Tag Archives: writing

Heavenly Breezes, Gang!!

July 11, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

The heatwave here has finally broken!

And even though I was still getting some great work done on the editing of The Guitar Hero Goes Home, it was rather tortuous, sitting here at my desk for hours on end, day after day, in the relentless heat .

For some reason, I suffer from heat exhaustion more often than other people seem to. Which can then make any kind of functioning, let alone editing, just impossible. Yesterday afternoon, after about 6 or 7 days of relentless heat, I finally succumbed to heat exhaustion.

However!! Right around that time, a huge storm blew in and the temperatures finally plummeted! And I drank a ton of water and tried to force myself to eat something salty (heat exhaustion is accompanied by nausea so its not easy to eat anything), and I collapsed in bed for a while as the rain poured down, which gave me the perfect opportunity to watch more of those really cool fan-videos on Bad Seed TeeVee!! And, eventually, I was able to actually eat real food, and then I got back to work on the editing.

And minus all the heat (and the exhaustion) that’s what I’m going to do again today — final edits of The Guitar Hero Goes Home. Hopefully, I’ll even finish it today!! Even though Valerie’s not ready to get back to work yet on the cover design, I really want to at least sign-off on the manuscript so that I can get back to working on the new novel (Thug Luckless: Welcome to P-Town).

I see Thug as my sort of swan song. Obviously, I want to complete both memoirs — Girl in the Night and In the Shadow of Narcissa — and also do re-edits and trade paper POD publications of The Muse Revisited Collection and Twilight of the Immortal — all of that stuff is really important to me. But in terms of writing another novel, what Freak Parade was to me in my 40s, Thug Luckless is to me in my (rapidly approaching) 60s.

I’m guessing it’ll take a couple years to get Thug Luckless written and then ready to publish. And especially if the world ever really gets over the pandemic and then I have the theater projects and the film projects going full speed ahead, I will most definitely be into my 60s.

And since everyone is assuring me already that in a heartbeat I will be elderly… maybe Thug will be my last novel. I’m going to approach it as such, just in case.

Speaking of Abstract Absurdity Productions (I sort of was), I am taking yet another webinar — this one on financing small budget films (under €1 million) (euros) and earning a profit for them in the European marketplace. Even though our line producer is European and understands how to do all that already, I still want to understand it myself.

I figure, I have nothing better to do, so why not sit at my desk endlessly and take one hundred and seven million more webinars on film budgeting & finance??

I know!! But don’t get so jealous — my life is nowhere near as glamorous as you might think!!!

Okay!!

I’m outta here. Have a really great Saturday, wherever you are in the world. And let’s all pause for a moment of silence and pray for that goddamned vaccine already. I, personally, am starting to tunnel vision toward the end. I am so disgusted by so much of America’s younger generation (and everything I fought for for decades — meaning: learn how to think for yourself and don’t be a slave to any sort of pedagogue):

“Given how our schools teach American history and what is contained in our mainstream media and culture, it is not surprising that young people buy into this rejection of history. The story of America’s racist past is just so simplified, so compelling in its portrayal of good vs. evil, that it has been adopted as the story of America’s racist present…” –from Denying Progress is Key to the Left’s Rhetoric by Robert Doar

that I can’t even imagine America ever being back on its feet in any meaningful way (for me) ever again, so all I can focus on is getting my writing done, feeding the cats, then going off to the next big adventure (and perhaps hang out with George Harrison and just sing for awhile!!). But a vaccine could at least help things seem a little promising.

Let’s hope.

(However, when they toppled the Frederick Douglass statue, and the mind-boggling, foot-shooting idiocy of that, I began to finally believe that there was really no hope. And, you know, even though a whole lot of Germans finally overcame the years of the Hitler Youth, that’s not my idea of an acceptable way to spend the next 10 or 15 years.)

Anyway. On we go.

So, I leave you with a non-Nina Simone version of “My Sweet Lord” today, because that’s what I was playing at breakfast this morning (when Henrietta stopped by to visit again!!!). Enjoy and have just a great day, okay? Thanks for visiting, gang. I love you guys. See ya.

Just Checking Back In Quickly

July 10, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Okay, gang, I just wanted to touch base here again this evening to let you know two things.

One is that those fan-made videos on Bad Seed TeeVee are unbelievably great, gang. They’re still streaming for several more hours, so get over there and watch some of them. You will be amazed by how talented these people are. And if you are a hardcore Nick Cave fan and are familiar with all of his records and videos, the creativity of some of these fan-videos will astound you.

I have been trying to log on & off of YouTube all day but I really want to get the editing done on The Guitar Hero Goes Home (100 more pages to go), so I can’t just hang out and endlessly watch the videos, unfortunately.

I can’t even pick an absolute favorite because I have just loved so many of them. But off the top of my head, I have to say I loved the puppet-reenactment of “The Weeping Song”, and the guy in the bathtub singing “No Pussy Blues”, the two women from the Netherlands singing “Henry Lee,” and then an animated version of “Get Ready for Love.”

Plus a whole bunch more. Anyway — go check it out! They’re so entertaining.

