Walked the Village and then went to Tower Records and bought the Talking Heads alb.u.m that Rauschenberg did the cover for. He was upset because he only got $2,000. And I told him he was right, he should"ve gotten $25,000.
Wednesday, July 13, 1983 Okay, well this was the night of the glittering event, the premiere of Staying Alive Staying Alive. Got up early.
Paige was having a lunch for two gay guys from Diener Hauser Bates. One had had my old friend George Clobber for a teacher at Pratt, so we talked about that. George Clobber was the first person who told me about the gay life.
Went to to meet Maura at 6:45 (cab $7) at the Russian Tea Room. And then we went over to the Ziegfeld and there were the crowds lined up. And now there"s a new thing-for meet Maura at 6:45 (cab $7) at the Russian Tea Room. And then we went over to the Ziegfeld and there were the crowds lined up. And now there"s a new thing-for Good Morning America Good Morning America when they photograph you they say, "Are you aware that you"re being photographed for when they photograph you they say, "Are you aware that you"re being photographed for Good Morning America? Good Morning America? And do you give your consent?" " I said, "I do." And do you give your consent?" " I said, "I do."
And then eighteen bodyguards came in and Stallone and his wife arrived and I was on the aisle and he saw me and stopped and said he was glad I"d come. Then the lights went down and Frank Mancuso gave a speech. And then Sasha Stallone gave an emotional speech about their autistic child that the benefit was for, and all I could think of was Bad Bad because we were the first to have an autistic kid in a movie. because we were the first to have an autistic kid in a movie.
I loved Staying Alive Staying Alive. Then the party at Xenon was at 11:45, so we went over there and on the way we ran into Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon. I"d never met him and I had copies of Interviews Interviews with me, the new one, and he said, "Oh I already bought that one." And she doesn"t have any wrinkles and she"s like 110 years old or something. with me, the new one, and he said, "Oh I already bought that one." And she doesn"t have any wrinkles and she"s like 110 years old or something.
Then coming out of Xenon were eighteen bodyguards and in the middle was John Travolta in his tuxedo and I caught his eye and he came over and said h.e.l.lo. So that was two in one night.
Thursday, July 14, 1983 We took our time getting to the theater to see Farrah Fawcett in Extremities Extremities. We thought we had plenty of time, but when we got there they were holding the curtain for us. Farrah was good, but not as good as Susan Sarandon had been. And it"s funny, I hadn"t liked Susan Sarandon in anything except The Other Side of Midnight The Other Side of Midnight until then, but then I saw that she was really good. until then, but then I saw that she was really good.
Some girls tried to pick Benjamin and me up. Then after the play we saw Farrah and Ryan backstage and they were gushy. It"s so hard to talk to actors, all they want is to talk about themselves. And Ryan looks a little older, he"s getting the same lines I have. And he was talking about Paul Morrissey and telling me I should work with him again. And he really wants the part of d.i.c.k Tracy that Warren Beatty"s supposed to get. Ryan thought Jon was an important figure at Paramount so he was hustling him. Jon said they"d jogged together once on the beach at Malibu.
Friday, July 15, 1983 Maura came at 1:00 to pick me up so that we could go out to interview Richard Gere at the Astoria Studios where they"re shooting Cotton Club Cotton Club.
We were nervous about our interview because we had a feeling it would be difficult. Maura had read Stanislavsky. And so we went through d.i.c.k Sylbert"s sets for Cotton Club Cotton Club which was exciting. And Richard was back in this slum area watching old movies on TV. So what he does is he watches every old movie that has anything to do with what he"s doing and copies details, the way other actors do things. He actually told us his first movie was which was exciting. And Richard was back in this slum area watching old movies on TV. So what he does is he watches every old movie that has anything to do with what he"s doing and copies details, the way other actors do things. He actually told us his first movie was Days of Heaven Days of Heaven which I know it wasn"t, but that"s how uncooperative he was, he wouldn"t give which I know it wasn"t, but that"s how uncooperative he was, he wouldn"t give anything anything. The only interesting thing was telling us that he spent all of the time he wasn"t working in the filthy trenches in Mexico in the hospital hooked up to an IV for dysentery-they"d disconnect him so he could go to work and then he"d be back. It was the movie with Michael Caine. The Honorary Consul The Honorary Consul And he liked Maura, but she"s a friend of Silvinha"s so that complicated it. And he liked Maura, but she"s a friend of Silvinha"s so that complicated it.
