THE MEDIUM

Age eight......i was asked what i wanted for my birthday..... i chose a gold ring with a tiny single-cut diamond set in an oval polished onyx.....for a couple of years, this sufficed....I could hold the ring under my dance teacher's faceted front porch light and enjoy the prism effect........as i grew older and my eyesight became somewhat diminished i had to up the ante to see the universe in a stone...... this is the current "gazing stone"........since i have done this "meditation" for many years, it has become a very refined and transcendental ritual.......in one thought, all that has changed in my life becomes an abstraction in reflection......

The Buddha Shakyamuni, in a pose of enlightenment, the passive left hand having it's palm facing out, in an active gesture of peace, bearing no agression, and the active right hand resting in the lap in a gesture of meditation. As the Buddha has broken through the boundaries of egocentric existence and relaxes into compassion. All Buddhist art celebrates this supreme moment and leads the viewer toward the Buddha's experience of selfless enlightenment. The earliest forms of Buddhist art were semiabstract: bodhi-trees, wheels, stupas, and even the Buddha's stylized footprints served as supports for contemplating what was ultimately beyond words or forms. As the Buddha himself continually taught, it was not he who was continually revered but the possibility he presented. "Don't look to me," he said, "but to the enlightened state." One of the most cherished Tibetan Bronzes in my growing collection......

Black opals remain my favorite stone.......I was told, by my grandmother, the old tale of opals being bad luck......since i am not superstitious and think people who avoid walking under ladders or passing the path of a black cat are total idiots, this only fueled my interest in the mysterious gems......in my mid-twenties i purchased, from my friend, Elaine Feig, a black opal ring from the collection of Princess Luciana Pignatelli.....shortly thereafter, sadly, the ring was stolen from a sink of a public lavatory, where i had removed the ring! {i had always been told to keep opals away from hot water} Friends said, "opals bring bad luck!".......nonsense, i believe.......it was my own negligence, leaving the ring, if only for 30 seconds.....it was time for some dishonest monkey to pawn it away......now, i am opalringless........this ring depicted above is a ladies platinum ring, from my lockbox.... size 4 ....unfortunately......i'm waiting for a man's antique black o

i just received this fancy corkscrew to add to the half dozen or so "other" corkscrews that lie in the kitchen drawer.... this one is contained within a fancy wooden box and resembles an instrument for brain surgery or vaccine inoculation for QE2.... and it takes up lots of space in my already congested kitchen......i receive gifts like this from "friends" who imagine that i must have the "best".......a friend once gave me a bottle of Lafite Rothchild Medoc', 1984, which i deemed far too fancy for my humble tastes.....so i gave it to an acquaintance who later told me that he and his wife knocked it down with some take-out spaghetti..... "It was better than yellowtail!" he commented.......

  This old pic of the forgotten actress, Babs Winlack, photographed and hand-colored by Witzel, L.A. is my favorite "movie star" pic......long dead, she is buried next to Dora Wigglesworth, aka DeeDee Wigglewart......

The health books and charts shown to children usually stress the importance of "hot meals"......and many people have been brainwashed into thinking that a "hot meal" is better or even more nutritious than a "cold meal". I have always thought that, in addition to wasting the equivalent of a couple of kilos of fossil fuels in the preparation of "hot" food, much of the nutritional value of the food is lost in the cooking process......this illogical and false attitude makes about as much sense as "don't go out in the rain.....you'll get a cold...or a fever...." and other untruths.... i buy most of my food at Whole Foods....practically all from the cold and uncooked food displays.......some things are tastier hot or cold, some things must be cooked to be edible or to kill harmful bacteria; but, for the most part, raw food rules my diet... I haven't had a cold, flu, or sickness of any kind in several years.......go figure! S

  My great uncle Austin Pitts, walking with great presence, on the streets of New Orleans....early 1940's..... Of particular interest is the lack of motor cars......people still walked all over the streets and the distinction between "sidewalks" and "streets" was not clearly established...... i found the old embossed and gilt greeting card, from Uncle Austin, in an old box......

