And it was actually such an easy 7-shift run. It really was. (This is assuming that the final shift today goes as smoothly as all the others did.)

And tomorrow is my day off. Yay.

I still have a short story to finish (still those same 4 paragraphs or so). But, wow, gang — do I have a TON of vacuuming to do.

Me! Doing what I do best!!

WAIT! NO! I meant– ME! Doing what I do best!!

(Whatever it is that I do best, I do it in black & white!)

***********

But, seriously. I’m tired.

However.

I have to say that my annual review at the Agency yesterday afternoon kind of blew my mind. I wasn’t worried about it, because I knew that I hadn’t broken any rules, or called in sick excessively, or gone to ANY shifts without wearing the required uniform. (Nor did I steal any Lawrence Ferlinghetti poetry books from the staff library.)

I always worry at least a little bit that I don’t work enough shifts.

But I just wasn’t expecting my review to be so, well, incredible.

I did not know that the review included input/feedback from front desk staff, client coordinators, schedulers, clients and clients’ families.

The Supervisor went over every detail of what everybody said, and then summed it up:

SHE: “Everybody loves you.”

In all honesty, I think the only reason I’ve lived this long is to finally hear somebody say, “Everybody loves you.” But, you know, actually hearing it, and knowing the people, faces, lives, that this encompasses… I left the building kind of stunned.

She also gave me a new shirt — which I really needed. Yay. (Polo-style, dark green, with the Agency logo on it — this new one fits great.) AND– she gave me a huge glass coffee mug!! (With the Agency logo on it.)

Loyal readers of this lofty blog know so well by now that I am a dish-aholic and that I already own about 763 coffee cups!! But, yay!! I now have about 764!!

But seriously. It takes so much out of me every day, to get in my car and drive 30 miles to go to a client’s home. I would always much rather be sitting at my desk, working on a book like in the old days. I live about 99% of my life in my head now, because my career has changed so much since 2020.

So, hearing something like that was just, wow.

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

All right!

I loved this! Proof that it’s still legal in this country to talk to your therapist.

From The Western Journal:

“…At issue was a 2019 Colorado ban on counseling practices aimed at challenging a child’s expressed sexual orientation or gender identity.

“Violations of the law can lead to fines and put licenses in jeopardy for counselors…

“The lawsuit was brought by Kaley Chiles, a licensed counselor in Colorado, who argued the state was censoring her private conversations with minor clients…

“Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion… Gorsuch wrote that the law attempts to silence a particular viewpoint.”

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All right.

Here’s this:

Johnny Depp is taking that Rum Diary seriously!

He was in LA yesterday, launching his new brand of rum — in specially-designed bottles. (Visit Three Hearts Rum)

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And here’s this.

From 1979, Keith in the studio with a member of reggae band, Black Uhuru:

And here’s this, while we’re at it! “Shine Eye,” by Black Uhuru, featuring Keith Richards on guitar:

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From Simcha Jacobovici, in Israel this morning:

Passover: The evidence! (7 mins):

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And here’s this!

Nick Cave, a long time ago:

And I loved this!

You know — learn the difference! (Don’t get your holiday background music all fucked up.)

CHRISTMAS:

HALLOWEEN:

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

And I think that’s it for today. I need to sort of find some energy somehow before I head out for shift 7.

I actually have a Zoom meeting scheduled for later today (“How to use the New Substack Recording Studio” — not that I’m planning to switch to video podcasts, I just think I might want to use it when my new novel launches in the Fall). But Methinks I will probably skip it today and hope that they record it so I can watch it at some point when I have a functioning brain.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

Let’s leave with this today!

Just something so beautiful from yesteryear.

Simon & Garfunkel – “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”. 1970. Enjoy, gang.

“El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”

I’d rather be a sparrow than a snail
Yes, I would
If I could
I surely would

I’d rather be a hammer than a nail
Yes, I would
If I only could
I surely would

Away, I’d rather sail away
Like a swan that’s here and gone
A man gets tied up to the ground
He gives the world its saddest sound
It’s saddest sound

I’d rather be a forest than a street
Yes, I would
If I could
I surely would

I’d rather feel the earth beneath my feet
Yes, I would
If I only could
I surely would

c- 1970 Jorge Milchberg, Daniel Alomias Robles

Here we are, gang!

