Jeepers McCreepers, gang. The kittens just won’t quit this morning.
Can you say:
“Jesus fucking Christ, do NOT tell me you just knocked over my ENTIRE cup of Coffeeee!!!!”
“Jesus fucking Christ, will you STOP chewing on my phone charging cord??!!” (times 4)
“Jesus fucking Christ, who the fuck just THREW UP??!!”
That’s a little bit of what it’s been like around here this morning — in my room. The rest of the housecats are as quiet as little mice.
I had so much extra time this morning and I was planning on really just relaxing in bed with my cup of coffee before heading out for my shift.
But I had to switch over to Plan B and I have no real clue what Plan B is…
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Anyway.
Yesterday turned out to be reasonably okay, regarding having to work a double on the 4th of July.
My 94-year-old Japanese man and I will go get sushi/sashimi today, because Peony Bistro was indeed closed for the holiday yesterday. But we had a nice time just hanging out in his air- conditioned living room, chatting about Hong Kong, Tokyo, NYC — and all his many memories from the past.
And, as always, my shift with the woman who has returned from Florida flew by in a nano second. I left there just as fireworks were getting ready to start all over the place. (And I even got to see some fireworks as I was pulling up into Crazeysburg — one of my neighbors was putting on a really impressive show in his backyard.)
So, I’m just trying to face forward, you know? And hope that things come together soon and I can stop having to work on holidays, and I can start just sitting at my desk again and writing everyday.
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Nick Cave sent out a Red Hand File yesterday about his songwriting process. It was very interesting — and very different from any songwriting process I ever experienced. He said, in part:
“The hard part for me, the most agonising and uncertain part, the part that keeps me up at night and makes me a complete pain in the arse through the day, is in the initial creation. That is, the unpredictable arrival of those first two lines….”
Tonight and tomorrow night in Paris!! TWO sold out shows, neither of which can you attend if you don’t already have your precious ticket!! Alas…
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Okay. I don’t have much to post about today. I’m not only focused on trying to get my suitcase packed as minimally as possible, I am also a little out of sorts mentally, since my prized morning Cup o’ Joe ended up all over my night table AND all over 3 brand new books!!!
But here’s what I’m grateful for– the coffee didn’t spill all over me in the bed, and the coffee mug didn’t break… because I only have about 17 million other coffee mugs to choose from…
I’m going to be out of here early tomorrow morning, in that Uber heading to the airport (an hour from here), but I will probably post something from my hotel tomorrow evening.
Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Not me this morning… but it’s something to aim for.
A song I have LOVED since the very first moment I heard it on my AM radio.
I once again have this thing called a BRAIN. I can BREATHE. I can actually walk across the room without feeling like I’m going to faint!!
Yay!!
And it occurred to me, gang, this home improvement loan that I’m at least going to apply for — I guess I will add getting Central AC in with the things that should get done around here.
I really never wanted AC in this specific house because of all the great windows and the usually great cross-breezes. But when I first moved in, I did get all the duct work done so that Central AC can be easily installed. And after what I just went through this past week — at least having the option to turn on AC would probably be a really smart thing to do.
Me, being smart!!
Me, the rest of the time!!
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Yesterday was a really good day. Not only was it FILLED with rain and thunderstorms out here in the Hinterlands, I also had a really wonderful time with my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man.
We talked a lot about his past, his incredible father, his life in Hong Kong, in Tokyo, and the years he attended a small college in Kansas for his Ministerial Degree — we talk about this stuff all the time, because his long-term memory is fantastic. However, this time, through a sort of heroic mental effort, he said to me as I was getting ready to leave: “Without you, Marilyn, I would have no reason to remember what a wonderful life I’ve had. I appreciate you so much.”
It is kind of astounding that he was able to express himself in that specific way, since his short term memory is extremely faulty, to say the least, and using his brain in the “present” is very difficult for him. To be able to help someone give the gift of his whole life back to himself, is, well — I don’t know. It overwhelms me, but in a good way.
And this evening, I’m back with the former Minister and his wife, and I’m really looking froward to that. I had such an interesting time with them last week.
And, luckily, ALL my clients have Central AC, so I at least have a brain when I’m working…
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Okay, so I am officially getting myself into “going to NYC” mode around here. Even though I have 7 shifts between today and next Sunday, when I leave for the airport, I’m trying to focus more on that feeling of freedom I get when I am in NYC.
Add to that, the feeling that Sandra and I are finally going to get the version of “The Guide to Being Fabulous” that we had always envisioned — I would really much rather dwell on that than on all the shifts I have to work this week!!
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This was really, really worth listening to, gang. If you have 22 minutes, check it out. FYI — Warren G. Harding was another President from Ohio who was allegedly and/or officially murdered. [Direct link gives you more control over the ads!]
I saw this great photo last night. It’s from the show they did in Rochefort, France on Wednesday — Nick Cave and Colin Greenwood:
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And I think that’s it for right now! I want to actually try to do some yoga today, before heading out for my shift.
Tomorrow morning I have to leave the house around 6:30AM, so I won’t be posting to the blog.
Enjoy what’s left of your weekend, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting!!
I love you guys. See ya!!
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Okay. Bear with me!! I’m on an Annie Murray kick around here!!!
I love this song, gang. I’ve posted it here before, but I really just love it. It’s been filling my kitchen the last couple of mornings. And, truthfully, I would love to be able to sing a song like this for somebody, someday. We shall see… I’m not dead yet!
