I don’t have to shovel the snow off my car today because I ain’t goin’ nowhere!!

Here is a photo I took of the view outside my bedroom window at 7AM, but we’ve since gotten about 2 more inches of snow, and it’s still snowing…

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Okay.

Today, it is Martin Luther King Day in America. A federal holiday. (Don’t quote me on this, but I’m thinking they give you a federal holiday when the CIA murders you for being against the Vietnam War and then they blame your murder on a lone deranged gunman??) Not sure. Anyway.

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Today is also the day that the plumber stops by to look at the bathroom pipes and fixtures again, before he signs off on his estimate to the USDA to get started on my home repairs!!

I’m guessing he’s going to be really happy to be out, driving around in all this snow today…

We shall soon see!

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Before I forget–

The late Sam Shepard’s website offers free PDF downloads of some of his plays.

After seeing that wonderful photo of Sam that the Hotel Chelsea posted to Instagram (it’s on my post from yesterday), it got me thinking again about that play he wrote with Patti Smith in 1971, “Cowboy Mouth”.

I looked but I don’t have a copy of it here in the house, although I have 7 of his other plays.

So I was curious if it was offered free online anywhere. I wanted to revisit it, to see why it had been so important to me, when I read it in the mental hospital when I was 15 (it was my first introduction to Patti Smith, too — just a few months before she released Horses and my life changed forever).

It turns out, it is free to download on Sam’s website! You can download or read it HERE if you’re interested!

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Two days ago, Jami, one of Neal Cassidy’s daughters, died. She was 76.

The Kerouac Estate posted this to Instagram — Jack with Jami, a long, long time ago:

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UPDATE!!

Plumber has come and gone!!

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Okay.

Two more great photos from Perth:

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ Wild God Tour of Australia continues tomorrow in Adelaide! You can buy tickets here.

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I follow a few different Native American accounts on Instagram.

I have no idea who this young man is, or which tribal nation he’s from, I only know his birthday was yesterday and he is gorgeous!!

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If you’re interested–

Although my great-great grandmother was a fullblood Black Foot, so I am Black Foot through the May family, but only because my grandmother married into the May family.

My great-great-great-great Uncle, on the May side, who was from Germany originally, had the privilege of being killed here in southern Ohio by the legendary Chief Blue Jacket!

The Mays helped settle the State of Kentucky, and my great-great-great-great Uncle kept crossing the Ohio River and heading up here into Shawnee territory. (The Shawnee lived all over Muskingum County, too, which is where I live now. How cool is that?)

Anyway.

Chief Blue Jacket told my great-great-great-great Uncle that if he came back into this part of Ohio again, Chief Blue Jacket was going to kill my great-great-great-great Uncle.

And my Uncle came back.

And Chief Blue jacket killed him.

Here are two things we know to be true:

• The Mays basically do whatever the fuck they want to do
• Chief Blue Jacket was a man of his word

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This was really good.

From Ross K. Nichols Sunday School from yesterday:

“In this class, we examine a select group of archaeological inscriptions from the ancient Near East. These independent sources attest to the historical reality of certain biblical figures and events while offering alternative perspectives that confirm, expand, or contrast the narratives in Scripture. Can archaeology supply the missing pieces? Can foreign voices round out stories we thought we knew?”

The Bible’s Missing Pieces (1 hr 15 mins):

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I suppose I better close this and get my day started around here.

The laundry is already done. The plumber has come & gone. And I have a lot of work to do on the synopsis notes that Sandra sent over on Thursday. And I also want to get some work done on my contribution to the M. Christian tribute anthology. And I also really, really want to read “Cowboy Mouth” again! (After 50 years…)

So let’s get this snowy Hinterlands party started.

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s leave with this!

It was my driving-home-from-town music last night. (On repeat.)

Once again, Tom Petty, with Mudcrutch in 2016, saving my life!

“Dreams of Flying”. Enjoy, gang.

