Daddy's Little Princess.

[Violet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_PprRdvTUo&hd=1
FULL SCREEN..


.. this was just wonderful to watch.. and as has been said elsewhere, it's just so perfect for Paris. [certainly the audience seemed to think so]

.. so.. on to Barcelona?


.. how are you, my love?.. I do hope all is well.

.. I'm missing you, even more than usual, it seems. [how is that even possible?]

.. maybe it's my trying [unsuccessfully] to not write here as much. [it’s making me want you even more]

.. anyway.. today I FINALLY made it over to the bigger [haunted] house to organize some boxes--and I FINALLY brought the boxes containing my CD's into this little cottage.. which means I FINALLY have your CD's with me again.. after..

.. over a year???

[my God]



.. actually, it's the writing I was doing that’s to blame for such a delay. I kept telling myself: well, just finish the writing first, then you can do this, or start that.. only, I never seemed to finish it. [!!]

.. anyway, now I have your CD’s in this little "tower of song" I made for them.. right by my computer.

.. and now I’ll load them into the smaller computer I'm taking with me to Goa. [and if the End of the World does come, I can at least be listening to you for that]

[one needs to prepare for these things, after all]

(sigh)


.. oh. I just watched Anna Karenina--the film version starring Vivien Leigh. I always meant to read that book, actually.. and I think I may take it with me for my nineteen hour journey.

[only, I do keep identifying with these ill-fated heroines, don’t I??].. [well, except for Gigi]

let me see if I can find a clip..

.. [..]..

okay. All the Vivien Leigh clips are in Spanish, for some reason. [a good set-up for Barcelona.. but

anyway, I'll post another version.

.. alright, my angel.. I’ve got to get some sleep. I thought to write you now, since tomorrow must be traveling day.. so.. maybe a little “travel” note, I thought.. even though I’m too sleepy to say very much.

actually, that reminds me. When I get to the point of being what I call "over-tired," I really feel to have no memory at all.. and I was thinking of your Can't Forget number.. and

well, I was thinking that this lack of memory thing is actually a fairly good state to be in. I mean, you can literally "reinvent" yourself each day. [of course, it takes a while to remember the things you NEED to be doing] But yeah, whatever might be depressing you, etc., sort of fades into the background.. and you're just adrift in this hazy sort of "present tense" sort of state.

[it's like the amnesiac version of Buddhism].. [just realized]

[no need to meditate, even]

.. alright, my love.. my tender little kiss to you.. x.. and safe travels.. (xx .. x xx..

(now back to our tragic heroine..

[I think she just lost her nerve, at the end. She needed to hold firm, I think].. [I mean, I do think her lover Vronsky still loved her]

.. [my angel]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE417ZtnWu8
FULL SCREEN..

.. xx x.. xx x..

[Violet]

.. Leonard, my love.. how are you?.. (I’ve been missing you just so much, my angel)

.. your website’s been rather quiet these past two days, and so it has me wondering what you’ve been up to. Rest, maybe. Or serious partying. Or, knowing you (my angel) more work. [maybe all three]

.. well, Spain seems a home of the heart for you, and so I could see you making extra preparations in terms of that. Actually, I was checking out some Javier Mas footage on youtube just because of that. It’s just so wonderful you’ve introduced a talent and a tradition such as his to a much wider audience. I certainly wouldn’t have known about him without your collaboration. And now Bublitchi is this new dimension as well.

Oh, someone posted this text of Lorca’s, from which this [his last paragraph] is taken:

The duende….Where is the duende? Through the empty archway a wind of the
spirit enters, blowing insistently over the heads of the dead, in search of new
landscapes and unknown accents: a wind with the odour of a child’s saliva,
crushed grass, and medusa’s veil, announcing the endless baptism of freshly
created things.

.. you know, I do have a sense of—not just your art, but your performances in what he’s saying here. To watch you is to be in the presence of someone who is very much “present” with all he is doing, and all that’s around him. If that’s at all theatrical, then it’s in the best sense of theatre, where the actors “allow in” the wind of that manner of spirit, which in turn gives each performance its own character and immediacy.

.. as to just what Lorca means by "duende".. I do have a sense of it. It certainly lives in Lorca's sensibility, which you can feel in this very text.. and which of course has its own manner of life in your own work.

[Goya's duende (which Lorca mentions) feels very palpable to me especially.. but I'd like to read this text again, and consider more Lorca's examples of this rich aesthetic world he's conjuring]


.. oh. [as to "the endless baptism of freshly created things"].. I went to my GarageBand software today, as I had recorded acapella some of the songs I’d written [some time ago now]. Anyway, I came upon one song I did, and

well, suddenly it was asking for more of an “operatic” interpretation. I really do like this piece I wrote, but feel it now needs a much better singer than I—or, certainly in the operatic department.. which.. [let’s face it].. takes some serious training. I mean, I can give it a stab now and then.. and it’s always a pleasure when I actually hit and sustain certain notes.. but.. uh

[another lifetime, maybe]

.. but, yeah. I now have this song that needs some sort of opera singer to pull it off. [??]

