Tag Archives: playwright

Greater Days Are Indeed Coming!

November 28, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Happy Saturday, wherever you are in the world (except maybe for anyone in North Korea. Truly frightening.)

I want to thank everyone again for watching the staged reading of my play, Tell My Bones, on YouTube. Sometime this weekend, it will become password-protected, in accordance with Actors Equity regulations. However, if you ever want to watch it, email me and I can get you a password. (My contact info is upper left.)

However, I do have to say that 8 of you only had one job to do…. and you didn’t do it!! I am, of course, just kidding. The play has gotten 992 views — leaving me 8 views shy of 1000…. So get crackin’, folks! Watch the video while it’s still free!!

And I also want to thank all of you who are donating to Blue Print and Heritage Theater productions, to support the growth and development of Tell My Bones. I truly, truly appreciate that, everyone.

Okay. Well, I know this is hard to believe, but the last remaining blossoms of my petunias are now bloomed out. Can you believe that, gang? It is late November!

This afternoon, I will clean out the flower boxes and store them back in the barn until spring. And then also take out the snow shovel, to have it ready on the kitchen porch for the ton of snow that is allegedly heading our way on Monday.

Although, I seriously hate to have my snow shovel on view to the whole neighborhood, because then they will actually expect me to use it!! And as strict as my “no-raking” policy is with dead leaves, my “no-shoveling” policy with snow is even stricter.

Ah well. We shall see. Meanwhile, let’s cast our memories back to the height of summer:

This is only a tiny portion of the huge amount of petunias I had on my porches this year. And they were all so beautiful.

Well.

All sorts of really promising legal news yesterday, gang. Including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, and Michigan.

And here is a link to Sharyl Attkisson’s website, where she links an extensive number of hard-to-find news reports regarding v*t*r fr*ud, in case you are new to the truth of what’s happening here in the US.

But above and beyond all that, I found this really telling, gang. You should read it because it has already been pulled from the John Hopkins University newspaper and blocked by our kindly Big Brother, aka — tw* tt *r.

C*ns*rsh*p at its finest.

But it’s okay, gang, because the more people who witness blatant c* ns*rsh *p happening in the m*dia, the more people will understand that it is really happening.

So read the article. Think about why the media is so hellbent on forcing us to wear m* sks and to believe that the v*rus is deadly.

However, I draw your attention to these key paragraphs (and please feel free to take off your m* sk and pass the link along to everyone in the world…) :

The CDC (Center for Disease Control here in the US) data showed that the number of total deaths in the United States between mid-March and mid-September was 1.7 million, of which 200,000 are C* VID-related. Briand looked at the total deaths in each age group and cause of death, and used that information to evaluate the impact of the p* nd* m*c.

“Surprisingly, the deaths of older people stayed the same before and after C* VID,” the JHN article read. “Since C* VID mainly affects the elderly, experts expected an increase in the percentage of deaths in older age groups. However, this increase is not seen from the CDC data. In fact, the percentages of deaths among all age groups remain relatively the same.”

When it comes to causes of deaths, Briand found that the total decrease in deaths by other causes almost exactly equals the increase in deaths by C* VID. She said this is likely because that many deaths have been incorrectly labeled as C* VID deaths when they would have been attributed to heart diseases, respiratory diseases, influenza, and pneumonia.

“The reason we have a higher number of reported C* VID deaths among older individuals than younger individuals is simply because every day in the U.S. older individuals die in higher numbers than younger individuals,” Briand said, reported the JHN.

Briand concluded that she has found “no evidence that C* VID created any excess deaths,” meaning that the number of deaths this year isn’t particularly higher than that of a normal year.

This doesn’t mean that people didn’t get the virus (as you know, I certainly did). It means something totally different.

Okay!! That’s it for today. A few key videos are linked below that will likely cheer you, overall.

(If you’re an American, that is. If you’re living in Western Europe right now, I’m not exactly sure how you are faring in all of this virus propaganda. It is very hard to get the news on that, but there appear to be numerous violent protests against l*ck d* wns in Europe. Germany, Italy, and Spain, specifically. And I’m noticing that in UK newspapers, specifically, they are slanting the anti – l*ck d*wn protests as being “Far Right” and not simply human beings fighting for their rights to live, work, and breathe free.)

Okay. Thanks for visiting, gang. I love you guys. See ya!

Wow, What A Day Yesterday Was!

November 27, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Yesterday was the first day in quite a while when I could really just totally relax — no pressing writing deadlines, plus, being a holiday here in the US, it was a real slow news day — and so what did I do???

