Born On This Day- August 26th... Christopher Isherwood

It is the summer of 1971 & I am doing summer stock in Coeur D' Alene, Idaho. Lucky me, at 17 years old, I am doing my 1st professional theatre & I am doted on & delighting in my first hot affair with a male, a fellow actor who was much older than me. Ron was 24 years old & was an actual college graduate! I had a hard time wrapping my mind around someone being finished with college & being interested in me. Ron lived in San Fransisco (I would visit several times in the next few years)!

The movie of Cabaret was to open that fall, & loving the Broadway Cast Album, I was preoccupied with how the film version would turn out. My summer lover was well aware of my anticipation for the film & he gave me a gift of the source material- The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood. He promised that we would see the film together & he kept his promise. I flew to San Fransisco for a weekend & saw Cabaret in the first week of release.

I delighted in the divine decadence of my new gay life. I listened to music, went to clubs, drank, drugged & Homosexuelle erfahrungen genossen.

Through the decades, I would read many books by & about Isherwood, including his diaries & my favorites- A Single Man & Christopher & His Kind. I recently purchased a new annotated re-issue of Berlin Stories. I have always been in awe of & fascinated by Isherwood's long life together with artist Don Bachardy, whom he met on the beach in Santa Monica in 1953, when Don was just a teenager. They were together until Isherwood's death in 1986. The story is told in a first rate documentary- Chris & Don: A Love Story. Today marks the 107th birthday of Christopher Isherwood.

Details From Post Apocalyptic Bohemia

A shot of the work space of your host. Like so many things in life, click on the image & it will get bigger.

Bucket List

I have visited Italy twice, once while on tour with a singing group when I was 15 years old & 20 years ago, with The Husband, on the trip that was life changing & impassioned.

In 1992, fortunate me, I enjoyed having a national commercial, an international commercial & a national voice-over all airing at the same time, I was receiving residual checks for over $1000 each week. Still in my 30s, I made no effort to be responsible or save the income. In October 1992, The Husband & I spent a week in Venice & 2 weeks in Tuscany. Because we were well funded, this adventure was not censored by a budget.  We stayed in hallucinatory lodges with outlandish views. We went with empty suitcases & purchased change of clothing as we needed. We ate & drank what & when we wanted. 20 years later, it is a rare day that I don’t reference that journey. Italy changed my life.

Your host at the door of our pension in Venice, October 1992

The Husband taking in the Tuscan countryside in Sienna

In my lifetime, & I figure I have, possibly, another 20 good years left, I desire to go to this place. La Grotte della Civita features guest rooms are spread throughout a complex of ancient cave houses in Matera, on the southwest coast of Italy, at an UNESCO World Heritage Site that dates back to the Stone Age.

Each room features simple furnishings influenced by traditional designs (a local museum was consulted during the process) & made by area craftspeople. The caves have been modernized for comfort (running water, electricity, etc.), but the focus is on conservation & historical integrity.

Shall we have a Post Apocalyptic retreat at this unworldly, exotic place? Have you visited Italy? What destination is on your list of “before I am gone from this world”?

This Year's Model

This weekend marked my 40th high school reunion. I decided not to attend the event, a decision I ended up regretting. The following is what I wrote on the reunion’s page on The Facebook:

I continue to hear stories from friends & acquaintances about the horrors of their high school years. The Husband is still bitter about HS & even today, finds his life leading in certain directions because of experiences during his 4 years at Lewis & Clark HS (class of 1968).

I enjoyed a happy & secure childhood & had a groovy time during my 4 years at Joel E Ferris HS, 1968-1972. I was involved in nearly every theatre & music activity. I traveled easily around the different sub-groups of high school: AV aids, nerds, jocks, greasers, druggies, band geeks, hippies, smart kids, teachers, debate team, 4H, & enjoyed an easy going relationship with the most popular people, you know who you are, don’t make me call you out by name, & of course,  I was quite at home with the drama nerds.

