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@ Woody Allen

Woody Allen (b. 1935), actor, playwriter,filmmaker, comedian
Woody Allen (b. 1935), actor, musician, filmmaker and screenwriter, comedian

Happy Birthday, Woody Allen!

“As an artist, you are always striving toward an ultimate achievement but never seem to reach it.”

Before the day is out, I have to take a moment to acknowledge Woody Allen on his birthday. He’s one of my favorites screenwriters and a quintessential New Yorker.  He debuted as a screenwriter in 1965 and has written at least one screenplay a year since then.  He’s won four Academy Awards, three for screenplays, and was nominated twenty-four times.

“That’s one of the nice things about writing, or any art; if the thing’s real, it just lives.”

My favorite Woody Allen movie?  Well, it does change from time-to-time. Tonight?  Midnight in Paris.  And Owen Wilson was so good at playing it Woodyesque.

Photo credit ~ Colin Swain under CC BY-SA 3.0 license

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this drought-full day

FullSizeRender-3it’s “drought-full” she says,
my japanese friend –
as though it were “dreadful”
which it is, dreadful
the five-year drought
i hunger for rain

drought-full, she says again
pensive, as we stroll B Street
in search of a café, a mojito
sugar, mint, caffeine, ice!

a black gentleman passes
with a nod at her he says
. . . . .Nǐ Hǎo
shizuko keeps walking,
. . . . .says nothing
the man looks puzzled, a bit hurt
he’d meant a courtesy,
greeting her in chinese,
i stop, rest my hand on his arm
“she’s japanese,” i say
by way of explantion,
he smiles then, and
on we walk, shizuko and me
on this hot drought-full day
seeking relief in a mojito

© 2015, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved