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We have all the earmarks of a perfect day here! Sort of!

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Except for all that stuff at the beach and everybody looking like they’re on vacation.

We don’t have any of that.

However.

It is sunny and sort of mild-ish. And the fantastic AC is still working splednidly — this is sometimes spelled “splendidly” but it means the very same thing — so I will take what I can get. Yay!

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Wow, so first let me say that I am really, really happy with the enthusiastic responses we’re getting from other writers about contributing to the M. Christian tribute anthology.

And these are writers I have not worked with in such a long time. I know M. Christian would be so happy about all of this. So I am going to do my absolute best to make this a true homage to him.

RIP M. Christian

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I need to share this with you.

Loyal readers of this lofty blog no doubt recall that my dearest friend on Earth. Paul Martin, passed away from AIDS back in 1999. We had been best friends since high school. We met in the Theater Dept., where he designed and built all the sets for our school plays.

As an adult, Paul designed and built sets for professional theaters and then got into doing the same in the movie industry.

One studio he worked for was called Carolco. He specifically moved to North Carolina to work for them.

Well, yesterday, Metrograph sent out their weekend newsletter and there was a wonderful essay about Carolco!!

When Carolco Was King

“DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN MULTIPLEX movies—we’re talking glossy, obscenely budgeted, star-studded mainstream entertainments primed for blockbuster status—were not only fun, but quite possibly kind of renegade and daring at the same time? For at least a solid decade, a heavy-hitting salvo of the period’s most pop-culture defining smashes, like Ted Kotcheff’s First Blood (1982), James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall (1990) and Basic Instinct (1992), were all coming from one studio: Carolco Pictures. They were an indie Icarus who out-stratosphered the Tinseltown majors…”

Wow, such memories, gang. Not just because the movies were so much fun back then, but Paul always had the best stories about working on all the various movie sets. For me, movies just aren’t the same anymore.

” [Carolco] made hugely successful films with respectable casts, defied the system, and managed to have a good time during that period. They raised their profile in an era when the majors were perceived to be the voice of American films, and really broke the studio stranglehold on things.”

Me, long ago, at Paul’s beach house on Wrightsville Beach, NC. Photo by Paul..

And while we’re at it– Paul’s favorite movie! He absolutely LOVED working on this film. (It was filmed on the Carolco lot in North Carolina, but it was produced by New Line.)

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All right.

Well, here’s this!

More great ones from Phyllis Stein!!

Johnny Thunders!! By that well known Punk photographer, No Info!!

And, wow, gang, did I used to LOVE this magazine!! Rock Scene. It usually featured photos that you couldn’t really find in the other rock magazines back then. There was a local drugstore within walking distance from me when I was 13 that sold Rock Scene. It was the only place I could find it.

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And moving on to the Bad Seeds in Madrid…

Once again, there were TONS of videos posted from the show and it looked like another great one. But I couldn’t find many photos that really jumped out at me.

But here’s this!

Before the show, George Vjestica takes in the Art!!

Warren Ellis took in (wore) local sculptures, and warned that Madrid last night was going to be hot, but he does not say whether he meant the city itself would be hot, or the Bad Seeds’ show would be hot, or maybe stuff going on in his hotel bed later? Perhaps all 3?? We just simply do not have enough info to know for sure:

And here’s Nick Cave! (He seems a little hot, so maybe that was it…)

Okay!! Next, the Bad Seeds play 3 different venues in France between July 14th thru the 17th, you can BUY TICKETS HERE!!

Don’t forget, the huge homecoming show in Brighton is SOLD OUT. However, you can still go there and do this!!

“Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds will take over Resident, Brighton’s legendary independent record shop, as part of a series of activities in the city around their huge homecoming show in Preston Park on 31st July.

The shop will host a merchandise pop up with an array of existing and new items on offer, including a limited edition vinyl release (details to follow next week), discounts across album catalogue, giveaways, and a special post box where fans can send physical letters to Nick Cave’s The Red Hand Files.

