We went to the Lewises" house. We chit-chatted and then people had to change into black tie at the Lewises" to go over to the museum. I was just in a turtleneck and my coat, so all day it looked like I was about to leave. My Calvin Klein with the hood. But for some reason n.o.body thought it was unusual. They told me that at 6:00 I"d have to be on TV live, so I got nervous about it being live. But then I didn"t care and I got it over with.
Julian Schnabel and his wife came, they"d missed the plane, and Alex Katz had missed his, too.
And I had to go to the bathroom because of all the vitamin C I"m taking now, and the bathroom was full of guys with cigars and I"m really going to have to get over this bathroom phobia because I just feel so ... I mean, there was a stall but somebody was in it and I tried to wait, but ... And they said, "Oh, you"re Andy Warhol," and I"m trying to pee, and then right after you pee they want to shake your hand.
Leo Castelli was there with Toiny and she"s a lost soul and he"s really out of it. But the horrible thing was seeing everybody looking thirty years older. I"m so spoiled from going around with nineteen-year-olds. At least Ivan Karp has a lot of energy and he"s fun. Oh, and Ivan says he"s (laughs) (laughs) collecting Barbarian jewelry now, he gets it at a store in the East 90s. The tribe-the original hordes. collecting Barbarian jewelry now, he gets it at a store in the East 90s. The tribe-the original hordes.
Friday, December 6, 1985-New York There was a screening of Young Sherlock Holmes Young Sherlock Holmes at the Gulf + Western Building but I want to avoid that place-Jon Gould comes to town now and doesn"t even call me. at the Gulf + Western Building but I want to avoid that place-Jon Gould comes to town now and doesn"t even call me.
Worked till 8:30, then went to Schnabel"s at 20th and Park. It was so glamorous, the Christmas tree was up. Fred was there, in an art mood. Dinner was catered by II Cantinori. The girls were absolutely all wearing the shortest shirts ever and then the Madonna stockings. Marisa Berenson was in a black miniskirt. She has the right body. Those boy a.s.ses. And Schnabel"s wife, too, she had one twenty inches above her knee.
Sunday, December 8, 1985 Went to church. Paige called and she"s thinking of going to a place uptown to get treatment for being a chocolate addict, some treatment they give heroin addicts. And she said she finally is completely over Jean Michel. It happened to her at the Comme des Garcons fashion show. She said he looked like a fool out there on the runway modeling the clothes and that"s when she finally was over him.
Bob Colacello was having a dinner for So Schlumberger at Mortimer"s at 9:00. Got there when they were just starting to eat. I was next to an Indian lady named Gita Mehta and a Brazilian Portuguese woman who"s married to an Irishman.
And I was talking to Fred who"d been to the galleries and things with Twinkle Bayoud and her husband Bradley the day before and he told me I had to start getting new ideas to paint. He said Roy Lichtenstein"s selling every painting, that they all have red stickers on them, and they"re all $200,000 or $300,000 $200,000 or $300,000.
Monday, December 9, 1985 Jean Michel called me early in the morning to tell me about the fight with Philip Niarchos he had at Schnabel"s on Friday night. I guess he still remembers some funny comment Philip made once about how now they"re "letting n.i.g.g.e.rs into St. Moritz."
The two McDermott-McGough artist kids came by to visit. They"re living down on the Lower East Side, and since they do everything nineteenth-century style, they haven"t had a phone or a kitchen, but now they"re having that stuff installed in just one room of the apartment. So they"re coming around. But they were still dressed in nineteenth-century. They said they had just had meetings at Paramount with Jon Gould and this is about those stories that I I taped them telling and had Brigid type up. Now they say taped them telling and had Brigid type up. Now they say he he wants to produce that movie with them. Well, I predicted this, right? What a swell guy. wants to produce that movie with them. Well, I predicted this, right? What a swell guy.
Thursday, December 12, 1985 The Boston Museum returned the Electric Chair painting because they said the shade of red was off. It was slightly different, and I told them that would make it more interesting, but they still wanted to send it back for me to think about it. If they had it next to the black panel it wouldn"t matter anyway. I think they"re just procrastinating. But it costs around $4,000 every time you ship it somewhere with the insurance and everything. And Fred was going to Atlanta.
Sunday, December 15, 1985 After seeing the Sam Shepard play the night before, I got up and read the transcripts of those days with Truman that I"d taped where he"s going to the ma.s.seur, then to the psychiatrist, then for drinks, then for dinner, but by talking in them so much myself, I ruined them. I should"ve just kept my mouth shut. I was, you know, saying everything"s wonderful and everybody"s wonderful-the usual. I thought I could turn these tapes into plays and they"d be my little fortune, but they"re not, they"re just awful.