Sunday, July 17, 1983 It was hot, another scorcher. I overslept.
Worked with Chris and Peter on working out their modern marriage. The kid Chris is in love with is being shipped in from California on Thursday.
Tuesday, July 19, 1983 Called John Reinhold and invited him for coffee (phone $.50, coffee $5). I told him I needed some toys because I was doing a project with them, photographing them, and he said he"d find some for me.
Victor and Farrah are now best friends because he told her how bad she was in Extremities Extremities and what she did wrong. And now she says her performance is so much better and she owes it all to Victor. But actually, she and what she did wrong. And now she says her performance is so much better and she owes it all to Victor. But actually, she was was really good, and Victor was so high when we saw it that he didn"t know what was going on. really good, and Victor was so high when we saw it that he didn"t know what was going on.
Thursday, July 21, 1983 I could never really describe the Diana Ross concert in Central Park. The sky darkened and the rain came and it was the most incredible thing I"ve ever seen. Just the event of the century-her hair blowing and soaking wet, and if only they"d had a covering on the place where she was, she could have kept on singing and the kids would have stayed and she would have had her concert for TV. But they stopped it in the middle of the storm and they"re going to do it again tomorrow. She was crying, and Barry Diller was trying to get her to stop but she said that she"d waited for twenty years to do this. The lightning made it dangerous, I guess, but it was like a dream, like a hallucination, watching this spectacle. It was like the greatest scene from a movie ever. When they do her life story in the movies you can just see this huge event and then later she"s crying and saying, "Why did this happen to me?" and then drinking and slitting her wrists. But oh, the thunder and lightning looked so great. So beautiful.
We were in the VIP area, but because I"d had Benjamin bring an umbrella, we weren"t sitting under the canopy. And Rob Lowe was with us and he"s so beautiful. It"s like his eyebrows are penciled on and his lips painted on-everything so perfect. And he"s just like the kids we know, just regular, and he"s looking for girls, that"s all he can think about. I asked him to draw me a p.u.s.s.y and he drew a p.u.s.s.y and then I said, "What"s that?" and I then drew him a cat. And he and his girl friend are sort of breaking up because whenever she called him on location in Canada the operator would say, "He"s in Nasta.s.sia Kinski"s room," so then when he would tell her the next day that his phone had been out of order she would tell him to stop lying. And he says he"s not in love with Nasta.s.sia, though, that it"s just s.e.x. But he was wearing a toy snake around his waist which was a joke on her Avedon poster, so he was thinking about her so maybe he is is in love. He"s nineteen. And he was just after any old lady. Just anybody. Like Susan Sarandon. She was there with Richard Gere and Silvinha. in love. He"s nineteen. And he was just after any old lady. Just anybody. Like Susan Sarandon. She was there with Richard Gere and Silvinha.
And oh you should have seen it. Jerry Zipkin in the soaking rain. And I felt so sorry for Jon because he"s worked so hard on this, because Paramount owns Showtime which got the film rights.
And then finally people were leaving the park and so we followed the blacks and wound up coming out at 72nd Street near the Dakota. And we had to climb a wall and fall into three feet of mud. It was like being in a war zone. And then after we got out of the park I took Rob Lowe and Benjamin to Cafe Central-I said all the stars go there, Matt Dillon and Sean Penn-and then we got there and had drinks and absolutely n.o.body was there (drinks $83.50).