I mean, besides be up & awake and in the Bad Seed TeeVee chat room by 5am??!!

Yes!! I got out all my Christmas stuff from storage and put up the tree and decorated the house (and did 2 loads of laundry, and vacuumed and dusted). And by 4:30pm, my entire body was crying out for CBD oil!! So I complied.

It is awesome how that stuff works on pain. For me, anyway.

But here’s a shot of the tree. (I know, it looks exactly like last year’s but trust me, it is this year’s!) (And while I was decorating, I watched A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, and Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. So it was quite Christmasy around here yesterday.)

I want to point out that the reason all my curtains are a few inches too short for the windows is because the seven cats who live here constantly look out the windows, and the only way I can keep the bottom edges of the curtains from being shredded to death, is to keep them shorter than the window sill.

I have discovered over the years that, rather than try to do something insane like train feral cats, it is best to simply follow their lead and adjust accordingly.

And speaking of the cats… On Monday, when I went to the market in town to get the groceries, the store was 100% completely out of the canned cat food that I buy.

I buy very plain, low-salt, canned cat food for them, and they each get about 1/3 of a can every morning. This meager daily gesture is the highlight of their lives, usually.

But since I couldn’t get them their usual food, I was forced to get them 9 Lives and — oh my god, are they in heaven! I tried to get the plainest, lowest-salt flavors of 9 Lives, so it isn’t really that bad for them. But the joy in their little hearts is not to be believed! They are so cute.

I will consider doing it more often. But since I lost Daddycakes to kidney failure (and it was a truly horrible death for him), and my one remaining male cat is sensitive to too much salt, I have to be so careful. Feral cats are impossible to get to a vet. Not just the trapping part of it (they have to be trapped in humane cages in order to get them anywhere, and once in those traps, they will do their best to attack you), but vets usually will not treat ferals because they are wild animals. So I have to do everything I can conceivably do to keep them healthy.

Anyway. Simple pleasures are really the best. Just watching happy cats eat.

Okay! Today is the final day to watch the staged reading of my play, Tell My Bones, for free on YouTube. After today, it will be password protected, so if you still want to view it after today, email me and I will get you the password. (Click below and it will ask you to click another link that takes you to YouTube.)

So, back to yesterday — I don’t know why Nick Cave was talking about Ezra Pound’s Cantos in the chat yesterday (the chat stream was going by so fast that it was really hard to follow what everyone was chatting about), but it reminded me that I have Ezra Pound’s Selected Cantos, which I hadn’t read since the 1980s, when I lived in my hell-hole apartment on E. 12th Street in NYC.

In my collapsed state, after dragging everything out of storage and lugging things up and down the stairs, cleaning and then decorating the house, etc., I took the CBD oil mentioned above, flopped down on my bed and read Selected Cantos. I have always found them very challenging to read.

Below is the cover of the edition I bought back in 1983, at Coliseum Books in Midtown Manhattan. It was a Fifth Edition and the price sticker claims I paid $2.45 for it (brand new)!

It’s all coming back to me — why I used to buy so many darn books! Because independent bookstores used to be everywhere, and books used to be affordable!

Anyway, it was a lovely way to spend the rest of the evening. I really had such a great holiday yesterday, even though it was nothing at all like how Thanksgiving is usually celebrated.

All righty! So, yesterday, I experienced the first attempt at c*nsorsh*p of the blog. Please be aware that if you are offended by my politics, you do not need to read the blog, or read beyond the daily updates.

I know that a bunch of my usual readers have dropped off, however, hundreds of new readers, who do not subscribe to the blog and who aren’t even on WP, are reading the blog every day now. Mostly Americans, but from all over the world.

So I will continue to keep pointing people in the direction of actual news.

[So if you are signing off at this point, thanks for visiting, gang!! I hope you have a great Friday, wherever you are in the world! I love you guys. See ya.]

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

Even though we made incredibly great headway this week in beginning the legal process of halting the c**p d’et*t, it is awesome to me how many Americans are still in the dark about what is happening.

They have no clue how much extreme c*n c*rsh*p is going on — for instance, S*dn*y P*w*ll’s web site is now being blocked by tw* tt *r/ g**g l*. You can still access it through d*ck d*ck go, however.

Or how much fun they make of Tr**p, how much they mock him, without having a clue that their actual Constitutional rights are literally being pulled out from under them and that Tr**p and his legal team are the only ones fighting to save that. And not just for every American, but for people all over the world. Because the d* m*ni*n v*t ing software appears to have affected the outcome of elections all over the world.

