Jerry Falwell, Sr. (Image Source)

Ever since Donald Trump's run for president began over three years ago, there has been a whole lot of talk about the "Evangelical Vote," "White Evangelical Christians," or some amalgamation of "silent", "family", "value", "moral", and "voters".

None of this is new, of course. The Religious Right has been a force to be reckoned with since before The Gipper took the oath of office. I remember all too well the cringey time in the late 90s when the Lewinsky Scandal had taken over the news, and every socially conservative Christian televangelist, talking head or megapastor worth his holy oil was castigating Clinton and the country in general, for his, and our, wickedness. Bad times, Folks, bad times. 

But...

Getting IVIG through a peripheral IV in my right hand in 2012. (photo, my own)

Just think of this post as a little corollary to Tuesday's.

I realized pretty much as I hit "Publish" on that post, there had to be some readers who sat in quiet reassurance that they could not, would not, never, ever be one who'd wind up without time.

After all, you're no MLK, JFK or RFK, so no one is gunning for you, right? Nor are you an alcoholic or addicted to drugs like Amy or Basquiat, and you never take sleeping pills, so you'd never overdose like Marilyn.

Clockwise from top right: Jean-Michel Basquiat (image cr.); Dr. Martin Luther King with wife, Coretta, and daughter, Bernice (image cr.); Amy Winehouse (image cr.); and Marilyn Monroe (image cr.).

It's Holy Week; Lent is almost over. Unlike last year, I did not write daily Lenten posts. I'm in a weird place when it come to producing work- blogs, sketches, paintings. First, I'm extremely busy with Zoe. Homeschooling, getting her to activities, and the daily demands of parenting leave me with less free time than when she was 2.

Second, January and February were stuffed with medical appointments: a port removal/ new port placement/ six rounds of plasmapheresis, blood work, an EKG, and a 12 hour stint at the ER after an anaphylactic...

"Louise as the winsome French girl in Now We're in the Air (1927)." (Photo and caption from "Lulu Forever") 

I think the first time I can recall hearing the name "Louise Brooks" was years ago in a scene from "The Simpsons". In the 2002, season 13 episode "Weekend at Burnsie's", Mr. Burns prepares for a big investor meeting by practicing a speech with these lines: "So, profits will be thinner than...Louise Brooks negligee! You know, Louise Brooks, the silent star of Lulu?" While Mr. Burns got things a bit twisted (Louise played a character named Lulu, but the movie's English name is Pandora's Box, this quirky little tidbit stuck in my mind. Who was Louise Brooks, and being that she was a silent film star, how was she...

Dr. Dre in sparkly gear with a stethoscope before joining NWA. (Image Source)

On Thanksgiving, I finally got around to watching the 2015 film "Straight Outta Compton". I liked it, and Ice Cube's son is pretty much his spawn. He is rightfully and most truly, a junior.

The film starts in the years before N.W.A. Eazy-E is a drug dealer. Ice Cube is in high school (dealing with perhaps the scariest school bus commute this side of the Middle East.). And Dr. Dre is spinning records as a DJ... decked out in shiny and/ or sparkly jackets.

Okay, okay, so, this was the early to mid- 80's, we had Rick James being super-freaky, Prince wondering about doves crying, and MJ in rhinestone everything.