The merchandise pop up will include a range specially designed for the Brighton show – only available at Resident and the Preston Park event, plus an exclusive tote bag made in collaboration with Resident, as well as classic Bad Seed and Cave Things items.”

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And I guess that is it for today.

Have a swingin’ 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!!

Wayne texted this to me yesterday. It was very interesting, indeed.

I am really kinda stunned that not only did I not see this show, I did not even hear about it. Granted, I was (briefly) away at college at the time, but I majored in TV-watching and I of course LOVED the Stones…

Anyway! Go, Keith!! (And thanks, Wayne!) (BTW, this is AI)

Keith Richards heard Carson’s joke from backstage — grabbed a guitar — Carson apologized on live TV (15 mins). Enjoy!

Horrible heatwave gone for now!

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The high heat broke last evening, finally.

Starting this evening, we’ll have rain for the rest of the week, but right at this very moment— it is a really nice morning here.

Morning after the big 4th!

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In case you missed it (or didn’t feel like watching massive fireworks on your tiny phone because you no longer have regular TV):

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It turns out that yesterday we also celebrated this!!

And while we’re at it! (And, yes, this song eerily captures my whole fucking life. I had no clue it was going to do that, though, 50 years ago…):

“American Girl”

Well, she was an American girl
Raised on promises
She couldn’t help thinkin’ that there
Was a little more to life somewhere else
After all, it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to
And if she had to die tryin’
She had one little promise she was gonna keep

Oh yeah, all right
Take it easy, baby
Make it last all night (Make it last all night)
She was an American girl

Well, it was kind of cold that night
She stood alone on her balcony (Ooh)
Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by
Out on 441 like waves crashin’ on the beach
And for one desperate moment there
He crept back in her memory
God, it’s so painful when something that is so close
Is still so far out of reach

Oh yeah, all right
Take it easy, baby
Make it last all night (Make it last all night)
She was an American girl (Ooh)

c – 1976 Tom Petty

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Before we travel to Poland for those Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds photos I didn’t have yesterday–

I hit this weird “Keith Richards paydirt” on Instagram this morning. I stumbled upon a site that has been inactive for 6 years. And they had GREAT photos of Keith!! (Meaning, I had never seen any of the photos before.) Yay!!

Keith draining the Kahlúa?! (Not smoking.)

Keith and Mick, pool, LA, guitar, reading, not smoking:

Keith, Bill, Brian, boarding a TWA or de-boarding, not sure, but not smoking!

Keith looking weirdly clean-cut but SMOIKING!! (Also called “smoking”):

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And I think that these are all from Poland. And I also think it rained during the show (?).

It was one of those shows where there were tons of videos, and then most of the photos that people posted were really small. But here we go!!

Of course, I loved this!

Nick Cave looking really tiny next to a huge window, while reading and drinking something (and not smoking):

Then later… (or maybe on a whole different day, I actually have no idea):

And then also this (much, much larger than the window now):

And this happened:

I love this tie!!

And that’s it for Poland!!

Tonight the Bad Seeds play Montreux. Followed by another show back in Germany tomorrow, but that one is sold out. You can still buy tickets here for Montreux , though!

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I think I forgot to post this the other day.

It’s an edited version of one of our recent zoom calls for Tabor Research Group.

John the Baptist and Jesus: Separating History from Myth (1 hr 18 mins):

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And I just wanted to mention how happy I am that these 2 novels that I recently re-published as Kindle eBooks continue to be my most popular titles now. This makes me so happy, gang. Thank you so much!!

Twilight of the Immortal (my novel about gays, lesbians and bisexuals in Hollywood during the Silent Film Era, told against the backdrop of the short life of the legendary movie star, Rudolph Valentino):

The Guitar Hero Goes Home (“Experimental adult literary fiction. An American rock & roll legend, in the final year of his life, finally comes clean about sex, drugs, and rock & roll.”):

Thank you so, so much, gang!!

And over at the Internet Archive, where you can read a large selection of my out-of-print books for free:

Lust: Bisexual Erotica

And the Blue Moon edition of Neptune & Surf are my top out-of-print titles being checked out for free!!

