Billy Kravitz' vampire wonderland: POST 1 of a NaNoWriMo FIRST DRAFT for the month of...

Billy Kravitz' vampire wonderland: POST 1 of a NaNoWriMo FIRST DRAFT for the month of...: BINGO BOY ----- post 1       This is how we do it. This is how we live life under the el tracks in a grimy river ward of Philadelphia. Co...

A lot of people have seen this, but most haven't. It's the first episode of my attempt at a NANOWRIMO novel. They give you a month to finish. I couldn't work that fast. If I did, it'd just be a typing exercise and have little to do with my way of story telling. I took two months. If you like tales of hardscrabble streets and all kinds of people, you might enjoy BINGO BOY. It's an unusual telling of life under the 'El' tracks... a crooked, walk-in bingo hall, the kids who work there, unlikely romances and hopeful, new beginnings. After all... everybody has to win sometimes.



Please take a look. Click on the title up above to get in. If you like what you find, click NEWER POST down at the bottom of each and every episode. No vampires in this one. A few interested spirit-narrators maybe. But all narrators have a spiritual side. There's a bit of lurid crime in it too... but only a bit.



Honor us with your presence and take a look.

A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN and other places too.



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Vampires Get Political ... 3/31/15

They're in the den, or the family room, or whatever you want to call it, watching David Letterman. Jonathon likes Dave. Vampires like good humor. People don't realize that, but they really do. .

It's me, Billy. I'm typing this tonight. They don't even know I'm here. It's like on a reality show... after a while they don't even see the cameras.... Baby Moses Baskets are all done. Big, tall displays all wrapped up in amber colored cellophane  and tied with yellow ribbons. Each one loaded with traditional seasonal goodies.... chocolate covered jelly rings (the ring symbolizes the never ending Covenant)... chocolate covered marshmallow logs (I forgot what they symbolize... something ecclesiastical ... take your pick)... orange flavored gum drop wedges... honey-sesame candies... educational, hardback, children's books for the kiddies... his and hers Tag Huer watches for the grown-ups.... and a little-boy-baby-doll all swaddled in a soft, blue blanket, playing the part of Baby Moses... Baby Moses must be thinkin' --- Damn, how'm I supposed to get comfy with all the crap that goof got shoved in here? Real Baby Moses would a peed on it. One of the books in each basket had a $10,000 VISA gift card in it with a stipulation forbidding use for alcohol purchases and casino cash advances. Jonathon learned from before. You never know with homeless people. Some got serious issues.

Sarah said - I like when Dave ends with a music guest. And I have got to say the yearly Darlene Love appearances around The Holidays where she sang 'Christmas' were the best. Oh look! He's GOT a music act... The Suffers. See? He gets the best ones.... Jonathon tried to say something. Sarah went - Shhh, let me listen.... They were Afro-Cuban-Soul. Real good. Front woman's the best. Then James Corden came on, but I needed a bathroom break and missed the first few minutes... (got back)... Gee, BETTER CALL SAUL is real hot. Corden had the Bob Odenkirk (forgive spelling) guy from the show... Sarah watches him. Loves it. Vampires don't spend a lot a time killing people. They go for walks... drink wine... buy all kinds a crap for themselves ... order fancy shit from CRATE & BARREL or WILLIAMS-SONOMA. I don't know where all the catalogs come from. Companies must target vampires. They watch a lot of television too.

Jonathon's upset about @trevornoah taking over for Jon Stewart (hey, they're both 'Jonathons') 'cause of that flip 'Israel doesn't know how to be peaceful' line... Says he's gonna write a letter. I say - Tweet, or Email... He gives me a look. Technology ain't his thing. We're all supposed to know that by now...... on TV David Beckham and James Corden are doing an underwear thing. Wow, Beckham's got too many tattoos, like an eight week old plaster cast. Man, what lampshades the Nazis 'd make out a him.

Sarah says - You know, Jonathon, if you're so worked up about that new Daily Show guy, why don't you do something about it?.... What? - he says..... She goes - Confront him. Where is he, Los Angeles? Go out there. Talk to him. Tell him how you feel. What's his name will let you use his plane. See, if you ask me, night-folk don't get involved enough..... What do you call 'cull the wicked. save the worthy?' - he says..... Micro, that's micro. I'm talking about on a macro level. change the world in a big way. If I was a vampire in the nineteen forties I'd have killed Hitler, Tojo, Stalin and all their acolytes. Maybe some others too...... Jonathon goes - We go through this all the time! Deranged dictators ACCEPT the existence of the paranormal world. They HAVE vampire bodyguards, for God's sake. (then he points to me) You know that blog 'rerun' he ran last night, Roman emperors, night-folk imperial assassins and all that? Well, NEWS FLASH! They're STILL like that. You think Putin and Whoever the got in China don't have a few vampires stashed away somewhere? It's not so easy. They know about lead. They know what it can do to us. Look! What did that 'unofficial' Vatican group do to 'Papa?!" They kept him for centuries!!!