Anne Murray, “You Needed Me”, 1978, from her album Restoring The Past. Enjoy, gang.
“You Needed Me”
I cried a tear, you wiped it dry I was confused, you cleared my mind I sold my soul, you bought it back for me And held me up and gave me dignity Somehow you needed me
You gave me strength to stand alone again To face the world out on my own again You put me high upon a pedestal So high that I could almost see eternity You needed me, you needed me
And I can’t believe it’s you I can’t believe it’s true I needed you and you were there And I’ll never leave, why should I leave, I’d be a fool ‘Cause I finally found someone who really cares
You held my hand when it was cold When I was lost, you took me home You gave me hope when I was at the end And turned my lies back into truth again You even called me friend
You gave me strength to stand alone again To face the world out on my own again You put me high upon a pedestal So high that I could almost see eternity You needed me, you needed me You needed me, you needed me
Unfortunately, it is rainy and humid today in the Hinterlands, so dads around here are not going to get to do what they do best!! (i.e., work really hard out in the blistering hot sun all day, then cook over a blazing fire…)
Here is a photo of my dad that I really love. It hangs on the wall in my family room.
This was taken of him before he got sick, right after he moved into his new Senior Living apartment building, after my stepmom had passed away:
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And this has nothing to do with Father’s Day, but it will finally explain to you why printers were created!
Bobbie Jo and Calico just now
Today’s going to be a big day for them — I’m moving the kitten playpen thingie out of the bedroom. Mostly, I want them to get used to it not being in here anymore, even though they love climbing all over it. But it will be easier for the cat sitter to feed them and clean up after them, without the playpen getting in the way.
Meanwhile, all 4 of them have already started trying to get out of the room the minute the door is open. But as soon as they encounter one of my full-grown curious cats out in the hall, they come running back in.
But we’re getting there… They are 9 weeks old already. They need to explore. My main concern is still Little Blackie (the mom) getting out and attacking my other cats, so I’m taking everything a moment at a time.
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Well.
Yesterday was sort of a weird day for me. And it all stems from my novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder.
As I read over it, I’m astounded that it essentially needs no revising, and there have been an absolute minimum of typos. Clearly, I had already spent a ton of time editing it, 26 years ago.
And even though I certainly remember that I wrote this book, I have no recollection of actually sitting at my desk in our apartment at 777 West End Avenue–
Our apartment was the 5th building in on the left — the shorter building
— and literally writing it. Whereas, I have clear memories of every aspect of writing or editing all of my other novels and books (a total of 38, including stories I wrote specifically for other editors’ books).
So I find it really odd that I have no memories like that for The Curse of Our Profound Disorder. I can remember submitting it to the various writing competitions back then and how happy I was when it would win something (it actually won something in each competition I entered it in).
But, as I said in a recent blog post, it is a little unnerving to read over it and readily see who certain characters were based on, and which events were from my own life, and which from other girls I knew — often a very long time ago.
What made yesterday difficult was coming across a few passages where I was clearly contributing my own feelings, about something that had happened to me, to one of my characters. So it was like unexpectedly encountering myself in a novel that I don’t remember writing.
And yesterday was the 50th anniversary of me having seen the Rolling Stones in concert for the first time and, even though it was a HUGE event in my life, I found that I was unable to really even think about it yesterday — because a couple of weeks after the concert, I had my first suicide attempt and was then committed to the mental hospital.
And so all of the characters in my book, and all of my experiences of my early life, have been converging. Some of it is devastating.
Meanwhile, I’ve also been listening to Exile on Main St. — a lot. Which is kind of the soundtrack to all of this stuff, since it was my first Rolling Stones album and it absolutely blew me away. (The summer I turned 12.)
It’s hard to pick a favorite song from it now, there are so many I love, but I remember clearly that when I very first bought it and started listening to it on the record player up in my room, this was the song I loved the most. I played it over and over and over:
When I listen to it down in the kitchen now, while either making breakfast or dinner, I still remember every single word (to every song) — and it seems sort of amusing to me that I knew all these words when I was twelve (!!), for Christ’s sake. Although I really didn’t understand, yet, a lot of what they were singing about.
I sure do now.
And, obviously, I also have memories of my own life now. And now I know, from experiencing it, how (mostly) unhappy it was.
And then I wonder to myself what it would have felt like at the age of 12, if I knew I’d be listening to this same album alone in my kitchen when I was 65, still knowing every word…
Anyway, yesterday, a lot of this converged. And then add to it that I knew today was going to be Father’s Day.
And The Curse of Our Profound Disorder deals a lot with who I was and what life was like before I finally found my birth father (at age 28).
The novel is fictionalized — but not too much.
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It is fascinating to read it and I am determined to just not flinch and let it all see the light of day, finally.
And it helps SO MUCH, knowing that a publisher (a woman, no less) is out there, waiting to read it. Wanting to like it. And also wanting to see it reach the light of day.
It’s an incredible incentive. An incredible feeling. So I keep at it, from the moment I get home from my shifts in the late afternoons, up until the early evenings, when I sort of collapse and make dinner — and listen to the Rolling Stones and remember my whole effing LIFE…
Well, yesterday, after I closed down the laptop for the evening, feeling sort of jumbled up inside, a little raw, but also really glad that I was doing this, I quickly checked my phone before heading downstairs and there was an unexpected email from the publisher, simply saying that she is really looking forward to seeing the whole manuscript.