.. anyway, I’m hoping that as I do the more jazzy stuff I’ll be able to maybe write some songs more in that vein.

.. the songs I did write [which I stopped writing, since I didn’t have GarageBand at the time, or a piano, or any way of recording these melodies, and so I literally had to memorize them.. and that started to become rather precarious seeming].. [I mean, the melodies started shifting, I noticed, every time I’d sing them.. so

ANYWAY.. it was over ten years ago, now.. but I thought I’d try my hand at some songwriting at that time, and I figured I could maybe think of myself as the female Leonard Cohen.. [surprise surprise] Now, I don’t know if what I came up with would be considered Cohenesque.. but that was my working principle, at least.

.. oh, actually.. what I did find myself doing, as far as the music aspect goes, was hunt for "between" notes, I felt they were. Minor chords, no doubt. But, it was to find sounds, and combinations of sounds that seemed to me to be unfamiliar.

.. and now it occurs to me that maybe I was thinking that way, given what you said about using those six [was it?] Flamenco chords..

.. (hmm.. )..

.. only, these songs I wrote don’t seem to fit in with this jazz thing I’m doing.. so

don’t quite know what to do with them.

[??]


.. oh. [moving right along here] I was trying on some clothes yesterday, wondering what I would wear to your show in Austin, which I guess in part has to do with the weather.

.. of course, you DO realize that that first performance is on Halloween, don’t you?

.. have you and the band considered what special costumes you might wear?

.. Texas, of course, suggests cattlemen, and cowboys ‘n stuff. Oh, and you do have that string tie

[oh, a quick wiki]:

… in 2007, the Bola tie was named the official tie of Texas by the Texas Legislature.

.. but, really.. to be a tad more eccentric.. (and romantic).. (and unpredictable).. the entire band [both guys and gals] might look rather smart dressed as

[no "FULL SCREEN" for this I'm afraid]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTfdiHxYivA

.. yeah. [except, instead of the 'Z'.. it's the sign of the 'LC'].. [which is a bit tougher to do, actually].. [although I could see Bublitchi doing that very gracefully with his violin bow, in fact]

.. on the other hand.. [Violet innocently suggests].. you could.. (my love).. emulate the "elite officer" attire of Anna Karenina’s dashing Vronsky. (!!)

.. oh, which is why I brought this up. So.. as I was going through my closet, I was thinking.. hmm.. Halloween. I could do my “Morticia” look, and have my hair styled straight.. and I could wear my “Morticia skirt”.. which is this long, svelte black number. [oh, and which hugs a gal in all the right places]

.. but, you know, my love.. when I tried it on with my lovely-champaignie, low-cut top.. and this poetic “period” seeming little black velvet jacket.. [that also hugs a gal in all the right places].. oh, and with my hair up, and curled.. well

suddenly, I thought: my God.. I could go as Anna Karenina if I wore this. (!)

So.. [barring unseasonably hot weather].. I shall attend your performance in Austin as Anna Karenina.. (my love)

It’s been decided.

[I will be sure to avoid train stations, however]

[a good precaution, I think]


.. okay, my angel.. have a wonderful time performing in Barcelona.. (I’m excited to see the footage).. oh, and then on to Madrid..

Alright, my especially passionate kiss to you, mi amado mio.. x.. (of the Vronsky variety).. (xx.. xx.. x..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d1C1qQ_VoI
FULL SCREEN..

.. xx x.. xxx x..

[Violet]

.. my love, from what I can tell, it seems all went well last night in Barcelona.. (xx.. x..

.. I am on the way out the door, as I do Gotham today. Hopefully the sun will peer out from behind those ominous clouds.. [they've come back around here, I'm afraid, these last few days]

.. last night I took the "short" ride, and so didn't make it out to our lake.. but it was incredibly misty.. as if it were an enchanted forest I was riding through.. and the lake that's by me here wasn't visible at all.. just the steam rising from some witch's brew. And I felt blind, in that.. the way I feel so often now.. rather "blind."

.. oh, I awoke with your song this morning.. [pulling me into consciousness]

You know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,
It's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea

[it was a rather beautiful and gentle way to be woken up]


Well, my angel.. I wanted to write you something for your "traveling" day. I'm assuming you're off to Madrid.

.. [..] ..

I just looked it up, and the weather looks to be sunny and balmy there.

.. you know, I'm a bit melancholy just now, my angel. I find myself worrying about you sometimes, and I don't even know why. I guess it's just that we all go through things, day by day. We all have our moods that shift and change.. [like that shoreline and the sea]

.. anyway, my love.. it's times like these when I find myself recalling Scarlett and her "tomorrow's another day" adage, since it's true. Suddenly, the clouds lift.. and all is fine again.. and who even knows why. Maybe my Violet character was right in what she said in my story, in that we are all subject to the gods' varying moods--to their wars, and moments of peace, and love

and we have barely a say in it.

.. anyway, my angel, whatever happens, you DO owe me that chocolate ice cream cone, and I will not be reneging on that. It doesn't have to be triple scoop, even. [yeah, I'm back to one scoop] But, you need to promise me that you will be delivering on this. I can no doubt forgive you just about anything else.. [I'm very tolerant that way].. but the chocolate ice cream cone promise needs fulfilling.