If your politics lean far Left/Socialist/Anarchist, then this is good news for you. But you’re not likely to be reading my blog anyway. However, if you aren’t necessarily a Leftist, but wanted to vote for B* den and then found out that Tr**p had put d* m*ni*n v*ting machines in place to not only rob you of your vote for B* den but forced you, without your knowledge, to vote for Tr**P, you’d be beyond outraged. (As you should be.)

But this should not be about who you voted for or who you maybe have been brainwashed to despise; it should be about protecting the Constitution. And to see so many otherwise gifted and intelligent Americans having a good laugh while their Constitutional rights are being shredded right in front of their noses — it is appalling, gang.

So, anyway.

The news was light yesterday, since it was a national holiday here. But there are still a couple of things to draw your attention to.

Naturally, rioters in P*rt land continued to cause thousands and thousands of dollars worth of damage… you can d*ck d*ck go that if you have the stomach for anything more about the insanity in P*rt land.

Also.

While deaths in America are higher in 2020, there have been 100,000 more deaths this year that were not from C* VID. (And this doesn’t count the tens of thousands of deaths that were attributed to C* VID here in the US that were actually caused by something else.) L*ck d* wns not only didn’t help, they appear to have caused thousands of additional deaths that likely would not have happened had the l*ck d* wns not been going on.

And below, an in depth interview on X*2 R*p* rt about the US economy right now, compared to the world’s economy, and where it is headed, including the Tr**p /c*apit*list scenario, and a B* den/Ob* a m* Leftist/Socialist scenario. (And the latter scenario is apparently already well underway in most of Western Europe.)

And this is also of interest: Wh*le F**ds founder and CEO John M*ck*y argued that socialism is a failed system that “impoverishes everything.”

So that is it for today, gang!! I leave you with my breakfast-listening music from this morning!! Enjoy. Have a good day.

Uh-oh!! Follow the $$$!!

November 24, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis 6 Comments

First of all, I can’t thank you guys enough for your amazing response to the staged reading of my play, Tell My Bones. I honestly felt that Helen was watching it, too, from wherever she is now.

It really was a beautiful feeling — although, not a simple one. It was so hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that she died only a handful of hours before the show premiered. And after 8 years of hanging in there with me. I was really just in shock all day long on Sunday. It was a difficult day for me to process.

But the reading was quite a success.

I have been notified that you can still watch the reading until Friday, and then it will become private and password protected. So, if for any reason, you want to watch the show after Friday, you’ll need to get in touch with me and I will get you a password. (My email is at the top left of the blog, if you are on a computer. I don’t believe it shows up if you view the blog on a phone.)

Anyway, here is the link on YouTube. (It will ask you to click another link and watch it directly on YouTube.)

Okay.

Don’t forget that this Thursday — yes, Thanksgiving here in America — Nick Cave, Blixa Bargeld and Mick Harvey are doing a live chat on Bad Seed TeeVee, and deconstructing their album Murder Ballads (1996). It should be an amazing amount of fun and an eye-opening adventure for all. So, if you — as I do –live in the Eastern Time Zone, you will be super-duper thrilled to be up and awake and chatting on Bad Seed TeeVee at 5 o’clock in the morning!!!! On a national holiday!!

Yippee Ki Yi Yay!!!

All righty. I am almost done writing the new erotic short story for Volonte. It is called “Code,” and I should have it finished here in a matter of moments!! So I’m going to get focused on that.

But before I go…

Wow. First of all, we’re gonna have to re-name NYC and start calling it Airstrip One. It really is getting that bad. That city is in a world of its own now, and I think we can safely blame mainstream media for successfully brainwashing a whole big bunch of them.

It’s as if they really believe B* den won the election and is already the Pr*s*d*nt ial El*ct. That v*ter fr*ud didn’t play a massive role in the election. The Tr**p is merely a sore loser and that anyone who believes there was massive v*te fr*ud is one of the “Tr**p Crazies.” That C* VID is still out of control and something to be terrified of — or that m* sks work, or that l* ck d* wns work and that we need to obey these insane mandates to stay away from one another on Thanksgiving…

In fact, only yesterday, when other newspapers all over the country had screaming headlines re: D* m*inion v*ting machines, and thousands of citizens coming forward with signed affidavits about witnessing massive v* ter fr*ud in their counties, the NY Times headline (online) was: Electric Scooters are Legal in the City.

I kid you the fuck not.

If you have never read George Orwell’s 1984, you must read it now. You can get it free as a PDF online. If you have read it, but it was a long time ago, read it again.

And if it doesn’t wake you up and frighten the bejeezus out of you, well then, okay, that’s your business. But then don’t come running to me when all fucking hell breaks loose in this country, once Tr**p is declared the legal winner of the el*ction.