Today is my double-shift in the middle of a 7-shift stretch! And I am actually feeling really good.

And yesterday I managed to do some quick shopping before my shift, then got home, took care of the cats, showered/washed my hair, did yoga, made dinner, studied my French, read a chapter in The Lost Mary: Rediscovering the Mother of Jesus (only one chapter left to read), AND THEN–

Yes, a chapter and a half in a new scholarly/academic book (2024) we’re reading in James Tabor’s Patreon Research Group:

“Studies of the historical Jesus typically reduce John the Baptist to a subordinate role in the story of Christian origins. This meticulous historical study focuses on John himself, revealing his extensive and enduring influence.”

My copy of the book just arrived yesterday, so I am already about 200 pages behind everyone else!! So I got a lot of reading to do!!

Good Lord, right? (I’m not saying that because it’s Palm Sunday…) I had enough on my List of Things To Do before the book got here…

We’re supposed to read about 200 pages before each monthly Zoom meeting, in order for us to all “be on the same page,” as it were. Yesterday was the first Zoom pertaining to this book, hence the reason why I am already 200 pages behind.

Anyway!

Wow! What a great book. I can’t really discuss outside of the group, why we are reading this book. But already, I am learning so much about things I never even considered before.

We were also told by James Tabor to buy this book (2004) and luckily, I was able to get it used, because Amazon is selling it for $83:

“…The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene approaches Christian Testament sources through analysis of legend, archaeology, and gnostic/apocryphal traditions. This is the story of the suppression and distortion of a powerful woman leader – Schaberg presents Mary Magdalene as successor to Jesus in a challenging alternative to the Petrine primacy.”

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

And then after I was done reading for the night, I watched another rerun of “Archer” (decidedly not Christian in any way), and then, by candlelight, listened to Chapter 17 (3 more chapters to go!) of the audiobook, The Quest of the Historical Jesus by Albert Schweitzer. (On LibriVox)

You would probably think that my entire life is consumed by quests to sort of conquer the New Testament in some way, but you’d be kind of wrong about that.

Mostly I think about:

ME: What the fuck am I doing on this fucking planet? How the fuck did I get here?

ME: Where did all these cats come from? I didn’t always have so many cats!

And sometimes–

ME: How come autism is called neurodivergence now? What the fuck is up with that? More fucking around with language just to fuck with people’s heads…

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Anyway.

I don’t have too many “here’s this’s” for today, but here’s this!

Keith and Mick Taylor between flghts in 1972:

Keith buying some drugs some THINGS in a market in France in 1971:

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And here’s this!

Johnny Depp coming out of a trailer only last week!

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And here’s a different Johnny!

From Phyllis Stein, Johnny Thunders in his kitchen in NYC, 1977:

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And here’s this!

Nick Cave, photo taken by Warren Ellis using a special camera that makes people’s fingers look really, really long:

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And that’s actually it for today because I want to just sort of chill a little bit before I head to town.

Today, I will finally be with my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and his daughter (she arrived last evening). Followed by a shift with the retired Minister and his lovely wife and cat (and I’m hoping his stay in the hospital last weekend wasn’t too terrible).

And then drive the 30 miles back home and do my usual:

ME: What the fuck am I doing on this fucking planet? How the fuck did I get here?

ME: Where did all these cats come from? I didn’t always have so many cats!

Meanwhile!

Enjoy your Palm Sunday if you celebrate it, otherwise just have a great Sunday, wherever you are in the world!!

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

I leave you with this!

This whole album ended up being my driving-to-town music yesterday! (See yesterday’s post.)

And here’s yet another reason why listening to this record at top volume was much more important than going to school!!! (And still is!!)

“Mystery Dance,” 1977. Elvis Costello, from My Aim is True. Enjoy, gang!!!

“Mystery Dance”

Romeo was restless, he was ready to kill.
He jumped out the window cause he couldn’t sit still.
Juliet was waiting with a safety net.
He said “Don’t bury me cause I’m not dead yet”.

[Chorus:]
Why don’t you tell me ’bout the mystery dance.
I wanna know about the mystery dance.
Why don’t you show me,
’cause I’ve tried and I’ve tried,
and I’m still mystified.
I can’t do it anymore and I’m not satisfied.
I can’t do it anymore and I’m not satisfied.