I went to every dance & prom, because I love to dance & because I was determined to make being gay unimportant or at least not tragic.

I give my classmates the credit for my good HS experience, for being friendly, open-minded, & occasionally willing to be naughty.

In HS, I wanted to work hard & train to become the best actor, singer & dancer possible with the resources available to me. My other priorities included getting loaded & getting laid. I was rather successful at both.

Now I regret NOT being at our 40th reunion. I am unemployed for the first time in 45 years. My Husband is just getting a new venture off the ground. Our lives don’t quite run in the black & we have made a game of spending as little money as possible & making big sacrifices. We got rid of our automobile & its monthly payments, insurance & upkeep, & purchased bicycles. We only dine out at “happy hour”, & we grow some of our own food. But travel, even to Spokane seemed out of the question.

Now, as you all celebrate, I wish that I had found a way to be there, even if I had hitchhiked, like I used to do in 1972.

I have deep affection for the group of us that went all the way through school together, grades 1 thru12 : Hamblen, Sacajawea, & Ferris. I would have really liked to have looked you each of you in the eye & heard about your life post-1972.

I would have welcomed the chance to shake hands & have a conversation with the idol of my youth, the distinguished screenwriter/producer- Harley Peyton.

As I mentioned in a message to childhood neighbor & school chum, Bruce Roberts, maybe there was a reason for my not making it to the reunion. There was always that chance that I would have had too much to drink, insulted someone, & made an unfortunate pass at someone else. At our 20^th reunion, & ended up smoking pot & having sex in the car with a former, then/now married classmate. Oh well… I never desired to be a role-model, not in 1972 or 40 years later.

I hope you all had a swell time & I will definitely see you at our 50th…  you will recognize me, I am the one with the really cool walker.

Born On This Day- July 24th... Gus Van Sant

"Fate sucks. I swear. "

Matt Dillon as Bob in Drugstore Cowboy

If I had been somewhat clairvoyant while on the set of Drugstore Cowboy, I would have realized that one day I would someday be living in Portland Oregon, in fact, just 1 mile from where we were filming. I most likely would have dismissed the entire notion as too much candy from crafts services. I loved living in Seattle & I had the best agent in town. I had been fortunate enough to have worked in TV (Murder She Wrote, Twin Peaks, Northern Exposure, A Day in the Life) & a whole lot of commercials & voice-overs, but the Gus Van Sant project was my first feature film. I was thrilled to be working with the talented director of Mala Noche, a film I really admired about & that had received an enthusiastic reception at The Seattle Film Festival in 1985.

I was working in a feature film! My scenes were with Matt Dillon! I have now done 12 films, but this one will always be so special. The very soft spoken Gus Van Sant creates an extremely creative atmosphere for working. Many of the actors that have done films with Van Sant have remarked on how great he is to work with & how conducive to creativity the conditions are on the set of his films. He was not big on rehearsing, but he would ask for something completely different with each take. Matt Dillon (who I have worked with twice) was such a nice gentleman. He would stay & read his lines back to me for our reverse shots. Dillon was such a “regular” guy. He would eat lunch, sitting at a big long table, with the rest of the cast, crew & grips & he spent very little time in his trailer. The rest of the cast were fun & friendly: Kelly Lynch, James LeGross & Heather Graham. I did not get to meet William S. Burroughs…my only regret from this experience.

I was invited to the premier of Drugstore Cowboy, but did not attend because I was performing in a play at the time. The film went on to rave reviews & it won Independent Spirit Awards for Best Screenplay for Mr. Van Sant & Daniel Yost, Best Cinematography, Best Actor for Matt Dillon, & Best Supporting Actor for Max Perlich. It won Best Screenplay awards from the LA Film Critics Association, the National Society of Film Critics & the NY Film Critics Circle, & Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival. At the film’s Seattle premier, the Husband turned to me half way through the viewing & stated- “Oh. My. God. You are in a really GOOD movie!”

