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Yes, it turns out that I don’t have to work today, so that’s good because I still have a lot of stuff left to do on the M. Christian anthology and I am hoping to have it turned in to the publisher by the end of the month.

So here’s hoping I have a productive weekend!

NO, wait! Of course, I meant THIS!!

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And, YES!!

I did manage to screw up the electric breaker switch thingie yesterday morning while trying to fix the lights in the kitchen and also dash off to the job on time!

But luckily, the tech guy was able to come back out while I was at work and he fixed it in a nano-second, so everything is back to normal. Yay!!

ME! Helping out!!

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Okay!!

This is happening today!!

Happy birthday, David Lee Roth!! He is 72 today!!

And here’s this!! And if you’re not old enough to remember it — this was in the peak years of MTV, when music videos cost a fortune to produce and were like little 4-minute movies. From 1985, David Lee Roth’s huge hit version of “California Girls”!!

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I don’t have a lot of “here’s this’s ” today because, you know, I had to work at a job yesterday and wasn’t able to just sit and scroll through Instagram all day!! (But I had a great time!!)

Anyway.

Here’s this!

Jack Kerouac– confused in Autumn!!

And here’s this bit of absolute loveliness while we’re at it! Chet Baker, “Tis Autumn” from 1959:

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And here’s this!!

From Phyllis Stein.

Lou Reed with Iggy Pop, smoking, at Max’s in NYC in 1972!! (Photo by Danny Fields)

And I’ve posted this once before, but here it is again! The song I wrote about Iggy Pop in 1984, after having read his incredible memoir I Need More. (What a great book that was.)

This is an absolute demo — it’s just me and my drummer using the 8-track in my bedroom on E.12th Street, so the sound quality is not great. The demo is followed below by my lyrics, and then by Jim Carroll’s comments on my lyrics, because I wrote the song and turned it in while taking Jim Carroll’s songwriting class in 1984 (one of the true highlights of my life!!).

“SHAPE YOU’RE IN“
(for Iggy Pop)

She was a tiny girl,
but she felt like a woman to you
In her high-heeled shoes and her
Tanqueray point of view.

You were a man on the edge
She was a girl in chains
When a child comes on
Don’t the night get strange?

CHORUS I:
You’ve broken all the rules but you still need more
‘Til you’re not sure what you’re looking for
But God’s gonna overlook this one sin
‘Cause, honey, He’s seen the shape you’re in.

It was a tiny dream,
It took all the money you had
It was a good little dream, but it shook you
And treated you bad.

When the damage is done
When you fear the change
When the deal’s gone down
Don’t the dark get strange?

CHORUS II:
You’ve taken all the pain but they still want more
‘Til you’re not sure what you do it for
But God’s gonna carry you through my friend
‘Cause, honey, He’s seen the shape you’re in.

Life on the edge
Can cheat you and paralyze
‘Til the voice in your head
Misleads you and tells you lies

If I could give you the moon
In a paper jar
Would you trade it all
For the big rock star?

CHORUS III:
You’ve broken all the rules but you still need more
‘Til you’re not sure what you’re looking for
But God’s gonna carry you through my friend
‘Cause, honey, He’s seen the shape you’re in.

© 1984 Marilyn Jaye Lewis
FIRST OF MAY SONGS, BMI

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And here’s this!

The only Nick Cave thing I have today, but it’s from Facebook!!

Nick Cave and his skateboard!!

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All right, that’s it.

I need to finish up the laundry now and get focused on editing the anthology.

Oh, I will add that I had such a great chat on the phone with my new guy last night. Even though our lives could not have been more different if we’d planned it that way, we have a lot of fundamental things in common.

For instance, does this sound familiar? He said that his parents forced him to go to college. He didn’t want to go. He said, “I lasted about 10 weeks and thought it was just stupid and so I quit.”

Of course the difference between him and me, is that after I quit college, I went off to NYC to become a singer-songwriter and a writer, and he worked on farms and trained horses and did road construction and rehabbed old houses.

HE (on phone last night): “I’m just a dumb hillbilly.”

ME (very encouraging): “You’re not dumb at all!”

(He’s a hillbilly maybe, but he absolutely is not stupid!!)

Plus we also discovered that our ancestral heritage is similar — heavy on the Irish and German.

