"wish you were here"

the time to doubt oneself is never a luxury to be afforded.

as virgil said "fortune favors the bold"--


shine on, you crazy diamond. i'll see you again very soon.

"worth a million in prizes"....

this week has been very iggy pop, very stooges.
can't seem to slow down & my to-do list is endless.

life is magic again and glitter dust trails are calling me.
we had a great meeting with a movie genius,
that is all i am going to say, except Eth & i both left
feeling like we were hit with star bolts. this thing is happening.
it will become a film. we are producers, and i am seeing it.

in other news, the world cup was killer today. Sweden tied in the 90th minute 2-2 UK.
i got shivers from my soccer fever. don't know what the brits were doing out there, but it was obvious they were stunned by the last minute upset. ol' becks is in the doghouse, i bet.

no time for photos, just felt it was in order to post on the solstice eve,
with grateful thanks to the universe for smiling on me and the workshop.
the spirits are holding my hand and kicking the stones from my path.
plus the lovely alex & mark decided that they want to buy 5 pieces of my art from my show.
yeah!
sometimes you dance with the devil in the pale moonlight.
and sometimes life is just love molecules and sushi.

off this mortal coil, pierre & peter

in the last weeks, two people in my life realm have stepped off this plane of existence.
Peter Zahorecz & Pierre Pollin. two very different men, in 2 very different worlds.

Peter, i met in LA long before he moved to Baltimore, he was a renegade artist, with a
silent mission. i was at his wedding to Dee Dee, presided over by john waters himself...recall Peter's deep unshakeable love for his beautiful woman. he was so happy with her. how many times was i at the bookstores that he worked, countless. i don't even remember the name of the one by the thai place, it was closed down while i still lived in rehoboth beach, hadn't even yet moved back to baltimore...memories are tricky little sprites, they mix in and out. i remember being in san diego/LA with peter & cyn & jason, and when he moved to baltimore, seeing his first apartment. the sparkly streets fascinated cyn too. the west meets the east. Peter was skateboarding in london when he hit his head, he was 41. Dee Dee, i send you my love. and little Chelsea too.
Pierre, one my earliest memories, was when he & my aunt came back to america from france, bringing my cousin Maura to stay with me. we declared it our room and our rules, we were 4. decided to speak french, french toast, that is. i saw Pierre last year for the last time, and he still had that sparkle in his eye. i will pretend he went back to France to vacation near his grandkids & live near the sea. Maura, i miss you, my cousin. Wish i was there holding your hand.
live your life, everyone. be grateful each day for the small treasure that we possess.

dreamy art opening....

well, i don't think i could have planned a better evening,
it was starry & perfect. my deep thanks to everyone who
hauled themselves out on a sunday night into hollywood.
the whole event went beautifully & there were red "sold"
dots everywhere...!

as an artist, the most you can hope for is a little recognition
for what you produce, and i was so honored by the turn-out.
friends showed up from all corners. it was a very roadie reunion as
well, and rock-star heavy, nikki sixx bought one of my pieces, bless his metal heart. brian from kix even turned up & so many more... my thanks to malena & marguerite, ellen & nicole,
with a special shout out to mr. michael G for being the money manager...
i posted a few photos, more may turn up, but
here's a look:

"high-powered assistants"

last night, Marguerite & I went to a screening of a new movie @ the writer's guild, a very hollywood thing... it was promoted as a screening for "high-powered LA assistants". So we went & let me tell you, it was a big crowd of ambitious white people. pretty funny scene. the movie was ok, "devil wears prada" with meryl streep, who is always consistently good.

tonight i am off to work the merch booth @ the knitting factory on h'wood blvd, for the Rhino Bucket show, always a treat to see this band. looks like i may be going on their little fall tour where they will open up for KiX on the east coast run, going to get some details tonight from Georg, would love to do that, if only for the great photo opportunity..

here is one of the photos (looks like very low res, sorry) from my show going up on sunday @ evidence gallery,
a shot from our visit to elvis' home graceland while on the motley crue tour...

back from NYC...

