The gadabout letters
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- Great Gates in the Garden
- CABIN IN THE MONTANA WOODS
Armando that rocked! you rock... no one EVER writes back stuff like that! (except YUR on occasion, and its always about skating.) you must be the coolest realtor in chicago, aaaaaaaaaalyn. i should have a 'guest works' clicker on the Review and put up "just some good old fashion pooping" by AT, the property slinging poet from the streets of schaumpton. i wonder if anyone else tried to run away from their harsh cutters mill surroundings and planned to meet their friend at that park (where the hill was). that would be cool. im still amazed i got outta the house that night without waking up jean. jay never woke up after his news and nightcaps. later bater, write more often and ill do the same. lt ۞
and i did get the letter too. im sorry to hear you wont be here soon, but getting the surgery done and out of the way is much more important. especially if you may be able to come out later in the summer. if we stay in bigfork (i applied for three other jobs this week. better jobs: missoula, whitefish and libby) im thinking of buying a 2 story A-frame on 10 wooded acres under the swan mtns. its not far from the cabin we're in right now, but im tired of wasting money on rent and i love this place. we'll seeeeeeeeeeee. you might be first house guest in the bad ass unibomber A-frame. so just let me know whats up with the surgery and coming out and all. you guys are more than welcome to stay at the cabin anytime. as you should already know. plus, then arlo and willow can tear eachother up in the yard. okey dokey. ill write more soon. stay in touch.... Lazarous see this?: http://www.ninearts.org/ ۞
alright have a texas star special on me this weekend. tell that swirly waitor not to rip anybody off. seeeeeeee ya. tell spazzy hello. ۞
sam bartlett and daniel are here indeed. rolled into the spork late last evening around 2am. we were planning on making the run to bozeman early as possible but i just found out i have to "secure the job" with the new company tomorrow at 11 am in kalispell so we'll be leaving right after that. should be 5 hrs. damn. fuckin job. i should quit just to make it to the show. i hope you guys can see popper and vince. they will definitely jam together as the traveler did with cheese last june in that boiler room they call steamboat springs. let me know your plans. too bad about hornings, but that place isnt going anywhere. LT
۞ saintly confrere to me this is meant to be like the companion person (confrere = Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin word meaning fraternal or intimate associate, colleague, an equal, etc.) is heavenly or ethereal, you know, 'saintly' to the narator. "the Amitabha, buddha of infinite love." amitabha is an ancient sanskrit word which translates into: the awakened being of infinite love, or the embodiment of unlimited compassion and cherishing. it is a manefestation of the idea of the perfect mind of enlightenment. or buddha. so basically the narator is metaphorically comparing the institution of marriage with being in a heavenly garden surrounded by strong and sturdy mountains, rooted old trusty trees, the sun resting on his shoulders, and while things in the garden change everyday (like everything else in life) his most ideal companion is there for him to be with. all of these things make up this wonderful marriage or environment from which he is feeling so content, he feels like he will never have any reason to leave. ill forward this on to joe too because i had a feeling that some word arrangements might make the foundations a little difficult to fully understand for people. but i like that it contains not all common words and therefor leaves a little mystery like great art should. you know. but even with that slight incertitude the reader will still get it. (and if you guys dont want to use it of course dont feel obligated.) see ya
heres what i wrote in msla this weekend sitting on the porch waiting out a rainstorm. after this, i went to watch the game. let me know. (i sent it as Word attachment so the line breaks wouldnt get messed.) see yaaaa. LT Great Gates in the Garden Sometimes I imagine the bonds of marriage to be like passing through the great gates in the garden. Radiant and pure early morning sun resting on my shoulders reminds me of why I came. Elysian and eternal silhouetted mountains to the west remind me of why I never would want to leave. Serenity in my heart contents me to stay on as I reach across the wild and untamed grassesÑ changing every day, rooted and sovereign as the grandfather oakÑ to touch the hand of my companion, saintly confrere to me, the Amitabha, buddha of infinite love. for Joe and Jennifer October 26, 2002 Chicago