Which, of course, makes everything feel like it finally makes sense.
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In case people are wondering — I won’t go into it on the blog — but 2 weeks ago, I left the TV project behind. It had become just an enormous amount of nonstop typing, it wasn’t creative for me, and I had no life left and no time for the play or the novel, which both need my complete creative attention.
So I do feel right now that everything in my world is finally making sense.
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Okay!
I think that’s it for now!!
Even though Nick Cave is Australian and lives in England, so it isn’t officially Father’s Day over there, I was going to include a photo of him with his sons. but trying to find a photo that included all 4 of them just became sort of really sad.
So here’s this!! Nick Cave with his grandson, Roman!
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And of course, here’s this! Although there are quite a few more babies in the bunch now!
Keith’s family
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Okay!
Enjoy your Sunday — or Father’s Day — wherever you are in the world!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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I’ll skip the daily feature for today, but I leave you with this!!
James Tabor posted this video to his private group several days ago.
Joan Baez’s version of Steve Earle’s song, “Jerusalem.” Beautiful. Enjoy, gang.
“Jerusalem”
I woke up this mornin’ and none of the news was good And death machines were rumblin’ ‘cross the ground where Jesus stood And the man on my TV told me that it had always been that way And there was nothin’ anyone could do or say
And I almost listened to him Yeah, I almost lost my mind Then I regained my senses again And looked into my heart to find
That I believe that one fine day all the children of Abraham Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem
Well maybe I’m only dreamin’ and maybe I’m just a fool But I don’t remember learnin’ how to hate in Sunday school But somewhere along the way I strayed and I never looked back again But I still find some comfort now and then
Then the storm comes rumblin’ in And I can’t lay me down And the drums are drummin’ again And I can’t stand the sound
But I believe there’ll come a day when the lion and the lamb Will lie down in peace together in Jerusalem
And there’ll be no barricades then There’ll be no wire or walls And we can wash all this blood from our hands And all this hatred from our souls
And I believe that on that day all the children of Abraham Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem
Since everything is so intense right now — especially if you’re still following the Q-truthers— I’m going to make this quick today.
I’m very curious to see what will happen tomorrow. I’m on the side that still believes that most, if not all, of this is staged. But I’m still very interested to see what will happen tomorrow in DC.
Meanwhile, for me, tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of when I saw The Rolling Stones in concert for the very first time!! In Cleveland!! Yay!🥰
Stones in Cleveland 1975
Last night, Nick Cave and Colin Greenwood played the 3rd of their sold out shows in Zurich!! They will resume the tour in Germany next weekend.
From last night:
Interestingly enough, now the little girls next door are insistent on coming up to my room to play with the kittens! And their dad texted me last night saying the girls really want to see the kittens…
So we’ll see how that goes.
3 of the kittens, literally, just now!!
Other than that, I’m just sort of standing back and taking it all in.
Enjoy your Friday the 13th, wherever you are in the world.
I am completely, 100% undecided about going to the shooting range today. And being undecided is making me nutty.
I didn’t get enough work done on the play yesterday, because as soon as I got home from my shift, one of the little girls from next door was waiting on her bike at my kitchen porch to alert me that one of the neighborhood cats — a sweet cat who hangs out on my porch a lot with KonTiki — had been shot with a BB gun.
The cat is going to be okay and the neighbors are taking care of him. But, still. Really disturbing to hear.
Anyway, her dad wanted to know if he could borrow one of those outdoor cat houses they’d given me during the winter. So out to the barn I went to retrieve one.
And….
I mentioned to the dad something in passing about the kittens and the little girl got all excited and said, “I want to see the kittens!!”
Then, to her dad: “Dad, I want a kitten!!! I want a kitten!!!”
Exactly what my wee bonny ears wanted to hear, of course, but Dad was not going for it. “We have 2 cats and a dog already.”
HER: “But, Dad!! I want a kitten!!”
HIM: “I’ll think about it…”
[Dad-speak for ‘not in a million years’ but she hasn’t figured this out yet… she walked away appeased and hopeful! Thinking that he was going to think about it!!]
You’ll be impressed to know that I smiled knowingly but kept my wee bonny mouth shut…
Anyway. I digress!
I didn’t get enough work done on the play yesterday, and in order to get any work done on the novel today, I need to finish the work on the play and get it back over to Sandra first…
So. Do I want to shoot guns??
Or do I want to work on my novel??
Well, frankly, I’d rather work on my novel (since you can readily see that a writer’s lifestyle is very rewarding).
But then I worry that I should cancel my membership at the shooting range, because if I don’t go there at least once a week, I’m paying for nothing. It’s cheaper to pay as I go…
But then I worry that if I’m not a member, I won’t go at all.
Aaaarrrrgh.
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That endless thought-circle has been (most of) my morning since 5AM.
However, Sandra called at 7AM, with questions about the hotel and as of right now, it’s looking like we’ll both be staying HERE:
Millennium Hotel Broadway Times Square
And Wayne texted, saying that he’ll actually be around that whole week (he leaves for a vacation in Cambodia the following week). And he said to have my people call his people and we’ll do LUNCH!
So, a lot of the morning has been fun. It hasn’t been entirely about me being indecisive.
