Good morning, everybody!!

It’s a clear, sunny — but cold — first day of winter around here!

When I stepped out onto my kitchen porch at 4:30AM this morning, the black sky was so incredibly clear. I could see all the stars for miles and miles. There was a really great feeling in the air.

And the raccoons had been by. They ate up every single solitary morsel of cat food that I’d set out for Kon Tiki & friends yesterday.

Oh, and also yesterday, at my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house, I encountered 5 beautiful deer in his backyard. And, later, while driving back into the village of Crazeysburg, there were about 8 swans in one of the de-frosting cornfields!! This morning, starlings are everywhere in the trees around my property and the cats are sort of glued to the windows. (This bit about the cats is, of course, a figure of speech. I do not allow my cats to get into the glue…)

Anyway, Happy Winter Animal/Bird Day everyone!!

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Okay.

Here’s this!

I’ve had some trouble piecing together what this was all about, but it seems to have been a fundraiser for a new church organ? Not sure. But it took place at St. Bartholomew-the-Great, the oldest parish church in London.

Nick Cave and Colin Greenwood performed by candlelight there on Friday night. (I believe this is the church Nick Cave actually attends?)

I can only imagine how moving this was, gang. Because these two could create magic together out back by a trash bin. And in an old church in London by candlelight??? Wow.

And speaking of Nick Cave—

There is still time to order something over at Cave Things and get it in time for Christmas!! (Maybe.)

For instance!!

Sex Pencils!! They are guaranteed to be sexual, unisexual, hip & sexy, and super sexual!! ($21 + shipping)

And right now, I believe you can get free pencils with every Christmas order. Click Here.

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Okay. I am loving this!

Outlaws, Revolutionaries, and Other Christians in Disguise

I found out about this podcast last evening on Instagram and I am halfway through listening to Episode 16 and I am really loving it:

Longing for God: Jack Kerouac, the Strange Solitary Catholic Mystic

“The Saint of Holy Groveling, the Hungover Mystic, and a deep, aching longing for God

Jack Kerouac is remembered as the voice of the open road, speed, freedom, and excess, yet beneath the motion lived a deep spiritual loneliness. He carried an intense longing for God that pleasure, travel, and rebellion never resolved. The party always ended in sadness. The road always circled back home. Formed by Catholic prayer, haunted by sin and grace, and bound to his mother in a small house far from the myth, Kerouac lived as a strange solitary mystic, restless for God and unable to escape the ache of faith that followed him everywhere.”

The podcast only started this past January, so there’s a chance I can actually get caught up on their previous episodes: Goethe, Dostoevsky, Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn, Blake, Pasternak, and more. Writers whose works I really love.

You can find the podcast here and then choose your preferred platform.

Subversive Orthodoxy: “Subversive Orthodoxy is a place for people who are burned by politics.  We’re tired of culture wars and worn-out ideologies, but still have some hope that the Judeo-Christian story has something real to offer the modern world.”

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And speaking of Kerouac —

From the Kerouac Estate on Instagram:

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And here’s this–

Keith with one of his grandsons (maybe even the first one, judging by the color of Keith’s hair) (in the description below the photo, it said this is a grandson):

And Keith topless! Yay! (Adults only please!!)

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Okay!!!

Thanks again to Phyllis Stein for coming back from her vacation and for posting some more great photos on Instagram!!

Patti with the Patti Smith Group and TOM WAITS peeking in!! (mid-1970s)

And two of Patti and Jim Carroll in San Francisco in the 1970s:

(I loved this man so much, gang. I took a songwriting/poetry course with him at the West Side Y in NYC in 1984. You had to actually submit your writing to get into the class and when I got in, I hit the moon! There were maybe 12 of us in the class. What an incredible experience it was. The course lasted several months. And, wow, was Jim Carroll tall!)

Here’s this. Jim Carroll reading from his second collection of diaries, Forced Entries, in Cleveland, 1991 (1 hr):

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And here’s this!