Edith comes in from the kitchen and goes - What are you fighting about? I can't hear my movie..... Jonathon goes - Nothing. We're just talking.... Edith says - Nice Baby Moses Baskets. Who's gettin' them this year?.... He goes - I don't know..... But he shakes his foot, so you know he's getting nervous.... Sarah says - I am not trying to fight with you. I just think you should be a little more confrontational where it counts... He goes - Uh huh, you don't know. You just don't know....Then he starts rattling off stuff real fast in Old Spanish..... Edith goes - Stop it! Nobody understands when you Ricky Ricardo us like that. Stop it!.... He stomps out and goes upstairs muttering medieval Andalucian oaths.  They watch him go.... Edith says - I'm gone back to Gene Kelly... and leaves. Sarah switches to some PBS thing about Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden. But she's not really paying attention. Three heartbeats later, she turns to me and says - Billy, you know when he mentioned that new guy from The Daily Show?..... I go - Yeah?.... She says - Make it clickable. That way any reader, and I know we have readers, who wants to say something can. Either way. I don't care. For or against. Let them talk. That's the important thing. Let them talk. I know what I'm going to say.

So I made it clickable. We'll see what happens.... Night-folk venture into politics.

Another evening at the townhouse.....

Annie's out somewhere with the elferinas. That's all I know....

<more later>

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Billy Kravitz' vampire wonderland: HOW THE IMPERIAL ROMANS CONTROL THEIR VAMPIRE BODY...

Billy Kravitz' vampire wonderland: HOW THE IMPERIAL ROMANS CONTROL THEIR VAMPIRE BODY...: This is a city of vipers. Back stabbers are everywhere and cruelly kidnapped senatorial daughters are regularly sold as whores in the souks...Could not blog tonight. Got mixed up with a theoretic NOTORIOUS LANDLADY reboot... This Time in NYC and staring COLIN FARRELL and ROSARIO DAWSON in place of Jack Lemon and Kim Novack.. A delightful, urbane, murder-romance.. I'll let you know what happens...



But what with over 800,000 words up to date, decent reruns are quite plentiful. ...Come with us now to IMPERIAL ROME ... white marble... granite monuments and all that... outdoor cafes (yes, they had them too)... Intrigue... dark arts and whispers.



BEHOLD Sejanus (or however he spells it) pampered slave to old patrician family and murder weapon par excellence... a vampire, schooled in death and shadowy, senatorial, machinations.... Click on the title up above and proceed. If you like, click on NEWER POST down at the bottom to and see all...



Rome wasn't bled in a night.



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LOVE AMONG THE NIGHT-FOLK ... 3/29/15

Jonathon studied his image in the bathroom mirror. The changes were subtle, but real, just the same. And even if this was his second body, it was still a remarkable match. Doctor Franklin arranged it that way. But there were differences. The skin seemed even smoother...more like it always was. You must remember that Jonathon was only eighteen when the burden fell upon him. The second body was twenty eight... ten years difference. Yet whatever incongruencies still remain diminish every night.

Perhaps what they say is true? The brain and body are but the 'switchboard' by which the soul effects and experiences the world. Maybe Jonathon's essence, what he truly is, his soul, tweaks the equipment (his body) a bit? Whatever the cause, the original Jonathon, in a physical sense, is coming back. He could play the guitar again and the oud. His hands knew the way and he liked that. Even the moles were changing. Everything returned to how it was. Sarah noticed too. She bathed him. after all and knew parts of his form even better than he did. They laughed about it. She said - I suppose I'm the 'older woman' again... For her form was naturally twenty eight years old. He bit her and said - You don't taste old....She said - Are you sure?..... He went back for another kiss. She watched him savor it and whispered - Well?... He said - No, not old, but let me sample somewhere else... And she purred, as he did...

Vampirinas can purr. Did you know that? Vampirinos too.

And the hot, soapy water positively vibrated, as they savored each other's most vulnerable parts, there in that dim, candlelit bathroom.

Thus passed an evening in the townhouse. Were they always true to each other? Well, I suppose in their fashion. For night-folk see things differently. It's not who you tickle. It's who you love.

I am not Billy and I am not one of the disembodied spirit narrators you know. I'm not Mister Never-You-Mind, or Zebulon, or Johannon.... I am 'me' and I am just passing through. But I thought you'd like to know, or at least reacquaint yourselves with what you once knew.

Now, let me take my leave, for the ethereal winds bear me someplace else.