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Valerie in Brooklyn texted yesterday evening and said that her Naturopath began using a new frequency healing device on her various pain issues and she said it WORKED RIGHT AWAY. (Valerie has had severe arthritis issues for many years and goes to doctors for various treatments & pharmaceuticals all the time, which, for the most part, don’t work.)
So, in the event you suffer from something similar, I post the link for you HERE:
“SoftWave uses therapeutic energy waves to activate the body’s natural healing. Treatment is safe, doesn’t require surgery, drugs, or needles, and helps reduce pain, speed up recovery, and regenerate tissue. Easy to use, SoftWave is an effective and trusted treatment option that improves patient outcomes and boosts clinic productivity.”
I’m sure that by now you know, this happened yesterday:
I love a lot of the Beach Boys’ songs, but this one is, hands down, my favorite. I will never forget how it felt, as a little girl, to hear this song come on the car radio!! It always filled me with hope!!
“Wouldn’t it Be Nice” (1966):
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And this happened yesterday!!
In Zurich!! (It seems that the audiences in Zurich actually listen to concerts, rather than watch them through their phones… not a whole lot of photos on Instagram. Which is kind of a good thing!)
Nick Cave & Colin Greenwood last night, the second of three sold-out shows in Zurich:
You can sort of buy tickets to upcoming shows here — if you’re not particular about where you have to travel to go see it!! Most shows are sold out through September.
And I guess that’s it for now.
Here’s hoping I have a great day at my desk today!!
Enjoy your day, wherever you are in the world!!
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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When I was a singer-songwriter in NYC, the musicians in my backup band were guys. And my lead guitar player — a fantastic guy from Argentina — was also a huge Keith Richards fan.
One afternoon, he was at my apartment on W. 45th Street and he was looking through my extensive record collection.
He said, “Wow!” as he picked up my Muddy Waters’ Greatest Hits double-album and studied it eagerly. And then said, “I can’t believe your record collection! You aren’t like any other girl I’ve ever met. You listen to all these records that guys listen to!”
You, gentle reader, know who is to blame for this!!
Gifts Keith Richards gave me when I was a wee bonny girl!!
Wherein I regale you with “songs Keith loved, that he would talk about in an interview in some magazine, and then I’d go out and try to find the record and then buy it with my babysitting money, and then I’d listen to it alone in my intense little room, playing it on the portable record player that my dad bought me, and the song would change my life. “
Today’s selection!!
Muddy Waters! If you are a Keith Richards fan, I don’t need to say more!!
Muddy Waters, “Mannish Boy” (live) (originally released on Chess records in 1955). Enjoy, gang!
“Mannish Boy”
Ooooooh, yeah, ooh, yeah
Everythin’, everythin’, everythin’s gonna be alright this mornin’ Ooh yeah, whoaw Now when I was a young boy, at the age of five My mother said I was, gonna be the greatest man alive But now I’m a man, way past 21 Want you to believe me baby, I had lot’s of fun I’m a man I spell mmm, aaa child, nnn That represents man No B, O child, Y That mean mannish boy I’m a man I’m a full grown man I’m a man I’m a natural born lovers man I’m a man I’m a rollin’ stone I’m a man I’m a hoochie coochie man
Sittin’ on the outside, just me and my mate You know I’m made to move you honey, Come up two hours late Wasn’t that a man I spell mmm, aaa child, nnn That represents man No B, O child, Y That mean mannish boy I’m a man I’m a full grown man Man I’m a natural born lovers man Man I’m a rollin’ stone Man-child I’m a hoochie coochie man
The line I shoot will never miss When I make love to a woman, She can’t resist I think I go down, To old Kansas Stew I’m gonna bring back my second cousin, That little Johnny Cocheroo All you little girls, Sittin’out at that line I can make love to you woman, In five minutes time Ain’t that a man I spell mmm, aaa child, nnn That represents man No B, O child, Y That mean mannish boy Man I’m a full grown man Man I’m a natural born lovers man Man I’m a rollin’ stone I’m a man-child I’m a hoochie coochie man Well, well, well, well Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry Don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me child Don’t hurt me, don’t hurt, don’t hurt me child Well, well, well, well
Yeah
c – 1955 – Ellas Mcdaniel / Mckinley Morganfield / Melvin London
Even though it’s raining — and will rain most of the day — I have already had a morning full of absolute bliss.
I managed to get all the nematodes out yesterday when I got home from my shift — on all the flowers and flower beds and all the ground that runs along all 4 sides of the house, and especially under all the windows. So I’m not expecting any fleas this season!! Yay!
It’s not hard work at all, it’s just sort of laborious if you don’t have a garden hose and need to use a sprinkling can and have to keep going back inside to the kitchen… But it’s done!!!
So that got done, and all the flowers and plants are out on the porches — so that got done.
And I made that appointment at Honda to get that other stuff done on my car — I’m going on Tuesday, after I spend about an hour at the shooting range! Yay!
So everything is done, scheduled, arranged — and today starts my first of 3 days off in a row.
Hence, waking up in a really great mood this morning! Yay! Yay! Yay!
Today, I’ll be reading over some revisions of our play, “The Guide to being Fabulous” and then tomorrow, I’ll be working on them with Sandra over the phone, but most of today I will FINALLY get to clean my house!!!!
Yay!!!
I can’t tell you how happy I am to finally get this stuff done. It’s really only a little dusting and then a bunch of vacuuming, but I never feel really comfortable when my house isn’t completely clean. It’s mostly because I have a thousand and 5 cats and I never want my home to seem like I have a thousand and 5 cats…
But, to be fair, they do help out in whatever way they can:
In no way is this an accurate depiction of how they help out…
So — my blissful morning.
