Tag Archives: poetry

Happy Veteran’s Day!!

November 11, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Well, on Veteran’s Day, I usually post old photos of all the men in my family who served in the various wars, but for some reason, I could not find the folder that has all those photos.

Here’s one of my birth dad in 1973, on Midway Island during the Vietnam War, though. (I’ve posted it here on the blog a bazillion times!!)

However, while trying to find those other photos, I found a bunch of other stuff!! And then I had to sort of remind myself of the time– I still gotta leave for work here soon!

But here’s this!!

The legendary CBGBs, back how it still looked when I was hanging out there with my other musician friends in NYC!! (It’s gone now.)

And here’s this!!

My first husband, Chong, on his birthday back in 2020! He’s 64 here, and in Seattle–

Here’s this again!

West End Avenue in NYC! That lower building, in the middle there on the left, is where Wayne and I lived when we were married. He still lives there:

And here’s Rudolph Valentino and his infamous wife, Natacha Rambova, as Rudy is putting her on the train in Los Angeles. They are merely “posing” for the press, though, because in reality, they never saw each other again. She was leaving him and they divorced.

And YES!!! You can still download the eBook edition of my novel about Rudolph Valentino, Twilight of the Immortal, for free on Amazon, today & tomorrow!!

Download it HERE! Suitable for mature readers!!

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And that’s it for Memory Lane right now….

I have to say, gang, I had that Lymphatic Drainage Therapy after work last night (by our in-house therapist), and WOW!!! It was incredible.

I was doing it in order to be able to tell customers what it’s like, what to expect from their sessions. I am so glad I did it.

I have never experienced anything like it before. It was beyond relaxing. It involves very little “massage”, it is mostly energy work. With targeted hands-on, gentle pressure in key areas — for me, it was mostly around the head and neck.

When it was over, I had never felt so sharply focused and so emotionally grounded in my life. Honestly, it was incredible.

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Okay!

Here’s this!

From Phyllis Stein!

Johnny Thunders in Paris in 1983!! Smoking!!!

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And here’s Sir Rod Stewart!! Getting fit for his final tour next year — he is retiring from touring for health reasons.

And here’s this because I love him!! Rod Stewart singing “You Wear it Well” in 1972 on England’s Top of the Pop’s TV show!! (And Ronnie Wood’s in there, too!!)

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Next year will be the 100th heavenly birthday of poet W.S. Merwin!

Please check HERE for all the many celebratory events they have in store:

“…These include the publication of The Poet’s Garden: W.S. Merwin’s Palm Forest, forthcoming with Timber Press; the launch of The Merwin Conservancy Books, an imprint of Copper Canyon Press; public programming presented with organizations across Hawaiʻi and the continent; a podcast with Hawaiʻi Public Radio; and more. “

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And let’s close with this!!

This first one is actually from Instagram, finally!!

Nick Cave!! Beautiful in black & white!!

And from Facebook!!

This made me really smile–

And this did, too, for different reasons!!

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And now I seriously gotta scoot!

I spent way too much time here this morning, looking at old photos, and now I’m gonna be late getting to town.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this!!

Another really great one from the “new” CD, honoring 50 years of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, No Sleep ’til L.A. (2026)

I just love this song. It is from over 50 years ago, but has just now been released.

“Unheard of Kind of Hero”. Enjoy, gang!!

“Unheard Of Kind Of Hero”

It’s just a matter of time
For she opens up her eyes
And finds me here
Standin’ here with a sweat on my head
Dirt on my hands and a 3 day beard
A travelin’ drummer down in Mexico
Say they ran into a woman with a baby too
On her back in a shack 3 days from here
There’s a picture on the wall
That looks a lot like you

So if half are gone and payroll
An unheard of kind of hero
Go back across the rio

Doctor said when he met me at the door
It’s good to see you boy
I’m glad you made it through
I must’ve admit you surprised us all
Except the man with a badge was expecting you

He called me unheard of kind of hero
Said it almost liked to let me go
But there’s a lawman dead in Waco

Then he said that my wife was asleep
He thought I ought to know I had a boy here too
He’s been alive for about an hour now
And from the poster they sent me
It looks a lot like you
And you’re wife said he told you so
And all the money that you stole won’t help your soul
Boy you never should’ve left Mexico

It’s just a matter of time
For she opens up her eyes
And finds me here
Standin’ here with a sweat on my head
Cuffs on my wrists and a 3 day beard

c – 2026 Tom Petty Estate

Rainy fall day today!!

November 4, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 3 Comments

Go figure!

It is only November 4th — and finally really feeling like fall. (Cold, cloudy & rainy.)

And just FYI, I still have all of my summer flowers blooming on my kitchen porch. Usually, they are dead and gone by early October. But it probably won’t be much longer now.

(And, NO!!! I’m not going to post this legendary song again!! It would be too obvious!! Thank you for your attention to this matter.)

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This made my wee bonny heart soar this morning, gang.

Apparently, my novel Twilight of the Immortal (2011) was the subject of a recent podcast on Spotify and now book sales for it are cranking again on Amazon !!

Thank you so very much to everyone. I really appreciate it!!

And just a head’s up — there is a really talented young woman in England currently narrating/producing the audiobook version of it. I will be publishing it sometime in early 2027. She is doing a terrific job.

