There are themes to our lives. Sometimes a year, sometimes one single day launches the theme, or it may just tumble into our path unexpected and replace whatever we were holding on to dearly. The sensations leading up to my theme, reverse the order, peeked through the quagmire of disillusionment, frustration and mud heavy quibbling in my head. Reverse the order, blew into the quibbling, and straightened my piles of projects. Writing,editing, not believing in my word, leasing the house, getting into a relationship, deferred maintenance on myself and property I own, and sweeping leaves etc.
โ Stop writing as a means of self-gratification and start submitting what you have written. Leave the leaves to fall.
LONELY IN WRITING
WRITING did not missle me into loneliness. It was a voice inside that asked to be alone that missled me to writing.
SHEPARD & DARK
THE SCREEN IN SANTA FE scheduled three showings of this Docudrama.
Huh? Sam olโ boy lives in Santa Fe. Iโve had bar chats with him, everyone has, and heโs our mascot for independence, accessibility, and still a flush hand of rugged classic looks. Like he should be Ralph Laurenโs model, not Ralph.
I figured the theater would be packed so I brought earplugs. I take my films too seriously, and refuse to be interrupted with slurping and munching. Into the first scene; my concentration was so acute I would have protested if anyone said a word. Beginning with the footage; unbelievable home-made movies and photographs. You will see Sam as a youngster on the ranch where he grew up in Central California, Sam leaving home and working his way through puberty. Then we see that chiseled frame of masculine sensitivity as a young playwright in Greenwich Village where you meet Johnny Dark. The dialog between the two men and the dramatization of their feelings about the collected letters they exchanged over a forty-year period is something beyond a beyond a reality show.
It is as honest and genuine a continuum of conversation between two men that youโve ever witnessed. The subjects: their fatherโs, destiny, fate, women, writing, dogs, tragedy, and loss. Just to name a few. So if you wrap the cinematography around the humor, philosophy and ending that left me in tears, you have a masterpiece of film for the audience.
Yes, there is a dusting of emotions on Jessica Lange.
I walked away feeling as if my life had not even begun. So much life squeezed into one man lead me to It is as honest and genuine a continuum of conversation between two men that youโve ever witnessed. The subjects: their fatherโs, destiny, fate, women, writing, dogs, tragedy, and loss. Just to name a few. So if you wrap the cinematography around the humor, philosophy and ending that left me in tears, you have a masterpiece of film for the audience.
Several lines I recall in particular, to paraphrase Sam:
We can change our lives, our work, our wardrobes, our women, but we never really change. Our essence remains constant. Iโve always felt outside the whole thing, sometimes more than others. As a writer you have to be selfish with your time. Iโm always moving, going on the road, I didnโt know that was how my life was going to turn out, but it did.
That kind of admission for a floundering but dedicated writer will last me a while. On documentaries; they donโt get enough attention. I hope this film tears that fence down and letโs the HONEST-REAL-BULLS come through.
CATCH THE ART IN SANTA FE PART ONE
CATCH THE ART WAVE OF SANTA FEย ย ย ย
Living in Santa Fe is a fertile landscape of more than sage, lavender, mud and ancient dwellings. It is where art branches out in new directions of livingness.
Along the path of adventures in the arts, I attended โAT HOME WITH FASHION, presented by ShowHouseย Santa Fe in collaboration with Artgraze; a league of interior designers, artists, and galleries to embellish our homes with, โthe art of living with art.โ They patterned classic and chic Fashion Designย on Interiors selected by ShowHouse Santa Fe founders, David Naylor and Jennifer Ashton. The Santa Fe Interior Designersย set up shop in a quintessential Santa Fe home and opened the doors to the public to eat, drink, dance, get lost, or be discovered. ย Along the interior paths of the home, artists, designers, home buyers, and sponsors conversed while behind the scenes; funds were dispersedย from a generous monarchy to support the Community Foundation of Dollars4Schools. The designers worked for eight weeks, to transform a modest dรฉcor, into a stage setting of flamboyance, รฉlan, and their secret design techniques. The designers; Jennifer Ashton, Jackie Butler, Gloria Devan, Pam Duncan, Emily Henry, Edyย Keeler, David Naylor Annie OโCarroll, Lisa Samuels, Paul Rochford and Michael Violante. They schlepped all the furnishings, and accessories, including wardrobe accents, and art work to the home and couturedย the house as if it was a model. ย The epervesceseย of this lively group spread outdoors, ontoย a glittering garden patio designed by Catherine Clemens where the best Barbeque chicken I ever tasted permeated the painted postcard silhouette of sunset on the mesa. ย Who was there?ย A man in yellow rubber suit, fashion models, filmmakers, photographers, art collectors, and Antique Activists. In the crowd I noticed a distinctive gathering of men and women stylists bearing: squash necklaces, Concha belts, OโKeefing hair styles, and jewelry to stop traffic at Paseoย Peralta and Cerrillosย Road. The 4747 square foot Las Campanasย Estate is listedย with Ashley Margetson of Sotheby International Real Estate.