[just thought I'd remind you of this, since I know you have this way of going off to far away lands 'n stuff, and getting yourself all busy with enriching the lives of thousands and thousands of people 'n what-not, and so, maybe you're not always remembering this one non-negotiable item]

[now, I'm not saying that's positively true. I mean, maybe that chocolate ice cream cone is very much on your mind. However, just in case you've forgotten about it, I thought I should put in this little, gentle reminder]



alright. Let me see if I can find you something with some pizzaz that I can leave you with.

.. [.. ]..

.. okay, I really love this song, and certainly her interpretation of it.. (it's a real classic, of course).. but.. uh

well, I don't know how comfortable I'd be singing some of these lyrics, is the thing. [speaking of my own "set list" here]

.. so.. not too sure what to do about that. It's a great number, though.

.. okay, my love.. my most tender and loving kiss to you.. x.. have a wonderful time out Madrid way.. (soak in some of that Spanish sun.. and I'll be thinking of you today, while in stormy Gotham..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQok4Ejl4ms
FULL SCREEN..

xx x.. x xx.. x x.. xxx..

[Violet]

.. Leonard, my angel.. I'm having such a ridiculous day, I thought I'd report in.

[I do hope this note finds you well, and all set for your Madrid engagement]

.. so.. [in keeping with the "I Can't Forget" theme, it seems].. I was nearing the George Washington Bridge when I realize that it's THURSDAY, and NOT Friday. I THOUGHT it was Friday. [yeah]

[sound effect: I THOUGHT it was Friday]

[somehow, I needed to repeat that]

.. oh, and Friday is the day I had appointments/engagements, etc., in the city--not Thursday.. so, I just turned around and headed back.

THEN:

.. SEEING I was running out of gas.. [since I'd PLANNED on filling up at a station close to the bridge, in fact].. but, I thought.. no matter.. I'm sure I'll find a place soon enough.. and, besides, there's quite a bit of gas in the tank, even after reaching the "red" zone on that gauge thingy.. and I'd only just reached it, so I thought it should be okay.

THEN:

.. for some reason I MISSED the exit that was promising gas. [yeah].. [not too sure why I did that]

[of course, I WAS listening to the Essentials.. (my love).. which I haven't listened to in a long long while] [given it was boxed up in the haunted house, if you remember]

.. anyway, I was fairly upset with myself at this point.. but.. I figured.. it's a highway.. there's GOT to be another station soon..

.. [................................................]..

THEN:

.. well, by this time the gauge was indicating that I was fairly near the end of the red zone. [yeah] [meaning: EMPTY] [almost]

THEN:

.. I finally did see another exit promising gas. [oh, thank God] Only: NO. No, it's just this endless.. endless.. endless.. country road.. with pastures and barns 'n things.. and I'm thinking this would be terribly terribly lovely, if only I weren't running out of gas just now, the dreadful thought of which somehow had me imagining finding myself in a situation like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXkqGVfm1mo
FULL SCREEN..

.. anyway, my angel.. the long and the short of it.. [why isn't that expression just "the short of it?"] [by the way].. but, anyway, in a nutshell, the gods had mercy on me.. [this time, at least].. and I did make it to a gas station just in the nick of time.

[or else I'd have turned into Dustin Hoffman]

.. the good news though is that I booked my flight for Austin. [my angel] I was wondering, though, as I was deciding which hotel to stay at.. but, I mean.. I narrowed it down to two seemingly nice hotels, only one was three hundred dollars more than the other, and I couldn't quite fathom why that was, since the cheaper one seemed quite nice. Luckily, they have those "customer review" sections, and I learned that the cheaper one was in something like the Hell's Kitchen of Austin.. (and, I mean, I'm pushing things already with this whole Anna Karenina thing, as it is).. so, I decided to play it safe, and pay a few more ducats.

.. but, I think I'll be able to walk to the theatre, even.. which is rather nice.


.. anyway, my love.. since tomorrow IS Friday.. [which is what I forgot to remember].. it's back to Gotham.

.. oh--actually.. since tomorrow you're performing in Madrid, I thought I'd fill in some of our "royal" situation, since my quick wiki-scan has revealed some old friends of ours:

During the revolt of the Comuneros, led by Juan de Zapata, Madrid joined the revolt against Emperor Charles V of Germany and Charles I of Spain,
but after defeat at the Battle of Villalar, Madrid was besieged and occupied by the royal troops. However, Charles I was generous to the town and
gave it the titles of "Coronada" (Crowned) and "Imperial". When Francis I of France was captured at the battle of Pavia, he was imprisoned in Madrid.

