Tag Archives: new erotica by marilyn jaye lewis

Great Day Underway!

Yes!! The Agency texted me TWICE already this morning, wanting me to pick up some urgent shifts today and tomorrow — however!!

LUNCH is on my horizon for today!! With my Q-following girlfriend, as we belatedly celebrate her birthday at 3 Tigers Brewing Co in Granville! And I’m not missing that for anything.

And then, of course, tomorrow, I need the whole day to work on getting the novel ever closer to its ending. (And I still have no clue how this novel ends, gang. The pages just keep coming out of me, with me having no clue beforehand what is getting ready to hit the page.)

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Still no word from Nick Cave’s Official Instagram page about what the announcement about July 31, 2026 is going to be!

Everyone’s sort of just waiting…

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And here’s this!!

2 remarkably different looks sported by another one of my treasured heroes who is long gone now–

Lou Reed:

And here’s this, in case you never heard it before– a demo of my song, “Lou”, from 1984. (This version, recorded by me and Peitor Angell, when we were hanging around his apartment, back in the very OLD days, when he lived on Broadway in Manhattan.)

(When I then played this demo for my incredible friend Bob Cato at Columbia Records, he said, “Why on Earth are you singing like that?? What am I supposed to do with this??”)

(Although, an earlier demo, of just me and my guitar in my room on E.12th Street, was given directly to Lou by my good friend Joe Queenan.)

"Lou"

Come watch the rain
Wipe out the ballgame and
Strike-out the names
Of players who’d gamble
With needles and dreams
In a game that’s as ruthless
as whiskey on speed

Who’ll call the game
On account of the rules being
Too tough to save
Any losers who’d forfeit
In a halo of fear?
Well, shame takes a holiday,
Let’s have a beer

CHORUS:
Fight, and maybe you’ll find
A reason to smile
At the end of the line
Why don’t you fight?
Maybe you’ll win
And you’ll have some stories to tell
For trying

Strike up a tune
For those who surrendered
And ducked out too soon;
Vice in the shadow
Was no easy crime
Let’s make it a double
For auld lang sine

You carve your name
In seasons of anger
of laughter and fame
To warn of the dangers
In packaging pain
For lives that get tossed
On account of the rain

© 1984 Marilyn Jaye Lewis
First of May Songs, BMI

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Here’s this–

The day after the notorious, horrific Altamont Concert in 1969.

Keith and Charlie, leaving California:

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This really amused me.

Back in the late 1990s, I was reading a collection of letters written by Edgar Allan Poe. And in the foreword, it said that he was living on the Upper West Side in Manhattan — around W.84th and Broadway — when these specific letters were written.

I lived at W.98th and West End Avenue at the time, so I used to stroll around W.84th, trying to imagine which old brownstone he might have lived in!!

Well, who knew????

There weren’t even any apartment buildings up there back when he lived there!!

Here’s this!

I definitely would have noticed an old farmhouse in the nieghborhood, if it had still been there…

The “old” neighborhood…

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And I think that might be it for now. I’m gonna get myself ready to head to town for lunch.

BTW, it is another really gorgeous day. I am really looking forward to just hanging out and relaxing (and laughing) with my girlfriend.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Yes!

Another one from the playlist from 6 years ago!!

Okay, this one just astounded me, gang.

When I was in my teens, my adopted mom LOVED Neil Diamond. So we always played his records together.

I remember this song (and album) extremely well. What a great album it was. It came out when I was still living at home, age 16, in 1976.

Beautiful Noise (seriously, a great album, produced by Robbie Robertson):

When the song below came on the playlist yesterday — when I was driving to my shift — it was one of those feelings, gang. It sent a chill right through me.

I realized that this song totally captured what it was like when I moved to NYC and had, what I refer to as, “my life” there. And how it feels now to remember it all. I almost cried right there in the car. Wow.

Anyway. “If You Know What I Mean”, 1976. From Beautiful Noise. Enjoy, gang.

“If You Know What I Mean”

When the night returns just like a friend
When the evening comes to set me free
When the quiet hours
That wait beyond the day
Make peaceful sounds in me

Took a drag from my last cigarette
Took a drink from a glass of old wine
I closed my eyes and I could make it real
And feel it one more time

Can you hear it, babe
Can you hear it, babe
From another time, from another place
Do you remember it, babe

And the radio played like a carnival tune
As we lay in our bed in the other room
When we gave it away
For the sake of a dream in a penny arcade
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean, babe

And here’s to the songs we used to sing
And here’s to the times we used to know
It’s hard to hold them in our arms again
But hard to let them go
Do you hear it, babe
Do you hear it, babe

It was another time
It was another place
Do you remember it, babe

And the radio played like a carnival tune
As we lay in our bed in the other room
When we gave it away
For the sake of a dream in a penny arcade
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean
If you know what I mean

If you know what I mean, babe
If you know what I mean

c – 1976, Neil Diamond

It sure is hitting the fan, isn’t it?

