Good morning, and happy Fuck-It Friday. I hope that the Force is with you.

February 21st, Jess and I will be in Portsmouth, OH to celebrate the premier of RATSONGS. It’s the movie that Jess and I are both in a small, but important scene together.

I hope, that if you’re within driving distance of Portsmouth, you will consider making a special trip to attend the movie premier! The cast and crew, featuring many artists from the local scene, will be walking a red carpet, but probably not arriving in limousines. It’s hard to predict what the Portsmouth crew will do. One thing is certain, for just $5 (and maybe a fun roadtrip) you could be at the first public viewing of the film, that I would say is sort of a combination of Tarantino, Jay and Silent Bob, and three hand grenades. A must see!

This past Tuesday Jan. 13th, was the fifth anniversary of my debut novel, $100-A-Week Motel, getting published by Punk Hostage Press, and its founders, A. Razor and Iris Berry. Iris edited the book. S.A. Griffin wrote a Foreword, and Michele McDannold wrote the introduction. The dazzling cover and interior artwork was done by the legendary Southern California artist Scott Aicher. Scott passed away three months ago, and hearts are still heavy. His art is stunning, and you should check out some of his work that’s online.

January 12th was the 40th anniversary of Poet Bob Kaufman’s passing. He doesn’t get the credit and posthumous attention he deserves. He is the original Beatnik. City lights and Ferlinghetti published him frequently. Ginsberg was a friend. He did mushrooms with Jack Kerouac.

His life however, was full of suffering, and he was constantly beaten and arrested by the police for various reasons, all of them racial. They often beat him and arrested him for reciting his poetry on the city sidewalks.

Kaufman’s poetry is jazz in word form, and he rarely wrote any of his poems down. Most of his published poetry was available because his wife wrote down the words as he recited them.

His documentary, And When I Die I Won’t Stay Gone, is free on Tubi. It’s one of the documentaries I most frequently recommend to others. His life was truly incredible.

I’ve been in a pretty tough struggle the last several weeks. There’s enough going on with my health that I get overwhelmed sometimes just keeping up with all of my appointments, and my mental health has been a daily challenge. Carpel tunnel surgery on my left hand next week. I need to catch a break.

Which reminds me to pass on some happy hippie hugs this week. We need hugs now more than ever.

The world is heavy, and many freedoms are being taken away here and other places. This is going to be a long, difficult and defining year for the U.S. and planet Earth, and I don’t want to pretend any different.

Now is an important time to build and strengthen community. Now it is important that we all do what we can, when we can do it. There are dozens of ways you can support resistance, and we are going to need all the support we can get this year.

How do you get a happy hug from that? This way. It is easy to let the weight of the world be all consuming all day long, but doing so will wear you down and burn you out emotionally. To relieve this, look for the beauty that still lies all around us, even if it is something small. Look for a little joy and laughter. It’s there if we look.

I’ve been taking time everyday to hang out with my kitten, Yoda Sylvia Plathcat. 30 minutes of purrs, and pets and play is a quick joy boost, and a healthy time out from the bullshit. And I’ve been writing a little bit everyday still. Despite everything, I’m still writing, and few things make me happier.

Self care is vital right now. Because of that I’ve adopted this philosophy. “If I can’t catch a break, I’m gonna give myself one.”

Love,

Dan

If you dig what I'm laying down and would like to show a little support, here is a link to my bookstore, where you can also "buy me a coffee.