Anyway!

Okay. I gotta scoot.

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 1986!

Iggy Pop’s fantastic song “Blah-Blah-Blah”!! From the album of the same name. (I adored this whole album.) Okay. Enjoy, gang!!

“Blah-Blah-Blah”

Pop before the war
lunch before the score
steady as she goes
following my nose
I’m a bull mongrel
that’s me

Shimon Peres
whatcha gonna do
I’m from detroit
blow the reveille
deatho knocko
that’s me little ol’me
glamorous me

Johnny can’t read
blah blah blah
I’ can’t see
blah blah blah
tuna on white
guns all night
blah blah blah

Cat taboo girl-
raped by an ape
cat taboo girl
jam the sucker in
you dig the mongrels
guardian of the state
says you gotta go
bombin’ low

Senator Rambo
merrily you go
monkey butcher knows
a cab to find abank
a bank to find a loan
’cause you can’t be alone
you dig the mongrels

Violent peace
blah blah blah
buy it right now
blah blah blah
we are the world
we are so huge
blah blah blah
johnny can’t read
blah blah blah
I’ can’t see
blah blah blah
tuna on white
guns all night
blah blah blah

blue jeans coolies
everything huge
petrified food
pizza killers
from napalm to nice guy
nifty fifty
hit ’em where they live

the most spoiled brats
on god’s green earth

pop before the war

c – 1986 Iggy Pop, David Bowie

Okay! I’m starting to get used to this!

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Heading to town in the mornings and having a job again!! Even if it’s only part-time.

Honestly, gang, when I wake up and realize that I have someplace to be, a place I really love being in, around people I really enjoy, it makes me feel so happy to get out of bed!!

I will find out today if I’ll be needed to work on Saturdays, too, but on Saturdays, the store is only open for 3 hours so it’s not really like working…

Anyway.

I’m in a really good place, mentally. Finally.

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All right. So.

The hot water heater is working great, for now. However, as soon as the sun is fully up, I need to head down into my 125-year-old creepy basement and look at the breaker panel, because another fuse has blown on one side of the kitchen wall. I’m guessing that when he was checking the breakers yesterday afternoon, he flipped one that needs to be flipped back. We shall see!

Me, knowing exactly what I’m doing!!

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Okay!!

It’s all about THIS today!!

Happy heavenly birthday John Lennon!! Born on this day in 1940. Rest in glory, baby!!

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And I think this next one should just basically be the new motto for this whole blog!!

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All righty.

A couple of updates on Warren Ellis that are not in any way dog-throwing-up related!!

Coming up on October 26th in Milan, Italy (I think this is in some sort of fashion museum?) —

And here’s this!

Kirsten Krauth’s new podcast, Just Surrender: Creative Conversations, interviews Warren Ellis!

You can listen HERE (45 mins)

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There’s an End of Summer Sale going on at the Nick Cave merch store!!

Shop here for Summer Sale items!!

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Okay. Here’s this!!

The Cars take Osaka in 1980!!

Oh, here’s something, before I forget!

The Cars were really popular when I was in my late teens. And the girlfriend I wrote about here recently who is now really sick and confined to a nursing home — we loved The Cars.

She and I recently re-connected through Facebook. And last night — another girlfriend re-connected with me through Facebook! The three of us were all really close for most of our lives.

Here’s the 3 of us at my 40th birthday, when I was still living in NYC but had made a quick trip back home to Ohio — we’re all 40 in this photo. 26 years ago (we had all been friends for 30 years already!):

Me, Andie, and Dina, 2000

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Okay!

Here’s one from Phyllis Stein!!

Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, in London, 1977 (Photo by Ian Dickson)

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And here’s the playwright, Arthur Miller, smoking at the Chelsea Hotel in NYC in 1960!!

If you’re unclear about who he was, aside from being an incredible playwright, he was married to this gal! (From 1956 – 1961)

Marilyn Monroe

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And here’s this!!

From Facebook!!

Nick Cave!! Lying down on a sort of sofa/bed thing, surrounded by Christianity!!

And here’s Nick Cave, all alone on a chair!!

And Nick Cave doing, well, I’m not sure what but his hair looks great!!

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And that is it!

