A little chilly, but SUPER sunny! And my shift today is with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man!!

I never, ever know what lays ahead when I first enter his kitchen each morning, but without fail, the journey he and I undertake together (mostly to the past) winds up, by the end of my shift, being astounding.

I always learn something new about him, of course, but also about myself, and usually about life, in general.

He was married twice — first, to a young Japanese woman, who was studying piano at Julliard when they met in NYC in the mid-1950s (she was friends with — an as yet unknown — Yoko Ono, and so the 3 of them would have lunch together in Greenwich Village!! You know, how cool is that?). They ended up having 4 children together — 2 in NYC, and then 2 more were born when they lived in Tokyo. One of the children, a son, very, very tragically died several years ago, but from that son came 4 grandchildren.

He was then married a second time, late in life — to a Latvian woman whose family came to the US as refugees during WWII. This second wife was the absolute love of his life. The house is still full of her essence, her world, her photos, her books, her music & movies. She seems like she was a really wonderful woman, full of life.

She passed away 6 years ago, but they were together for just over 20 years. I’m bringing all this up, because my client believes that this wife, her spirit, is what brought me into his life. And I tell you what, gang — I feel that way, too. I really do. I always smile and quietly say hello to her every time I let myself in through her kitchen door.

Anyway! Wow. I digress!

All I was really going to say is that it is a great morning over here in the Hinterlands.

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Nick Cave sent out a Red Hand File yesterday morning that was very interesting. It was one of the few RHFs that I didn’t agree with — mostly because I thought he was being too hard on himself. But also because I think it is up to each individual to discover what the purpose of his or her life is.

But it was still really interesting. It dealt with dividing one’s focus between being an artist, and having a spouse and family. He said, in part:

“You wonder whether this is a mental illness. I believe it is. The artistic impulse is an exquisite derangement – like drugs, like love, like faith, like grief – a complete and full-force commandeering of the body and the heart. It is a kind of possession, a thrilling seduction, an enchantment, as the ink and paint flow and dance. So demonically exhilarating is this sensation that we think – “This must be the purpose of life!”

But, John, it is not….”

(You can read it in full here.)

Basically, I don’t agree with anything he said there. But it did give me a lot of interesting things to think about, in relation to my own life as a writer.

If you are a loyal reader of this lofty blog, then you no doubt recall that I really, really wanted to have children when I was younger. But I went through 2 marriages to men who either did not want children or couldn’t have children, and this was really, really hard for me to come to terms with.

I did come to terms with it over time, because, in hindsight, I know I would have been a terrible mom. My writing meant everything to me — whether it was my songwriting, or my fiction writing. And I would have ended up being really short-tempered and tightly wound most of the time because i would have wanted to give my all to ALL things. But more importantly, I would have wanted my privacy. Constantly. My own world to write in.

If you’ve ever read Virginia Woolf’s classic essay, A Room of One’s Own (1929)– about how “a woman must have money and a room of her own to write fiction.” I read that book in 1983 and it has continually rung true for me throughout my life — needing a room of my own (i.e. “Marilyn’s Room”). Throw the reality of caring for children into that mix, and my mind probably would have exploded. I would have wanted to give 100% to all things, and it can’t be done.

Anyway. I enjoyed reading that Red Hand File very much because it gave me a lot to think about!

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Okay! I gotta scoot!!! BUT– before I scoot!! Peitor is getting some very interested responses to our TV series pitch over there at Series Mania in France! So we will have a ton of work to do when he gets back early next week.

Meanwhile.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I love this photo!

Sort of like “destiny awaiting me”! Times Square in 1960 — the year I was born!! (I lived a block from here for a couple of years in the early 80s, during my first marriage.)

I have to say, these morning shifts make me a little nuts. but only because there are so many little things I do in the morning — including posting to the blog. And I hate it when I feel pressed for time.

Anyway.

Another gorgeous day here today, so I’m sure my angst-y mood will subside, once I’m driving those backroads to town, under a beautiful blue sky.

And the client I have today — even though it’s a long shift, he’s very, very easy to take care of.

And speaking of clients! Yes! I did take my favorite 94-year-old Japanese client back to the Peony Bistro yesterday for Japanese food (and we popped in at the Nature Preserve again after lunch), and yet again, our fortune cookies were sort of uncanny. Even though his was a little “in hindsight,” it summed up his former professional life perfectly. (He had 2 degrees — one in Christian Ministry, and one from NYU Engineering School and that one took him all over the world and made him a very wealthy man). And mine was , actually, sort of spot on, considering the things that are always on my mind right now.

His is at the top:

And what was also interesting is that I could hear the women in the booth behind us, talking about their fortune cookies, and one woman said: “It’s like this fortune was meant for me! This happened last time I was here.”

Too funny.

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Okay.

Nick Cave sent out a Red Hand File that was very intriguing — ostensibly, it was about Flea, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He said, in part:

“I remember being genuinely moved by his words and thinking what a classy guy Flea was, and feeling on some subterranean level that I was unable to fully grasp at that point in my life, that Flea was a human being of an entirely different calibre, indeed, of a higher order.”

You can read it in full here.

What struck me most about this particular Red Hand File, is that I used to work for Gus Van Sant, Sr. in his home office, about 10 years ago. Filing and just helping out. I worked for him for a few years, until he retired and moved away.

At that point, he was the Business Manager of his son’s film production company and I learned a lot about the business end of the movie business.

Gus, Sr. was a really beautiful soul (he died a couple years ago). I just loved working for him. And one day, while I was filing, there was a handwritten letter in the stack of papers, and it was from Flea. And it was just a beautiful letter to Gus, Sr., thanking him for something that he had done for Flea.

I said, “Is this the Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers?”

And Gus , Sr. said, “Yes. Surprisingly, he’s really quite a great guy.”

I was impressed by that, because Gus ,Sr. had a habit of always speaking honestly to me about everything and everyone.

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Okay.

In the spirit of being incredibly pressed for time —

Peitor and I have finally started hearing back from people in LA who are reading our TV Pilot script to give us advice. It has taken forever to get people’s responses, but now we are getting them and it is clear that we need to revise the script — take out quite a few scenes and save them for other episodes. Not a huge deal.

HOWEVER — Peitor goes to Series Mania in Lille, France, in 9 days(!!) and for 8 of those days (!!) I have to work!!!

Arrrrrggghhh!

So I just feel really frustrated right now.

But I still gotta scoot.

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

Thanks for visting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Remember this great song??? My 94-year-old Japanese client and I were playing it yesterday!!

Wayne Newton, 1963. His HUGE hit — “Danke Schoen”. Enjoy, gang.