“Dreams Of Flying”

See the bright lights of Memphis
I got a friend lives down there

And I don’t know
If I’ll go back again
Givin’ up feels like dying

I get dreams of flying
I get dreams of flying

Whatcha do lies behind us
Better roll your window down
And let it go
Crashing down the road
Truth is it ain’t worth lying

I get dreams of flying
I get dreams of flying

Got a diamond on my finger
Got a sapphire through my ear
And for all I know
I might go back again
See what’s in there hiding

I get dreams of flying
I get dreams of flying

Ooh, I get dreams of flying
Yeah, I get dreams of flying
Oh well, I get dreams of flying

c – 2016- Tom Petty

Another sermon that was almost entirely political, gang.

You know, when I went to have my meeting with the new minister at the new church, we did talk about politics and its role in the church.

I felt it should be kept out of it. That Sunday mornings should be a break from all that, and focus on the teachings of the Bible. How things effected the people in the Bible, why things happened, and how it might resonate for us here, today.

And the new minister, in all fairness, disagreed. He felt politics in church was very important.

But I guess I wasn’t expecting to be hit over the head with politics. It makes for a really joyless atmosphere in the whole place.

And since the only thing I can genuinely look forward to is sitting next to that stained-glass window on Sundays…

I decided today, as I was leaving the church in a decidedly unjoyful state of mind… I won’t be going back.

It was really disappointing. But, no, I’m still not gonna start my own church…

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But all that aside —

I still have plenty to be joyful about!

For instance, here’s this:

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And this!

Wow, gang.

I don’t remember which post it was, but a few months back, I wrote about how the play written by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith, “Cowboy Mouth,” helped me survive being in the mental institution when I was 15.

I follow the Hotel Chelsea on Instagram, and yesterday they posted this absolute gem — Sam Shepard, smoking, in 1971:

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And, of course, in the JOY department–

There is this!!

Luckily, it seems like Australians are really great about taking photos at concerts and immediately posting them online! Yay! (Or, as is the case in the photo below taken by Carly Paradis, even members of the Bad Seeds are great at taking photos at concerts and immediately posting them online!)

From Nick Cave Official:

And you can buy tickets for the show in Adelaide, on January 20th, here!

And here’s the set list from the show in Perth:

There were actually quite a lot of photos from the show that I liked, but I was with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man when all the photos started to appear on Instagram, and it would have been rude to start taking a bunch of screen shots right then, and then there got to be too many of them. So I leave it with the above for today.

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I have to start getting ready to head out and see the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat, but tomorrow morning, if I remember, I’ll tell you about what happened when I called in sick on Friday.

Meanwhile, enjoy what’s left of 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 today, in lieu of hearing a sermon that I actually enjoyed…

James Tabor:

“In this informal lecture I explore on a non-technical level some of the overarching themes of the Hebrew Bible, that surface in a composite way, here and there, in the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms. What are human beings? Do they have any purpose or destiny beyond this world? What about death? What of the human future?”

Outside the Gates of Eden: The Hebrew View of Life, Death, and the Future (51 mins.):

Before I forget–

Yesterday, my best friend in the Universe, Valerie in Brooklyn, finally got word from her doctor regarding her heart problem. (Can you believe it took that long??)

But — YES– it’s looking like those two near-heart-attack episodes she had were caused by a bad reaction to a prescription drug she was taking (which she stopped taking a couple months ago, switching to herbal supplements from a Naturopath instead).

So when she went in for the heart surgery, the doctor couldn’t perform it only because he found nothing wrong…

So. Yay, gang. What a relief. (In fact, when I spoke to her on the phone, she sounded better than she’s sounded in a really long time. Another score for supplements over pharmaceuticals.)

In other news, though —

I am home “sick” today. Actually, I’m home trying not to be extremely depressed.

I was in such a bad state yesterday, which I couldn’t snap out of, that by early afternoon, I called the Agency and took today as a sick day. This gave them plenty of time to find someone to cover my shift with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man today.

I was doing fine yesterday until I started researching/making notes for my contribution to the tribute to M. Christian.

It wasn’t so much that I got depressed over Chris’s death, but the anthology I was skimming through, from 24 years ago, was filled with erotic works by terrific writers that I used to work with all the time — back before the global economy and self-publishing technology completely decimated the traditional literary erotica market — the anthology also included work by Bill Brent and Michael Hemmingson, writers with whom I was very, very close for many years, who are both also dead and have been for a while. And all three of us worked with M. Christian a lot.

