Tag Archives: love

All right! Getting better!

September 16, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

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.)

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.

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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.”

You can read them all HERE!

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Okay.

That’s it for now.

If I do set up the GoFundMe drive, I’ll post it here later.

Meanwhile, 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!

I have learned so much from Elaine Pagels over the years, about Gnosticism, the Secret Teachings of Jesus, the Gospel of Thomas, etc.

This is a quick interview, with Myth Vision. I watched it during breakfast today. Enjoy, gang.

The Secret Teachings of Jesus | Dr. Elaine Pagels (11 mins):

Totally thinking ahead here!

September 13, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

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 —

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

c – 1994 Mike Campbell, Tom Petty

Happy Labor Day from the sunny Hinterlands!

September 7, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Wow, what a spectacular day here today.

The windows are open, the house is cool, the skies are sunny for as far as the eye can see!

I am in a much better mood this morning about everything.

Oh! I forgot to post this, in case you or someone you know was having the same problem– about the wireless printer no longer working right with a new fiber optic Internet connection.

Since I don’t really like wireless printers, in general, and since I could not for the life of me understand the written instructions online about how to fix it myself, and since the HP printer tech support line involves NO HUMAN BEINGS WHATSOEVER and I was ready to tear my fucking hair out….

It finally occurred to me to check the back of the printer for a USB cable port and VOILA!!!! It had one. So I went and bought a USB printer cable and then carefully did this very complicated procedure:

I plugged one end of the cable into the printer and the other end into my laptop and in 0.2 nanoseconds, suddenly the printer was working just fine….

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Okay, gang!

It is official!

On Saturday, October 3rd, from 1-5PM, at Holland’s Book Nook in the really lovely Historic Arcade in downtown Newark, Ohio–

I will be singing — well, I won’t be doing a whole lot of singing, mostly I’ll be signing copies of my brand new novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder!

2 other local writers will also be there, but I don’t know who the writers are yet.

If for some inexplicable reason you will be in the area that day, please stop by!!

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Okay, I don’t have a lot to post about today since I spent a good chunk of yesterday in town, running errands. And then the remainder of the afternoon working on the new MEMOIR… and I finally found a way to approach it without totally depressing myself.

But here’s this!

From the wonderful Phyllis Stein!

Richard Hell in NYC in 1977!! (Photo by Stephanie Chernikowski)

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And here are 2 great ones from that Nick Cave/Facebook account that I love!

Absolutely SMOKING!! (Nick Cave, and then The Boys Next Door)

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And honestly, that is it for today, gang.

I’m hoping that I have a productive day of writing ahead of me here. We shall soon find out.

Meanwhile, if you live State-side, have a fabulous Labor Day. Otherwise, have a great Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

Continuing from yesterday’s post…

A little more Lou Bega!! (Get in the car and drive, gang!!)

“Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of…)”, 1999. Enjoy!!

Can you believe it’s September already??

September 1, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Personally, I cannot.

Here’s something else I can’t believe — for the next 7 days, I have no appointments on my schedule.

I get to do whatever I want to do. (Including, I hope, have lunch with one of my girlfriends.)

I’m not sure I know how to handle that — all that free/me time.

The appointment with the Medicare Insurance Nurse yesterday was very interesting. We seemed to have a lot of opinions in common about things like vaxxes and pharmaceuticals vs. supplements, etc.

We chatted about a lot of things, there at my kitchen table. She was here for half an hour, even though her actual “work” was completed in about 10 minutes.

Anyway.

That’s done for another year!

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Even though Summer doesn’t officially end for 3 more weeks, everyone in the village seems to think that since school is back in session, the Summer is over and we should be putting all of our Fall decorations out…

WTF??!!

I feel like I’m the only one left who has “Summer” all over her front porch.

So, sadly, I’m going to at least take the Summer stuff off the front porch today. Move all the flowers to the kitchen porch, and try to conform to everybody else’s calendar…

But I refuse to put out my actual Fall decor until the last week of September. (Here’s hoping I don’t incur some sort of fine for that — you know, the Sherriff showing up on my kitchen porch, saying, “You’re neighbors have been complaining that this porch here still looks a little Summery…”)

I’m actually feeling kind of sad about all this — time racing away. But on we go.