Gus Van Sant’s films have ranged from Oscar winning studio fare: Good Will Hunting & Finding Forrester, to very experimental: Gerry & Last Days, Indies: Elephant & Paranoid Park, noble, brave & baffling experiments: the shot by shot re-make of Psycho & Even Cowgirls Get The Blues. He has done 4 films that I love & to which I award an A on The Steve Report Card: Drugstore Cowboy (of course), My Own Private Idaho, To Die For, & Milk.

In 2002, shortly after relocating to Portland after 20 years in Seattle, I was standing with some new Portland friends & some dear former neighbors from Seattle on a street in the Peal District. My friend Susan: “Oh my God… look! That is Gus Van Sant!”. The Husband: “Yeah, he lives in this neighborhood… Stephen knows him”.

Our little group mumbled some: “yeah, sures & uh-huhs”. When Mr. Van Sant walked past us, he looked up, & said in his singular soft manner: “Hello… there… Stephen. I haven’t seen you in a while... strange… your head looks bigger…” & then he went on his way. My friends looked baffled & everyone wanted to know what he meant. I had no idea (what could he have meant?), but I told them that it was an industry term, that good actors had heads that were proportionately too large for their bodies. It was my Gus Van Sant moment.

“I LOVE YOU, BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT”

Almost teetering on the verge of tweeness, I am still always won over by Wes Anderson’s films, indeed, his movies are among my favorites of the last 15 years. No American filmmaker, not even Woody Allen, has a more recognizable aesthetic, & Moonrise Kingdom may be the most, well, Andersonian movie yet. His style recalls storybook illustrations, puppet shows, school-project dioramas, & community theatre productions.

Moonrise Kingdom is the best film I have seen in a very long time. It is a film of transporting beauty & visual brilliance, perfectly cast, a paean to precocious puppy love, a parable set in a parallel world, somewhere on the New England coast during the summer of 1965, & concerned with the all-consuming passion between a pair of oddball, seriously serious 12-year-olds.

Moonrise Kingdom is a restorative film: unabashedly uplifting, breathing fresh air into our dusty old hearts & reminding me what it is like to love with the absolute conviction & utter abandon of the young.

After experiencing this film, I want to remember what it was like to play fast & loose with my heart, even when it seemed foolish, because there was so much of what I desired buried underneath words like ‘dangerous’ & ‘absurd’.

Moonrise Kingdom left me thinking about what brought The Husband & I together instead of how we are going to pay our bills. I want to feel like I’ve found my place in the world & that it’s exactly where I am, & every line on every map that does not outline this place will be erased. I want to save myself before I need saving. I want to flip through faded old photographs plucked from moments earlier in my life & feel the sun on my face & the salt from the sea air settle on my skin. I want to find my own Post Apocalyptic Bohemia to be a Moonrise Kingdom, a place where they will never find us, because maybe, just maybe, there’s still some lightning in me in my old age. 

Stephen Steps Out

My new friend Pamela was able to get me out of my boxer shorts.

I received a message from Pamela on Saturday morning, inviting me to be her guest for the Portland Modern Home Tour, with the offer to ferry me around town & stop for lunch. I had less than an hour until lift off.

My immediate inner-dialogue: “Oh… you don’t want to have to leave the house. You can just stay in my boxer shorts, water the garden, listen to music, smoke,  blog, & touch yourself in that special way. You won’t have to engage with another human being. You would be able to avoid moving out in to the world. You can move into a second day without showering or shaving. You will simply message Pamela & explain that: “I would have loved to have gone on the tour, I love modern architecture, but I didn’t check my messages in time. So very sorry!”’

Just then, the Good Steve tapped me on the shoulder & whispered: “You are such a curmudgeon & quite the hermit! If you say yes, you will have a chance to get to know Pamela better; you will have the opportunity to see inside other people’s homes & get  a look at strangers’  stuff. You can do this. It will be moving forward for you, Steve! You would actually be doing something with a stunning, smart, sly woman.”