It just got to me. How much fun we used to have. How intense it used to be. The incredibly great work that writers, filmmakers, painters, poets were doing back then in the erotic arts. And because I was a publisher, editor, and a multi-media producer (and a constant marketer beyond your ability to comprehend), I got to work with ALL of them, from all over the world, in one capacity or another. (This was not traditional porn; this was art created by people, internationally, who were trying to make a statement about the eternal effects of Eros.)

It was so different from what most people create nowadays. Just because technology has just gone on in this unstoppable direction. Everything changed. You can’t go back. Perhaps people don’t even want to go back.

Well, it exhausted me, thinking about how Time is galloping on. It all went by so fast.

And since I couldn’t find a vacant spot to lie down on, on my own bed, because it was filled with many peacefully sleeping cats, instead, I went downstairs and laid down on the couch in the family room. Tried not to think about suicide. Tried to focus on people (and animals) who are counting on me to not die right now. Tried to take a nap.

But this change of location wound up having its own emotional perils because so many of my beloved books are down there in the family room–

And for some reason, I kept getting up from the couch, grabbing a book that I hadn’t read in decades, and would then start flipping through it.

Only to be confronted by the works of writers from the 20th Century — writers I loved but never knew personally; writers who all pushed the boundaries and paved the way for writers like me; who all knew each other and who were all published by a truly legendary publisher who was not afraid to take monumental risks to get the writers’ works out there–

Barney Rosset, 1922 – 2012

And all of those writers are dead now, too, and have been for a long time.

There it was again — Time galloping away.

I consider myself so fortunate to have met Barney Rosset when I was a writer in NYC, and to have been published by one of his imprints (not Grove Press, though), before he permanently retired (Blue Moon Books published the mass market edition of Neptune & Surf, but Barney was semi-retired by then).

And when I founded the Erotic Authors Association, to get better recognition (and better pay) for erotic authors worldwide, once a year, we gave out actual awards (engraved plaques), for Lifetime Achievements, and I was truly honored to be able to give out our first one to Barney Rosset and his legendary Grove Press.

And then when the Federal Government back then made it excruciatingly clear that if I kept up with the erotic literature stuff on the Internet, then I was going to prison –like, you know, they were going to frighten me or something…

Well, they frightened the fucking fuck out of me. And the moment I got home from my day of testimony in Supreme Court in Philadelphia, after having very, very politely explained to the Judge that erotic literature was not illegal (and even though the Judge sided with us and we won), I stepped down from the Erotic Authors Association and turned it over to other people who ended up trashing the whole venture and turning it into a porn site…

Anyway.

First I picked up Lost Words; The Final Journals of William S. Burroughs, which Wayne had bought me for Christmas in 2000. Edited and with an introduction by James Grauerholz (who had also just fucking died on New Year’s Day). But I couldn’t get past the part where James described how eccentric William was about cats — he’d had SIX of them. I have almost three times that many…

So I picked up another book. This one, by Jim Thompson. Wayne had bought that one for me, also. But when I saw how Wayne had inscribed it:

Well, that sort of devastated me because I didn’t recall Wayne ever having loved me at all. I was under the impression we’d been “really good friends” throughout our marriage and for the 19 years since our divorce….

There’s that pesky Time thing again.

But, at last! I picked up The Selected Letters of Jack Kerouac: 1940-1956.

599 pages(!!) of letters he’d written in the space of only 16 (!!) years, BEFORE he got famous(!).

And immediately, I was lost in something so beautiful. So full of fun and enthusiasm and passion. The book is just beautiful. The pages are brown and fragile now. But, wow, all of the Time that galloped out of Jack Kerouac’s life are still preserved there. And I read that for quite a while.

And I felt a little better about Time, because it comes for everybody. It’s simply part of being here.

And I calmed down.

And I felt like I should go back upstairs, do some yoga, listen to another lecture in James Tabor’s new course, “Christianity Before Paul” and be here now, and get my head back on straight.

And as luck would have it, just as I got back up to my cat-filled room, Sandra called and we had an extremely productive chat about both the TV series we’re developing, and the screenplay version of “Tell My Bones: The Helen LaFrance Story”. And you know, at least she and I both agree, we are in the final quarter of the 4th Act. We have to do our very best work now.