So, thank you for all that, gang!

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Tomorrow is my day off and I will be getting back to work on the call for submissions for the M. Christian tribute anthology.

So far, it has been great hearing from people I haven’t worked with in years, and getting such a positive response about it. I will keep everyone updated later in the week, in the event you want to contribute something, too.

Meanwhile, that’s it for now.

Enjoy your Sunday, wherever you are in the world.

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s close with this.

My first encounter with this song was reading the lyrics to it, which were printed on the back of the album I had just bought (The First Born is Dead) while on the subway in NYC, and I could not wait to get home and play that record!! Enjoy, gang.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Train Long Suffering”, live at Metronome Prague, June 20th, 2026:

Misleading, but let’s run with it anyway!

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Let’s pretend a lovely summer is underway!!

It’ll be raining all day again today, though, and then here in Ohio, we will be gearing up for our heatwave.

The 4th of July is supposed to be not only rain, but thunderstorms, and for the whole upcoming week, the temperatures will be in the mid-90s Fahrenheit.

Each day now I just feel so blessed to have this Central AC, gang. It’s incredible, to think that This Old House is 125 years old and this is the first time it ever had air conditioning.

And when I think they gave it to me for FREE. Wow.

Okay.

Even though it was raining off & on all evening, we did indeed have our fireworks here last night in Crazeysburg.

They did a beautiful job. Although I didn’t go over to the actual ball park, where they were doing a bunch of festive stuff before the fireworks. I was exhausted from the humidity, and working my shift, doing all the grocery shopping in town, putting everything away when I got home, then making dinner, etc.

And I didn’t want to walk all the way over to the park just to find out it had been postponed because of the rain.

But, anyway. I have a perfectly clear view of the fireworks from my house. Still, it does sort of lose a little something when the fireworks go off before it’s really the 4th of July…

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So, Valerie had great news regarding her hand!

She got the stitches out and the doctor was really happy with her progress. So they’ve scheduled the surgery for her other hand on July 13th. Yay!

So it is almost over, and she will be able to get back to painting and drawing reasonably soon.

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The Rolling Stones released another track from the upcoming album, Foreign Tongues.

I not only like this track a lot, but I like that this is only an audio track. I haven’t been a fan of the Stones’ videos for many years. (Those videos target a much younger audience than me, and I’m guessing it’s working. But I just don’t like watching them.) (I also can’t stand the cover image on the new album. But, you know, they probably figure they won me over 54 years ago, let’s target someone else now.)

Anyway. Here’s “Divine Intervention”:

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So that workshop on Thursday from the Indie Authors Alliance, regarding book promotion for authors —

Wow, was it depressing. Totally stressful. I finally felt some relief when another writer posted in the chat that the workshop was really depressing…

Anyway. It was worth taking it, I learned a lot. But, wow, gang, publishing and everything that went along with it, has changed so drastically since the Internet and self-publishing kind of wiped out the traditional small presses.

In the not-so-long-ago old days, the publisher, even the small presses, did everything for you once the book was ready to come out. They arranged your readings and book signings– they simply told you where to show up and when (even if you had to go out of town, or overseas, for it). They took care of your PR, arranged your interviews — either Internet radio or they’d send you a Q &A to fill out, and then arrange for an interview for you “in print” (online) drawn from the Q & A.

Now, it seems like only the major houses do that stuff. So even if you’re not self-publishing, if you’re with an Indie press, you have to do a ton of stuff on your own just in hopes that your book will even get noticed.

Since my first book came out in 1999, I must have sold, all titles totaled, close to 200,000 print books worldwide — not including eBooks or my self-published books. Which were incredible numbers for a literary erotica writer/editor. But now I am starting back at square one. ( And I tell you, I am so grateful that the publisher I am currently with put together such an outstanding cover. It definitely gets people’s attention.)

But there is SO MUCH online AI scamming that you have to watch out for if you’re releasing a new book. I must delete at least 10 of those fake AI inquiries every single day.

