hard Promises. Enjoy, gang!!
“The Waiting”
Oh baby, don’t it feel like heaven right now? Don’t it feel like something from a dream? Yeah, I’ve never known nothing quite like this Don’t it feel like tonight might never be again? Baby, we know better than to try and pretend Honey no one coulda ever told me ’bout this
I said yeah, yeah (Yeah, yeah) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The waiting is the hardest part Every day you see one more card You take it on faith, you take it to the heart The waiting is the hardest part
Well yeah, I might have chased a couple women around All it ever got me was down Then there were those that made me feel good But never as good as I feel right now Baby, you’re the only one that’s ever known how To make me wanna live like I wanna live now
I said yeah, yeah (Yeah, yeah) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The waiting is the hardest part Every day you get one more yard You take it on faith, you take it to the heart The waiting is the hardest part
Oh, don’t let it kill you baby, don’t let it get to you Don’t let it kill you baby, don’t let it get to you I’ll be your bleedin’ heart, I’ll be your cryin’ fool Don’t let this go too far, don’t let it get to you
Yeah, yeah (Yeah, yeah) Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The waiting is the hardest part Every day you get one more yard You take it on faith, you take it to the heart The waiting is the hardest part Yeah, the waiting is the hardest part
I did indeed wake-up this morning, and I am still here.
Why I am — is anyone’s guess, at this point.
But since I am still here, I’m going to try to make the best of this day.
Starting here, as usual…
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Yesterday afternoon, I did decide to at least put in an online application for that part-time job that appealed to me. We’ll see if they call me for an interview.
Mostly, I just want to be around people. Noisy people, even. People who aren’t dying. So we’ll see.
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And sadly–
I did finally get a chance to talk on the phone with my old school friend yesterday — the one that I’ve known since Jr. High School (1972), who reconnected with me on Facebook the other day.
It was very sad. She is now confined to a nursing home, waiting to be transferred to Assisted Living — none of it is really her choice. But she is very ill and it won’t get better. And her family made the decision for her.
I am going to try to visit her before I leave for North Carolina, but definitely as soon as I get back if I can’t get to Columbus this week.
If you live in the US and you’re on Medicare, I am 100% confident to share with you who handles my Long Term Care insurance, in case you want to look into them where you live:
The more I see what friends go through as they age, at least out here in Ohio, the more grateful I am that an agent from the company found me when I turned 65. They are honest and they really help you make decisions that are based on the reality of your age, your income, and where you live.
Where you live is key for Medicare and Long Term Care insurance, gang.
A couple of older people I know here in Ohio switched over to Bankers Life, when they told me how unhappy they were with their insurance companies, and they were really glad they switched.
For my girlfriend who is now confined to a nursing home/Assisted Living, and forced to be on Medicaid, it is too late. At least here in Ohio, once you’re on Medicaid, they take everything from you and your life is as good as over; your freedom, gone.
So just, you know, find someone you really trust to help you make your Medicare plans.
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All righty!
Let’s try to get on a cheerier note!
Here’s this!!
I loved Hunter S. Thompson so much, gang. He was one of my very favorite writers. (And being a hardcore conspiracy theorist, I don’t believe he “committed suicide”…)
Anyway.
My dear (and now dearly departed) friend, Kent — the one who was a geologist and used to work for NASA, and who once told me, “Those rocks didn’t come from any moon!” — was the friend who first turned me on to Hunter’s work by giving me his copy ofFear and Loathing in Las Vegaswhen we were 15.
I was familiar with Hunter’s name because I was an avid reader of Rolling Stone magazine back then. But this was the first book of Hunter’s that I read (and afterward, I proceeded to buy & read everything he wrote.)
And here’s something I loved: The one and only book that was ever stolen out of my apartment on E. 12th Street in NYC, was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas!!
When I discovered it was missing (I don’t know who stole it, but people came and went constantly back then), I thought: “Wow! They really needed that book!”
I thought it was so cool! And I went out and bought another copy. And YES!!! Eventually, it got stolen, too! (What a great book! Everyone had to have it.)