Here is just one of the early signs of violent Mob Rule vs. your Rights as a free American. (If this had happened to anyone on B* den’s team… well, hmmmm.)

Also, read this. (And also, well – consider the millions of dollars that B* den and his family are purported to have taken from the C*P over the last couple of decades…)

All I can say is: Read. Think. Observe. And then Believe in your inalienable right to be free. (To vote, to speak, to assemble, to defend yourself.)

All righty. I seriously gotta scoot and finish writing that new story.

Try to work your way through these videos, gang. Each one of them has eye-opening stuff to impart. Much to ponder out there.

Thanks for visiting, gang. I love you guys. See ya! And don’t forget….

Helen LaFrance 1919-2020 RIP

November 22, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis 4 Comments

It is with a really sad heart that I announce here that Helen died earlier today. She turned 101 years old back on November 2nd.

It made me so sad that she did not live long enough to see the staged reading of the play about her life and her art.

If you weren’t able to watch the premiere, you can still view it on YouTube for free for a very limited time. The link is in the post below.

I just love her use of color and perspective.

Thank You Cast & Crew!!!

November 21, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

FINALLY!! Thank God!!

October 28, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Wow, gang! Finally!

My erotic novellas, novels, and short stories WILL NOT have pictures of naked women or girls in their underwear on the covers!!

I have literally waited a lifetime for this.

Yesterday, the publisher emailed me a sample of the cover art for “Half-Moon Bride” and I am really, really happy with it. Not only is it pretty, but it actually has SOMETHING TO DO WITH THE STORY!!!

WHEN you read the story, you will see why this is totally a great cover.

Wow. I am just so happy.

Cover art for my new erotic short story, coming in November from Black Lotus Books

And the publisher also said that all of my titles with them are going to have similar covers, in order to get a sort of visual brand for me.

I am really just so happy about that. I can’t tell you how many book covers I’ve had over the years that I have absolutely hated…

I have had a total of four that I’ve actually liked. And that’s four out of many, many dozens of books published here, in Europe and in Japan over a 30-year period. So I really have waited a long. long time for this.

(Although, I have to say that I did always like this one!! The first time Neptune & Surf came out in French-translation in Paris. The cover photo references the middle novella in the book, titled The Mercy Cure.)

Neptune & Surf, Editions Blanche, Paris 2001

Other than that, yesterday was an intense day. That phone call I mentioned I had to make wound up being a sort of “phone call from Hell.” And I really, really try to be patient with people. I really do. I even try to suffer fools gladly, when time allows. But yesterday — well, I kept my opinion to myself, but inside I was Mount Vesuvius exploding. And it was sort of hard to recover a decent morning from that experience of bullish stupidity, but I eventually did and wound up having a totally decent day. And by evening, I was actually back to being in a really good mood and really excited about my upcoming stuff!! (The play, my new books, etc.)

And here is something else that made me so happy!

Three months ago, I ordered a strange little sextoy from an online company that I had seen on Instagram. I was intrigued enough by the post on Instagram, to look up their website on my computer and I saw this strange little — rather expensive — thing. And it was on sale. And it was one of those retail sites that had a “spin the wheel” dial, where if it was your first purchase with them, you spin the wheel to see what your added discount would be if you purchased something right at that moment.

Well, between it being on sale and the huge additional discount I got, I bought the little thing. And was very, very excited. I could not wait to receive it and see what the heck it really did.

And then a few days later, they emailed me to say that my package was on its way!!!!

From fucking Singapore!!

And I was, like — what??!! How did I manage to buy something from a sextoy company clear around the world?? When there are tons of really good ones right here in the United States of America?

So I looked them up on google and there were a lot of US customers claiming the site was a scam. Not a real site, etc. So I thought, oh crap. Not only was it money down the drain, but I was never going to get to try out my little toy and see if it actually did what it claimed it was going to do…

However!!

Yesterday, when I opened my little mailbox, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but a rather beat-up little package, sent from clear across the world, 3 months ago…

It had arrived!!! I was so excited!! It was not a scam!!

Right away, I plugged in its USB thingie and began to charge it. It’s red light was blinking merrily, so clearly it was actually going to work!!

However, it is a little bit “hi tech” and most of the instructions are in Chinese so I haven’t figured out yet how to use it. But I feel confident that I will!! Perhaps even later today!!!

But I was just so happy that it actually existed. And now it is mine!

