and death shall have no dominion

2008 seems to be the year for death. if death is indeed the black cloaked figure with a scythe in popular culture then i think that fucker is reaping more than he sows. 2008 has been a bad year. both personally and in the world at large. and yet there is hope. always hope.

still, death is the natural state of being. our lives occupy the interstices of that luminous absence. as i get older, and i've been feeling very old of late [no biggie, we all do here and there, i think] i try to remind myself that life is a great pleasure even if it seems so fucked in the head.

so then anyway, i learned today the actor robert prosky is now among the dead. he died at age 77 which historically is considered a long life. but even a long life oftentimes is not long enough. prosky is not a huge name in hollywood but his films - among the most prominent is christine and mrs. doubtfire - and his stage work and tv shows like hill street blues showcase a gifted actor and that is perhaps all an actor could ask for in this life.

also, poet dave church died this week at the early age of 61. church was a small press poet who drove a cab for a living. in fact, he was found dead in his cab at 1:30 in the morning. the cause i think was his heart. f.a. nettlebeck posted this elegy at his blog. and you'll find a biographical sketch of church here.

finally, among all the photos of bettie page available i chose a recent pic of her because she was a relative recluse who steadfastly refused to be photographed not wanting to mar her image as the pin-up bondage girl, so this recent photo is relatively rare, and also because even at age 80 she was still beautiful. and that we all get older. we even become old. but that does not stop our living. death will do that soon enough. so i chose a photo of a beautiful, iconic woman in old age because old age does not stop life. nor does it diminish at least in my eyes her allure and mystique. life in life and death in life too. can you dig it.