...& what a beauty queen of a city....my favorite ever.
everytime i pull up short on the streets of NY,
i am dazzled by the power & energy.
saw jozie east coast, & mimi too, miss melle came out & we all met @ dojo on st mark's & had a lovely time.
as always, thanks to Michael @ the Beauty Bar for his
hospitality. ida & i conquered the wholesale district & were
sad to see our favorite korean vendors have disappeared
without a trace...where? we do not know.
even so, it was a wonderful day.
before leaving for NYC, i attended the "Found & postsecret" talk put on by atomic books--
Davy from Found had some hilarious stories, and when i got my book signed,
i told him i was the one that sent in the big stash of porn for the last "dirty found" issue--
he said, "oh yes, we Loved that haul". (yes, go get it, i got three pages in.) "postsecret" is Frank's project, he invites people to send in their secrets on 4X6 postcards, drawn out in any way they see fit. some chilling secrets, so sad, but also very funny ones as well.
they are bringing their tour to CA, check it out if you can...

now i am in the convention hotel, waiting for the boss to arrive. damnit, where are my elf ears..?

last thing, i am sad about something tonight, a certain viking is trekking on out of my life & i just have trouble to say good bye....but a thousand tears won't change the fact that if i were a nick cave song, i would be "nobody's baby now"...i wish him well. i love him.

"don't let me down"

full disclosure, i have been on a mighty 70's music kick. somehow it calms me down & helps me to focus. a new development, to be sure. anyway, i have been hitting the ground running as of late, and to get everything done, if it must be to a soundtrack of bad company or aerosmith, well you'll understand.
heading out on my mini-tour of the east coast, new york city, baltimore & DC/virginia. not really ready, but will be. whatever i forget, it will not really matter. why? cause you can get anything you want in NYC. Balticon is going to be off the charts, i am such a comic book nerd. Neil is in Australia & heading straight there from the plane, fingers crossed for easy travels for him...
seems like all things are happening at once, and the frosting on the cake? Marguerite just announced that she bought me a ticket to Hawaii with her miles, as a thank-you for helping her move. Really, it is too much, the girl had so little to move, but i guess she is due for some mighty karma repay. maybe she felt for us when we were dodging the cars of laurel canyon, driven as if by mario andretti himself.
this week, Cheryl came down from SF & I helped her to serve a dinner party for an unnamed rock royalty. it really was a slice of history, and he was completely gracious & deserving of his good rep.
thank the rock gods for small favors, cause sometimes these people are real robots.
(and i don't mean the nexus 6 pleasure models)
so goodbye LA for a short time, take care of Batman for me & i will be reporting in from the road, running with the pack...
ps happy birthday all you geminis.

crickets & love molecules

it is quiet in the treehouse tonight, jozie has packed her bags & taken off for the east coast.
wendy was here & dabiday & cheryl & i met jozie's sister, miss Patti... it was a magic week of friends & dinners. i am really too tired to make much sense of things, but i am happy with how the photos for my show are coming out & i leave for baltimore/nyc soon, so much on the schedule...& then san francisco with nancye...
although the crickets are keeping me & batman company, i still feel a little like crying.

my new car is named GHOSTY

i have added another key to my keyring, a new little convertible. it is the smallest teeny-ist thing i have ever driven, and i adore him. not very practical for picking people up from the airport but great for zipping around town. bonus- it gets amazing gas mileage. many thanks to Malena & Miles for their kindness in offering me this wonderful little car. it even smells new.

the amazing tiger

there is nothing more beautiful on this earth to me than the tiger.
we are in serious danger of wiping out these magnificent beings.
i just "adopted" one, through the WWF, and i am going to put myself out there
in doing whatever i can to try to make the world a better place to share with
this perfect creature. any ideas, let me hear them...