Okay, well. On that happy note…

I’m gonna get the day started here. I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday, wherever you are in the world! Thanks for visiting, gang. I leave you with my post-apocalyptic-phone-call listening-music from yesterday. I hadn’t listened to this album — or song — in a bazillion years, gang. It really did end up calming me down considerably. So I leave you with it today. “Let It Be,” the titular song from The Beatles’ final album, Let It Be (1970) — quite a huge album from my wee bonny girlhood in Cleveland. (And “Mother Mary” is not Jesus’ mother, btw, but Paul McCartney’s mother, Mary, who died when he was a boy. And since I am not a believer in the divinity of Jesus’ mother, I was actually hoping Paul’s mother was visiting me while I was listening to the song… Perhaps she did. I’m not really sure about that. But something calmed me the fuck down.)

Anyway.

So listen, enjoy, calm down, be happy if at all possible. I love you guys. See ya.

“Let It Be”

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be

And when the broken-hearted people
Living in the world agree
There will be an answer
Let it be

For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer
Let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Yeah, there will be an answer
Let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be

And when the night is cloudy
There is still a light that shines on me
Shine until tomorrow
Let it be

I wake up to the sound of music
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom
Let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, yeah, let it be
There will be an answer
Let it be

Let it be, let it be, let it be, yeah, let it be
Whisper words of wisdom
Let it be

Welcome to Tuesday!

October 27, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

First of all, I just had to share this.

Kevin, the director of my play, Tell My Bones, sent this image out on Instagram yesterday — a wonderful painting by Helen LaFrance. I’m guessing this is about 30 years old.

I just love her use of color, light, and perspective.

If you click on it, you can get a better idea of her amazing details. And in case you didn’t know, Helen was taught how to paint when she was about 3 years old, by her mother who used berry juice and old-fashioned laundry bluing as paints, and twigs for paint brushes.

Beyond that, Helen was a self-taught artist, with next to no formal schooling. She never used “live” models — she always painted from memory. (She is still alive, but she is 100 years old, paralyzed from a stroke and in a wheel chair.)

Anyway, I just love that painting. And when I saw it yesterday, it reminded me of why I needed to write about her life. I just wanted everyone to see how wonderful her paintings are.

Plus, she didn’t get true acclaim as an artist until she was in her 80s, when Gus Van Sant Sr. saw her paintings, fell in love with them and became her manager.

Okay, well. I hope things are good wherever you are in the world. My world is just barely holding together but I am doing a really good job at staying positive and doing my best to make it through every single day. I know that the fallout from this virus is taking a really heavy toll on a lot of people all over the world, and I hope that a.) you’re not one of them; and b.) if you are, then you are finding ways to hold on until all of this passes.

One thing that actually really helps me disconnect from my urge to panic, is looking at photos of alpacas and baby goats on Instagram. Man, they are cute. Anything to distract me right now, you know? Anything.

But honestly, if I can get through a day feeling better than I did yesterday, not panicking, and knowing for sure the future holds some really great things, then I feel it was a good day.

Having the staged reading of my play coming up, and the new multi-year publishing deal are keeping me going. Not financially (yet), just in terms of my hope for the future.

I think that even little things like that can have a big impact on our frame of mind and our willingness to keep moving forward. So, if you are having any trouble today, just think of even a small reason to have hope for the future and just sort of dwell on it. And things will improve from that starting point, little by little. They really will.

I have nothing new to report here. I’ll say, though, that I met some older women recently who are just remarkable. And they are the kind of women that I always wished my adoptive mother would have been (meaning, a woman who actually wanted to be a mom). I used to make excuses for why my adoptive mother was so abusive — the primary one being that culturally, she was sort of forced to take on the role of motherhood. It was expected of her by her family and by society, even though she regretted adopting children. But now I think of it more along the lines that she should of had the courage to just give us back if she didn’t really want us, rather than abusing us for our whole lives…

Anyway. It is really nice to be around women who love their children and hearing about the harrowing things they went through with raising them, but that love mattered most. And so everyone eventually got through it as a family.

I always, always, always wished for that. But even to be around women like that at my age now, is a sort of emotional vindication for me.

It’s hard to explain. But it means a lot to me.

Okay, on that note, I have to go because I need to make an important and nerve-wracking phone call. Have a really good Tuesday, wherever you are in the world. Don’t try to make sense of things if they seem too horrible; just look at the good that is left and the good that is still coming. It costs nothing and it can actually help. I leave you with my listening music from last night. Yet another Monkees song, but this one is from The Birds, The Bees, and The Monkees, from 1968, “I’ll Be Back Upon My Feet.” It’s super upbeat. So listen and enjoy. And take care of yourselves. Thanks for visiting. I love you guys. See ya!