Then I got home and called Rob Lowe at the Sherry and he said that he was waiting for a phone call from Nasta.s.sia, so that I should just go go ahead without him over to the Gulf + Western building for the party. So I went and when I got there, he was getting out of the cab. So that was kind of mean. I was hurt. I guess he didn"t want to be seen with us again because we were being campy and outrageous. And I said to him, you know, "I just was going to give you a ride, that"s all-it was no big deal." ahead without him over to the Gulf + Western building for the party. So I went and when I got there, he was getting out of the cab. So that was kind of mean. I was hurt. I guess he didn"t want to be seen with us again because we were being campy and outrageous. And I said to him, you know, "I just was going to give you a ride, that"s all-it was no big deal."
And Cornelia had been at the park, too. And a newspaper photographer took her and pushed her next to one of the people who were stabbed, just to get that kind of a picture of a socialite and a stabbed person. Cornelia didn"t know what was going on.
And at the party at the Gulf + Western Rob was after Cornelia and Maura. He and Cornelia kept going off alone.
I gave Diana Ross a Diamond painting. She was looking at tapes of the concert. Barry Diller came over and I told him the concert was so great and he said, "You always like disasters. You liked Grease II." Grease II."
Harvey Mann who works for Liz Smith was there and he was asking me if I"d heard anything more about Calvin and AIDS. He said that they"d killed the rumor in their column. And then Calvin came in and he kissed me so hard and his beard was stubbly and I was so afraid that it was piercing into my pimple and being like a needle and giving me AIDS. So if I"m gone in three years ...
And by the way, Rob Lowe also said that up in Canada where they were all shooting Hotel New Hampshire Hotel New Hampshire, Jodie Foster was reading the Philosophy Philosophy book. book.
Friday, July 22, 1983 It was the day of the second Diana Ross concert because they decided to redo it (cab $8). Cornelia came. Rob Lowe didn"t come. The concert was anticlimactic because it was just regular.
But then afterwards the kids started rioting, and if it weren"t for the police the whole place would have gone crazy. It was 99 percent black. The guy who owns Cafe Central took us out of the park so we came out at the right spot uptown to go go to Cafe Central. He had a cane. to Cafe Central. He had a cane.
And when we got there, Rob Lowe came and Andrew McCarthy who"s also in the movie Cla.s.s Cla.s.s. He gets Jacqueline Bisset. And he"s just regular, a nice kid.
At Cafe Central they"re trying to treat people rotten to be like Elaine"s. The waitress came to our table and said, "You"ve got to leave this table, it"s reserved for Lorna Luft." And Cornelia just burst out laughing that anyone would ask her to move to make room for Lorna Luft. And it was so stupid because if they"d just been nice and said, "Would you mind since there"s not so many of you now, moving to a smaller table?" I mean, they knew we were leaving anyway because we"d said we were going to the 11:00 show of Cla.s.s Cla.s.s, which Rob and Andrew had pa.s.ses for. Maybe this kind of treatment makes some people want to go there, but it sure doesn"t make me me want to go there (dinner $100 with tip). want to go there (dinner $100 with tip).
So then we went over to 66th and Second and Cornelia was chattering away, she repeats everything over and over, just like her mother, she has to keep talking. And Andrew was rolling his eyes.
The movie was so great and cute. Afterward I tried to sell Andrew and Rob"s autographs in the lobby for a nickel, but n.o.body bought any.
Monday, July 25, 1983 Mrs. Winters"s son, Al, who"s the caretaker now, called and said that Paul Morrissey is out in Montauk in the little house and I don"t think Halston and Victor know he"s there. And he"s following Al around and telling him what to do and driving him crazy. And Al says, "Call Vincent," and Paul says, "Listen, I own half this property." And now Paul wants me to sign a new piece of paper-he"s decided that the one he drew up with his lawyers and made me sign is too advantageous to me me or something. I told him, "No, forget it, I"m not signing anything more." All these years Paul made such stupid deals for us with other people and now here he"s trying to be so "shrewd" in business with or something. I told him, "No, forget it, I"m not signing anything more." All these years Paul made such stupid deals for us with other people and now here he"s trying to be so "shrewd" in business with me me, putting all this energy into that, as if I didn"t give him better deals than anybody else all the time anyway, for all those years.
