Tag Archives: playwright

Another one of those days…

November 15, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

…Wherein, I could sure use a day off!

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

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

Meanwhile…

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Here’s this!

Just lovely, in my opinion!

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

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

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And here’s this!

One more photo from the other day in Argentina:

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And here’s this!

A Black Friday Sale is underway at Cave Things!

Including items like this!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And he told me to stay after class.

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

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

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

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

Again, I was just thrilled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And here he is from the school yearbook in 1973!

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

“To Marilyn, a spectacular human being. What more can I say? You are so blessed to have so much to offer other people. Stay in touch. Best and warmest thoughts to you. Mr. Macioci. 6-3-75”

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

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

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

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

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

Also —

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

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

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

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

“Changes”

Oh yeah
Mm

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

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

Oh yeah

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

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

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

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

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

c- 1971 David Bowie

What a splendid trip!

November 14, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I am going to try to catch up from what I didn’t have time to post over the past couple days, but I do have to head to town and see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man soon, so I don’t know if I can post everything today.

We shall see!!

Oh, I want to mention that his daughter from Houston is coming to visit for a few days, starting tomorrow, and he is very excited about that. So he should be in great spirits today.

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My trip to see my birth mom yesterday was fantastic, gang. And I also saw my younger brother for the first time in about 5 years (??). Something like that.

Somehow, during the last 40 years that I’ve known him, he became an old Cherokee guy– really weathered-looking; chiseled facial features, long-ish, graying hair. Tall, lean. He still drinks like a chimney and smokes like a fish…But, wow, he is really attractive.

It’s a good thing he’s my brother, otherwise, if I, like, met him in a bar or something. Well, let’s just say he is NOTHING but trouble. And with a capital ‘T’. But good-looking Trouble. And I have always been inordinately attracted to Cherokees.

Anyway!

My mom looked great. And, while, physically, she’s moving a little slower, her mind is still sharp. My Q-following girlfriend was with me and the 2 of them had met before, here at my house. They get along very well. So all of us had a really nice time.

My mom is generally very quiet and introverted, so I had not realized how much she missed me. That felt incredible, gang — to feel like I “mattered” to somebody again. Since my dad died, and the caregiving jobs started, I have felt so emotionally isolated.

I will go into more details about the trip tomorrow, but for now, I just feel so happy with how everything went.

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Okay. Here’s this–

Keith with John Lee Hooker:

And Keith in Copenhagen, in September 1970:

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And here’s this–

Mink (Willy) DeVille in NYC:

And one of my all-time favorite Mink DeVille Songs! “Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl,” 1977. What a great song!!!

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Johnny Smoke has been in Buenos Aires this week! Primarily for the launch of “Modi” down there. But also for this:

Judging from the tons of photos and videos on Instagram, the trip was a complete & total success!

Here are just a couple of photos:

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In Nick Cave news this week!!

There is a seating and venue update for the Australian “Wild God” Tour in January.

Find out more HERE.

And he sent out quite an incredible Red Hand File the other day, too. It brought back some terrific memories for me and my life as a young writer (13-14 years old), that I will post about tomorrow!!

Meanwhile, you can read what Nick Cave said HERE.

GEORG TRAKL AS AN ADOLESCENT (1887-1914)

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Also, there is a new film out that has made the rounds of the International Film Festivals, and I cannot wait to see it.

It is called “Peter Hujar’s Day“–

“Ben Whishaw Plays the Noted New York Photographer in Ira Sachs’ Magical 1974 Time Capsule of a Movie

It’s based on a transcript of Hujar’s description of what he did in one day, which in the film becomes anything but ordinary….”

Long-time readers of this lofty blog perhaps recall that back in NYC in the mid-80s during the AIDS crisis, I was a volunteer for Visiting Nurse Services of NY, and one of my patients was Peter Hujar — right up until he died.

What a nice man he was. And his photos were absolutely iconic. Stepping into his apartment the first time I met him, I was overwhelmed by just how many photos he’d taken that I not only recognized (they were displayed on his walls), but that were also sort of monumental to me, during my years of reading CREEM Magazine, as a young teenager in my little bedroom in Ohio.

In NYC, he lived only a couple of blocks from me (in the East Village), and when I met him that first day in his apartment, he said, “You live around here, don’t you? I recognize you from the neighborhood.”

I was really flattered by that, you know?

Anyway. I can’t wait to see this film. Rights to the film have now sold to multiple territories.

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Well, shoot. I really gotta go, gang.

I will be back with more details about LIFE tomorrow!!

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

From John Fogerty’s album, Centerfield. From 1985. Not only an iconic album, but it was extremely popular during that late Spring when I first met my younger brother. He was 19.

It was early morning, I was sound asleep in my sister’s bed, my brother came in, drunk, and suddenly blasted this song on his boombox.

I lurched awake from a sound sleep. My brother said, “You’re really pretty, you know that?”

Okay! For my not-so-little brother, Ronnie. I love you!!

“Rock & Roll Girls”. Enjoy, gang.

Day Off, Sort of!

November 10, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Sorry I’m late. Again.

Wow, am I exhausted, gang. Emotionally. I’m really having trouble snapping out of it. And not just because of Nancy’s death, but because everywhere I look right now, nothing makes sense. My brain can’t process anything.

I need a stay-cation so badly.

I am so tempted to call off sick for tomorrow– to give the Agency a big head start, trying to find someone who will cover a 10-hr shift….

But then I remember how much the client said they appreciated me last week and I feel like I can’t call in sick if I’m not truly sick… I’m just exhausted.

So anyway. On we go.

(Oh, looks like the Government is finally re-opening. The Senate just voted.)

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Since tomorrow is Tuesday (I can’t call it “Terrible Tuesday” anymore because it makes me feel guilty now, knowing how much my client wants me there). Anyway, I won’t be posting to the blog tomorrow–

So, an early Happy Veterans Day to one and all!