But I am seriously not gonna go there.

I think I have an idea of the script they might be working from, an overview maybe? — they are pushing utter chaos. From all corners. And multiplied by the National Guard already in place in — what? — 19 States?

I’m not touching it. But it’s looking pretty good. IMO.

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Meanwhile.

Here’s more from the Stones in the RCA recording studio in Los Angeles in 1965 (photos by Gered Mankowitz)–

I love how (the late-great) Ian Stewart is looking right at the camera:

And just FYI, Keith was barely 22 years old in 1965!!

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Before I forget–

Ever since I upgraded to the iPhone 16e, my eyes have really been killing me. Even though the phone goes to “night” during the night, I can’t do the “night” setting all day long. It also hurts my eyes. And I have the brightness turned down as low as I reasonably can while still being able to see the screen…

I have a blue-light filter on my laptop, but I can’t find one on the iPhone 16e.

So I bought a pair of those “reader” glasses that filter out blue light and, WOW, gang! Immediately, my eyes felt so much better.

Not while looking at the phone — my eyes didn’t bother me while I was looking at the phone, it was when I was done looking at the phone and trying to live the rest of my life. My eyes were really going downhill fast.

These blue light blockers instantaneously made a difference in how everything looks when I’m done looking at the phone. I am so glad I decided to try them.

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I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.

I said I wasn’t going to keep posting photos of Nick Cave from now until January 17th, when the next tour starts

But here’s this!

Just so beautiful. And not just the hair…

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And as for everything else…

I got a couple of loads of laundry underway here. And I also have to do some quick vacuuming.

Then it’s all about The Curse of our Profound Disorder until I have to leave for my shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife later this afternoon!

Then 3 more days off this coming week!

Yes, I have no clue how I can afford to live on 4 shifts a week for the remainder of the month, but I guess we’re gonna find out!!

I really, really, really need to get the novel done, so that I can send it off and then focus on the upcoming projects with Sandra.

And as soon as I can tell you more about all this, I will!

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And I think that’s it.

Have a beautiful 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!!

Yes, I have now moved to the playlist of “songs I was listening to 6 years ago”. As if 5 years ago wasn’t enough of a mindfuck… (Who on Earth thought up this idea to create playlists of songs I had in heavy rotation so many years ago??)

Well, first off, it’s heavy on the Tom Petty. And Nick Cave. And Lyle Lovett.

But I leave you with this!

Another treasure from my wee bonny girlhood, that apparently I was once again re-visiting heavily when I was 59.

“Father and Son” by Cat Stevens, from his 1970 album, Tea for the Tillerman.

I really, really loved this song when I was about 12, alone in my room. I’m guessing you can readily grasp why. But it’s interesting that all these years later, when it came on the playlist while I was driving to town yesterday — I realized I can still relate, but now from the other side.

Okay. Enjoy, gang,

“Father and Son”

[Father]
It’s not time to make a change
Just relax, take it easy
You’re still young, that’s your fault
There’s so much you have to know
Find a girl, settle down
If you want you can marry
Look at me
I am old, but I’m happy
I was once like you are now
And I know that it’s not easy
To be calm
When you’ve found something going on
But take your time, think a lot
Why, think of everything you’ve got
For you will still be here tomorrow
But your dreams may not

[Son]
How can I try to explain?
When I do, he turns away again
It’s always been the same
Same old story
From the moment I could talk
I was ordered to listen
Now there’s a way
And I know that I have to go away
I know, I have to go

[Father & (Son)]
It’s not time to make a change (Away, away, away)
Just sit down, take it slowly
You’re still young, that’s your fault (I know)
There’s so much you have to go through (I have to make this decision)
Find a girl, settle down (Alone)
If you want you can marry
Look at me (No)
I am old, but I’m happy

Son & (Father)]
All the times that I’ve cried (Stay, stay, stay)
Keeping all the things I knew inside
It’s hard
But it’s harder to ignore it (Why must you go)
If they were right, I’d agree (And make this decision)
But it’s them they know, not me (Alone)
Now there’s a way
And I know that I have to go away
I know, I have to go

c – 1970 – Cat Stevens/ Yusuf

Just a quick howdy from the Hinterlands

If you saw my update from late yesterday afternoon, you can guess that I am in good spirits around here.

I am of course very aware of all that is going on out in the rest of the world. If you have followed this blog for any amount of time, you already know what side I’m on and what I am likely to believe right now.

I think it is an astounding plan and I am quietly amazed by how well it’s going. That’s all I really want to post about it, though.

From Mike King

Nice work, ‘Charlie.’ Enjoy your new life.

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Other than that, things really are quiet around here. But that’s an okay thing.