In the event you’re new to the blog– my new novel, The Curse of Our Profound Disorder, is coming from Parisian Phoenix Publishing in September!! You can pre-order it HERE.

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However!! That said–

On Thursday evening, I also listened to a live talk with Eileen McKusick, sponsored by Simon Parkes’ Connecting Consciousness group.

Wow, that was really interesting and very uplifting. Although it had nothing to do with publishing:

“For 30 years, Eileen has been exploring the human biofield – the electromagnetic field that surrounds and animates the body – and how sound can bring it into harmony. Her work bridges the gap between traditional healing arts and contemporary science, offering a grounded, evidence-informed approach to health and human potential.”

Here’s a sample of one of the many things she does:

Nervous System Reset (7 mins):

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Okay.

Since I didn’t post anything yesterday, here’s this from Friday.

More about Johnny Depp’s new art offering– “3AM BLOOM”

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And the rest of the “here’s this’s” are basically all connected to the Bad Seeds tour.

From George Vjestica, heading to the show in Italy, which was last night, and which appeared to be another one of those off-the-charts shows:

Here’s Warren Ellis. He appears to be at the airport? Leaving Greece (in the heatwave) and heading to Italy? Not sure, really — but he is wearing a Harbor Freight hat!!

And here’s this, too — to underscore how hot it was??

I found this photo on Facebook, but I don’t know which show it actually came from:

And here’s the set list from the show in Italy last night:

Here’s Nick Cave in Italy:

Photo by Guiseppe Craca, Rolling Stone Italia

Here’s a shot from the jumbo screen last night — but a number of people posted videos of this — where a very happy young boy was onstage with Nick:

And here’s this!

The Bad Seeds will be in Belgium tomorrow. You can buy tickets here!

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And that is it for today.

And I still have 3 and 1/2 hours before I have to head to town for my shift! I’ll be with the retired Chaplain, so it should be a very thought-provoking evening. She usually has so many interesting things to talk about, and the time flies.

But I also want to add that yesterday morning, that new client of mine — the one who lives on that beautiful property surrounded by all those incredibly tall trees– wow, did we have a nice time. She has had quite a life. So very different from mine, and yet we have so much in common. (She’s only about 6 years older than me.)

Anyway, okay!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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And since I’m determined to behave as if we’re finally having a wonderful, FUN summer around here–

Here’s this again!!!

Breakfast-listening music!!

From the CD collection, Rockin’ Down the Block (1987) which I always start listening to when it’s summertime —

The Rivingtons, “Papa Oom Mow Mow,” from 1962!! Enjoy, gang.

A sort of perfect Saturday in the Hinterlands!

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Except that, of course, I’m exhausted today. But it’s all good stuff.

I ended up driving about 110 miles, total, yesterday because my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and I did indeed go to the clubhouse at the golf course for lunch!

It was spectacular! But it always involves a ton of driving for me. Plus, I decided to go get groceries after my shift.

So I think that’s part of why I’m exhausted this morning. (For some reason, even though the golf course is only about 6 minutes from my house, I never go there from here. I’m always driving there from 30 miles away.)

Anyway!

It was a success! A truly gorgeous spring day and so the scenery outside the clubhouse windows was just so green and beautiful for miles and miles. And the sky was a perfect blue.

And when the waitress set the vodka martini in front of him — straight up with olives in a lovely martini glass — his whole face lit up. And the food there is always really, really good.

He was just so happy. Plus his energy, overall, was just really vibrant yesterday. We really had the best time.

Not us!! But the energy is the same….

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Okay!!!

So, day 2 (!!) and both editions of 1954 Powder Blue Pickup remain for sale on Amazon!!

So this could be real, gang.

Although when it got re-published, it lost it’s 5-star review from the first edition (that they banned 5 years ago). So if you have already read 1954 Powder Blue Pickup and want to review it, I would really appreciate it. (You can always just hit the “stars” review button, if you don’t want to use your name while publicly reviewing a hardcore sex book…) (Just sayin’…) The book is here.

Meanwhile!!