Long-time readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall, that my ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

And while I could conceivably be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, since my birth certificate says “Father Unknown,” I can’t prove that I am part of the May family bloodline. (And my birth father is dead now.)

But the Mays not only fought in the Revolutionary War, and knew Thomas Jefferson, they also played a big part in founding the State of Kentucky. And they also knew — and explored Kentucky with — Daniel Boone.

I’m only bringing this particular stuff up, because it came up last night while I was at my shift with the retired Minister. We were watching a few reruns of the old Daniel Boone TV show from the late 1960s. That show takes place around Maysville, which is a town in Kentucky, on the Ohio River, founded by my Uncle John (put a bunch of “great-greats” in front of that).

Well, I could go on and on about my ancestors in the State of Kentucky, but I won’t.

Just try to honor Veterans Day tomorrow, if you live here in the States.

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This morning, when I’d gone back to bed with my cup of coffee, and totally collapsed (after having had 7 hours of sleep last night), I was listening to this on my retro boombox:

And it brought back memories from over 20 years ago, when I lived on Spring Garden Street with Mikey Rivera, in Easton, Pennsylvania.

We had a little CD player in the bedroom, and I would often play Nat King Cole while making the bed in the morning, getting ready to start the day.

I was a full-time writer back then, and always under constant deadlines. I miss those days.

But anyway!

Here’s my beloved desk back then (yes, I had a fax machine!):

And here’s the house we rented our apartment in. (House on the right.) Our apartment was on the second floor, on the left:

It was only one house away from the Delaware River. We could easily see New Jersey from the kitchen window, and the foothills of the Pocono Mountains from the living room window.

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Okay.

Last night, I started watching Episode 2 of “My Life As A Rolling Stone“.

Episode 2 is the interview with Keith Richards. It is great! I liked it so much better than the interview with Mick, but mostly because Keith is so easy going and animated and emotional.

I stopped watching right before 1968, when things are going to start going really bad for Keith for quite a while. I will watch that part tonight. But I am really enjoying the series. And I am LOVING my family room again, gang.

just add about a dozen cats zooming around…

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Ross K. Nichols Sunday School class from this past Sunday.

Matthew’s Prophetic Rebirth (1 hr 25 mins):

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All right.

I have to finish up the laundry. Get a pot of soup started. Do yoga, wash my hair — and somehow fit in a phone call with Sandra.

So I gotta scoot.

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world.

I will be back here on Wednesday.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Breakfast-listening music!

Such a beautiful LIVE album.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – The Ship Song (Live At The Royal Albert Hall version) (1997). Enjoy, gang.

Not entirely faking it, but kind of

November 9, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Happy Sunday. Sorry I’m late.

I’m still trying to process my grief over Nancy’s death the other day, without really having much quiet time to do it in. So it is really kinda weighing on me around here this morning.

My cats don’t seem all that interested in hearing about it. And I can’t discuss a client’s death with my other clients.

I do get free, 24-hr phone counseling through the Agency, but you know, where would I start?

ME: “Everyone I interact with everyday is really, really old, cognitively impaired and getting ready to die or has just died, and I feel like, I don’t know, like something’s missing in my life… I got a new flat screen TV in my family room and it helped, but still…”

THE COUNSELOR: “Have you considered getting a pet — a cat, maybe — to interact with?”

Okay. Perhaps I underestimate the counselor, but you know. Where would I start? Honestly. It seems easier to not dwell on everything that’s weird in my life and just keep goig. Or “going,” as the case may be. (Although I have never actually “goig’d” so maybe it would help. I will look into it…)

I did get a chance to have a chat with Valerie in Brooklyn late yesterday afternoon and that helped a lot. But I really just wanted to call in sick today (I have the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat later today), but there’s something I do with them every other Sunday (which is today) that no other caregiver is trained in yet, so it just seems like it’s better for me to just go to town for my shift. I have tomorrow off.

All I have to do between now and leaving for town in 4 and a 1/2 hours, is do yoga and take a shower. I like to think I can manage that. I guess we shall see.

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But it was great chatting with Val yesterday. And she actually asked to read the manuscript for The Curse of Our Profound Disorder.

After I picked myself up off the floor and got back in my chair, I said:

ME: “You haven’t read one of my books in, like, 25 years — give or take 20 years.”

SHE: “Yeah, it might have been a decade or two ago.”

She has trouble focusing. But now she wants to work on focusing so, hey. I sent her the file!! I would just love it if she would actually read it and tell me her opinion of it. We’ll see.

Valerie, as a brunette, focusing… (she’s usually a seriously masculine Irish Catholic Blonde)

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Okay, here’s this.

From Phyllis Stein’s Instagram page!

Keith in Los Angeles, in 1972. Photo by Ken Regan:

And last night, in my new & improved family room — I started watching that documentary TV series on the Rolling Stones from a couple of years ago, “My Life As A Rolling Stone“.

Episode 1 interviewed Mick Jagger. It was interesting, but I felt like it glossed over a whole lot of stuff from the last 60 years. Still, I watched it and will continue. Although it only covers Mick, Keith, Ronnie, and the late Charlie Watts.

Plus, from the brief synopsis about the series:

“…how [they] grew from young blues-loving hopefuls to a globally recognized cultural brand.”

It actually says that. A globally recognized brand.

That’s sure what The Rolling Stones mean to me. For chrissakes.

ME (aged 12, alone in my room, listening to “Exile on Main St” for the first time): “Wow! If these guys stick with it, they could become a globally recognized brand!!!”

But anyway.

I’m trying to force myself to sit in the family room at night and watch TV. And stop being closed up in my room so fucking much. (Along the lines of how Val is trying to force herself to “focus” again.) So I will stick with it. I am of course eager to see Episode 2, which interviews Keith.