And just for your reading pleasure, here’s a section of the first review the book ever got on Amazon, back in 2011:

“As soon as I read this quote, attributed to Valentino: ‘Observe, Rosemary, how in Hollywood there is no difference between a knife and a smile,’ I knew for sure that I had found a gem! Twilight of the Immortal is both beautifully written and an engaging romp, an insider’s view (fictional though it may be) of life behind the scenes in the 1920’s movie industry, with Rudolph Valentino, Natacha Rambova, and Alla Nazimova, all figuring prominently in the story line. I enjoyed it immensely, from beginning to end.”

Yay!! (I worked on this novel for ten years, gang.)

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Okay.

Since I didn’t post yesterday, I have sort of a bunch of “here’s this’s” to catch up on, so let’s go!!

Here’s this!!

A blatant attempt to make me feel really old!! Yay!!

Nick Cave Official announced yesterday that the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds EP Your Funeral… My Trial was released 40 years ago!!

Thank you very much!! (Yes, I can remember lying on my bed in my E.12th Street apartment in NYC and listening to this record as if it were only 40 years ago…)

You can listen to it HERE!

And you can also shop for special merch HERE!

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And here’s this!!

And if you’ve never read Keith’s autobiography, Life — it was fantastic. (2011 – 576 pages!)

Here’s Keith, signing & smoking when the glorious book first came out!

And also just smiling!

And here’s Keith again! Not exactly saying, “Fuck you, I’ll smoke if I want to!” But it’s almost as if he’s saying “Fuck you, I’ll smoke if I want to!!”

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And on the topic of the Rolling Stones…

Here’s a wonderful photo of Charlie Watts from long ago, with his wife, Shirley, and their daughter, Seraphina!!

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And here’s this!

A couple of photos of Warren Ellis. (The first one is from Copenhagen.)

And here’s Vicious Warren Elvis!!!

Okay, here’s this again….Lou Reed’s “Vicious” from his legendary album, Transformer (1972)!!

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Okay.

This is AI, but I really liked it.

Nick Cave and a beautiful dog:

This is not AI, and I really liked it!

Nick Cave and a beautiful cigarette:

And from Facebook!

Nick Cave:

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And I guess that is it for today!!

I gotta get moving here and head to town.

Have a wonder-filled Wednesday, 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!!

I’ve posted it here before, but I really love this song and it came up in my driving-back-from-town playlist last night! It made me so happy. I sang along, really loud!!

Hong Kong’s fabulous Grace Chang singing her huge hit, “Wo Ai Qia Qia” (I love cha-cha) from 1957!! Sing along if you’re able!! And enjoy, gang!!

电影 曼波女郎 插曲
作词：易文
作曲：姚敏

我们欢欢喜喜一起上学校，
我们高高兴兴一起做体操。
鼓声砰砰蓬蓬响，就摇摇摆摆跳，
有谁不会我就来教。

怪模样，不要笑，不要笑，
伊啊恰恰，恰恰恰。
大家跳，别害臊，别害臊，
伊啊恰恰，恰恰恰。

你学伦巴，不时髦，
你学森巴，没情调。
只要你试一遭，就知道恰恰妙，
跳恰恰，多轻巧。

你有清清楚楚伶俐的头脑，
你有结结实实灵活的身腰，
请把拍子听得准，把步子记得牢，
你别害怕谁都能跳，

快狐步，太单调，太单调，
伊啊恰恰，恰恰恰。
圆舞步，太古老，太古老，
伊啊恰恰，恰恰恰。

你学伦巴，不时髦，
你学森巴，没情调。
还不如曼波好，还不如恰恰妙，
跳恰恰多轻巧。

恰恰恰，恰恰恰，恰恰恰，
伊啊恰恰，恰恰恰。
恰恰恰，恰恰恰，恰恰恰，
伊啊恰恰，恰恰恰。

不怕你身体摇，只怕你不肯跳，
跳恰恰多轻巧。

Another late start here in the Hinterlands!

October 15, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Okay, yes, I did take my cup of coffee back to bed for a little while this morning —

But mostly I’m getting a late start here on the blog today because I had some emails to take care of first thing. A couple more writers are contributing to the M. Christian tribute anthology and I am really excited about that!! Yay!

I’m still going to focus on editing that one longer short story today, as planned. And really, that should take most of the day. And then these 2 new contributions — I should still be done editing the anthology by the weekend!

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Okay!

THIS arrived yesterday and I am so excited– the latest book we need to read for James Tabor’s Private Research Group:

A Man Attested by God: The Human Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels by JR Daniel Kirk

And the really good news is that it is only 632 pages long!!! Yay!!!

But, honestly, I am very eager to read it. I started it last night.

And, YES! I will be reading it alongside a book that arrived on Tuesday that I am also excited about —

Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the ’70s Punk Scene (and Beyond) by Legs McNeil !!

Just keepin’ it real all the way around, here in the Hinterlands!!

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Okay.

On October 21st, from 10pm – 11pm, the Internet Archive is having a FREE virtual event:

Democracy’s Library: Tools for Participation

“Democracy invites participation; democracies require it. At the Internet Archive, we believe libraries can help make that participation possible by preserving knowledge and providing the tools to explore and build upon it.