I felt better about myself for deciding to accept the chance to have an outing. My inner-voice stated: “Good job, Steve! You don’t even have to do anything but slip into the pile of clothing on the floor beside the bed. You won’t even have to shower or shave, making it a record 3 days with no attempt to present yourself as anything other than the ne'er-do-well that you are…”

Because Pamela is so lovely, but sharp, I actually did wash, groom, iron a fresh shirt, clean jeans, & slip on my grey flannel Jack Purcell’s for our date.

My new friend & I shared easy conversation, full of empathy & inquiry. We made our way to 5 very different modern homes around Portland & I managed to not go through any of the host’s bedside tables or medicine cabinets. I can’t remember the last time I practiced such an extended period of restrained good behavior.

Pamela & I stopped for a perfect summer lunch. On the way to the last house on our list, she gave me a tour of a section of the city that I had never explored along the shoreline of the mighty Columbia River. Our last stop was a floating home. As we left, we noted that the next houseboat, a tiny, funk little spot, was for sale for a very reasonable price. We ended our day with dream of each of us finding a way to have a little getaway on the river, proof that going out into world always forces me to want to spend money & desire property or more stuff.

My new weekend retreat?

Today, after the dogs’ walk, I slipped into just my boxer shorts & spent the day alone in the house & back garden. One adventure every few days is quite enough for this misanthrope & skeptic.

Time Is On My Side

2012

1972

50 years ago today, I was in rehearsal for Spokane Public School’s summer production of The Amazing Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, playing a boy who tells little white lies. I was adorable & stole the show.  This is what I was listening to on the Hi-Fi:

40 years ago today, I was in rehearsal for the musical- Applause, starring Patrice Munsel, at the Cape Cod Music Circus. I was thrilled, I actually had a vocal solo during the title number & I was having a lot of very hot man-sex during my time off. I was fetching & totally fuckable. This is what I was listening to on my portable record player:

30 years ago today, I was in rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Driftwood Players in Edmonds, Washington, playing Peter Quince.  I was stealing the show with my comic antics & crack timing. After rehearsal, I would return home to my cool Capitol Hill apartment in Seattle & my hot boyfriend. I had single digit body fat. This is what I was listening to on my Walkman:

20 years ago today, I was filming my scenes for The Vanishing with my good close personal friend- Kiefer Sutherland. On the radio in my trailer, this is the song that I would crank up & sing along to:

10 years ago today, it was my first summer in Portland & I was happy to be gainfully employed. After September 11, 2001, the world seemed to have changed & I had up-ended my life in a sort of mid-life nervous breakdown. I had consciously chosen to give up performing in favor of some economic stability. I gained 20 pounds. I was freaked out. This is what I was listening to on CD:

Summer 2012, I am hanging out in the Boys’ Fort in my back garden, a stay-at-home- mom, blissed out & hopeful for the future. This is what I am listening to on my Bose IPod Dock:

New In The Garden This Summer

Rare, but an easy to grow hardy perennial from South Africa, Glumicalyx Goseloides forms a clump of rubbery evergreen rosettes. From early spring to first frost, nodding stems rise to 12" & produce a continuing bloom of white bells that open to orange/red & that smell like chocolate. They grow in light shade. in rich, well-drained soil, but don’t let them go completely dry. I did them in a pot so that they can be more easily seen & smelled. I paired them with a lemon Scented Geranium for a chocolate/lemon sniffing soufflé & gave them a neighbor of a Pineapple Sage for olfactory overload.

The new plant is center in this photograph

The view of the back garden & the Boys' Fort from the backroom window

In stark contrast, this is the original Boys' Fort, summer 2007

Goings On At Post Apocalyptic Bohemia

There was a lovely comment on my little spot on the Internet from a Portland reader- Ronnie, who I have never met, but oddly, The Husband has. Ronnie noted: “Isn't it funny, when you don't blog for a day I miss it.” I then turned around & promptly disappointed Ronnie by missing another day. Even with my personal commitment of a post a day, I was just too pooped to post. I am not young anymore & I had such a whirlwind weekend.

