Off to California I go

Very early in the morning I plan to be on the trusty Greyhound bus on my way to downtown Los Angeles where my son Raymond will pick me up. My son Gary called yesterday to see if I was still going. I said yes. I did not mention that Doc was not going with me, since Doc is doing everything he can to make my trip easier, including paying for my ticket there, waking me up (if I don't hear my alarm) and accompanying me to the bus station even at 4:45 am. Greater love hath no other man short term. Gary was happy and said that he thought he would leave that evening, so hopefully the two brothers have been reunited in California. I especially urged my son Gary to see the show, as it was his dad, too, who disappeared into the desert. He was just not involved with him as Raymond was in their adult lives. However, he was ten years old when we divorced, so he took it harder than Raymond did. Dean always thought Gary had a good singing voice. I loved his rendition of "I am a child of God." The above photo was taken the year I left Dean. I am with Gary and Raymond in Phoenix.
Gary loves to go to karaoke bars and sing, but construction work does not leave him much time or energy for anything else. He told me once when he was in his late teens that he thought about pursueing a career as a country western singer, but he already had a taste for alcohol, and he said he thought it would be too much temptation for him and he would be better off outdoors and working hard. He has had a very varied and challenging career in construction where he has often acted as a supervisor on all the field jobs for his company, coordinating the work, delivery of supplies, equipment, etc.

I hope the two brothers are together in California as I write.
I also got a welcome call from my sister Linda in San Francisco who sounded happier than I have heard her since she left. She had just found an apartment there she really likes, close enough to the beach you can see the ocean! She is about ten minutes drive from her daughter Carissa's. It is across the street from the zoo. I said oh her grandkids will like that! Apartments are hard to find down there, even though her daughter was going to sign with her, but her son Scott who drove her up there found one on Craig's list, which had just come up, and they rushed down and got it! She says she will have to go down and get signed up at Social Services just as she would have had to do here, and it will be probably a month or more before she can be seen by a doctor.

Here Linda and I are, standing in front of the Beat Museum in San Francisco where Linda gave a reading of her Bukowski poems last year, and displayed some of the 'heads' of poets she has sculptured, including her rather famous one of Bukowski. I think Linda is very happy now that she has made her move, and I wish her a more fulfilling life doing her art work and writing her poetry in beautiful San Francisco! Once she has received the proper medical treatment I am sure she will be on her way!
Here is her review of Bohemian Cowboy: "I saw Cowboys and Bohemians in L.A. last weekend, first by myself and then with family from Utah. I think it is a very powerful piece of work with insights coming from many directions of the feelings between a father and son. The mystery of Hanks disappearance sticks in the mind. I felt all kinds of emotions as Shurtz moved the story forward, including chills up my spine, sad, happy, embarrassed, and I would say almost grateful sometimes. I don't know if I was grateful for good entertainment...good writing or a good performance.
Raymond King Shurtz is my nephew, but I have followed him through numerous plays in Phoenix. His Blue Baby play won the $5000 fellowship award in Phoenix without hardly a word of praise from the local critic. I was so happy to see the wonderful "Pick of the week" review in LA Weekly. He deserves every word and more.
He and his mom lived for a time with me in Silverlake area of L.A. when I was with Charles Bukowski and Raymond was lead actor in the high school play. He still has it and so much more. You need to see for yourself 38 pages of dialog come to life. He is also a fine poet.
Linda King"

News Flash!!! Raymond just posted saying that David Foti who runs the theater complex has asked him to extend the show another week as more press is coming to review! Gary got there and will see the show tonight. See Raymond's blog Cowboys and Bohemians on my blog list and read the latest.

Laying the groundwork with Dante...

