My Apartment has become my companion

Campers

Just going over my list of the personal haps of import to me over the past year and realizing that my love affair with my apartment could be my story of the year.

It is so comfortable to write this and pause and walk around while Super Tramp plays softly in the background and I’m amongst hundreds of photos of my family and friends and students and flowers and more flowers and glowing computer screens all around and the eight cameras.

I walk through the hall and into the bedroom or the other way into the bath and I meet mirrors and more mirrors and figurines and teddy bears and fancy accessories like brightly beaded purses and a hundred necklaces.

A string of a dozen red Xmas treet lights are strung over the kitchen cabinets and a 2 foot wire ‘tree’ has alternating flashing red and white lights.

A 54" screen from Doug holds whatever image is most important to me at the moment.

A huge belebeteen comforter with covering U.S. Navy Anchor competes for Patriotism award with my draped American Flag behind me as I type this in the center of the Triple Bay Window.

I will not yield Patriotism to a bunch of redneck assholes.

My family fought in the Revolution and War of 1812.

We died in the Civil War on the side of the North and South.

we died in the World Wars and I saw my brother off to Korea before I joined and went to the 6th Fleet Theater as a ‘Clerk-Typist’ for 3 years and another 3 in the Reserves during height of Nam when Tom Ammiano was tucked into a crawl space protected by 30 Vietnamese peasants risking their lives during the Tet Offensive.

Yeah, my hall is my closest family and friends plus Marilyn Monroe in the Center with a Painting of Mission Dolores origianl church I think is quite good over her and the old ‘Defenestration Building’ in a framed photo below which is a paiting I cannot decipher for you. Either the skeleton of a fish or some Demon.

"Charge Completed"

Says the little wireless acupuncture neck collar I have charging from this computer.

I wrap it around my sore neck for a Frankenstein’s Monster jolt.

Ahhhh.

Like I said, I spoil myself.

The Year just past?

Let me do this as a Stream of Consciousness …

The event that struck me most was that Chris Cummings died.

I won’t get any further into that except to say that he was my Son-in-Law/Baseball Guardian Angel and friend who fulfilled Baseball Fantasies I did not even know I had stamping them off my Bucket List World Series by World Series til I’d shared over 200 Replica rings from him around my beloved friends and family and reporters and my own ‘City Family’.

Next was losing in 3 or 4 elections.

I forget how many but I walked lotta miles and came away in great shape but still not humble.

Picked up trash daily entire year til October 19th when I realized that my work on my own ‘Clarion Alley Project’ was done.

At 78 years of age I’d been mixing and pouring concrete alone for a month to fill every puddle of piss and sewage with concrete while I kept entire block cleared of weeds which went to compost heap where people shat.

Did ‘Piss Block’ border of black paint on both sides of alley for a block.

Yeah, got down to 115 pounds.

It’s almost 3 months late and I’m up to 128 and 130-132 is best BMI.

So, I was asked to leave the Alley with, "all your shit" by one of the Co-Managers which seemed about right.

That same afternoon I had Triple-Physician Liver panel tell me I’m ‘Normal’.

Got another of those Panels next month on February 8th.

I wanna know close to possible when I’m gonna die.

Know what I mean ?

That’s possible now pretty much.

The Acupunture Collar is warmed up now on 6 setting.

I pretty much resurrected my Bulldog too.

Now, it’s a blog and I did somewhere around 4,000 photos and posted them once I learned how and a hundred or more short to long opinion pieces.

Fist bumped Mike Tyson in Clarion Alley on July 4th while I was shaveling shit tho didn’t realize it was him at the time.

Did just over a month of Pet Sits from the pastures of Sonoma to a sleek new Bernal Heights apartment where the furniture ‘talks’ to you and the shower has no door and doesn’t need one.

Had a Brown Family Disunion in June it was, I think.

I don’t know about you but my family’s reunions are not Vacations.

Imagine 50 people like me.

Lol

I came away far richer for the week, of course.

Re-established ties with my oldest sister/actual mom and two of her remaining 5 after we lost her eldest to Paradise.

Brought back some stored ‘loot’ artifacts from my work on Preventing Nuclear War in the early to mid-80’s and the hatchet-hacked pastel mural of me that hung at the entry to my Jazz Club in 1977.

Came across bag of ‘badges’ from my Potrero Hill School Security Force.

Political World crashed around me when Boudin announced he would not run in the election to overturn his sleazy Recall and Gonzo said he wouldn’t pluck the Low-Hanging City Attorney’s Office fruit.

Gimmes, both.

Started think that if these two much smarter guys than me were pulling back from politics with all the years they had …

maybe I should too ??

I can still write about it but I’m down to one general purpose sign …

‘No on Yes !!’

(from Roscoe)

Checked off another Bucket List item by going couple of months with completely shaved head and what a pain in the ass.

Felt good to massage the scars but I’m back to Zero Buzz variations.

Best party of year had to be when Matt called and drug me over to Zeitgeist where brother Charles was playing and there was this artist also named Tom Schultz whose show I later went to and he’s from LA and look him up he kicks ass seriously on big time gallery level.

And, fucker loved my apartment !!

Kissed me on top of my bald head and thanked me as he left.

Second biggest party was After-Thanksgiving Party at Beth and Johns.

The Cohens returned home from over 3 years in Europe and we all breathed a sigh of relief as Becky kicked ass on another operation.

I spent all of my holidays alone mostly by choice.

I really enjoy being alone in the museum that is my place.

The Miracle of Modern Medicine has created a variety of potions to Mask almost all of my Major ailments and my mind still works good as it ever did.

And, I know lots more than I did this time last year.

I’ve continued to perfect interrupting tendencies to join conversations in my head centered around events that happened or that I imagine what might happen …

And, if I follow these thoughts …

One of my own Life’s Beliefs is that I have a choice always.

So, don’t follow negative trains of thoughts that end with you gaining a great oratorical or whatever victory in an exchange that didn’t happen.

Those thought trains, like internet Trolls are always trying to divert our energy.

I’m training myself to interrupt a negative train with the LINE …

"Why am I always winning this argument?"

I’m in good a shape as I can be I think and loving watching the New Age Flood that ended 2022 and poured on into the New Year.

What will it bring?

Search me?

Resolutions?

Just Keep on Keeping on.

And, see what happens.

Thinking of going to watch Willie Brown tomorrow night.

He’s one of the main characters in the SF Politics part of my life.

Only spoken to him once in 42 years.

Another Will Durst Event.

They swept by us on edge of aisle there for food and didn’t know they were appearing.

I was charmed and forget what I called out to Willie.

Whatever, he threatened to call the cops.

So, let’s start 2023 off and see if I can get it right this time.

Whatever these people may think of me, they are sort of my heroes.

Like, Soap Opera characters.

Hmmm …

Free Zarate !!

h.