Paige said that she and PH were going over to Stuart Pivar"s musicale because PH wanted to cover it for the Party Party book. The reason I don"t want to go over there is because I just can"t take hearing Archie and Amos barking in Jed"s apartment next door on their weekends off. Do you know what I mean? book. The reason I don"t want to go over there is because I just can"t take hearing Archie and Amos barking in Jed"s apartment next door on their weekends off. Do you know what I mean?
PH called me afterwards and said it was the kind of event like in a comedy movie where the boy would bring his girlfriend there to prove he was sensitive, that the men and women were very intellectual and dreamy, sitting on the nineteenth-century chairs and things listening to the beautiful music.
Monday, December 16, 1985 Brigid just called on the other line and she"s reading me an article in The New York Times The New York Times and I think it"s about Rupert"s boyfriend. Hold on ... it says "Patrick McAllister," and I don"t know if that"s his last name, but he has AIDS and it doesn"t give Rupert"s name but it says he has a boyfriend who works for a "famous artist." And now I feel bad because I"ve always been so mean to Patrick. He found out he had AIDS in August-oh, but I"ve hated him for years. But still I do feel bad now, and that would explain a lot of things that Rupert does now like going into macrobiotics and things and taking courses like EST. and I think it"s about Rupert"s boyfriend. Hold on ... it says "Patrick McAllister," and I don"t know if that"s his last name, but he has AIDS and it doesn"t give Rupert"s name but it says he has a boyfriend who works for a "famous artist." And now I feel bad because I"ve always been so mean to Patrick. He found out he had AIDS in August-oh, but I"ve hated him for years. But still I do feel bad now, and that would explain a lot of things that Rupert does now like going into macrobiotics and things and taking courses like EST.
Chrissy Berlin was at the office and she loved her portraits. It was sort of busy. Fred was going off to Europe to sell art.
My old model date Sean McKeon"s back in town, he"s been away about a year doing plays in France. And this girl asked me about Sean, she said, "Is he straight?" And I told her yes. Because I mean, how do I know different? I met him when he was with a girli girli And you have to believe what people And you have to believe what people tell tell you, don"t you? you, don"t you?
Worked till 8:20, then walked to the Ritz Cafe, which is the new restaurant where La Coupole was. I was going to meet a Ford model that Paige invited for me. He was just back from j.a.pan and he hated it there, and it was just like listening to an exact copy of every other model-from New Jersey, talks about motorcycles, modeling, eating, and hating j.a.pan. But they"re good-looking and that"s enough. The perfect nose and so much like Sean McKeon you would think they"re from the same mold. And if you put gla.s.ses on them they could look distinguished, but they"re brainless.
Paige brought a black Jewish lawyer named Rubin for Tama and he looked (laughs) (laughs) black and Jewish. And Tama brought for Paige a novelist who"s written four novels and he was jealous because Tama was in black and Jewish. And Tama brought for Paige a novelist who"s written four novels and he was jealous because Tama was in The New Yorker The New Yorker and Tama was jealous because he"s had four novels published. and Tama was jealous because he"s had four novels published.
And this was all about looking for new faces and brains and ideas. We were in a booth for six people and it was fun.
Home before 12:00 and didn"t watch Letterman Letterman. I"d seen the news earlier, about the Mafia shooting in midtown which is so abstract. They"re just doing it on better streets now.
Wednesday, December 18, 1985 There"s somebody ringing my bell really long. Really long. Maybe it"s Crazy Matty. He hasn"t been around in a long time. Oh, it"s the chocolate man. He"s trying to deliver chocolates. Hold on ...
They were calling it the coldest day of the year, but it wasn"t bad in the sun. Went over to Dr. Bernsohn"s and he put me in a negative mood. He showed me this crystal and he said, "I paid a thousand for it and it usually costs $5,000, but it"s worth millions to me, there"s nothing like it in the world." And I said okay, that maybe I would trade him a print or something and he said, "A print? A print? I was thinking more like two portraits, one for my mother and one for me." He wants $50,000 worth of portraits! He said I have to let him know by Friday because Dr. Reese would be "programmed out" if I waited longer.
I think I"m just not going to call him. You have to draw the line somewhere.
Thursday, December 19, 1985 After reading that big article on Carl Andre and whether he pushed his wife out the window or not, it"s so easy to imagine a fight. I wonder if they were having a fight and she went to jump out the window and he tried to stop her. He said he got the scratches on his face "moving furniture." Which he shouldn"t have said. I"ll be disappointed if he"s guilty. I would think if he was that he would say so, because there"s something about him with integrity. So if he"s guilty why is he trying to save himself? I would be disappointed in him. I would think he would just say so.