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

And then I started listening to this last night. A free audio book. The guy reading it, Andy Marin, does a really terrific job. It’s been about 40 years since I read The Subterraneans, so it feels like it’s brand new, which is kind of a thrill:

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And even though this is going on and on–

Here’s this!!

Keith backstage in a hat:

And this!

David Lee Roth in a hat in 1982:

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And tomorrow it begins!!!

Buy tickets HERE!!

And here’s this!!

Nick Cave and Iggy Pop. Eternally beautiful and priceless.

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And now I’m gonna get this day underway, even though it is half over.

Enjoy what’s left of your Friday, gang, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya.

Yes!!

A goat!!

However…

I’m actually just sponsoring him. He won’t be living here.

I’m sponsoring the black goat, named Maverick, on the left:

Remember a couple months ago, I posted here that Goats of Anarchy, the animal rescue farm in New Jersey, needed additional donations?

Yesterday, I changed my monthly “use as needed” donation, to one that sponsors a specific animal. The 2 goats above were just recently rescued and needed sponsors. They are both over 10 years old, and Maverick, specifically, has ongoing medical conditions.

So he’s my goat now!! Yay!!

GOA’s mission: “Goats of Anarchy is a sanctuary for farmed animals with disabilities. Animals come to us broken, battered, and abused, but they never stop fighting—so neither do we. Miracles happen here!”

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Before I forget, I listened to this video while making my dinner yesterday, and it was really great, so I’m posting it here, in the event you are interested!

“Every desire that is hatched within your awareness, is not just possible, it’s probable.” (14 mins):

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And THIS GUY wants to tell you about a girl….

From the Wild God Tour in Paris — Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “From Her to Eternity”:

And here’s this — part of the soundtrack from my not-so-wee bonny but often crazy bedroom in that Paradise Apartment on E.12th Street, in the East Village in NYC, 1984:

And in TWO MORE DAYS!! Buy tickets here! (Unless you are Paul from New Zealand):

And here’s this!

From Ross Waterman today on Instagram:

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Well!

Wow, was it cold again last night. Down to about 5 degrees Fahrenheit, with super high winds and snow, so I actually made Kon Tiki stay indoors all night.

She was not happy about that, but at least I knew she was safe and warm.

When I went down at 4:15AM to let her back out this morning, she took off like a big furry rocket into the dark, freezing snow and didn’t even stick around for her breakfast!!

It is still very cold today, and sort of lightly snowing, off and on. I’m not planning on going anywhere, though, so I don’t really mind. I’m going to be working at my desk today, and hopefully just relax a little, too, and even do some reading!

So I am expecting an easy day today. We shall see!

However, I have the milkhouse heater on up here today, to keep the bathroom pipes from freezing, and the entire upstairs is like a fucking sauna!!

So, I’m guessing we’ll have plenty of iced tea up here today, too!! Otherwise, I won’t be able to think…

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Here’s this!

I loved this photo. Getting ready for Martin Luther King Day here in the States:

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And here’s this!

Keith, getting ready for something, but I’m sorta thinking it’s not for Martin Luther King Day:

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Okay, I think that’s actually kind of it for now. People are texting me about various things to do with my home repairs and it is distracting me.

So, have a great Thursday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this today!!

Since the (exceedingly noisy) train is passing by my window right this very minute!

One of my all-time favorite songs, ever!!

From my wee bonny girlhood– live at Folsom Prison!! 1968. Johnny Cash, “Folsom Prison Blues”. Enjoy, gang!!

I am trying so hard to be in a productive frame of mind today, gang. I’m not sure what’s up with my energy this morning.

I was so tempted to call in sick and just take the day for myself. But, you know. It’s Tuesday.

And now that my shift has changed on Tuesdays, I go to the Rural King before my shift even starts. And, well, you know. Now that there’s a chance that I could maybe get to see “Wild Thing” at the checkout counter for even 4 minutes…

I just sort of sighed and kept moving around here. Did not touch the phone. Well, I touched my phone. I constantly look at the phone for something or other. But I did not dial the On-Call service at the Agency to tell them to find a replacement for me…

And on we go.