SHEPARD & DARK
THE SCREEN IN SANTA FE scheduled three showings of this Docudrama.
Huh? Sam ol boy lives in Santa Fe. I’ve had bar chats with him, everyone has, and he’s our mascot for independence, accessibility, and still a flush hand of rugged classic looks. Like he should be Ralph Lauren‘s model, not Ralphie.
I figured the theater would be packed so I brought earplugs.ย I take my films too seriously, and refuse to beย interrupted with slurping and munching.ย Into the first scene; my concentration was so acute I would have protested if anyone said a word.ย Beginning with the footage; unbelievable home-made movies and photographs. You will see Sam as a youngster on the ranch where he grew up in Central California, Sam leaving home and working his way through puberty. ย Then we see that chiseled frame of masculine sensitivity as a young playwright in Greenwich Village where you meet Johnny Dark.ย The dialog between the two men and the dramatization of their feelings about theย collected letters they exchanged over a forty-year period is something beyond a reality show.
It is as honest and genuine a continuum of conversation between two men that you’ve ever witnessed.ย The subjects: their father’s, destiny, fate, women, writing, dogs, tragedy, and loss. Just to name a few. So if you wrap the cinematography around the humor, philosophy and ending that left me in tears, you have a masterpiece of film for the audience.
Yes, there is a dusting of emotionsย on Jessica Lange.
I walked away feeling as if my life had not even begun. So much life squeezed into one man lead me to question my limits on adventuring. Several linesย I recall in particular, to paraphrase Sam;
We can change our lives, our work, our wardrobes, our women, but we never really change. Our essence remains constant. I’ve always felt outside the whole thing, sometimes more than others. As a writerย youย have to be selfish with your time. I’m always moving, going on the road, I didn’t know that was how my life was going to turn out, but it did.ย ย
That kind ofย admission for a floundering but dedicated writer will last me a while.ย On documentaries; they don’t get enough attention.ย I hope this film tearsย that fence down and let’s the HONEST-REAL-BULLSย come through.
HA HA SANTA FE
IN THE GALLERY- EVO GALLERY SANTA FE, NM
The panel of experts on appropriation and copyright of
images covered the recent case, Cariou vs Prince. I knew nothing about the case; but it
was a participation of audience and panel that really worked.ย The humor on the panel did not
overcome, the man in the third row who was knitting.ย 
Today I saw a woman in her fifties walking past my house with a dog. She was wearing her apron.
Last week, my phone called Sam Shepard three times, instead of calling Stefanie.
DEADBEATS IF WE DON’T HAVE…
There is assurance that most of all, above the tasks, aspirations, dreams and commitments; we are dead beats without love. The feeling has to pass through our veins and arteries, as often as possible, from one suitor or another. You can love a moon in a black sky, as much as man in black suit. I believe the feeling it gives us is medicinal. It gives us something no other prescription can. That is why when sickness comes, all the love pours out from friends and family.
ADULT IS SHOUTING
The waking of an adult in a unwilling woman
Forever young is an idiom that I enjoy reading and humming in a song. In the honesty of thoughts, I feel the adult pushing through, and clawing itโs way into my perceptions, spirit, and creativity. The struggle is constant, because the adult has proven to be a protector, but lately she is interfering with my favorite toys. There it is, finally surfacing, and sounding off about trite irritations, suspecting, unyielding, distant, scrutinizing, and cowardly for being a little selfish.
This adult is more concerned with dust, and neat piles, then the sun beckoning my soul to a dance in the light, a trip to Greece, or a two-hour lunch and trip to the museum. The adult is pressing through the work plan, publication, interviews, the emails, and bills, the laundry, and a, the rain soaked rugs left outside, the weeds, and in between these tasks of productivity, the mind is rumbling like a tea kettle about to boil, about bumper sticker things Iโd rather be doing. The rather be doing list drops down just before I go to sleep. I look at it blankly, and ask someone who never seems to answer; when am I going to begin the begin. If there is an absence of time to write, and the avoidance of time to play, then I am left with a very dry outlook. In the presence of my admission, is the sweep of rage that crosses over the keyboard. Yes, there is madness in an obsession to produce great things, bundles of money, inventions and art. In replacement, there would be gossip, self-absorption boredom, complacency, and trashy novels. Balance, as we know it today, means the consumption of everything we yearn for at more than moderate levels. That is also an idiom that I read about and hum in a tune, but it passes, and I am back to uneven feelings, and imbalances between laughter, and shouting.
I’M NOT LIEING
Photo credit to: LOREN TUPLER aka White Wolf.