The other thing I wanted to say is that this week’s issue of PleaseKillMe.com (an online zine mainly about the history and culture of Punk music, but also art, poetry, fashion and music, in general, from the 1960s onward). Today’s issue has a never-before released 1983 interview with one of my heroes, the late Jim Carroll. He is backstage in Boston at the Paradise Theater, before a gig. (Jim Carroll was not only a poet and writer, but for many years, he also had a rock band that bordered on Punk). This was likely his biggest radio hit. Off of his album Catholic Boy, the song “People Who Died”:

It’s a great interview, although sometimes the sound is difficult because bands start playing in some other area of the club. But, overall, it was great. He talks mainly about his now- legendary book, his actual teenage diaries about growing up in NYC with a heroin habit while being a high school basketball star at the same time — The Basketball Diaries.

Jim Carroll, 1949-2009 | Cardboard Gods

In the video interview, he talks a lot about heroin vs. a methadone habit and has some interesting insights to what that was like in NYC back in the late 60s, early 70s. Then he also talks a bit about how he got started in the music business (thanks to Patti Smith and also the Rolling Stones — Keith Richards, in particular).

The interview took place just months before he became my teacher (!!) — I studied songwriting in a class he taught on NYC’s Upper West Side at the West Side Y. (I was already a big fan of his, so to have him as my teacher twice a week in just a regular classroom environment, not some big lecture hall or anything — it blew me the fuck away!)

If you’d like to read the article at PleaseKillMe.com, which goes along with the video, it is here.

Below, is just the video interview by itself.

And now I gotta scoot!!! Have a wonderful evening, gang, wherever you are in the world!! I love you guys!! See ya.

Sorry, But I Gotta be Brief!!

July 10, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I’m not really going to post a true post today, gang — I am trying to finish editing The Guitar Hero Goes Home because I want to get down to work again on the new novel (Thug Luckless: Welcome to P-Town).

I just wanted to remind everybody that today, on Bad Seed TeeVee, they are beginning to stream the original videos that fans submitted! So don’t forget to check it out!!!

Also, Nick Cave sent out a Red Hand Files thing today about Nina Simone singing “My Sweet Lord” in her effort to protest the Vietnam War back in 1972, which was very powerful. You can check it out at that link!

Oh, and my treadmill arrived this morning at 7am! However, they neglected to mention ahead of time that I can’t use it without lubricating the belt first. And I don’t even want to tell you how many various brands of lube live in this house, none of which can be used on the belt of a treadmill!!!!!!

So, next fucking week, the proper lube will arrive. Meanwhile, the treadmill is in my kitchen…

Have a really nice Friday, gang, wherever you are in the world! Sorry for being so brief today, but thanks for visiting. I love you guys. See ya!!

Lube Tube: Standing, From-Behind Manual Stimulation Technique — Sorry, gang! I couldn’t resist!!😂😉😘

Happy Visitors!

July 9, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

Well, a little happy cat came to visit me this morning!!

Loyal readers of this lofty blog perhaps recall that the first summer I spent here in my house, 2 years ago, a wonderful male ginger cat — that I named Henry — used to come visit early in the morning, when I was in the kitchen feeding my cats. He would get up onto the back of the porch chair, so that he could stand right in the kitchen window and watch us through the screen and meow and startle my many cats. I adored him. And I always put out some breakfast for him when he arrived. And he was tame — he let me pet him and pick him up, and he was just so sweet.

He passed away that winter.

But this morning, a young, tame female cat — sort of a tabby/calico — did the exact same thing that Henry used to do!! Suddenly, she was right there in the kitchen window, watching us.

I was so thrilled to see her! I took her out a small bowl of cat food and she, as Henry was, is totally tame. She clearly belongs to someone around here. But she let me cuddle with her and snuggle and I got to pet her. She was so sweet! Just like Henry. So now I’ve named her Henrietta. I hope she comes back. She hung out on the porch for quite a while.

Since my cats are all feral, they don’t let me hold them or pet them or cuddle with them. I have not had a wee bonny cat in my arms since Daddycakes died, over a year ago. It felt so wonderful to hold a cat in my arms again.

I had another visitor, too!! Of the human variety!!

Late yesterday afternoon, when I was at my kitchen table, taking a break from editing, an old friend that I hadn’t seen since before the quarantine began on March 14th, was suddenly standing on my porch at my screen door!

An actual visitor!! A human male!! Someone who actually knows me pretty well. Someone who actually dated me for awhile. Someone who actually grew up — coincidentally — in Cleveland!

It was so nice to see him. We hung out at the kitchen table for a little bit and talked. He drank some beer, then we went out and sat on my kitchen porch so that he could smoke a cigarette.