Saturday afternoon I attended a summer party on a beautiful Balinese influenced floating home on the Columbia River, with several enchanting, bewitching women & a herd of handsome, hunky men, including my escorts, the artist couple- Scott & David. All the guests were smart & interesting & most of us got positively blasted.

  My artist friends, the handsome Scott & David. I love them. They are enablers.

The Post Apocalyptic Bohemian on the Columbia River floating home, caught in a rare pensive moment. When in doubt, a cocktail always makes a smart accessory for any modern man.

I returned home to an angry Husband because I had stayed out until an outrageous, unheard of 10:30pm: "You were at a party for 7 hours? Who parties for that long? I can only imagine what you were up to!" He hates it when I have fun without him.

Eiric, Yoga Master/Gardner

Kennneth, High School Counselor/Gardener

Sunday Morning was breakfast & Bloody Marys at Mock Crest Tavern with Eiric & Ken of Seattle. The gentlemen, soon to be married when it is legal in Washington State, are friends of 25+ years & Best Men at our wedding. Later, the Seattle pair & I took a walk through my Kenton neighborhood to look at the bungalows & gardens before stopping at BOYS' FORT to harass The Husband.

  The first annual Summer Sunday Supper at the fort.

Sunday evening was experienced at the BOYS' FORT/Solabee Botanicals/Salvage Works Summer Sunday Supper with the proprietors of the 3 businesses & their spouses, siblings & sprouts. Plenty of food on the grill, lots of wine & beer, produce from local gardens, conversation & dancing. As always at social events, I ducked out early & drunkenly rode my bicycle back to Post Apocalyptic Bohemia for evening devotions.

The Husband: "Nice. Classy. Filling your wine glass to the rim with rose... with a big Brie chaser. Your readers would not be impressed."

Stephen:"Worse… I added ice cubes to the rose. My readers understand that I am a hedonist & a peasant. I once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die."

The Husband (rolling his eyes): "Hmff..."

I had engaged in enough substance abuse & naughty behavior, that I need a day of rehab on Monday. I drank chamomile tea, wrote in my gratitude journal, performed my stretches & meditated. Please forgive me, Ronnie!

As you can surmise from this post, I have a penchant for hanging out with handsome fellows, Forgive me, Husband!

My Nora Ephron Connection

On a Seattle summer day in 1992, I lived through my 4th callback for the role of Jay in the film- Sleepless In Seattle. I began to have that feeling, the feeling that I always fought against myself in my acting days; I wanted the part. I really wanted the part, I could taste it. After the 3rd callback I was dizzy with the possibility. Jay was a small, but showy role & very funny. I had been able to keep Writer/Director Nora Ephron, the casting director & assorted producer s laughing with each read & Ephron had been encouraging & kind.

Leaving that callback, I found myself passing Rob Reiner in a hallway & after I tossed an “I love your work” to Reiner, I thought to myself: “I really admire Rob Reiner. I wonder what his connection is with Sleepless? Hmmm… he would be so cool to chat with. Maybe he will notice me as Jay & use me in something!”

My agent- Carol, called me later that day with the news that Rob Reiner was going to be playing Jay in the film.

I didn’t much like Sleepless In Seattle years later, viewed on VHS, on a boat floating on Lake Union not far from the films' location. Not being charmed by the film had little to do with my not being cast (how was I supposed to compete against Rob Reiner?), but I found it treacly & I felt that the filmmakers got Seattle all wrong. Maybe I need to watch it again.

Strange... Don't You Think I'm Looking Older?

I should have known

It seemed too easy

You were there

& I was breathing blue

Strange

Don't you think I'm looking older?

But something good has happened to me

Change is a stranger

You have yet to know

Well you're out of time

I'm letting go

You'll be fine

Well that much I know

You're out of time

I'm letting go

I'm not the man you want

I should have known

It seemed so easy

You were there

I thought I needed you

Strange

Don't you think I'm looking older?