I’m heading out soon to see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man. I am trying to get the very most out of every moment with him these days, gang, because he is definitely expressing — in no uncertain terms — that he has had a really wonderful life and he is “ready to go upstairs”. And since his recent 95th birthday, his energy is definitely changing,

His private nurse is trying hard to come up with ways to change his outlook; to re-engage him. But she thinks like a nurse, and I think like a minister. Obviously, I will feel a true emptiness whenever it is that he ends up crossing over. I have enjoyed every single moment of knowing him.

However, I feel it is my duty to him to support his flow, his journey, to simply be beside him in the moments he has left here. Not to fight against his spirit. So my concentration these days is just in being there with him and sharing in all the joy he remembers from a life that has been very well lived.

But it is intense, gang — that moment when I walk in his kitchen door now. One of these days, and obviously we don’t know when, but one of these days everything will be over.

Meanwhile…

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Here’s this.

A fun photo of Keith and Charlie, taken in the RCA recording studio in Los Angeles, in 1965. Photo by Gered Mankowitz.

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And I guess I’m not going to post a photo of Nick Cave every single day between now and January 17th, when the Bad Seeds’ tour of Australia gets underway, so we can just part with this, for now:

Nick and Conway. Doing what we all loved doing back then!

I’m guessing there will be photos on Sept. 23rd. We shall see!

Meanwhile, Autumn is really right around the corner now. Summer is done.

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I’m going to try to get a tiny bit of editing work done on The Curse of Our Profound Disorder before I head to town this morning, so I’m gonna scoot.

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!

This song is the ONLY song on the playlist from “songs I was listening to 5 years ago” that was actually a new song 5 years ago!

The absolutely only song! And the playlist lasts one hour.

I really loved the Ghosteen album when it came out. So much. But as time goes on, I just find that it gets sadder and sadder for me, and it is so hard to listen to.

When this song came on, it surprised me that it was on the list. And the intensity of the song was just sort of spellbinding.

Anyway. I leave you with a song that was actually a new song, 5 years ago!

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “Waiting for You”, 2019. From Ghosteen. Enjoy, gang.

“Waiting for You”

All through the night we drove
And the wind caught her hair
And we parked on the beach
In the cool evening air
Well, sometimes it’s better not to say anything at all

Your body is an anchor
Never asked to be free
Just want to stay in the business
Of making you happy
Well, I’m just waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you

A priest runs through the chapel
All the calendars are turning
A Jesus freak on the street
Says He is returning
Well, sometimes a little bit of faith
Can go a long, long way

Your soul is my anchor
I never asked to be freed
Well, sleep now, sleep now
Take as long as you need
Cause I’m just waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
Waiting for you
To return
To return
To return

c – 2019 Nick Cave

Off to town soon!

And it is another really stunning day!

I’ll be seeing my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man today. And it’s our day to get sashimi and sake. And maybe stop at the Nature Preserve again on the way home, because it is such a beautiful day.

Although, sometimes we just sit in the car with the windows open and look at all the nature, because he is sometimes too tired to get out of the car and be in all the nature.

Still, there is plenty of nature to look at!

Spring Valley Nature Preserve, Granville

And then it’s also my day to run some quick errands in town on my way home, but it should still be an easy, lovely day. We shall see!!

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Phil did indeed do his live last night.

The conclusions he comes to about Charlie Kirk essentially match what Mike King said yesterday morning.

Here is Phil’s replay of you missed it .

Charlie Kirk – September 11th, 2025 (2 hr 24 mins):

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And here’s this!

First off, Nick Cave‘s official Instagram site announced this morning that on September 15th there will be an announcement about something that will happen on July 31, 2026! Yay! What could be more exciting??

And here’s this!

The final set list of Nick Cave’s Solo Tour of Europe 2025! Practically the best encore ever!! (I don’t actually know what would be the “Best Encore Ever”, I’m just sayin’ this one is really great!)

And a few photos from the final night of the tour — in Luxembourg:

And here’s this!!

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Okay!

And if you saw my cryptic update from yesterday afternoon

Wow, gang.

I am getting ready to be CRAZY busy. Again. And so I must take every moment I can for what’s left of September to FINISH The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, and then get it off to the publisher, poste haste– and to Wayne!! So that the novel can finally be done (first draft, at least) and I can, once again, clear my desk for some Sandra-related projects that will likely take over my life.

Yay!

We shall see, gang. I will let you in on more details as talks progress.

Meanwhile, we’re really happy over here.

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And I guess that’s it for now. I gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Friday, 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’m not sure when I’m gonna stop playing that playlist from 5 years ago

What a weird time warp it creates: “Here! Listen to some songs you loved listening to 5 years ago, that were already really old songs 5 years ago!”

And it turns out, I still love them so now I can’t quit playing them!!

Ironically, here’s this for today!!

Tom Petty, “Time to Move On”, 1994. From his wildly successful solo album, Wildflowers. Enjoy, gang.