But the 3rd time was the charm. Here’s my current copy:
And here’s the inside cover!!
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And speaking of Johnny Depp!!
(He did a fantastic job playing Hunter in the film version. I still have my VHS copy of the movie. Maybe I’ll re-watch it on the VCR later!)
Here’s this!
From Johnny’s production company IN.2 Records — Johnny plays guitar on at least one track.
The album The Great Behind, by Glenn Richards & the Venus Lakes will be released Oct. 9th 2026. Pre-order it HERE!
Glenn Richards & The Venus Lakes – 1990Never (Lyric Video):
Great song. I am already anticipating having it on my driving-to-town playlist!
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Okay!
If you thought I was just kidding when I posted recently that “tiny Richard Hell heads” used to be very popular….
Here’s Richard Hell!! With — you guessed it! Another “tiny Richard Hell head”!!
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And here’s Ric Ocasek, on a smoke break and leaning against a trailer!!
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Oh!
This was GREAT!!
I watched it during breakfast this morning. She really gives a thorough explanation about why any gospels concerning Mary Magdalene did not make it into what became the New Testament.
“…dive deep into the enigmatic and often misunderstood Gospel of Mary Magdalene with renowned scholar Dr. Elaine Pagels. In an episode that promises to challenge traditional narratives, Dr. Pagels sheds light on the mysterious texts that reveal a different side of one of Christianity’s most fascinating figures.”
Myth Vision — Mary’s Lost Gospel ROCKS Christianity! | Dr. Elaine Pagels (14 mins):
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And from Bad Seed George Vjestica yesterday!
(My answer was: May 2, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio, USA!)
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And as much as he said he is going to relax now, I’m afraid Nick Cave is going to have to go back on tour! Pronto! The photos are really getting to be slim-pickings!!
From Facebook:
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And, yes, that’s it!!
The other day, when I was supposed to go shopping at Kohl’s with my girlfriend — she had to cancel at the last minute. Her daughter had to work late and so my girlfriend had to pick up her grandson from football practice.
But she texted this morning, and we might try to meet up at Kohl’s this afternoon. It really has been such an intense week for me, gang. I could probably use a mindless sort of outing of shopping today — a sunny day, a good friend, a store that has happy memories for me.
So we shall see!
Meanwhile, 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!!
It’s been a while! But in honor of a possible trip to Kohl’s with Cathy!!
The Sandpipers!! “Come Saturday Morning”!! 1969. Enjoy, gang.
However, I woke up with the idea that I might want to take on a part-time job and get back into the world again, starting next month. (There’s a specific part-time job that I’m interested in. )
I figured I should put some sort of a resume together. I haven’t done that in a zillion years.
I found an old resume in a Documents file on my laptop. It’s from when I lived in NYC! And that is what exhausted me, gang — reading it!!
I have to share some of it with you!!
And FYI — in the jobs I had in the 1990s, I was also a full-time writer at the same time.
This one was my first management position in NYC. It was when I was 20-23 yrs old!! WTF!
1980-1983 Manager, Le Café Restaurant, New York, NY
I was the Daytime Manager of Le Café, a health-food/fast food counter- service style restaurant in Times Square. I worked the 5:45 AM – 2:15 PM front-of-the-house management shift, overseeing an average of 800 breakfast transactions and over 2,000 lunch transactions daily. In my area of the restaurant, I had a staff of 9, and oversaw 7 cash drawers in a high-volume, extremely rapid transaction environment. In my capacity as Daytime Manager, I was instrumental in keeping my staff focused, calm, efficient and enthusiastic under all forms of duress associated with a Times Square environment, including in-house thefts and armed robberies, one of which resulted in the killing of the Night Manager on the premises. I scheduled all breaks and daily cleaning assignments, and balanced 7 cash drawers at the end of my shift.
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During that unbelievably exhausting job, above, I was also a budding singer-songwriter in the West Village. So many of the folks who worked in that Cafe were also musicians!