But something good has happened to me

Change is a stranger

Who never seems to show

Well you're out of time

I'm letting go

You'll be fine

(or maybe you won't)

You're out of time

I'm letting go

I'm not the man that you want

I never should have looked back in your direction

I know that

Just the same old fights again, baby

These are wasted days without affection

I'm not that foolish anymore

George Michael

1996

Family Therapy

This weekend, after a number of problems raised their little heads in an attempt to destroy our family, at my insistence (being the only rational one), we had a long session of Family Therapy with the renowned Dr. Shlomo Sectshual.

After indulging the good doctor in some role playing & trust exercises, we each were able to open up. The very essence of each family member can be distilled in the following:

Stephen:"I believe that it is a cosmic mistake that I do not have my own TV show, magazine, bestselling book, plus the #1 dance single in the country..."

The Husband: "I am not looking for power or money or success. I am looking for aesthetic balance."

Lulu: "I have abandonment issues..."

Junior:"I never got enough love in my childhood."

Henry: “I finally became tired of being a passed around pussy.”

How Can You Explain It?

In 1988, I was flown to from Seattle to Portland to appear in a little film- Drugstore Cowboy, directed by Gus Van Sant. My 2 scenes were filmed at a motel near Hayden Meadows Racetrack in the Delta Park area of Portland.

I didn't know my way around Portland in 1998 & didn't really pay attention to the trip in the van that drove Matt Dillon & me to the location from the hotel.

Because life can be just so zany... in 2001, I settled down in Post Apocalyptic Bohemia, my little blue-collar Portland bungalow, in walking distance of the film shoot location- the Union Ave Motel, now torn down. If Matt Dillon had been portentous in Portland in autumn of 1998, he might have turned to me & stated: "Dude... in the next century you are gonna live your last days around here!"

Fuck Me

At the apex of my acting career (1975-1995), I was fortunate to get quite a bit of print work. I thought it was fun, not being a "model" type, & the pay was excellent. I had the best agent in Seattle & she negotiated $145 an hour for me in the mid-1980s. Advertising agencies & producers started asking for me without having to do a "look see", the term used for an audition where you are simply glanced at & asked to turn around a few times.

I was flown to my hometown- Spokane from Seattle to do this spot for Rosauers, a major supermarket chain in Spokane. It was 1987, 25 years ago.

I never considered myself to be good-looking, but rather goofy. Yet, finding this today, I see myself to be rather cute. I would do me, but it would be cosmically fucked up to have my present self make the moves on the younger me. I have aged considerably.

Bad Behavior: A Comedy In Two Acts

The Husband is maddened by my inability to not take it upon myself to teach the world to behave. He portends that it might well be be the death of me, literally. He sees a rude driver, being lectured to by your host, shooting me in the moment.

Recently, we went, in the early evening, to a new favorite NoPo eatery with a guest. We opted to sit outside on this sunny, particularly gorgeous gloaming.

The other 5 tables quickly filled with diners, bringing with them, a collection of children under 6 years old. Without any organization on the parents’ part, the young people were allowed, encouraged really, to run around the small outdoor dining room, caterwauling & scampering within inches of me & my whiskey.

After about 10 interminable minutes of the children’s cacophony, I was sent me over the edge & to The Husband & guest’s horror, I stood up & announced: “May I have the adults’ attention? You are all missing the perfect opportunity to teach young people how to behave in a restaurant. If I had wished to have dinner surrounded by undisciplined, unruly tots, I would have chosen to be at Chucky Cheese. I don’t blame the youngsters, but I do, most certainly, blame you parents for not teaching them manners. You should all be ashamed of yourselves!”

One father, one of those wane, ineffectual Portland sort of daddies, exclaimed that I was very rude. The waitress applauded. We were re-sat at the bar.

Yesterday, on a dog walk, a woman flew out of her front door at full gallop, just to lecture me, unprovoked, about people not picking up their pooch’s poops. I had been meditating on the beauty of spring & the quality of the morning light when I was startled by her speech just a few inches from my face. I could feel the spit as she shouted. I showed her my bag of dog doo, indicating that I do indeed pick up after the terriers, as a good citizen always should. I shrugged my shoulders with a big question mark on my face. She would have none of it, going on & on about how annoyed she was from people not picking up canine crap on her weed infested parking strip.