“I’ll Be Back Upon My Feet”

Girl, I know the grass is greener, just around the bend.
Got to say, “Goodbye!” but don’t you fear.
Though the road is dark and I might fail to find the end
I won’t disappear.

I’ll be back upon my feet.
I’ll be back upon my feet.
Chase the moon and sun to find my one and only you.
I’ll be back upon my feet.
I’ll be back upon my feet.
Looking high, I’m looking low.
When I find my boots I know I got to go.

Maybe I will be a star, or maybe just a clown.
Girl, I’ll never know until I try.
Maybe I will meet a girl who’ll try to keep me down.
But you don’t have to cry.

Wow, That Felt Good!!

October 26, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I am talking about the tech meeting on Zoom yesterday for the upcoming staged reading of my play, Tell My Bones.

I just kept in the background, off camera, and listened to everybody, since it wasn’t a meeting that needed me to be there, really. Except to answer one question about one of the songs in the opening scene. But it was so exciting for me to see these people who are putting on the reading of my play. And to hear about all the really complicated stuff they are coordinating.

Yesterday, I listed here on the blog all the various tech people involved, but I found out at the meeting that there are an additional four people: one in charge of marketing and social media, and 3 marketing assistants. And that the marketing has already gotten underway. (Wow!!)

So this means, 10 tech people and 11 actors to bring this staged reading to life. (And this is just a reading, not a performance!) That is just really thrilling to me.

There were a couple of things that I found interesting. The main one being that, once the play is written and a director and tech people get onboard, the play becomes theirs, really. Almost a living vehicle that has very little to do with the playwright (which is okay and how it should be, since live theater is a living thing).

Still, I have lived with this play, in its various stages of rewrites, for 8 years now. And suddenly it has taken on an identity that is entirely different — it is so full of life now. It is its own entity. It is really just thrilling to me. (And this isn’t even watching any of the actors yet — all the coordinating that’s happening now is just to get the play ready for the actors to give it even more life.)

The other thing that I found interesting was that, at first, I felt a little “less-than”, watching all these people in this meeting who hold important positions in theater and the execution of it, and they have these amazing higher educations (meaning, at the college level). And while I did go to college as a Theater Major, I didn’t last very long because I hated the college that my parents made me go to. Even though it had a respected Theater Department, I hated the school and I hated the city it was in. But my parents made me go there because they considered me mentally ill, and while I did live at the college, I wasn’t allowed to be too far away from a parent in case I lost my mind again.

(I wish I was being sarcastic and funny here, but I’m not.)

My parents didn’t actually care what I thought I wanted to do with my life because they expected me to meet a wealthy man before college was even over, get married and become a wife. So, watching these people yesterday on the Zoom meeting, it made me wonder what my career could have been like had I been allowed to go to any of the Theater Colleges I’d really wanted to attend, or to even have my parents’ emotional involvement with my life and my dreams.

I dropped out of college after 3 and 1/2 months, and went to California to live for a really short while. But my point is that, at first I felt inferior to the all the tech people with their great NY-theater college educations and their experiences. But then I realized that they were at the Zoom meeting because they’d decided to get involved with a show that I wrote. And I realized that that was really cool, regardless of my lack of education. (I did eventually get an Associate’s Degree in audio engineering in NYC, and then I went to Divinity School later in life and became a minister, so it’s not like I just wasted away or anything.)

And once I realized that I had written the play that gave these amazing people a project to undertake and to make their own, I remembered that when I came back from California, I was working at a factory but also working again as a model. And during one photo shoot, where I was feeling particularly unfulfilled — I was lamenting that I had hated college so much because I had really, really loved the theater. But I didn’t want to act. And I didn’t want to model, either. I hated modeling. It made me feel really stupid but it paid great. What I wanted was to be a playwright and supply people with words to say. To supply people with ideas.

(And it was right after that tedious photo shoot that the primary agent at my modeling agency told me that if I had trouble being treated like a piece of meat, I was in the wrong business…. That was my final modeling job, even though they called back and apologized for saying that to me.)

As a teenager, I had written one play — about gay ballet dancers in Russia in the early 1900s, of all things. But my primary form of writing back then was songwriting. So, really soon after leaving college, I was in NYC and was a singer-songwriter there for many years. But was also just hugely still in love with theater and many of my friends there were in the theater. (And my second husband, in fact, was a professional Shakespearean actor.)