I better scurry down to the dark creepy basement and check that breaker box before heading to town!

Oh, the latest update on my guy is sort of intense, gang.

He is indeed coming back to Ohio for about a week in mid-November in order to spend time doing stuff with me and getting to know me better. He bought his plane ticket yesterday.

We text a couple times a day and chat on the phone every night. We are indeed getting to know each other but he finds phones and texting frustrating. He says that, in person, we can:

HE (on phone): “Make some headway and move forward.”

ME (sarcasm): “Is that the same as spendng time together and getting to know each other??”

Anyway! He’s funny.

I will, of course, keep you posted.

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Meanwhile, have a great Friday, wherever you are in the world, gang!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

I’m off!

Getting ready to be super helpful!!

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Yes!

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):

A splendid morning so far!

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Not only is it a really beautiful Fall day here today, gang, but it has also gotten cold enough at night now, that today I am bringing all the green houseplants indoors until next Spring.

Which also means that the 6-month battle between me and the cats gets underway today!

The cats LOVE exploring the houseplants and, whenever possible, toppling the flowerpots onto the floor and spilling soil all over the carpeting!! Yay!!

So this is a time of year that I really look forward to!!

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It has also been a splendid morning because of this!!

Yes! It’s the New Guy In My Life’s birthday today!!

So — Happy birthday to the new guy in my life!

We spoke briefly at 5:03AM (“Happy birthday!”)

Then a little lengthier chat at 6:55AM (other stuff that I won’t go into — but, yay!)

Then a very, very brief chat at about 7:25AM… (him, quickly reiterating stuff that I won’t go into — yet!)

Mostly we laughed a lot. But he also said, “I’m so sick of Florida already! I want to be back there in Ohio!” (He’s been gone about 5 days, with the rest of the entire winter to go…) (If you’re new to the blog — when he’s not at his home in Florida, he lives in the house directly across the road from me. And we decided to start dating, like, the day before he left for Florida.)

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Okay.

Today is also this —

Gone 6 years today. RIP Eddie Van Halen.

And here’s this, from 1984, “Panama”!

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Okay!

Here’s this!!

Keith!! Doing the polka!!

OOPS! Of course, I meant, wearing polka DOTS!!

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And I loved this.

Allen in his apartment just a few steps away from my old apartment on E.12th Street! And I had 2 fireplaces in the old apartment that looked very much like his looked below. PLUS, I love that he has that photo of Mick & Keith stuck on his fireplace!!

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In the “Urgent Dog Update” Department!!

Oh no! It seems Tupac threw up again!! Apparently, this time, right on Warren Ellis’s brown suit and it appears that Warren might have had to change clothes!!

And here’s this! “Back in Black”!! AC/DC, 1980!!

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And here’s this!!

Your guess is as good as mine on this one, gang!!

What I can at least tell you is: Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, black & white!! From Facebook!!

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Well.

So, yesterday! I really, really loved being back at the old health & wellness store, gang.

I’m re-learning some basics– like how to work the cash register and credit card processor.

But, for the most part, it all came back to me. God, I just love that store. I literally love being in it. The energy of it — it’s a privately owned alternative health store, that’s been run by the same family for about 40 years now.

And at the end of the evening, the owner gave me a big hug and a smile and she said, “I am so happy you came back!!” Yay!

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All right.

I guess that’s it for now.

I gotta get busy bringing those plants indoors and then get back to work on editing the M. Christian tribute anthology.

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!

Can’t wait for “Ludwig” Season 2 to begin here in the US!! One more week, gang!!

First, a short– (2 mins 22 seconds):


David Mitchell LUDWIG 2 Exclusive Announcement interview 2026 (5 mins):

Another New Life Awaits!

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Okay, gang. I don’t really have much to post about today.

Yesterday was mostly about talking on the phone to everyone imaginable, and also getting the house ready for me to be going off to a job again (3 days a week).

You know, mostly this —

Oh, and you know, after I’d vacuumed my entire house — while my birth mom was here for 3 days:

SHE (when I got home from the airport): “I went ahead and vacuumed. Hope you don’t mind.”

I guess it’s hereditary — this nonstop vacuuming.

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I’m really excited to get back into that store today and start learning again, gang.