.. okay, so they lucked out, given Charles I was generous. [or else we'd no doubt have another Stroppendrager chapter to add to this thread]

.. and Francis.. [who, if I recall correctly, was poor at assigning important tasks].. got a little held up in Madrid. Oh, and if I'm again recalling things correctly, it was Charles V's dude who had bought off Francis' dude.. [the one in charge of that fort in Toulon].. [oh, and thus, Francis' poor important task assignation] Now, I don't have a time line for any of this, since wiki just calls this: the "Modern Age".. but I think we can probably surmise that Charles V liked rubbing salt in old wounds.. [I mean, it's just so like him].. and so, while in captivity in Madrid, Francis was forced to drink Belgium beer instead of his usual Bordeaux. [oh--along with other such horrors, I'm sure]

[poor Francis]

.. but, anyway, my angel.. the good news is that Francis.. [just like you, in fact].. switched to good Scotch whisky.. [which he had smuggled in, having paid off one of Charles V's dudes]

[yeah, two can play at that game]

And thus ends another chapter of Violet Flower's new scholarly tome:

Wiki-Scanning Euro History While Belting Back Scotch Whisky

[this is also the name of her new CD]

[not slated to do too well among Americans, but certainly among European semi-intellectuals]



.. alright, my love.. it's getting late, and I have to remember to forget or whatever it is tomorrow..

.. so, have a wonderful time performing in Madrid.. [the third largest city in the European Union].. [unless London and Berlin fold]

.. oh, and it looks like a pretty large venue, too.

.. anyway, my angel.. I miss you, and send again my tender kiss.. x.. (and this time I WILL be thinking of you while in--oh, good.. [just looked at my desktop's "dashboard"].. but, yeah, it looks like warm sunny Gotham, this time.. xx x..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rEc0n669Yw
FULL SCREEN..

.. xx x xx.. xx..

[Violet]

.. oh, my angel.. it's late, and I just had another of those damnable post mishaps, where I lost the entire post.

[I can't tell you how upset I am]

.. anyway, I need to retire now.. but I send you all my love for Lisbon.. x

oh, and this moved me just so much, and I spoke of that.. and maybe will recount that again a bit later.. I'm to see relatives tomorrow, so.. I need some sleep now..

.. more kisses, my love.. xx.. x.. (this is just wonderful to behold..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uin0GjjNrKI
FULL SCREEN..

.. xx x.. xx xx..

[Violet]

.. in my sleepiness last night, I messed up that youtube link, too, which I corrected.

here it is again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uin0GjjNrKI
FULL SCREEN..

[Violet]

.. my angel, my darling.. how are you?

.. I've still to catch up on things here, but it seems Lisbon went well for you all.

.. I have a "cat deadline" I have to attend to today, as I'm taking Crescent with me to the End of the World, and it's a bit involved taking your pet to far off places.. [it seems].. and so, I have to see to some stuff--but quick.

.. so, I again have to make this short, and sweet.

.. I thought of you performing yesterday, while with relatives whom I've not seen in quite some time. [I sent you my well wishes, my angel] Oh, and I made my famous chocolate mocha cream cake, this time with.. uh.. "raspberry something" spread under the mocha cream. [it had a good dose of Cointreau in it, too].. [for good measure]

.. it was a late birthday cake for my brother and me, since our dinner out lacked that vital element. Now, I think it's safe to proceed. [pretty sure]

.. okay, so.. I'll be back soon to catch up on things. Congratulations on a magnificent European tour that has graced the lives of just so many.. (!!)

.. my tender kiss to you, my love.. x..

(I miss you).. (and do hope all is happy, and well..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYqgyDGi ... re=related
FULL SCREEN..

.. x xx .. x xx .. xx xxx..

[Violet]

.. Leonard, my love.. are you heading back to LA for this little respite from touring?.. or

well, maybe you'll be taking the break somewhere else.

.. as I'm to Gotham tomorrow, I thought I'd write you now.. though I barely feel "caught up" with all your wonderful performances of late. The Guests, especially, was so moving to watch. Oh, and someone here wrote that it seemed something of a surprise to the band, too, that you decided to do it. (!) That night, I'd been watching old movies, and had fallen asleep on the couch.. only to wake up and remember that I wanted to watch you do The Guests before I went to bed. And so I did. [at three o'clock in the morning] I don't know how many times I watched it.. but quite a few.

.. you have this solemn melancholy, and urgency, even, as you sing it. Tonight, having just watched it again, I feel soothed by it. The other night I was more tuned in to all the layering of sounds in that song, which feel to be waking up all the senses of the soul, somehow.

.. oh, I remember I wanted to mention, too, that the other CD I was listening to.. [that day I almost turned into Dustin Hoffman].. was Field Commander Cohen. You know, not long after I first started posting here regularly.. [which was a year after I first joined, I believe].. but not long after that I bought quite a few of your older CD's, most of which I had never heard before. Even now I don't feel as intimately acquainted with them as I do with the other CD's I already had in my possession. Anyway, listening to Field Commander Cohen the other day was a real eye opener for me, given the violin on some of those songs. I mean, the arrangements feel so similar to what you're having Bublitchi do now.. and so, I realized how that's really just furthering this incredibly beautiful dimension of what you already had working in your arrangements. I mean, I knew you had violin in other arrangements, as well.. but the first half of that CD was still something of a wonderful surprise in that regard especially. [it was terribly lovely to listen to while driving through the forests of the Palisades, which are now turning orange and gold with the fall]

.. well, my love.. I'm tired.. especially having just learned of all the complications of getting one's furry little kitty into a foreign country. Oh, and I just made it with the rabies shot, timing wise.. [or else some payola might have been involved].. [although, from what I hear about India, payola seems always to be involved].. Anyway, that's just step one. It turns out he even needs to have an "Indian agent".. and, I mean, I had no notion of putting him in films, either.