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Okay.

As far as having a little window of free time to get some of my own writing done…

That feels really strange, too! My own writing?

We’ll see how that goes. It’s all about focusing and detaching from whatever is going on in the world around me. It’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to really do that, without feeling sort of guilty about it.

That’s leftover from the caregiving.

But I’m working on moving those feelings out. Last evening, I suddenly decided to delete all the texts on my phone that I was still hanging onto from clients of mine who have since died.

I deleted any texts relating to caregiving at all. It felt like the right thing to do, because my heart needs to move on and I need to get fully back into my own life, while I’m still alive in it.

I hope to make some true progress with all of that this week.

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All righty!

Here’s this!

Keith, on a boat on the water! Getting plenty of “Keith” time!

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And here’s this!

From the last show of the Bad Seeds tour — Nick Cave in Paris!

And Nick Cave sent out a Red Hand File today, responding to an inquiry about his favorite painting. He actually got to see his favorite painting while in a museum in Germany recently. He said, in part:

“… I had heard that they had the Lochner (painting), but once inside I couldn’t find it amongst the museum’s unbelievably beautiful collection of sacred art. In my mind, the painting had become so monumental that I guess I expected it to be huge, to have its own wall, or something.

“As I was leaving, disappointed not to see it, I walked into a small, annexed room and in the far corner, in the half-light, was the Lochner, only twelve inches tall, and rendered with such tender restraint and humility that I found myself overwhelmed….”

You can read it in full HERE.

And here is the painting:

ADORATION OF THE CHILD JESUS BY STEFAN LOCHNER, 1445

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And that is it for now.

The first day in September is off to a sort of slow start, it seems. Even on Instagram.

But enjoy your day, 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 that legendary (now a little heartbreaking) album by Frank Sinatra, September of My Years (1965).

“Don’t Wait Too Long”. Enjoy, gang.

“Don’t Wait Too Long”

You are the summer and I am the autumn
Don’t wait too long
Your song’s beginning while mine’s nearly sung
Don’t wait too long

Fall is a lovely time of the year
When leaves turn to golden brown
But soon fall is ending and winter is near
And the leaves start tumblin’ down

Why must the moments go by in such haste?
Don’t wait too long
Winter is coming, I’ve no time to waste
Don’t wait too long

So while my heart’s gay and foolish and free and still can sing its song
Share every precious moment with me, don’t you wait too long

[instrumental-first line of a verse]
Don’t wait too long
[instrumental-second line of a verse]
Don’t wait too long

So while my heart’s gay and foolish and free and still can sing its song
Share every precious moment with me, don’t wait too long

c – 1965 Sunny Skylar

Okay! Just Waiting!

August 31, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Made the phone calls I had to make — you know, to alert Honda that I paid nearly $1200 in car lease payments over the weekend…

They took care of it. (Oops! Forgot to close out your Honda Civic account!) So now I’m just waiting to get a good chunk of that money back.

And I vacuumed the whole house.

Watered all the flowers.

Took care of the many cats…

And now I’m just waiting for the Medicare Insurance Nurse to arrive. And once she gets here, the checkup takes maybe 15 minutes, since I’m not on any prescription drugs and don’t have any health problems.

SHE: “Do you have any questions?”

ME: “No.” (Well, I have a lot of questions but none of them have anything whatsoever to do with my health, so I don’t even bother to ask.)

And then off she goes until next year…

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Speaking of taking care of the many cats, though–

Some really great news!

My birth mom called me yesterday afternoon and said that she’s going to be able to come here to take care of my cats when I go to North Carolina at the end of September!

Apparently, when my younger sister found out that I would be away and that cat sitters were going to be here, she told our mom: “No. I’ll take you to Marilyn’s and you can take care of her cats. And while you’re gone, I’ll look after your garden.”

So, wow, gang. That made both of us so happy. (My mom had been worried that she’d lose her tomato harvest if she came here to look after my cats.)

