THIS Rhett Butler Will Never Die

A summary of my June trip to Los Angeles. On the outset of this trip, sitting in the departure lounge of Oakland International Airport I wrote to you that the purpose of this trip was about photographing Francesca Lia Block, but that I was not going to get to do that. And in fact, I did not. I did not call her while here in L.A. Nor did I feel regretful about the loss of opportunity to have this creative time with her. I'll tell you though, her influence was strongly upon me the entire time I was here anyway. I'm really tired now and my writing is a bit sloppy because my back is in a lot of pain and I have not really had enough sleep this week. Not my normal amounts of sleep at least. I've slept in strange beds, talked more in a week's time than I usually talk in 3 months time, driven hundreds of miles (never made accidental contact with another vehicle or living creature or inanimate object), used Google Maps on my Android phone like an expert to get to everywhere I w...

so about a month ago i found out from using http://geni.com that Rita Hayworth is my 22nd cousin. that’s a pretty complex and distant relation, but hey, she’s kin and that deserves acknowledgement. i got it in my head that when i was in L.A. on this visit that i’d pay her a visit at her final resting place Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. and i did. i went there on Monday, around noon time. i stopped at the main gate and asked the guard for directions to her grave. he was a delightful, old Chinese man who seemed pleased that people came to the cemetery with specific visitations in mind. he smiled and said, “Oh, she is easy to find.” and pointed to the top of the nearest hill. “Right there, next to the grotto.” he also mentioned that Sharon Tate was buried near the grotto and asked if there was anyone else i was interested in seeing. i told him i would like to visit Bela Lugosi too. “So easy.” he said. “Just four rows down from Miss Hayworth. Enjoy your visit.” so i shot the follo...

Hollywood Forever - Mausoleum Originally uploaded by daryldarko Just a few sample photos from inside the main mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I was never approached by any staff members inside here and I think that if I were with a casually dressed model (who pretended to be my girlfriend, or sister, it would be possible to do CG photos in here. What also makes me think that I could take CG photos inside HF is that the one person who told me she was "kicked out" for modeling there was an extremely high class fashion model who must have made it obvious that she was doing professional work. More of my photos of HF can be seen on my flickr account.

Hollywood Forever - Mausoleum Originally uploaded by daryldarko Just a few sample photos from inside the main mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. I was never approached by any staff members inside here and I think that if I were with a casually dressed model (who pretended to be my girlfriend, or sister, it would be possible to do CG photos in here. What also makes me think that I could take CG photos inside HF is that the one person who told me she was "kicked out" for modeling there was an extremely high class fashion model who must have made it obvious that she was doing professional work. More of my photos of HF can be seen on my flickr account.

well, yesterday was supposed to be the day that i was to spend photographing Francesca Lia Block as a Cemetery Girl, but it turned into a day in which i did what i do best; i adventured solo. i’ll do a proper photo blog later in which i show all the places that i went (and man, i went to some AWESOME places yesterday!). this photo epitomizes my life in so many ways though. i sought out the company of a beautiful, talented, living woman yesterday to spend a few hours alone with to use to create art. yet what i ended up getting time with was a lifeless form, devoid of any emotions but sorrow and loneliness. i sat with this statue for at least 20 minutes yesterday. trying to hear her voice. all i heard were whispers of the wind in the trees. as a cemetery man, i did find my own style of peculiar comfort in her company. in fact, i was moved to tears in the heart of this cemetery as there is so much intense missing and longing AND forgetting being felt here, by the spirits that come to visi...

i’m sitting at the Oakland Airport waiting to board my flight to Los Angeles  and my heart is full of bittersweet emotions. i would not be making this trip if it were not for one single person; Francesca Lia Block, yet for reasons (and i was going to try to blame this on –=the gods=- by saying “reasons completely beyond my control”, but it is not their fault, it’s entirely my own fault) unfortunate, I am not going to get to spend any time with her on this trip. it’s too fresh and delicate of a matter for me to talk about right now though, so i will tell you about the OTHER really wonderful reasons why i am going to Los Angeles today. my beautiful soul-mate of a friend Vicki, who i had a monster-crush on in high school has arranged a photo shoot for me today with THREE extremely beautiful, young actresses/models/dancers/artists. Aviva Farber, Sita Young and Anastasia (i forgot her last name) will be meeting me in a cemetery near Pasadena around 3pm this afternoon. also on this trip...

something started to move inside my heart-space earlier this week. an old feeling that i have not recognized as being there in a number of years, and when it got stirred a few days ago, i was like, “oh where have you been! i’ve missed you soo much, my love!” what i think it is is the spark of spiritual connection of my heart to the divine. there have been different ways that this has manifested in my understanding over the years, and of course, my understanding now is different than it ever was before. my first memorable powerful experiences of this pitter-patter were when i was 13 years old and felt the flooding of power of the Christ-spirit into my heart. years later though, the pitter-patter felt different when i developed a romantic crush on a teenage girl at high school. there are times when the heart pitter-patter is subtle and other times when it is overwhelming and all consuming. sometimes the pitter-patter is just a dull ache and reflects how i miss something/someone or ...