And Lady Ann Lambton is in a movie about Sid Vicious and his girlfriend. She"d gone to the audition disguised as a punk rocker and she got the job.
Tina Chow called and said there was a dinner for Jean Michel at 9:00, just really small. Jean Michel had his mother and her friend there. I brought him a present, one of my own hairpieces. He was shocked. One of my old ones. Framed. I put ""83" on it but I don"t know when it was from. It"s one of my Paul Bochicchio wigs. It was a "Paul Original."
You know, I heard the kids at the office talking about my wigs, and when I think how much work time they spend gossiping about me ... I mean, like now Brigid has Sam to hate, because I take him around with me, but I mean, he"s just a babysitter for me. And Wilfredo"s really the best babysitter. He"s sweet but he"s street-smart. And he takes numbers and follows up on business contacts. But he"s so busy with his styling work at Interview Interview and he still works Sat.u.r.days at Armani. and he still works Sat.u.r.days at Armani.
Dropped Sam. Gave the driver a big tip because it"s Christmas ($10).
Sat.u.r.day, December 21, 1985 Called PH and said I"d gone to Jean"s and gotten her the earrings she was in love with and that I"d pick her up to go to Vincent"s Christmas party and give them to her (cab $6.50). I didn"t like these earrings at first, but I now think they may be Schiaparelli, I really do. She was thrilled, she didn"t think she"d be getting the pin, too. And when she put them on, they did something for her, they"re unusual-strands of gold that bounce around with rubies in the center.
Sunday, December 22, 1985 Stuart Pivar called and invited me to rummage for ideas with him. Went to church (cabs $4, $3). Went to the flea market on 76th Street, and that one"s indoors. Bought another Santa Claus sculpture. I just don"t know what to paint.
Fred does help me all the time getting ideas. He really does. But in the end ideas are actually just physically working it all out. You"d think it"s easy once you have an idea, but it"s not. It"s just like writing. Like the Truman Capote play I wanted to do-if I"d only looked at it at all before he died, I would"ve followed him some more for three days and kept my my mouth shut and really gotten something. So we walked around and people nudged each other when they saw us. mouth shut and really gotten something. So we walked around and people nudged each other when they saw us.
Then went over to Jean Michel"s birthday lunch at Mortimer"s that Marsha May from Texas was giving. And finally I gave Jean Michel a gift he really loved-the rhythm and blues six-alb.u.m set, that Atlantic just put out. And Ahmet Ertegun wrote some of the songs, those were his big years. Jean Michel was reading the liner notes all through lunch.
And then afterwards Jean Michel wanted to go to Bloomingdale"s, it was 4:30. So we went over there. He wanted to get a $3,000 gift certificate for his mother and when he took out his gold Amex card one guy asked to see ID but the other guy nudged him and said, "It"s okay."
Monday, December 23, 1985 I asked Jay what he wanted for Christmas and he said that in February when there"s business to take care of in Paris, he wants to go and do it for me, so I said good, because that will free me up to stay working here.
I have a real take-all-give-nothing att.i.tude this year. I"m going to give the kids at Interview Interview who I know Keith Haring watches and autographed who I know Keith Haring watches and autographed America America books. books.
Worked till 8:30. Sean McKeon stopped by but these days I"m happy just with my two children-Sam and Wilfredo. Benjamin is just so busy with all his other stuff lately. Doing P.R. for fashion designers. But he"s such a good companion. I wish I could think of a way to mesh the things he does so that he would still be working for us. He doesn"t want too much steady responsibility, though. He"s a free spirit.
Saw The Color Purple The Color Purple and the men in it are so cruel to the women. A real tearjerker. And Whoopi Goldberg reminded me so much of Jean Michel. The hands over her mouth when she laughed, just everything (tickets $18). and the men in it are so cruel to the women. A real tearjerker. And Whoopi Goldberg reminded me so much of Jean Michel. The hands over her mouth when she laughed, just everything (tickets $18).
Tuesday, December 24, 1985 Was picked up by Benjamin. It was fifty-five out, but it felt like sixty, real nice. Went everywhere and had a lot of fun. When we got to the office the Interview Interview party was in full swing. I never went over to it, but people drifted onto our side of the building. It was over right about 4:00. party was in full swing. I never went over to it, but people drifted onto our side of the building. It was over right about 4:00.