And here’s what I was doing on W. 57th Street, from age 23-25, when I worked for Ralph Ginzburg :
1983-1985 Department Manager, Avant-Garde Media, New York, NY
I managed Avant-Garde Media’s mail order book club department and was in charge of all communications with book club members, specifically handling and bringing to a satisfying conclusion all cases involving the N.Y State Attorney General’s consumer complaint division.
And my “higher education” back then consisted of a 2-year degree in 24-track recording/audio engineering… Mind-blowing that I even got that job.
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This was interesting!
This is what I did at MoMA part-time for 9 years! At this point, my singer-songwriter career was in full swing, and I drank like a fish and took drugs occasionally and generally stayed out all night…and then by 1988, I shifted into publishing, as well.
1985- 1994 Shop Steward, in-House Catering Services, the Museum of ModernArt (MoMA) New York, NY
In addition to being the museum’s Assistant Pastry Chef for 1 year, I worked in in-house catering for the museum and was the Union Shop Steward for 8 years. I handled all complaints between the 30 union members and Catering Management and had a reputation for diffusing volatile situations in the workplace. I oversaw all in-house Union meetings and helped set-up and manage picket lines during Union strikes, ensuring that all protests remained peaceful and well-organized.
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Jesus Christ, right??!! I remember drinking a lot at MoMA and fooling around with Valerie constantly. I’d forgotten about all that other stuff!
And then when I was full-time into the publishing business, this was my final “job”, while also being a full-time writer.
2000-2006 Founder & President of the EAA, New York, NY
As President of the EAA, an international writers’ association, I oversaw the handling of daily publicity for the careers of several hundred genre fiction writers and small presses in the US, Canada, the UK, and France. I oversaw all details of the EAA’s online publishing company, including tracking and payment of monthly royalties to all writers. I testified in United States Supreme Court in support of the First Amendment rights of several American EAA writers, as well as the EAA at large, in the case of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft vs. American Civil Liberties Union, case 535 U.S. 564 in Philadelphia. I also oversaw high-profile book-launch parties and curated related art gallery exhibits in New York.
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Yes, Supreme Court and art galleries…
I guess it’s no wonder my mind is wandering toward some sort of part-time job where I can interact with busy people again.
Not only do I feel really isolated out here in the middle of nowhere, but I am very disheartened by the publishing world these days. Especially the onslaught of AI in every area of it. And impersonal social media apps in every area of it, as well.
Plus I am reasonably convinced that one of the narrators/producers I entered into a contract with to produce one of my audiobooks, has indeed already scammed me and was likely the perpetrator of the scam on my bank account on Monday, too. (I can’t prove that last part. It’s just what my bones tell me when I piece it all together.) Yes! He has vanished. And it was ALL done on banking apps!
I’m not going to give up being a writer, but I’m kinda disillusioned with what “publishing” has become, gang. So we’ll see.
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On the happier front!!!
Friends continue to help me out financially!! Including some cash from my ex-husband in Seattle. And Wayne in NYC, just now donated to my GoFundMe!!!
And Sandra called last evening to say she could either send me some cash, OR pay for my airfare and hotel room in NYC when I go there in late January!! Wow!!
As of just now, thanks to Wayne, I have officially gotten ALL my money back — in the space of 4 days — from friends and former husbands. It feels so incredible.
And I guess I can at least say this much: On January 20th, at The Laurie Beechman Theatre on W.42nd Street, in NYC, Sandra will be doing a special “birthday cabaret” one-woman show that will be a pre-runner of our play, “The Guide To Being Fabulous.” It will be Sandra’s 75th birthday!! I cannot wait!!
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Okay.
This broke my heart.
From Phyllis Stein.
September 16th was the anniversary of Marc Bolan’s passing. 49 years! I remember it so vividly, gang, the day he died.
And this was the first T. Rex 45 RPM single that I bought– “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” 1971! It is still fantastic!!
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And here’s from Facebook last night!