https://secure.worldwildlife.org/forms/adoptionCenter_1.cfm?donorsrc=leftnav&adoption=leftnav

soldiers @ the dallas/fort worth airport

while i was travelling to Chicago recently, i had a lay-over in Dallas. I was sharing the airport lounge with a sea of soldiers, all deploying to iraq. I spoke to many of them, asking them if they were returning there or first timers. What struck me most was their youth. Of course I am aware of what is happening overseas, but only as an outside observer--and only armed with what the media is filtering through to us. these kids made it even more real & sad & they even felt it was futile...
the death toll is approaching 2400 for our guys, and countless deaths for the Iraqi civilians.
when i say countless, i know there are some spotters saying in the tens of thousands.
anyway, no matter my take on the war, i was moved to tears to see all these scared young kids on their way to the unknown. There were many people there in the airport just saying goodbye & going up and down the line hugging strangers, i imagine they had lost children or family members. a very moving and sad scene, and i was there in the safety of the airport, only going to Chicago not Baghdad. what can we do?

roadie night @ the rainbow

we drove the lil' miata to the rainbow last night after a good work out at the gym, jozie is a one-woman linda hamilton. she is whipping me arse into shape with her tricky work-out tips & the gym rats were all coming over to watch her work her magic...
anyway, we went to the rainbow to meet up with some friends & ended up seeing all Kinds of old roadie buddies, it was a perfect night on the sunset strip.
today i have to get some more work done on printing for the big art show coming up.
i know it seems like there is much time in between now & june 11th, but truly, it is going to fly by. we went yesterday to look at the space & i dropped off the announcement for the show @ the printers...here is a copy:

live theater & table read, baby!

had such a great weekend, we did our first reading aloud of the new script,
and got so much done in way of rewriting. Makes such a difference to hear the words being spoken as opposed to reading them in your head...Malena was fantastic, i was so proud.
& Ethan, he has written a gem.
after we did some work @ my house, we went to see a play over on Melrose @ Fake Gallery, a small but darling art house theatre. The play is titled "She Always Told Me". I was so inspired by this work, a collection of 12 short skits, clever as hell. Go see it if you can, they run 'til the end of May. Prod. Rebecca Johnson & writer Annie Mebane, Jen Zaborowski & Anne Gregory, each has a stand-out piece in the work, & they reminded me that we are living in a city of real live actors, not just tv & movies.

after the play, we went to check out the American Electric tattoo shop "Bully" artshow, and it was packed to the gills, people spilling over out on to Sunset. Happy to say one of my pieces sold....lalalala.
working some shows back-to-back this week, and then go to Chicago for a real Greek wedding, can't wait to see everyone, my parents are coming out too--thankful i get to spend some time with them.
Now i am getting ready to meet Sherri & Farah for sushi on this rainy LA morning..

tour swag

was at dinner this week with a bunch of my roadie friends--NEK made an amazing table of food, & we proceeded to drink a little celebratory champagne...as it was Claire's birthday.
anyway, somehow the talk turned to tour swag. while remaining discreet, i will say some tours shower you with swag, to the point of too much, while some give you nothing but a boot in the ass on the way out the door. some give you autographed photos & some give you gorgeous embroidered shirts, some give out personalized gold records & some generously give their crew big appreciation parties. i never ask for/expect much, of course, but it is very nice to have a little memento from your time spent with a tour. the crew photo is always a wonderful thing to have later on down the road.
anyway, Nicole had one of the greatest pieces of swag i have seen, here she is w/a top of the line soccer ball, something i would really use!

MOXIE Rx dinner party in the treehouse

this entry is devoted with love to my dear friend Nancye in Portland.
I am in her debt for her help via telephone in making my little dinner party a success--
i baked a pine nut/chard & greens pie from her secret recipe (she used to be personal chef to John Mellancamp) and she taught me some little tricks for easy beautiful appetizers...

If you are in the Portland area, go and check out her darling little cafe MOXIE Rx on
Shaver & Mississippi, she & her husband, Sweet Willie have converted a vintage trailer into a cure-all heaven, get there early or she will sell out of the dreamy muffins & health treats she conjures with her magic oven.


i wish i lived closer to you, Dark Phoenix.

the undead beauty of Lorrainea'Malena

here is a sample from our photo shoot the other night-
these two ladies are going to be the musical guest @ this year's Balticon:
www.balticon.com May 26-29
so happy to be visiting my favorite hometown with L'aM...!
we are working madly on the merch for the show...
Malena is an amazing make-up artist as well,
look at miss Medium Cool's work: www.malenateves.com
her husband Miles is responsible for some of the finest in monster movie conceptual design, make-up, modeling, & mayhem. his site is: http://www.milesteves.com/
i love to go and browse there when i am feeling uninspired, he is so shockingly good.
i can't believe the fabulous Lorraine is playing a gig tonight straight off the plane, but that is the life of the undead...

