On Saturday I told him to think good thoughts about Grandma. Yesterday I sat with him and said that she got very sick, and that she had to go someplace, that he will not see her again - but that she loved him very much. And to give his mother, his Uncles, Aunts and everyone nice hugs the next time he sees them. I do not know what else to tell him. Have no idea what registers with him. Not much of a reaction. It was hard.
Still have not heard from L. about anything, understandable since I'm persona non grata. I know she's grieving, and it has to be hard on her, but she would not even tell me what hospital she was at.
Went to Rumba Cafe to see a friend read. Ara Harris uses a precise brush. Mary Stuart Masterson with a pen, and her friends, the F-Bombs. She is her own brat pack. You won't forget about her after seeing her read.
Ok, enough eighties.
I think I've been officially relegated by a friend again. When someone cannot bring themselves to call you by name, well there you go. It's good to know a person is happy in their new life, but when they don't return your email or address you as a collective term, well you know you're not cool anymore. Just ballast on the balloon that is now ascending.
On Saturday I was bringing my son home from swimming. Down the road I noticed some emergency vehicles near my ex mother in law's house. I thought there was an accident on the corner, but when I got closer I saw they were in front of her house. There was a paramedic in her front doorway, which was also open. That door is rarely open, so something was up.
I called L. and told her. She had not heard anything. I'm guessing she went right over there and I did not hear back from her until that evening.
She told me her mother had a ruptured brain aneurysm, and the prognosis was poor. This morning she let me know the doctors declared her brain dead yesterday afternoon.
I feel horrible for her, her brother and the rest of her family. She loved all of them and was equally loved back. She and I ended badly and had not spoken for over four years. Life's to short to keep those grudges, right? I wish everyone peace.
I do not know what to tell my son, what will register with him? I told him to think good thoughts about her on Saturday. But now what?
When my parents were here a couple of weeks back we ordered some pizza and I opened a bottle of wine with the Screwpull I've had for about twenty years.
It had opened thousands of bottles in its life. The bottle of shiraz it opened would be its last as one of the prongs cracked. The Screwpull was a wine opener I recommended when I worked in wine retail. It was easy to use and super reliable. The Teflon coated worm always got inside the cork and pulled it out with little chance of the cork breaking. With a reverse twist, the cork came off. Simple.
I received another Screwpull type corkscrew as a gift several years ago that I used as backup. It's my main corkscrew now. Somehow I do not think this one will last as long.
It was a somewhat productive day yesterday. I took advantage of my auction win and went into the studio with Sean FM.
I got slightly lost and confused trying to find his house, but as I doubled back he was waiting at his front door for me. He probably saw me about to pass out from heatstroke or something. It had been about two years since I had been in any type of studio. The last time was for a narration I did for a work project. This was the first time I was going in with my own stuff in many years.
Love the basement studio. The recording room is a room within a storeroom. I call it, The Quilted Womb.
In about two and a half hours, I banged out a baker’s dozen of my poems.
What can I say about Sean’s skills as a producer? At one point he said, “Let’s take a break.” He then played up some of the poem I was recording and pointed out a few difficulties in my delivery. Sean was telling me I was reading it wrong, in the nicest, most supportive way anyone has ever been.
More important, he was right.
He offered tips, advice, and cheered me on when I hit the mark. He is great to work with and I recommend him highly to any poet or artist looking for a producer.
He can be my George Martin or T-Bone Burnett anytime. He has to do some editing to turn me into a Wall of Sound and I'm looking forward to the finished work.
So? Once the editing is done and I have an audio project, how do I market this? Hell I do not even have a title for it!
In other news I noticed that another artist died this weekend. This man touched the lives of many of my friends. Rest in peace, David Blair.
The woman could really sing, perform, she had it. Now the why begins. Who was around her? Where was her support? Or, like my boss, who died of a crack overdose at 33, was she on her own road?
It's a very little blip in the great scheme of the world (outside of her family and friends - where were they?), looking at what happened in Norway yesterday, a relatively insignificant loss.
The moment I walked into Kafe Kerouac I was asked to emcee a Haiku Death Match. There were four poets, three judges, and me. A few more people did show up.
Later I did the feature. My time on stage benefited the Writers' Block Poetry Slam team for their trip to the National Poetry slam in Boston this August.
For posterity's sake, here's my set list.
To the Women in my Spam Folder Pantoum for a Child with Insomnia To the Poets Young Enough to be my Children Isotopes of Despair Gaythiest Jim Morrison's Twitter Page What Should be Done in my Absence Started While Flying Over Cincinnati Days of the Week is I was Emperor Naismith Laughs If Tracy Can Emulate Joel, I can do this. That's the Title Spam Folder of Love
A mix between the old, new and recent. Dusted off the last poem, only read that once in the last two and a half years.
In the news tonight is the death of Clarence Clemons. With his recent stroke and other medical problems it's not unexpected, but still quite a loss.
