3/28/20

BELLUM IS RIGHT THIS MOMENT

3.26.2020.saturday.7:33am













 




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RICK CASTRO: DIARY-3/27/2020

So This Is How The World Will End: by Rick Castro 3/27/2020

I’m not used to the sounds of nature. There’s a dull thumping on the roof, like an animal or something moseying about. Besides that, everything seems to be falling into place here at my self-isolation resort.  Yesterday while taking photos for the evite of my new virtual tea salon~ quarentea, I left a small navel orange from my father’s tree back in L.A on my father's, (see I do give him some credit) weathered, yet romantic picnic table. 



This morning there were huge black crows flying pass my windows. I was relieved  they were’t ravens We know what that means! 
One crow very close to me flew pass the picnic table and snatched up that orange. Then numerous black crows hovered around wanting 
a piece of the luscious fruit. Their blackness was so stark in contrast to the blue emerald skies, forest green juniper and crystalline white snow. I kept thinking of the Hitchcock classic, The Birds, in a good way… I love that film. To see so many so close, a mass all gathered together was spectacular. I believe it’s called a murder?

I’m gonna interrupt my serene thoughts for a moment to tell whoever is reading this diary- please STAY HOME! The plague mass, 
(my term for COVID-19) is the real deal. We have never encountered something like this in our lifetime. At the moment the curve is full-on in NYC.  My thoughts are with many dear friends and all my readers as well. Italy, Korea and China have already hit their respective curves. Seattle is in the midst and slowly coming out. The next two weeks will be San Francisco, my hometown of Los Angeles, and I assume San Diego, although I must admit, I haven’t done any research on SD. The states that are gonna get blind-sighted by the plague mass are Texas, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama. Louisiana is in full state of emergency after all those millions of Mardi Gras partiers each became their own version of Typhoid Mary and took it home to their unsuspecting hometowns……. Everywhere
I  implore you to think of your older relatives, people with cancer and HIV, people with weaker immune systems. For once think of your fellow human before yourself. I cannot make this any clearer….

 STAY THE FUCK HOME

The same black crow sits on the Joshua Tree directly in front of my window. It likes me or taunts me.. Maybe both.. I like it. I like crows, they’re very smart, dangerously beautiful Corvus. 



Did you ever see The Omen II with Lee Grant!? The scene where reporter Joan Hart, (Elizabeth Shepherd) wearing all red tries to warn Willam Holden, ( portraying the President of the United States) that his son is the Anitchrist. As you can imagine, Holden doesn’t take the information well and kicks her out of his limo. She then finds herself in a deserted country road, (how can it be so remote when she was just in DC?) where a black crow… no a raven,(!) stalks her. Her car mysteriously stalls and there is the raven sitting as a hood ornament, giving dyke eyes, ( slang term I use when someone is cruising someone, hard). Of course this freaks out Miss Hart who flees her Mercedes, only to have the raven immediately attack her with those talons! Satan’s familiar rips Miss Hart’s updo hairdo to shreds and tears at her red coat causing her to fall into an irrigation ditch. When she emerges tattered and torn, her eyes have been pecked out. Now blind, she feebly stumbles about. Only relying on sound, she hears a truck approaching and runs into the road begging for help. The semi mack truck driver never expected to encounter a shredded, bloody woman with eyes pecked out in the middle of nowhere and cannot stop his massive vehicle in time.. I’ll leave the rest for you to watch on your owns.
I wish Willam Holden was President and not Trumpworld.

So this is how the world will end.
copyright 3/2020



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3/27/20

RICK CASTRO: DIARY 3/26/2020

So This Is How The World Will End: by Rick Castro 3/26/2020

I slept in Al & Bee’s bedroom for the first time.
 It was odd to inherit in the intimate place your parents inhabited for 45 plus years. They musta had sex here at least once? It's uncomfortable to sleep in the exact spot where your know your parents doodled. The room hadn't been used for 10 years so it was very dusty. 
I cleaned the best I could, without a vacuum, and washed all the sheets, blankets and pillow shams, then closed the door and set NOUR, (name chosen infrared heater sent to me by friend Iris Parker) to 75 degrees. Within an hour I was a piece of toast. Very cozy. Bee’s blankets are so warm and reassuring.  I’m surrounded with nostalgia. 
I remember and recognize every little chotchkie in this place. Not trying to be mean, 
but Bee’s taste was a little on the tacky side.. 

Very sweet and quaint, but tacky, and dated in the best way. Everything in the bedroom is brightly colored, so I decided to bring anything with garish color into the bedroom. 
I mean I’m gay, so of course i’m gonna re-decorate. I remember this chair!
 its mine! I painted and reupholstered when I was about 11-12… 1970ish.. It’s garish bright orange with a yellow vinyl cushion. Look, at the time it was hip.. I was being, groovy
I remember, my bedroom in 1970 was green, (as in Kelly) walls, florescent orange furniture and spider plants.


The rain is coming up from the  Southeast, lower desert. It usually comes down from the Northwest mountains. Like a natural screening room of a natural movie. 
The clouds move fast, the darkness comes quickly and then it showers.. It’s beautiful. Nature is perfect. Humans are so…..  imperfect, if they followed nature they would be in sync. 

