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Today I’m going to a birthday pot luck for my poet friend Julie Elefante. I decided to write a sonnet dedicated to her. I thought that would be a good birthday present because, regardless of the quality of the sonnet, it would represent an expenditure of at least an hour of my life, which Julie is certainly worth, and more. But I had a little change left out of that hour, so I illustrated/calligraphed the last line of the sonnet.

god’s on it/godsonnet

to Julie Elefante

when god beheld the universe she’d wrought
it talked to her in many-colored voices,
it cheered and whined and folded want with lot,
and asked advice regarding need and choices.

then god, whilst folding towels and wreaking mayhem,
administered a word to undeservers.
the word was when, referring not to a.m.
but to creation’s dawn, its queues and servers.

then followed who and where, addressed to prey-ers,
who guaranteed a heated destination
with ‘prayer’ that preys on truth and mutes its sayers,
and god said why, and tried another station.

one final concept bubbled up to be
and god said what and proved her deity.

godsonnet2

Friends, a modern education is a slippery thing. There is less correlation between Knowledge and Credentials than when I strolled the campus of the University of Arizona, lo these 40-or-so years ago. Modern technology enables virtual attendance, making it unnecessary to meet anyone in a class, including the professor, if any. Where it will lead, I hope, is a gentle revolution resulting in academic freedom, including zero cost for the sincere seekers of usable Truth.

academic

A SHEEPSKIN when you pass the tests
Cannot prevent a bod at rest.
And though you play a fine sonata
Don’t quit yer day job ‘less you gotta.
Employments sucks just like some vermin
Enjoyment’s there–just be determined.
May A C A D E M I A
Inclined/To chew our
Cud MAKE UP ITS MIND.

Finally, a very Happy Birthday to the lovely and talented Denise Huntington, former Sweetheart and fellow Index Card A Day participant. We parted ways a good five months ago, but I hold her in the highest esteem, and I am sure I always will. Hope your day is Fun, dear Denise!

Dick Van Dyke idolized Stan Laurel. They met in the early sixties. Stan declined to be on The Dick Van Dyke Show but watched the episode wherein Van Dyke impersonated him. He later told Van Dyke that it was the best impersonation of him he’d ever seen, but there were a few things he noticed. In the movies, Stan Laurel used paper clips as cuff links. He took the heels off his shoes to alter his walk. And “The hat was a little off.”

“I knew it. Yours and Ollie’s had flat brims. Mine curled slightly. I tried to find one like yours. I even tried ironing the brim on my derby.”

Stan Laurel laughed gently and said, “Young man, why didn’t you just ask me? You could have used mine.”

That’s the kind of guys they were.

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PS: I learned all this today while I was reading Dick Van Dyke: My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business by Dick Van Dyke. My Steady Girl, Joy, owns the book and has graciously lent it to me. It’s a good read, the more so because the writing seems to be pure, unedited Dick Van Dyke, except, of course, for the Foreword by Carl Reiner.

Wabi-Sabi, Perfection through Imperfection, is everywhere in the Arizona desert. Dylan Thomas’s “Break in the sun till the sun breaks down/And death shall have no dominion.” comes to mind…

001

The cacti are gouged into, pitted and marred,
They’re spiky and twisted and knobby.
It’s hardy survivors, so weathered, so scarred,
That demonstrate TRUE Wabi-Sabi.

What a tumultuous year it has been. Karen died. Betty K died. Denise and I broke up. I gave two weeks’ notice at work and then moved to Phoenix. Dorine died. Anne Meara died. B.B. King died. I lost about fifteen pounds. And Bruce is now Caitlyn.

But one bright spot is that I now have a genuine, just-like-high-school Steady Girlfriend. Her name is the title, and acrostic, of this sonnet. And here’s a shout-out to Judith Lynne Cameron, my Aunt Judy, who as long ago as March suggested I write Joy a poem. This is it!

joy riner taylor 060315

Joy Riner Taylor

Just asked this Glendale girl if she’d go Steady
O what a thrill ’twas when she answered Yes
You see, she’s fun as handfuls of confetti

Religious yet unjudging–I confess
I want to go to church with her, but fear it
Not due to Hellfire–rather to embarrassment
Ecclesiates ROCKS, and in its spirit
Religion’s nothing new–yet neither’s harassment

Thus courting Joy involves a change of scenery
And serendipitous improvisation
Young love will never see such ever-greenery
LUST is all well & good–still, mere sensation
Omits the richness found if spirits blend
Regard the beauty of this WONDROUS FRIEND.

mr martin scorsese 060115

Today I begin my involvement with the 2015 Index Card A Day Challenge with an appreciation of Martin Scorsese, one of the finest moviemakers of all time, 72 years old and just getting started. I wish I had done a Scorsese page while Roger Ebert was still alive; I could have sent it to him and hoped for a reaction. Roger idolized Scorsese and wrote a book about him. Alas, I waited too long…