This year’s annual celebration, “Democracy’s Library: Tools for Participation,” will showcase the many ways people can participate through the Internet Archive: from saving and contributing materials to exploring government records, researching history, and building new tools with our collections and APIs.”

SIGN UP HERE to attend — FREE!

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Also, on October 21st — and this one sort of stuns me, gang — Bill Wyman, the Rolling Stones’ original and legendary bass player who also owns a camera– turns 90!!

To honor that, in London–

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And on the topic of the Rolling Stones —

Keith! Smoking in a spotlight while sitting on a stool!! Yay!!

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And not at all related–

From Phyllis Stein!

Iggy in Miami!!

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And here’s The Clash!!

Apparently celebrating champagne!!

And here’s Patti Smith, apparently doing the same thing!!

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Personally, I don’t drink champagne too often (anymore!!), but when I do, this is my favorite!! (Just in case, you know, you were planning to visit the Hinterlands anytime soon and wanted to celebrate!!)

(Bring these, too and it’ll be just like yesteryear!! Yay!!)

And, well, okay — here’s THIS again, while we’re celebrating!!

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All righty!

Too much celebrating of a different kind was perhaps the culprit behind this event, but I’m not 100% certain–

Warren Ellis had a Hoovering incident!! (That’s “vacuuming” in American English, btw) (Please note, he is still wearing the Sid Vicious t-shirt here, and that’s part of his beard, I think!):

And here, Warren Ellis is looking quite stylish in “Warren’s House” in 2022!!

And that goes along with this (see above)! “Rock & Roll” by Lou Reed & The Velvet Underground!! (From Loaded, 1970)

And in case you were curious — YES! That song is actually the story of my life!!

“Rock And Roll”

Jenny said when she was just five years old
You know there’s nothing happening at all
Every time she puts on the radio
There was nothing goin’ down at all
Then one fine mornin’ she puts on a New York station
She couldn’t believe what she heard at all
She started dancin’ to that fine fine music
You know her life was saved by Rock ‘n’ Roll

Despite all the amputations
You could just dance to a rock ‘n’ roll station

Jenny said when she was just five years old
My parents are gonna be the death of us all
Two TV sets and two Cadillac cars–
Ain’t gonna help us at all

Then one fine mornin’ she puts on a New York station
She don’t believe what she heard at all
She started dancin’ to that fine fine music
You know her life was saved by Rock ‘n’ Roll

Despite all the computations
You could just dance to a rock ‘n’ roll station
And it was alright.

c – 1970 Lou Reed

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Let’s jump around a little–

Nick Cave, Rowland S. Howard, and someone else (maybe Mick Harvey?) in 1982!!

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And Nick Cave & Warren Ellis both announce—

“The Death of Bunny Munro” – Vinyl Pre-order (in pink!!)

“A special edition ‘Baby Pink’ vinyl of ‘The Death of Bunny Munro’ original series soundtrack by Nick Cave & Warren Ellis is available to pre-order now HERE.”

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And I guess that is it for today!!

In all honesty, yes, I will be vacuuming today!! But I will try not to sustain any “hoovering incidents” of my own.

Then I also have to do yoga, wash hair, etc.

But the rest of the day will be spent editing the longer short story, mentioned above, here at my desk.

And so I will get started.

Enjoy your Thursday, wherever you are in the world, gang!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Yes, the morning-listening-music around here is still Bruce Springsteen–

But I’ve moved on to his Greatest Hits!

HOWEVER!

This song is also from The River, 1980.

And I remember so perfectly, gang, shopping in a clothing store that was downstairs in the Empire State Building, while on my lunch hour, and hearing this song come on the radio there.

It had only been a handful of weeks since I’d been listening to that same song on my record player in my side-by-side rental house back in Ohio…

I rented the side nearest to the camera. My bedroom was in the 2 windows at the top

…and now I was living in NYC and working in the legendary Empire State Building!!

My life changed, literally, overnight back then. So many fucking incredible memories, gang. Most of them unbelievably stressful…. but I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Okay!

“Hungry Heart” by Bruce Springsteen, from The River. 1980! Enjoy, gang.

“Hungry Heart”

Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack
I went out for a ride and I never went back
Like a river that don’t know where it’s flowing
I took a wrong turn and I just kept going

Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody’s got a hungry heart

I met her in a Kingstown bar
We fell in love I knew it had to end
We took what we had and we ripped it apart
Now here I am down in Kingstown again

Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody’s got a hungry heart

Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don’t make no difference what nobody says
Ain’t nobody like to be alone

Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Everybody’s got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody’s got a hungry heart

c -1980 Bruce Springsteen

Late start on this rainy Sunday morning in the Hinterlands!

October 11, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Even though I slept great last night, for some reason I felt like going back to bed after breakfast today.

Took the cup of coffee upstairs, hung out in bed with about 4 or 5 (?) cats. Slept a little more. Finally got back out of bed but I feel sort of at loose ends right now.

I know I should probably force myself to take a day off and just relax, but I am getting really close to finishing the editing on the M. Christian tribute anthology.

If I can get 2 short pieces edited today, that leaves me with only one long story to do sometime this coming week — and, in essence, the book will be done.

Anyway. We shall see if I can force myself to relax today or not!!

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Okay!

Before I forget.