<more next time>

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ANNIE WANTS TO BE A ZOMBIE KILLER... 3/28/15

I'm trying to be quiet. Everyone else is sleeping. Night-folk, day-folk, everybody. Edith bought some grappa. I like grappa. think it's like a crude type of wine...very light... almost clear. And it's cold too. 

Annie wants to be a blood vial girl. Sarah says she doesn't have to, because she does that. I say how's she going to get into hospitals and houses anyway? She can't sublimate. She can't move through matter..... She goes - So? SO? SOOO!!??... Then she gives me an old fashioned razor blade, the kind that goes into a heavy, stainless steel, 'safety razor' from years ago and says - Please? Please? Please?..... She wants me to slice into my finger tips and let the blood run into one of those little test tube things she has so she can give it to 'nice' sick people. I say - How will you know who the nice ones are?.... She shrugs.... But with that aura of hers, she will know... Am I supposed to just give her the blood? ...She's serious about this. I say - Here's money. Go give them money. That'll help... And she takes it. She gives it out, but she wants more.

I think she misses her vampiric abilities. Edith says she might develop powers of her own. Annie says - What kind? How long? Tell me..... Says what she really wants to be is a zombie killer. Look, it's not like in stories. We're not overrun with decomposing, shuffling idiots. But they are out there. They are around. You remember Uther aus Ulm, the uber zombie... 'Fleisch Esser' he calls it. Google it if you don't, or if you're new. My God... Eight hundred thousand words... Must be more than eight hundred thousand words by now. 

Billy's getting desperate. He blames us. He says we want the fame. I don't know. Maybe we do, a little bit. But he really wants it. That's why he's on Twitter all the time... social networking and all that... What if it works? Who'd play me in the movie?... Who'd be Jonathon ben Macabi, also known as Tomas de Macabea... If they filmed at night, maybe I could play myself?... Hope there's no dancing in it. ... Listen to me. I sound crazy.

I decided on little rectangles of gold bullion for the 'Baby Moses Baskets.' They sell them in the Jewelry District...'Jewelers' Row.' I don't know where I'll leave them, or who might get them.... A long time ago, we used to put beautiful little dolls in the baskets... Pequenos Moises we called them. I could give you the Hebrew and Arabic for it, but I'm too tired. My mind is in English mode now. We used to hide all the little treasures around the doll and tuck it in with a warm soft blanket... Some of the old dolls are valuable relics now. Few know they originally represented Baby Moses. Boy, was he ever the poster boy for adoption... 'Poster boy'... Look how I use terms like that..

Please excuse me. I know there's two more hours of darkness, but I am so tired. Maybe not the way mortals get tired, but I still crave my rest.

Sleep, whether vampire, or mortal is such a special thing.

(with that, He gets up, clicks off the TV, which was really functioning as a night light anyway... closes the laptop, turns off the lamp and goes upstairs... the little ghost boy from the basement materializes out of the darkness and watches him leave)

<more next time>

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Our Vampire Gets Jerusalem Fever... 3/27/15

The next night, Jonathon went to see the basket weavers, three ladies from the Carolina Sea Isles who made 'Moses Baskets' for him on a regular basis, at least since the Second World War. They shared an old Victorian in University City, not far from the Penn campus. Once they were nurses, now they bring sweet grass to life. You can buy it in The Reading Terminal Market. They bring it up for crafters... artisans skilled in the ways of long ago.  Miss Aggie, the oldest of the three, knows Gullah and not just a phrase here and there. She's conversant and fluid in that Old English-West African dialect once spoken by many people, regardless of background all up and down The Low Country. I won't go into the particulars. You can google those.

The second sister, Miss Lena, brought out the baskets, three, cradle shaped, high sided, vessels with handles woven in on both sides. She said - Look how the colors dance all around. Got green and tan and that red-brown color everybody likes. Nice grass this year. I must say. I can smell Daufuskie Island. (sniffs again) That is Daufuskie Island. Don't you think so, Bessie?... Bessie, the third sister goes - What are you talking about? I told you it smelled like Daufuskie Island. You got nasal polyps. You don't smell nothing.... Then she makes eyes at Jonathon. Miss Bessie likes the vampire visitor. She knows about him. They all do, only being polite, well bred ladies, they never think about it. Well, almost never. Back when they were nurses, Jonathon used to bring 'booster shots.' That's what they called them.... tiny little test tubes from an old toy chemistry set... maybe two inches long and a quarter inch wide. Sometimes he'd bring two. Once in a while three. Each filled with fresh, hot, potent vampire blood. You could hide it in gravy real easy. Mix it up in the mashed potatoes. Aides didn't ask any questions. Nurse'd say - Here, Frances, let me give Mrs. Lowy her tonic. Then, tap-tap-tap, in it went. And Mrs. Lowy got all lively again... giggled, made 'eyes' at people and everything. Did anybody do bad? You tell me?