I used to know every product in that store, what it was for, why it worked, why you might not need it, why you should stay away from it, or why it might save your life.

A lot of it, I still remember, but a whole lot of it I will have to re-learn. Plus, there’s new stuff out there that I need to find out about!

I’m also really excited to start wearing my regular clothes again!!

For the last 4 years, I’ve worn shirts with specific logos on them. I’d actually forgotten about some of the really pretty sweaters and fall clothes that I had because I hadn’t worn them in so long.

So that feels really great, too! Sort of like having a new wardrobe, but more like getting reacquainted with things I used to love.

I guess it’s called having a life…

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Okay.

Sandra called yesterday to update me on the various things I will most likely need to go to Rhinebeck and NYC for in December and January. I’ll post more exact details here when I can.

God, I just LOVE Rhinebeck, NY!!

Sandra’s cabaret at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in Times Square, in NYC, will still be happening in January, but I’m not sure of the exact date yet. (But another hotel stay is in my not-too-far-off future, gang!!)

And for the next week or ten days, when I’m not working in the store, I will be completing the editing of the M. Christian tribute anthology and turning that in.

After that, my guess is, I will need to focus on tightening the script for Sandra’s one-woman cabaret show (which includes a couple segments from our play, “The Guide to Being Fabulous”).

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Okay!

From Ross K. Nichols Sunday School yesterday–

“Jesus made the Kingdom of God the centerpiece of his message. He said it was the reason he was sent, told his followers to seek it first, and taught them to pray for its coming. But where did the idea come from, what did it require, and was the work ever completed?”

The Kingdom of God: Jesus’ Unfinished Mission (52 mins):

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And here’s this!

A couple from Phyllis Stein!

Joe Strummer atop the Rock, in NYC, 1981! (I love his t-shirt!) (Photo by Bob Gruen)

And regarding the t-shirt — in summer 1981, The Clash played a week-long gig at Bond’s in Times Square, which was one block from where I lived back then. Absolute pandemonium!

AND–

Johnny Thunders smiling in London in 1985! (Photo by Jane Simon)

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Upon first glance here, it almost looks like the family that smokes together, stays together!

However, Marlon isn’t really smoking…

Anyway!

A quite perky Keith, with family, in Germany in 1970!!!

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And here’s this!

From Facebook, no doubt!!

And I think that perhaps this one is a little AI enhanced (?), but I still love it!

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And that is actually it for the “here’s this’s” today.

And I’m guessing that I won’t have too many tomorrow, either. Unless of course the store has a firm policy now that staff members remain on their phones, scrolling through Instagram at all times…

I wouldn’t want to go against a firm policy or anything…

Anyway!!

Enjoy your Monday, 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!!

It’s been all over Instagram lately, to promote the release of the 49th Anniversary, My Aim Is True, 5 CD Boxed Set!!

Elvis Costello, Watching The Detectives (Live On Top Of The Pops, October 11, 1977) Enjoy, gang!

Wow. What a great morning.

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Even though it is supposed to rain all day…

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

You can read it HERE. (Free)

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From Johhny Depp this morning!

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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.

“It had nothing to do with pills and booze!!”

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No. I was totally sober.

I simply did not know until after I’d posted to the blog yesterday, that I missed a couple of birthdays!!

Happy belated birthday, Marty Stuart!!

And happy heavenly birthday, W.S. Merwin!! He would have been 99 yesterday!

For his upcoming 100th birthday next year, the WS Merwin Conservancy in Hawaii has plenty of really cool things planned. My favorite is this:

“A new podcast is in the works, by way of a collaboration with Hawaiʻi Public Radio. It will highlight the voices of some of our writers-in-residence, carrying their vision, and the work made while here on Maui, across the ocean.”

To find out about all their upcoming plans, and to sign up for their newsletter, visit HERE.

Meanwhile, here’s one of my favorite poems by WS Merwin:

“A Single Autumn” (2008)

The year my parents died
one that summer one that fall
I moved into the house
where they had lived their last years
it had never been theirs
and was still theirs in that way
for a while

echoes in every room
without a sound
all the things that we
had never been able to say
I could not remember

doll collection
in a china cabinet
plates stacked on shelves
lace on drop-leaf tables
a dried branch of bittersweet
before a hall mirror
were all planning to wait

the glass doors of the house
remained closed
the days had turned cold
and out in the tall hickories
the blaze of autumn had begun
on its own

I could do anything

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Okay!