I much prefer it when my birth mom is here. The cats love her and she’s really good with cats. Plus she takes such good care of my house, too.

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Actually, my birth mom is still a brunette, even though she’s 79 now. I am the only one in my birth family whose hair went totally white by age 40.

What’s with that?

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Okay.

Here’s this! I thought it was pretty cool.

Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan has a personal YouTube channel!

This is the short introductory video from the other day (2 mins):

And this was his first actual video from over the weekend (16 mins):

You can view or join his channel HERE.

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Johnny Depp has MORE art in ANOTHER country (Germany) at another gallery! (Or, um, palace…)

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And here’s this!

Keith and Dr. John. One smoking, both laughing:

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Bad Seed George Vjestica posted some great end-of-tour photos.

Here’s one of them! (Photo by fellow Bad Seed, Colin Greenwood!)

And here’s the soundtrack to George’s photos!! The beautiful Rolling Stones song, “Moonlight Mile”! From their legendary album Sticky Fingers, 1971:

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And, yes, it’s sad but true — now that the tour is over, here is my one & only photo of Nick Cave for today.

But it’s a good one!!

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And I guess that is it for today.

The rest of my week looks pretty nice, gang.

The book editing project is complete. So I can now focus on my own (new) writing for a little bit, and then on Thursday, I will probably head to town to have lunch with my Q-following girlfriend that I haven’t been able to hook up with for lunch for a couple of months!!

And then I’m also going to stop in at both of those bookstores in town that will be carrying my book (in 12 days!!).

Maybe I can find out the date for when the book signing will be, too.

Other than that–

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

And dedicate it to Nick Cave and his fantastic tour of Europe and the UK, 2026!!

Barry Manilow, “I Write the Songs”!! 1975. Enjoy, gang!!

“I Write the Songs”

I’ve been alive forever
And I wrote the very first song
I put the words and the melodies together
I am music, and I write the songs

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

My home lies deep within you
And I’ve got my own place in your soul
Now when I look out through your eyes
I’m young again, even though I’m very old

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

Oh, my music makes you dance
And gives your spirit to take a chance
And I wrote some rock ‘n’ roll, so you can move
Music fills your heart, well, that’s a real fine place to start
It’s from me, it’s for you
It’s from you, it’s from me
It’s a worldwide symphony

I write the songs that make the whole world sing
I write the songs of love and special things
I write the songs that make the young girls cry
I write the songs, I write the songs

I am music (music), and I write the songs…

c -1975 Bruce Johnston

What is this “Friday Again” business???

August 28, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

How can it possibly be Friday again, gang??

Where the heck is the time going to???

Anyway.

Happy Friday.

For some reason, I am super tired this morning. I don’t really know why. I think it’s emotional because I actually got plenty of sleep.

Okay. Here’s something that bugs me:

I recently switched to fiber optic internet, after having about 30 years of cable. It doesn’t matter to me that it’s faster than cable, it was a lot cheaper. So I switched.

But now my brand new wireless HP printer 99% of the time cannot be found by my laptop or my printer phone app. And vice versa!

But don’t worry! The HP chatbot assures me it’s fixable!! And sent me to the page online that explains everything and what I need to do…

First, though, I need to take time out to get a college degree in “Understanding What the Fuck You Are Talking About”.

Then we should be good to go…

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Remember those faraway days when you had your non-wireless laptop and/or desktop computer and you set up your non-wireless printer and everything just worked?

Or better yet, how about this??

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In fact!

Let’s just pause for one minute and 40 seconds to take this in again, and remember how much more FUN life was back when “the wireless” meant the fucking RADIO… (CAUTION: Kleenex might be needed):

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Okay.

Let’s come back to 2026…

Yesterday, this happened!

Happy heavenly birthday PeeWee Herman!!

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All right!

Milkweed Editions and Orion Magazine invite you to a special virtual conversation with celebrated writer Helen Whybrow, author of the beloved memoir The Salt Stones: Seasons of a Shepherd’s Life, and bestselling author Pam Houston, whose new book Animals Taught Me Everything reflects on a lifetime of learning from the creatures who have shaped her life.