When I got out of bed at 5AM, it was raining. But it was a light rain. No wind whatsoever. No thunder or anything like that, which would trigger my PTSD. Just summer rain.
And when I stepped out onto my kitchen porch to feed KonTiki, it just felt so peaceful out there, that once all the other cats inside were fed, and breakfast dishes were washed and put away, I took my cup of coffee out onto the porch and sat with KonTiki and just watched it rain as the sun sort of “came up”.
It’s interesting how KonTiki really loves to stay on the kitchen porch now that all the flowers and plants are out there. She got up onto the chair next to mine and we both just sat there together like old times — and it felt like I was finally going to have a good summer again.
After 2 summers in a row that were sort of “from hell”, with last summer being particularly close to hell.
And just FYI — while not related, this is a really great movie!! Johnny Depp:
But we are moving on over here!! And not only that, I will be going to NYC twice this summer! To work on pre-production of an Off-Broadway show!!
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It has been a really, really, really long journey.
In fact, this is the third house I’ve lived in since Sandra and I began working on this play together. And during the first few years, I thought I was moving back to New York — to Rhinebeck , where Sandra lives– and resuming a relationship with a guy I’m still crazy about:
He’s the chef there at the back of the photo, and this is his restaurant on the lower level of his home in Rhinebeck:
If you are ever in Rhinebeck, NY, you MUST visit his restaurant– The Tasting Room:
It is small so you must have a reservation. But Chef Daniel is an incredible chef!! {Read about him here.}
Anyway. It seems we are destined to be eternally “friends” (40 years and counting, although those first few years were memorably wild…)
But, long story short, I did not end up moving to Rhinebeck!!
Okay!!
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Happy Heavenly Birthday to my best friend on Earth!!
Paul would have been 66 today. He’s been gone 26 years now.
Here is a selection of photos I took of him a long time ago, mostly in my apartment on E.12th Street, although the photo with the huge flowered sofabed is in the Camelot Building on W. 45th Street, when I was married to Chong Foun Kee.
You’ll note that even back then, there was no shortage of photos of Keith on my bedroom wall… (and Bowie, John Lennon, Jim Carroll, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, Franz Kafka, etc., etc.).
My bedroom, E.12th Street 1983
My bedroom, E.12th Street 1983
Same bedroom, but more like 1984 or 1985
Kitchen on E.12th Street, Thanksgiving 1987
Late 1981, W.45th Street apartment in the Camelot Building
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Well, I’ve managed to get 2 loads of laundry done while I typed this! And now I’m going to actually start cleaning!!
So here’s this and then I’m off!
From the desktop stash!!
And there are now 3 days until Nick Cave’s Solo Tour of Europe (with bass player) begins!! (There are 3 venues with tickets still available, but everything else for the rest of the tour is sold out.)
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And now I’m gonna scoot!!
Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world!!
Okay, well, no, that isn’t really my life pictured above.
At least, not these days. (But oddly enough, that does reflect summers throughout my childhood.)
Okay!!
Prior to my childhood…
73 years ago, on this very day!! At this very synagogue:
Tifereth Israel Synagogue, Columbus, Ohio
In the sanctuary
My adoptive parents were married! And even while they ended up really really REALLY not liking each other at all as the years went by…. (I can’t tell you how mildly I am stating that)…
On their wedding day, they were truly in love (and for several years afterward).
When I was growing up (while they were still married, that is), I loved when June 7th, their anniversary, rolled around because my mom would bring out their huge wedding album and I just loved looking at all the old photos from their wedding day. I especially loved my mom’s wedding gown.
June 7, 1952
Leaving for the Honeymoon, after the reception
Once my parents got divorced, the wedding album came into my possession (my mom wanted to throw it out but I rescued it from the trash) and I still have it. And I still love looking through it.
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Okay. Here’s this!!
This photo was taken on Thursday night, but I saw it yesterday (Friday) morning and I immediately sent it to Valerie in Brooklyn!!
This is one of Keith’s daughters that he had with his wife Patti. And during the time when Keith and Patti’s daughters were really young, Valerie was hired by the renowned interior designer (and wife of Ahmet Ertegun, founder of Atlantic Records), Mica Ertegun, to do a bunch of specialty painting and murals inside Keith and Patti’s (at the time) new home in Connecticut.
Everyone in the universe LOVES Valerie. I cannot emphasize this enough. She is the most likable person on planet Earth. Even her dealers — not to imply that she ever got anywhere near any sort of illicit substances that would require some sort of “dealer” — however, even her dealers love Valerie and can’t wait to just hang out with her.
And when they met her, Keith’s daughters were crazy about her, and called her Big Val, and invited her to have tea with them in their tree house. So she did!
Okay. That, alone, has always amused me because Valerie is 6 ft. 2 inches tall, and always weighs in the vicinity of 190 lbs. I cannot imagine a little kids’ treehouse supporting her weight long enough to “have tea”.
Anyway!! I totally digress!
I sent this photo to Valerie because I couldn’t believe how much Alexandra looks like Keith in this specific photo! (She usually looks more like Patti.) (This is a selfie she took on her way to an event, then posted to Instagram.) I just love it!!
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So, as luck would have it!!!