Starting tomorrow the Kindle edition of my short story collection “A Man in her Arms & Other Stories” will be free to download for the week.

I don’t think you have to belong to Kindle Unlimited to get it for free. (Not all the stories are explicit erotica, but it is still Absolutely for Adults Only, thank you!)

Table of Contents:

A Man in her Arms
A Path to the Woods (A Ghost Story)
Score
Code
Alter/Soldier
To My Beloved I Am a Stranger
Common Place
Wanted
Legacy of Boy
Half- Moon Bride

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And here’s a curious — although really nice! — thing.

Amazon claims there is “only one print copy of The Curse of our Profound Disorder left in stock (more on the way)”!

I guess this means people are actually buying the book. I think the eBook is selling even a little better. But absolutely no one besides Ron Bass in NYC has reviewed it… so who knows, gang.

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Also, yesterday, while searching through some really old files for a specific story by Michael Hemmingson, I discovered the manuscripts for my erotic romance novel, When Hearts Collide (this was distributed exclusively by Barnes & Noble stores, in 2003, and it sold, overall, 10,000 copies).

And another erotic short story collection, Ribbon of Darkness & Other Stories, that I printed privately on LULU — it has never been for sale. I gave it to a handful of people as a gift. This was back in 2009.

Even though the short story collection has stories that appear in various other anthologies of mine, I’m thinking of re-publishing both these books as specially-priced eBooks on Amazon.

I was thinking of doing this because, you know, I’ve got nothing else to do right now…

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Okay.

I’ve got a lot of “here’s this’s” for today, so let’s get crackin’!!

Here’s this!!

From Phyllis Stein!

Richard Hell!!

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And how about this??!!

Photo by Anton Corbijn.

Blixa Bargeld! A long time ago!

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From Jim Lauderdale–

He’ll be playing at the Gram Parsons Derry Down listening room, in Winter Haven, Florida, on November 7th, in honor of what would have been Gram Parsons’ 80th birthday (tickets are $30 — you can buy them HERE):

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And here’s a few of Keith –SMOKING!!

In the morning in France, around 1971?? (From Facebook!)

With Mick, in London, 1969!!

With Ronnie, somewhere!! In 1975!!

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And here’s this!

Something is upcoming for Bad Seed George Vjestica!! Watch this space!!

And here’s a great photo of Nick Cave & the Birthday Party — from their first tour of the US.

Here, they’re in NYC, 1981–and Rowland S. Howard is SMOKING!!

And speaking of smoking!!

Nick Cave, onstage, perhaps taking a break?? I’m not sure!! But he’s reading and smoking in France, in 1990!! (Photo by Jean-Louis V)

And smoking — and singing!! — onstage in Germany, 1990!

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And I believe that is it for now.

And any moment, I will decide if I’m going to work on the editing today, or relax. We shall soon find out.

Either way, enjoy your Sunday, 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!

Dwight Yoakam & KD Lang, live, in 1989, singing “Sin City” by Gram Parsons & Chris Hillman.

KD and Dwight first did this duet on Dwight’s album, Just Lookin’ For A Hit, in 1988.

Enjoy, gang.

Rain now, sun later!

September 5, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Happy Saturday — and if you’re State-side, I hope your holiday weekend is off to a great start.

Here in the Hinterlands, we’ve already had a couple hours’ worth of thunderstorms, but it is supposed to clear up here soon and then the rest of the holiday weekend looks like it is going to be PERFECT!!

Sunny and not too HOT! Yay!

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Okay, before I forget–

I decided to remove my short story collection, A Man in Her Arms & Other Stories, off of Lulu and publish it on Amazon, instead.

Lulu had removed it from global distribution almost the moment after I’d published it there, because they wanted me to reformat it. So I’ve now published it with Amazon, instead.

You can buy the eBook HERE (print edition will be live later today).

The eBook is $2.99, or free (!!) in Kindle Unlimited.

The collection includes a never-before-published novelette, “A Man in Her Arms.” The other stories have either been published in print or online, 2005 -2021.

Table of Contents:

A Man in her Arms
A Path to the Woods (A Ghost Story)
Score
Code
Alter/Soldier
To My Beloved I Am a Stranger
Common Place
Wanted
Legacy of Boy
Half- Moon Bride

Most of these stories are erotic, so Adults Only please!!

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Yesterday, I also got my remaining self-published books uploaded for audio books on Amazon. So now all of them are in the queue, awaiting producers & narrators! (A total of 8 books.)

And at the risk of becoming the blog that’s all about how “publishing used to be so much better in the old days”– I have to say that, for self-publishing, LULU used to be the absolute best & easiest.

But I’m talking 20 years ago… it is SO different now.

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And, you know, part of what made the Indie Press world “better” in the old days, is that it was so much easier to find!!