We’ll see if I have it in me to watch it tonight, after my shift. Or if I will be too entranced with the idea of closing myself up in my room, lighting some votives, getting in bed and wondering what the fuck has happened to my life…

Only part of what the fuck has happened to my life

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Okay, well, I think I’m gonna stop there for today and try to get my thoughts together here before heading off for the shift later. Hopefully, I’ll be in a better emotional place tomorrow.

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys, See ya!

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Sunday morning-listening music!

From when I went back to bed, with my cup of coffee. Meditated. Then watched it rain outside the window. It helped.

Enjoy, gang.

Not the best morning, but we’re still gonna try to turn it around

November 8, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Well, the visitation & funeral for my wonderful client who died early Thursday morning is being held next week, on a day & time when I have to work, so I won’t be able to attend.

And the family doesn’t want flowers, so I can’t do that, either.

However, I did get to read her obituary and wow, gang, does she sound like someone I would have absolutely adored knowing. The obituary even mentions what a great vocabulary & sense of humor she had!! And that is something I am always so attracted to in a human being.

I feel blessed that I got to at least know her in the final months of her life, even though she was already cognitively impaired and couldn’t speak much at all. But what a warm and wonderful person she was.

I will really miss her.

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It’s looking like “Modi: Three Days on the Wing of Madness” will not be shown in US theaters. At least I can’t find any upcoming listings for it.

It’s looking like it will be on Amazon Prime in the US, starting on December 12th (?). I am so unclear about this, though.

Dear Johnny Smoke,

If MODI is playing anywhere near me, I am willing to make one last trip to an actual movie theater, otherwise, I will just stream it on my new family-room TV. Could you please clarify.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

(And, yes, you can sort of see that the TV in my kitchen, there by the kitchen door, is actually bigger than the new TV in my family room, however, the kitchen table gets in the way if I put the smaller one in the kitchen…)

(And, yes, I was watching a re-run of “Black Books” when I took that photo yesterday. I love that fucking show!!)

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Well, I was totally appalled and — I don’t know — utterly beyond disappointed, to read the news very early this morning that the bookshop owners in Moscow are getting arrested for:

“…selling books containing ‘traces of propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations,’ Russian investigators said.”

Mike King went on to say, in his own words:

“It’s a ban on socially destructive homosexual / trannie filth.”

Wow.

He went on to say more things along these lines that were simply appalling to me. (He’s in favor of this ban.)

I’m not 100% certain, and even while I wasn’t planning to sell any of my books in Russia anytime soon, I’m kinda thinking I’m not reading Mike King’s news updates anymore.

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I wasn’t as “appalled or utterly beyond disappointed” by Nick Cave’s Red Hand File yesterday, but I was — I don’t know– a little repelled by it? Is that too strong a word?

You can read it here.

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I can go so far as to say I was “shell-shocked” by an article in The Guardian that my friend & colleague Roger Gaess sent me a link to yesterday.

‘Matt Smith is so hot it’s problematic’: inside the TV version of Nick Cave’s disturbing, sex-filled novel

The way that both Matt Smith and Nick Cave describe The Death of Bunny Munro, and in particular, the lead character, makes me feel like I read an entirely different novel.

But at least now I’m no longer upset that I won’t be able to see the series.

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On a happier note!

Wayne texted during the night that he’s making progress in The Curse of Our Profound Disorder. (He’s up to Part 3, so he’s almost done.)

In addition to also liking the character of Taylor Hanson Hewitt III, Wayne thinks the book is well written.

So far, so good.

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Here’s this!!

From Phyllis Stein’s Instagram page, a bonanza of David Jo photos!

David with Bebe Buell and Todd Rundgren — I think it was 1974

Is it my imagination, or were The Dolls always being photographed in front of Gem Spa in the 70s?

I stopped in at Gem Spa often when I lived in the East Village. It was on the corner of St. Mark’s Place and 2nd Avenue. It opened in 1921 and closed down 5 years ago.

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In other happy news–

My favorite 95-year-old Japanese man had a great day yesterday. He was alert. He had clarity. We had great conversations all day. And he remembered details from things he had done the last 2 days. This is huge, gang. It was so nice.

Today, we are going out for sashimi & sake. We’ll see how it goes. Each day is different, at this point. But the one thing that is always the same — we have a great time being together.

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More of the great conversation between Dom Crossan and James Tabor.

Crossan & Tabor–An Informal Conversation: Our Backgrounds, History, Scholarship, and Core Ideas (1 hr 47 mins):

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And I think that’s it for now.

I hope you have a great Saturday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this.

Just because sometimes I need to remember why it is that I’m still happy I came here (to Earth, that is). Enjoy, gang.

“Happy”

Well I never kept a dollar past sunset
It always burned a hole in my pants
Never made a school mama happy
Never blew a second chance, oh no

I need a love to keep me happy
I need a love to keep me happy
Baby, baby keep me happy
Baby, baby keep me happy

Always took candy from strangers
Didn’t wanna get me no trade
Never want to be like papa
Working for the boss ev’ry night and day

I need a love to keep me happy
I need a love, baby, won’t ya keep me happy
Baby, won’t ya keep me happy
Baby, please keep me

I need a love to keep me happy
I need a love to keep me happy
Baby, baby keep me happy
Baby

Never got a flash out of cocktails
When I got some flesh on the bone
Never got a lift out of Lear jets
When I can fly way back home

I need a love to keep me happy
I need a love to keep me happy
Baby, baby keep me happy
Baby, baby keep me happy
Baby

Happy, baby won’t you keep me
Happy, baby won’t you keep me
Happy, baby won’t you keep me
Happy, baby won’t you keep me
Happy, baby won’t you keep me
Happy, oh, keep on, baby, keep me
Happy, now baby won’t you squeeze me
Happy, oh, baby got to feel it
Happy, now, now, now, now, now keep me
Happy, my, my, my, keep me
Happy, keep on baby, keep me
Happy, keep on baby, got to
Happy, my, my, baby keep me happy

c- 1972 – Mick Jagger, Keith Richards

Yesterday Was Something Else, Gang

November 7, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

It was allegedly my day off.