Well I remember when the lights went out
and I was tryin’ to make it look like it was never in doubt.
She thought that I knew, and I thought that she knew,
so both of us were willing, but we didn’t know how to do it.

[Chorus]

Well I was down under the covers in the middle of the night,
tryin’ to discover my left foot from my right.
You can see those pictures in any magazine.
But what’s the use of looking when you don’t know what they mean.

[Chorus]

c -1977 Elvis Costello

Well, Happy Saturday.

It is very sunny right now — and this will allegedly be the final moment of sunshine that we’re gonna see for the next 10 days or so.

I guess we’ll find out.

I do have some flowers getting ready to bloom in the backyard. And my ancient dogwood tree is also getting ready to bloom out there.

And the kittens will be one year-olds on Easter Sunday!!

Remember this unbelievable surprise that surprised me on my kitchen porch in the wee hours of April 5th last year??? And how it sort of irreparably changed my life??

Anyway. My point is that it really is starting to be Spring around here.

So that feels good.

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There is not much to report today. (I mean, assuming you’re tuning out everything in the “global news”.)

Later today, my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s daughter arrives from Seattle, so her visit gets under way today. (Although, she won’t arrive until after I’ve gone home.)

But we’re ready! I didn’t need to buy any groceries for him yesterday. And the private nurse had done a bunch of housecleaning before she left town. So there wasn’t anything I needed to do yesterday except my usual stuff. Cook for him, make him his coffee, hang out with him and chat. (And, well, a tiny glass of the pre-mixed Vodka cocktail and the Pringles Mingles!! We were, after all, celebrating his daughter’s almost imminent arrival!)

Oh, and this happened yesterday.

And I have to add, here, that the Agency I work for is a really, really great Agency. For so many reasons.

When I got to my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house yesterday, there was a card waiting for me, tucked inside his back screendoor.

It was a handwritten note from my supervisor, who had stopped in the other day to pick up my monthly paperwork. I had briefly gone over with her some things I had done to try to make the daughter’s upcoming visit a smooth one.

The note from my supervisor was thanking me for “going above & beyond” for the client and his daughter, and for being a special part of the Agency.

Wow, you know? And what does it take — like, 5 minutes to do something like that? But it meant the world to me.

So, even though I so wish I could retire and just focus on the writing again, it is a great company to work for. I always, always, always feel appreciated.

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

All right.

So it turns out that yesterday was National Joe Day!

I had never heard of it, but it turns out it’s an actual thing. It celebrates guys & gals named Joe! (Or Jo.)

So here’s this!

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

And I loved this! What a great photo!

From the recent “Wild God” Tour of Australia, in Sydney. Nick Cave on the jumbo screen, overlooking the backup singers onstage:

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And that is actually it!

I’m looking forward to sort of an easy, sunny Saturday today, gang.

Both proofs — the eBook and print proofs — for The Curse of Our Profound Disorder were sent to me yesterday afternoon by the publisher and they both look great. So that feels good. A novel that’s been in me since 1998 is finally going to be in print.

And so I’m just gonna try to not stress about anything today and let the world happen however it’s meant to happen.

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

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

I leave you with this!

This was so strange — around 3AM, I was just coming out of a dream, and the voice in my head was singing these specific lyrics, and I knew every word but I couldn’t figure out what the song was, since I was still half-asleep:

“Baby’s gotta have the things she wants.
You know she’s gotta have the things she loves.
She’s got a ten-inch bamboo cigarette holder
and her black patent leather gloves.
And I’m doing everything just tryin’ to please her,
even crawling around on all fours.
Oh, I thought by now that it was gonna be easy,
but she still seems to want for more.”

Then the chorus came:

“Why do you have to say that there’s always someone
who can do it better than I can?
But don’t you think that I know that walking on the water
won’t make me a miracle man?”

And then my whole being smiled, gang. “Miracle Man”, by Elvis Costello!! 1977.

The very same song that made me stay home sick from school the moment I first heard it, because I needed to hear that song (that whole album — My Aim is True) over and over and over!! I could not be bothered with school!

So that is the song I’ve been singing around here all morning today!! I share it with you now.

Enjoy, gang! I still do!!