And I don’t know if this was taken at Susie Cave’s 60th birthday book party on Wednesday night or not — the fan is wearing a Susie t-shirt, so I think it might be:
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And, YES!! I got a ton of housecleaning done yesterday, so I don’t have more than this to post today.
However.
Enjoy your Friday, 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!
Keith Richards’ wonderful contribution to the upcoming “Grand Theft Auto VI” soundtrack!! The blues classic, “Bright Lights, Big City”!!! You can stream it now on your favorite platform! Movie is coming November 19th. Enjoy, gang!
In fact, I might never answer my phone again!! But we shall probably play that one by ear…
I have been on my phone nonstop since the bank fraud thing on Monday afternoon, changing over every account imaginable.
And here is something I want to point out: Only 2 accounts had actual human beings that you could speak to, and the customer service lady on the Best Buy credit card helpline, was the nicest person imaginable!!
She gets my customer service award for the entire year!!
She really cheered up my morning.
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Yes, I have been either on my phone or on my laptop for the last 2 hours, trying to take care of final various loose ends with bank account updates, and I believe I am finally DONE!!
Yay.
And before I forget, I just have to say that the other day, an audiobook audition came in for my novel, Twilight of the Immortal, and wow, gang — did she nail it!! In 3 minutes!
I cannot believe she is willing to undertake narrating the entire novel (it’s a really long book). And I cannot wait to hear what she does with it.
Wow.
So, as of now, it looks like I have audiobook narrators/producers lined up for all 4 novels. (1 contract in place, 2 negotiating, 1 we will revisit soon)
Thanks again to all my friends for donating money yesterday to help me get back on a firm footing with these audiobook projects. It was such an incredible feeling, knowing that my situation mattered to people.
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Okay.
I am going to try to just take it easy today and get “back to normal” now.
And by taking it easy, I of course, mean this!
OOPS! Sorry, no — I meant this:
Yes, my birth mom should be arriving a week from today, so I want to get some serious housecleaning done — stuff I don’t do every week, like polish all the mirrors that the various cats have sneezed on, polish the furniture, really clean both bathrooms, etc.
If I do NOT do this, my mom will do it while I’m gone and I don’t want her to clean my house!! (Although she is incredible at it.) I want her to try to just relax…
With 15 cats….
So, today, I’m going to clean the house, and then I also have a live podcast with 2 writers that I want to listen to this afternoon, and then there’s another one this evening, over with the writers at Lambda Literary.
So, it’ll still be about “writing” today, just not my own!
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Oh!
And this just in!
The first “Story of the Week” of Season 2 over at Brown Hound Press has just been posted!! It is:
“I Am Coming to Asheville to Kill You” by Pearl Reagler.
It is a screenshot of a reel that I absolutely LOVED, but it was so tightly edited that it was nearly impossible to grab a good shot.
But here’s what I could get!
Johnny Smoke has returned!!
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And here’s this!!
From Facebook!!
A bunch of framed Christian art!!
Oh wait, I mean — Nick Cave!!! Leaning on a steel guitar!! In color!
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And that is all I have today because I have been living on another planet the last few days.
I am hoping that once all the housecleaning is done, I can focus on getting the tribute anthology for M. Christian ready to be front & center on my desk.
The deadline for submissions is Oct. 1st — right after I get back from North Carolina. And if everyone contributes who has said they are contributing — I’m going to be a busy gal in October.
So I want to be ready for that.
RIP M. Christian
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All righty. I’m gonna get started here.
Enjoy your Thursday, 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!!
There is a Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 50th Anniversary collection coming soon!
Celebrating the first 7 years of their career, specifically: Origins 1971-1978
This has some great little interviews of Tom from a LONG time ago, as well as snippets of interviews with the remaining Heartbreakers today.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – Origins 1971-1978 (Official Album Trailer) (5 mins). Enjoy, gang!!
Between friends who donated directly to me today because they did not want to use GoFundMe because of the fees, and one friend who did use GoFundMe to donate–
I am already HALFWAY to my goal!!! In just a few hours.