Allegedly, I was going to drop the Honda off early at the dealership, then have the rest of the day to get ready to work with Sandra yesterday afternoon.

The Honda did get done — and it looks great and it’s ready for our little road trip to see my birth mom next week.

However — because they were short-staffed with drivers yesterday, it took THREE trips to the dealership, before it was all over. (30 miles, each way). A total of 7 hours when it was all said & done.

But the day started off like I was on some other planet.

I woke at my usual 4AM and I was in a very strange headspace. Even though, physically, I felt totally fine, I had the distinct impression that I was going to die. Meaning, right then; yesterday morning; before even getting out of bed.

I was even talking to God. You know: “Please. I know that most of my life is behind me, and I don’t have a lot left to stick around for these days, other than all the cats, but I am NOT ready to die yet. Please.” The feeling of imminent death was so profound.

The strange feeling lingered through breakfast, right up until I was getting ready to walk out the door and head to town — when the Agency called to tell me that my wonderful client, the one who lives in that really enormous, love-filled split-level home in the hills behind the Bryn Du mansion…

She died. Early yesterday morning.

While it was not totally unexpected, I was sad to hear it, but at least it explained the feelings and, after that , the feeling of imminent death went away.

But it is so intense — how connected I am to my clients.

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Well, during the interim when I was not at the Honda dealership, I decided to just quickly vacuum the kitchen floor… (which turned into vacuuming the family room, the dining room, the stairs, the upstairs hallway, the upstairs bathroom, my bedroom, the guestroom….)

And then I also did a couple of “quick” loads of laundry (blankets and throws that were covered in cat hair).

And then I decided to “just quickly” switch out the old TV for the new flat-screen one in the family room…

I got it done, but it took forever. And it turned out the new HD TV wouldn’t recognize the VCR at all, so I wound up keeping the 25-year-old TV set, but moving it up to the guest room.

WOW, that fucker was heavy. And I know one thing for certain — that old TV is never coming back down those stairs, unless someone else moves it.

But the old TV looks rather cool up in the guestroom, because the guestroom has really old furniture in it (mid-century wedding furniture that I inherited from relatives 20 years ago). Now the guest room looks sort of like a hotel room circa 1992 or something.

I have decidedly fond memories of hotel rooms from that era!! So I am looking forward to hanging out in my guestroom and watching old movies on the old TV set and getting lost in some sort of distant halcyon swoon. (And if you’re among the many who spent time in hotel rooms with me back then, please feel free to come visit!!)

Anyway. It was a ton of physical work, dealing with those TVs and moving stuff around. And cleaning the house and doing laundry. I was exhausted by the time Honda called and said that my car was ready (sort of, as it turned out)…

And in the super brief interim of getting my car back and then taking the car BACK to Honda, because the maintenance light came on, saying the front tire pressure was low (again) — I decided to make a “really quick” dash into the grocery store…

By this time, I had already texted Sandra and we agreed that the phone conversation was not going to happen until Monday. So I have an additional 3 and a 1/2 days to get my creative brain in gear and pull those notes together for our new project.

***********

By the time the day was over and the evening was approaching, I was so fucking exhausted, gang. But I was in a sort of beautiful headspace, thinking about my now-deceased client, her incredibly loving family, that love-filled home. I truly felt honored to have spent time with them at all.

Oh, and when I was with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man on Wednesday, my supervisor once again stopped in unannounced. This time, to give me a pin — and chocolates! — for having done over 1000 hours of caregiving service. (And although it probably feels like it to you, the entire 1000 hours was not spent with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man…)

And I’m heading back out there today, but it is very cold and rainy, with those super high winds that I just adore, so we won’t be going out for sashimi and sake until tomorrow…

**********

Meanwhile.

I did not take advantage of having my new TV in the family room last night, because I was just too worn out.

Instead, I went upstairs shortly after dinner, lit some votives, got in bed and resumed listening to an audio version of St. Augustine’s On the City of God —

And I thought about my beautiful client, the wonderful life she had, and how strange it had felt that morning when I was certain that I was dying…

And I slept for seven solid hours. And I’m still really tired, but every time I walk past my guestroom now, I get a little thrill just thinking about how fun it’s going to be to hang out in there and watch old movies!! You know, when I have some free time…

**********

Okay.

While there was some cool footage of Keith playing at a benefit last night for FTD awareness (Frontotemporal Degeneration Dementia), I couldn’t find any photos. Just videos.

So I have nothing to share from Instagram today!!

But here’s this! My all-time favorite photo of Keith. So “all-time-favorite-y”, that I have it on my wall twice! (2 different sizes.)

Keith in Los Angeles, in 1969:

I don’t know if this is my “all-time favorite” photo of Nick Cave, but I also have this photo on my wall twice!! (2 different sizes.)

And that’s it, gang.

I’m gonna head down to the kitchen now and just try to get some energy before heading to town, hoping like heck that my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man is still, you know, with us.

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

In honor of the many hotel rooms I have known–

I woke up singing THIS this morning.

I absolutely LOVED this song when I was 14. And this exact version, too — by Shirley Bassey! (I know. I have always had eclectic tastes in music.)

And now that I listen to this song as an oldster — I haven’t been 14 in over 50 years — I am a little blown away by that girl I used to be. (Which is why it gets so hard for me to write that darned memoir of my life in the 1970s!)

Anyway, enjoy, gang!! In spite of all things, I sure did.

Shirley Bassey, 1970, “Yesterday When I Was Young”.