Moderated by Neal Thompson, publisher of Orion Magazine, this wide-ranging discussion will explore memoir, place, belonging, and the lessons animals teach us about ourselves, one another, and the living world.

Special thanks to Torrey House Press, publisher of Pam Houston’s Animals Taught Me Everything.

This event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, September 17th

12pm PT | 2pm CT | 3pm ET

On Zoom

Visit HERE to register. Free!

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And speaking of animals–

Here’s Freddie McFee in the family room yesterday!!! (Notice that it’s beginning to look a little bit like Fall around here?? How the fuck did that happen??)

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All righty!

Here’s Keith!!

When he was younger!!

Smoking!!

Less younger!!

Not smoking!!

And a great shot of Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman!

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And it looks like Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds were taking it easy and/or keeping a low profile in Paris, as they awaited the final show of their summer tour TONIGHT!!

There were a ton of recent concert videos on Instagram, but almost no photos and fewer candid photos.

But here’s this! Unusual as it may be!!

Nick Cave in Bonn, Germany!

And in the event that you are maybe on the Metro in Paris right now, heading to Rock en Seine and you don’t have a ticket yet…. you can BUY ONE HERE!

Other than that, gang, the tour ends tonight. And I’m betting that final show will be incroyable!!! We shall see!

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Okay.

That’s it!

I am reaching the homestretch of the book editing. I am hoping to have it completed by tomorrow morning. Then the author and I will do a final overview of the entire book next week.

However, the James Tabor end-of-the-month Zoom meeting for Tabor Research Group starts at noon tomorrow. Our final Zoom meeting before our conference in North Carolina at the end of September!!

So there could be a chance I won’t actually finish editing until Sunday. But we’re going to do our best!!

Meanwhile, 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!!

For today, and today only, I did something I used to do throughout the entire month of September, back when I was in my 30s, 40s, 50s…

I listened to Frank Sinatra’s incredible album, September of My Years (1965), during breakfast today.

But now that I am actually IN the September of my years, the album is almost too bittersweet to handle anymore.

But I’m gonna at least try to keep listening to it maybe once every year from now until, well, you know, I transition to that glorious other side… it truly is such a beautiful album.

What a gift Sinatra gave to us back in 1965 — a wonderful album to underscore our sunset years…

Here’s the title track, “September of My Years”. Enjoy, gang.

“The September Of My Years”

One day you turn around and it’s summer
Next day you turn around and it’s fall
And the springs and the winters of a lifetime
Whatever happened to them all?

As a man who has always had the wand’ring ways
Now I’m reaching back for yesterdays
‘Til a long-forgotten love appears
And I find that I’m sighing softly as I near
September, the warm September of my years

As a man who has never paused at wishing wells
Now I’m watching children’s carousels
And their laughter’s music to my ears
And I find that I’m smiling gently as I near
September, the warm September of my years

The golden warm September of my years

c- 1965 – Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen

Holy Cow! What A Beautiful Morning!

August 23, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

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

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

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

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Okay.

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

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

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I think this is awesome!!

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

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

From bassist Sean Seymour:

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

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

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Okay.

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

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

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

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Yesterday, this happened!

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

Happy belated heavenly birthday John Lee Hooker!

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

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

Happy 13th birthday, Everly!

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Speaking of things I can’t believe —

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

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

“Seems like only yesterday…”

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

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

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

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

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

And, YES!, while we’re at it–

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

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

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

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

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

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

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OKAY!!!!

Speaking of not too shabby–

Check this out!

Congratulations, Johnny Depp!

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And from Phyllis Stein–

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

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

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

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

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

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And I guess that is it for now.

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

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

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

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

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

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

“Letting You Go”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1981 – Tom Petty

A pleasant day ahead in the Hinterlands!

August 20, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wow.

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Okay!

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

But here’s this!

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

Photo by Robert Altman/Michael Ochs, Getty images

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

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

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Okay.

Here’s this!!

The Warren Ellis mostly-hair Odyssey!!

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

Yay!