But, anyway, yesterday, during that Zoom meeting, I recalled the one particular modeling job, where I was trying so hard to give the photographer what he wanted, but inside, I was dying a slow death because I felt so unfulfilled, and I really wished I could have stayed in college and become a playwright…

So yesterday afternoon was kind of an amazing feeling for me, gang. It really, really was. I am so grateful to these talented people who seem to really be in love with my play and with being involved in the staged reading of it.

By the way, I am going to try to have the event stream here on my blog, but you can now register to watch it at the main streaming site, FREE, by using this link:

tellmybones.eventbrite.com

Register at that link. The event is free!

If you aren’t able to watch it in that time zone (USA Eastern Standard Time), it will stream free for a few days on YouTube after the initial event. All righty. I think that is it for today, gang.

I hope you have a great Monday underway, wherever you are in the world. I leave you with something I saw on Instagram very early this morning, that helped me sort of bounce out of bed, which I really needed: Nina Simone, singing a medley from the Broadway Musical Hair, an absolute favorite play from my wee bonny girlhood — “Ain’t Got No/ I Got Life.” (I was listening to her live version, but the studio version is really good, too.) Listen and enjoy and bounce around your kitchen, if you so choose!! Okay, thanks for visiting, gang. I love you guys. See ya!

Finally, A Little Good News!

August 1, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Yesterday was sort of a good day, by the end of it.

The Ab Ab Pro phone call was frustrating, just because there is such an enormous amount of work to do. And both of us are more than a little frustrated with the entire world still moving at a snail’s pace because of COVID. And everything always needing more and more money to move to the next step. (I was not looking forward to telling Peitor the financial details of what the accountant had told me, but obviously, I had to.)

So far, in the 35+ years that Peitor and I have known each other, we don’t argue. Which doesn’t mean that most of the time we see eye to eye on things, because we absolutely do not. But we don’t argue about it.

But yesterday we were at this sort of point — after 2 hours of going over the financial figures for various parts of our production company — where we were talking to each other in this really measured, careful way — each word under a microscope — like we were in marriage counseling or something and trying not to explode at each other. It was sort of bizarre and definitely exhausting, emotionally. For both of us.

When we finally hung up, I really wasn’t able to get too much done on Thug Luckless: Welcome to P-Town, because I was so drained. I’m hoping, though, that today will be really creative for me regarding Thug.

But then, last evening, Kevin, the director of my play Tell My Bones, called with some incredible news regarding another potential zoom broadcast of a staged reading of the play — and this one is really, really exciting, gang.

I can’t go into the details on the blog yet, but, man — it was really great news. And I could start to feel again what life had felt like before the virus hit the world and brought every single one of my projects to a crashing halt.

So, that is making me happy. And I have two days ahead of me, free and clear, to work on Thug Luckless: Welcome to P-Town. So, I’m feeling like maybe I can take some time now, block out the stuff that sort of stresses me out, and just focus on the manuscript that’s in front of me and just feel really happy about it.

Plus, that little cat that I call Henrietta — actually I just call her “little sweetheart” — stopped by to visit us around 6am, so I hung out on my kitchen porch with her for a few minutes. She makes me so happy because, unlike any of my 7 feral cats, she lets me cuddle her!! She hasn’t come around in a couple weeks, so it was such a nice surprise to see her cute little face suddenly pop up at the kitchen window. (Now, if only a little alpaca would come visit!!)

Okay, well, I hope you have a similar day ahead of you — stress-free and really creative! And maybe even an unexpected visit on your kitchen porch from one of God’s delightful little creatures. I have nothing to leave you with today because last night and this morning, I was still listening to Israel Kamakawiwo’ole singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” endlessly on repeat (see yesterday’s post for that link). Well, actually I did also listen to Blixa Bargeld singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” (1995), because William at the a1000mistakes blog over in Australia sent me a link to it during the night. So I’ll leave you with that! Thanks for visiting, gang. I hope you have a great Saturday. I love you guys. See ya.

I knew this chick was a liar, but come on….

May 7, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Yes, I’m sorry!!

I said I would be back here to post again yesterday but I lied.

But I’m here now, so let’s just move on! All righty??!!

Well, the sad news first: Today is that dreaded day that comes once every 3 months, when I have to go down into my super scary, 119-year-old unfinished basement and change the filter in my furnace.

I can’t tell you how much I don’t look forward to doing that. Even though, once I’m down there, it’s never as bad in reality as it is in my imagination. It’s just that forcing myself to go down those stairs at all is the really hard part.

Well, okay. Just had to stop and have a phone chat with the director of Tell My Bones. I was going to post here today about how happy I am with how the plans for the Zoom staged reading of the play are progressing!! So I will just go ahead and say that right now:

I’m really happy with how the plans for the Zoom staged reading of the play are progressing!!