I discovered that “Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories”, that show I recently loved on Netflix, was a continuation of a show that ran for 3 seasons on Japanese television, before it was picked up and produced by Netflix Japan for 2 more seasons.
The original show is also carried on Netflix.
So now I get to keep watching the show!! I can’t tell you how happy this makes me. And the 3 previous seasons are just as good — and have the same characters — as the final 2 seasons that I fell in love with.
(Honoring the original show in Tokyo, back in 2015.) (2 minutes)
Wow.
I just looked at the time. And I seriously gotta scoot!! So, here’s this!!
Seriously, this is truly one of my “absolutely all-time favorite Nick Cave photos of all time”. I actually have TWO of these photos (of different sizes) stuck to different areas of my wall…
And FOUR more days until Nick Cave’s Solo Tour of Europe (with bass player) kicks off in Switzerland! (If you’re lucky, you might be able to buy tickets for the tour here.)
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And here’s this!
Part of my front porch with flowers yesterday — and KonTiki of the Great Outdoors!!
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And now I gotta fly!!
Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world!!
Gifts Keith Richards gave me when I was a wee bonny girl!!
Wherein I regale you with “songs Keith loved, that he would talk about in an interview in some magazine, and then I’d go out and try to find the record and then buy it with my babysitting money, and then I’d listen to it alone in my intense little room, playing it on the portable record player that my dad bought me, and the song would change my life. “
Today’s selection!!
I was a little older when I first heard Keith talking about this guy, but I really loved Jimmy Cliff’s music after that, as well as the film of the same name, “The Harder They Come”.
Jimmy Cliff, “The Harder They Come”, 1972. Enjoy, gang.
“The Harder They Come”
Well, they tell me of a pie up in the sky Waiting for me when I die But between the day you’re born and when you die They never seem to hear even your cry
So as sure as the sun will shine I’m gonna get my share now, what’s mine And then the harder they come The harder they fall, one and all Ooh, the harder they come The harder they fall, one and all
Well, the oppressors are trying to keep me down Trying to drive me underground And they think that they have got the battle won I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they’ve done
‘Cause, as sure as the sun will shine I’m gonna get my share now, what’s mine And then the harder they come The harder they fall, one and all Ooh, the harder they come Harder they fall, one and all
And I keep on fighting for the things I want Though I know that when you’re dead you can’t But I’d rather be a free man in my grave Than living as a puppet or a slave
So as sure as the sun will shine I’m gonna get my share now, what’s mine And then the harder they come The harder they fall, one and all Ooh, the harder they come Harder they fall, one and all Hey, the harder they come Harder they fall, one and all What I say now What I Say now
What I say now What I say, one time The harder they come, the harder they fall, one and all The harder they come, the harder they fall, one and all
It’s raining right now, otherwise I would go downstairs and grab a photo of what my porches look like now with the flowers on them!
I’m really happy, gang. But, wow, what a ton of work. I was so hot and sweaty and covered in potting soil. And really just exhausted by the time I was through. (About 5 hours.)
Mostly because it was really hot and humid out.
But I got everything done and put away about 3 seconds before it began to rain. So it worked out really great.
Another thing that worked out great (after it stopped raining) —
Yesterday evening was the start of what they call “Homecoming Weekend” here in the village. Where they close off most of 2nd Street and there are amusement rides and carnival food, live music, games.
2nd Street is one block over from me and the whole area gets filled with people and kids. So I was really happy that all my flowers were out, since it feels really festive around here and a lot of people walk by.
2nd Street
It’s called “Homecoming Weekend” because anyone who grew up around here and moved away, comes back to visit everyone.
And I was doubly happy about being ready for this because last year, right at Homecoming, that awful tornado hit and destroyed several businesses, dozens of homes, our Veterans Memorial Park, and it uprooted just a ton of beautiful trees.
This (below) had been one of the most beautiful homes in the village — it was the second oldest home, over 200 years old. It was huge, with a big double-veranda in front. And every Christmas, they had a big beautiful Christmas tree lit up right in the front window.
It was just heartbreaking to see, especially since it was the first house you’d come to when entering the village, so I had to drive past it twice a day. It’s completely demolished and gone now.
It feels good to be a part of moving on.
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Okay, here’s another thing I love about living out here.
The Honda dealership where I’ve, so far, bought or leased 4 Hondas in the last 8 years — they are really nice and really funny out there. Their Instagram page usually cracks me up. They post short videos that are just really, really sarcastic or just plain silly/stupid.
Anyway.
They are in the next county, where the police department has a volunteer Christian Ministry at the station. If you or someone in your family has been arrested or is the victim of something awful, there is always a minister on duty to counsel you or pray with you.
And by this morning, they already had $2350 in donations! Less than 12 hours later.
I just find that kind of stuff so cool.
Guys in the Hinterlands who work on cars
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And of course–
My favorite 94-year-old Japanese man was friends with Mr, Honda back in Tokyo. The real Mr. Honda. Why wouldn’t he be???
Sōichirō Honda
And Hondas are his favorite cars. (Mine, too (!!), but of course I never knew Mr. Honda!)
And once, several decades ago, when my client was a successful electronics engineering executive in Tokyo, he and Mr. Honda took a huge group of Boy Scouts on a campout at the base of Mt. Fuji. It was Japanese Boy Scouts/ US Boy Scouts, “the war is over let’s all be friends” kind of thing. There were about a hundred Boy Scouts in one giant tent!