I just want to thank everybody for all the help, generosity, and encouragement today.
These are going to be terrific audiobooks, gang. I really mean that!
And I also wanted to share this incredible thing, too.
A poet/friend in NYC, Ron Bass, received an advance review copy of my new novel a while back, and this afternoon, he submitted his review to Amazon. He sent me a copy of it:
“The Curse of Our Profound Disorder is extremely hard to put down. I read through it in just a couple of sittings. I found myself completely wrapped up in this first-person narrative of Jemima Callahan’s life. The author, Marilyn Jaye Lewis, is such an astute observer of human nature. The characters Jemina encounters, both good and bad, as well as those who are a combination thereof, ring totally true and serve to pull the reader further into the story. How to properly classify the novel in the terms of genre could be a bit tricky unless you take the expansive view that it can be shelved in a number of different categories. It’s definitely a coming-of-age novel describing not only the pitfalls facing the young narrator but also her strong will to survive her adverse circumstances. It’s also a spiritual journey in which the narrator’s own very real religious orientation is tested repeatedly. And it’s a worldly exploration of a young woman’s sexual encounters while trying to stay alive, and her later involvement in a love relationship that changes her way of looking at the world. In a sense, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder is three books in one, and all three of them fire on all cylinders. I could not recommend it more highly.”
Again, I really want to thank those of you who contacted me privately the last couple days, to just send your good thoughts and prayers.
I truly, truly appreciate that. It helped me a lot.
I am in a much calmer place now, for sure. And I’m trying to just move forward.
I have decided to set up a GoFundMe drive later today, to try to get donations to help me recoup $1700 that was earmarked for the audiobook productions. All of that money is gone.
The recent book editing job I had, and the check I got from Honda last week, would have covered all my production costs, but that, of course, was in my bank account, which got wiped out Monday.
And again, just FYI — I didn’t know this, maybe you do, but don’t answer your phone if the caller ID is from your bank. Call your bank back instead, and ask if they were trying to reach you. That way, you know for certain who you’re talking to.
Also, be alert to anything concerning CHIME online bank. Not that CHIME bank is a scam, it’s not; but the police officer who was taking down my report said that CHIME bank is used a lot in banking/phone scams. And even Wayne said that he had a $45 scam involving a CHIME bank account recently.
So just be aware.
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I also have 2 pairs of vintage Gucci high heeled shoes, from the 1990s — one, a pair with those silver mirrored sequins designed by Tom Ford, that is reasonably valuable.
The shoes don’t fit me anymore because my feet got too wide. But I have such great memories of wearing those shoes in the 1990s! (And that is an understatement.)
Even this photo is an understatement…
However, I have the memories. I don’t need the actual shoes, so I’m going to offer them for sale online. Maybe get as much as $800, combined.
We shall see.
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Okay.
Later today, my Q-following girlfriend in town is meeting me at Kohl’s! Not that I can afford to go shopping right now, even though they’re having a huge sale. But we decided it would be good for me to get out of the house for a few hours and just have fun.
I’m looking forward to it. The store has changed a bit over the last few years, but it used to be my favorite store, so it has good memories for me.
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Another totally mind-blowing thing happened to me yesterday, gang.
Another “I didn’t see that coming” thing — but this time, in a really good way.
I can’t go into all the details yet, but I can say that an older gentleman who lives across the road, who chats with me frequently when I’m outside watering the flowers or getting my mail, was chatting with me yesterday afternoon.
He is very friendly, very chatty. And he suddenly said, “I hope you don’t mind me asking this, but how come you’re not married? You’re so beautiful.“
Long story short, he asked me if I wanted to go out to lunch sometime. And I said, “Yes!!”
He is just so nice. (He’s a widower.)
So we decided that when I get back from James Tabor’s conference in North Carolina, we’ll go out to lunch. That made me really happy, gang.
We love lunch!!
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All righty!
If you missed this last night, here’s the replay! (I really enjoyed this because he is so much younger than me — his take on the whole literary world now is so different from what my experiences were.)