[say g'night, Gracie]

.. so.. yeah.. I'm a bit flummoxed.


.. alright, my love.. I guess I need to head for bed. You know, aside from the Zorro costumes--or, no, the Vronsky attire.. but, aside from that, I suggest it's finally time to do Little Red Corvette. [in Austin, I mean] I mean, don't you think you've dragged your feet on that one long enough?? It's time to put some pedal to metal, in other words.. (my angel).. (just don't over think it)

.. okay, my dearest.. I surrender to you this tired, tender little kiss.. x..

and.. [let me see what I might find for you, youtube wise..

.. okay.. this should help get you tuned up for the next leg of your tour.. (xx x..

.. (after your small vacation, that is)..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGmSz4-t2rk
FULL SCREEN..

.. xxx .. x xx.. xx..

[Violet]

.. Leonard, my love.. how are you?

.. it’s rather dark and rainy here, and all is quiet.. except for the sound of the rain.

.. and I’m wondering just where you are now.

.. you know, I’ve been in some manner preparing myself to, in a sense, “lose” you.. (even never having had you.. but

anyway, I guess I know I can just get by.. just “soldier on,” as they say, and “accept”..

.. even if I do fear the “sadness” part.

and I worry that I’ll continue to feel that something vital is missing for me.

Yesterday, as I was preparing to go into the city, somehow I found myself imagining being with you—which I don’t allow myself to do too often now.. but I did, and suddenly I felt such elation. Oh, that’s it.. (I was realizing).. that’s what’s missing in this “soldiering on” business.

.. it’s not so much falling in love, since maybe that can happen with any number of people. It’s falling in love with the right person.

I think that’s it. I think few of us do.

.. anyway, my angel.. it’s lovely those times I allow myself to feel that way. It gives me hope.. when nothing else does.

.. so, then maybe it’s not to close the door on anything, since how do I know what is possible, and what is not possible?

.. maybe nothing is possible, but do I have to unequivocally “know” that?

.. maybe it’s better not to.

.. okay, my beloved. Talk to you later.. I miss you.. x

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uy3PgZ ... ature=plcp
FULL SCREEN..

.. xx x.. xx x..

[Violet]

.. okay, so.. two displaced Stroppendragers are at a Western style saloon in Austin, Texas.

.. yeah, they’re just sitting there at the bar, drinking their Pabst Blue Ribbon.. the one removing his noose from his beer, and flipping it over his shoulder.. [that’s Strope the Wet].. the other [Strope the Dry] having the end of his noose secured to his back with Velcro.. [yeah, ‘cause they’re in the States now].. [Charles V is a long way away].. [sort of].. [in theory, at least]

.. so, yeah.. they're just sitting there, sulking into their Pabst Blue Ribbon

when

STROPE THE DRY: .. so.. the Lone Star State, huh?

STROPE THE WET: What about it?

STROPE THE DRY: Oh, well, I don’t know.

Oh, but then they start to NOTICE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_xjQNnIcdQ
FULL SCREEN..

STROPE THE DRY: That was some, uh, whatever-that-was, huh?

STROPE THE WET: Oh, I don’t know.. just like what that lady said: “I’ve seen better.”

STROPE THE DRY: Actually, I was wondering what that mechanical bull contraption was doing in my room.

STROPE THE WET: Yeah, in Texas that’s what’s known as “foreplay.”

STROPE THE DRY: I hear they’re real good with a rope here, as well.

[which, when you think about it, is rather handy for a Stroppendrager]

STROPE THE WET [after a good long sigh]: .. why don’t you get your mind out of the gutter, and just finish your beer?

STROPE THE DRY: I would, but it tastes like dishwater.

.. at this, Strope the Wet’s noose falls into his sudsy Pabst Blue Ribbon, and he just leaves it there.. as they both start to quietly sulk again.

.. meanwhile.. [interestingly enough].. just outside the bar’s Western style saloon [swinging] café doors, there was a wintertime violet glow of color across the hills.. [given it was just after sunset].. oh, which is why Austin is called “the Violet Crown.”

[ahem]

[END: Austin Stroppendrager bit] [oh, with that “violet bit” thanks to wiki]


.. so, yes, my love.. you’ll be performing in the Violet Crown, which seems rather perfect for this Princess Violet over here.. [even if I am going as Anna Karenina]

.. of course, given my costume, I’m doubtful I’ll be able to handle that mechanical bronco too well.. so.. maybe next time. (I have the perfect pair of jeans for that, in fact)

.. alright, my angel.. I guess I gotta’ get my day in full operation. It’s cold here now, but at least it’s sunny. Oh, and I did go out to our lake yesterday, since the sun started to peek out later in the day. (I sent you my love, my angel)

.. okay, well.. I do hope all is well.

.. and now I send you this violet glow of a tender kiss.. x..