“Yesterday When I Was Young”

Yesterday, when I was young
The taste of life was sweet as rain upon my tongue
I teased at life as if it were a foolish game
The way the evening breeze may tease a candle flame

The thousand dreams I dreamed
The splendid things I planned
I always built, alas, on weak and shifting sand
I lived by night and shunned the naked light of day
And only now I see how the years ran away

Yesterday, when I was young
So many lovely songs were waiting to be sung
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see

I ran so fast that time and youth at last ran out
I never stopped to think what life was all about
And every conversation I can now recall
Concerned itself with me, and nothing else at all

Yesterday, the moon was blue
And every crazy day brought something new to do
I used my magic age as if it were a wand
And never saw the waste and emptiness beyond

The game of love I played with arrogance and pride
And every flame I lit too quickly, quickly died
The friends I made all seemed somehow to drift away
And only I am left on stage to end the play

There are so many songs in me that won’t be sung
I feel the bitter taste of tears upon my tongue
The time has come for me to pay for yesterday
… when I was young

Yesterday, when I was young
So many lovely songs were waiting to be sung
So many wayward pleasures lay in store for me
And so much pain my dazzled eyes refused to see…

c – 1964 Charles Aznavour, Georges Garvarentz

Fake Everything, Today!

November 5, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Yes!! I am going to pretend to feel as happy as my coffee shop alter ego above and hope that today actually turns out a whole lot better than I feel about it right now…

We shall see.

I have decided — after about 4 hours of thinking about it — to not really say anything about yesterday’s psyop election results. (Although here in the Hinterlands, things went splendidly.)

I have decided to focus on what our Founding Fathers (and my ancestors) fought so hard for, and I know the White Hats are moving that forward. So even though I don’t have a FUCKING CLUE when all this fucking stuff is going to fucking stop being a psyop —

Anyway. Here’s this to focus on instead:

From DJT late last night:

“…AND SO IT BEGINS!”

And from Sara Hopps early this morning:

And on we go.

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

Okay.

Before I go into any details about why I am so exhausted, I first want to mention that my post will probably be late tomorrow, because I have to take the Honda in early and drop it off at the dealership for an oil change, tire rotation, etc., to get it ready for our little road trip to see my birth mom next week.

***********

And here’s this.

Raul Malo, incredible singer, songwriter, musician of the Mavericks, has been fighting cancer for over a year now, and he now has LMD, and a Go Fund Me account has been set up by his wife if you want to donate.

Visit HERE.

They have already raised $226,425 of their $230K goal!!

“As Raul undergoes radiation and prepares for the next stage of treatment, our goal is to make sure he has access to the newest and most effective options available. With medical bills quickly surmounting, every donation will go directly toward covering his healthcare costs and any new treatments that arise.

Your kindness will help Raul, Betty, and the boys get through this moment of crisis. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for standing with our family.”

***********

One of my favorite vocals by Raul, on the Mavericks’ version of Springsteen’s “All that Heaven Will Allow”, 1993, from their great album, What A Crying Shame.

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

And here’s this!

Although I haven’t been able to find out which theaters will be showing it here in the US (or if it will be streaming), last night, “Modi: Three Days On The Wing Of Madness” had its US premiere at the Writers Guild Theater in Los Angeles! The full cast was there, but here’s Johnny:

**********

And here’s this!!

I don’t know exactly where or when, but I love this photo!!

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Well, okay.

I’m a little pressed for time here. I have to head out to see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man soon, and, gang, I have no clue what I will find when I get there these days, so I’m a little stressed about that.

And yesterday — my Terrible Tuesday 10-hour shift actually went very well, but it was a busy shift for me, I didn’t stop the whole time I was there.

HOWEVER, when it was getting time for me to go home, I was told in great detail about what a great caregiver I was and how much I was appreciated and could I possibly fit more hours with them into my schedule each week?

This kind of stuff breaks my heart. It matters a lot to me that I am so appreciated. It really does. And it makes me so happy to see how much progress is being made by this particular client. But as you know, it wears me out. And I hate it when I have to say no.

Oh, and the training for caring for veterans with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury, on Monday, was INTENSE, gang. Jesus. It wore me the fuck out. But what a great class it was. I learned SO MUCH. I’m glad I attended.

*********

Okay!

Well, as predicted, my phone chat with Sandra on Monday morning yielded a TON of work (for both of us).

A TON!! I mean that. Really. A TON!!

I have so much to at least get notes down on paper for by tomorrow afternoon — not sure how I think I’m going to do this, but I will do my very best.

And as soon as I can tell you more details here on the blog, I will. But I can at least tell you that I’m very excited, and it is going to take a zillion-trillion percent of my concentration to make this thing happen.

But as God is my witness (watch this, it’s so cool. About 1 minute)–

I am going to do it.

***********

Oh! And my new TV is here. And my new Fire Stick is also here. The only thing I can’t decide on now is: should I keep the old TV in case the videos look awful on the HD flat screen???

If I do keep it, where should I put the darn thing? Perhaps in the guest room??

I just don’t know. That old TV is huge. And the VCR is kinda huge, too. I guess we’ll just have to find out.

*********

Here’s this:

A segment from James Tabor’s private zoom meeting with his Patreon Group on Saturday:

Did Jesus Expect to Regather the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel? (25 mins):

And Ross K. Nichols’ Sunday School class from this past Sunday–

Sunday School: The Predicted Prophet (1 hr):

**********

And I’m thinking that’s it for now, gang.

I really gotta scoot.

Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

********

I leave you with this!!

Driving-around-town music from the last couple of days!!

This song really helps me calm the fuck down!

Also from that incredible album by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, The Boatman’s Call, 1997– “Brompton Oratory.” Enjoy, gang!!

“Brompton Oratory”

Up those stone steps I climb
Hail this joyful day’s return
Into its great shadowed vault I go
Hail the Pentecostal morn

The reading is from Luke 24
Where Christ returns to his loved ones
I look at the stone apostles
Think that it’s alright for some

And I wish that I was made of stone
So that I would not have to see
A beauty impossible to define
A beauty impossible to believe

A beauty impossible to endure
The blood imparted in little sips
The smell of you still on my hands
As I bring the cup up to my lips

No God up in the sky
No devil beneath the sea
Could do the job that you did
Of bringing me to my knees

Outside I sit on the stone steps
With nothing much to do
Forlorn and exhausted, baby
By the absence of you

c – 1997 Nick Cave

Quick Monday Catch-Up!