My retort: “I feel sorry for you. It must be quite a burden being so very unpleasant & considerably unattractive. It is a deadly combination being beastly looking & obnoxious. You might want to consider dropping one of those characteristics…”  She harrumphed as the terriers & I walked away.

Downtown Kenton... A Film By David Lynch

This post is a repeat, but I am having a day low on imagination, famous gay people having birthdays or even new music. Will you please forgive me, dear readers? 


I am off to a meeting of The Kenton Neighborhood Association, of which I am seated on the board, a small step on my way to world domination.

Coming home, I get off the MAX train at my neighborhood stop- Denver Avenue/Kenton.  The first thing I encounter, & I mean, this is right at the train station, is Dancin’ Bare, the neighborhood strip joint. Portland has more strips clubs, per capita, than any other American city. I am proud of that statistic. It is a great that a young girl with right charms can make a living while practicing her art.


The sign is special to me because, not only does this business have a name based on a not so clever pun (like so many of Portland’s Thai joints & nail salons), but they spell out the joke for you on the sign? Twice. Funny, huh?


As I cross the street where North Interstate Avenue & North Denver Avenue meet, I am greeted by a giant Paul Bunyon (recently added to the Nation Register of Historic Roadside Landmarks). He was built for a 1959 Lumber Expo held in the neighborhood. I think he is hot. He was recently given a new paint job as part of a new neighborhood street improvement in Kenton’s little downtown, which includes widened sidewalks, a bike lane, street art & new trees & plants.

Miss Darlene

I then cross North Denver Avenue to 7 Bucks a Whack. The Husband & I both get our hair cut here by Darlene. Miss Darlene is in her 70s, with bleached blond hair piled high on her head. She wears a great deal of makeup, painted on brows & wears a satin black tube top & hot pants.


Darlene cuts hair with a cigarette dangling from the corner of her mouth. As she puts on your apron she will announce in a deep cig & beer voice- “…what’ll it be baby? A number 1 buzz cut? You sure got a lot of hair for a bald guy.”  Darlene lives nearby on a houseboat & has been in the neighborhood forever. She will give you a running commentary on the politics in the Kenton neighborhood. Her little dog– Elvis hangs out in the shop & is dressed up in a variety of outfits, including full biker gear. She told the Husband that she likes to have lunch at Dancin' Bare because- "Baby, they got a delicious French Dip for just $5!". I somehow have trouble with Au Jus & stripper poles together. Darleen does my hair, goatee & eyebrows, plus the floor show…. all this for $7(I always give her $15)!

 Other neighborhood highlights include a Victorian mansion that is lit up with outdoor lights all year round, but not at Christmas & the lovely Laundro Mat & The World Famous Kenton Club.

The World Famous Kenton Club with a special claim to fame: a scene from 1970s Roller Derby film- Kansas City Bomber was filmed at the spot.

The Historic Kenton Firehouse

Downtown Kenton had one bar & one cafe- Kenton Station & many boarded up store fronts form the 1920s-1950s when we moved into the neighborhood a decade ago. But the neighborhood now boasts: the MAX line,  BOYS' FORT, a breakfast cafe, a Thai spot, a soul food joint, a coffee shop for mommies & babies, a flower shop, a terrific architectual salvage store, a world class bamboo nursery & bamboo objects emporium, a home brewing outfit, a paper/art supply store, a head shop, liquor store & police station at the same intersection, & an historic firehouse that is now the neighborhood community center & tool library. I even have my own favorite watering hole where I am greeted by name & my cocktail is delivered wiithout having to order- Pizza Fino.

I am including a few other choice pieces of signs, graffiti & a note I found posted at the MAX stop. When I get off the train, I think: “ah, it is great to be home”.