“Time To Move On”

It’s time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going

Broken skyline, movin’ through the airport
She’s an honest defector
Conscientious objector
Now her own protector

Broken skyline, which way to love land
Which way to something better
Which way to forgiveness
Which way do I go

It’s time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going

Sometime later, getting the words wrong
Wasting the meaning and losing the rhyme
Nauseous adrenaline
Like breakin’ up a dogfight
Like a deer in the headlights
Frozen in real time
I’m losing my mind

It’s time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It’s time to move on, it’s time to get going

c – 1994 Tom Petty

Think

That’s all I’m going to post about yesterday.

Tonight, Phil goes live at 7PM. Primarily because today is the anniversary of 9-11. But also, because of Charlie Kirk.

Check here later to confirm, but I seriously HOPE he does not cancel.

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Okay.

I’m posting late because Bobby McGee and Freddie McFee had their post-surgery follow-up visit to the vet this morning, and they passed with flying colors.

They are now free to go on with their frisky little lives!

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Okay.

So as of this moment, I have the rest of the day off.

I’ve already taken my walk — and, wow, what a gorgeous morning it is out there. Unbelievable.

I sure could use an afternoon, hanging with my Q-following friend at Tequilaville — yesterday wore us both out.

But as luck would have it, we’re having lunch together on Monday — to belatedly celebrate her recent birthday — at Three Tigers Brewing Co in Granville!! So I’m just going to hang around here today and write.

3 Tigers Brewing Co

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Here’s this.

From Instagram yesterday–

I’m posting this because he was my cousin. He was actually first cousins with my Grandma — my favorite person on Earth. Their fathers were brothers. They all came over from Poland together, in the early 1900s.

Star of stage & screen in the 1930s & 40s, John Garfield:

John Garfield

Oh, and here’s this:

“…Near the end of his life, in an effort to clear his name, Garfield began work on an article for Look magazine, in which he would denounce communism without “naming names”; his lawyer advised him to concede that he had been “duped” into contributing time and money to communist front groups.[11] He then arranged to meet with the FBI to press his case. At the meeting, however, the FBI representatives showed him a dossier on his wife Roberta (known as “Robbe”), which included her old Communist Party membership card and cancelled checks to events sponsored by the party, and said that the FBI would clear him if he signed a statement betraying Robbe as a Communist. Garfield instead responded with an angry expletive and walked out of the meeting.[11] Writer and director Abraham Polonsky, who worked with him on two films, stated that Garfield ‘defended his street boy’s honor and they killed him for it.‘”

[Hmmm… murdered for his alleged politics. Where have we heard that before?]

Oh, and here’s a photo of me and my older brother with my Grandma, my above-mentioned favorite person on Earth, on the shores of Lake Erie, in Cleveland, in 1966.

And just for your information — she was raped to death (her heart exploded) in her hospital bed, after open-heart surgery, at age 89. In Cleveland. My favorite person on Earth.

The shit never stops, does it, gang?

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Onward.

Okay.

From last night’s sold out show in Luxembourg!

The alleged set list, but it seems that sometimes they veer from the official list. Still, the fantastic enocre (sometimes known as “an encore”) continues:

And Nick (and Colin) apparently took in some art yesterday. Here’s Nick:

And also —

Nick with a happy fan yesterday:

No, I’m not going to say a single solitary THING about how short his hair is here… I’m only going to say that whoever is in charge of ensuring his hair is never above his shoulders, needs to be re-assigned to a different task, pronto.

Okay! And from the actual show!!

And tonight, is the FINAL show of the tour!!

I suddenly got extremely tired…

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And here’s this again, just because, gang, you have no idea how much this is helping me move forward around here! It’s taped to my wall now, by my desk, and I read it constantly. And I work on the novel.

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And that’s it for now.

I love you guys. Let’s just hang in there.

And enjoy our Thursday, wherever we are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

See ya.

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Again, from the playlist of 5 years ago!!

Kind of suits today, doesn’t it?

Don Henley, “The End of the Innocence”. 1989. From the album of the same name. Play it quietly. Look up at the sky. Remember everything you’ve ever known in your life. And then enjoy, gang.

“The End Of The Innocence”

Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn’t have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standin’ by
But “happily ever after” fails
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly

But I know a place where we can go
That’s still untouched by men
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass waves in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

O’ beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They’re beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we’ve been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie

But I know a place where we can go
And wash away this sin
We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass waves in the wind
Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair spill all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

Who knows how long this will last
Now we’ve come so far, so fast
But, somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
I need to remember this
So baby give me just one kiss
And let me take a long last look
Before we say goodbye

Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

c – 1989 – Don Henley, Bruce Hornsby

A happy Wednesday from the Hinterlands!

Well, the writing went great yesterday. And one of the great things about when writing goes great — is being able to read it over afterwards and realize it still needs work.