If you’re a writer doing anything Singapore- or Asia-related, be sure to check out Jee Leong Koh’s Singapore Unbound and sign up for their newsletter:

“A transnational literary organization based in NYC, Singapore Unbound envisions and works for a creative and fulfilling life for everyone. We do so through the subversive, innovative, and empathetic powers of the arts, especially by amplifying underrepresented voices.”

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And here’s a trip down Memory Lane–

My own foray into Singapore unbound in NYC! 1981!

Me and Chong, our first Christmas!! (Chong, my first husband who now lives in Seattle, was born & raised in Singapore.)

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And here’s this!

Warren Ellis and his pup, Tupac, had an urgent update for us last evening, about vomiting in cars!

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And here’s this update from Nick Cave Official:

“Nick Cave has collaborated with PETA on a limited-edition merchandise collection featuring his original illustration of a dog and a rat alongside the organisation’s “Every Animal Is Someone” slogan. The collection includes T-shirts, tote bags and tapestries, with all proceeds supporting PETA’s work.”

You can shop HERE!

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And that’s really all I have for today. It was already 2PM when I got home from my job “re-application” yesterday (I had to fill out a bunch of tax forms, etc.) —

BTW, this is where I’ll be working again, part-time. My favorite Health & Wellness store! Comfrey Corner of Heath!

And once I got home yesterday, I had a bunch of little things to tend to.

Including but not limited to:

I had the cutest conversation with the man I’m going out to lunch with today.

We were over in his driveway, confirming our plans.

Then he said, sort of quietly, while glancing nervously over at my house, “There isn’t anyone who’s going to, you know, put a gun in my face because I’m taking you to lunch tomorrow, right?”

How cute was that??!!

I assured him that, no, there was no one on Earth who cared if I went out to lunch with him… Then he totally relaxed. He is so sweet.

Anyway.

We’re going here! Applebee’s, in Muskingum County! (Where basically everybody owns a gun!!)

And then tomorrow, he leaves for Florida for the winter.

What is it with all these people who go to Florida all winter and miss the thrill of Christmas in the snow & icy winds of Ohio???

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Well, anyway. I’m looking forward to lunch today.

And then, when I get back, I will focus on the M. Christian anthology!!

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!

If you have the time — it’s an hour and half long — I am really enjoying this. Although it’s taking me a while. I can only watch it a couple songs at a time before I have to go focus on something else.

However.

Absolutely classic Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers! 1978! I was only 18 back then. So hard to even believe that.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Live at Winterland 1978 (Full Concert Experience) (1 hr 32 mins) Enjoy, gang:

A happy hello from the Hinterlands!

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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:

  1. The deadline for receiving contributions to the memorial tribute anthology honoring M. Christian. (Meaning, I then have to start editing it.)
  2. My lunch date with the gentleman across the road.
  3. 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.

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And the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project is having an East Village Walking Tour for LGBTQ History Month!!

(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!!)

You can sign up for the tour HERE. It is $25.

“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!

Today is the day!!

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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:

Angry Anderson, Australian rock legend and Rose Tattoo frontman, dies aged 79

“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!!

Biddy Tarot

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

c – 1981 Tom Petty

And we’re off!!

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We’re getting awfully close to Thursday around here, gang!

Thursday being the day my birth mom arrives to take care of my cats while I’m gone.

All the dusting and furniture polishing is already done, and the mirrors are sneeze-free! (Meaning, where the cats sneezed on them; not that the mirrors actually sneeze…)

So starting today, we’re doing all that heavy duty laundry that you only do when houseguests are coming — all the sheets, blankets, the bed skirt from the guest room. All the extra bath towels.

Then I’ll do the final vacuuming, too.

AND– I’m even gonna touch up the paint on the walls, where the kittens scratched at it when they were younger and totally delighted themselves while making me not quite so delighted.

It’s also time to cut back the rose bushes for autumn. I’ll do that probably tomorrow. Or whenever it stops raining.

You know, just try to not only make everything look like 15 cats don’t live here, but also take away ANYTHING that would tempt my mom to undertake the tasks herself!!