“Rob Macaisa Colgate is the author of the poetry collection Hardly Creatures (2025), winner of the Chicago Review of Books Award and longlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize, and the verse drama My Love is Water (2025). Currently based in Chicago, he serves as managing poetry editor of Foglifter Journal and was the inaugural poet-in-residence at Tangled Art + Disability. A graduate of the New Writers Project at University of Texas at Austin, he is a recipient of fellowships from Creative Capital, the National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, and Fulbright.”
Webinar with Rob Macaisa Colgate, Author of Hardly Creatures (51 mins):
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Okay.
Here’s this!! It brought a smile to my face.
From Phyllis Stein.
Sid Vicious and friends!! In 1976. (Photo by Bob Gruen)
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And I loved the blonde hair…
Again, from Phyllis Stein.
Iggy in the East Village, 1976 (Photo by Roberta Bayley)
(And when I lived in the East Village in the 80s, Iggy lived 4 blocks from me!!)
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And here’s this!
From Dior!!
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And I loved this!!
Blixa Bargeld! Smoking!! In London!! With great hair!! In 1987!! (Photo by Andrew Catlin)
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And speaking of Bad Seeds….
My stash from Facebook!!
Nick Cave!!
Great hair!! Weasels or not!!
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And speaking of Nick Cave ( as if there were ever a time when I’m not speaking of him…)
He sent out one of those great Red Hand Files yesterday, wherein he answered 40 questions with very short answers. (He was celebrating the Red Hand Files turning 8 !!)
This was my favorite!! (It took me a minute to get it, I have to confess.)
“Fuck you & fuck Isreal from MICHAEL, MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
“Daer Micheal, a raelly graet plaesure to haer from you again.”
It’s a gloomy and rainy morning so far, but that often unreliable weather app on my iPhone says that by noon it will be sunny and remain sunny for the rest of the afternoon!!
Yay!!
So I’m going with that thought today, gang! Nothing but sun up ahead!
And since Sunday has become my go-to-town-and-get-groceries day, I’ll wait until noon before heading to town.
I’m hoping I can persuade these guys to go with me again today —
It’s always so much more fun driving anywhere with them!
So, we shall see. (They’re probably in church right now, so I’ll wait a bit before calling them…)
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Okay!!
Wow, you know? What a morning. The first 2 things I saw on Instagram, very early today (5AM), were 2 of my favorite accounts having huge troubles with Instagram & Facebook — the various algorithms there were making them very unhappy.
One was our beloved Phyllis Stein — I so hope she doesn’t leave Instagram, but it was actually Facebook that was threatening to block her awesome account for no valid reason.
The other account was for 2 cute little dogs that I follow in Germany —
Me, following a dog in Germany…
I have followed the account for years and the woman who runs the account is around my age and we interact all the time (luckily she speaks perfect English since my German consists of about 4 words — and I count “gesundheit” as one of them). But she is so fed up with Instagram interfering with her posts now that she is actually leaving Instagram as of today.
I really can’t stress enough how much I do not like Facebook (I recently rejoined it). It has gotten so different now and it is very difficult to post over there.
I don’t interact much on fb at all. I have about 5 followers. Literally. And all of them are people I have known for a long time and, except for Iris N. Schwartz, I also follow them on Instagram. So fb seems sort of pointless to me.
It seems like the only thing I really do on fb is look at Nick Cave photos!! Like I needed another app on my phone to look at more Nick Cave photos!
But here’s one I liked on fb yesterday!!
But as far as Instagram — I love Instagram. I have been active on it every day for about 8 years.
Once in awhile I post something concerning my writing career, but mostly I post photos of my cats. And I just love looking at everybody else’s photos.
I mostly follow other cats, and dogs, birds, alpacas, goats, donkeys, cows! From all over the world!
And a few people in Finland and Norway who take unbelievably gorgeous photos of nature.
And a bunch of Punk and rock & roll musicians — most of whom, sadly, are already dead.
