How Much Is Too Much Bette Davis

I was a wake at 5.30am. I had a piss then I lay in bed listening to Sam and Buddy snore. Buddy laying in “super dog” pose between us.

I lay there for a while, but once I am a wake, I am a wake. Sad Face. I got up pretty soon. It was still dark.

At 6.15am, I light a fire. It probably wasn’t necessary, but a fire is always nice, I think. Always nice. Hang the expense of the wood. Fuck it.

I prepared a second coffee and ate muesli with apricots. Halves. Gotta love an apricot half. Oats and fruit is divine.

6.20am. Leonard left the house. He is always the first to leave in the mornings.

7.30am. I was suddenly feeling tired, so I crawled back into bed with Sam and Buddy. Sam chatted immediately, it was nearly time for him to get up for work. I lay there with one eye, and one ear open.

Buddy lay his head on my chest and we both slept until 9.45am


I watched the end of Beyond the Forrest. A masterpiece they now say, where once it was considered her worst film, hopelessly miss cast, nobody had a good word to say about it. I love anything with Bette Davis in it, well, nearly anything, now is that because she is a great actress, or is that because I am gay?

I ate pies for lunch. Sam was having lunch at work for a change, I think it was somebody’s birthday.

The brick layer demolished the front wall and then disappeared. Tradies? Of course, Sam is not pleased about it, “Get it fixed. Where the hell is he?” I kind of like the wall in its demolished state, though, like a ruin, what with its non-linear outline and the low hanging hibiscus bush, every time I leave the house it feels like I am leaving my cave. Sam just rolls his eyes when I say such things.

I headed to Sam’s office to collect his parcel collection card. He tried to collect it in Brunswick Street, as advised on the card, however, the parcel/letter was at the Gore Street depot. (Grrr!)

I listened to Joe Cocker on my head phones. Ah Joe. What a voice. What a find in the second hand shop. How many of his CDs did I discover, was it 5? Five Joe Cocker CDs for $5 surely is a good buy in anyone’s language.

I am repainting the front gate before the brick layer comes back to hang it. (Which may mean I have weeks to get it done) I walked to Bunnings to get paint for the gate. I’d scraped some paint off the gate to match, but unfortunately, they couldn’t match it. I have to go to more of a specialty paint shop in Inspiration in Clifton Hill, or one of the Paintspot shops.

I headed to the Gore Street parcel depot to collect Sam’s letter.

Sam text me to ask if I’d just got home, as the front door sensor told him somebody was home. I told him it was probably Leonard. Sam has installed sensors on our front door, our back door and our roller door, which all report activity to his iPhone.

I went to Coles to get juice.

I hurried home, none the less. Funny, the thought of a burglary gets some pace in my step. I met Leonard at the letterbox. Literally, we just about walked into each other. He was heading out again. There is always someone home at our place, mostly me, which must be a protection from being robbed. And a dog, Buddy is straight up to the roller door and barking if he hears voices. Still, I’m thinking Sam enjoys installing all these things as much as they may act as a deterrent.

A Phone Call from a Stranger arrived. It’s really a Gary Merrill movie, more than a Bette Davis film, but it is an interesting film of its time.

It was cold and threatening to rain, sprinkling just a bit intermittently, so getting in doors was a good thing.

The fire was just a few red coals, when I got home, but as I say, if you can see red coals, no matter how small, the fire can be revived. And I revived it, with sticks collect in the back yard. Call me the fire whisperer.

I watched Phone Call from a Stranger, for the afternoon. Sam wasn’t coming home for dinner, he was having dinner with his work colleagues, so I could be a slob on the couch all I wanted, watch whatever DVDs I liked, eat junk food for dinner, not turn any lights on when it got dark, that sort of thing. You know, just generally sloth about.

Pity I didn’t have any pot.

But Leonard came into the kitchen, not long after I put Phone Call from A Stranger on, and cooked, which is unusual for him, the whole time I watched the film. He was preparing some feast, I guessed Daniel was coming over.

I watched Millionaire Hot Seat, once the film was over, a moment to reflect on what I had just seen, during which Leonard left the house. Maybe he was cooking for another night? Maybe? I was just deciding what to eat myself and gearing up to leaving the house to get it.

6pm. I went and got fish & chips for dinner, miss the news, the best time to go, I thought, just a tale of woe, the world pyscho drama and all that.

When I got back Daniel and Leonard were home. Daniel asked me if I wanted to have some of Leonard’s food.

“Leonard’s too shy?”

“But I have already bought fish & chips,” I said.

“I thought you might say that,” said cute Daniel. “And Sam?”

“He’s not coming home for dinner.”

Leonard sighed. “The one time I thought I could cook for you guys.”

I shrugged and smiled, in a ‘Oh Well’ kind of way.

Buddy was very excited, he leapt around all over the place, lots of people to snuggle with and slobber on and get pats from.

The night drifted. Sam came home late.