It was just so nice to have someone to talk to. A real person. A beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking, profanity-using farmer who drives a pick-up truck, even though he did indeed grow up in Cleveland, not too far from where I grew up. And now lives in Muskingum County, not too far from me. There are no farmers whatsoever in Cleveland. It’s urban — a city. And yet he wound up way out here — a farmer. And here I am — not a farmer, just a totally fucking weird woman who went from being a total city girl to living in a world surrounded by hills and foothills and farms:

Top-Rated Cleveland Hotel | Kimpton Schofield Hotel — Cleveland Ohio

Scenic Ohio Farmland - Photography by John Holliger — Muskingum County, Ohio

Very odd and coincidental, right? So he and I get along. Although he stopped dating me because I didn’t smoke or drink (my excessive use of the F-word just wasn’t enough). He thought I was too nice, actually. The last time we “dated,” he came in from the porch one afternoon, went to the fridge to get himself a beer (I always kept beer on hand in the fridge for him) and he mumbled, God, your refrigerator’s clean… Then he looked around the kitchen and said, “Your house is always so fucking clean, Marilyn, that it makes me want to puke!”

(I sensed the end of the affair barrelling at me that afternoon.)

Then he went on a big expensive trip to “go fishing” with one of his friends. I actually found out later that he had gone with a female friend who smoked like a chimney and drank like a fish (although they did indeed go fishing, too). And rumor had it that they’d had a blast. A really great time. And he spent “a fortune” on her…And even though we weren’t dating anymore by the time I found out that he had lied, it still hurt so bad that he thought I was “too nice.” (Even though I didn’t mind at all that he liked to drink & smoke.)

Anyway. I got over it. He is still a great guy, we just don’t date. (And he doesn’t date that other woman anymore, either, because she “drinks too much” and it cost him a fortune — no lie, gang! Honestly…. )

And another sort of “visitor” happened yesterday — my ex-husband in Seattle called me, early yesterday morning, to wish me a happy (upcoming) birthday. (My birthday is in 13 days.)

We chatted for quite awhile. And since I am going to be 60, and he is already 64, he told me to be sure to start moving slower now because I wouldn’t want to break a hip or anything.

He was serious.

Jesus! (My visitor yesterday afternoon is 67 and, in fact, had recently fractured his hip.) I’m, like — okay, this is not funny, people. I am not elderly. Just stop advising me to move slow.

In fact, my new treadmill arrives tomorrow. I have no intentions of moving slow…

Okay, more good news!!

I did indeed begin editing The Guitar Hero Goes Home yesterday, beginning yet again from page 1.

I only made a couple truly minor tweaks to what had already been edited about 6 times… and now I’m up to the middle of Chapter 7, where I had left off a few weeks back. And I absolutely love the book. I am finally feeling completely happy with the edits. It has taken quite a while.

I’m hoping that by the time I finish editing the whole manuscript, Valerie will feel up to working on book cover designs again and I can finally publish this novel.

Okay. Well, more scorching heat is on the way today! I’ve noticed that during the really hot days, I have yet another visitor!! The toad likes to sleep in the flower box on the front porch. He snuggles down in the soil and stays cool in the shade of the petunias. And I try not to water him too much!! Now that I know he’s likely to be there on really hot days, I try to remember to look for him before I just start watering everything.

When I see the toad there, hiding from the heat, it always reminds me of this really great song by the B52’s, “Dry County,” from their really, really GREAT album from 1989 — Cosmic Thing. If you do not know this album, you must listen to it!! It is so much fun. (I knew Fred Schneider only casually when I lived in NYC. But he was such a cool guy.)

Well, on that note, I’m going to get back to editing the novel, and I leave you with “Dry County.” (If you don’t know what a “dry county” is, it means that the county is not allowed to sell alcohol of any kind. You find dry counties a lot in the South. So everyone goes over to the next county to get drunk.)

All righty!! Have a wonderful Thursday, wherever you are in the world, gang!! Thanks for visiting! I love you guys. See ya.

“Dry County”

It’s one of those lazy days
I’ve got nothing to do
Let the wind blow round my head
Let a cloud be my bed

When the blues whomp you up on the side of the head
Throw ’em to the floor and kick ’em out the door
When the blues kick you in the head
And you roll out of bed in the morning
Just sit on the porch and swing
Sit on the porch and swing

The heat of the day’s got me in a haze
The heat of the day’s got me in a haze
Those lazy days of summer are here

Just let the breezes flow,
Through your mind,
I feel so fine

(It’s so hot. It’s so hot. It’s so HOT)

Here come the girls
Here come the girls up the road
Here come the girls, here come the girls
Here come the girls!
What they want to do they can’t do
Cause it’s a… Dry County

Kicking stones and laughing low
Nowhere to go. It’s a dry, dry, such a dry, dry,
Dust devils blowing in your hair but what do you care
When there’s nowhere to go
It’s a dry, dry, county

Have You Noticed that She Goes from the Sublime to the Ridiculous?

July 8, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

Yes — if you must know — I bought more dishes yesterday. A set of four stoneware appetizer plates that look like this:

I know. Don’t look at me like that. I am fully aware that I never, ever, ever entertain anymore, and that I already have something like 25 appetizer plates, most of them porcelain, Limoges. Some that look exactly like this:

And others that have charming depictions of Provence on them. Still others that have just various French farm logos and windmills and cows and ~~cocks~~ roosters and stuff. And, yes, I have some covered in flowers, but none that look exactly like the ones covered in flowers that I bought yesterday! So you can readily see why I needed them.