noah's words: You can't just assume that you like the company you keep with yourself, like most people seem to do. You have to put this thing to the testÑa real testÑlike driving across the country and finding some town to live in and stay, and know no one, just you and your thoughts. And it turns out goodÑactually better than you ever expected from the beginning. And now you are smarter and wiser than the rest of the terrible shmucks who never leave the town they grew up in, take two weeks of vacation each year, year after year, and are in worse shape than they even realize. hehe. bitch thlap. yeah, i thought the ireland match was pretty stressful. i was yelling and jumping around the cabin with Amia Diorio and my friend Karen Hillary visiting for the weekend. it was pretty cool to lay there watching the game in old dirty yellow tshirt and boxer shorts until i jumped up to cheer for a penalty kick call and my peter swung out of that pee slot in front. just kidding. i had pants on during the game. that would have rocked if they won those pks at the end. abc announced airing mexico/us today at 330. how'd you see it already? ill cheer on korea and brazil. how much is the pot? what did you guys do for fathers day yesterday? i called dad but no answer so left vm and email too. maybe he's out of town? got tickets coming in the mail for BT and leftover salmon show in bozeman next weekend. hell yeah. then they play in boise Idaho for free so maybe we'll trek over for that as well if the timing works out. sammy the saucey tennessee guy in the photos on the fridge is on his way out for that and then to camp in the backyard of the cabin for a while. he is presently floating in the abyss of unemployment. alrighty then. if you are bored watch the cable guy. it contains some rather priceless jim Clara. veeeeery funny. i got all nervous and scared when i saw that. this is because you are my favorite didnt-know-you-were-going-to-be-a-subscriber and that word: 'unsubscribe' gave me quite a bad jolt. now nothing is seeming to sit right. (just kidding) Perhaps that didnt make as much sense to you as i would hope. but then again, we've been exchanging mad-cap letters for ...ah...oly shit...eleven years... twelve years. (so i assume you get my drift.) about the longevity: id have to go dig up the stack of original uncial cerography and check some dates... either way, i think that its very damn wonderful. give me some dates when you can about your chicago-rockford visits. my brothers wedding is october 26 in the city so ill be there for a week i guess around then. i hope to be there for (or around) christmas, maybe earlier so we can be back here for new years. jesus, thats kind of a long way off. anyway, montana's always cool. this job is pretty much a cake walk, so i spend most of my time on my own taking photos and writing (paychecks are not to be shunned: its nice having one for a change.) i have a small but excellent painting studio over the carport at the cabin that hasnt been getting as much use as it should. however i just received a whole new shipment of re-supplies (paints, canvas, stretcher bars, gesso, etc) on my front porch last evening so things in the painting world are about to change. i have two works in a group show this month, then three more coming up in july, august and october. i think by winter here i should have my own one man show and not look back... spring at the latest. perhaps those mass emails (i apologize for that, but it seems to work out ok for the people on the list) will keep you posted. hehe. or else i will personally. that just gave me an idea for the RMReview: a link that tells the info of current exhibitions that im showing in. cool. thanks woman. this is cool too: the bigfork summer playhouse wants me to work painting their backdrops. that would be excellent, unfortunately, they want me to VOLUNTEER to paint their backdrops. do you find yourself with time to volunteer these days? ---------------sort of responses to what you wrote: seems like vision design ended up a good place for you to be right now. after all the uncertainty i remember discussing with you as i sat in that highrise midnight building over the loop. would you be going to idaho for work? Amia Diorios her name. you got it right. shes the one with a few photo portraits in there. not the cowgirl. that would be candy ellis, miss montana rodeo 2002. she's a very busy young woman with all her fund raising and rodeo riding in tight lee jeans and pointy boots. if you came to visit, you'd never see her around town WITHOUT that big fuckin hat on her head, the shiny metal plate on front scribed and polished up for the day. its quite a site, she'd smile real huge right at you and shake your hand for a while too. tell me about fredword. im just interested to know a little about the guy you have been with for 15 months. i dont know exactly where this curiosity stems from. i guess just because we're buddys and thats one thing buddys do. we had kind of a really late night party at the cabin saturday night after the bar closed. while i ran inside to get some beers or waters or whatever, i found out later, this girly that we hang out with usually on the weekends smooched Amia Diorio on the lips and wanted to have a three way. i came out and her legs were draped over Amia Diorios lap. i was sort of in the cups at this point, it being 3 am and all, and upon witnessing this very obviously sexual leg situation between my girlfriend and other girl, didnt know quite what to make of it... till i found out later. sometimes things get a little over the top in mi current vida loco. ----------------- ok, its a while later now and since i last wrote i put 1199 dollars on my never-used-credit card. the purchase was well planned and executed. i feel good about my brand spanking new Nikor 80-520 mm fully automatic vibrational reduction enhanced zoom lens. i will try and get a few candid pics of the girl in the house across the road showering through her window and send them along. (just kidding. there's no girl there.) then, came out and my truck wouldnt turn over so hadda call tow truck back to bigfork, pay him a cool fast $80, walked back to my truck and, strangely, it started. in the parking lot of the mechanic place. but...thats not such a reliable history so i left it there to have them look at it maybe tomorrow. must have dependable vehicle in ole montana hills. alrighty then miss d'leure, have a wonderful night. LT
