Old school
7:05:56 PM    sro home /

Polly's Birthday was yesterday. Which means in dog years she's as old as me. Poor thing.

Unlike me, she is resiliant, forceful (barking at the streetcleaning trucks) and hopefull (always aware of breakfast). She is a hero in my small world.
8:03:50 PM    sro home /

Oh to be a chair. Sittin' there. Waitin' for someone to come and take advantage of your generosity in offering a seat. Not really being much use unless someone comes and uses you to rest on.

We can be chairs. Everyone wants someone to listen. Ready yourself for an ear to bend (yours). It won't hurt, I promise. Turn your seat to absorb and just let the weight of their speaking sink into the comfort of your attention. After they are gone, you will once again regain your shape and be ready for the next person looking for a place to take pain out of their weary dogs.
6:24:16 PM    sro home /

HISTORY

In the late 80s, I used to frequent a bar in NYC’s Soho called Bar Doh. As in Brigitte Bardot. It was one of the first “lounge spaces” that appeared versus just a bar. I lurved it. The clientele was varied - trendy hip people, fags and their hags, lesbians - and the music was PHENOMENAL. You’d get a cocktail, sit on a sofa amid fab people, someone would offer you a joint and you’d just want to stay there forever. This was, natch, at one AM. On every other Thursday night they’d have female go-go dancers with pasties dancing to French pop music from the Sixties.

Another reason I’d go was to see my good friend Joey Arias perform which he did weekly. Joey and I had become friends through various people and while he often did shows on a larger scale (he even appeared on Saturday Night Live) at Bar Doh he could really let loose to a crowd thoroughly ready for his magic.

Appearing with Joey was a singer named Brenda Bergman who’d also sing with her back-up singers, the Bodascious Ta-tas. Brenda, I later found out, was a Downtown Celeb having appeared with Divine Off-Broadway in The Neon Woman. She was like a cross between Bette Midler and Jennifer Cooldge and she was fabulous. Her (then) nine year-old son would often come and applaud and cheer her on seated among the chic crowd.

Brenda and I became friends and I became one of her entourage to her various gigs. Once I asked the HOTTEST GUY EVER from my gym to join me at Bar Doh. I was trembling with wonderment at the luck I’d had getting him to accompany me and when Brenda went on stage, the first thing she did was send a big shout-out to me which made me a star.

However, the best moment was one morning when my phone rang at 8 AM.

ME: Hello
CALLER : HUGHIE! It’s me Brenda!
ME: Where are you?
BRENDA: I’m backstage at Maury’s!

Brenda was about to go on national TV on Maury Povich. apparently as a prime example of the “Downtown Scene” in New York City at the time.

BRENDA : Turn it on! TURN IT ON!

I did, groggy as I was. There was Brenda, resplendent as ever, and I wondered who would gain hope from her as I did. What Small-town Gay would see her and realize there was another world outside of the tiny town they knew.

6:49:01 PM    sro home /

When I got Polly I was warned she may be deaf. Indeed, her scrupulous ex-Mommy had me call her name to make sure she heard me.

She did and Polly was mine. In the 6 years since, here are the words and sentences Polly understands :

off
get in here
get on the bed
no (bark NO in response)
sit
come here
where's your stick? (her chewstick)
what's that? (about squirrels or people)
here it comes (about breakfast)
wait (ditto)
good girl
get up here
what are you doing?
polly!
who's that?
lay down
speak
get on the bed with your stick
where's tahiti? (the cat next store)
we're going this way.
who's my baby girl?

My internal explanation (and from knowing Polly) is she just ignored most voice commands if she didn't like them. I can relate. I used to wear earpods at the gym and pretend I couldn't hear the goings on around me when my recorder would be off.

Another reason Polly and I were meant to be.
6:53:19 PM    sro home /

This is LA :

7:03:18 PM    sro home /