I’ve already stated plainly — right here on this blog — that it is an addiction, this problem I have with buying dishes. And an addiction is sort of like a disease. So, you know, some compassion would probably be cool right now…

But, honestly, they were reduced for clearance. And I loved them. And I had to have them. And so I bought them. And, no, I can’t imagine a moment in time when I will ever use them at this point, because I live in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of cats, and perhaps, soon, a bunch of AI sex robots that look like Henry (probably around 30 of them) (and, actually, in that case, I will have almost enough appetizer plates!):

Henry es el robot sexual que cambia de pene y dice lo que quieres oír — See some previous post about the insane budget proposal for shooting “Lita’s Got To Go!” and how, for the same amount of money, I could purchase 30 top-of-the-line Henry’s from Realbotix.

Anyway.

Yesterday, I also bought — yes — a treadmill.

(This is where the title of today’s post likely comes from!!)

I am just so tired of it. While I had the virus, I gained 10 pounds. Once the virus was gone, and I could get out of bed for more then 2 minutes a day, I lost 8 of those 10 pounds immediately. However, even though I always eat exactly the very same organic vegetarian non-GMO boring things every single darn day — I put all the weight back on!!

So I started to do the aerobics, which helps, but its nowhere near as effective as seriously moving around every day, which I haven’t really done since the quarantine started here in mid-March. And even though the glucosamine supplements seem to have fixed the problem with my hip joint, I’m still really squeamish about walking too far from home and then maybe having the hip problem start again and have to walk all the way back in all that awful pain.

I love treadmills. And, in fact, in the days when I was always at the country club (I know!! I’m absolutely white!! But, hey, that’s where I met Gus Van Sant Sr and my whole life changed!!). Anyway, I was always on the treadmill at the club. I just love those things. So yesterday, I decided to get one of those really inexpensive ones, that, unlike Henry, has no bells or whistles, and folds up for storage. This way, if I do have any pain in my hip joint, I can just get off the treadmill, sit down at the kitchen table and stream something really delightful on the iPad!!

Which is sort of a way of saying that I am still loving that Belgian crime procedural, Professor T. Jesus, what a fun show. I am almost done with the available episodes. There was still one more season that was made (Season 3), which I’m guessing PBS will add to the stream next summer. (Currently you can stream Seasons 1 &2)

And that reminds me that the new season of Endeavor begins in August!! I had read it wouldn’t air until June of 2021, but this was erroneous information. It will actually air next month and I can’t wait. It is truly one of my very favorite shows.

But, regarding the treadmill — we’ll see how it goes. I was a little leery of buying any more workout equipment because it’s always so hard to get rid of it when you don’t want it anymore. (In the past, I’ve had a rowing machine and a stationary bike.) But I am so fed up with this COVID 19-related metabolism thing. It clearly looks as if it will be 2021 before I will really be able to go anywhere and do anything. And I had to do something. I absolutely cannot stand to put on weight. It makes me insane.

(Which reminds me, the director of Tell My Bones and I are considering putting together some sort of staged reading of the play, but in very short, edited segments and using local professional talent — of which there is actually quite a lot out here; there’s a lot of professional theater in the next town over, where the director has his summer mansion-on-the-hill, and certainly a ton in Columbus. However, we have to wait for the lockdown to be truly over in order to even think about that.)

Then the other thing I did yesterday, was: I deleted TikTok from my phone. I had been hearing that India banned TikTok and, honestly, I had no idea why and I kept meaning to investigate that, but for some reason I thought it was related to the many many many scantily clad young men doing all those amazingly provocative dances.

It turns out, it was more sinister than that. When I saw that Australia was getting ready to ban TikTok, as well, I saw a new piece on the BBC about it and was kind of stunned. China is just really off the charts. (China freely monitors you and tracks your data through the TikTok app.) So, just to make it a non-issue, I deleted the app.

It was a fun app, but honestly, I spend way more than enough time scrolling through Instagram!!! It’s kind of gotten ridiculous during this pandemic — the amount of time I spend on Instagram.

What’s ironic, though, is that scrolling through all those little TikTok videos really helped me pass the time while I recovered from the fucking virus — also a gift from China…. (And I am still so enraged about them forcing those Uyhgur women to have their heads shaved and then trying to sell us their hair!! If anyone ever shaved the hair off of my head, even if I weren’t forced into an internment camp while they were doing it, I would feel so demoralized. )

Oh, crap. Anyway.

Well, I did do some editing on The Guitar Hero Goes Home yesterday, but as I leaped back in to editing Chapter 7, it became apparent that too many weeks had gone by since I had begun the final edit on the novel and that it’s probably a good idea just to go back to page 1 and do a final final edit. I had sort of lost the momentum of the voice – if that makes sense. And since the entire novel is just one man talking, staying on track with that voice is key. So I’m going back to page 1 today.