And I told Gael to come up and pose for pictures because I was going to do a drawing of her because Fred told me that I had to. She looks good now, very thin. Her hair"s beautiful and her skin is strong and she doesn"t wear makeup. Peter, her husband, had come to pick her up and she was wearing a pale pink leather dress and I said, "Oh, where"d you get that pretty dress?" and the first thing she says is, "Well, you know, I never never ever take anything for ever take anything for free free, but they sold this to me for $10 because n.o.body wanted it!" She was very defensive right away to tell me that, as if she knew that I was hearing about all the stuff she gets for presents from her business admirers in L.A., sending her flowers and candy and stuff. I forget that these Interview Interview editors actually are editors actually are powerful powerful. And I told her she should be going out to dinner with people constantly like Annie Flanders from Details Details does, and she said, "I"m not a hustler." does, and she said, "I"m not a hustler."
And Greg Gorman the photographer from L.A was at the Interview Interview party and told me that Joe Dallesandro"s got a big role in a new TV cop series that"s starting in January. Then went home and Gael and Peter dropped me off. party and told me that Joe Dallesandro"s got a big role in a new TV cop series that"s starting in January. Then went home and Gael and Peter dropped me off.
I ran into the 6"5" son of my neighbor, Dr. Hamilton. He got so tall suddenly this year now that he went off to college. He"s handsome. He"s the one that used to play ball in the street with the father and the one who said he used to see Yul Brynner run into the building across the street to see some woman and this kid would time how long it took them.
Took a gang to Nippon for Christmas Eve dinner and I gave out the little Be Somebody with a Body paintings (dinner $280).
And then we went down to Kenny Scharf"s loft on Great Jones. In the bedroom Kenny had these original Flintstones and Jetson cartoon drawings, and he said, "Jon Gould got these for me." He actually said that to me me. That was so odd to hear. He said Jon got them at an auction. I mean, you know somebody, they"re living in your house, and then suddenly they don"t know you anymore but they still see all your friends. I didn"t know the people there, they were a bunch of weirdos.
I dropped off PH and Paige and Bernard (cab $20).
Wednesday, December 25, 1985 Went to 90th and Fifth (cab $4) to meet Paige at the soup kitchen at the Church of the Heavenly Rest. Episcopalian. Tama had already left because I guess it was too hard. And Paige was upset because she felt the food was so horrible for the people. But it"s just that we"re used to such unusually good stuff. It wasn"t worse than high school cafeteria food. And you see people with bad teeth and everything. And we"re so used to all these beautiful perfect people. It"s such a different world.
And the minister was having a bourbon and he was really cute. The church keeps about twenty people overnight and feeds them but I don"t know if it"s the same ones every night and how they choose them. Pa.s.sed out Interviews Interviews.
Friday, December 27, 1985 You know, I still get things from the Czechoslovakian church because I guess they don"t know that my mother"s gone to heaven, and I look down this list of names and they"re so simple and so great, I don"t know if they"ve shortened them or what. Like Coll. Or Kiss. I don"t know what they made them from. And then there"s the Warholas and the Varcholas and the Varhols....
And at Christmas time I really think about my mother and if I did the right thing sending her back to Pittsburgh. I still feel so guilty. [NOTE: See Introduction] [NOTE: See Introduction]
Sat.u.r.day, December 28, 1985 Susan Blond called and we made a date for dinner and by the end of the day I"d invited ten or eleven people, and I decided that Bud"s would be cheaper than, say, Jams, and so we decided to go there (cab $6).
George Condo came and he"s that new artist. He makes these small things. And George and Paige were hitting it off but then Kenny Scharf had invited this actress Carole Davis, for George, and she got there late, after dinner-and she played the Jewish girl in The Flamingo Kid The Flamingo Kid. So George got confused about who was his date. And this girl was the hit of the dinner. She was really funny. She just broke up with an Armenian or Indian plastic surgeon in L.A. who"d done three generations of noses, she said, and she talked about her chin job, but I think she"s had a nose job, too. She said her best scene was cut out of The Flamingo Kid The Flamingo Kid, when she tries to give Matt Dillon an ice-cube b.l.o.w. .j.o.b. She said Matt didn"t relate to her (dinner $600 including tip).
Bernard dropped me off ($10). And there"s really no American cabdrivers anymore. This one was from Afghanistan or something. Is it that these people are willing to risk their lives and Americans aren"t?