guitar lessons & silver daggers

awhile back i won grand prize in the Johnny Cash sweepstakes, yes i am a winnah, baby.
the prize was a beautiful guitar, and now i am learning to play it. Mr Chris Hutchenson came over & gave me an hour lesson... i now have total respect for the guitarists of the world, as i now see learning will take much hard work & effort. i'm up for it though...
he asked me what songs i wanted to learn & i said, among many others, the classics "silver dagger" & "wildwood flower".
"I'll live yet to see him, regret this dark hour
When he won and neglected his frail wildwood flower"

haunted sopranos & dreamy photo shoot

had a slumber party with the Lorrainea'Malena girls last night & we stayed up late late late doing a big fun photo shoot. Malena did our make up, she had me close my eyes & i woke up all barbarella...When i get the all-clear i will put up some of the glam girls,
for now here is one of me, the tour manager...


i can't get that Moby cover they used on this week's Sopranos episode out of my head,
"where were you when i was lonesome
locked away in this freezing cold
i don't wanna swim the ocean,
i don't wanna fight the tide,
i don't wanna swim forever,
when it's cold i'd like to die. "

who did that cover?

pawn shop windows

i have always had a fascination with pawn shops,
only been in a few, but i Always look in the windows whenever i see one.
so many stories of history & woe in them.
but i ask you all, what is the symbol that is shown commonly in these
shops? the three balls at the end of an upside-down trident...
anyone know the story?

(took this one in Pasadena, but seriously doubt that Mimi ever had occasion to visit her local pawnery. !)

gen art, korn & full moon visitors to the treehouse

another banner four-star week here in hollywood w/ bonus adventures in long beach as well. Cheryl, a dear old tour buddy from new zealand came to help out at the korn/mudvayne show & we pulled another 20 our work day, ouch.
that's cheryl with her feet up on the coffin case at the night's end. the korn crew all had a touch of some evil nasty sickness which they shared handily. i have gone from never being sick, to twice this year. what?! the full moon eclipse probably added some extra zest as well.
we got to see lots of old friends, the crew out there is fantastic.

i can't say much about whoever covered the hockey ice with the floorboards & carpet, cause i fell down twice bringing the cooler out to front of house, was probably pretty funny to watch, like a cursed cartoon kitty. let it be known i didn't spill a single cube o' ice nor broke nary a bottle.

Friday night we went to see the big gen art show @ the Park Plaza hotel, where i used to go years ago to power tools to dance all night. cheryl's friend was one of the designers in the show, hajnalka mandula from vancouver. The sets were great, a bright yellow swing set for kit pistol, a giant pirate ship for unhee & mandula had a oversize cocoon egg that the models played in. parking was a nightmare but it was well worth it. really glad we went.

after the show ended, we came back to hollywood to go to the rainbow on sunset to get Jozie, in town on a break from motley crue. she was there with alecia and lemmy & yes, he was sweet as could be. after that, we came back to the treehouse & rested up. mark is out prepping bob dylan tour, so it was a real girl slumber party...

saturday we woke up and had a grand french breakfast in silverlake & then went for long walk around the neighborhood, showed off my new office/studio & went to see the group show @ la luz gallery. for dinner we had tapas @ cobras & matadors, marguerite came to meet us & we laughed all night.

this morning we got up @ 6 am to head over to LAX put jozie & alecia on a plane down to mexico city, and ran headlong into roadblocks set up for the LA marathon. oy. but we made it in time. sometimes you just need to be with your girls.

i just got home from a birthday dinner with the Nicoles & Alex, coconut shrimp, rice & black beans @ cha cha cha. mmmmmm. wish i could sleep in tomorrow, but duty calls. got to get my new car (yes, i am getting a convertible, from my dear Malena & Miles) get the studio sorted out, and start prepping my upcoming artshow. will be making the invites soon, loads of new work to show, really can't wait. life is truly so good...