I listened to it while making my dinner last night (and also texting with Johnny at the same time so it was a wee bit distracting!)

Abraham Hicks – Why Action Won’t Make you Rich (15 mins)

I especially liked the part about “Maintaining Your Vibration Despite Outside Influences” . (Ooops! Looks like you have to listen directly on YouTube. Just click in the box.)

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Phil seems to want everybody to have access to the Justice Department’s Epstein Library. It is searchable!

Click HERE

Word of warning, though. There is a TON of graphic stuff in these court testimonies and some of it will make you sick. (Especially if you’ve ever been trafficked or forced to have sex of any kind.)

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Other than that…Let’s switch gears!!

Wow, gang.

Christmas is almost here. Which means 2026 is also almost here. Which means that my retirement is also almost here!!

Johnny has asked me a couple of times:

HE: “What is the first thing you want to do the moment you know you are free from all the caregiving jobs and can do anything you want?”

ME: “Sit down at my desk and write.”

HE: (Looks at me sort of blankly.)

But that’s it, gang. Yes, I want to go camping (he already has a really long list… It includes cool places like Key West, the Adirondacks, and a place in Georgia). I do want to do that. But as loyal readers of this lofty blog know so well by now — I have a TON of half-finished and almost-started projects on my desk. I cannot wait to be able to give them my complete attention again.

PLUS!

Sandra is just basically sitting there in Rhinebeck NY, waiting for 2026 to get started so that she can send me all of her NOTES on the upcoming play Off-Broadway, the proposed new TV project, and our re-visitation of the screenplay for “Tell My Bones: The Helen LaFrance Story”.

I know this doesn’t sound like retirement for most people, but for me, it is finally getting to have my life back and I can’t wait.

Oh, and part of the publishing contract for my new novel includes: When will you be available to come out here and promote the book???

There is a chance that the book might be released by February, gang. But that’s not definite yet.

So, I wake up at 4 in the morning, and I stare at my dark bedroom and I just sort of think, Wow. And soon after that, I get out of bed.

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All righty!

I’ve got some yoga to do and then I have the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat later today! And some more Christmas movies, no doubt! (And while I do have to drive home in the dark, there is no SNOW, no ICE, no HEAVY WINDS!! Yay. Just things like the Ronettes singing “Sleigh Ride” over and over and over for 22 miles!!)

So I’m gonna get all that underway here.

Enjoy 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. The most amazing Christmas song ever.

I listened to this several times while in bed last night with the lights out and the votive candles flickering and tried to keep my heart from galloping away from me .

I do not know where the years went to, gang. I only know that they flew by. And now both Shane McGowan and Kirsty MacColl are both dead. This song just breaks my heart now but when I listen to it, I am still inundated with all the love I had for this man and his gift for writing incredible, and now incredibly eternal, songs.

“Fairytale of New York,” The Pogues. 1987. Enjoy, gang. And let’s take a word from William Blake while we’re at it: He who binds to himself a joy / Does the winged life destroy; / But he who kisses the joy as it flies / Lives in eternity’s sun rise. See ya!

Well, strike 2, I guess.

In much the same way that I recently took a lovely drive to go to a mall and see a movie — and then turned around and came home…

I went to that new church this morning — and, wow, another really lovely drive along backroads. It is a really gorgeous fall morning here. But when I got to the (tiny) church, the parking lot was completely full, along with every single parking spot on the street for several blocks!

And it looked like it was going to be standing room only inside that tiny church.

So I turned around and came home.

I’m guessing it’s because it’s that “New Friends Celebration” service, and they are also honoring local first responders today, too. So I guess every one came from far & wide.

I was disappointed, but I tried to focus, once again, on how beautiful the drive was. And it was only 10 minutes, each way.

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Okay.

Here’s this!

Keith with a puppy! (From that long ago era when men wore scarves instead of ties around their necks. And it looks like that could be Charlie behind Keith, with the cigarette.)