Sunday, December 29, 1985 Went to church. Then went to meet James Brown, the artist, at the flea market. And one guy said he had a book jacket that I"d done for a book called the Adventures of Adventures of... somebody, I forget. A New Directions book. It was the English edition of it and it didn"t have my name on it or anything, and I know know New Directions never paid me for an English edition of anything. It was a good all-over pattern of African masks and my mother"s writing, but they ruined it by making me draw a cutesy lady on it. For "commercial appeal." I had handed it in without it and then they told me to add this lady in. I don"t know how he knew it was mine. Maybe he"d seen the original American edition that had my name on it. New Directions never paid me for an English edition of anything. It was a good all-over pattern of African masks and my mother"s writing, but they ruined it by making me draw a cutesy lady on it. For "commercial appeal." I had handed it in without it and then they told me to add this lady in. I don"t know how he knew it was mine. Maybe he"d seen the original American edition that had my name on it.
And then we went to James Brown"s studio near Katz"s delicatessen, and he lives on the third floor of a building and on the ground floor is a wh.o.r.ehouse and it"d been raided three times that day and all these Puerto Rican ladies were running around in like (laughs) (laughs) silk corsets and the madam looked sort of like Regine. And she had a guy a.s.sistant who was really good-looking, like a fairy a.s.sistant. And these guys just go there, I guess, it"s like eating. They do it just so they don"t go crazy and they get off in five minutes and it"s over. Like buying a lottery ticket. It"s a renovated building and the madam had a hand-standing mirror in the hallway tilted to see who was coming. That reminded me so much of Billy Name-angled mirrors. Paige was fascinated with the wh.o.r.ehouse. She wanted to film it. silk corsets and the madam looked sort of like Regine. And she had a guy a.s.sistant who was really good-looking, like a fairy a.s.sistant. And these guys just go there, I guess, it"s like eating. They do it just so they don"t go crazy and they get off in five minutes and it"s over. Like buying a lottery ticket. It"s a renovated building and the madam had a hand-standing mirror in the hallway tilted to see who was coming. That reminded me so much of Billy Name-angled mirrors. Paige was fascinated with the wh.o.r.ehouse. She wanted to film it.
Tuesday, December 31, 1985 Well, it was a pretty starless New Year"s Eve. I feel left out. I think Calvin had a party and didn"t invite me, and Bianca"s in town and I didn"t hear from her, she never even called to say she was coming by for her Christmas gift. And I mean, she doesn"t have many other other friends. But New Year"s was easy and unemotional. n.o.body was mushy. friends. But New Year"s was easy and unemotional. n.o.body was mushy.
During the day, Jay was moping around the office but he"s been better since I had the talk with him about all his negativity probably causing the cold sores on his mouth.
Bought the papers and saw that the eyegla.s.s place had given an item to the newspapers that I buy my gla.s.ses there and that they"re bulletproof like the president of Nicaragua"s (newspapers $5, cabs $3, $2). I mean, I"m not going to go there anymore. Why would they make that up? I mean, what are bulletproof bulletproof eyegla.s.ses? What could they do for you? eyegla.s.ses? What could they do for you?
I was going to call lots of people and wish them Happy New Year but then I couldn"t get it together to call anybody.
Sam picked up PH and they came to pick me up (cab $10). So we got to Jane Holzer"s and of course she wasn"t ready, after telling me she wanted to get to Roy Cohn"s party at 9:00 so she could really work the room for her real estate. She was still in her bathrobe. So then she got into her makeup and a black Armani jacket and pants. She"s a little heavier.
And so we went to Roy Cohn"s townhouse, and it was sad to see him like that, it really was. He didn"t look old but G.o.d, he looked so sick. I don"t know what to describe it as. And it was people like Joey and Cindy Adams.
Steve Dunleavy the Australian journalist said, "Give me a bon mot bon mot for the new year," and I couldn"t think of one. Roy"s ninety-year-old aunt was there, she owns Van Heusen shirts, she was the one who gave permission for me to use Ronald Reagan"s old Van Heusen ad in my painting. She was like a WASP dowager, only with a hook nose, and she still has every one of her marbles. Jane went over to her and said, "I"m sure you don"t remember me," and she said, "Oh yes I do, Jane, and how is your wonderful son Rusty and his horseback riding?" for the new year," and I couldn"t think of one. Roy"s ninety-year-old aunt was there, she owns Van Heusen shirts, she was the one who gave permission for me to use Ronald Reagan"s old Van Heusen ad in my painting. She was like a WASP dowager, only with a hook nose, and she still has every one of her marbles. Jane went over to her and said, "I"m sure you don"t remember me," and she said, "Oh yes I do, Jane, and how is your wonderful son Rusty and his horseback riding?"
And Doris Lilly was there. And Roy"s nephew or something from Palm Beach who writes for the Miami Herald Miami Herald and wants to write for and wants to write for Interview Interview. Monique Van Vooren was there, she walked into the front room shielding her face, she said, "Oh my, it"s the same wonderful lighting as always." Because it was horrible and bright and with this old crowd it was really a horror show.