anyway, ill be painting tonight. then perhaps hit the shwell for a bomb. walked the eagle bend links all morning shooting candid and hilarious photos of ultra-rich-folk and getting sunburn on my face. i cut my hair a little last night and shaved some too so they all thought i was "that one movies star....you know...that one." okey doke. time for a smoke. just kidding, thats the mountain dew talking. it rhymed, so i typed it. peace.
CABIN IN THE MONTANA WOODS yeah, i imagine the hippie situation is the same as in boulder. things would be more productive if they'd all just shave their heads and start sitting meditation holed up on some vermont hillside becoming monks instead of smoking pot, being lazy and thinking its getting them somewhere. but no im not dead. just sorta broke and staying at my moms back near chicago with lauren who seems to always land a job in the natural food stores wherever we go faster than i can do anything. i used to be the one to get a good job quick after a relocation but not anymore. the last job i had was in the spring of 2001 and i havent had one since (unless you count delivering pizzas in boulder for six weeks... but i dont, it barely bought beer, let alone food or bills) the cows sound alive up there, i dont remember any of them getting up over a slow walk, but they probably are relatively healthy animals and the cardiovascular excersise'll maybe make better milk, i dont know. ---------------- excerpt:
Chet Voulliard who sometimes sits on top of mountains for whole days studying Rousseauean chapters and eating fruit from the open air market streets below, where the sunday crowds are thick and the people are always strangely busy, ducking into drug stores for cough drops and newspapers, or nodding off on buses and on bus stop benchesÑ Voulliard walking around spinning off lines like 'what is life if not at least a constant attempt at a manifestation of our dreams...' to his friends or right to the clerk at Donnely's pretzel stand who makes em "Just Like Coney Island" with sea salt and dijon french mustard and who he's never met before in his life. Chet's always had some beat-up black cotton bomber jacket left in his grandmothers bar in Gerome, Pennsylvania that he wears all year round (in winter with a red knitted cap) and a crew cut that he says makes him look more republican and this is good he says as he goes looking for a desk job in the tax department at city hall in Spellman, Tennessee where he grew up and even spent two years at the University there philosophizing with the professors any chance he got, and running around the campus with giant books filled with Dylan Thomas lyrics and Marxist theories and the beauty of the Communist Party in 1835 so honest and concerned about everyone ---------- seeing as though you're up in newengland, have you ever heard of scott nearing? whats the word on that guy these days? the only time i was up there i didnt know of him enough to ask. i wonder if his cabin is still around...maybe we'll come have a look. hows cholo? g we moved from boulder (for worms) last day of november and went up to whitefish again hoping to maybe get the graphics job i interviewed for, and i got it, but the wages are so bad up there (ok for montana, but...) and the position ended up only being part time, and i wanted to apply to grad school in chicago so we came back here after a couple weeks. its so intense up there i think about going back take that smally job and get some land put up the cabin, but i guess ill stay in chicago for a while and maybe save some cash. laurens good. shes working at a natural foods/nutrition store but she's getting tired of that retail monotony so's always trying to decide what to "do". same old storey with folks uncontented with the everlasting push toward social and economic success. sometimes i wonder if i didnt think about things so much if id just float around like a lot of people unaware and mindlessly sedated. but then again, all this thinking and figuring is leading me right to that same understanding and bliss only difference is its in a mindful way. ahhhh simplicity, or "it woooont mean a thing in a hundred yeeeeeaaars. ding dun de de de do do do..." i've got an exhibition at the gallery on damen in may for art international 2002. coincides with the grand production set up on navy pier every spring. its quite good actually another one of those benefits of being in the city. ill put up the new paintings on the site as soon as i get the slides back (they had to ship as part of my mfa application stuff) if you would like to see them. there's some warm front here in chicago like spring so im going outside into the wind. tell me about your cabin: how long you been there, where is it, did you buy it, rent it? land? animals roaming, etc etc..... g thank you ben. hehe. hippies should all be shaved and made into monks sitting up on mountainsides praying for all things to be equal, they'd be a lot more useful this way. chow.