To me, that’s a good thing — knowing when I’ve got something but it could still be tighter.

I’m going to try to get back to it quickly here this morning, because I’ve got back-to-back shifts again today and won’t have time to do any writing when I get back here later tonight.

However, it will be 2 great shifts today!

My favorite 95-year-old Japanese client!!

Followed by enough time to stop for lunch again HERE:

OOPS! Of course, I meant HERE — at the Subway that’s around the corner from where my adorable client Molly used to live:

And BTW, they play the best music there — Classic Country. The real stuff, from the old days!

And then, off to my next favorite client — the retired Chaplain who is back from Florida!!

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Okay!

Finished watching the documentary “Sad Vacation — The Last Days of Sid and Nancy'” last night. It was sad, but good. Definitely a trip down Memory Lane. Not a particularly happy trip, but it did bring back memories.

While watching it, I suddenly recalled that I was away at college when all that happened to Sid and Nancy. I remember how shocking it was back then (Fall, 1978).

I went to college so briefly (3 months) that it was sort of shocking just to think I have any memories at all from that time away at school. But I do.

I hated college — my parents forced me to go. All I really wanted to do was go to NYC and be a singer-songwriter, but they both were, like: NO. You’re going to college.

I was really smart, and graduated in the top of my class in high school — was one of 2 Valedictorians. Graduated with Honors, etc. But that didn’t mean I wanted to keep doing it. At all. I absolutely hated school.

Anyway. So I was forced to go to college — I went here:

I made every effort to attend classes but the classes were so fucking boring. Honestly, the old TV show from 1969, Room 222, was way more interesting than college was!! Honestly. It really was. And it was a show about high school. (What a great show.)

So I eventually said: Fuck this. And quit going to classes and mostly stayed around my dorm room and watched reruns of M*A*S*H

…and just generally got drunk with my roommates in the evenings (they were all studying to be Engineers). (Oh, and the ubiquitous sex and sex and sex and sex….) (with both guys and gals) (It was the 1970s, after all…)

Until it was time to go home for Christmas and I informed my family that I had dropped out.

They were super excited to hear that!

“We’re just so proud of you!!”

HOWEVER– after a quick move out to California (hated it there, too), and then back to Ohio to work in a factory (hated it there, too) — I eventually wound up in NYC — YAY!!. Became a singer-songwriter– YAY!!

AND– got a degree in Audio Engineering there in 1981, as luck would have it. Top of my class.

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Okay!!

I did start watching “Room 37: The Mysterious Death of Johnny Thunders” last night. It is intense. I can tell it’s going to be creepy, but that’s all I can discern, so far.

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And now I gotta scoot, so here’s this!!

TONIGHT!!

In Luxembourg!! The first of 2 sold out shows and then Nick Cave’s Solo Tour of Europe with Colin Greenwood on bass comes to a close!!

So, wake up and get moving, gang!! It’s almost showtime!!

Probably my most favorite photo of Nick Cave and Rowland S. Howard from the old days. Here, they are most likely thinking about how boring college is…

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And that’s it. I’m outta here!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!!

Another song from that playlist of songs I was listening to 5 years ago!!! (That playlist is a real mindfuck, gang, but in the best way.)

Bruce Springsteen, “The Price You Pay”, 1980. From his fantastic album, The River. Which, as fate would have it, came out right before I moved to NYC!! Okay. Enjoy, gang.

“The Price You Pay”

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road, you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay

Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies
And in one last breath, they built the roads they’d ride to their death
Driving on through the night, unable to break away
From the restless pull of the price you pay

Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
Now you can’t walk away from the price you pay

Now they come so far and they’ve waited so long
Just to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong
Where the dark of night holds back the light of the day
And you’ve gotta stand and fight for the price you pay

Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
Now you can’t walk away from the price you pay

Little girl, down on the strand with that pretty little baby in your hands
Do you remember the story of the promised land?
How he crossed the desert sands and could not enter the chosen land
On the banks of the river, he stayed to face the price you pay

So let the game start, you better run, you little wild heart
You can run through all the nights and all the days
But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up a sign
That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay
And girl, before the end of the day
I’m gonna tear it down and throw it away

c – 1980 Bruce Springsteen

A Terrific Tuesday is Underway!

I don’t know about you, gang, but I slept great last night.

Part of it was because of the weather. Part of it was because I knew I had another day off today (yes– the Agency has texted me 3 times already to pick up shifts on my days off, but I have declined all of them).

Most of it, though, is because I’m getting such great work done on the novel-in-progress, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder.

Even though I managed to take a walk yesterday, do yoga, and listen to another lecture in the course about Protestant Reformation, I was still able to get 6 hours of work done at my desk on the novel.

To me, that’s heaven.

And during dinner, I started to watch this — I’m about halfway through:

I follow one of the producers of the film on Instagram and she posted something about the film yesterday, so I started watching it.