And Keith with sunglasses — and a cigarette!

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And Cave Things sent out a reminder that the Black Friday sale is still going on! Until December 5th, 5PM GMT.

Up to 70% off!! On items including, but not limited to, GOD PENCILS!!

$7.00 + shipping, They’re not just for Sundays anymore!!

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Okay, well. I guess I’ll do some yoga now, since I now have plenty of time before my shift.

Have a great 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!! Again!

You know, I really was disappointed in turning around this morning and just going back home. And I was also disappointed because I could tell that it wasn’t going to be a church I was going to feel comfortable in.

This is the kind of church I feel comfortable in — my old church back in downtown Columbus, where I was baptized:

I loved this church and the minister there was fantastic! But he has since retired and the church is an hour away from where I live now.

Anyway. I was disappointed this morning. But as soon as the GPS guy in my car stopped talking, THIS SONG came on my playlist!!

I can’t tell you what this song does to me, gang. It just calms my soul right now. So that helped.

“Lime Tree Arbor”, 1997. From Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ The Boatman’s Call. Enjoy, gang.

…Wherein, I could sure use a day off!

God, I’m tired, gang. Even though it’s all for good stuff this time. But I’d really like to just STOP, you know?

Anyway. I am hoping to retire early next year. Not from writing, but from the other stuff. We shall see how that progresses.

Meanwhile…

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Here’s this!

Just lovely, in my opinion!

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I finished watching the TV docu-series, My Life As A Rolling Stone (2022), the other night. And I think the episodes on Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts were even better than the episode about Keith! If you can imagine that!

Anyway. I liked the series. I wish it had more episodes.

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And here’s this!

One more photo from the other day in Argentina:

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And here’s this!

A Black Friday Sale is underway at Cave Things!

Including items like this!

50% off!! Now only $128. With FREE shipping — Oops! With NOT free shipping!! Yay!!

Honestly, though, gang, if you purchased this for me, as well-meaning as your gesture would be and as appreciative as I would be to receive it, I would be hard-pressed to find ROOM for it! I have so many darn dishes!!

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Okay, on that Nick Cave note — more thoughts from yesterday, and Nick’s Red Hand File to the girl from Germany who had written a poem…

It reminded me of how incredibly blessed I was when, at age 12, I entered Jr. High School in Columbus, Ohio, and got the most amazing English teacher, ever. And he remained a good friend of mine for decades.

(This will all be in that memoir of my life in the 1970s, once I am able to think straight and actually write it.)

R. Nikolas Macioci. He is still a prolific poet, even though he is well into his 80s now. And back in 1972, when I first met him, he was already a published poet, and had just received his PhD. And without him, it is safe to say that I would not have survived those years in Jr. High School. (Fall 1972- Spring 1975)

It was not Jr. High School that was hard on me, it was everything that was happening to me in my life back then.

One of our class assignments in 1972 was to read a specific book (I can’t recall now which novel it was) and then write a short paper in response to the book.

By then, I was already a prolific writer. I wrote songs and poems constantly, in my room. So, without knowing yet that our teacher was a published poet, or interested in poetry in any way, I wrote a poem in response to the novel. And when he chose me as one of the students that had to get up and read to the class what we’d written about the novel, he was sort of astounded that I’d written a poem.

And he told me to stay after class.

I was, of course, nervous, because I thought I had done something wrong by writing a poem instead of an actual paper. But what happened, then, is that part that changed my life as a writer, forever.

He asked me if I’d written other poems. I told him yes, but that mostly I wrote songs. And he asked if he could read some of them.

Well, I was thrilled by this! The next day, I brought in the 3-ring binder with all my song lyrics and poems in it and gave it to him after class.

HE: “You wrote all these? Do you care if I take this home with me?”

Again, I was just thrilled.

And after he’d read all of them, he asked me to stay after class yet again — and he told me that I was very talented. And that I should stick with it. And he even gave me exercises to work on at home, to specifically make my poetry better.