Sample of the cover art but this is not finished

And while sorting through the mound of papers on the floor next to my desk (underneath the always-growing mound of photos of Nick Cave that I print off of the computer and put on the floor next to my desk), as I was searching through that for the newest edits of The Guitar Hero Goes Home, what to my wondering eyes should appear but — yes — the new pages of Thug Luckless: Welcome to P-Town!! I had totally forgotten, for a moment, anyway, that I was one-third of the way in to writing a completely new novel.

So. On we go — right, gang??

And on that note, I guess I better scoot!! I hope you are having a great Wednesday, wherever you are in the world!! I leave you with another old song from my wee bonny teenage girlhood.

I recently began following Stephen Bishop on Instagram, and was, of course, reminded of this amazingly lovely sad poignant song of his from when I was 16. (Talk about a perfect song for a melancholy 16-year-old girlhood!!) If you’re too young to know this song, it is really lovely — all about heartache (with which I have yet again been struggling here). So listen and enjoy — or cry or whatever suits you!! Thanks for visiting, gang. I love you guys. See ya.

“On And On”

Down in Jamaica, they got lots of pretty women
Steal your money, then they break your heart
Lonesome Sue, she’s in love with old Sam
Take him from the fire into the frying pan

On and on, she just keeps on trying
And she smiles when she feels like crying
On and on, on and on, on and on

Poor old Jimmy sits alone in the moonlight
Saw his woman kiss another man
So he takes a ladder, steals the stars from the sky
Puts on Sinatra and starts to cry

On and on, he just keeps on trying
And he smiles when he feels like crying
On and on, on and on, on and on

When the first time is the last time
It can make you feel so bad
But if you know it, show it
Hold on tight, don’t let her say goodnight

Got the sun on my shoulders and my toes in the sand
Woman’s left me for some other man
Aw, but I don’t care, I’ll just dream and stay tanned
Toss up my heart and see where it lands

On and on, I just keep on trying
And I smile when I feel like dying
On and on, on and on, on and on
On and on, on and on, on and on
On and on, on and on, on and on

It Don’t Come Easy!!

July 7, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis 1 Comment

Yes, well, Ringo Starr turns 80 today, if you can wrap your mind around that!! (I can’t.)

I was a huge Beatles fan as a little girl. When I was 5, there was a Beatles cartoon that was shown on TV very early on Sunday mornings in Cleveland.

I’m not sure why it was shown on Sunday mornings, since most cartoons (that weren’t religious, like Davey & Goliath) were shown on Saturday mornings.

However, The Beatles cartoon was shown on Sunday mornings in Cleveland and I absolutely loved it. And at that point, Ringo Starr was my favorite Beatle. But, also, at that point, I only knew what they looked like as cartoons!! Then, when I was a little bit older and saw the movie A Hard Day’s Night on television, and saw what they actually looked like as non-cartoons, I was absolutely smitten with all of them.

Anyway. I can’t believe that Ringo is 80. He looks fantastic, btw. I follow him on Instagram so I see his posts all the time and there’s just no way on Earth he seems 80. Unlike Paul McCartney, who has become very “Sir Paul”-like, Ringo is still really groovy.

When I was 10, after The Beatles broke up, Ringo released a single that became a huge hit in the US and the UK. I remember buying the 45 RPM at Woolworth’s and then playing the record un-endingly for months afterward. I just loved the song — “It Don’t Come Easy.”

George Harrison produced it. (This is a shot of them using a Moog synthesizer during the Abby Road recordings, but I’m guessing they looked exactly the same when they recorded “It Don’t Come Easy”!!)

Well, all I can say is happy birthday, Ringo. That guy has seen so much. And yet he still seems like a really happy guy.

All righty. Back to the editing on The Guitar Hero Goes Home today. Yesterday was a complete wash out, work-wise. I was not able to focus. I am going to try like heck to get some work done today, though. We shall see.

Okay, gang. Thanks for visiting. You know what I’m leaving you with today. Play it loud!! Be happy & enjoy your day. I love you guys. See ya.

“It Don’t Come Easy”

It don’t come easy,
You know it don’t come easy.

Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues,
And you know it don’t come easy.
You don’t have to shout or leap about,
You can even play them easy.

Forget about the past and all your sorrows,
The future won’t last,
It will soon be over tomorrow.

I don’t ask for much, I only want your trust,
And you know it don’t come easy.
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time,
And you know it just ain’t easy.

Open up your heart, let’s come together,
Use a little love
And we will make it work out better.

Got to pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues,
And you know it don’t come easy.
You don’t have to shout or leap about,
You can even play them easy.

Peace, remember peace is how we make it,
Here within your reach
If you’re big enough to take it.

I don’t ask for much, I only want your trust,
And you know it don’t come easy.
And this love of mine keeps growing all the time,
And you know it don’t come easy.

Just Too Many Beautiful Days!!!

July 6, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

I know you’re going to stop believing me, but it is yet another unbelievably beautiful day here today, gang!

And I am off to town here shortly to get the groceries.

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but I actually was totally wiped out from finally completing Letter #8 for Girl in the Night. Not that it was so taxing to actually write it, but every day that I worked on it last week, the temperatures hovered around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. So it was more the relentless heat hovering around my desk each day that wiped me out.