Then they sat and visited for a while. The second one, Miss Lena, brought out homemade dandelion wine. Got the greens from The Reading Terminal Market too. Bring 'em down from the Poconos, but that's later on in the season. I don't know where they get 'em from now. Jonathon didn't want any at first, because sometimes dandelion wine has residue and to a vampire, that can be very distressing. But they assured him it was suited to his 'special condition,' so he downed a small, cordial glass, had a refill and said it was good. Jonathon was very fond of the three sisters. In truth, they were approximately ninety seven years old. But friendship with a vampire has its benefits and they did not look a day pasted seventy five. In return for the sweet grass artistry, he gave each a high grade, two and a half carat, pear shaped diamond ring. Figured they'd sell two and share the third.

He took a taxi back to the townhouse. Could a sublimated, but didn't want to contaminate such spiritually symbolic cargo with vampire magic. Had the driver leave him off on the corner (this one wasn't a 'familiar') so he wouldn't know exactly where the night-folk lived.

When Edith saw him enter the kitchen and put the baskets on the counter (each stacked neatly into the other) she said - Uh oh, Passover coming. Look at them beautiful 'Baby Moses Baskets!' What you gonna put in 'em?.... Jonathon ran his fingers over the neat, tight rope-on-rope pattern and said - Oh, the usual, candies, jellies, chocolates, maybe a few special things......

Last year you put ten thousand dollars in each. You gonna do that again? - she asked.

But he just shrugged and went upstairs, where he locked himself into the music library that was also a chapel and listened to Mendelsohnn's ELIJAH, The Passover Oratorio, in its entirety.... Then he squeezed his eyes shut tight til they bled.....

Annie peeked out of her room. She heard the music. She heard his voice.  Sarah was already listening by the door. The unusual, little girl said - Is he OK?..... Sarah whispered - Yes, shhh. Go to sleep. 

When vampires pray, vampires pray.

You know... he leaves those 'Baby Moses Baskets' around town. If you're in Philadelphia during the Easter-Passover season... keep your eyes open.

<more next time>

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THE LITTLE GHOST BOY HELPS ANNIE FILCH JEWELRY .. 3/26/15

Annie wanted to talk. Jonathon didn't. He was happy she got home all right, but when Passover approaches he gets Jerusalem Fever real bad. Just wants to sit and stare into the fireplace. Helps when it's turned on. Gas, you know. But even so...

Annie said - Some dirty lady with dried piss on her shoes kissed my face. Eww, she smelled like old man beer and cold french fries. Why'd she do that?

What did you do to her? - asked Edith.

Nothin' - said Annie. Just gave her a sixtyfive hundred dollar Mikkimodo pearl necklace.

How do you know? - asked Edith.... It said on the tag - answered Annie.

Sarah, who'd been reading a HOMES & LAND real estate listing magazine for MALIBU that came in the post (vampires are on a lot of mailing lists) said - Wait a minute. Where'd you get it?

From the box. From the treasure box, the safe, we got in the basement. The ghost boy showed me. Why? - asked Annie.

Jonathon, momentarily roused from his spiritual reverie, quietly goes - You're not supposed to look in there..... 

Annie wants to respond, but Sarah shushes her. Three heartbeats later Jonathon turns back toward the hearth and starts mouthing prayers again..... Sarah says - How'd you open it?..... Annie shrugs - Why, didn't I do right? It was 'house treasure.' Didn't belong to nobody. Not nobody special. What'd I do???

Sarah - Nothing. Just leave that safe alone. We have to be careful how we use that treasure. We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention. Do you understand?

Annie nods.....

Sarah - How'd did you open it?

Annie - The little ghost boy told me. He saw. He saw when Jonathon did it. He's got a real good memory (trails off) Knows a lot a poems...

Sarah - Is that all you took?..... Annie nods...

Sarah - Then where'd you get those five carat, diamond stud earrings? (quietly) One still has the tag.

Annie - Ohhh, I forgot...

Sarah smiles and shakes her head.

Annie - Can I wear 'em for a little bit?

Sarah - Til you fall asleep. Come on. I'll read to you. I'll tuck you in... Annie goes - From The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry???... Sarah goes - What else?.....

They go upstairs.... Edith says - Night.... Annie says 'night' too.... Jonathon mumbles his own send off.

Edith thumbs through the Malibu real estate magazine.

Jonathon returns to 'out of body land.' He awakens to the clarion call of the ram's horn, as The Children of Israel and The Mixed Multitude that joined them, march forth in amazement from the delta city of Ra-Pythom, into The Arms of God...

Wow! Did you know beachfront, Malibu rents for one hundred thousand dollars a month?

< more next time>

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