November 3, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

No, not this…

It’s just that I have to keep my eye on the clock here this morning. I want to get the laundry done before Sandra calls at 11AM to go over what we need to work on for the next several weeks. (On my “days off”.) (See yesterday’s post.)

But that reminds me! My favorite Q-following friend and I will, indeed, be taking a road trip to go have lunch with my birth mom! On my day off, a week from Thursday. (Also see yesterday’s post.)

We’re going to THIS charming town — wherein I was conceived in October of 1959:

I wasn’t conceived here in this intersection downtown, though. I was conceived out in a field on a farm, at the outskirts of town. (When my mom was 12 and my dad was 14.) (I know. That explains a lot…)

(Again, we quickly re-visit me at age 13…)

My birth mom has only been back in Greenfield for a few years, though. For most of the time I’ve known her, she lived on a farm in Jackson, Ohio. But she now lives in one of those apartment complexes for seniors on fixed incomes.

I’m eager to see Greenfield again, though. I haven’t seen it in about 40 years. My (biological) grandmother, and my Aunt Dot and Uncle Jim used to live there, and I visited them there until they died.

I always had such a peaceful feeling in Greenfield. I found it sort of fascinating that it was the town where my spirit or soul, or whatever you call it, came into Being.

Anyway!

Then this afternoon, I have to head back to Granville, to a training session at the Agency.

And in order to make tomorrow not a complete day from Hell (tomorrow is the 10-hour-shift Tuesday), I decided to run all my errands after the training today, since I’ll already be there in town.

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

Okay!

So here’s this. Not my favorite image from the event, but everything else I saw that I liked more, were videos.

From a few days ago, at the premier of the upcoming TV adaptation of Nick Cave’s fantastic novel, The Death of Bunny Munro — Nick Cave, and I’m not positive, but I think it’s the star of the series, Matt Smith:

(And I have decided to go ahead and move to London next month, because it’ll be a lot easier to be able to watch this TV series over there, since I don’t get SkyTV over here. And then, while I’m there, I’ll go ahead and order the “Up Jumped The Devil” milk jug, finally, because I won’t have to pay all that extra money in US shipping charges!! I just think this makes a lot more sense!)

(No! I’m not delusional or on drugs!! I’m just really mindful about how I spend my money…)

(I’ll probably be living here — meaning, in the phone booth — so please feel free to come visit!!)

(And, yes, I’ll probably bring along my brand new retro boombox and play THIS, nonstop!)

(Sorry to be so “punny”! But if you do come visit, please bring batteries!! For the boombox…) (Hopefully, I can watch SkyTV on my phone. We’ll find out…)

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

And speaking of TV!!

I’m super excited about picking up my new flat screen TV in town today. It will be so much nicer to have a TV in the family room that gets Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc., so that I don’t have to always watch TV in the kitchen.

I love my family room, and the old TV in there is only good for watching DVDs or videos. So this will be almost like having a whole new room to actually spend time in. (I am, of course, referring to when I move back here from the phone booth in London.)

My house is really old (124 years), and it’s decorated to suit an old house. And since it’s only me living here (and 723 cats), and almost nobody ever comes to visit me in the Hinterlands, I don’t use any rooms except the kitchen and my bedroom. And so the house kind of feels like a museum. It really does. Honestly. So I’m looking forward to a chance to spend more time in another room!! Yay!

A view of part of my family room, from last Christmas:

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Well, I think that’s enough for today!! I gotta get my notes together, etc. for my phone call with Sandra. And finish the laundry.

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world! (I will not be posting tomorrow, since it is Terrible Tuesday with the Ten-Hour Shift!!)

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

**********

I leave you with this!!

This CD is currently on the retro boombox in my bedroom! The first album from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers! (Titled, simply, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.)

I absolutely love this song. It totally takes me back to my wee bonny teenaged-girlhood and what life was really like back then.

“The Wild One, Forever”, 1976. Enjoy, gang.

“The Wild One, Forever”

Well, the moon sank as the wind blew
And the street lights slowly died
Yeah they call you the wild one
Said stay away from her
Said she couldn’t love no one if she tried

But then something I saw in your eyes
Told me right away
That you were gonna have to be mine
One of the strangest feelings came over me down inside
No matter what it takes
I’ll never get over how good it felt
When you finally held me
I will never regret, baby
Those few hours linger on in my head forever

Well it’s too bad but I want you
To know I understand
Yeah it’s been a long time
But I don’t mind, yeah it’s all right
I understand

Because something I saw in your eyes
Told me right away
That you were gonna have to be mine
And the strangest feeling came over me down inside
I knew right away
I’d never get over how good it felt
When you finally kissed me
I will never regret, baby
Baby, those few hours linger on in my head forever
And ever

c- 1976 Tom Petty

Best Day of the Year!

November 2, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I spent that extra hour this morning, hanging out in bed, thinking about the dreams I’d had during the night. They were actually kind of incredible.

They were so visual and symbolic, that I can’t even really describe them. But my favorite one involved a 2-level home security system made from really delicate green plants and at the same time, it had to do with a new reality blossoming in my life — in the form of lilies of the valley. And one line from the Nick Cave song, “Lime Tree Arbour,” kept repeating in the dream:

“There is a hand that protects me/ and I do love her so”

And even after all that — I still got out of bed at 4AM !! (standard time). So I’m happy!

Plus!

My car insurance is up for renewal later this month, and I was thinking about “shopping around” for a better deal, but then just felt like I didn’t want to be bothered… and then my insurance company emailed me yesterday to say that my car insurance has been DECREASED starting this month!!

So I’m happy!

