OLGA & GAFY
Olga — Gaffar “Gafy” Off to the Army — Woodshed on the road near Kaş—— Army is by conscription in Turkey and most young men do their military service for 8 months to 2 years, bracketed by large parties.
CAFE TOMB
“Actually Bayram” —- Bayram from Istanbul, Friend of Nizam’s who sold Claudia the horse ring she gave me — 6thCentury BCE LYCIAN TOMB in a restaurant in KAŞ — Dusky saffron & rose stone carved right out of the rock face of the cliff——
FISH KNOWS
Ipek – The only Goth diver I’ve ever seen. — Bjorn of Sundiving in Kaş. My life has been in his hands — Fish Knows Everything—— This last is a reminder not to foul the seas with litter or sewage.
50th BIRTHDAY PRAYER
Breakfast with friends every morning at Don Quixote in the square — 20 August 1950
God is everything / There is no limit / There is no lack / God is infinite / All powerful / All good / & Everything is a part of this / Everything is a part of God / I celebrate this / I give thanks for this / & my word is law / What I say becomes the truth for me —–
HALCYON KIDS
My birthday in KAŞ – A halcyon day – 20 August 2000 – A peak of happiness after misery — Buşra – Kübra – Oğüz – Oner – Fatoş — Corner of an ancient house in KAŞ——-
BETTER AS A DRAWING
Sherrie — Mehmet — This guy is much better as a drawing — It’s so lovely here – Loneliness aches more every day
BIRTHDAY DANCE
August 20 2000 my birthday @ Full Moon Disco in KAŞ — Yusef – Pierre – Soo – Gafy – Sherrie — Only thing missing is my heart—— Where was Nizam? Good question.
BUSTED OLD ARCH
Anatolian mountain shapes — restaurant — Gaz Istayonu — Piney woods right down to the water — Busted old arch in PHASELIS where Alexander the Great once wintered—– “…a high pine forest with stone ruins in the pine needles between two sweet shady beaches, and on to Aspandos, where the theater is as big as the ruined one in Side and completely intact; it still has its looming square proscenium wall, startling after so many open theater craters.” — email, Summer 2000
STREETSIDE RUIN
T.C. KÜLTÜR BAKANLIĞI SİDE ANITLARI ONARIMI — Whatever it is, they’re restoring it — Seval—— This portrait is likely a case of “Draw My Peechor!!” So I did.
BACK IN SIDE
22 August 2000 — Madam Ismet Erman — [her address] — Can’t stand it anymore I go back to Side. — View from 2000-year-old wall — Very old sea-wall, very slippery—— Big sigh, typing this. I really, really wish I had stayed in Kaş. Obsession is a terrible thing for all concerned, and we were in a mutual one.
AFER A FALL
August 22, 2000 – Nizam & me on the beach at Side after I fell—— That was the end of my life and the beginning of a new one. Drawn from memory in 2001. Looks romantic? Guess again!