I really am, gang. I am getting so excited. Even though it’s not the whole play, and all the music is being taken out to simplify the reading, you will still be able to get a good feel for the overall play. Plus, I personally can’t wait to start hearing actual people reciting the dialogue, you know??

Between the four years it’s taken me to adapt this play from the film script version, and then the few years that I was focused just on the film script version — that’s a long time to have this story in my head and never hear a single other soul speaking a single one of these lines of dialogue. So I am getting really excited.

The other good news, of course, is that they finished putting the new roof on my barn yesterday. And I am so happy, gang!! Unfortunately, the back alley and one segment of Basin Street are now littered with the bodies of neighbors who died from heart attacks yesterday afternoon because they didn’t think I was ever gonna fix that roof, but oh well. That’s the trade-off, I guess.

Of course, I jest! No one died. But I did indeed notice people noticing it, that’s for sure. So it is a huge relief for me to finally have that barn looking more presentable. It still needs re-painting, but the worst part of it is now over.

And not only am I starting to make some interesting progress on the new novel, Thug Luckless: Welcome to P-Town, that is making me feel really happy, but I am also coming into a new relationship with Blessed By Light, which is now indeed going to be officially titled The Guitar Hero Goes Home. (So, as of today, I will no longer be calling that novel by its old title, okay? Hopefully, it will not be too confusing.)

It’s really interesting how, having the virus completely gone now, is making my brain work again.

Valerie in Brooklyn sent me a link during the night to an article in a NYC newspaper, where they interviewed people who had recovered from the virus to find out what the virus had felt like. It is the darnedest thing — how differently it affected different people. But there were two people interviewed who had the exact same experiences that I had: mainly, the weight of an anvil on the lungs, inability to breathe, overwhelming fatigue, and inability to think straight. (I also had the loss of the senses of taste & smell.)

Anyway. It just feels so great to be back to normal. And also to be able to work out again. Yoga especially feels so good now.

All right, well, the day before yesterday, Nick Cave sent out another Red Hand Files letter. It was one of the sadder ones, where he replies to people who are struggling with the deaths of their own children and he talks about how he and his wife continue to manage their grief over the death of one of their sons. You can read what he says at the link there. It’s enlightening.

Well, it’s another beautiful day here, but a little chilly. I did make a quick trip into town yesterday to buy more groceries and — YES — to buy yard waste bags in order to start raking up all those dead leaves outside my backdoor. Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll do it today or not, only because it’s cold out. Not because I’m (still !!!) being incredibly lazy.

I did notice, on the trip to town and back, that traffic is back to normal now around here. A lot of Ohio is coming out of lockdown, though not all of it. (And you still have to wear a mask pretty much anywhere you go.) But there was plenty of traffic. It’s no longer a ghost town anymore. And the gas prices are inching upwards. It felt good to see that. Although in the county where my dad lives, they are getting new confirmed cases of the virus every day. So the more populated urban areas of the State are still having issues. But it was good to see that for a lot of us, we are now entering that light at the end of the tunnel. For now.

Okay, I’m gonna close this because I want to get started on some writing and editing here today. I leave you with three options. My music-listening from last evening — an old song by Shaggy from 20 years ago (!!) that they play on TikTok constantly and the chorus always just cracks me up. Talk about infidelity, right? “It Wasn’t Me” (2000, from his album Hot Shot): “But she caught me on the counter (It wasn’t me)/ Saw me bangin’ on the sofa (It wasn’t me)/ I even had her in the shower (It wasn’t me)/ She even caught me on camera (It wasn’t me)…” 😂

And then this morning, my breakfast-listening music was from an upcoming new album by Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Christian McBride, and Brian Blade: Round Again. The song is “Right Back Round Again.”

And then this one will give you sort of an idea of what some of the music to Tell My Bones will eventually sound like!! This is a vintage recording from Smithsonian Folkways Records of Ella Jenkins and the Goodwill Spiritual Choir of the Monumental Baptist Church!

All righty. Thanks for visiting, gang. Have a great Thursday, wherever you are in the world. Enjoy that Super Flower Moon in Scorpio tonight!! Assuming you live with someone you don’t have to stay 6 feet away from, this is supposed to be a very, very sexy full moon, so enjoy those vibes! (Since I live alone and dearly love myself, perhaps tonight I will, I don’t know, take up smoking cigarettes again!! Yay!) (Remember that old joke about cigarettes and sex? HE: “Do you smoke after you do it? “ SHE: “I don’t know, I never looked.”)

Okay, on that happy note. I’m outta here. I love you guys. See ya!