During the evenings, though, it really cools down around here and then the house is wonderful by morning. But, again, today, it’s supposed to zoom up to 94 by midday…

So!!

I did go to Granville last evening to have dinner with Kevin (the director of Tell My Bones) and his husband, at the Granville Inn. My first time being out and about and socializing since March 14th.

I had such a great time. I was really sort of anxious regarding how I was going to feel to see the inn during a pandemic, with everyone wearing masks and all that, but honestly, it was not so bad. They’re just face masks, right? It’s not as if some sort of irreparable horrific deformity has befallen anyone — it’s just a mask.

And we ate out on the patio, so were able to keep our own masks off the whole time. We were there for 3 hours. I could not believe how the time flew.

And I made a vow to myself before getting out of the car to not talk about politics. But, of course, this is America, and the overwhelming amount of artillery focused on removing Trump from the White House is hard to not at least mention.

I am, of course, opposed to Biden and that whole crew (and curious why more people aren’t talking about the news re: the Obama-Biden collusion on the Logan Act re: Flynn … hmmm.) Anyway. I’m not voting for Biden because I don’t trust him or any of the machinery in full force behind him right now. So I have no clue how to vote in November. And of course, some of the things I feel about what’s going on in Washington right now had to come up in conversation — because they asked me.

And when I replied (trying hard not to get on my soapbox) they both sort of stared at me and said “How do you know all this stuff? You should run for President.”

I didn’t say this, but what should really happen is that more Democrats should leave the realm of CNN, and make a determined effort to seek out a news source that just relays facts, without the selective omissions and opinions, and then I think more & more Democrats would know this same stuff. (And I don’t think that too many Republicans are actually in the dark about how the news is getting reported & by whom — because we Democrats are notoriously known for thinking with our hearts, our compassion, and not studying the facts for ourselves. Which is why we are so easily led astray by drama and hysteria.)

Anyway, if more Americans would try harder to seek out facts for themselves, then more of us would see that on ALL sides we are receiving a dramatic distortion by those who would profit from us believing their lies. ALL sides. And right now, I think that the Democratic Party is the worst I’ve ever seen it.

I’m guessing a bunch of people are just going to vote for Kanye West at this point…

We actually did not talk too much about politics, per se. Although we did talk a bit about the progressive/liberal “Hitler Youth” mentality that continues to sweep the college-aged generation of Americans right now. That is truly scary and just fucking awful. (And what’s worse is that they probably don’t even know who the Hitler Youth were because so many public school-educated young people all over the US are not taught History or Civics anymore.) (Or Art, or Music, or Drama…) (They’re taught anger and intolerance with a little entitlement thrown in.)

And we also talked a little about what China is doing to the Uyghur women in those internment camps (!!) involving shaving their heads and then trying to sell the hair to Americans… And why aren’t more Americans alarmed by that? And by the uncomfortable parallels to Auschwitz? Or by the global pandemic of slavery in the world right now?

Mind-boggling to me. All anyone wants to talk about is “get Trump out of the White House” and all problems will be solved.

Well, all that aside, it was great to be out with friends and have dinner at a place I truly love.

Some good news — the Nick Cave Instagram site announced today that those videos the fans submitted for Bad Seed TeeVee will be shown on Friday July 10th and on Friday July 17th, in a 24-hour loop, starting at 10am BST. So that should be kind of amazing!!

Beyond that, I’m getting back to the final edits of The Guitar Hero Goes Home later today — once I get back from town. I want to make sure the temperatures are at their peak around here before I get down to any serious work at my desk…

All righty, gang! On that note — I’m outta here. Have a great Monday, wherever you are in the world. Thanks for visiting. I will leave you with some travelin’ music as I prepare to scoot right out the door! “Travelin'” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, off of Nobody’s Children from their Playback Collection. Listen and enjoy and maybe even scoot out the door, too, and go somewhere!! Okay. I love you guys. See ya!

Travelin’

Well I’m travelin’, travelin’ baby, travelin’ on
Well it’s good to see you but I can’t stay long
No I’ve got a travelin’ fever, baby, got a travelin’ jones
No don’t look for me in the mornin’, baby, I’m gonna be travelin’ on

I’ll be good, as good as gold
To the next or maybe better
Wait for me down the road
Keep one eye open for my letter

Cause I’m gonna be travelin’, travelin’ baby, travelin’ on
Lord it’s good to see you but I can’t stay long
Oh I’ve got a travelin’ fever, baby, got a travelin’ jones
Well don’t look for me in the mornin’, baby, I’m gonna be travelin’
Gonna be travelin’, gonna be travelin’ on

I’ll be up before the sun
Get a big jump on the morning
You should have known all along
You should have known you’d get no warning

And I’m gonna be travelin’, travelin’ baby, travelin’ on
But lord it’s good to see you but I won’t stay long
Oh I got a travelin’ fever, baby, I got a travelin’ jones
Yeah don’t look for me in the mornin’, baby, I’m gonna be travelin’
Gonna be travelin’, gonna be travelin’ on

Travelin’ on, travelin’ on
Travelin’ on, travelin’ on

Well I’m travelin’, travelin’ baby, travelin’ on
Yeah it’s good to see you but I can’t stay long
Yeah I got a travelin’ fever, baby, a travelin’ jones
Well don’t look for me in the mornin’, baby, I’m gonna be travelin’
Gonna be travelin’, gonna be travelin’ on

Enjoy the 4th, Everybody!!