g hombre,
no, mcdougals for me dont worry. ah, chicagos cool place. its snowing right now and just went to van gogh and degas exhibit at the school museum. theres no work here though so im in the process of finalizing a position of photographer/designer for the Big Fork Eagle! HA! fuckin A, buy me a little cabin on flathead lake, set up my easel and watch the world from up there maybe... hehe. get a big ass dog and go snowshoeing out my back'ard all winter... ohhhh...montana. anywaysssss hope LA's treating you like a rockstar. tell those fatty ho's on the strip I cant take no 4 on 1, they nearly attacked me in their lampshade eye makeup dripping down their autumn faces and Oakland Raider parkas pushed out to maximum density. hehe. scared the shit outta me man, scared me worse than getting jumped in daylight hours ina Memphis gas station on "the wrong side of graceland", the hood is what we call it here. huh. alrighty, grasshopper, let me know whats going down when you get a chance. ciao.
g NO WAYYY! CONGRATULATIONS, folks. that is great great news. i didnt know... fill me in on the details when you get them. otherwise ill be here most likely in chicago looking for a job. theres some crazy stuff going on with the economy eh? its creeping into (or hopefully OUT OF) some major depression situation around this city (and most others im sure) no one is hiring for ANYTHING. i cant even get a warehouse job up here! im walking around the industrial parks in my dress shirt and heavy navy pea coat and knit hat asking in big white-collar headquarters: "wheres the employment office" like some broke sailor on the docks turning up my collar to the grey morning skies and freshly falling midwest snow. laurens working at the natural food store so at least we have some small cash. anyway, let me know whats new in KC. g mike: what up dog? might be heading back to NW montana for a job up in big fork on flathead lake. ill let ya know what happens, im waiting to get the "final decision". its a mixed job for the small paper there called the Eagle. i would be the photographer, web designer, and part time writer of sorts. i sent the head lady my url and check out this crazy letter she responded with...(attached below) so, how bout that coffee, sailor. you working these days? how bout some adivce, or your opinion: i was planning after the first book of poems (say no more) to just keep on with the poems (which ill always do) and put together the next collection and try to get some university press or maybe shambhala to publish it, take care of the marketing, etc... but ive been doing some story writing lately and dream writing that i think i like very much how it is coming together... so im trying to decide (not right away i guess) what kind of format to use. think i should write out a whole book length story novel, have the main guy (me basically) having these wild dreams and include them in the book, have a poetry section at the end?.... or have (1)Book of Dreams, (2)Book 2 of Poems, (3)Story novel book, AND (4)Book of LEtters? all separate? (i could include some of these grand corespondances we've had (saved them all) into the first single-book-with-everything idea. hmm. this is what ive been thinking about lately. no matter really let me know what you think. in the meantime im just drinking hot coffee and hammering away at the keys everyday. also, found Great Plains Zen Center for sitting meditation sundays and tuesdays up in Palatine...wanna go some time? i usually go out to eat with my dad, sisters, etc on sunday nights and my brother plays indoor soccer tuesday nights in palatine so we can work something out. the games are great to go and spectate. no one else there late at night so i run and fetch the long shots go outta bounds playing ballboy! Download 2 Mb. Share with your friends:
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