Tuesday, July 26, 1983 Christopher brought his new young live-in love that he imported from California to live with them over to the office and I gave them a cold shoulder. I"ve been trying to give Chris less work but he came and got all these a.s.signments out of me. And the only reason I got all involved with Chris and Peter and giving them advice is because I thought if they could make their relationship work, then there was hope for me. But now Peter is with this bank teller George and Chris is with his new kid Brian, and I don"t believe in modern marriages.
Benjamin and I stopped in Bloomingdale"s and the fairies were making the bread in the window-you could see it, kneading it and everything.
Wednesday, July 27, 1983 Cabbed to meet Lidija ($6). Did my exercises. Then Tim Leary came down because he was meeting Gordon Liddy and we were going to do a promotional interview, just a short thing because they"re going around doing debates now together.
And Gordon Liddy talked about "takeovers." Like if you"re walking down the street and someone thinks they"re stronger than you they take you over. And he pulled a knife out of his waist, and I couldn"t believe it. I was surprised that he"s so small. He"s about my size, and in a way he"s like Mr. Milquetoast. And he pulled out these pictures of his three sons from a leather envelope. And here"s the big bruisers in swimsuits and you can see the outlines of their d.i.c.ks. These were like 8" X 10" color photographs-artistic, with ripples in the water! I mean, this is a very strange way to take pictures of your kids to carry around! And he was thrilled because one of the kids was going to be a Marine. They"re all at Fordham. And he said his girls didn"t want him to carry their pictures, but I"m sure he didn"t care about the girls, he was just thrilled with the big bruisers. And one of the boys had a two-inch cat, a little kitten, that he was holding. And he also had pictures of his house, on the Potomac. And Tim was there with his hippie talk, and Gordon Liddy would spout facts about how many A-bombs have been exploded. And he"s sort of lost, Liddy, it"s odd. It"s like he doesn"t know what to do with himself. He liked me a lot, he wants us to see more of each other. Tim left and he stayed on for a while.
Thursday, July 28, 1983 Got up early and had to move fast because I had an early appointment at the office with Pia Zadora, so I was excited.
She arrived and was so cute. Her husband, Riklis, came and showed pictures. She"s so sweet, and I think she"s going to be a big star. Her skin is beautiful. They"ve got a new house in California and she liked some paintings.
Later the office was so busy, it was the day before Fred"s birthday and he didn"t want anyone to know, but (laughs) (laughs) Suzie Frankfurt sent a huge balloon and carnations. Suzie Frankfurt sent a huge balloon and carnations.
Monday, August 1, 1983 Peter Sellars and Lew Allen came to lunch and they"ve rented an apartment for the dummy. The robot of me who"ll star in An Evening with Andy Warhol An Evening with Andy Warhol. And the play is scheduled to go on a year from November. And all these magazines like Life Life and everything are supposed to do big things on it. And somewhere along the line Bob Colacello has a part of it-I guess we"ll be linked together for life because of it. and everything are supposed to do big things on it. And somewhere along the line Bob Colacello has a part of it-I guess we"ll be linked together for life because of it.
Then Vincent picked me up (cab $6) in black tie, and we went over to the New York State Theater for the North American Watch banquet. Mr. Grinberg pushed me into General Haig and he was sweet, we talked about his interview in Interview Interview. I wasn"t at ex-President Ford"s table, but I sat right behind him.
I ate because I was down to 121 and I got scared because when I get below 120 I lose my appet.i.te, and you"re more susceptible to things when you"re that thin.
Haig made a speech about war and missiles and he"s for all that, and after just hearing Gordon Liddy last week, well I guess you do need that stuff, but I don"t know what I believe in, because fighting"s wrong, but then if you don"t don"t fight ... fight ...
And Ford made a speech about how he"s happy being retired and how he"s going to be working for Reagan"s reelection, and how the economy is better and so people could buy more watches -he just about said that.