This has to do with pesky algorithms, gang. In the event you are a writer, poet, zine-ster, you might be interested in my GROWING list:

Eggtooth Editions: https://eggtootheditions.wordpress.com/ (poetry, fiction, nonfiction, hybrid)

Spurl Editions: https://spurleditions.com/

DUMBO Press: https://dumbopress.com/

Clash Books: https://www.clashbooks.com/

Rinky Dink Press: https://rinkydinkpress.com/ (poetry)

Cosmorama: https://www.cosmorama.site/

Diode Editions: https://www.diodeeditions.com/home (poetry)

Able Muse Press: https://www.ablemusepress.com/

Milkweed Editions: https://milkweed.org/

Outpost 13: https://www.outpost13.com/ebooks.html (sci-fi eBooks)

Brooklyn Arts Press: https://brooklynartspress.com/

Augury Books: https://augurybooks.com/ (connected to Brooklyn Arts Press)

Abalone Mountain Press: https://www.abalonemountainpress.com/ (indigiqueer, trans, non-binary, Black Indigenous, and Indigenous feminist-friendly press)

Cardboard House Press: https://cardboardhousepress.org/ (Latin American and Spanish poetry in translation)

La Cartonera Collective: https://cardboardhousepress.org/Cartonera (one of Cardboard House Press’s community projects; bi-lingual Latin)

Wasted Ink Zine Distro: https://www.wizd-az.com/ (an alt zine distribution shop in Phoenix AZ; also has workshops)

Vishnu Temple Press: https://www.vishnutemplepress.com/ (Grand Canyon art and poetry)

Soulstice Publishing: https://soulsticepublishing.com/ (Books with Soul celebrating the Southwest)

Salina Bookshelf: https://salinabookshelf.com/ (multi-cultural indigenous publishing for children; Flagstaff, AZ)

Write Bloody Publishing: https://writebloody.com/ (poetry books with beautifully designed covers)

F*%K IF I KNOW//BOOKS: https://www.fiikbooks.org/ (handmade and limited-run poetry and art chapbooks; indigenous and Spanish-speaking)

Torrey House Press: https://www.torreyhouse.org/ (literal arts and environmental advocacy)

Noemi Press: https://www.noemipress.org/ (Non-profit prose and poetry identity politics)

Black Lawrence Press: https://blacklawrencepress.com/ (fiction, poetry, chapbook contests)

The Sapling (weekly small press updates — pay)

Lit Hub (daily) https://lithub.com/ (free or pay)

Collapse Press: https://collapsepress.com/about-cp/ (poetry, prose, monthly online poetry reading with open mic)

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Sorry. That was long!

But it’s good to know that there’s still a world out there, where you can get published and not have to go the self-publishing route if you don’t want to.

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

All righty!!

Here’s this!

Such a great photo of Keith and Marlon, a long time ago!!

***********

And from Phyllis Stein–

Another great one of Willy Deville — smoking in NYC in 1977!!

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And here are 2 sort of related things–

The statue of Keith, made by sculptor Amy Goodman SEA. It is part of a tribute to Mick & Keith, and it is located in Dartford, Kent (England), where they both grew up:

And here is a mural in Canberra, Australia, that a man there just had painted on the side of his house!

Fellow Australians, Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue!! (Artist is Lawrence Tan)

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And that is actually it for today, gang.

But the good news is that — except for the Writers & Artists podcast that we have still not launched — everything on my To Do List is DONE!!!!!

Can you believe it??

I have been retired from caregiving for 47 days (as of today) and my To Do List is at long last Done!!!!

And even though I do have a new novel coming out this coming FRIDAY (on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, which kind of freaks me out since 9/11 was such a traumatizing day for us in NYC), but yes, the new novel comes out on Friday– after languishing somewhere in the dark recesses of my desktop for 27 years...

However, I am still taking time right now to focus on getting my memoir at least on the page and underway.

So with that— I’m off!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

It’s Friday! It’s better!

September 4, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I say that as if “Friday” means anything to me at this point, now that I have every day off, basically.

But still.

Yay!

And I had a long talk with Wayne yesterday afternoon, about how terrorized I was feeling — about that AI-generated “review” with my name in the byline, suddenly attaching me, after over 25 years, to a photographer who turns out to have been a snuff-filmmaking serial killer…

WTF??!! — in a great big WTF way!! Why did they fucking choose me?? (Not that I liked the guy, but still…)

Anyway.

Wayne ultimately encouraged me to let it go and keep moving forward, and to concentrate on writing the memoir now. He even said, “Send me the pages as they get written. You know I always love reading your stuff.”

That meant the world to me, gang. Not only that he said that, but it also gives me a sort of goal. A reason to write. Because Wayne’s going to be reading it…

Sort of like in the old days, when I would come in from the other room and thrust new pages at him, saying:

ME (thrusting new pages at him): “Here, read this!”

HE (glancing up from his coffee cup): “Ah, yes! Please allow me to drop everything and read this!”

So, anyway. I feel a lot better today! And now, onward to that memoir…

“And so then we got arrested for stealing the car, but we explained to the Sheriff that we were only borrowing it…”

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And speaking of my memoir about my life in the 1970s… Here’s this!!

Lou Reed in 1974!! (Photo by Mick Rock)

And while we’re at it!! From Lou Reed in 1974 — I love this fucking song!! “Sally Can’t Dance”!!

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And here’s a bundle of Keith stuff!

Keith, thinking about drinking, and looking, I don’t know — sort of shiny in 1981!

Keith smoking! And looking sort of, I don’t know — thuggy in 1981! (On St. Mark’s Place with Mick)

And just being Keith! Smoking, attitude, guitar, etc.!!

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Yesterday, a posthumous Sid Vicious wished guitarist Steve Jones a happy birthday!! (Steve is in the bath)

And directly after I saw that photo on Instagram, I saw this!!