The eBook edition of The Curse of Our Profound Disorder is now available for pre-sale!! $7.00 (This will not be part of Kindle Unlimited.)

And a huge thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered it!

When I got my advance review copies, I sent a copy of it to a guy I know in NYC who had requested a copy last month. He has probably read everything I ever wrote over the years and often reviewed it.

He texted last night that he has read through Chapter 2 so far and is enjoying it.

So, yay!

This means that now an additional 3 people are reading the book…

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All righty.

Some quick “here’s this’s” for today because I gotta drive 30 more miles here soon and see my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man again!

Another photo from the recent 60th Anniversary Sip-In, at Julius’s Bar in NYC the other night!

This photo is specifically staged to copy the first sip-in, back in 1966. (If you’re new to the blog, it used to be illegal to serve alcohol to suspected gays & lesbians in NYC, and the first sip-in at Julius’s Bar was the first public protest that eventually led to big changes for the rights of the LGBTQ community.)

The man at the far right actually participated in the first sip-in and was sitting in that same spot.

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And here’s this!

Apparently yesterday was the 37th anniversary of the release of Full Moon Fever!! Tom Petty’s first solo album.

And here’s this, while we’re at it. From Full Moon Fever, Tom’s fantastic cover of The Byrds’ hit, “Feel A Whole Lot Better” !!

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And here’s this!

A great photo of Keith. I have no clue where he’s at here, but gambling seems to be involved (my money is on him!!):

And here’s Keith at the recording session for the Stones’ song “She’s A Rainbow” at the Olympic recording studios in London, 1967:

And, yes! Here’s this! From Their Satanic Majesties Request album, 1967, “She’s A Rainbow”:

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The history of this next photo — according to the Instagram post, it maybe had something to do with honoring his legendary “suck my dick” comment and a girl said “I would!”(!) (I was not “the girl” btw, and whether or not “I would”, is a private thing that I probably wouldn’t post on a blog…)

And if you want to re-live his legendary comment, you can purchase these stickers from Cave Things and stick them everywhere!! ($21 plus shipping)

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And here’s this!

More from Johnny Depp and his duet with Imelda May on the upcoming tribute album to Shane MacGowan (you can pre-order the album here):

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And that is it!!

I seriously gotta scoot!

Have a super Saturday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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Let’s leave with this!!!

From my retro boombox next to my bed this morning!!

From 1995!!

That wonderfully addicting hit from Musical Youth, “Pass the Dutchie”. Enjoy, gang!!

We’re going with “happy” this morning!

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Because what really happened this morning totally upset me.

I was not yet out of bed, but I was awake. Lying there, really peacefully. Really comfortable in my amazingly comfortable bed (come visit & find out!!).

The sun was not yet up so I couldn’t see which CAT did it, but it was one of the large, heavy ones — however, what he or she did was come leaping suddenly over to the bed, landing on my chest and then using my chin as a springboard for their back feet (CLAWS!!) to go springing off into the dark again.

And, yes, blood was suddenly streaming everywhere…

Crap. It really hurt.

My first thought, of course, was that I have my fucking annual review at the Agency today, right?

My favorite 95-year-old Japanese man will not give a hoot that my chin is shredded today, but I was kinda hoping to look sort of professional at the meeting. (This will be my supervisor’s supervisor — so it’s the, you know, Chief BigWig gal.)

Anyway. At least I didn’t get THIS:

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And it could’ve been a huge gouge in my lip, instead. Or it could’ve, you know, punctured my eye. Or god only knows what other horrific thing, so once the bleeding stopped and the pain went away, I decided to be happy that it wasn’t a whole lot worse…

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And so here I am!!

And here’s something else I’m grateful for.

I was at my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house yesterday morning (I had just gotten there) and my phone rang.

It was the Amish roofer guy!

HE: “We’re at your house right now, did you still want us to fix your siding?”

Absolutely! So my siding got fixed and then they stopped by again after I got home so that I could pay them. And, once again, they did such a great job. And I was once again grateful to my now deceased dad because I was able to pay them in cash.