Friday, August 5, 1983 Bianca"s trying so hard to marry Calvin because she doesn"t have any money. She said that when she told him he was too heavy, two weeks later he"d lost all the weight. So Halston was just hating Bianca so much, and he told me to bring Jerry Hall to see him and he would just give her everything, just anything she wanted. He was saying about Bianca, "I"ll fix her wagon," and that was scary. So awful. And Steve Rubell called from Fire Island and I was talking to him and then Calvin got on the phone and asked me to get Bianca and I said, "Bianca, it"s Steve." And Halston looked up and said, "It"s Calvin, Bianca."
Monday, August 8, 1983 Poor Monique Van Vooren was guilty of fraud, cashing her mother"s checks for a total of $18,000. And it was just so peculiar because I saw her and she denied it to me. I mean, she should have just said she was guilty, she should have just said, "Oh my G.o.d, it"s true, I"m a thief," something like that. And Jackie Curtis called me over the weekend to wish me happy birthday.
Cabbed to meet Lidija ($5). Chris came over and he"s raving about the "expanded family" life they"re having-their "modern marriage" where they"re both seeing different people and acting like they live in a commune. I think it"s all disgusting and I told him I don"t want to hear about it. I"m now telling Vincent to give Christopher less darkroom work, I want to punish him.
Glued myself together and then went to Claudia Cohen"s new apartment on Central Park South where she was having a party to look at the five seconds of fireworks that were going to be in the park because of Beethoven"s overture. She was having a big fire on her balcony, I"m surprised she didn"t get into trouble for it. She was barbecuing hamburgers. And I had some because I was starved.
Tuesday, August 9, 1983 It was interesting that when John Russell wrote about Schnabel on Sunday, the portrait of me was the only one he didn"t mention. And I know Schnabel thought that mine would be the one that got him a lot of press.
Paige stayed overnight with Jean Michel in his dirty smelly loft downtown. How I know it smells is because Chris was there and said (laughs) (laughs) it was like a n.i.g.g.e.r"s loft, that there were crumpled-up hundred-dollar bills in the corner and bad b.o. all over and you step on paintings. The day Jean Michel came over to exercise with me he made a point of saying that Paige had made it to work on time, so that"s how he was letting me know. He"d thought that Paige was Jay"s girlfriend, which she was at one point, but then he asked her out and she went. And they had a date and this was the date-they rented a U-Haul and went out to Brooklyn to a black neighborhood and went to a White Castle and had eight hamburgers and then two people came in with big sticks and they thought they were going to kill them. You know, it was a "kooky date." it was like a n.i.g.g.e.r"s loft, that there were crumpled-up hundred-dollar bills in the corner and bad b.o. all over and you step on paintings. The day Jean Michel came over to exercise with me he made a point of saying that Paige had made it to work on time, so that"s how he was letting me know. He"d thought that Paige was Jay"s girlfriend, which she was at one point, but then he asked her out and she went. And they had a date and this was the date-they rented a U-Haul and went out to Brooklyn to a black neighborhood and went to a White Castle and had eight hamburgers and then two people came in with big sticks and they thought they were going to kill them. You know, it was a "kooky date."
This was the day before he went to St. Moritz to see Bruno. Mary Boone and Bruno are both handling him. And Thomas Ammann without either one of them knowing had a few works of Jean Michel"s to sell. I don"t know where he got them. He said from some "secret source"-oh wait! I bet it was Paige! Oh Thomas is a creep, meeting all these people through us and then being secretive. I bet they were from Paige because she had that show a few months ago of Jean Michel"s stuff!
Thursday, August 11, 1983 Tried to get the office to start packing. Worked all afternoon on Pia Zadora, called her and she was away for two weeks on a film.