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

“Too Young”

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

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

Oh, Oh

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

c – 1951 Sylvia Dee / Sidney Lippman

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And speaking of Nick Cave —

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

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

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

FIRE AT NIGHT BY FRANCISCO GOYA, 1793-94

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

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And that is it for today, gang.

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

Have a great Thursday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this today!

Another gem from my wee bonny girlhood!!

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

NSTANT KARMA! (WE ALL SHINE ON)

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

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

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

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

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

Yeah yeah alright. Uh huh ahh

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

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

c - 1970 John Lennon

Thank [insert whatever you believe in] It’s Friday!!

August 14, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Yay!

I’ve already run some quick errands here in the village.

By 8:15AM, I was at the post office, signing for another Certified Letter from my first husband out in Seattle!! (Yes! More unexpected money!!) (So fucking nice.) (And as I was heading to the post office, it occurred to me that he and I haven’t actually seen each other since 1991. We email, we chat on the phone, but I haven’t actually seen him in 35 years. I’m wondering, at this point, if I ever will again…)

Anyway.

While in the post office, I also mailed something fun to Wayne. My second husband, still in NYC. Although, I kind of see Wayne about once a year. Still, while I was sorting everything out there with the post office clerk, I was quietly thinking: What’s wrong with this picture?

I’m all alone, in the middle of fucking nowhere Ohio, and I’m having these happy relationships with two ex-husbands who each live far away.

I don’t know. It just sort of seemed really weird.

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Well, yesterday I had another productive day — and this one included a lengthy chat with my best friend Valerie in Brooklyn!

We’re still trying to get ourselves organized to launch our Writers & Artists mini-podcast, but we’re getting there. She is basically back to normal after her 2 hand surgeries and she’s getting a few new paintings completed. So we’re getting there.

But mostly, I am trying to make some headway in getting 7 of my self-published titles ready to submit to audiobook producers. (I have to submit 2-3 pages of text with each book that will serve as sample scripts for narrator auditions– including script notes. So it’s not difficult work, but very time-consuming.)

And before I forget!!!!

It looks like a bunch more people pre-ordered my new novel during the night! Thank you everybody!! (The Curse of Our Profound Disorder. Pre-order it here.)

So that was a nice thing to wake up to.

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Meanwhile…

Here’s this!

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And now I have sort of a ton of cool photos of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds from the Oya Festival in Oslo last night! It seemed like people started posting photos and videos the moment the show was over.

Here’s the set list!

These first five were posted by the same photographer, almost immediately:

And here’s two posted by Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Gothenburg, Sweden tonight):

And I loved this one!

After tonight’s show in Sweden, they play Finland on Sunday. You can buy tickets here!

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And I guess that’ll be it for now. I need to start focusing on some work here.

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.

You know, in September, there’s that big photo book coming out, and some sort of live event in London, to honor Nick’s wife, Susie Cave, on her 60th birthday.

And early this morning, I was thinking back to my own 60th birthday.

Even though the scam-demic was going on that year, I drove down to see my dad on my 60th birthday. The following day, July 23rd, was my dad’s 90th birthday.

My stepmom had died earlier that year, so he was a widower by then, but he did not have cancer yet. It was quiet, as birthdays go, but it was a good weekend.

And on my dad’s birthday, July 23rd, there was a streaming event online of Nick Cave’s solo concert at Alexandra Palace. Of course I watched it!! And it was the first time Nick publicly played the new song, “Euthanasia.”

That song meant a lot to me. So, this morning, as I was reliving all of that, I realized that Nick Cave was a big part of my own 60th birthday, too!

So, here’s this! From 2020.

“Euthanasia” – IDIOT PRAYER: Nick Cave Alone at Alexandra Palace. Enjoy, gang.

Taking it a moment at a time here

August 10, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Or at least I’m trying to.

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

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

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

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

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Let’s move on to something happier!!

Marlon Richards turns 57 today!!

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

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

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

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

Happy Birthday Marlon Richards!!

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Okay.

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

Buy tickets HERE!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rhinebeck, of all my favorite places!!

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

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

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All right.

From Ross K. Nichols’ Sunday School yesterday–

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

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

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

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Moving on to Romania!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let us close with this today!!

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

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

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

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