[let’s see what I can find, music wise

.. [..] ..

.. okay, this is right up Western Stroppendrager alley.

actually, the lyrics rather contradict the famous first passage of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina [as it happens]..

you know, the one that goes:

Happy families are all alike, every unhappy family is unhappy in its own fashion.

[well, depending on the translation]

.. but, yeah.. it seems Merle thinks differently, though..

(another kiss to you, my love.. x)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNTWW1y1x0M
FULL SCREEN..

.. xx xx.. xxx.. (to keep warm)

[Violet]

.. okay, so.. our two displaced Stroppendragers have some time to kill. Yeah, they showed up in Austin a few weeks before Leonard Cohen’s Old Ideas concert.. (that's you, my love).. having just seen the man in Ghent, and finding themselves very moved.. [oh, especially by the more moody type numbers he did].. [but then, that shouldn’t surprise us too much, I don’t think]

so, anyway, they showed up in Texas ahead of time, thinking they might take a gander at some of the Lone Star State.. (or at least a good portion of Austin).. before the show.

.. so, yeah.. there they were.. taking in whatever nightlife the Violet Crown had to offer..

.. including yet another Western style saloon—this one featuring this lovely gal, who actually had an uncanny way of making them feel a bit homesick, in fact.

[must be the accent]

.. so, anyway.. there they were.. sitting in the back of the place, and drinking their Texan beer [from some Austin microbrewery they thought they might sample].. [actually, this one isn’t too bad].. [after that “Pabst” experience, that is]

.. oh, and it seems they're just starting to sulk,

when

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uai7M4RpoLU
FULL SCREEN..

Strope the Dry: .. so, Byron and Shelley, huh?

Strope the Wet: What about them?

Strope the Dry: Oh, well, I don’t know.


[TO BE CONTINUED]


.. my love, how are you?

.. I may head into the city tomorrow, and so I thought I’d check in on things over here tonight.. [see what’s goin’ on at the Okay Corral, as it were]..

[fairly quiet, in that respect]

.. actually.. [on my Anna Karenina theme].. I found out you can’t buy the original translation of the book at Amazon.. [the one with Tolstoy at the helm, that is].. unless you buy it as a “Kindle”.. [??]

.. isn’t that sort of odd?? I mean, why the more “traditional” version??

[my guess is that Kindle is looking to ensnare "traditionalists"]

[luckily for me, however, my local bookstore was willing to order the tome..

—oh, in a move that's surely being tracked by those geniuses over at Kindle]

[I should hook them up with Drinkify, actually]

[which would be like sending them to the medicine cabinet, before they even drink all the liquor]

[or why]


.. alright, my beloved. Just like Madeline Kahn.. [although not for the same, uh, reason].. I’m a bit tired.. need to call it day.

.. you know, I’m imagining you in LA, even if I’m wrong about that. But, that’s where my mind has placed you.. (and so, it’s again toward the setting sun that I send my love to you, my dearest).. (when at our lake, I mean..

(oh, and I miss you).. (more than I'm willing to say these days..

.. [let me see see if I can find

.. [.. ]..

now, this is short ‘n sweet, but it was just playing tonight on my classic movie station, and it’s just such a wonderful closing [John Ford style] shot..

[just stellar]

.. but first, my tender kiss to you, my angel.. x.. (I’m so looking forward to Austin..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aHf7VdOpsE
FULL SCREEN..

.. xx x.. x x..

[Violet]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmdAsL1n6q4
FULL SCREEN..

.. you see, what our two Stroppendragers were beginning to realize is that there is a different set of rules—out West, I mean—than what they were used to—out Stroppendrager way.. [you know, in Ghent, with that sorry-noose-of-a-legacy bequeathed them by Charles V]

.. but, I mean, out here—out West, that is—they were beginning to see that

well, first.. that they needed to do some learnin’

[but quick]:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcj1KlnN ... ure=relmfu
FULL SCREEN..

okay, now, that was very useful. [I wound up watching that guy’s enitre 5 part training program].. [only, now I wish I had a single action Colt revolver]..

[Dear Santa..

.. [actually, I do have a lever action Winchester shotgun, which I needed for one of my “art” films.. but

I can’t say it’s seen a lot of action].. [it did pack a real punch though in the film I did].. now where wa

oh. So, in any event.. our two lone Stroppendragers were themselves beginning to feel a bit more “ready-for-action,” shall we say. Oh, and instead of a holster, they just used their nooses. [sort of the way the Eli Wallach character did in that Sergio sequence]

.. actually, it was also suggested to them that they maybe get some further advice from someone they heard tell about in some ratty ol’ Mexican-type bar they got to frequenting—you know.. after hours.. [after a few too many shots of Tequila]

[it was bound to happen]

Now, it’s true that I have posted this a number of times, but it never fails to get me more in gear those times I feel myself to be slipping.

.. in any case, it is important for our two lone Stroppendragers to realize that they’ll probably never be the fastest draw in the West. [most likely]

[or even the second.. or third].. [or fourth]

[fifth, I might keep open].. [if they stick with the microbrew, and stay off the Tequila, that is]

.. but, I mean.. [generally speaking].. they may as well face up to the fact that

well, that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaoM0FyLmGY
probably no FULL SCREEN on this one..