I just want her to be able to relax!

Yes, even though my mom is 79 years old now, she is still a brunette… (And oh yeah, trust me — she imbibes!!)

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Okay.

Well, this happened last night.

I discovered that in 11 days, reruns of the old TV show “Castle” are leaving Amazon Prime.

I loved that show when it first came out. And I only recently re-discovered it on Prime. I always watch it during dinner now and it totally makes me calm down. I love everyone in the show, but I especially love the interactions between Richard Castle (a writer) and his mom and daughter, up in his duplex apartment in Manhattan.

I had purposely been making myself only watch one episode a night, because I wanted it to last…

Now, I can’t possibly watch all the episodes in the next 11 days, unless I watch it around the clock. (It ran for 8 years.)

Dang! I will probably just buy the whole show from somewhere online and keep watching it. Honestly, it settles down all my anxiety.

A clip from 15 years ago, Castle with his teenage daughter (1 minute):

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And then this happened last night, too.

While I was doing yoga yesterday afternoon, my eye caught site of that children’s book Keith Richards and his daughter Theodora wrote. (Theodora illustrated it.)

Keith wrote it about his grandad, Gus, who taught him how to play, and to love, the guitar.

I’ve had the book since it came out in 2014. I did read it, but that was 12 years ago. So I took it down from the shelf and saw that it had a CD inside, attached to the inside back cover! I never even opened the little pouch! Never played the CD! It’s Keith, doing the audiobook reading of it!!

Wow. I thought it would be nice to listen to it in bed, in the dark!

So after everything was done yesterday, and I was in bed in the dark, and with the CD in the retro boombox next to my bed —

I turned it on and Keith’s amazing voice filled the room.

I was so delighted!!

But since it’s a children’s book — it lasted about 6 minutes. Shit.

Too bad there’s not an audiobook out there of Keith reading War and Peace or something equally indescribably long….

Anyway.

Here’s the audiobook version of the book, but it is not Keith reading it.

Gus & Me by Keith Richards (6 mins 29 seconds):

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Okay!

From Phyllis Stein!!

Richard Hell wearing his heart on his sleeve in London in 1977!!

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And back to Keith!

Looking intense! In black & white!

Also intense, and equally black & white, but also smiling in 1981!!

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And some more great photos from Facebook! (To be honest, it’s basically the only thing I do on Facebook now.)

Nick Cave! Singing, smoking, sweating!! (Apparently, I chose 3 words)

Nick Cave smoking!!

I loved this one!!

Nick Cave and Blixa Bargeld, smoking!! Near some alcoholic beverages!! Full color!!

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And that is actually kind of it for now.

I have a ton of stuff to do around here today.

However!

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Okay, this stuff has got to STOP!

I am already having way too much trouble dealing with TIME passing!!

That said–

Apparently, yesterday was the 22nd anniversary of the release of the phenomenal Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds double-album, Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus !!

22 YEARS!!! WTF??!!

Well, anyway.

Let’s close with this gem!

“Breathless”, by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, from the above-mentioned double-album with the very long title!! 2004!! Enjoy, gang. (I sure have — for 22 years…)

“Breathless”

It’s up in the morning and on the downs
Little white clouds like gambolling lambs
And I am breathless over you
And the red-breasted robin beats his wings
His throat it trembles when he sings
For he is helpless before you
The happy hooded bluebells bow
And bend their heads all a-down
Heavied by the early morning dew
At the whispering stream, at the bubbling brook
The fishes leap up to take a look
For they are breathless over you
Still your hands
And still your heart
For still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows anew

Still your mind
Still your soul
For still, the fire of love is true
And I am breathless without you
The wind circles among the trees
And it bangs about the new-made leaves
For it is breathless without you
The fox chases the rabbit round
The rabbit hides beneath the ground
For he is defenceless without you
The sky of daytime dies away
And all the earthly things they stop to play
For we are all breathless without you
I listen to my juddering bones
The blood in my veins and the wind in my lungs
And I am breathless without you
Still your hands
And still your heart
For still your face comes shining through
And all the morning glows anew
Still your soul
Still your mind
Still, the fire of love is true
And I am breathless without you

c – 2004 – Nick Cave