Today I feel calmer… I’m acclimating to my new environment. Understand what a drastic life change this is for me. I did spend my childhood weekends here, yes, but for all my adult life i’ve lived in very urban settings. I've lived all over Hollywood, West Hollywood,  Echo Park, and for the last twenty years, East Hollywood. In the early 80s I even lived in NYC. 14th st & 11th. Across the street from the Vault; The S&M dungeon of the Meatpacking District. When there was actually meat. My single apartment was butt ugly. 
 One side wall of the apartment was brick they had varnished! I had shiny brick walls!. 
 The owner was sorta post-hippy so he made his own Murphy bed from 2x4s. When you would lift it up the thick wooden legs would hang like a dead woodman. I always keep the bed down. My rent was $700, which for me was allot. To put in perspective I was renting a house in West Hollywood, two bedrooms and a patio for $500. In NYC the cheapest place 
I could find was a single, with glaring brick walls, with a fortune teller on the ground floor, (which I liked), transsexual hookers , (which I liked) in-front of a steakhouse next door, the NYC Bondage Club across the street, (which I really liked) and a Murphy bed that looked like Geppetto hung Pinocchio, for $700 dollars! 
I think where my apartment used be is now an Apple store.

It’s snowing! My first snow! It looks like volcanic ash.. with the way things are going in the harsh 21st century, I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s a light layer of snow that will burn off tomorrow. When it snows, it becomes warmer. The snow blankets everything. I’m so cozy, 
I have the right clothing, (leather) and the fireplace, (still worried about back smoke) me little pot belly, (stove, not me stomach) and Nour my infrared heater. I am set for the night.

So this is how the world ends.

copyright 3/2020

If you're able, please donate to Rick Castro: It's the right thing to do- here





3/26/20

RICK CASTRO: DIARY- 3/25/2020

So This Is How The World Will End: by Rick Castro 3/25/2020
I feel like I had the plague and got over it…..  
A few days after arriving to Bee’s cabin I had all the symptoms  I read online. A splitting headache, me nose was runny, 

sometimes there was blood, (this has been going on for a while) different part of my body would ache….. And then the dreaded dry cough. I woke up one night with the tightest of chests. I could breathe, but it was belabored. 
The more I thought about it the more anxious I became. 
I’m certainly not a doctor, but if you’re looking for something to try; my little opinion-
VITAMIN C! Tons of it on a regular basis. Oranges, Lemons, Spinach, Ginger-allot of Ginger, Turmeric, 
Red Peppers. Don't waste time with pills. Take all these raw or cooked... Serve hot, or in tea, HOT tea, nothing cold.. No ice…  
Also Vitamin D in diet and through good ol fashion sun. These are all immune boosters to keep you strong. This morning I'm gonna try a Neti pot for the first time. Of course if you don’t see a daily posting from me it means I’m dead and it didn’t work.

People in positions of power never tell the truth. Trumpworld is a blatant liar. We all know that, but the one’s you wanna trust, the one’s you think “have your back” never really do. The world of the 21st century is self-serving. I’ve seen the breakdown in civility. 
I’ve seen how younger people don’t know how to do the most basic things, like make soup, 
yet can go online and hack a small country.


I’m trying to be a good citizen.. The other day I called  first Gavin Newsom's office, 
(couldn't get thru) then Eric Garcetti’s office to state for the record a moratorium on rent. If I ever come back from Bee’s cabin I wanna make sure my apartment is still mine. I was surprised when I got through immediately. A woman’s voice answered, it was very calm, “Hello, I started, I live in  East Hollywood area-zip 90027. 
I am a citizen of Los Angeles County. I am calling to demand Eric Garcetti implement a rent freeze. Due to cancellations, closures, and widespread unemployment the people of Los Angeles are losing massive amounts of income and many are unable to make rent payments in addition to covering food, medicine, and personal emergencies. Stable housing is crucial to maintaining social distancing. The Mayor must act now to suspend all rent payments, in addition to an indefinite moratorium on evictions and housing closures. Personally I have April's rent, after that I will be homeless.”

Her calm response, “What you need to do is contact your local councilman. 
They are the person who will be voting on this in the next couple days.
 Besides that you can also leave a comment on our page that become’s public record.
 Let me know when you’re ready and I’ll give the link.”  “I’m ready, I responded.
 “Ok here’s the link- lacouncil.comment.com,“she said.

“Well thank you, I said, but it’s important that you also relay my message directly to your boss- Garcetti. I’m sure these decisions ultimately come from higher up.” 
“The best way is for you to go on record at the link I provided”, she calmly reassures. 
“Ok I will, thanks.” I hung up.. I want everyone who’s reading my diary to click on the link, 
so you can see for yourself what site a person working for the mayor’s office sent me- lacouncil.comment.com

 I’ve been told in an online public forum, (without specifically naming me) to stop posting stories that are not verified, and I’m spreading false information.

What I’m presenting are my thoughts, opinions and information as I receive them. 
I don’t hold an official title and I’m not getting taxpayer money. What I can say is I know allot of people, worldwide, in realtime and online. I consume allot of information, and I’m sent allot of information. I do know that most of my postings turn out to be factual. The reason I know this is 24 hrs later they’re posted in  mainstream press. I hope Bellum Politcal Salon, helps during the plague mass. If it doesn't the de-friend button can become your best friend.

I had my first FaceTime tea salon today with my friend RichTimes. We’ve adjusted to the most bizarre, horrific circumstances that are now normal! We did have a very nice tea, my first virtual tea salon. 
I will start doing virtual tea salons every Wednesday @ 3pm. Just like I used to host at the Tom of Finland house before the world collapsed. RichTimes gave it the title- QUARANTEA. That Rich was only wearing the skimpiest of shorts, and nothing else, made it all the more enjoyable.


Look at my hands! They've aged 20 years from constant soap and hot water. They have scabs and they’re sore…. 
They hurt! One of many fallouts of the plague mass. Not even three weeks old!

2020 is fucking HARSH.