And then Regine was there and she invited us to the $2,000-a-plate Julio Iglesias dinner-concert right afterwards at the Ess.e.x House, so we got ourselves excited for that.
Oh, and I got a Christmas card from Jann Wenner and his wife and a baby. Did they have a baby or did they adopt one? The name was "Wenner." I don"t remember her being pregnant.
At Ess.e.x House the best thing was a girl came over and gave us all bra.s.s key chains that were engraved concert tickets that said: "Julio Iglesias, Ess.e.x House, December 31, 1985, $2,000." And Angie d.i.c.kinson was there, who"s always so nice. Sam went over and took her picture and told her he worked for me and she said, "Oh, I love him." Regis Philbin did a comedy introduction about people calling him Phoebus Region and Rebus Philbin and things like that and then he introduced the celebs and the spotlight went on me, and I froze. And then at midnight they shot big spangles out of the cannons. And there were orchids and it was fun, and Julio"s great line was he comes out on stage and says, "I FEEL GUILTY! I LOVE YOU!" And he kept talking about how we were all one family. And everybody who heard the price of this thing said that it must be a benefit, but it wasn"t, it was just for Julio.
Left there and went over to the Hard Rock Cafe and the rock and roll crowd there was the most corny crowd in the world. It always is. Some CNN people interviewed me on what I was going to be doing next year and I said I was working on a Barbie doll. And then somebody who came in told us that Ricky Nelson had just been killed in a plane crash in Texas.
Wednesday, January 1, 1986
Sam is so devoted to me, and I guess it"s because I"ve spoiled him. Fred warned me not to turn Sam"s head, but on our first outing I took him to Yoko Ono"s and he got to sit there with Dylan and David Bowie and Madonna and that put the zap on his head and now he"s starstruck.
Anyway, he called and was eager to work but I just felt like staying home and resting, so I did, decided to just watch TV and take a holiday. Killed some moths.
Thursday, January 2, 1986 Worked at the office. Painted some Hamburgers. Went home. Made myself a potato. Sitcoms have the highest ratings on TV now-The Cosby Show and and Family Ties. Dynasty Family Ties. Dynasty slipped to eighth and slipped to eighth and Dallas Dallas is down to ninth-they should turn them into sitcoms. Wouldn"t that be funny? is down to ninth-they should turn them into sitcoms. Wouldn"t that be funny?
Friday, January 3, 1986 Paul"s movie Mixed Blood Mixed Blood is playing midnights at the Waverly, so Sam and I went over (tickets $10, popcorn $5). And I just loved the movie. It was everything he"s done before, but it was photographed well and he seemed to know so much about the Lower East Side and the Alphabet-avenues A, B, C, and D-for someone who hadn"t been in New York for so long. is playing midnights at the Waverly, so Sam and I went over (tickets $10, popcorn $5). And I just loved the movie. It was everything he"s done before, but it was photographed well and he seemed to know so much about the Lower East Side and the Alphabet-avenues A, B, C, and D-for someone who hadn"t been in New York for so long.
Sat.u.r.day, January 4, 1986 Sunny day. Karen Burke finally pa.s.sed her doctor"s exam. She sent me a card that said so.
Got to work at 4:00. Looked through some Soldier of Fortune Soldier of Fortune magazines because I want to do war pictures. I was Xeroxing from them, having Sam do it, and when I went and looked he had about a thousand pages in the trash! He"d been Xeroxing on the wrong size paper and not getting the whole picture in and I said something and he can"t take criticism, he screamed, "Don"t make me nervous!" And I mean, he knows about money, I don"t know why he"d waste so much. magazines because I want to do war pictures. I was Xeroxing from them, having Sam do it, and when I went and looked he had about a thousand pages in the trash! He"d been Xeroxing on the wrong size paper and not getting the whole picture in and I said something and he can"t take criticism, he screamed, "Don"t make me nervous!" And I mean, he knows about money, I don"t know why he"d waste so much.
Tuesday, January 7, 1986 I was going to Earl McGrath"s party for Jann Wenner"s fortieth birthday, but first went with Benjamin to this new building in the jewelry district that"s marble but done cheap. It was a fashion show at a place called Bill Robinson"s Men"s Clothes. And the male models were all on pedestals! It looked so great, really wonderful, and the girls were trying to pick them up and the guys were just on their pedestals staring and underneath them everybody else-wasn"t perfect. And you"d go to feel the clothes and your face (laughs) (laughs) would be right in their crotch. The party was over at 7:30 and the models came down off their pedestals. would be right in their crotch. The party was over at 7:30 and the models came down off their pedestals.