Went to see Mame Mame with Jon and Cornelia (tickets $120). The audience was just a bunch of old decorators. Went to Orso"s, right next door, and Marion Javits walked in with Gil Shiva. And they had with Jon and Cornelia (tickets $120). The audience was just a bunch of old decorators. Went to Orso"s, right next door, and Marion Javits walked in with Gil Shiva. And they had La Cage aux Folles La Cage aux Folles programs and so did everybody in the place, and we had to hide our programs and so did everybody in the place, and we had to hide our Mame Mame programs because we were embarra.s.sed. programs because we were embarra.s.sed.
Friday, August 12, 1983 Jerry Hall came to lunch to interview Bob Mackie for us (cab $6, supplies $102). And I told her that Halston wanted to see her and she said she"s always been so nice to him but he"s always snubbed her so why is he trying to be nice now. (laughs) (laughs) She hasn"t figured it out yet. She hasn"t figured it out yet.
Sunday, August 14, 1983 Decided to go go see see Private School Private School (cab $4, tickets $10, popcorn $6). I wanted to see Phoebe Cates. These movies are just like remakes of those French comedies of the sixties, where it"s older women after young boys. In this one, it"s ugly boys peeping in windows at girls and taking showers and rubbing themselves, and these girls always have big t.i.ts. I guess that our movies didn"t make it because our girls always had such small t.i.ts. (cab $4, tickets $10, popcorn $6). I wanted to see Phoebe Cates. These movies are just like remakes of those French comedies of the sixties, where it"s older women after young boys. In this one, it"s ugly boys peeping in windows at girls and taking showers and rubbing themselves, and these girls always have big t.i.ts. I guess that our movies didn"t make it because our girls always had such small t.i.ts.
Monday, August 15, 1983 Cabbed to meet Jean Michel Basquiat at the workout with Lidija, he was doing it with us (cab $5). He"s in love with Paige Powell.
Got a call from Pia Zadora who said she wanted a Dollar Sign and she"d take it with her if it fit into her husband"s jet, so they were measuring it.
Oh, and one of the Ramones was having brain surgery yesterday because he was kicked in the head on West 10th Street in a fight over some cheap-looking girl.
Wednesday, August 17, 1983 I"ve been getting notes and letters slipped under the door at my house from people I"ve given Interviews Interviews to in the neighborhood and I don"t know what to do about that. to in the neighborhood and I don"t know what to do about that.
Went down to meet Jean Michel and did a workout with him and Lidija (cab $5). And he has b.o. It"s like Chris who also thinks it"s s.e.xy when you exercise to have b.o., but I want to say, it sure isn"t. And all this b.o. has made me think about my life and how I"m not really missing anything great. I mean, I think of Paige having s.e.x with Jean Michel and I think, how could she do it. I mean, what do you do, say some hint like, "Uh, gee, why don"t we do something wild like take a shower together?"
John s.e.x came by. He said his python was home molting, so it was cranky.
Saw the show Vincent"s working on and it looks really good. We got a great writeup in one of the video magazines.
Whitney Tower called and he was having a party at Club A (cab $5).
Whitney"s going crazy because his father"s young wife had another baby. Cornelia called him and said, "Congratulations, you"re a brother again!" And his mind is dividing the fortune, watching his share go down one more time.
Then Madelaine Netter sat down and told me about how she"d been attacked in an elevator on West 96th Street. They had her on the floor and were ripping her clothes off and she was screaming, and suddenly she got the idea to say, "Jesus saves." And they freaked out and glued her back together.
Thursday, August 18, 1983 Went to meet Jean Michel Basquiat and did a workout with Lidija (cab $5).
The Scull kid called and yelled at me for messing up his limousine the last time, for spilling soda.
Chris called and said that Peter"s mother wanted to adopt Brian, I mean ...
Keith Haring came by with his black boyfriend and I took pictures. They were so lovey-dovey in the photos, it was nutty to see. The big chalk drawing of a pregnant woman on 53rd and Fifth that we thought was his-it turns out it is, and we"re trying to get it. He did it a while ago.
Picked up Cornelia and Sean McKeon and Maura in the limo, to drive out to Shea Stadium to see the Police, and Cornelia had hundreds of sandwiches and champagne. The rain came down in buckets.