And we can only hope that my world will be exciting for at least 4 minutes today. We shall soon see!

(Well, gang, this video alone just perked me up considerably!! “Wild Thing” by The Troggs on The Midnight Special in 1973!!):

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Ross K. Nichols posted this in his private Patreon Group today. I thought it was really engaging. A visual poem. Whispers of Moab: Fragments of Stone and Skin (4 mins):

If you don’t know about the controversial Shapira Scrolls, you can check out this book:

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And while we’re in a religious frame of mind…

Yesterday, I started Lecture 4 in James Tabor’s new course, “Christianity Before Paul,” and it is another really thought-provoking lecture: “Recovering a Lost Non-Pauline Gospel”. It deals once again with the history of John the Baptist that gets basically erased from and/or misrepresented in the New Testament.

By the way, the course is not anti-Paul, it just deals specifically with what the Jesus Movement was about before the New Testament was created, which focuses almost exclusively on the ideas of Paul.

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Oh, and I did get that book yesterday that Simcha Jacobovici posted about the other day, She Who Endures: Restoring the Real Artemis, and so far it is really interesting. Definitely a topic I know next to nothing about.

And it is doubly interesting to read it on the heals of having read James Tabor’s new book: The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus.

Carla Ionescu, the author of She Who Endures, maintains that the mythology that grew up around the Virgin Mary had its roots in the goddess Artemis.

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Okay!

Here’s this–

Another great photo of Johnny Thunders, from 1981:

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And here’s this!

A different Johnny — in the park, in the fall, not smoking:

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And here are these!

Another photo from just before the Stones US Tour of 1975– Keith cooking:

And in London in 1985, Keith smoking and talking, Mick not smoking and not talking:

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And here’s this!!

COMING SOON!

In 4 days, to be exact!! (Buy tickets here!)

Soon come, baby!! Soon come!

And here’s this:

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And I’m thinking that’s it for now because I gotta scoot and get this day underway.

Have a terrific Tuesday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Around 3AM, I was half-awake and half-asleep and having those disturbing feelings, like everything in the world is foreign to me now, and everything is just frightening these days. Eternally endless.

And in my head, I said out to the world, “Please, somebody, help . Give me something different to feel.”

And then this beautiful song came into my head and took over everything, like a comforting blanket, and I fell into a really deep sleep.

I think a friend of mine, who passed away in 2018, “sent” it to me. He loved Tom Petty. I hadn’t thought about this song in a really long time. It is so beautiful. So calming. So I share it with you.

“Beautiful Blue,” Tom Petty with Mudcrutch, 2016. Enjoy, gang.

“Beautiful Blue”

The shadows from the footlights made you fifty foot tall
I watched you as the music bounced around the hall
You called me in the morning and sent your car for me
I stumbled as I kissed you dropping ashes in your tea

I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I do, I do

Around you there’s a color
A shade unlike the rest
You’re laughing and you’re easy
The way I know you best

I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I do, I do

Gonna move outside the city
I know some friends out there
In a tree with painted bottles
Watch the sun dance on your hair

I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I do, oh, I do

I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I wanna wrap you up in a beautiful blue
I do, oh, I do

c- 2016 Tom Petty

Monday, being a day off for me, is probably my most favorite day of the week!!

And even though I generally feel super relaxed when I wake up at 4AM on a Monday, I also have so much energy, because the whole day is MINE.

By 5:49AM today, I had cleaned 5 litterboxes (twice), fed and watered and generally catered to 18 cats (!!) (indoors and outdoors, but mostly indoors), made and ate my own breakfast, washed and put away all the dishes, finished one load of laundry, started a second load, said my prayers, then went back up to bed with a cup of coffee and, before actually getting back in the bed (for an hour), I hit the “easy” button!

I actually still have the “easy button” and I love using it! After doing something that is usually fucking endless, I hit that easy button and that guy’s voice sort of resets my energy level.

Honestly. I love it. And it always sort of startles the cats…

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In the More Good News Department!

The plumber just called about setting up a time to get in here and update all the old pipes and fixtures in my upstairs bath and in my kitchen!!

It’s really happening gang.