Met Wilfredo there and we walked up to 61st and Fifth to Fereydoun Hoveyda"s art opening at the David Mann Gallery. The wind was so bad, really strong and cold. I hope I didn"t get a cold. Fereydoun was thrilled to see us. His drawings which used to be abstract now look like ill.u.s.trations for The Arabian Nights The Arabian Nights. They"re representational now.
Then cabbed to 57th and Seventh to Earl"s ($6). Ahmet was so cool to me. He used to kiss me and tell me stories but the last couple of times he"s been really cool, like I raved to him about his seven-record-set alb.u.m and he just listened and then got bored and left. I"ll have to send him a painting or something. Try to find out what I did wrong. Half the people had just come back from a cruise with Jann Wenner. Talked to Jane, his wife, who said they"d been married nineteen years. And they did just adopt a baby. And Jann is so so so so fat, incredible.
Fred gave me a ride and I got home at 12:00. And Jean Michel had his opening in L.A. and I feel just terrible, I forgot to call him.
Wednesday, January 8, 1986 My sister-in-law called me in the morning, she"s in town. She wants to sell me a $90 vibrator because she bought three and doesn"t need them all. She"s a reflexologist. She rubs people"s feet for five hours and gets rid of all their sickness. And it"s just like these people that I go to, but I think that if I were going to her, it would turn me off the whole thing, you know? And my brother Paul, who"s the junkman, he"s doing well, he"s got a farm, a real working farm. They just killed six pigs and they made sausages out of them and stuff. And he"s buying real estate in the black neighborhood and it"s really going to go up. On the river on the North Side. And the wife of my nephew George is still suing him. She"s remarried already. And George went to see the kids, he has two cute little boys, and she ran out of the house and took a picture of his Cadillac to try to get more money out of him. He doesn"t have a girlfriend, he"s still despondent over the marriage breaking up, he"s a nice kid. And the wife I guess was cute. Irish or something. George is the good-looking one in the family, I guess (cab uptown $5).
Called Jean Michel in L.A. and he said no stars had been at his opening, and he said Jon Gould had been there but he wouldn"t talk about him to me for some reason.
Thursday, January 9, 1986 Worked all afternoon. Left at 5:00 to go uptown to Sabrina Guinness"s birthday party at Ann Ronson"s fifteen-room apartment at the San Remo on Central Park West-she"s married to Mick Jones of Foreigner.
Each room was done in a different style. One room was English, the other room was Art Deco, the next room was trompe l"oeil. There was no food. Just three pieces of chicken sushi. I found some caviar on a tray in the corner of a room where you would never look.
And there was a black girl there who was one of these over-bubbly girls that I can"t stand-from Africa, she said, but then she said it was so good to be out with people because she lives so shut up in Greenwich with her family, so what do you suppose that means? She said she went to the best London schools. And I guess Michael Douglas likes black girls because he said, "Listen sweetheart, give me your number before you leave," and when he got up to do something he told her, "I"ll be right back."
Earl McGrath was there, sour, until he finally got a joint from John Taylor of Duran Duran. And then he introduced me to Randy Hearst, Patty"s father, and then it turned out Patty was there with her cop husband, and I met him, and then Patty came over and was very friendly and sweet, she looks great. And Nile Rodgers was there, the record producer. He"s a fashion plate, his hair"s cut square like Grace Jones"s, and he"s really nice.
Friday, January 10, 1986 Richard Weisman called and said he was getting married, and it"s next Sat.u.r.day in town.
Thursday, January 14, 1986 Chris told me that what Edmund was actually sick with was TB but that he"s getting over it now. My mother had it after she came to New York, and you just have to take a lot of antibiotics. She never coughed or anything, and I don"t know how she got it in New York, I guess it"s just a virus. Doc c.o.x found out she had it and she got over it in a month. And the Department of Health people kept coming around for years.
Brigid said she"s going to Paris for two weeks with Charles Rydell. She said her mother"s bought the coffin for her father. They expect him to go any day now. They"ve got a turkey baster stuck in his throat to feed him.
Saw Jewel of the Nile Jewel of the Nile which was a bore (tickets $18, popcorn $7). Michael Douglas"s nose is getting hooked. I wonder if his father had a nose job. which was a bore (tickets $18, popcorn $7). Michael Douglas"s nose is getting hooked. I wonder if his father had a nose job.
Wednesday, January 15, 1986 An English guy came in and wants me to do new Self-Portraits. I"m working on the War pictures and they"re so hard, I don"t know what they should look like. I"m doing Guns, but I"ve done guns before.