Ron Delsener was there and I guess he wants to be in society because he was smooching Cornelia and Maura. Francois de Menil came in with Laverne of Laveme and Shirley Laveme and Shirley. And Cornelia just goes in and out. She falls asleep on your arm, she just pa.s.ses right out, and then she wakes up and has this energy.
Sting came over and said h.e.l.lo, he looked a little old. He was with a girl, I think it was his wife. And Matt Dillon! Matt Dillon was there. Oh he"s so good-looking. And the girls finally by the time it was time to go had just gotten to the point where they were talking to him and they didn"t want to go. We may get him for a cover after all.
Left, dropped everyone.
My sister-in-law just called. She said that she came by my house last night right when it started raining. So I guess I just missed her. And she said she"s stopping by today, but I told her I"m not going to be there.
Sat.u.r.day, August 20, 1983 I was reading the Life Extension Life Extension book and book and Connoisseur Connoisseur magazine, and I fell asleep, so I woke up with them on top of me. magazine, and I fell asleep, so I woke up with them on top of me.
Halston called, he said he"d left his vacation in Montauk because Victor was going crazy and he"d gone too far. He said he"d send a car for me to come to dinner, but I said I"d walk over, so I did. And we sat there and then in the other room were three bodyguards that Halston had hired because Victor threatened to come and break all the windows from the outside. You know, Victor is saying he loves Halston too much to stand by and let him get so grand but I mean it"s Halston who works so hard, and if he wants to get grand then he can do it. I know, though, that the drugs do take over, so I guess that"s what"s wrong with Victor. And Halston called Victor"s brother who lives in town to go and help him, but the brother said, "I don"t want to interfere in my brother"s life."
Oh and Chris had come over to the office and told me everything that I wanted to hear. He said, "Oh it"s over between Brian and me. We"re not doing it anymore because we"re tired of each other." And you can really see what a good hustler Chris is, because everything I wanted to hear he was telling me.
Sunday, August 21, 1983 It was a beautiful day. No one was around. So I was all by myself, but I had courage enough to go down to the office. I take a sharp stick with me in case the elevator doors stick, so I can pry myself out. And if I go go over there alone on the weekend 1 always tell someone I"m going. over there alone on the weekend 1 always tell someone I"m going.
Halston was trying all day to get Victor on the phone and finally he seemed calmed down because d.i.c.k Cavett and Bianca had come over and gone through The Importance of Being Earnest The Importance of Being Earnest, playing the parts together, and that cheered him up. Worked till 7:00. Cabbed to meet Jean Michel Basquiat and Paige Powell ($5). And Paige is just so nutty, she laughs so loud at nothing. I would but her in the category of schizophrenia. Jean Michel said he never finished high school. I"m surprised, because I thought he went to college. He"s twenty-two. Cabbed to Mr. Chow"s ($5). And Lester Persky was there with the cute boy with white-blond hair who"s training for the pentathalon. He wants us to put him in Interview Interview. Lester"s gotten so funny-looking, like a little fat Hitler.
Monday, August 22, 1983 Went to meet Jean Michel at the office and I took pictures of him in a jockstrap.
Chris called me and he"s accusing me of just dropping him because I don"t approve of Brian, and I mean, I guess that"s true, but still ... and I don"t know what to do about Chris. I mean, he can find a new new sucker. And anyway he gets paid for his sucker. And anyway he gets paid for his Interview Interview pages every month. Worked till pages every month. Worked till 7:00. 7:00.
Picked up Cornelia at the Waldorf (cab $6). She had a copy of the new Life Life magazine that has the big spread on her and it all looked so glamorous, really kidnappable (tip to doorman $5). magazine that has the big spread on her and it all looked so glamorous, really kidnappable (tip to doorman $5).