All these repairs are gonna get done. And it’s gonna be a grant that I don’t have to pay back! Yay! (Long time readers of this lofty blog might also recall that this includes getting Central AC installed in this old house, too!) (And new basement stairs!!)

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When I was with the retired Minster last evening, his lovely wife told me about this and I think it is so cool!

Go to this web site:

America250.org

And search for your State. If you live in Ohio, the direct URL is:

America250-Ohio.org

Through the websites, you can find out all the various festivities that are scheduled to go on in your area this July 4th, to celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!! Historical tours, art, theater, concerts, fireworks, etc.

You can also sign up to volunteer, or make a donation, or attend local fundraising events before the summer.

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Okay.

Here’s this!

Honestly, gang. I talk to Jack Kerouac in my head all the time. Mostly, I say, “Help me get through this, Jack.” In terms of my various novels, novels-in-progress, memoirs getting underway, etc. Because it seems like every single word that comes out of my head and hits the paper, has the potential to provoke people somehow.

When I was 35, 40, 45 — I had no problem with this. It didn’t even register with me, you know? I wrote what I had to write. I still write what I have to write, but now I get so stressed when I think about how many people there are in the world nowadays who want to be confrontational.

Anyway.

I loved his book, The Subterraneans.

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Every Sunday on Instagram, Gered Mankowitz has a “Stoned Sundays” post.

He took tons of now very famous photos of the Rolling Stones in the mid-1960s. And he posts a few of them every Sunday.

From yesterday — Keith in the recording studio. I think this was 1966.

Also, this book is GREAT!

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And we are now FIVE days away!! Buy tickets here!

And here’s this!! A photo of Nick Cave from last night yesteryear that has absolutely nothing wrong with it!!

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Okay.

This was interesting. If you’re into the Old Testament and how Hebrew words and translations evolve over the various thousands of years and gradually come to mean something else once they reach the New Testament…

Ross K. Nichols Sunday School class from yesterday – The Satanic Scriptures (1 hr 14 mins):

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Before I forget–

Gold and silver are CLIMBING today, gang!!

As of right now:

Gold: $4,616.53 per troy ounce

Silver: $85.53 per ounce

And this is in constant motion this morning.

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

Now I gotta scoot.

One more load of laundry to do. Then I gotta sign all the paperwork for my home repairs GRANT and get that off in the mail. Then work on the projects with Sandra!!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

I leave you with this!!

Tom Jones’ fantastic version of “She Drives Me Crazy” — a duet with Zucherro –from the fantastic album, Reload, 1999! Enjoy, gang.

Sadly, late yesterday afternoon, just as I was walking in the door from my shift and getting ready to relax and have a great Saturday night…

I got an email from my new publisher at Parisian Phoenix Publishing, asking me if I wanted to contribute to an upcoming tribute anthology to M. Christian.

I had absolutely no idea he was dead, gang. But it turns out he died of heart failure on New Year’s Day.

Chris and I go way, way back. I first started working with him when Masquerade Books asked me if I would publish an excerpt of Chris’s new book on my website, Other-rooms.com. Back in 1997. He and I were both 37.

I was delighted to and from then on, Chris and I were not just colleagues but friends. In fact, as did most out-of-town writers stopping in NYC back then, he came to visit me and Wayne at our apartment on West End Avenue. We went out for lunch, etc.

Many, many, many anthologies, book reviews, interviews later… suddenly, we were both 65 and now he’s dead.

It was because of Chris, in fact, that I even pitched Parisian Phoenix Publishing about maybe publishing The Curse of Our Profound Disorder. He was already publishing with them and asked if I would review one of his books.

So, of course, I am working on a tribute to him to include in the anthology. I will keep you posted.

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

All right.

Well, I’ve just come from my new church, and today’s sermon was all about the crucial need now for discernment, that everything and everyone in our world today has a hidden agenda, to watch out for the dangers of AI.

All topics that I agree with, but none of them topics I want to dwell on in church, since I dwell on them 24/7 already, so that was sort of frustrating.

However, I’m still glad I went. And I got that seat in the 3rd pew, right by the stained glass window. And everyone was still really friendly and seemed happy to be in church.

So onward.

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But first!

A tiny bit more politics.