At that point, my life started to go completely haywire, in all the worst ways, and he was someone I could always go to for moral support. And during the brief time that I moved to Cincinnati (after Greg’s death, the first rape, my nervous breakdown and a couple of overdoses) and lived with my dad and stepmom for a few months, he used to write me letters that literally saved my life.

In fact, when I was committed to the mental hospital, he came to visit me there. (He privately took me aside there and told me, “You don’t belong in this place. Keep writing. Keep fighting.”)

I cannot overstate how much he meant to me, and the influence he had on me as a writer. Even during all the years I lived in NYC, I would send him my writing and he would write back (or sometimes call) with his comments.

The last time we got together was when I came back from doing a reading in London for my novel, Twilight of the Immortal. I had sent him a copy and he read it. He loved that novel. In fact, this is from the very kind review of it that he wrote on Amazon:

“…Twilight of the Immortal is a masterful book, perhaps a masterpiece. Once the first page is turned, life changes for the reader. It’s a book that immerses, educates, entertains, and enlightens. It’s a book that induces laughter and tears. It’s a book that the reader will savor until the last pages and then begrudgingly winnow down paragraph by paragraph to prevent the end from actually arriving because it’s hard to accept that this book won’t last forever.“

You can find a lot of his poetry collections at Amazon HERE. (He was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.)

Here is what he looks like nowadays (although I haven’t actually seen him since I moved out here to the Hinterlands):

And here he is from the school yearbook in 1973!

And here is what he signed in my yearbook in the Spring of 75:

And as I was perusing my 3 Jr. High School yearbooks for this blog post, I thought you might appreciate seeing this great photo of some of the teachers at my school back in 1973!! While they were difficult years in my life, the 1970s were such great years to be alive.

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So, all of that came back to me when I read what Nick Cave had written to the girl from Germany who had shared her poem with him, wanting his advice.

I’m guessing that his generosity toward her (in public, no less), will have a profound and wonderful influence on her future writing.

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I also wanted to go more into the details of my great trip to visit my birth mom and my younger brother in Greenfield on Thursday, but I don’t have time today. I have to head out to see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man — whose daughter is visiting from Texas starting today!

So I gotta scoot, but I will write more about my trip tomorrow.

Also —

Phil’s Q & A from last night was very good! You can listen to it HERE if you missed it.

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!

Back in English class in 1972, “Mr. Macioci” (who, for most of my life I have called “Nik”) told us about a song he had heard on the radio and that he was very moved by it. He thought it was an incredible song. He wanted to know if any of us had heard it … (of course, I had…)

“Changes,” by David Bowie, the single was released earlier that year, from the album Hunky Dory. Enjoy, gang.

“Changes”

Oh yeah
Mm

Still don’t know what I was waiting for
And my time was running wild, a million dead-end streets and
Every time I thought I’d got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
So I turned myself to face me
But I’ve never caught a glimpse
Of how the others must see the faker
I’m much too fast to take that test

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, don’t want to be a richer man
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, just gonna have to be a different man
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

Oh yeah

I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream of warm impermanence and
So the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They’re quite aware of what they’re going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, don’t tell them to grow up and out of it
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (Turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, where’s your shame?
You’ve left us up to our necks in it
Time may change me
But you can’t trace time

Strange fascination, fascinating me
Ah, changes are taking the pace I’m going through

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, oh, look out you rock ‘n rollers
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange)
Ch-ch-changes, pretty soon now you’re gonna get older
Time may change me
But I can’t trace time

I said that time may change me
But I can’t trace time

c- 1971 David Bowie

Unless of course, you’re trickin’ and you’re a lot older now and you just gotta have it… but that’s your business!

Okay!

I’m looking forward to this evening, gang. Mostly because I’m just looking forward to hanging out in my family room, eating (organic) pizza and popcorn, and watching old Halloween movies (you know, the kind that weren’t horrifically disgusting, trauma-inducing and gore-filled….)

