Two Things About Me

While I could come up with a reasonable short list, I could never name a single favorite book or movie. My list of favorite songs would be longer but manageable. Still, it would be an unranked list with no number one. However, for whatever reason, I can easily name my favorite painting and poem. They are:

Sailors and Floosies, Paul Cadmus, 1938

Poem (Lana Turner Has Collapsed), Frank O'Hara, 1964

Lana Turner has collapsed!
I was trotting along and suddenly
it started raining and snowing
and you said it was hailing
but hailing hits you on the head
hard so it was really snowing and
raining and I was in such a hurry
to meet you but the traffic
was acting exactly like the sky
and suddenly I see a headline
LANA TURNER HAS COLLAPSED!
there is no snow in Hollywood
there is no rain in California
I have been to lots of parties
and acted perfectly disgraceful
but I never actually collapsed
oh Lana Turner we love you get up