All during Dante's visit with me during which he kept his video games going, I insisted on talking to him about a lot of subjects, telling him he needed to think about these issues in order to become a good video partner.
Actually I was very surprised that his mind was quite open and he expressed some emotions as we went along, as this was the first time I have actually discussed my issues with him, especially to do with legalized abortion and politics and such, but I think he is realizing that with his teen years he is old enough to get involved, so he is listening. His first video has already garnered 44 hits on my video blog. See my channel on the bloglist on Youtube. It is gerryking40. So I decided to upload one more that we did. I could not fully get his attention on a longer one, so I told him the next time he came we had to do some videos first with no distractions, before he could even go to the computer. He always acts as though he just does not get enough computer time, so he comes to my house to do some catching up, knowing if that is what he really wants to do, I won't curb him. As I tell him on the second video dealing with his obssession with video games I have my way of limiting the frequency of his visits. He never noticed as he expects to spend most of his time with his dad doing stuff with him. He takes him to do fun things like play paintball and to the movies and so on. His dad is always buying books for him as Dante has developed his taste for books his dad likes, science fiction and such. Before Dan started writing movie scripts he was always writing science and fanstasy fiction.
When I went down to Doc's this morning he had denigrating things to say about the two Dante videos as well as some shorter ones Dante filmed of himself playing his video game. Dante told me a kid he knows did this and got a bunch of hits on Youtube. But after I saw it, I told him I did not think it was a good enough video to put on Youtube. But I think Doc was stricken with feelings of jealousy, so could not bite a nasty tongue. I got very mad at him as I said that he, Doc, refused to take the first step in being able to interact with my family, which is stop being a drunk. So he subsided. I must say Dante was more alert than he is when it comes to issues and was doing more and better thinking than Doc does who cannot be convinced how much his constant boozing hurts his problem solving. He usually just settles for being the court jester. Doc knew very well I was right, but he raises doubts in my mind about his attitudes when he talks like that. He is probably too judgmental when he is sober, too, especially when it comes to young minds.
You can't be too critical of the young as it hurts their just emerging confidence in themselves, which is one reason I put the kabosh to Doc interacting with my family. I think Doc gets very bored with his isolation, but that is his choice. I also went home not long after we started watching the football game together, as he always has to make sure I know that sports events are not his thing. He has more intellectual pursuits. While I have always thought that going out for sports was just a healthy thing to do and can only give a thinker more stamina and vigor.
I even discussed the lost boys of Sudan with Dante as I had just read a novel called What is the What by Dave Eggers about the horrible treatment in southern Sudan of these boys who started walking in the thousands first to Ethiopa and then finally to a UN refuge camp in Kenya. The United States finally agreed to take some of these boys here, some of whom came to Phoenix. And guess what the Circle K in downtown Phoenix where Dante and I go all the time has employed several of these 'lost' boys of Sudan from time to time. There is one working there now. I have got so I can recognize them since I also have a grandson whose father was from Sudan, but he comes from the northern big city of Khartoum, and the Khartoum Sudanese with their Arabic blood looked down on the southern Sudanese who lived mostly in small villages and without the Arabic blood were darker. It was the same old thing even there of lighter being better than darker. So after the British left without separating the two areas into different countries because the northern faction promised peace, a bad ruler broke that promise and was encouraged his soldiers to go into southern Sudan to loot and steal and even to enslave some of the people. They burned villages and many of the walking lost boys died of starvation, exhaustion, wild animals, drowning, etc. Many countries protested. The boy in the novel finds out later that his mother and dad and some of his family survived the slaughter, but it had been so many years since he was seperated he did not go back. Besides he did not have the money, as people soon forgot them in the US where he came as they might a new toy and they began to think that no one really cared about the lost boys of Sudan. The life of a refugee is never easy.
So when Dante comes again in a month or so, we will be making more videos. And we will cover such subjects. Doc is talking about rehab again but I will believe that when I see it. I also asked Dante if he wanted to go to Los Angeles with his dad and me to see his Uncle Raymond's new play, Bohemian Cowboy. He was enthusiastic, so I will buy the tickets for the three of us. I think it will be March before Dan can find a date for us to go. Dante can see the play and visit an aunt Stephanie he has over there. He has stayed with her in the summers many times. She is a saint. She is his grandfather's sister who was murdered when his mother was 6 years old, so Stephanie has always tried to make up for his absence from the world.

Doc and I are enjoying making videos, laughing it up, and getting ready for Xmas

We made a series of 8 yesterday on the superiority complexes of the rich, even slightly rich, according to my experience (Doc has the disease even though he is now poor, it is hard to get rid of it) I was dressed in kittens and Doc was dressed in yellow flowers on black with a goofy hat that somehow matches. The first one is uploading now. I don't know as I will put all 8 on Youtube but enough for you to get the idea. It continues on where the video about the capitalists looting the democracy to get rich left off.
I don't know if you are keeping up with my son Raymond's blog but he has actually found a theater space down in L.A. and is now interviewing directors for his second play, "Blue Baby." I called my son Dan to see if he wanted to plan a quick trip to L.A. to see the first one "Bohemian Cowboy." I have found that I am incapable of planning a trip alone over there. My grandson Dante has stayed over there many times with an aunt, so he will undouabtedly go with us, too, to see his Uncle Raymond perform and get excited about acting. http://cowboysandbohemians.blogspot.com. See theater history in the making. There is nothing more exciting than going to a new play. If you are reading, Pam, I may get to L.A. after all, with my son Dan. And we can meet there if possible!

Having lunch with my son Raymond at Subway

We had a good time today catching up. After lunch we went to my apartment and he looked through some photos he might like me to send him. Raymond was in good spirits, and I think his sojourn to Los Angeles is going to be an exciting one. You can check his new blog out for more of his adventures producing a new play:
http://cowboysandbohemians.blogspot.com/