I try to keep politics off the blog these days, however. If you’ve followed my blog long enough, you know that I have posted many, many times about how you should try to buy gold and silver if at all possible, and only keep enough cash in your bank account right now to cover your bills.

I just wanted to post this video because if you are still not aware of what’s going on with silver, worldwide, and now with the imminent return to precious-metals-backed currencies, please take a moment (well, 12 moments) to watch this. It is concise and very easy to understand:

And just FYI, I buy and sell gold and silver through SD Bouillon because that was the company my dad used forever. I have found them to be incredibly trustworthy, reliable, fair. So if you don’t have your own preferred company, you can try them.

As of this morning, they still had plenty of silver. (And they also have plenty of gold.)

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

Okay!!

On to non-politics!!

After I had sort of recovered from the shocking news of M. Christian’s death, I got back to work on that logline for the TV project with Sandra, and I think I got some really good stuff!

It will still need tweaking, but I’m awaiting Sandra’s response before getting back at it.

And I also managed to wash my hair, do yoga, take another one of the lectures in James Tabor’s new course, “Christianity Before Paul.” AND have a delightful dinner, in the company of many delightful cats. AND watch another 30-minute streamer TV show, taking notes on how they develop the Acts and weave them through the A & B plots , etc.

A lot of work, but I do believe I will not have to watch any more episodes of that particular show. Yay. Because I’m not crazy about it, although it is extremely popular. (I thought “I Love LA” was interesting, but I wasn’t crazy about that show, either. So I’m also done with that show, too. The 3rd and final show is fucking intense, gang. I do not know how I am going to stomach more than 2 episodes of that one, but, wow, I believe it will be very educational as far as how certain key topics are presented on streamer TV shows nowadays.)

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Well, I just got up from my desk, turned around and saw this, so I had to share!!

(In no particular order: Cuddles, Queenie, Princess, Goldie, Calico, Freddie McFee, and Bobbie McGee, and a stuffed animal…)

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Okay!

And here’s this.

I liked this tribute to Sir Rod Stewart’s birthday yesterday, from Muscle Shoals Recording Studio:

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And I liked this!

Posted by Jo Wood yesterday. Ronnie, at home in NYC, in 1978!!

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And this!

From Keith’s “deep blue period”….

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And if you can believe it, gang–

Only 6 more days until Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds return to the stage in Australia and New Zealand! Buy tickets HERE. (And you can also start buying tickets there to see them in Europe this summer but I’ll spare you those updates until much, much closer to summer…)

And here’s this!

We don’t often see Nick Cave in ruffles anymore, but maybe he will consider revisiting that look while in Australia…? We shall soon see!!

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And I suppose I better close this and get some lunch before heading out to see the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this.

I was listening to this hymn on my retro boombox at 6:30AM this morning. While lying in bed and thinking about M. Christian. With a few beautiful cats laying with me on the bed in the dark.

It was incredibly peaceful. Enjoy, gang.

Yes, I’m fucking TIRED!

But at least I’m getting everything done, little by little, every evening after my caregiving shift is over.

Currently –working on the logline for the new TV project. And watching those streamer shows that Sandra wants me to watch (it’s not easy, gang — as you know, I’m not super crazy about the type of shows that are popular these days).

But I’m the one who does the “math” as I’m watching the shows — how long is their Teaser, how many minutes for Act One, Act Two, Act Three — which equals how many estimated pages per Act? Where’s our A plot going, our B plot, our super short C plot/Tag…

But, you know, once all that is mapped out, it is relatively easy to drop the story into the framework. And then, voila! A 30-minute-drama, streamer-TV script is born.

Anyway!

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Okay!!

Great news!! I finally got all the paperwork from the USDA yesterday about my grant to get all the repairs done to the house!!

So, apparently, money is moving through the Government once again. I am so excited about this, gang. Among other things, the filter in the furnace will need changing soon and, as loyal readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall, my 126-year-old basement stairs are collapsing!

And this will soon be ME, attempting to go down those stairs to change the furnace filter!

So I am super excited that things are proceeding with the repairs on my beloved, very old, home.

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Before I forget!!

Again!!