And JUST NOW —

I got an early Black Friday deal from Best Buy in my email, and I just now bought a new flat screen Fire TV (to replace my 25-year-old TV in the family room) for $58!!!! It’s ready for pick up today!!

So I’m happy!

***********

And here’s this!

What’s not to love about this??

From Jo Wood, on Instagram, from her book, STONED: Photographs and Treasures from Life with the Rolling Stones (2019)– Keith and Ronnie. I don’t know the date, but not only do they still have black hair, they still have hair! Yay!

***********

And here’s this —

A school yearbook photo of the girl who got sent to the Principal’s office because she was waiting out in the hall — after the final bell had rung for classes to start — for her best friend, Becky, to get there because they both ADORED Ronnie Wood, and the girl had bought Becky Ronnie’s brand new record, I’ve Got My Own Album to Do, as a surprise for Becky’s birthday!!

(I was not much of a girl who usually played by the rules, and when it came to rock & roll, there were absolutely no such things as RULES!!)

PRINCIPAL: “Get to class!! NOW!”

THE GIRL: “But I’m waiting for Becky! I want to give her this!!”

PRINCIPAL: “I said, get to class!!”

THE GIRL: “But it will only take a minute!!”

PRINCIPAL: “Go to my office, NOW, and wait for me! GO!!”

Anyway! The girl! (Me, Junior High School , age 14)

EPILOGUE: I did, indeed, go to the Principal’s office, and I sat there and waited for him, thinking that the whole thing was so STUPID. However, it was not going to go down well if he called my mother, because I had just gotten off of 30 days of House Arrest — I’d gotten arrested for shoplifting.

Luckily, though, when the Principal finally arrived at his office, he had one of those really incorrigible 14-year-old boys in tow — wherein anything I might have done or said, paled mightily by comparison — and the Principal took one exasperated look at me and said: “Just get to class!!”

ME (secretly thinking): “Yay!”

And out of his office I scurried.

PS: Becky absolutely FLIPPED over her birthday present!!

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

And here’s this!

From Ronnie Wood’s album, I’ve Got My Own Album to Do, 1974, “I Can Feel the Fire” (Mick Jagger on backing vocals):

***********

Okay.

Well, I’m also happy because my best friends, Kara and Wendy, and I have sort of solidified a date to get together for dinner (in early December) and celebrate Christmas!! Yay!!

Not sure where, but I’m guessing it’ll be somewhere fun in Granville.

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

Other nice news–

I spoke to my birth mom last evening. I hadn’t actually spoken to her on the phone for a couple months. But I haven’t actually seen her in over 2 years.

I invited her to come visit me for a couple days, but she has no transportation. My sister is getting knee surgery. So I’m waiting for my favorite Q-following friend to get back to me and let me know if she wants to take another little road trip with me — to go see my mom and have lunch! (She’s actually met my birth mom. She’s only the second one of my friends who has ever actually met my birth mom. And my birth mom and I have known each other for 40 years now.)

Me and Cherie, my birth mom, in a bar in Jackson, OH, in the late 1980s, I was visiting from NYC.

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

On another happy note!!

Sandra and I spoke last evening, too, and we start back to work this Monday, at 11AM. Just to sort of quickly go over where we’re at on both projects. (Our play going to Off- Broadway, and that other really cool project that I can’t tell you about yet.)

Monday afternoon (tomorrow), I have to attend a caregiving training class at the Agency, specifically for caring for veterans who have PTSD.

But after that, Sandra and I will be working on Mondays and Thursdays. Yes! My 2 days off each week… (except if I make that quick road trip to see my birth mom…)

***********

Wayne sent me a really cute text yesterday morning (the morning after Halloween). He said:

“Bouncing around TV, caught a bit of ‘Who Killed Teddy Bear,’ a 1965 psycho thriller starring Sal Mineo. He’s a pervy guy, one scene has him walking around Times Square, checking out dirty book stores. Prominently featured: Naked Lunch and Last Exit to Brooklyn.

Your literary tastes are timeless.”

I thought that was so cool, but it was a little unsettling to be reminded that, back then, those books that inspired me so much as a writer, were once considered highly taboo.

(In fact, when Masquerade Books first published my book Neptune & Surf, in 1999, Barnes & Noble refused to carry it because of one of the novellas in it, “Gianni’s Girl”. They eventually changed their mind after the reviews the book got in London. For several years after that, they carried every single one of my titles. Now we’re back to bookstores not carrying erotica at all…)

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

Well, yesterday was a rough day with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man.

I won’t go into the details, but he is really deteriorating, cognitively. I never know what I’m going to find now when I get to his house. All I can do at this point, is to keep showing up and keep doing my best to keep his mind engaged.

At least he’s still eating, so that’s good.

Today, I have my evening shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat. That’s usually relatively simple. We shall see.

**********

Meanwhile, I’m gonna enjoy my extra hour here.

Have a great Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

**********

I posted this just the other day, but I’ll post it again, since it was the soundtrack for that cool dream I had last night!

“Lime Tree Arbour”, 1997, from the incredible album, The Boatman’s Call, by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Enjoy, gang.

Slow Start, Today!

November 1, 2025 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

This will probably be a brief post because I am getting to the laptop a little late this morning and I have to head out soon to see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man!

BTW — We did, indeed, go out yesterday for sashimi & sake & fortune cookies (sake for him, and fortune cookies, mostly for me). We had a great time and he was not too cold. And we did, indeed, stop at the Nature Preserve on the way home and we just sat in the car and looked out the window. But it was still really beautiful.

And we have a new dialogue between us that goes like this:

HE: “Marilyn, you’re so nice.”

ME: “You’re nice, too.”

HE: “You’re much, much nicer.”

ME: “You’re nicer-est.”

HE: “That’s not a word. But you know what I think? You are the nicest.”

ME: “You’re nicest-er.”

HE: “These are not words!”