July 4, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis 2 Comments

I can’t tarry on the blog today because I am almost finished with Letter #8 for Girl in the Night: Erotic love Letters to the Muse.

I got so much done on it yesterday, gang. I was at my desk for 11 hours — in 90 Fahrenheit degree heat, so it was a bit exhausting. But I’m happy with how it’s going. It’s going to be one of the longer chapters.

In the middle of all my progress yesterday, I got a text from Peitor wanting to know if I was available for a “quick” conference call with the line producer (they are both in LA).

ME: I'm in the middle of another project right now -- how long will it take?

HIM: 10, 15 minutes the most.

ME: OK. but no Zoom, I don't want to be on camera

Well, an hour and fifteen minutes later… it actually was a great conference call, though, and I’m so happy we had it. I just keep getting more and more excited about Abstract Absurdity Productions, gang. Even though it’s still going to take a while to get things up and running and filming. Just some really talented and enthusiastic people are getting on board and they are being so helpful. We are so blessed.

Meanwhile…

Loyal readers of this lofty blog will no doubt recall the 4th of July coffee mug!! It comes out once a year. (It doesn’t look it here, but it’s way too small; instead of 3 refills of morning coffee, I get about 17!!) (Which also means going up & down the stairs 17 times…).

But there you have it — my first cup of 4th of July coffee out on my kitchen porch at 6am this morning. It’s yet another gorgeous (hot) day here in Crazeysburg.

All right. I’m gonna close now. I want to get back to work on Letter #8.

If you live Stateside, and still like being an American, I hope you enjoy the 4th.

If you live elsewhere, have a great Saturday!! And thanks for visiting!!

Since so many Americans seem to hate America right now, I will forego anything patriotic and leave you, instead, with “La Marseillaise”. Who can find fault with that, right?! (Especially that final verse!! Yay!! Just an all-out testament to tolerance.) (If you don’t know “La Marseillaise,” it’s the French national anthem. They actually taught us this in elementary school in Cleveland. Nowadays, I don’t think they even teach our own national anthem in our elementary schools, let alone the national anthem of any other country’s…)

Well, all righty!! Enough!!. I love you guys!! See ya!

Thank Goodness for Small Towns

July 3, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

And I really mean that, gang.

Last night was the night that Crazeysburg did our fireworks in honor of the upcoming July 4th weekend. And living here, I have to say, you’d never know there was any unrest in the world in any way at all.

I’m guessing that over at the ballpark, where they set off the fireworks, they asked people to at least observe social distancing. I didn’t need to go over there because I could see everything from my kitchen porch. So I don’t know for sure. But everywhere else, it just felt like a regular, low key and wonderful, small town 4th of July holiday getting underway.

And I have to say that the full moon that’s getting underway now, too, was so beautiful last night that it was hard for me to focus on the fireworks! The moon was peaking through the really tall, 100-yr old pine tree in my neighbor’s backyard. And gently rolling clouds were setting off the moon like some sort of painting. It was just lovely. (And down on the ground, the fireflies were once again putting on an amazing display of their own.)

The little kids across the street — and they are really little — would scream every time a firework boomed really loud. It was so cute. (Not so cute for my poor cats, though. When I came inside, all 7 of them were hiding in my bedroom closet! It was so funny to see them all come spilling out of there about an hour after the noise was finally all over.) (The door to my bedroom closet doesn’t close all the way, so that’s their favorite place to hide. It’s a good-sized closet and easily fits 7 cats.)

Anyway. I’m gonna scoot for now because I made really great progress on Letter #8 for Girl in the Night yesterday and I want to continue the momentum. I might stop back and post again later.

Enjoy your Friday, wherever you are in the world!! Paul Weller’s new album, On Sunset, finally dropped today, after many delays due to the virus causing shortages in the stuff they use to press vinyl records. But it’s out now and it is a really lovely album, gang. I leave you with the song “Village,” which actually dropped back in May, but I still really love it. Especially the way my life feels these days.

Okay, thanks for visiting!! I love you guys. See ya!

“Village”

Here I am, ten stories high
Not a single cloud in my eye
Not a thing I’d change if I could
I’m happy here in my neighborhood

And all the things I’ve never been, I’ve
Never seen, I don’t care much
And all the things I’ve never done, I’ve
Never won, I don’t care much

I never knew what a world this was
‘Til I looked in my heart
And saw myself for what I am
Found a whole world in my hands

And all the things I’m supposed to be
And all the things that you want from me
I don’t know why, I don’t know why
I don’t know why, I don’t know why

I don’t need all the things you got
I just wanna be who I want
I don’t need all the things you hold
In high regard, they mean nothing at all

And all the things I’ve never been, I’ve
Never seen, I don’t care much
And all the things I’ve never done, I’ve
Never won, I don’t care much

This village is where I’m from
It’s one place that I call home
You wanna show me another side
But I’ve got heaven in my sights

I never knew what a world this was
‘Til I looked in my heart
And saw myself for what I am
Found a whole world in my hands

And all the things I’ve never been, I’ve
Never seen, I don’t care much
And all the things I’ve never done, I’ve
Never won, I don’t

Happy Days Are Here Again!!

