For some reason, I am cleaning the swimming pool at one of the houses David Lynch owns in the Hollywood Hills. I’ve seen pictures of the houses but I have no idea if any of them actually have a swimming pool. Possibly it is the swimming pool from Mulholland Dr. Which I suppose might make me Gene (played by Billy Ray Cyrus) owner and…
Danny Solis died in his sleep last Thursday. He was in New York to once again perform his poetry, as he had done in pretty much every state in the US and some other countries as well. Danny was that rarest of poets, a working poet, a troubadour. In addition to reading his poetry widely, he led numerous workshops and seminars. Probably a thousand…
“You know what day it is?” “Tuesday?” “Thursday, actually. But no, the date.” “I don’t know the day of the week and you think I know the date?” “They’re not the same thing.” “I don’t know. It’s October, right?” “Right.” “So. Thursday in October.” “Think about it.” “I don’t know how to think about it.” “What day is it?” “You already asked me. I…
It was more than just one thing that brought Harry down. It was in fact an entire series of events that led to the predicament that put poor Harry in this place. To begin with, he was out in Wyoming with the Professor before anything happened. Whether they were on some kind of paleontology dig or just digging recreationally was never made clear, but…
The idea of living one foot in the grave comes from the Zen masters, some of whom would carry a tiny coffin with them when they traveled, a reminder of their mortality, a token of the temporary nature of existence. The idea has become misused and distorted in the West, which tends culturally to make an enemy of death and view it as something…
“So that’s over,” he said. “I reckon we can go back to forgetting about it.” “Sometimes you just gotta move on,” she told him. That much was a simple truth. Lots of other people had moved on. Other would. But for some reason it was not for him. “I can’t forget.” “You won’t forget,” she argued. “That’s just your way. It always has been.”…
Lately I’ve been watching a lot of John Cassavetes movies and staying up late with gypsy minstrels composing musical space opera set on the Jovian moons of Io and Europa. Fire and ice are prominent themes. When the musicians get hungry we make soup from empty cans and then mourn the death of irony. A drummer named Ivan dances on the table while a…
Ronald Reagan died and went to hell. He was just as surprised about it as you are. He wasn’t expecting a standing ovation but he got one. Many souls enduring torment appreciate a rousing speech. It gets tiresome, all that weeping and gnashing of teeth. The tedium of torture begs variety and change in its hellish routine. Reagan demurred but the damned insisted. Always…