  15 years ago, a total stranger was shopping in my antique store... when she placed her car key, which hung from this beaded lizard, on the counter, i viewed it with amusement.. the stranger, a conscious lady of independent means, asked "may i give you the lizard?".... to which i replied "Really? yes, thank you....it's fabulous!" "Yes, I know" she said, giggling.....Then, leaving the green keychain and its attached porche ignition key, she left...... I ran after her, only to find her chatting with someone in the courtyard......."Your car key is still on the lizard", I said.... and began to remove the key.....She replied: "I was unsure of whether you would like just the lizard or the car or both."...again..giggling... I handed her the key......I really don't think it would have mattered to her.....and that mattered to me . Bach Violin Concertos by Lara St John

i found this resin copy of my Lavrof Bronze.......although it pales by comparison, it is still lovely......

old pictures from shoe boxes...... Ora Kotas and sisters. Once, Ora, other friends and I staged a production of Joan of Arc, being emmolated at the stake...... Ora's mother viewed our little play and was very shaken by it, as it appeared that the neighorhood children were burning her daughter at the stake! i like this photograph, but wish Mrs Kotas had documented the more interesting event.....   ......

  Katherine Radcliffe and Yours Truly....our "official" portrait, done in the early 70's..... floozy aristocrat and steel-nerved gambler......

every thought changes the fabric of existence, every movement, every change of direction, leads the moment after......

  Bird and I have been friends for 45 years.... She's 85, i think, now.....and still lots' of fun..... We recently went, together with our friend JoAnn...to enjoy "Mama Mia"..........I know Bird loves me.....and that means a lot.......She knows I love her too.......

 

  The RachKnabe in it's first home in many years, at my old apartment in the Manor, across from Zesto, between a macho gay bar and the train station, in short walking distance of The Riviera,  The High, The Atlanta Symphony and Atlanta Ballet...top floor, with a skylight.......I found this torn photo in an old Ampico Magazine which featured, on its cover, Serge himself,  seated at this piano.....Only Constantine Chatoff has made the soundboard sing since then.... The great apartments, then, were so grand...with butler's closets and maid's rooms, thousands of square feet of luxurious spaces with pleasant views of old trees and gardens...... Other luxury apartments in the late 60's were The Palace, where i lived for a short time,  The Manor, The Peachtree Gardens, The Villa  and The Palace. My last apartment was  in The DeSoto, on 7th St. Enough of top-flight walkups.....

the tripod's feet, slipping in the sand; 'though the exposure is at "B", there is no registration of light on the emulsion.. as the lens tumbles, and broken, blindly faces the earth.

    here's something that's fun.... dickdecor..... paper dolls of various animals and even mechanical devices such as locomotives........... just slip them over your wanker and voila!, you have a new slant on the old tallywacker..... potential sex partners will love the new "dress-up" game........

  these began in a broken teacup and have become somewhat monumental..... the venetian glass "watering tube" was once the stem of an old glass pipe...

THIS HAPPY FERN HAS BEEN A BONSAI FOR TWENTY YEARS, GROWING IN A COBALT, PORCELAIN CONTAINER.......THE 'RABBIT'S FEET' HAVE COMPLETELY COVERED THE PLANTER........A MASS OF FOLIAGE.. LATER IN THE SUMMER, I WILL RESHAPE THE FERN, BUT NOW...I'M JUST WATCHING TO SEE WHERE IT'S GOING.........

    THE IRIDESCENT FLIES ARE BACK......SO IT'S TIME FOR THE STINKY YELLOW FLOWERS TO OPEN THEIR TREASURES TO THE GATHERING INSECTS. WHERE DOES THIS LITTLE CACTUS GET THE ENERGY TO MAKE THESE ENORMOUS FLOWERS?

  "THE BEGGER IN A TOP HAT", WITH A LAMP SHADE THAT FEATURES SUSPENDED POM POM BALLS....ODDLY AMUSING.......THERE ARE TINY GRAINS OF RICE IN THE BEGGER'S BOWL..........

  THIS HAS HUNG IN MY HOME FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS..... A SELF-PORTRAIT OF MAURICE CLIFFORD, SEATED ON A TOILET......NO ONE HAS EVER COMMENTED ON THIS WONDERFUL PENCIL DRAWING.......

  or, maybe it was halloween, or maybe their anniversary..... doesn't really matter.....an amusing portrait of Reis and Rebecca Birdwhistell........

  my father had died, my mother was diagnosed with incurable bone cancer and my friend, Stefan was murdered.......i was acting strange and disassociated.......