July 2, 2020 marilyn jaye lewis Leave a comment

The Nick Cave website announced this morning that on July 23rd, a “live stream” concert with Nick Cave, performing alone at the piano in Alexandra Palace in London, will stream on the DICE app!!

It will stream in 3 different global time zones so check that link above there for details. I don’t know what the global exchange rates are, but for the US ticket, it was only $20. (And seating is only limited by the number of people who can sit on your phone at once!!)

As luck would, of course, have it, July 23rd is my dad’s 90th birthday and I will be driving home from Cincinnati that evening, but oh well. It’s always best to have nothing whatsoever to do for months, and then cram all upcoming events into the same day. (My life seems to excel at that, with or without a pandemic.)

But I am, of course, very excited, and will endeavor to not speed more than my customary 95 mph the entire 100 miles that it is between my dad’s place and my home.

Yay!!!

I got some more good-ish news yesterday. Sandra called to tell me that she’s having a phone conference today with the theater company in Toronto that will be producing our play (this one is mostly her play, about her life; but I’m a contributing writer on it and we’ve been collaborating on it for something like 7 years now. Literally. It was supposed to be produced in Toronto this Fall, however, as we all know too well by now, 2020 no longer exists in the abstract, only in the immediate upfront here & now, day after day after day, hour after unpredictable hour …)

Anyway!! I will be super excited to hear what they chat about. I’m guessing our production date will be reset for 2021, but no clue yet exactly when. (And rest assured, gang, that there are still a TON of rewrites needed for that play!! So I can’t wait to be indescribably super busy again. It will finally feel like real life around here.)

Today is the day I’m supposed to chat with my accountant in NYC re: Abstract Absurdity Productions, but he never actually confirmed a time, so I’m not certain if it’s happening today or not. We’ll only know for sure if the phone rings…

Meanwhile. Yesterday did not pan out as planned. Kevin (the Director of Tell My Bones) had to cancel our dinner plans for the Granville Inn, and instead, we’ll be going there on Sunday evening. I was really disappointed because it has been 3 and 1/2 months since I socialized in any way and I was so excited for the chance to not only go out with someone but also to go to Granville, but that’s how life seems to go these days. We’ll do it on Sunday, instead.

11 Granville Ohio Photos - Free & Royalty-Free Stock Photos from ... — Granville Ohio in the summer

After I got off the phone with him, I went outside and took a walk — just to sort of focus on something else. It was just a gorgeous day. I took a bunch of photos during the walk and posted them to my Instagram account, but here are a couple them.

Across the street from my house, looking east.

The first one is of the train tracks in front of my house, but looking East this time — in the direction of Coshocton County, which is just a really beautiful county, gang. (You can’t see it from here, it’s too far away. I’m just saying that it is really beautiful there.)

Looking west, from the main road in and out of town

And the second one is of the main street through the village. If you look way in the background, that hill is where there are always a bunch of cows grazing. By the way, by the time you’re at that hillside, you are already over Wakatamika Creek and well out of the village.

I know the street looks deserted, but I actually waited for a bunch of cars to drive by first.

Plus, it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit yesterday and not a lot of folks were outside at midday.

Okay, well, gang. I guess that’s it for today!! I hope you have a terrific Thursday planned for yourself, wherever you are in the world! Thanks for visiting!!

I’ll leave you with the song “Idiot Prayer” — the title of Nick Cave’s upcoming streaming event. It’s a song I really like but I won’t say why I like it so much. It’s from the album The Boatman’s Call — Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, 1997. (This is a really beautiful album, gang, if you aren’t familiar with it. Some real heartbreaking gems on this album, plus the title is really easy to spell.)

So, listen and enjoy! I love you guys. See ya!

“Idiot Prayer”

They’re taking me down, my friend
And as they usher me off to my end
Will I bid you adieu?
Or will I be seeing you soon?
If what they say around here is true
Then we’ll meet again
Me and you

My time is at hand, my dove
They’re gonna pass me to that house above
Is Heaven just for victims, dear?
Where only those in pain go?
Well it takes two to tango
We will meet again, my love
I know

If you’re in Heaven then you’ll forgive me, dear
Because that’s what they do up there
If you’re in Hell, then what can I say
You probably deserved in anyway
I guess I’m gonna find out any day
For we’ll meet again
And there’ll be Hell to pay

Your face comes to me from the depths, dear
Your silent mouth mouths, “Yes”, dear
Dark red and big with blood
They’re gonna shut me down, my love
They’re gonna launch me into the stars
Well, all things come to pass
Glory hallelujah

This prayer is for you, my love
Sent on the wings of a dove
An idiot prayer of empty words
Love, dear, is strictly for the birds
We each get what we deserve
My little snow white dove
Rest assured