[that Farley fall, by the way, has got to be one of the best of all time, I would think]

.. so, yeah.. our two [now sorry] Stroppendragers really have been pretty busy with things, while waiting to see Leonard Cohen again.. (that’s you, my love)

but, yeah. It’s been quite an education so far.


[End: Fast Draw Stroppendrager Bit] [with a Farley-motivated Chaser]


.. my angel, how are you?

.. you know, just when I think I might be strong.. and I think I might be getting a handle on things..

well, I wind up wanting you, my love. [pretty bad]

.. and so I guess I’m not that strong, after all.

.. anyway, last night I went on some sort of youtube marathon, inspired by my wondering just what would happen next with those two sorry Stroppendragers, while they're doing some time in Austin.

.. oh, and I wound up getting sidetracked with all sorts of things.

.. including this.

.. but, first.. my tender kiss to you, my angel.. x.. I hope you’re getting all tuned up for the rest of your tour. [for Austin, especially]

.. alright, my beloved.. ‘til soon.. (xx.. x..

(I miss you)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zHVFXor ... ure=fvwrel
FULL SCREEN..

[Violet]

Now, there were rumors that that German fräulein our two sorry Stroppendragers saw performing the other night.. [in that Western-style Austin saloon].. but yes, it seems she was at the end of her rope, as they say. [in Ghent, at least, they say that]

.. yes, apparently she got all hot ‘n heavy for some, um

well, here..

take a look:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9JqbCH4aVw
FULL SCREEN..

.. yeah, that happens sometimes. [although it’s usually the French who get like this].. [well, except for Gigi]

.. but, yeah.. it was unusual that a German would wind up all “hung up” like that. [as the expression goes] [in Ghent, at least]


.. anyway.. here are our two Lone [Sorry] Stroppendragers.. [once again, in some Western-style bar or other].. as they recount the gossip they’ve been hearing in and about the Violet Crown—

oh, and they somehow got to exchanging “war stories”.. [you might call them]

Now.. [just as a warning here].. this has been dubbed with brit accents.. [since I know there are quite a few brits who read this thread, for some reason].. [not too sure why that is, in fact]

But, yeah.. here it’s in "brit speak".. when, more authentically speaking, our two Stroppendragers would sound more like that fräulei—oh, no, wait. That was a German accent. Well, something more along those lines, just say. [I mean, honestly, who knows what an authentic Ghent accent sounds like].. [I’m sure they don’t even know]

.. so.. yeah.. here they are

—actually, they do go on a bit.. [you’ll just have to forgive them that] I mean, normally—while in Ghent, that is—you'd barely hear a peep out of them. [if you recall, they usually just sat there and sulked most of the time]..

.. only, something about being out West has emboldened our two [deject, at heart] Stroppendraggers.. even though they had a good dose of that "motivational speaker" we just sampled.. [in that last post, I mean] Still, more recently they just seem to be forgetting themselves.

actually.. [somewhat along these same lines].. they've even exchanged their nooses for bloody ascots! [can you believe that??] Alright, admittedly, this is their "evening" attire. [for when they’re not out fast-shootin’ 'n stuff] [with their Colt 45’s attached to their nooses] [like Eli Wallach]

.. but, yeah.. toward evening time, it seems they get all cleaned up,

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvQq_tqB0jA
FULL SCREEN..


Oh, and last here.. it seems our fräulein.. [in her misery].. adopted some rather uncouth American ways. I mean, it's one thing turning tricks with a bunch of lusty cowboys.. but, this.. well

[oh, and she's gained some weight, it seems..

so, yeah..

check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YfvBbxE1vU
FULL SCREEN..

[it’s a shame and it’s a pity]

[it really is]



[END: Gossiping [Western] Stroppendrager Bit]



.. how are you, my angel?

.. things are a bit rough out here on Nearing the End of the World Mountain. [yeah]

.. I don’t even try to fight it anymore, my love. I just secretly pine for you. [okay, not so secretly].. [around here, at least]

.. anyway, I got stuff I need to try and attend to, even though my mind is as scattered as

uh

I was about to say “a cat on a hot tin roof,” but

I mean, with that sort of heat, I’m doubtful the cat’s mind would be very scattered. He’d probably just be fixating on just why this playwright would have him up on a hot roof like that to begin with. [I mean, let's face it]

.. so, anyway.. that’s pretty much how things are with me just now, my love. Scattered. [oh, and somewhat annoyed with Tennessee Williams]

.. okay..

.. just one more tender kiss to you.. x.. (and now I gotta’ get some stuff done).. (I hope)

.. oh, but I’ll leave you with this memorable sequence. [yeah, I know what you’re thinking: that it’s hard to believe an old German staple such as this actually hails from some displaced fräulein or other in some Western-style saloon in Austin, Texas. I mean, even just time line wise, this seems to make no sense.. but.. well.. I’m just the messenger here] [I don’t make this stuff up, in other words].. [I mean, it's all right there on celluloid, after all].. [oh, okay, sometimes this old stuff is taped, which doesn't "keep" very well, unfortunately].. [but

anyway

(again, my kisses, my love.. xx x..