Stock photo camping at the base of Mt. Fuiji
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Okay!
Meanwhile…
Sandra and I have only TWELVE PAGES of revisions to finalize before we head into pre-production in NYC!! This includes 3 musical numbers.
So, rather than needing to have the entire script revised by July 7th, we are doing it in segments, for each of the times we’ll be meeting up in NYC before the staged reading happens in mid-October.
Much more manageable!! Yay!! (And we’re almost done with those 12 pages, actually.)
And since I have 4 days off next week (I am trying hard to focus on getting writing done and cleaning the house, etc., rather than freaking out about the loss of $$$), this means she and I will have no problem being ready by July 7th.
Gifts Keith Richards gave me when I was a wee bonny girl!!
Wherein I regale you with “songs Keith loved, that he would talk about in an interview in some magazine, and then I’d go out and try to find the record and then buy it with my babysitting money, and then I’d listen to it alone in my intense little room, playing it on the portable record player that my dad bought me, and the song would change my life. “
Today’s selection!!
Gram Parsons. A dear friend and inspiration of Keith’s. (2 mins):
I knew of the Flying Burrito Brothers, but did not know anything about Gram Parsons util he died (1973) and Keith spoke about it.
This is a photo that is forever on my wall — Keith, Anita, Gram Parsons (and I think Gram’s girlfriend?) at Keith’s home, Villa Nellcote, in the South of France, during the making of the legendary Exile on Main St double-album. Photo by Dominique Tarle. 1971.
Below is a beautiful cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses”.
I finally got all the flowers, potting soil, etc., and today I’m going to be able to get all the flower boxes filled and out on the porches.
Sadly, due to Trump’s tariffs on petunias and impatiens, the price of flowers was really high this season. So I couldn’t buy as many as I usually do.
I am of course JUST KIDDING.
But I couldn’t buy as many as I usually do, only because I usually buy flowers over the Memorial Day holiday, when they are always on sale.
But this holiday season, as perhaps you recall, the Agency had me working like a crazy person. Plus, it was cold and rainy.
Anyway, better late than never and at least I have enough to put a few flowers on each porch. And the weather today is still beautiful, so I’m excited.
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On an interesting note–
I have a husband & wife client(s) that I usually see at least twice a week.
Over the past 2 days, for very different reasons, each of them has wound up in the hospital and both are heading to rehab for the rest of the month.
Yes. That means at least 7 shifts, gone. And right before I’m taking a week off to go to NYC.
But you know what??? I mean, I’m sorry that they are both having to go through rehab (again — 2nd time for each in the past 6 months), but I am so excited to finally have some unexpected free time to get the house clean and ready for summer, plant the flowers, work on the novel and the play. AND get back over to the shooting range. It’s been a month since I’ve been able to get back over there.
I am a little bit in shock to suddenly have all this time, but I am really, really happy. Everything will finally get done around here. And I can start keeping up with my neighbors!!
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Here something that’s disturbing…
It seems that THIS place–
— has switched who they buy their fortune cookies from!! They are now just the regular kind of fortunes you can get in any Asian restaurant across the country.
Gone are the uncanny fortunes at the end of a meal!! No irony whatsoever.
Gone are the reasons to save the little fortunes, take photos of them and post them to the blog!!
It’s a good thing that the staff their is really friendly and that the food there is great, otherwise there would be no point in going there anymore…
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Okay!!!
I really don’t have much else I can post about right now. There is some major stuff happening, but it’ll be awhile before I can blog about it.
Meanwhile, I want to get started on the flowers.
So here’s this!! From my personal desktop stash!!
And 6 more days before Switzerland!!! (Buy tickets here, if there are any left in the tour!!)
And now I gotta scoot!
Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world.
Gifts Keith Richards gave me when I was a wee bonny girl!!
Wherein I regale you with “songs Keith loved, that he would talk about in an interview in some magazine, and then I’d go out and try to find the record and then buy it with my babysitting money, and then I’d listen to it alone in my intense little room, playing it on the portable record player that my dad bought me, and the song would change my life. “
Today’s selection!!
Although Keith has had nothing too flattering to say about the times he worked with Chuck Berry in later years, Chuck Berry was still a huge influence on Keith’s sound when he was young.
And even though it doesn’t sound like Chuck Berry was a very nice person, I loved a lot of those early songs he wrote — especially this one!! — and I know them all by heart. And it was Keith Richards that first introduced me to his music.
Chuck Berry, “Maybelline”, 1955. Enjoy, gang.
“Maybellene”
Maybellene, why can’t you be true? Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true? You done started doin’ the things you used to do
As I was motorvatin’ over the hill I saw Maybellene in a Coupe de Ville A Cadillac a-rollin’ on the open road Nothin’ will outrun my V8 Ford The Cadillac doin’ about ninety-five She’s bumper to bumper, rollin’ side by side
Maybellene, why can’t you be true? Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true? You done started back doin’ the things you used to do
The Cadillac pulled up to a hundred and four The Ford got hot and wouldn’t do no more It then got cloudy and started to rain I tooted my horn for the passin’ lane The rainwater blowin’ all under my hood I know that I was doin’ my motor good
Maybellene, why can’t you be true? Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true? You done started back doin’ the things you used to do
[Solo guitar]
Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true? Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true? You done started back doin’ the things you used to do
The motor cooled down, the heat went down And that’s when I heard that highway sound The Cadillac a-sittin’ like a ton of lead A hundred and ten half a mile ahead The Cadillac lookin’ like it’s sittin’ still And I caught Mabellene at the top of the hill
Maybellene, why can’t you be true? Oh Maybellene, why can’t you be true? You done started back doin’ the things you used to do
Sorry I couldn’t post yesterday, gang, but life got seriously intense.
