grateful!!!

still alive! over the latest bad cold! sun is shining! not too sore! still sober! loved ones are healthy! my new job is swell! there is always a chance for better! life is good! these pix: my 57th bd with dear parents & sister; dear james with sister sherri in seattle; happy visit with funny aunt pam & my favorite uncle ralph near seattle; dear mrs lorenza hughes, santa rita nm native, my mentor teacher, a gentle & admired nonagenarian, with mom & dad at dwk luncheon; 94 yr old dolores huerta leads the crowd in cheers for madame president; my former student matthew, who as a little boy looked like john belushi-meets-pugsley, returns from army leave to visit his old teacher; daisy the hyper lovebug takes a nap in sherri's lovely washington home.

good friends, good eats, good god, let's eat

(grandpa phil's good-humored tho some might say blasphemous dinner prayer)
tho i told people not to bring gifts, i still got lovely & cool gifts. tho i sed don't bring food, people brought delicious grub, anyhow (mark, a mini mart's worth of little debbie!). people like to give. people are generous & good. what a memorable & happy time i had, & i hope everyone else did, too! :) i love my friends & family & am grateful to be around these days. a friend wrote to me on a bd card, "i am so happy to be in this world at the same time you are." wow!
many music friends showed up & played various styles. when my band played, friends gathered in the small living area & in my periphery, i could see them beaming & bopping w/such joyful fervor, it really lit me up. jim, mark, & phil grinned w/good cheer, there in my little living rm w/such a swell little crowd.
"you made me feel so happy, like i was young again," smiled penni, who is always so sincere.
yes, what a lovely time yesterday was, & what a lazy day today is: i didn't even leave the house til 2 pm! these are the last days of summer for me, as well as the dog days, so i don't feel so bad... what a treasure, to lounge around my little pad, lazily cook cereal & toast, go back to bed, nap, read, then have leftover bd cake w/tea, now using the net while sitting under a tree at central park. they put a nice riverwalk in here; it's really lovely here, on this blazing, texas-like day. it's humid & the sun is so bright, it burns the skin. i feel alive. a young couple are kissing over by the river archway. kids shout & trot & jump on the nearby crayola-hued play equipment. a cool breeze just swept by, mysteriously, out of noplace. is there anywhere better right now? no, my friend, there isn't, & may you feel the same about your present condition. :) now it's time to scram, for, thinking of my father, i quote, "he who loveth much saith little."

good grace in part involves accepting kindness; thank you, memphis mike, who lives online at http://memphismike.com & many other places

pat (the wisest woman in the world) has told me i need to acknowledge & accept compliments, & moreover, believe & internalize them wherever possible (good lord!! do you do that?)... memphis mike wrote this a few days ago & i just saw it cause i'm not online regularly these days, so i post it here since, frankly, i think it's unbelievably nice that he wrote these compliments unsolicitedly! :) he is the fellow who has told me i have a "phil [alvin]-like grin," which i take as high compliment, tho other women perhaps would be insulted & shocked because it does not mean pretty, but to my mind DOES mean interesting. phil alvin looks something like a deranged bugs bunny when he grins, but he is loved, lusted, & revered for this & other qualities such as prodigious talent & fervent commitment to ideas, & so i, lover of monsters beautiful & horrifying, am most flattered... :) here's what mike wrote:
Tomorrow is my friend Jenny's birthday...and I want her to have the most excellent one EVER!
Backstory: A few years back, I picked up The Blasters' live DVD and aside from a truly memorable performance, I noticed the cameraman pan to a certain chicky with the coolest, most insane grin on her face. Some time later, I had a friend request on McSpaz and thought to myself, "Gee, she looks familiar." Turns out it's the same chick!
Long story short, we've become pretty good buds. I think she's about as sweet as diabetic blood and I want her to have an especially great b-day this year. Soooooooo...I'm putting links to some of her & her band's (The Dusk Devils, from Bakersfield, CA) video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc18WHzIsJE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJQMnoV6dZM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrf7wzkHCuo
Send the girl some extra special Yinzer love! She deserves it!
And Ynnej, I best be seeing a big ol' grin SOON! ;-)