Warren Ellis, doing it HIS WAY! (Although I’m not sure exactly what he’s doing “his way” — driving, wearing a seat belt, wearing really huge sunglasses. driving on the wrong side of the road?? You decide!!)

And of course we can’t forget THIS!!! (And if you’ve never seen this before, gang, you gotta watch it. It’s legendary.) Sid Vicious, “My Way”.

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And here’s Nick Cave!! Smoking!!

And Nick Cave more recently, sort of easily confused by the presence of little dogs?? Not sure!

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All right, gang. On that happy note…

I’m gonna refill my cup o’ joe, and get back to the memoir!

It’s a gorgeous day — a little hot, so the AC is cranking. But it’ll be a nice day to sit at my desk and relive the insanity that was the 1970s!!

Have a terrific Friday, 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!

From some of the insanity that was the 1970s!

David Bowie, “The Jean Genie”, 1972.( Although I didn’t have his album, Aladdin Sane, until 1973… ) Okay. Enjoy, gang!!

Making great progress!

August 27, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

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.

Little known fact: a cat in your lap helps the editing process move quickly! (It actually only works if it’s an illustration of a cat and not an actual cat…)

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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

I guess you can tell it’s one of those mornings…

August 26, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 4 Comments

I’m not sure what’s going on because I actually slept great and woke up feeling really great– until I’d been out of bed for awhile. Then, suddenly, this weird energy started creeping in and, so far, I can’t really shake it.

I am trying to ignore it, though.

So, let’s get started!

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Sorry I couldn’t really post here yesterday, but I did get a lot done.

Updated Sandra’s bio/resume. Waiting on her to tweak it and send it back to me.

I’m halfway through editing the local writer’s book. However, it is such an intense topic that it takes a lot out of me. My deadline to complete it is Monday and it will likely take me right up through Monday to finish the edits.

Okay.

Here are some things that happened since I last saw you!!

The Go Fund Me drive for guitarist Richard Lloyd surpassed it’s updated goal (!!) and they have reset the goal now for $100K!! They have already raised $84,400 in just a handful of days.

If you would like to help Richard Lloyd fight cancer, please donate HERE!

And here’s this, while we’re at it!

From Phyllis Stein. Richard Lloyd, back when he was in the band Television. (And that’s Richard Hell, holding the TV set!)

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And also while we’re at it!

Also from Phyllis Stein!!

Somebody had a birthday yesterday!!

Happy belated birthday Elvis Costello!!!

And here’s this! While we’re at it… 1977! “The Angels Wanna Wear My Red Shoes”!!

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And while we’re on the topic of birthdays…

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom. RIP.

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Okay.

If you write for streamers or films, this was very interesting.

A blog post on Stage 32 early this morning– among some of the very interesting things she talks about, she clarifies that movie theater attendance has not gone back to pre-COVID numbers.

Foot traffic is still down 27% since 2019, it’s just that the ticket prices are higher now.

Overall, a very informative read. And very helpful if you’re trying to sell to streamers right now.

The Industry Pulse: The Industry Is Reorganizing, Not Contracting – by Laura Hammer

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Here’s this!

Another beautiful photo of George Harrison!!

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OH! This made me so happy!

The other day on Instagram, a young Iranian man I follow, re-posted my post about The Guitar Hero Goes Home being on sale this week:

When I thanked him for doing that, he said: “You’re welcome. I loved that book!”

Wow, gang. You know? You just never know anymore who’s reading your stuff… I sort of feel like my books are in this weird floating void. It made me so happy to read his comment.

The Kindle eBook is 99 cents in Kindle Unlimited until Sunday:

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A couple of photos from the Kafka Museum in Prague!

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It took FOREVER, but I finally found a photo of Keith where he is in NO WAY intoxicated!!

Keith and Anita, smoking, Mod, and in no way intoxicated!

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And speaking of Keith….

A cool photo of Bobby Keys and Jim Price in Keith’s basement at Villa Nellcote in the South of France, recording the horns for Exile on Main St, 1971!

And meanwhile — I know I’ve posted this trailer here before, but this was a really good documentary about the making of the now legendary Rolling Stones’ double-album, Exile on Main St. What an incredible thing the Stones achieved back then, when everything was pretty much working against them:

Stones in Exile (trailer) (2 mins):

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Here’s a lovely photo of Rowland S. Howard, smoking!

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And here’s a lovely photo of Nick Cave that lit up my heart!!

And speaking of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds playing Bonn, Germany yesterday…

Here’s Warren Ellis, surfin’ around town before the show!

At the No. 4711 Fragrance store — I love that cologne!!

And that couple I began following on Instagram when they were at the Brighton show back in late July, were also at the Bonn show last night!

And here’s this, while we’re at it! The Bad Seeds in the US last year, singing :”Cinnamon Horses”!

And here’s Ruby with the set list last night!!

And here’s Nick Cave!!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ summer tour of Europe & the UK ends on Friday, in Paris!! Buy tickets here!!

And that reminds me, gang — I was incorrect! The kids around here went back to school YESTERDAY. Can you believe it? The summer is gone….

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And that is it for today. And just in time–

Sandra just texted that her tweaks to her new bio are in my inbox!!