Yes, I’m actually old enough to remember the very first TV-Network airing of that Charlie Brown classic!! (I was 6.) And, wow, was it fun!! I even remember my dad coming into the den for a moment, while this scene was playing, and he laughed and shook his head:

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Oh, and speaking of Halloween…

You have until TOMORROW (November 1st) to get that 40% OFF on all Halloween Picks over at Cave Things!

This means you have one more day (UK time, that is) to purchase me this, at 40% off, plus FREE — OOPS — Plus $7 trillion in overseas shipping — The “Up Jumped the Devil” Milk Jug:

And lest you forget — or have thus far refused to play it — here is that song again! One of my All-Time Top 5 favorite songs by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “Up Jumped the Devil”:

(Includes one of my all-time favorite rhymes!! ‘Me’ rhymed with ‘hilarity’:

Who’s that yonder laughing at me
Like I was the brunt of some hilarity
Who’s that yonder laughing at me
Up jumped the Devil 1, 2, 3

c – 1988 – Nick Cave)

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Okay!

Here’s this.

One of my never-ending inspirations as a writer on Earth, however, I’m not crazy about the tone of this photo, but here it is anyway!

A William Burroughs Halloween in Lawrence, Kansas:

Oh, and here’s this!!

One of my many original Olympia Press treasures!! An original printing, from 1959, Paris, France, when it was mistakenly titled ‘The’ Naked Lunch. Mint condition.

My collection of original Olympia Press titles were all gifts to me from Richard Kasak, the publisher of the legendary Masquerade Books, back in the late 90s.

I have long ago lost track of how much this specific book is worth, but I’m not selling it anyway, so it doesn’t matter:

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And Ronnie Wood has a special collection of prints — Paint It Black — available for a limited time. It includes a Personalized signing of the print, just for you!! (And it’s not outrageously expensive, all things considered!! Each print is $1650, while they last.) (And if you want to get me the ‘Keith’ one, that would be really cool!)

Visit this LINK.

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Oh, and before I forget!!

Thanks to whoever is buying the Kindle edition of my novel, The Guitar Hero Goes Home. Published in September, 2020. I thank you very much!!

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Well, yesterday.

Wow, gang.

I don’t even know how best to post about this without betraying anyone’s privacy, but my sweet client from yesterday’s shift, is really, seriously, going downhill.

I had not seen her in a mere seven days… but she had a stroke. On Wednesday. So the Agency had not even had time to alert me beforehand that everything had changed.

And still — wow, is that family the most loving family I have ever encountered.

I walked in to a situation that was drastically different from the last time I was there, but there was still that sense of love, of peace. It was just beautiful. And they have no intention of having her “institutionalized” in any way. A second daughter is staying there now, too, so that the family can be with her around the clock, even with caregivers and Hospice nurses there.

It was a very intense shift, and yet I left there with a profound sense of well-being and peace. The client and the family are just so loving.

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Well, I have mixed feelings about whether I should take my favorite 95-year-old Japanese client out for sashimi and sake today, or wait until tomorrow.

It’s really cold here today. Plus, with it being the holiday, a lot of people might be going out for lunch today and Peony Bistro is really small, and really popular even when it’s not a holiday.

I’m leaning more towards waiting until tomorrow, but I just don’t know. It’s cold but it’s also sunny, so the drive would be beautiful and he always loves that. And he loves the sake, of course!!

I guess I’ll just decide at the very last minute! (But he just gets SO cold, so easily. For instance, his furnace might be set at 78 degrees Fahrenheit, and he’ll be wearing 2 shirts and a sweater, and then ask me to “please turn off the AC” because he’s freezing…)

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Okay, I guess I’m gonna scoot.

Enjoy your tricks or treats, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!!

A cute Halloween clip compilation set to “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett, 1962. Enjoy, gang!