But I just love Instagram, so it makes me sad that people I enjoy following are being bullied by the algorithms now — and enough to leave the platform altogether.
I don’t have a lot of followers on instaramg — sorry, that’s a different app I also use. But on Instagram, I have about 1600 followers.
But I only really interact with about 12 of them on a daily basis. So for me, it’s just fun.
I can’t imagine how awful it must be to try to rely on those apps for career-related stuff. It must be a nightmare.
I am so glad that I have my blog, gang.
You know, even though it is totally old school — no bells & whistles — I have about 100 people a day, sometimes as many as 200, from all over the world, who stop in and read my blog!
That’s about 3,000 views a month, and about 36,000 views a year now!
And I’ve had this same blog for 12 years already. In fact, a few years back, WordPress was after me to update it to a different layout. They wanted to retire the layout I use because it was too old-fashioned. But I love this layout because it is SO easy to use.
So I think I am the only blogger left on WordPress who uses this layout.
Anyway… I digress.
I am really glad that WordPress doesn’t resort to a bunch of terrorizing algorithm stuff.
And I really want to thank you guys so much for stopping by every day to read the blog.
It still means a lot to me, even after all these years.
“Oh, and then I saw a photo of Keith Richards smoking in London back in 1968, It was just SO COOL…”
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All right.
Well, after listening to the new auditions for audiobooks that came in yesterday morning, I have decided that for now, I’m removing the short story collections from the audition queue.
Those are just going to be too complex, since some of the stories are from the female POV, and some from the male POV. I’ve decided to just focus on the novels for now.
But other than that, we are moving forward with perhaps THREE novels to turn into audiobooks! 1954 Powder Blue Pickup, The Guitar Hero Goes Home, and possibly Freak Parade.
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Okay!
Since the Bad Seeds’ tour is over now, I am resorting to a photo of Nick Cave from the desktop stash!!
Singing and smoking!! In black & white!! (He looks so, I don’t know, energetic here!)
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And here’s this!!
If you look REALLY carefully, Keith is smoking — and walking & carrying a package in London in 1986. In full color!! Heavy on the blue!! (Photo by Richard Young)
I can’t say for sure if Keith is smoking here, you have to do your own research on that. But it does seem to be the 1980s, and in black & white.
And if you don’t really know much about Keith–
Back when he was a heroin addict, his teeth started rotting really badly. After he quit heroin for good, around 1978, he had all of his teeth replaced.
But here’s one of the photos from the not-so-great-teeth days. But he still looks so sweet here:
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And that is what I have for now.
The laundry is just about done! I’m gonna check in on the 2 cats outside and see who wants to be fed (again) before I head to town.
Have a great Sunday, wherever you are in the world, gang.
And THANKS for visiting!! I really mean that.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this!!
Since I have been reading that book, Conversations With Tom Petty (2006) at night now, and we are now up to when he was recording his triple multi-platinum Wildflowers solo album, I put that CD in the kitchen jukebox player this morning!
So let’s listen to “You Wreck Me”. I hadn’t heard it in awhile!! A real rocker.
From the Wildflowers album, 1994!! Enjoy, gang.
“You Wreck Me”
Tonight we ride, right or wrong Tonight we sail, on a radio song Rescue me, should I go down If I stay too long in trouble town
Oh, yeah, you wreck me, baby Yeah, you break me in two But you move me, honey Yes, you do
Now and again, I get the feeling Well, if I don’t win, I’m a-gonna break even Rescue me, should I go wrong If I dig too deep, if I stay too long
Oh, yeah, you wreck me, baby Yeah, you break me in two But you move me, honey Yes, you do
I’ll be the boy in the corduroy pants You’ll be the girl at the high school dance Run with me, wherever I go And just play dumb, whatever you know
Oh, yeah, you wreck me, baby Yeah, you break me in two But you move me, honey Yes, you do
You wreck me, baby Yeah, you break me in two Oh, but you move me, honey Ah, yes, you do