So I’m gonna get started around here, gang.

I hope you have a wonder-filled Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

I watched this during breakfast.

You know, back then, the Rolling Stones were always up against so fucking much. It’s amazing they survived it all. It really is.

The Rolling Stones Recording of Sticky Fingers (31 mins):

Slim pickings but that’s okay!

August 9, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

It’s a really lovely, quiet Sunday morning here in the Hinterlands.

I spent all of yesterday getting caught up on stuff at my desk, so I don’t have too much to post about today.

However!

I did want to at least say that I was finally able to catch up with Sandra out in Los Angeles yesterday. We had a great chat! She flies back to NYC today. Then I think she’s planning on collapsing for a few days up in Rhinebeck and then we will get back to focusing on the staged reading of our play, “The Guide to Being Fabulous”.

While she was in LA, though, Sandra was involved with this amazing project, which happened this past Friday night (8/7)– since I found this posted online, I think it’s okay to post it here on the blog:

Apparently, it was a complete success!

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Okay.

Yesterday was International Cat Day!

Here’s Queenie just now, completely worn out from all the breathtaking festivities!!

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Yesterday, when it was time to do yoga, I wanted something just sort of different to listen to (I usually listen to religious or spiritual stuff).

I found this radio interview with Tom Petty from 2003 and I just loved it. It was at that perfect era in his life — the drugs were well behind him, he was married to Dana, The Last DJ, an incredible album, had already been released and he and the Heartbreakers were, once again, on the road (1 hr 23 mins):

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And as far as yesterday’s installment of The Sealey Challenge—

I decided I wanted to read something totally new. I was sort of worn out from re-reading poetry books from my past that were digging up all sorts of other emotions that weren’t necessarily related to the actual poems.

Since I had bought Drunk on Angel Breath by R. Nikolas Macioci last year and still had not had a moment to just sit down and absorb it, I chose to read that one yesterday.

Wow, gang. What an entrancing book of poems!!

If you’re new to the blog (i.e., you just started reading it this moment), R. Nikolas Macioci is not only an accomplished poet, a Pulitzer Prize nominee, and the author of 18 other poetry books — he was also my first Jr. High School English teacher back in 1972, when I was 12.

After I chose to write a poem as my “book report” for a book we had recently been assigned to read in class, he took an active interest in my writing and he took it upon himself — after class, on his own time — to teach me how to write.

That went on for several years, long after Jr. High School was over.

It was the only formal “training” as a writer that I ever had, but it totally and thoroughly served me well. It gave me an entire career.

Obviously, I have read his poems before, but this specific book had me spellbound. I could not put it down. It is safe to say that I had a really beautiful evening yesterday.

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Well, as far as “here’s this’s” — I only have ONE today!

But it is suitable for a Sunday morning!

From Warren Ellis!! In Bucharest!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Romania tonight. Then they have a few days off before playing Norway on August 13th. You can buy tickets here!

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And honestly, gang, that’s all I have for today.

The laundry is almost done and I’m planning to try to take it sort of easy today. We’ll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, I hope you have a splendid Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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I leave you with this!

A song I have just loved from the very first moment that I first heard it!!

But my fondest memory of the song, was playing it for my (back then-film production partner) Peitor Angell one night — giving him my iPhone with ear buds, as we walked together along Sunset Blvd. after dark. As I had been, he, too, was blown away by it.

Anyway.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, “We Call Upon the Author”, from one of my favorite albums ever, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! 2008.

“We Call Upon The Author”

What we once thought we had we didn’t, and what we have now will never be that way again
So we call upon the author to explain

Our myxomatoid kids spraddle the streets, we’ve shunned them from the greasy-grind
The poor little things, they look so sad and old as they mount us from behind
I ask them to desist and to refrain
And then we call upon the author to explain

Rosary clutched in his hand, he died with tubes up his nose
And a cabal of angels with finger cymbals chanted his name in code
We shook our fists at the punishing rain
And we call upon the author to explain

He said everything is messed up around here, everything is banal and jejune
There is a planetary conspiracy against the likes of you and me in this idiot constituency of the moon
Well, he knew exactly who to blame
And we call upon the author to explain

Prolix! Prolix! Nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix!
Prolix! Prolix! Nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix!

Well, I go guruing down the street, young people gather round my feet
Ask me things, but I don’r know where to start
They ignite the power-trail ssstraight to my father’s heart
And once again I call upon the author to explain

We call upon the author to explain

Who is this great burdensome slavering dog-thing that mediocres my every thought?
I feel like a vacuum cleaner, a complete sucker, it’s fucked up and he is a fucker
But what an enormous and encyclopaedic brain
I call upon the author to explain

Oh rampant discrimination, mass poverty, third world debt, infectious diseease
Global inequality and deepening socio-economic divisions
Well, it does in your brain
And we call upon the author to explain

Now hang on, my friend Doug is tapping on the window (Hey Doug, how you been?)
Brings me back a book on holocaust poetry complete with pictures
Then tells me to get ready for the rain
And we call upon the author to explain

I say prolix! Prolix! Something a pair of scissors can fix

Bukowski was a jerk! Berryman was best!
He wrote like wet papier mache, went the Heming-way weirdly on wings and with maximum pain
We call upon the author to explain

Down in my bolthole I see they’ve published another volume of unreconstructed rubbish
“The waves, the waves were soldiers moving”. Well, thank you, thank you, thank you
And again I call upon the author to explain
Yeah, we call upon the author to explain

Prolix! Prolix! There’s nothing a pair of scissors can’t fix!

c – 2008 – Nick Cave, Warren Ellis

Oddly enough, life continues!!