And shortly before they arrived, Sandra called from NYC. And we had a very, very good chat. And she said that, even though my trip there in June doesn’t involve work on “The Guide to Being Fabulous,” there’s still a good chance I can stay in that new apartment she shares with that other woman. And perhaps stay for free, but at the very least, for about $60 a night. (The other woman owns the apartment so it’s up to her.)

So we shall see, gang. I have until June 9th to cancel the hotel reservation without getting charged a fee. But $180 compared to 3 nights in a hotel off Times Square… as much as I love hotels, it would save me a fortune. So we’ll just see.

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Tomorrow is the first night of Passover. (Which was also the night of the Last Supper, about 2 thousand years ago.)

As difficult as my family-life was, when I was a little girl, I really loved the first night of Passover, even though it was really long (several hours, literally). We usually spent it at my adoptive mother’s parents’ house. My grandparents were extremely conservative Jews, so we followed the Haggadah from start to finish, the exact same way, every single time, every year.

In fact, this was the brand of Haggadah we used. The story was in English but the prayers and songs were in Hebrew:

I do get sort of “homesick” for those old days, whenever Passover rolls around. I honestly do. I am an extremely family-oriented person and I have about zippo family left now.

And last night, I found this on YouTube — my favorite song from Passover!! (I still remember every word.) The whole family would sing this song together, in Hebrew, at the end of the Pesach dinner. It was a really joyful thing:

And while I did inherit a really beautiful set of fine china (service for 12) from that same grandmother, along with several sterling silver pieces that were always on the Seder table — candlesticks, creamer & sugar bowl set, serving platters and trays. The only piece I inherited from the actual Seder things was this (front & back):

This contained the salt water that you passed around the table and dipped the bitter herbs into (and then ate them, while saying a prayer). It was symbolic of the tears the Hebrews cried while escaping Pharoah and then following Moses endlessly through the desert.

I absolutely love this thing, even though I have never used it on my own.

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Well, anyway. That’s about the extent of my Passover this week!

Meanwhile!!

Here’s this!

Speaking of Eastern European Jews….

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And here’s this!

Also from long ago, and I miss those days, too (although perhaps I don’t miss that mustache…).

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, in days of yore:

And Warren Ellis presently! In America! (I’m not 100% positive, but I think he’s in a really fancy bowling alley here…)

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And I think that is it for today.

The visit between my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and his daughter continues to go really well. And for some unknown and miraculous reason, the weather has not been as bad as was predicted (yet).

We did go get sushi, sashimi, and sake yesterday, too. And that went well. Today, though, he and I will be on our own because she has a couple of meetings to go to. But it’s been going really good.

All right, well.

Have a terrific Tuesday wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys, See ya!

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Going back to My Aim is True, 1977, by Elvis Costello!

This fine song was singing in my head this morning! (Before the cat attack, that is). This was sort of an iconic song back then. I still love it.

“Less Than Zero.” (Original version.) Enjoy, gang!

"Less Than Zero" 

Calling Mr. Oswald with the swastika tattoo
There is a vacancy waiting in the English voodoo
Carving "V" for "vandal" on the guilty boy's head
When he's had enough of that, maybe you'll take him to bed
To teach him he's alive before he wishes he was dead

[Chorus:]
Turn up the TV, no one listening will suspect
Even your mother won't detect it, so your father won't know
They think that I've got no respect but
Everything is less than zero
Hey, oo hey-ey
Hey, oo hey-ey

Oswald and his sister are doing it again
They've got the finest home movies that you have ever seen
They've got a thousand variations, every service with a smile
They're gonna take a little break and they'll be back after a while
Well, I hear that South America is coming into style

[Chorus:]

A pistol was still smoking, a man lay on the floor
Mr. Oswald said he had an understanding with the law
He said he heard about a couple living in the USA
He said they traded in their baby for a Chevrolet
Let's talk about the future, now we've put the past away

[Chorus:]
Hey, oo hey-ey
Hey, oo hey-ey...

c - 1977 Elvis Costello