It’s a documentary from 2016, that pretty convincingly proposes that Sid Vicious did not kill Nancy. That basically the NYPD didn’t want to waste time investigating a death involving a bunch of junkies.

It’s a sad movie, but it’s really good:

Sad Vacation is an up close and personal account of the tumultuous and stormy relationship between Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen and how it ended in Room 100 of the Chelsea Hotel. This films pulls no punches and reveals the facts through personal friends, insiders and witnesses. Includes interviews with Sylvain Sylvain (New York Dolls), Bob Gruen, Walter Lure and many more.”

Trailer:

Next movie up, will be this one:

Room 37: The Mysterious Death of Johnny Thunders

From 2019:

“Famed rock and roll guitarist Johnny Thunders arrives in New Orleans to attempt to put his life back together after a battle with addiction, but instead, a series of events propels him deeper into chaos.”

It didn’t get great reviews, but I’ve been wanting to watch it for a while now, since I really loved everything about the NY Dolls — the good, the bad, and the ugly. So I decided it will be next in line, finally.

Trailer:

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And here’s this–

I loved these guys!

Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix

I was so sad when River Phoenix died. It’s one of those days I’ll never forget, actually.

My Own Private Idaho (1991) is one of my all-time favorite films.

I pretty much loved all the films Gus Van Sant has made.

Many years after “Idaho”, I found myself working in the home office of Gus Van Sant, Sr. (Gus’s dad), at a time in his life when he and his wife were living in Ohio. I got the job solely because I was a writer from NYC, and I was friends with the woman who cut Gus Sr.’s hair out at his golf club.

I didn’t ask for the job, he simply asked me if I wanted to work for him, because he needed help at the office.

It turned out that Gus Sr. was Gus Jr.’s Business Manager, so I learned a lot about the business end of film financing at that job. But beyond that, Gus Sr. was an incredible man. Unbelievably kind and supportive. One afternoon, the subject of River Phoenix came up and Gus Sr. said to me: “We all had dinner one night, while they were filming ‘Idaho’. And that young man was very troubled.”

That was all he said and it spoke volumes.

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Anyway.

Here’s this!

More shots on Instagram from the new Dior “Sauvage” campaign. However, you know the rules, gang — if he’s not smoking we can never be 100% positive it’s really Johnny Depp. It could be a body double. Heck, it could be AI for all we know:

(And this reminds me — when are we going to be able to watch “Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness” on Amazon Prime in the US??)

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And here’s this!

From outside the Baden-Baden show the other night — Nick Cave and an automobile!

And TOMORROW!!

Nick Cave’s Solo Tour of Europe with Colin Greenwood on bass begins to come to a close! 2 back-to-back sold out shows begin in Luxembourg, and then the tour is over.

(But see yesterday’s post about what is up for Nick Cave on Sept. 23rd!)

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And that is it, I think.

I want to get back to the novel. I am really excited to see what hits the page today!

And FYI, I printed out that Kerouac quote I posted yesterday and I taped it to the wall in front of my desk. And it really, really does just keep making me smile, gang. I feel like the spirit of Kerouac is really in there, cheering me on.

BTW, the quote is taken from a story in a collection of his unpublished works that came out in 1999 — Atop an Underwood: Early Stories and Other Writings:

“It includes writings from Kerouac’s high school years, poetry, short stories, essays and other previously unpublished works. “

If you’re too young to know what an Underwood was , it was a popular brand of typewriter. I have since ordered the book! I can’t wait to read it.

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And that’s that!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this! Breakfast-listening music!!

Still on a Monkees kick around here, but we are up to their 3rd album — another great one! The Monkees — Headquarters (1967). It was a #1 Album on Billboard and it went double-platinum.

This was the first album of theirs that I was able to buy with my own money. My Aunt Sylvia gave me a birthday card in the summer of 1967 (also known historically as The Summer of Love!!) that included a 5 dollar bill in it!! Wow, was I excited! Back then, you could buy record albums for under $5. So I bought Headquarters for myself, for my 7th birthday.

This song was amazing back then — and really appropriate, politically, for 1967 — and it’s kind of even more amazing now. All politics aside. A real gem, written by the famous songwriting duo Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil.

“Shades of Gray”, 1967. The Monkees. Enjoy, gang.

“Shades of Gray”

When the world and I were young
Just yesterday
Life was such a simple game
A child could play

It was easy then to tell right from wrong
Easy then to tell weak from strong
When a man should stand and fight
Or just go along

[Chorus]
But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light
Today there is no black or white
Only shades of gray

I remember when
The answers seemed so clear
We had never lived with doubt
Or tasted fear

It was easy then to tell truth from lies
Selling out from compromise
Who to love and who to hate
The foolish from the wise

But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light
Today there is no black or white
Only shades of gray

[Instrumental Break]

It was easy then to know what was fair
When to keep and when to share
How much to protect your heart
And how much to care

But today there is no day or night
Today there is no dark or light
Today there is no black or white
Only shades of gray

[Outro]
Only shades of gray

c-1967 – Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil

Saying Goodbye to Summer

Technically, we still have about 2 more weeks until summer officially ends, but wow, gang. Summer is like gone around here.