ME: “Yes, they are! I use the words in a sentence and you understand what they mean — so they’re words!”

HE (laughing but frustrated): “You know what I think? I think you’re nice.”

And this goes on and on and on, gang. But it keeps his mind engaged, which is so important.

***********

Here’s this!

From Hillbilly Talk on Instagram. (It’s such a great page. They post really early photos of the old famous Country & Western singers and you have to guess who they are. And SO MANY followers get it right! It’s so cool.)

And here’s the first Johnny Horton song that I really liked. I was 11 when I first heard it, on a record collection of hit songs by various singers from Columbia Records that I saw on TV and bought with my babysitting money — I loved Country & Western music and I especially loved story-songs. After that, though, I discovered a lot more Johnny Horton songs that I really loved.

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

Yesterday ended up being so weird.

I set out the candy for the kids — and I felt kind of silly because I had bought SO MUCH candy and I thought I was going to have to throw most of it away.

But I put out a little table at the front door, draped it in a festive fall tablecloth, and set out a lit old-fashioned style lantern, and put all the candy in a big bowl that had old-fashioned monster-movie pictures all over it. (I’ve had the bowl forever. It’s more of a popcorn bowl.)

But it turned out that now, here in our tiny village, the kids go door-to-door trick or treating! They’ve stopped doing that thing, en masse, at the park that they have always done for the last 7 and a 1/2 years that I’ve lived here.

And since I have no kids or grandkids who go to the elementary school, and I don’t go to church here, and I don’t attend the Mayor’s board meetings (I don’t even know who the Mayor is, at this point). So I had no clue things had changed.

I was sitting in the family room (where my front door is), watching “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!” and suddenly kids started arriving at the front door, taking candy, and moving on.

And then more and more kids. All in costumes, and some with their parents in tow.

And then MORE kids.

And I finally got up from the couch and looked out the window and kids in costumes were everywhere!! OMG. I was no longer worried about having too much candy, I was worried that there wasn’t enough.

By the time I was watching “Arsenic & Old Lace”, I wasn’t really paying attention to the TV because I was paying more attention to the candy.

The candy lasted for 2 hours, though. And trick-or-treating only lasted 2 and a 1/2 hours, so I did okay. But wow. It was just weird. And what was sort of freaking me out the most was that I kept wondering: Why did I know to buy so much candy this year?? Or to buy any candy at all?? I had no clue that anything had changed.

Anyway. It was weird. But I did enjoy hanging out on the couch with the many cats. I had tossed a few snuggly fleece blankets on the couch, so they snuggled in the blankets, not directly on top of me. So I have now solved that problem and I can once again hang out in my family room whenever I want to!

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

Well, long-time readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall that tomorrow is my favorite day of the year!!! Wherein, we set our clocks back and I get my hour back!!! Yay!

So I will have plenty of time to post here tomorrow, but right now, I gotta scoot!

Enjoy your Saturday, wherever you are in the world, gang.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

I leave you with this!

Regarding that old Columbia Records collection that I bought off the TV when I was 11– I absolutely LOVED this song!!

That collection was my first exposure to Marty Robbins, too.

I loved this song so much, that I would play the record, let a few lyrics play, pick up the needle, write down the lyrics, then put the needle back down on the record — until I’d copied all the lyrics to the whole song. I just loved this song so much. (This was upstairs in my room, on my little portable record player. My parents would never have allowed me to do this on the family stereo.)

Anyway. I loved Marty Robbins so much from then on. (And if you have ever read my novella, “Ribbon of Darkness,” you know that it turned out my birth dad’s wife, who was Mexican, grew up with Marty Robbins in the same town in Arizona, and they were life-long friends. So my birth dad knew Marty Robbins.)

“El Paso”, 1959. Marty Robbins. Enjoy, gang.

“El Paso”

Out in the West Texas town of El Paso
I fell in love with a Mexican girl
Nighttime would find me in Rosa’s Cantina
Music would play and Feleena would whirl

Blacker than night were the eyes of Feleena
Wicked and evil while casting her spell
My love was deep for this Mexican maiden
I was in love, but in vain, I could tell

One night, a wild young cowboy came in
Wild as the West Texas wind
Dashing and daring, a drink he was sharing
With wicked Feleena, the girl that I love

So in anger, I challenged his right for the love of this maiden
Down went his hand for the gun that he wore
My challenge was answered in less than a heartbeat
The handsome young stranger lay dead on the floor

Just for a moment, I stood there in silence
Shocked by the foul, evil deed I had done
Many thoughts raced through my mind as I stood there
I had but one chance, and that was to run

Out through the back door of Rosa’s, I ran
Out where the horses were tied
I caught a good one, it looked like it could run
Up on its back, and away I did ride

Just as fast as I could
From the West Texas town of El Paso
Out to the badlands of New Mexico

Back in El Paso my life would be worthless
Everything’s gone in life, nothing is left
It’s been so long since I’ve seen the young maiden
My love is stronger than my fear of death

I saddled up, and away I did go
Riding alone in the dark
Maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me
Tonight, nothing’s worse than this pain in my heart

And at last, here I am on the hill overlooking El Paso
I can see Rosa’s Cantina below
My love is strong and it pushes me onward
Down off the hill to Feleena, I go

Off to my right I see five mounted cowboys
Off to my left ride a dozen or more
Shouting and shooting, I can’t let them catch me
I have to make it to Rosa’s back door

Something is dreadfully wrong, for I feel
A deep burning pain in my side
Though I am trying to stay in the saddle
I’m getting weary, unable to ride

But my love for Feleena is strong, and I rise where I’ve fallen
Though I am weary, I can’t stop to rest
I see the white puff of smoke from the rifle
I feel the bullet go deep in my chest

From out of nowhere, Feleena has found me
Kissing my cheek as she kneels by my side
Cradled by two loving arms that I’ll die for
One little kiss, and Feleena, goodbye

c – 1959 Marty Robbins