(and I miss you).. (but then, maybe you're beginning to realize that)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaZDiKRT1is
no FULL SCREEN I don’t think..

.. xx x.. xx x..

[Violet]

.. Leonard, my love.. I wrote this yesterday, but wasn’t sure if I should post it. I’ve been feeling so tired.. and unable to “assess” things.

But I just read this.. and maybe it’s okay that I post it. [as best I can tell]

.. so..


.. my angel, my love.. how are you?

.. for me, it’s been tough the last.. I don’t know how many days now. I wake up early—too early, usually.. and I can’t always get back to sleep.. and it’s then that the worst thoughts come, and fears.

.. and just like that time on the dock, I find myself crying.. and asking God to help me. I even ask you to help. I don’t know what constitutes “help.” I only know I feel I need it.

.. and then I think.. well, it’s up to me, really. It’s up to me to either “take on” the various challenges in my life, and not be daunted by them.. or even to just surrender to this “not knowing”..

.. not knowing what it is I’m doing, exactly.. or why.

.. even as I fear that the rest of my life will pass with my never knowing.

.. and even as I feel to love you, I know that that’s not anything I have a handle on either. I don’t know it as a strength, or a weakness. It just is, it seems. And even those times I try to move on with things, and remove myself from such feelings.. it seems to do no good.

Oh, also.

.. as I’m lying in my bed before it’s even light out.. I think to try to do some “breathing,” as I learned to do. Well, actually, I now have two slightly different approaches, and I try each one.

.. but what’s been happening

well, it’s hard to explain.

.. but I’m noticing in these silences this

well.. I’d call it a “door” almost.. although it’s not a physical door.. or even the image of a door..

it’s some manner of “slippage,” it feels like.

.. perceptual slippage, perhaps. Still, all is dark. There’s no image attached. But it feels that if I go forward there.. then I lose everything I’ve ever known.. and nothing will be the same after that.

From much of what I’ve read, it seems reality as we know it is illusory. So, maybe it’s to go beyond the illusion, then.

Only, I’ve yet to. I don’t know what it would mean, exactly. And I barely even “know” this thing I’m talking about.. or even how to go forward with it. It's as if it's at my "periphery," somehow.

Oh, also. It has me wondering..

.. I mean, so much of the time we “measure” ourselves in terms of others. I am like that, or like him, or her. I am not like that, etc.

.. but it’s much more difficult—for me, at least—to know what truly I “am.”

.. and.. in leaving the "mirage”.. the mirage of this reality, I guess.. it’s in some sense to be with oneself “unencumbered,” as it were. If even there is a "self."


I just read of your speaking of the “fiction of separation”.. but still, it’s a very strong fiction.

.. one that maybe starts to dissolve when with one’s love.. or one’s sense of God.

(I love you, my angel)

x

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eENQ_WMato
FULL SCREEN..

[Violet]

.. you know, my angel.. [how are you, by the way?].. but it occurs to me that I’m at that place where everything just sort of “drops out,” before something new can come to take its place.

I feel absolutely lousy, and uncertain about this trip I’m taking. Oh, and I guess I’ve been having bouts of “losing my nerve”.. (rather like Anna Karenina did)

.. I was even thinking I should put that writing I did in a drawer somewhere, and just forget about it for now.

.. but then I got to thinking that that just seems terribly stupid. I mean, I must have had some reason for writing it.. and I have edited the thing.

.. anyway, in the daytime I can see better what I’m doing, and I don’t think I should just shove it in a drawer. I think I should see what might be done with it. [pretty sure]

As for Anna Karenina.. I was reading the introduction last night, which was proving quite interesting. For one thing, there really was a woman like Anna who went “astray,” as it were.. and wound up throwing herself in front of a moving train. Also, the character of Anna Karenina went through quite a transformation through the various drafts of this novel. Originally, Tolstoy did not see her as a sympathetic character at all. She wasn’t even attractive.

.. but as he wrote it, he found he identified with her more and more.. and she became the attractive, beguiling woman that her name alone seems to conjure. [even if you’ve never read the book, or seen it portrayed on film]

.. oddly, Tolstoy himself would die at a railway station, although he didn’t throw himself in front of a train. Still, it seems a rather sad ending.

Anyway, I’ll be alright, my love. I just have to persevere, and not let my doubts and fears get the better of me.


Meanwhile..

.. seems our two Stroppendragers had come to find out that out West you could save yourself a heap a trouble--if only you had some tobacco.

.. yes, they learned quite a bit about this topic from a very large Native American chief-looking dude at one of those Western-style bars they frequented.. [you know, in Austin]

.. actually, it turns out the chief was pissed off that neither one of them had any tobacco on 'im. [very pissed off]

[don't think I won't be buying some American Spirits for my trip to Austin]

[just to be on the safe side]

.. in the meantime.. my tender kiss to you, my angel.. x.. (you know, you help me just by being there, my love).. (.. xx x..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3GhauMLLvg
FULL SCREEN..