Yesterday afternoon, I hit a point in that book I’m editing where the narrative became a lot easier to move through.
Up until then, there were a lot of very specific, somewhat technical storylines where I had to be extremely careful that I was getting everything down correctly. Lots of numbers and definitions, etc.
But now that part of the book appears to be over, and the rest of it is moving very quickly. At this rate, I could be done editing by Saturday morning.
And I still had time to stop for about half an hour yesterday and make all the little tweaks that Sandra wanted done to her updated bio, and get that back to her.
So yesterday was ultimately a really good day.
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Okay.
Here’s an update from the Merwin Conservancy in Hawaii.
Friday, September 18, 6 PM at Mission Memorial Auditorium — Transient Worlds: A Conversation with U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze & Puakea Nogelmeier
“On Friday, September 18th , at 6PM Pacific time , the 25th U.S. Poet Laureate—and former Merwin Conservancy resident—Arthur Sze will launch the “Words Bridging Worlds” tour in conjunction with the Library of Congress, The Merwin Conservancy, the Honolulu Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts and the Hawaiʻi Center for the Book. Honolulu will be the first stop on a four-city national tour encouraging Americans to engage with translations of poetry in other languages, including ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi.”
FREE and open to the public. Register HERE.
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And here’s this–
“NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites is proud to support the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance, a national network of people interested in historic preservation and place-based research related to sites of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture and history. Launched in 2025, the Alliance’s second grant cycle is now open.”
Applications are due by August 31, 2026.
The Alliance’s grant program is the first nationwide initiative dedicated to documenting, recognizing, and interpreting LGBTQ+ historic places through public-facing projects. Grants of $500–$10,000 are available for eligible nonprofit organizations and fiscally sponsored projects across the United States and its territories.
Before applying, review the guidelines HERE.
Ready to apply for a grant? Start HERE.
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And Lambda Literary invites you to a free event with poet and dramatist Rob Macaisa Colgate on Tuesday, September 15th at 7pm EST. This virtual event will feature a reading followed by a Q&A.
To register and ask a question, sign up using this form (under “Membership Type,” select “Guest).
In this webinar, Colgate will discuss his creative practice, sharing how his experiences as a poet, editor, and scholar shape his writing and offering insight into the processes through which poems and other literary works come to life. There will be ample time for audience questions.
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And how’s this for a happy update?
The Go Fund Me drive to help guitarist Richard Lloyd fight cancer has now raised over $102,000 !!
If you can donate any amount, please visit HERE.
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Today, August 27th, is that day of the year where everything in my heart comes to a screeching halt for awhile.
It has now been 52 years since the very first love of my life died in a motorcycle crash at the age of 15.
The heartache, of course, gets easier as the years fly by, but now what sort of stuns me is that SO MANY years have flown by.
The summer Greg died, I was 14 years old. And now I’m 66. I’m not sure how that happened. I’ve had an entire life and then some, since those few fleeting years when I knew Greg.
This morning, I was thinking about how the hospital that Greg had died in back then, used to be out in the middle of nowhere. At the very far eastern edge of Columbus. About 5 minutes from where each of our families lived.
Back then, the hospital looked like this, it was a solitary building, on a pond:
And now it literally looks like this. You need a map to find your car:
It’s the main thing I cannot stand about Columbus and why I rarely go back there. It is so overcrowded, and they never stop building stuff.
But here’s this. For Greg. From those days back then. I still love you and miss you, baby. So much.
Ringo Starr, “Photograph,” 1973.
“Photograph”
Ev’ry time I see your face,
It reminds me of the places we used to go.
But all I got is a photograph
And I realize you’re not coming back anymore.
I thought I’d make it the day you went away,
But I can’t make it
Till you come home again to stay.
I can’t get used to living here,
While my heart is broke, my tears I cried for you.
I want you here to have and hold,
As the years go by and we grow old and grey.
Now you’re expecting me to live without you,
But that’s not something that I’m looking forward to.
I can’t get used to living here,
While my heart is broke, my tears I cried for you.
I want you here to have and hold,
As the years go by and we grow old and grey.
Ev’ry time I see your face,
It reminds me of the places we used to go.
But all I got is a photograph
And I realize you’re not coming back anymore.
c – 1973 – George Harrison, Richard Starkey
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Okay.
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play the final concert of their summer tour TOMORROW in Paris! You can still buy a ticket HERE.
Here’s George Vjestica, hanging out in Paris!!
And while we’re at it, let’s listen to that incredible Serge Gainsbourg song, “La Janavaise”!! (1962) I love this song.
And here are a few photos of Nick Cave, out & about in Munich the other day!!
I’m guessing it will be a spectacular show. A fitting finale to a spectacular tour!
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All righty.
I’ll get that editor’s cap back on here and get down to work now.
Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world, gang.
Thanks for visiting.
I love you guys. See ya!
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Let’s close with this.
My listening-music from last night.
I played it on repeat as I was lying in bed in the dark.
There was a beautiful full moon out my window, shining down on this tiny village in the middle of the southeast Appalachian foothills. I gave up wondering how the heck I landed here all the way from NYC. I was just thinking about life itself and what the world was like when Greg was still in it.
I loved this song so much back when I was in high school. But even back then, it really haunted me.
“Even Now,” by Barry Manilow. 1978. Enjoy, gang.
“Even Now”
Even Now
When there’s someone else who cares
When there’s someone home who’s waiting just for me
Even now I think about you as I’m climbing up the stairs
And I wonder what to do so she won’t see
That even now
When I know it wasn’t right
And I found a better life than what we had
Even now I wakeup crying in the middle of the night
And I can’t believe it still could hurt so bad
Even now when I have come so far
I wonder where you are
I wonder why it’s still so hard without you
Even now when I come shining through
I swear I think of you
And how I wish you knew
Even now
Even now
When I never hear your name
And the world has changed so much since you been gone
Even now I still remember and the feeling’s still the same
And the pain inside of me goes on and on
Even now
Even now when I have come so far
I wonder where you are
I wonder why it’s still so hard without you
Even now when I come shining through
I swear I think of you
And God I wish you knew
Some how
Even now
c -1978 Barry Manilow, Martin Panzer
Marilyn's Room 