August 8, 2026 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Wow, is it just me, or is life just really strange these days?

Let me just say one more thing about fiverr (see yesterday’s frustrated post)– my tax paperwork got approved and before the day was over, I had already received 6 scam attempts through my new fiverr account.

Needless to say, that shit never used to happen in the old days.

Plus, I recently had a scam attempt through a writing group on the Substack app. I’ve never had that happen before on Substack, either.

And I personally think the semi-scams for writers are endless now on LinkedIn so I try to stay off of there. (LinkedIn started out as a whole different thing 20 years ago, when I first started using it — long before it was an overcrowded phone app.)

Anyway. I won’t go on and on about it, but phone apps targetting writers (that have basically replaced the corresponding websites) are my new pet peeve.

But I have to say, that both the Tabor Research Group and Ross K. Nichols’ private Yachad, now have phone apps and they are fantastic. But they’re private, members-only type apps.

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Okay!

So.

On to happier things!

I had a chance to read the short story Maxim Jakubowski contributed to our upcoming anthology honoring the life of M. Christian, and it was fantastic. It was such a joy to read it — erotic but also an undercurrent of sci-fi. And I know for certain M. Christian would have loved it.

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Before I forget, I thought I would just post a little update regarding me and Sandra and our upcoming staged reading in NY for our play, “The Guide to Being Fabulous”.

Sandra is in Los Angeles, working on a different project right now and we are sort of playing “text-tag.”

If I don’t get assigned to a jury on Tuesday (when I have to report for jury duty), then we will finally get a chance to really catch up.

But if I do get put on a jury, then who knows how long it will be…

Ditto for the podcast that Valerie and I are trying to finally launch. Valerie’s hands have recovered quite nicely from the surgeries and she texted me a photo of her current painting-in-progress yesterday and I just loved it!!

So now she’s just waiting on me and my unkown schedule at this point. But it’s all coming, eventually.

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Okay, on to the Sealey Challenge!

I did indeed re-read half of Lunch Poems (by Frank O’Hara, City Lights Books, 1964) last evening. I will finish it tonight.

And it was indeed very emotional for me. Quite a few of the poems were familiar to me long before I first read Lunch Poems in 1984, because those poems had been included in The Selected Poems of Frank O’Hara, which I’d pretty much had memorized since I first read that in1975.

And yes, I even took the book to school with me back then, even though it quite clearly has a drawing on the cover by Larry Rivers of Frank O’Hara totally naked…

I digress!

The emotional part about re-reading Lunch Poems last night was all those references to places in NYC (and also Paris) that were totally foreign to me when I was first reading his poems at age 15, alone in my room in Ohio in 1975.

Not only are they no longer foreign, but they became places, buildings, shops, museums, even train stops, that I came to know very well.

And now it’s all part of my distant past. When did that fucking happen?

Anyway. I found the short video below online last night and I wanted to share it. It is Frank O’Hara reading 2 poems in 1964 that I came to know by heart as a young girl. (The first poem is about the day Billie Holiday died.)

But mostly, I wanted you to notice at the end of the first poem, when they pull back and show you Frank’s apartment in downtown NYC — my apartment on E. 12th Street looked exactly like that, with the built-in bookshelves next to the old fireplace! And everything painted white. (My apartment had two fireplaces! And they have since gutted the apartment and got rid of all of that cool stuff.)

After Lunch Poems, I will either re-read Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil (a 1952 edition that I’ve owned for over 40 years, that has the original French alongside the English translations).

Or I will read Drunk on Angel Breath by R. Nikolas Macioci. (He was the the teacher I was so blessed to have in Jr. High School who literally taught me how to write, on his own time, after school.)

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Okay!

There is only one “here’s this” today that is not connected to Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds!!

And that “here’s this” is THIS!!

From Johnny Depp’s new Sauvage campaign with Dior!

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Okay.

Here’s an older photo of Nick Cave that I just loved!

And here’s a photo from July, back in Vienne, France, that I also just love!

And the rest are all from Belgrade last night — and I have to say (again), the show looked INCREDIBLE! So many great photos and videos that it was sort of overwhelming this morning.

Here’s Warren Ellis last night:

And the rest are basically Nick Cave.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds play Romania tomorrow night. You can buy tickets here!

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And that is it for today, gang!

I have so much to do at my desk today — in preparation for maybe not having anytime at all after Tuesday, if I get assigned to a jury.

I am still hoping that they will let me go but we shall see.

In the meantime, enjoy your Saturday, 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!

Some more of that making-the-bed music!!

From the Oldies FM Radio Station on the retro boombox next to my bed!

Saturday mornings are “Amazing 80s Day” and the DJ launched this morning’s show with this absolute gem!! Talk about memories from my Paradise Apartment on E.12th Street in the East Village in NYC!! I used to play this song so loud!

“Born in the USA”, Bruce Springsteen, 1984. Enjoy, gang.