Down into the 40s Fahrenheit every night now. Furnace is on in the mornings. Leaves are starting to change color and fall to the ground (or all over my car, depending on where it’s parked).

In the afternoons, it still gets up into the 70s, so it’s really nice. But at the same time, it no longer feels like summer at all.

Bye, Summer!

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Okay.

Not much to post about today, because I am still in that really weird mood — not depressed, really, but just sort of dumbfounded by how fast time flies and how everything just keeps changing and changing and changing.

I know it’s supposed to be this way, but for some reason, ever since my dad died, everything feels sort of pointless. As if — why do things happen at all if everything is just always changing?

And yet underneath it all, is the current of things that constantly stay the same. For instance, my coffee mug here on my desk right now: A souvenir from Chicago, when I took a trip there with Mark Pritchard in 1999…

THAT stuff doesn’t change, but that also dumbfounds me — how can this coffee mug be 26 years old already???

It has moved with me seven times!

Everything important changes — like the homes and the people and the cats who were with me in them — but the coffee mugs stay the same…

Honestly, stuff like that is all over my brain these days.

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And speaking of everything changing–

Here’s this.

The no-longer-with-us David Johansen in his glam rock period:

Richard Hell (of the bands Television, and the Voidoids)– who is, miraculously, still alive. In NYC, in 1977:

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And here’s this!!

While we wait for the 2 sold out shows in Luxembourg next week (9/10 and 9/11), which will signify the end of Nick Cave’s Solo Tour of Europe with Colin Greenwood on bass!

From my desktop stash!

Nick Cave — just waiting. And smoking. And looking good while doing it…

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From James Tabor– more from the upcoming New Testament Conference, online at the end of the month..

Did Jesus Really Do Miracles? Dr. Dale Allison Weights In (39 mins):

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And that’s all.

I want to take a look at the novel-in-progress before Sandra calls to discuss the play. And then I’m heading out for my shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife (and probably a couple of episodes of “Love Boat” and “Daniel Boone”, if all goes as it usually does).

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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And here’s this!

Enough said.

Bob Wills & his Texas Playboys, with their classic, “Time Changes Everything” from 1940. Enjoy, gang.

“Time Changes Everything”

There was a time when I thought of no other
And we sang our own loves refrain
And our hearts beat as one as we had our fun

But time changes everything

And when you left me my poor heart was broken
Our romance seemed all in vain
The dark clouds are gone and there’s blue skies again

Yes time changes everything

The time has passed and I have forgotten you
Mother Nature does wonderful things
I guess it is true for me and for you

‘Cause time changes everything

Oh you can change the name of an old song
Rearrange it and make it swing
I thought nothing could stop me from loving you

But time changes everything

So good luck to you and may God bless you
I can’t say we won’t love again
You have gone your way and I’ll go mine

‘Cause time changes everything

c – 1940 Tommy Duncan

Okay! Happy Saturday!

It’s chilly and grey here in the Hinterlands this morning, but, wow, is it peaceful, gang.

So quiet. With just a hint of autumn coming early.

Yesterday went by in a flash. Two really easy, really beautiful shifts with some wonderful clients.

The evening shift client is that new one, who lives in that gorgeous, enormous split-level house that you need a map to find the bathroom in. That home in the hills of Granville, behind the Bryn Du Mansion.

Bryn Du Mansion, Granville

I was having lunch at Subway, trying to kill time between shifts because I didn’t want to arrive at her house too early, when I finally decided, just go.

And I’m glad I listened to that inner voice, because when I arrived, she was alone in the house. “Thank god you’re here,” she said. And she looked very stressed out. “I was getting panicky.”

And so we sat in the recliners by the TV, and we chatted for awhile about anxiety. Hers as well as mine. And we both ended up feeling a lot better about life, even though “time changes everything” and there isn’t a darn thing we can do about it.

But it was beautiful. I often learn so much about myself when I’m trying to help guide my clients to some sort of spiritual clarity about their own situations.

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Okay.

Here’s this.

From Instagram. I have no idea who he is, but I thought he was just gorgeous. From a Native American account I follow:

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And here’s this.

Another topic that will be discussed at the upcoming New Insights into the New Testament Conference, 9/26-9/28. (You can attend online. $79 if you buy your ticket by Sept, 13th. Buy tickets HERE.)

A talk with Bart Ehrman — “At the heart of Jesus’s message was a call to repentance in anticipation of the coming Kingdom of God, so why did his followers dramatically reverse this teaching after his death?”

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From night #2 in Baden-Baden, Germany, last night!

