Ah, about me, sort of...

For those of you who are new to this site or to me ...

I am a former director and writer for PBS, performance poet, teacher of kids whose parents are from China, Korea, or Indonesia; and the author of the experimental fiction book, ANAGOGIE/ Reagan America, optioned by Bantam Doubleday Dell. My work can be seen in PLAZM Magazine, and in other places from time to time. To say I am not at all ambitious about getting my work published is a gross understatement, well, not so much these days... Getting the work out or not, to me, the process is way more important than the marketable product. Currently, I am working on a sequel to ANAGOGIE. The working title of this work in progress is SEVENTEEN/ Children of Time.

So, why do I write? Probably the same as you, I write because I am. In other words, I have no idea why.

But writing, art, music, laughter, it's all the same. To start off heavy into a visual art. I drew all over the walls as a kid to ward off World War II. Later I had numerous showings of my work on the walls of galleries, including Stemphli Gallery New York City, Syracuse Museum, and San Francisco Art Institute Gallery. My visual art medium is most often "enhanced" Cayola and Lotto Crayon and single edge razor blades. Oh yes, I forgot my old days as an auteur of video art pieces. Kind of an update on 2D art. One video was for Laurie Anderson's "Born Never Asked" which I called, ARCHETYPE, staring my teenage son. I've also done co-production work here and there, a ROMEO VOID music video with film director Lynn Hershman-Leeson and WHO's world tour video come to mind.

In other words, I was born with a brush in my mouth, crayon, camera,  instead of a "silver spoon."Gag!”  More like a foot in my mouth. Wish I could just play cards for fun like normal folks. But, for some reason, possibly a mistake, Goddess gave me the gift of what is termed "talent in art." Being talented in art means you draw realistically enough to impress those who are NOT initiated to the vaster possibilities of art expression. More to my credit, I attained a working knowledge of these vast possibilities over the last three quarter century of my life.

At Syracuse University School of Fine Arts, where I started as an illustration major, I won the Harriet Leavenworth Award for Painting along with an F for not showing up to class.  I transferred to San Francisco Art Institute, a transfer of my whole east coast upbringing and orientation to the West coast art scene. This was the time of non stop bee bop dancing all night, for all ages if you had a fake ID and we all did, at a place called The Spaghetti Factory which really was a spaghetti factory.

It was the time of Beat Poetry. (For specifics on my Beat experience, to to my blog Beats)


So, here over a decade into the next century, the creative experiment continues in numerous forms as a shadow copy of a life I've more or less screwed up and seek to avoid. Even the happy is excruciating. Especially happiness.  The thrill and delight in my grandchildren seems more than I can bear. Writing is a joy away from joy. Actually, I knew a women named Joy who well.... that should be another blog.

Jay Defeo painting "the Rose"