ย
The throw of the dice this week lands on adventures in livingness; friendships.
The subject pierced me yesterday morning, and came by way of Anais Nin, a passage in her diary.ย
โEach friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.โ
โ Anaรฏs Nin, The Diary of Anaรฏs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934 ย ย Today, the first in several months that the atmosphere is ripe with thought, and has brought me back to the writing of the moment. The delivery trucks have not opened their doors and dropped their ramps, the garbage trucks have already passed, and the traffic is so slight it feels like Sunday.
Fall is brushing nature with a varnish ofย sunshine all day, the sky is swimming pool blue,ย and so I sit in the garden on the lounge chair, shaded by the droopy elm tree.ย I hear some cheerful shouting on the sidewalk, a horn breaks the sanctuary, and then a dove lands on the wooden lattice and we watch each other.ย I breathe deep, close my eyes, and feel my noon time tuna sandwich thumping in my belly.
The stream of consciousness is threaded to the deeper blanket of anxiousness. I am going in circles, not physically like I have been moving from one bedroom to another, one closet to another to accommodate, the vacation rental guests. I am in the circle of chaos that seeps into every day activities. Tempers are flaring, combative street encounters rouse the hum of music on my porch, authoritarian behavior is exhuming from Managers and Owners, employees are jumping ship everywhere. People are relocating, selling possessions,ย or using succulent lips and breasts to lease men for financial support. We are all a bit edgy.
ย Just as we adapt to one highland of composure we lose another. On Yom Kippur I attended synagogue in Santa Fe. There were only a few empty seats, so I took one and opened my prayer-book. I tried to read the portion I missed but the two women behind me were chatting. The expectation of searching your soul does not come easy when two women are talking. The same annoyance follows me everywhere; I always end up seated next to the talkers. Whether itโs in on an airplane, a restaurant, or a movie theater, the talkers seem to trail me. The passages from Yom Kippur service remind us of: sensitivity, tolerance, love of thy neighbor, selflessness, jealously, and trust. There I sat, silently scolding the two women who continued to chatter and laugh. Rather than deter my soul-searching, I changed seats, and asked forgiveness for my intolerance. Above all my flaws and quirks, the altar of shame lies in the hiss of distrust. It is a hiss that rises from my gut, and enters my brain. It wasnโt always a malignancy; as a young adult I trusted everyone, unless they asked me questions about my Dad. In recent years, the tumor of trust has splinteredย friendships.ย The Rabbi chose the subject of trust as his closing narrative. He said that a person who suffers from lack of trust, runs the risk of becoming paranoid. ย I sank lower on my inner backbone. Yes, that seepage of paranoia has invaded my trusting heart.ย ย When I got homeย Rudy was painting the new double pane door to my room.ย
โHow was the service? Hand me that screw will you?โ He asked
โGuess what the Rabbi talked about?โ I said and handed him the screw.
โIsrael.โ
โWell of course thatโs embedded in the Torah. But his personal message was about trust.โ
Rudy continued to insert the door into the archway with his screw-gun.ย ย โYou inherited distrust from your father, I donโt know if you can rid yourself of it.โ
โI have to!โ
โGood. Iโm so hurt when you donโt trust me, I mean after thirty years.โ
โYou still lie.โ
โTheyโre not lies; theyโre white lies, so people donโt get hurt.โ
โBut I know when youโre lying.โ
โI know you do.โ
โAnd the lies really hurt.โ
โWell then weโre both guilty.โ
โYou still donโt get it.โ
โYes, I do. Youโre not listening to me.โ
โYouโre right. Iโm about feeling, and youโre about telling. โ
ย Why do we lie; is it to protect the other personโs feelings or
is it because we use deceit and dishonesty to get what we want,ย If we could change a single human gene; it would be the fib factor. Just imagine how different our life would be.
REVOLUTION RUMBLINGS
Iโam stalked by a sensation of revolution; the upheaval of a crusted and molded foundation erupts and the contents spill into chaos. The spillage of this eruption is sparing political leaders. Everyday they appear more childish and temperamental.Your referee whistle is blowing, and spinning your diatribe into tongue twisting hollow promises.
The annoyance of conflicting orders robs me of my Aladdin (magic moments), and the mental sweep to clear out my conscience.ย I feel like time is stained with stop signs, alerts, and too many laws. What happens is subtle, but when so much time is placed in soulless activities, life looses itโs Aladdin.ย Even if youโre sitting at the local bistro and dining al fresco with perfectly agreeable friends, and chanting; our souls ache for reprieve.
photo by Dick Spas.
HOW MUCH MORE NEWS CAN WE TAKE
As a writer I read the newspapers; Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Santa Fe New Mexico papers, where I live.ย I watch all the news stations. I quit MSNBC, cause Chris Mathews made me hyperventilate.ย I think Charles Krauthammer is the most knowledgeable and sustainable journalist of our time.