I was halfway to town yesterday morning when I realized I’d forgotten to post this to the blog yesterday:

It was David Johansen’s first heavenly birthday yesterday.

Here’s one of the photos from Phyllis Stein’s post to David on Instagram yesterday:

Apparently, it was also Jimmy Page’s birthday yesterday, too.

I’m not a big Jimmy Page fan or anything. Well, I don’t dislike him, I was just only a moderate fan of Led Zeppelin.

But I saw this photo yesterday and I thought it was fantastic! So I post it here!

Ross Halfin’s photo of Jimmy:

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On a sadder note–

It was ten years ago today that one of my wee bonny girlhood heroes left this plane.

And here’s this as a sort of odd tribute. “Golden Years,” from 1976:

“Golden Years”

Golden years, gold, whop, whop, whop
Golden years, gold, whop, whop, whop
Golden years, gold, whop, whop, whop

Don’t let me hear you say
Life’s taking you nowhere, angel
(Come get up, my baby)
Look at that sky, life’s begun
Nights are warm and the days are young
(Come get up, my baby)

There’s my baby, lost that’s all
Once I’m begging you save her little soul
Golden years, gold, whop, whop, whop
Come get up, my baby

Last night they loved you
Opening doors and pulling some strings, angel
(Come get up, my baby)
In walked luck and you looked in time
Never look back, walk tall, act fine
(Come get up, my baby)

I’ll stick with you baby for a thousand years
Nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years
Golden years
Golden years, gold, whop, whop, whop
Come get up, my baby

Some of these days, and it won’t be long
Gonna drive back down where you once belonged
In the back of a dream car twenty foot long
(Come get up, my baby)
Don’t cry my sweet, don’t break my heart
Doing all right, but you gotta get smart
Wish upon, wish upon, day upon day
I believe, oh Lord, I believe all the way
(Come get up, my baby)
Run for the shadows, run for the shadows
Run for the shadows in these golden years

There’s my baby, lost that’s all
Once I’m begging you save her little soul
Golden years, gold, whop, whop, whop
Come get up, my baby

Don’t let me hear you say life’s taking you nowhere, angel
(Come get up, my baby)
Run for the shadows, run for the shadows
Run for the shadows in these golden years

I’ll stick with you baby for a thousand years
Nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years
Golden years
Golden years, gold, whop, whop, whop

c – 1975 David Bowie

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Okay.

Before I forget!!

I find this utterly amazing, gang.

Yesterday, I got the final blog stats for the year, and in 2025, over 20,000 of you (!!) stopped in to read the blog.

I really, really thank you for that.

Yes, in the early days, when blogs themselves were brand new (27 years ago or so — they weren’t even called blogs yet), I averaged about 5,000 readers a day, but things were so different back then.

Not just my career, which was basically on a rocket to the moon, but the internet was young (dial-up) and there weren’t that many people on it yet, and once you were on it, there wasn’t that much to do. So my blogs on Otherrooms.com and MarilynsRoom.com got tons of traffic. (I also lived in NYC back then, and I was also heavy into PR and marketing back then, too.)

Nowadays, people mostly do podcasts, not blogs. Blogs are for selling stuff, or for news updates, etc. But my blog keeps me writing everyday. Keeps my brain focused outside myself for a little while each morning.

And people don’t hit the “like” buttons very often, and very rarely interact with me in the “comments” anymore, so I don’t get a good feel for how many readers are actually showing up, even though I knew the blog was getting more traffic than it had in a long time.

But over 20,000 readers last year really just blew me away. So thank you, thank you, thank you!

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All righty!

7 more days, gang!! Buy tickets HERE!

And here’s this from the desktop stash!

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And here’s this again! Just because!

Charlie, Keith, and Ronnie, backstage in 1998! Photo by Ronnie’s wife back then, Jo Wood.

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And now I gotta scoot and go see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man!

Don’t forget, since tomorrow is Sunday and is now “church day” for me, I won’t be posting here until later in the morning.

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!!!

Today is Sir Rod Stewart’s 81st Birthday!!

Let’s celebrate with this!!

From way before the “Sir” thing — my very first favorite song by Rod Stewart (I was 11 years old), “Maggie May”. 1971. A total classic now. Enjoy, gang!!