Another great encore!! Crimony, gang; I would pay the $1700 it costs per ticket just to hear these encores–

And here are a few photos from last night–

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And on a similar topic…

I had such strange dreams last night.

Partly having to do with the anxiety stuff I talked about with my client last evening — anxiety stemming from how things that we love about life disappear and we can’t do anything about it.

And partly about Nick Cave.

There was this Instagram account that I really, really just loved. Well, technically, it’s still there but it’s almost completely inactive now. But every morning, for years, when I would wake up before dawn and check my Instagram app, the first photo in my feed would always be a really delightful post about Nick Cave and my morning would just be off to such a lovely start, even hours before the sun actually came up.

But that hasn’t happened for a long time, and in my dreams last night, I kept dreaming about it over and over and over — about how that doesn’t happen anymore. Even though I know people grow out of Instagram for whatever reasons, it’s just yet another thing about life that I used to love that has changed.

Here’s an example — from over 5 years ago. Nick Cave wearing what appears to be a shoulder holster. Yay!!

However. On we go.

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Okay, I guess I better scoot!

A brief shift today with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese client! Then some grocery shopping in town, then a Saturday night just chillin’. Then a phone conference with Sandra tomorrow morning, regarding updates on our Off-Broadway play, “The Guide to Being Fabulous”!

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.

One of my all-time FAVORITE songs about SATURDAY!!

Back in the mid-1990s, I used to chat with Mark Pritchard on the old-fashioned PHONE on Saturdays. We would catch up about how our week had gone. At the time, he was a writer/publisher in San Francisco, and I was a writer/publisher/online content producer in NYC.

I always loved those chats with Mark. He was one of my closest freinds back then. And I would often play this record and think about him.

And I found myself singing this song again, when I got out of bed this morning, and I was thinking about him!! 30 years later…

The classic from the Sandpipers, 1969. “Come Saturday Morning.” Just beautiful. Enjoy, gang.

“Come Saturday Morning”

Come Saturday mornin’
I’m goin’ away with my friend
We’ll Saturday-spend
‘Til the end of the day

Just I and my friend
We’ll travel for miles
In our Saturday smiles
And then we’ll move on
But we will remember
Long after Saturday’s gone

[Chorus]
Come Saturday mornin’
Come Saturday mornin’

Come Saturday mornin’
I’m goin’ away with my friend
We’ll Saturday-laugh
More than half of the day

Just I and my friend (My friend)
Dressed up in our rings
And our Saturday things (Saturday)
And then we’ll move on
But we will remember
Long after Saturday’s gone

Come Saturday mornin’
Come Saturday mornin’

[Bridge]
Come Saturday mornin’ (Saturday)

Just I and my friend (My friend)
We’ll travel for miles
In our Saturday smiles (Saturday)
And then we’ll move on
But we will remember
Long after Saturday’s gone

[Chorus]
Come Saturday mornin’
Come Saturday morn
Come Saturday mornin’
Come Saturday morn

c – 1969 Dory Previn / Fred Karlin

Quick One Today!!

I gotta scoot, and I have to work a double today. So it’s a long day ahead.

But luckily, I love both of the clients and they don’t live far from each other, so I can stop HERE for lunch between shifts!!

Yes, the Subway that was right around the corner from Molly, my adorable client who passed away in February…

I don’t normally get excited about eating at Subway. It’s just this specific one, because it reminds me of Molly and her husband, and they were such wonderful clients. They were like family to me. I just set foot in that shop and I’m flooded with happy memories.

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Okay.

Here’s this!

Keith and Mick as they get ready to play Madison Square Garden in 1969….

We just had the anniversary of the release of the Rolling Stones live album “Get Your Ya-Ya’s Out!”. Which was a recording of the show mentioned above, at Madison Square Garden in NYC.

A fantastic album!! It is officially 723 million years old!! (it came out on September 4th 1970, so you do the math!)

You can listen to the full album here:

And here’s this–

Keith at home in Connecticut, 1995:

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All righty!

So the show in Baden-Baden, Germany, last night sounded great! I listened to quite a few videos posted to Instagram.

There were a few good photos, too. Here are 2 of them:

And here’s the set list!! Another fantastic encore!!

Another sold out show tonight in Baden-Baden, then next week, Luxembourg, then the tour is over!!

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Phil did a short live last night, about the current silver market and investing in silver. You can watch the replay below. It starts at about the 16-minute mark.

The Problem ( 1 hr 30 mins):

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And that is it for now, I gotta get moving!!

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting!!

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!!

When I bought this album, I was almost 13, and a lot of this stuff was still brand new to me. Boy, did I love this album, gang. I played it over and over and over on my little portable record player in my room.

Who cared about sound systems and stereos?? I just loved it.

Okay!

Live from Madison Square Garden in NYC, 1969, the Rolling Stones do Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie”! Enjoy, gang.