He was an integral part of the E-Street Band. The Master of Disaster. The King of the World. Saw them in Buffalo during the Born in the U.S.A. tour. Jungleland was a standout memory. During his sax solo Bruce controlled the crowd during the wave. This was when the wave was still new, and not cliche. A powerful rock and roll moment of my life.
This clip is from Buffalo in November of 2009, the last show the E-Street Band as we knew it will play.
At around eight last night the news of Gil Scott Heron's death was trending on Twitter. Jamie Byng, who had published some of Heron's work last year had put the news out that he had passed. It was not a hoax.
The first time I heard him was at WCVF.
I was seventeen, a white kid from the suburbs. I'd never heard anything like this. The tone, rhythm and timbre of his voice was great. The anger, relevance and intelligence of his words was impressive.
Over the next decades we went in different directions. He was jailed a couple of times, had a number of personal issues.
Last year he released his first record in sixteen years.
His voice a rasp due to cigarettes and who knows what else, he looked older than his 62 years. He was still relevant, and certainly had something left to say.
As a poet, his influence was astonishing. He was rapping, slamming, performing poetry on stage well before any other poet had thought up the act. I went back and found some of his earlier work, what I had missed. Damn, he was good.
Also found out his father, Gil Heron, was the first black player to play for Celtic FC, in Glasgow, in the 1950's. That only increases the coolness.
No cause of death has been revealed. It's said he became sick after coming back from Europe.
I wrote this last year, as a thank you.
The Revolution was Not in the Program Guide (Apologizes to Gil Scott-Heron)
The revolution was not televised It was not tivoed, nor recorded onto anyone's hard drive The revolution was not cancelled due to lack of ratings It did not get any blog hits, nor followers on twitter The revolution was not seen on youtube, hulu, fox, or cnn It was not streamed It is not available for download The revolution was not voted off of American Idol It does not come in diet or lite form The revolution contained no high fructose corn syrup If you call in the next ten minutes you will not get extra revolution There will be no DVD release of the revolution with bonus footage or director's commentary There are no hidden tracks, or Easter eggs The revolution did not take steroids or growth hormones The revolution did not last up to four hours so we do not need to seek medical treatment for it
The revolution should not be handled by pregnant women, or women who want to become pregnant It does not have a pre existing condition The revolution has no poll numbers, personal assistant or staff It makes its own coffee The revolution has not been interviewed by Larry King nor guest hosted on the View It has not been seen on a kindle The revolution does not have premium content It has not been outsourced but may have been downsized The revolution was not a part of the cash for clunkers program It is not green, nor a hybrid Steve Jobs is not working on a program called iRevolution You cannot hear it in headphones The revolution is not made out of cupcakes The revolution was not factory farmed It does not drink tea The revolution did not get a golden parachute of stock options It is not password protected The revolution has a soundtrack that does not include Lady Gaga You cannot play the revolution on a Wii It cannot be exchanged for frequent flier mileage The revolution is gone, but not missed and may be remade as a Hollywood film The revolution does not need to fill out a census form The revolution does not require a loyalty card It endorses no one and nothing The revolution, will not be winnable
The sun finally made an appearance yesterday afternoon. After mowing the lawn it was time to sit in the back room with a beverage and some vinyl.
One of the records I picked was from the Walker Brothers.
They were one of the rare bands who were American and became famous in the UK.
This morning I woke up to read that one of the founders of the group, John Walker, has died of cancer at the age of 67.
Not since Roy Orbison have I played vinyl only to find that the artist died the next day. If I were David Bowie or Paul Weller I'd not cancel any doctor's appointments.
"This is my first marriage!" I exclaimed during the first scene of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."
Ah Martha, telling George that, "He knew," when he really did not. Or did he? Geez, they deserved each other. Not that I was Richard Burton, or she Elizabeth Taylor. It's the only film to be nominated in every eligible category of the Academy Awards and every one of those nominations was deserved.
There is a bit of drinking that happens during the film. Alcohol is bad for you, kids, remember this.
In other news my son has figured out how to unlock the locks of the back door. This is both good and bad.
Turned the local news on last night and heard that the president was going to make a statement at the bottom of the hour. For the president to address the nation, late on a Sunday, is something that I do not think has happened in my lifetime. The information must be significant, and it was.
Speculation was blowing up on Facebook what it would be, and after it was revealed that Libya was not part of the address, most were of the belief that Bin Laden had been captured or killed.
The news that Bin Laden is dead has to be a form of closure for the family and loved ones who died on 9/11.
Killed in a million dollar compound outside the Pakistani capital and not a cave in Tora Bora. How long was he holed up there?
What has changed though? Hundreds of billions of dollars has been spent so obtain this goal, now what? A wait for potential retaliation? This is not going to change the economy, the price of oil, inflation and government debt.
The jingoists are not even going to get the pleasure of dragging his body through the streets, it's said the corpse has already been thrown into the ocean.
Here we are on the day after. Just over eight years since Mission Accomplished. One boogeyman has been eliminated. Time for another to be named.