I will go into it another day, but meanwhile — life is back on track and I am in another incredibly happy mood!
The weather is glorious, for one thing — finally feels like summer!
And I cannot WAIT until I can tell you the details of all that is going on with pre-production for the staged reading of “The Guide to Being Fabulous” in NYC. As soon as I can, I will. But I am so excited!
And, meanwhile, I have a ton of stuff to take care of around the house before I leave for a week in NYC in early July — leaving a very good-natured cat sitter in charge of many kittens and thousands of cats.
But yesterday, my favorite 94-year-old Japanese man and I ran a couple of quick errands –including stopping off and buying most of my flowers to put out on my porches!!
I’m almost there, gang. My little happy paradise in the Hinterlands.
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Today, he and I are going out for sashimi and sake! (Or sushi and sake, if hell freezes over again…)
And here’s this!! We uncovered it the other day while looking through really old photos — his dad, doing a pilgrimage climb up Mt. Fuji in the early 1930s:
We also found a 71-year-old handwritten letter in MINT condition, which my client’s mother had written to him from Tokyo while he was in Divinity School in Kansas in 1954!!!
Entirely in Japanese. A very fragile letter, on that old-fashioned “Air Mail” stationary. Incredible! It was in such good condition.
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And here’s this!!!
Wendy and Kara and I had dinner here, in Granville, on Monday evening:
I got this on the internet– I don’t know the person in the photo
And I wore one of my new sundresses and it was a HUGE hit, gang. It really was:
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And here’s this!
Taken yesterday — Bobbie Jo, Bettie Jo, and Billie Jo.
Billie Jo, the grey one, is the one who is missing her 2 back feet. She’s still really tiny but she does great getting around — except that she can’t climb.
And here’s this!! (But don’t tell Little Blackie!!)–
I’ve finally chosen a local vet — only 15 minutes away, instead of 45. This is where Little Blackie will get spayed as soon as it’s safe for her to get it done (yes, you know you’re in the hills when you see a vet’s office that looks like this):
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And here’s THIS!!! Yay!!
It is finally available to view for free in the USA (click the LINK to watch it on YouTube):
Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds LIVE – Accor Arena, Paris – ARTE Concert (2 hrs 31 mins):
And only 7 more days before Nick Cave’s Solo Tour of Europe (with bass player) gets underway in Switzerland!!
Another fave “yesteryear” photo of Nick Cave from my desktop stash!!!
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And other than that — every spare moment I can find, I am going over my unpublished novel from 1998, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, in preparation for its possible home with a small press in Pennsylvania.
And just FYI:
Fall 2001: The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, Top 10 Winner (4th Place) New Century Writer Awards The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, Finalist, novel-in-progress, William Faulkner Writing Competition, New Orleans
October 1998: Honorable Mention in the 5th Annual Writer’s Network Screenplay & Fiction Competition: Curse of Our Profound Disorder, Chapter One
Okay!!
I gotta get ready to head to town.
Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!!
Gifts Keith Richards gave me when I was a wee bonny girl!!
Wherein I regale you with “songs Keith loved, that he would talk about in an interview in some magazine, and then I’d go out and try to find the record and then buy it with my babysitting money, and then I’d listen to it alone in my intense little room, playing it on the portable record player that my dad bought me, and the song would change my life. “
Today’s selection!!
(And FYI — Little Richard blew my wee bonny little mind!! I loved him!! And here’s a cool story — when I finally found my birth father, he told me a story about being 15 and how he and his older brother Earl, jumped a freight train in Greenfield, Ohio, and went to a small club by the railroad tracks in Cincinnati to see Little Richard. They had to sneak into the club because they were underage. And then they hopped a freight train back home, in the wee small hours, and never got caught. My dad said that Little Richard was incredible. The club was packed. And Little Richard was totally flying, totally fucked up, and at one point he even threw up on his piano keys but kept right on playing!!)
Okay!!
Little Richard, “Good Golly Miss Molly”, 1958. Enjoy, gang!!
“Good Golly Miss Molly”
Good Golly Miss Molly, sure like to ball. Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like to ball. When you’re rockin’ and a rollin’ can’t hear your momma call.
From the early early mornin’ till the early early night You can see Miss Molly rockin’ at the house of blue lights. Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like to ball. When you’re rockin’ and a rollin’ can’t hear your momma call.
Well, now momma, poppa told me: “Son, you better watch your step.” If I about Miss Molly, have to watch my dad myself.
Good golly, Miss Molly, so like to ball. When you’re rockin’ and a rollin’ can’t hear your momma call.
Good Golly Miss Molly, so like to ball. Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like to ball. When you’re rockin’ and a rollin’ can’t hear your momma call.
I am going to the corner, gonna buy a diamond ring. Would you pardon me a clip if it’s a ting a-ling a-ling Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball. When you’re rockin’ and a rollin’ can’t hear your momma call.
Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball. Good golly, Miss Molly, sure like a ball. When you’re rockin’ and a rollin’ can’t hear your momma call.
Marilyn's Room 