the greatest days, months, & years are ahead

October (Robert Frost)... O hushed October morning mild, Thy leaves have ripened to the fall; Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild, Should waste them all. The crows above the forest call; Tomorrow they may form and go. O hushed October morning mild, Begin the hours of this day slow. Make the day seem to us less brief. Hearts not averse to being beguiled, Beguile us in the way you know. Release one leaf at break of day; At noon release another leaf; One from our trees, one far away. Retard the sun with gentle mist; Enchant the land with amethyst. Slow, slow! For the grapes' sake, if they were all, Whose leaves already are burnt with frost, Whose clustered fruit must else be lost-- For the grapes' sake along the wall.

:D

thank you to kaykay & cindy for these pix! yesterday's birthday show for vince jordan at long beach's house of hayden started out with an acoustic set by bernie pearl, then an on-the-fly mini-acoustic set by whiteboy james, scott abeyta & i. (james, who has near-eidetic memory, threw in jb lenoir's "don't touch my head," which i'd just played for him that morn for the 1st time!) this was followed by two powerful sets by WB james & the blues express, who put on the happiest, least aggressive show i've ever seen him do, then some high-energy johnny burnette/r&r trio from eddie nichols, & finally "rock boppin baby" & "american music" from the blasters, who swept in & out at the last moment. i've not heard phil alvin's voice sound so strong for quite some time -- strange, what with his recent health scare in spain that required tracheotomy! james commented, "yeah, he sounds better than me!", but that was not true at all, just james being typically gracious toward a friend. he told me they've made shirts that read "flat-line phil" to commemorate PA's near-death. :D ... vince's girlfriend sharon, who organized the whole party, is a production manager for a shoe designer: how interesting to hear about her job! i brought up the movie "kinky boots" & she told me that her company actually is making the shoes for the upcoming broadway adaptation of the film, which i thought quite a coincidence! she had "backstage pass" lanyards made as party souvenirs as well as shirts reading "vince: est. 1962" for his many closest friends... food (& cookies!) was delicious, company friendly & happy, the bar overflowing, the day fun & joyful, w/only a few small exceptions...

a quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog

many moons ago when i worked for buck owens (as most people in bakersfield seem to have at one pt or another), my dept head & i had a typing race. she had a pretty cool musical office legacy, having worked prior to that for berry gordy at motown... tho she pasted me, even w/her long red talons, i clocked about 120 wpm that day; didn't play piano then, either (too drunk in those days); if i had, i mighta bested her, but oh well... i thought of this all just now after completing a poster because at BO productions, we did a lot of typing & typesetting, building posters & ads all the time, so it's fun to have the opportunity to do so now & then... i used to make all the DD posters, & now that i'm freed up musically, maybe i will again! here's my latest poster, from a great site robbie found called www.postermywalls.com ... using its extremely-user-friendly interface, i took only about 10-15 mins to make this. have fun with it! :D

"friend... good. woman... wife... friend. smoke... good." (sleep good. drink no good. not no more.)

(quotes from my favorite movie... well, w/some addenda...) today's been like something from a grimm's tale (just read a fascinating article about them! here's the link), tho minus the wanton violence & cruelty, of course -- being watchful, patient, wary, careful, caring for a loved one; then a mountain shower swooped in & covered the hills & swelled into the house w/elemental rainsmell & brisk wind; then slumber hit like an enchanted spell... this is about all the posting i can muster today. today is a good day, but i'm calling it over, tho it's only 430 pm. maybe a movie later, or mtg tonight, or 2nd wind will set in & roadtrip: we'll see what happens... meantime, here's some pix. (the alignment's off, so i numbered them.) this (1) is nearly the coolest thing i've ever seen. don't you wish you'd been there?!?! beautiful, momentous, etc!:

... these (2, 3) make me covet objects & want them & be an idolater, which i dislike, but aren't they COOL!?!?! at intervals, all must eat the pablum of society ("soylent green is people!") haha; i know that didn't make sense... oh well...

i so rarely eat there, but this (4) makes me want BK fast food:

this bust (5) is my idea of manliness; the neck & jaw & brow & ears & set of head resemble the most impressive human i know, tho the monster's older & w/o the hundred different beguiling, scary, sweet, tough, mad, joyous, silly, lascivious, crafty, so-so-alive expressions:

... and this (6) is darling, in my opinion, the ideal, in fact. :)

hope you are having a lovely day/eve, friend.

we of the craft are all crazy. (lord byron)

here again comes the black dog. not a sweet black dog, like gusgus, but the sad & scary & smothering one that churchill named, the one that makes all light & life seem to seep away... (insert sentiments about need for dark to see bright, yin-yang, universal balance, the deserted lonely chasms leading to lovely, fruitful pastures, etc...) least this time i'm not alone in facing it, symptom of creative temperament, the eros-thanatos impulse, self-centeredness, bad chemicals, some combination, whatever. blablablablabla. i do know now, in the middle yrs of this short life, that like all storms, this'll pass: my job's to weather it, & keep moving forward...

hang in there, & i will, too.

blablablablablablablablabla

(fragment alert: grammarians have been forewarned...) i want to write but am suffused w/laziness. the sky is moist & fecund w/promise of rainstorm. it's weather for contemplation if i'm lucky, but more likely sloth, if i don't marshall my efforts & get moving. there's lots to attend to these days, good important things. so gonna spring up here in a moment & exercise. that always gets my blood & brain in action. so grateful i love to exercise so much. after too many days w/o it, just don't feel right. start getting cranky, doom portending, yes, like something's truly wrong. it's not: i just need exercise... just found some new exercise channels on the roku box (free tv, once the box is purchased, tho not real time, & not the thing for regular tv-watchers), so now i have a plethora from which to choose... met a nice woman the other day, from an extraordinary family of unusual & exceptional people (positive to extremely negative) who not just was a teacher, principal, then started her own school before studying law then turning to the financial sector: now she's starting health retreats. i wanna go to one! rise w/the sun, do yoga, eat clean, do more exercise, go for a hike, more clean food... sounds wonderful! it's interesting to be affiliated w/such a high-functioning group of people, what w/my somewhat discouraged view of americans being zombified/rendered slaves by tv, internet, corporate consumerism, poisoned water/soil/air, & bad bad food... (yeesh, that DOES sound pretty bad, doesn't it???) well, that's enough rambling for now. time to go lift some weights! yay! hope your day brings positive activity &/or rest/revelation. :)

my rights end where your nose begins: on the illusion of control

trying to be compassionate & kind, since we were raised that way & it just feels better. but the other day i wanted to bust a chair over someone's head. i try to regain control of my emotions; i put on heavy makeup. facial armor of sorts. it makes me feel more ok in a pinch, even if some folks want to judge & deem it bizarre... like ultimately i care... i know who i am: do you?

"selfishness, self-centeredness: that we believe is the root of our troubles... we step on the toes of others & they retaliate, seemingly without provocation"... how many times in my life have i tried to control other people, places, things, then been angry when life didn't go my way? i've heard it compared to being a flea on a piece of driftwood, sailing down a river. the flea starts thinking she's in control. she even gets a little sailor's cap, steering wheel, etc. but the flea does not control the current. and none of us can control one another, except perhaps thru coercion... but then anyone who's read much knows that those who've really, truly experienced suffering, who are forced to the limits of human endurance, will interpret themselves still to have freedom in their minds... well, i'm blabbing now, but please, if you're reading this, especially if you purport to have sobriety as a friend of bill, look up & read the big book pp. 60-64.