Do to an act of nature, lightening, I lost Cable for a month. This was when Syria broke. No one talked about it here, and I felt the communities disillusionment. When my service was repaired, I turned on the news.ย I felt more insulted than the time a young boy told me my legs were hairy.ย Who did you think you are kidding? You want us to watch both sides fisting each other like a street gang!ย Please someone tell them, the Press, chill out a bit and stop turning the news into a talk show.ย You talk to us as we were mutes.ย The Government has evolved as false as who we see in the mirror.ย If you are plain you see beautiful, if you are beautiful you see plain.ย I see you government, and I am ashamed.
I haven’t read the papers since June. This Thursday I went to the bank to make a deposit to cover my negative, and I looked at the newspapers on the customer coffee table.
, My eyes shut after two headlines. How much more can we take? I really have lost track of priorities.
Should I get a job because my writing remains unrecognized. I need a retirement guidance counselor. I don’t like the title of financial advisor; they sound too rigid. Should I respond to the dreadful vacillation of American Policy. How much more debating can they do? It’s like when I worked in corporate real estate.ย The meetings I attended and had to present were progress reports on whether I was an effective employee. I don’t know how I lasted as long as I did; my act was good, and I impressed some of the boys, but communication was too formal to bring out honesty. Maybe that’s what has evaporated in our government, or am I seeing it differently because I’ve aged into it slowly. I think it started when the cool shit act came about. Some artists have it,ย Musicians, yea they got it, gangsta’s got it, but they always had it. Those of us who feigned cool acts, became feigned. Rambling now. Got to sweep fall leaves and start editing 350 columns.
I’m listing to Nessun Dorma, and I was thinking how much I detest all this multitasking. I can now handle five projects at once; write, sweep mop the floor, water plants, contemplate resolutions to my finances, all the while feeling my nerves tighten, and even though I stretch four times a day; this crushing operatic play in life is over strung.ย I watch those Sandals vacation commercials and practically cry because how many of us haven’t had a vacation in years, or a chance to
play a round or golf or read More Magazine all the way through?
DON’T READ THE NEWS OR WATCH IT ON TELEVISION
[contact-form subject='[SMILEY%26#039;S DICE’][contact-field label="Name" type="name" required="1"/][contact-field label="Email" type="email" required="1"/][contact-field label="Website" type="url"/][contact-field label="Comment" type="textarea" required="1"/][/contact-form] I’m a creative nonfiction short story writer, and aย columnist on arts and lifestyle. I have never said one word about politics; I am not a debater, academic, or political science major.
As a writer I read the newspapers; Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Santa Fe New Mexico papers, where I live.ย I watch all the news stations. I quit MSNBC, cause Chris Mathews made me hyperventilate.ย I think Charles Krauthammer is the most knowledgeable and sustainable journalist of our time.
Do to an act of nature, lightening, I lost Cable for a month. This was when Syria broke. No one talked about it here, and I felt the communities disillusionment. When my service was repaired, I turned on the news.ย I felt more insulted than the time a young boy told me my legs were hairy.ย Who did you think you are kidding? You want us to watch both sides fisting each other like a street gang!ย Please someone tell them, the Press, chill out a bit and stop turning the news into a talk show.ย You talk to us as we were mutes.ย The Government has evolved as false as who we see in the mirror.ย If you are plain you see beautiful, if you are beautiful you see plain.ย I see you government, and I am ashamed.
I haven’t read the papers since June. This Thursday I went to the bank to make a deposit to cover my negative, and I looked at the newspapers on the customer coffee table., My eyes shut after two headlines. How much more can we take? I really have lost track of priorities.
Should I get a job because my writing remains unrecognized. I need a retirement guidance counselor. I don’t like the title of financial advisor; they sound too rigid. Should I respond to the dreadful vacillation of American Policy. How much more debating can they do? It’s like when I worked in corporate real estate.ย The meetings I attended and had to present were progress reports on whether I was an effective employee. I don’t know how I lasted as long as I did; my act was good, and I impressed some of the boys, but communication was too formal to bring out honesty. Maybe that’s what has evaporated in our
start editing 350 columns.
I’m listing to Nessun Dorma, and oil treating my hair. I was thinking how much I detest all this multitasking. I can now handle five projects at once; write, sweep mop the floor, water plants, contemplate resolutions to my finances, all the while feeling my nerves tighten, and even though I stretch four times a day; this crushing operatic play in life is overstrung.ย I watch those Sandals vacation commercials and practically cry because how many of us haven’t had a vacation in years, or a chance to
play a round or golf or read More Magazine all the way through?
ADVENTURERS IN SINGLE LIVINGNESS 