Sat.u.r.day, January 18, 1986 I got myself into black tie, took a cab to U.N. Plaza for Richard Weisman"s wedding (cab $4.50). And who was sitting there in the lobby but Crazy Matty. They weren"t even kicking him out or anything. Richard was sort of out of it. His youngest daughter was with the son of the woman who Richard lived with for about five years and didn"t marry. And then I guess he met this girl and decided to get married right away. And when she came down I was shocked because he hadn"t said she was Oriental, and his father, Fred Weisman, just had a horrible experience with an Oriental woman and now Richard"s marrying one himself. She"s a model. She"s half American and half Korean.
The wedding itself only took a second. You hardly noticed. "Do you take this woman?" "Yes." That was about it. And then I had about four pieces of wedding cake. And I asked why Suzie Frankfurt wasn"t there and somebody said that she and Richard had had a falling-out because he gave her $20,000 to get the stucco off the walls and she hasn"t done it.
And everybody was saying they hadn"t known if this wedding was really going to happen. John Martin from ABC said that just before he got into his tuxedo he called to make sure. And Richard"s wife told him that for her wedding present all she wanted in the world was to go to the Superbowl. Yeah, right-"The Superbowl, darling, that"s all all I want." And so then I left and Matty was still in the lobby. And I said to the doorman, "How can you let that person stay here so long and not kick him out?" and he said, "He works for I want." And so then I left and Matty was still in the lobby. And I said to the doorman, "How can you let that person stay here so long and not kick him out?" and he said, "He works for Interview Interview magazine." magazine."
Monday, January 20, 1986 Jean Michel woke me up at 6:00 this morning and I went back to sleep and now my tongue can hardly move. He"s got problems because he"s trying to get Shenge out of the house, he says he"s been supporting him for three years, but the main reason is that (laughs) (laughs) Shenge is now painting like he is. They"re copies of his paintings. Jennifer"s away. And oh, Jean Michel must be so hard to live with. I told him I"d had dinner with Kenny and the Chows and he wanted to know why I didn"t invite him and I said that I"d called him three days ago and he didn"t call back. Shenge is now painting like he is. They"re copies of his paintings. Jennifer"s away. And oh, Jean Michel must be so hard to live with. I told him I"d had dinner with Kenny and the Chows and he wanted to know why I didn"t invite him and I said that I"d called him three days ago and he didn"t call back.
Fred said that the Boston Museum people were still vague about whether they were going to buy the big Electric Chair or not.
Tuesday, January 21, 1986 I think I forgot to tell about the girl on 57th at Park who took off all her clothes and peed in the middle of the street and then walked over and put her clothes on again. In front of that luggage store that I never see anybody in. The southwest corner, you know? Everybody pretended like nothing was happening. She had high heels on.
Benjamin picked me up and on the way downtown we ran into Jimmy Breslin who was just in a sweater, he said he"d just walked through the park, that he walks to the Daily News Daily News every day from the West Side and he said he"d walk with us, but we panicked because we were on our way to Bulgari, and can you imagine the column he would write about every day from the West Side and he said he"d walk with us, but we panicked because we were on our way to Bulgari, and can you imagine the column he would write about that? that? And so we told him we had to go and work on some advertisers, and it was hard to shake him. But gee, that"s a long walk he does every day, isn"t it? And so we told him we had to go and work on some advertisers, and it was hard to shake him. But gee, that"s a long walk he does every day, isn"t it?
Grace Jones arrived at the office to pick up her portrait and she was wearing Issey Miyake and she had a hat on that was like Rasta hair and she has big kisses on the mouth for everybody, like even Sam. And she"s so excited that she"s going to Hollywood to play a woman Dracula. I mean how many more women Draculas can they have? She"s so excited. She said they gave her "artistic control." She was saying that she was going to turn yellow and then white and then green, and so then I thought that maybe they just gave her artistic control of her face.
Sat.u.r.day, January 25, 1986 Went down to Julian Schnabel"s. The food was already gone and back in the kitchen when we got there. I guess when they said 7:30 they meant it. So Julian took us into the kitchen and we sat around there eating couscous. It was so good. He gave me a copy of his book to read to see what I thought. And what I thought was that he was really influenced by Popism Popism. It starts off with how he arrived from Waco, Texas, and then being at Max"s and who he met. Everybody but me. It was sort of interesting because he"d go back and forth from then to later, like he"d say, "August, 1983" and put something in. I don"t know if it"s a prologue to a book or if it"s a catalogue or what. It"ll sell a lot.