“Miracle Man”

You never asked me what I wanted. You only asked me why.
I never thought that so much trouble was restin’ on my reply,
I could say it was the nights when I was lonely
and you were the only one who’d come.
I could tell you that I like your sensitivity,
when you know it’s the way that you walk.

[Chorus]:
Why do you have to say that there’s always someone
who can do it better than I can?
But don’t you think that I know that walking on the water
won’t make me a miracle man?

Baby’s gotta have the things she wants.
You know she’s gotta have the things she loves.
She’s got a ten-inch bamboo cigarette holder
and her black patent leather gloves.
And I’m doing everything just tryin’ to please her,
even crawling around on all fours.
Oh, I thought by now that it was gonna be easy,
but she still seems to want for more.

[Chorus]

I hear they’re givin’ you a bad reputation
just because you’ve never been denied.
You try to say you’ve done it all before.
Baby, you know that you just get tired.
Yet everybody loves you so much, girl.
I just don’t know how you stand the strain.
Oh, I, I’m the one who’s here tonight,
and I don’t wanna do it all in vain.

[Chorus]

c – 1977 Elvis Costello

Well, the good news is that we did not get a tornado last night, although we were under a tornado warning all evening.

The other good news is that I did the best I could to not think about it. I closed the windows and the Venetian blinds. I prayed and then I let God handle it.

I am so tired of living in constant weather-induced PTSD.

We did have some high winds and severe thunderstorms during the night, but mostly I was able to sleep through it.

And I am in a great mood here this morning!

Although — as of right now, we are supposed to get nothing but rain the entire time that my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s daughter will be visiting (starting tomorrow afternoon). So that kinda sucks.

We were hoping to take her to lunch at the great golf course clubhouse that has those fantastic views…. I guess we’ll see if the weather report changes at all. (This time of year, the clubhouse is only open 4 days a week.)

Today, we will probably be out running last minute errands. His private nurse is now officially out of town for a week, and she usually does all the grocery shopping. So we shall see what awaits me when I get to his house today.

But when we go shopping, he stays in the car, so it doesn’t really matter if it’s raining.

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

Anyway!

Wow, yesterday.

I waited (and worked) at my kitchen table until 4PM and the AC guys didn’t show, they were delayed on another job. So now they’ve been rescheduled and will hopefully be here in 2 weeks…

This idea that all my days off for the last 3 months have been mostly spent with repairmen is kinda getting to me… I have 3 potential lunch dates awaiting me, but I never seem to have a day off anymore when something else isn’t scheduled!!

But I did do my taxes yesterday and hit send (!) and I am actually getting some money back!!

BTW — if you still haven’t done your taxes, my accountant in NYC sent me this link. It was really easy and quick and FREE!! Both IRS and State:

FreeTaxUSA

And I paid all the bills and got some other work done, so it was a productive day — I just got frustrated, sitting there all day at the kitchen table, with all the cats closed up for hours in the bedrooms upstairs.

But boy were they happy when I finally let them all come out!!

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Okay, so, naturally, since I am working 7 straight days this week, with one of those days (Sunday) being a double, the Agency texted me yesterday and wants to do my annual review on Tuesday, after my shift.

So it’s really just going to be a lost week, as far as getting any writing done.

(Not to be confused with “The Lost Weekend”, wherein Ray Milland got really, really drunk in 1945 and then won an Oscar…)

But on we go…

***********

Meanwhile!

Here’s this!

I love this!

Yet another photo of Keith backstage with Jolie Jones during the Rolling Stones very crowded 1972 tour!! Here, he’s getting ready to light her cigarette!! (If only people would leave them the fuck alone!)

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And here’s this!

I love that side-eyed look that Keith is giving to Gram Parsons!

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And here’s this!

Keith and Mick in LA, doing the final mix of Exile on Main St:

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And here’s that time someone snuck some glue onto the side of Keith’s wine glass…

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And here’s this!

Just some Beatnik legends in NYC in 1957!

And I actually own one of these! An original — a gift to me from the late, great Richard Kasak, publisher of the legendary Masquerade Books, NY:

And here’s this! Gregory Corso Reads ‘Poets Hitchhiking On A Highway’ , 1970 (3 mins):

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And last but never, ever least!!

Nick Cave & The Birthday Party! (I love this room.)

And Nick Cave, not smoking on another sofa, almost awake!

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And that is it!

I gotta scoot! Gotta stop at the bank, then the gas station, and then get this 7-day stretch of shifts underway!!

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

Thanks for visiting.

I love you guys. See ya!

*******

I leave you with this!

I’ve posted it here before, but it seems like a good day to post it again!!

One of the best lyricists of our time!!! Too fun.

Nick Cave reads the text of his song “Dead Joe”, London 1992 (1 min):

For one thing — the weather.

No high winds. Mild temperatures — mid 60s Fahrenheit. Partly sunny! (In other words, what Spring is supposed to look like around here when no one’s fucking around with the atmosphere…) Yay.

Yesterday went great. As I mentioned in my post, I did indeed spend a good chunk of my shift sitting alone with my iPhone, in the waiting room at the dentist’s office, waiting on my client. (I got caught up on a lot of the emails that were sitting in my inbox.)

But then my client wanted to run some errands! Yay! To buy more Easter stuff for his grandkids!! So fun. So it was just a really easy shift yesterday.

And, as a private bonus for myself — I’d been wanting to buy some chocolates for my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s eldest daughter, who will be visiting him from Seattle starting this weekend. She’ll be there all week, leaving on Holy Saturday.

I wanted to have some Easter candy waiting in her room when she arrived, but I had no clue where I would find good quality chocolates in my usual stops (i.e., Rural King, drugstore, Dollar Store).

So when my client yesterday wanted to stop in at Goumas’ Candyland — wow!! The best homemade chocolates for miles around here. I was able to buy her a really nice box of homemade chocolates. So that made me really happy.

Goumas Candyland: “A Taste of Heaven since 1911”

And, actually, after my day off tomorrow, I won’t have another day off for 7 days, because I will be working everyday at my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house. His private nurse will be out of state, visiting her own family, and so I’ll be covering for the nurse while his daughter is visiting.

It’s probably gonna be a little intense, because my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man and that particular daughter have a dicey relationship. But I’m sort of like a pro at the dicey father-daughter relationship thing!

Plus, I know how his mind works nowadays, and I can sort of head him off at the pass when I sense he’s getting ready to be “difficult.” We shall see!

And his fridge is already loaded up with this for emergencies!! Yay!!

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And speaking of the Rural King!

My quick stop there yesterday morning before my shift was interesting, indeed.

‘Wild Thing’ was not there. There was only one checkout lane open and it was kind of long, so I was waiting a little longer than I usually do to check out.

And just when the person in front of me was paying for his stuff, in through the huge front doors walked ‘Wild Thing’!!

I saw him immediately, of course, but I didn’t want to act like my usual 14-year-old crushing self…

I was trying to be more like this — well, spiritually:

And I am not making this up. He saw me right away. I saw him see me. And then he sort of hurried over to the checkout area where I was standing. He threw off his coat, but he didn’t clock-in or anything, he just sort of hovered there, happily chatting away with the woman who was ringing up my stuff.

He glanced at me, I glanced at him — both of us sort of smiling. But I was determined not to say anything, because it would seem weird for me to start suddenly talking to the guy who wasn’t actually ringing up my stuff, right? And he wasn’t even on the clock yet.

But, wow. The energy was just right there. It was so cool.

So I left there, yet again feeling like the crushing 14-year-old!!

*********

Anyway!

Here’s this!

I love photos of Keith with his (enormous) family.

This was to celebrate either his birthday or Christmas, 2024:

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And here’s this!

It turns out that yesterday was Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s heavenly birthday!

**********

And here’s Nick Cave, performing outdoors for 7 (tiny) people across the water!!

And here’s this.

Not sure what he’s thinking about here, but sort of seems intense.

Nick Cave, not smoking on a sofa. (Perhaps he’s in the process of quitting smoking here and wishing he had a fucking cigarette…)

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And that’s it!! I really gotta scoot.

My supervisor just texted me, saying she needed to stop in at my favorite 95-year-old Japanese man’s house this morning, to collect some of my paperwork from the last month.

So off I go!!

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

I don’t know if I’m posting tomorrow because the AC guys are coming at some point, but we’ll see.

Thanks for visiting!

I love you guys. See ya!

***********

I leave you with some travelin’ music!

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ “Travelin'” from Nobody’s Children. 1995. From the Playback CD boxed set. Enjoy, gang!!