Cabbed to the Gulf + Western Building to see Timothy Hutton and Amanda Plummer in Daniel Daniel (15). The movie is absorbing. Cornelia got so absorbed. She"s strange. I really don"t know if she"s smart or stupid. It"s like it used to be with like Ingrid Superstar. Cornelia just goes in and out and sometimes she"s a moron. But oh, she got so absorbed in this, it was like a history lesson for her, and I made a point of quizzing her on it later and she (15). The movie is absorbing. Cornelia got so absorbed. She"s strange. I really don"t know if she"s smart or stupid. It"s like it used to be with like Ingrid Superstar. Cornelia just goes in and out and sometimes she"s a moron. But oh, she got so absorbed in this, it was like a history lesson for her, and I made a point of quizzing her on it later and she had had understood everything. This is about the Rosenbergs but it"s fictional so they call them the Isaacsons. understood everything. This is about the Rosenbergs but it"s fictional so they call them the Isaacsons.
And we went to Mortimer"s (cab $4) and Fred was there with his English accent really loud, so I know he was drunk, and I was getting scared because he was table-hopping, and I was dreading to think what he was saying at each table.
Tuesday, August 23, 1983 Cornelia wanted to go out, and I was invited to the opening of an escalator at Bergdorf Goodman, so I told her that and she got excited-"Oh what a great idea, I want to go. I want to go!"
Picked her up. Got to Bergdorf"s (cab $7) and there was a waiter for every single guest. And at the top of each escalator a male model was waiting. John Duka from the Times Times was there so we were trying to be quotable and make the papers, telling him that we"d been to openings of doors, windows, envelopes, and now-an was there so we were trying to be quotable and make the papers, telling him that we"d been to openings of doors, windows, envelopes, and now-an escalator! escalator!
Wednesday, August 24, 1983 It was a beautiful day. I left the house early in order to go see Karen Burke to get collagen injections. She wears high heels and rides a bike, which is so dangerous.
After the injections, Dr. Karen walked me all the way to 66th Street. The injections did make me bleed on my face. The lines on the sides.
Thursday, August 25, 1983 I will never forgive Rupert for taking me to La Cage aux Folles La Cage aux Folles on "Gay Night." I didn"t know it until we got there and it was nothing but f.a.ggots and lesbians. And I thought that for $40 tickets we"d be in the orchestra, but we were way up in the balcony because it was a benefit so the tickets downstairs were over $100 or something. And these gays, you know, they refuse on "Gay Night." I didn"t know it until we got there and it was nothing but f.a.ggots and lesbians. And I thought that for $40 tickets we"d be in the orchestra, but we were way up in the balcony because it was a benefit so the tickets downstairs were over $100 or something. And these gays, you know, they refuse Interviews Interviews and always pretend they don"t know who you are, and then they go home and dish you. These two d.y.k.es came over and said h.e.l.lo, and I asked them what this event was all about, and they said it was for the "Islanders," and I said, "The Islanders hockey team needs a gay benefit?" and they laughed and said oh ha-ha no. And then Rupert nudged me that they were talking about and always pretend they don"t know who you are, and then they go home and dish you. These two d.y.k.es came over and said h.e.l.lo, and I asked them what this event was all about, and they said it was for the "Islanders," and I said, "The Islanders hockey team needs a gay benefit?" and they laughed and said oh ha-ha no. And then Rupert nudged me that they were talking about Fire Fire Island. They said, "How"d you wind up here in the balcony?" and I pointed at Rupert and said, "Because this creep brought me." Anyway the play was so boring that I fell asleep a couple of times. But this audience, this audience. I mean, they just jumped up and laughed and applauded every single gay line-I mean anytime anybody referred to Island. They said, "How"d you wind up here in the balcony?" and I pointed at Rupert and said, "Because this creep brought me." Anyway the play was so boring that I fell asleep a couple of times. But this audience, this audience. I mean, they just jumped up and laughed and applauded every single gay line-I mean anytime anybody referred to anything anything, they clapped. And everyone had a mustache, eight out of ten people there. Finally it ended and we got out of there. The two d.y.k.es asked me (laughs) (laughs), "Are you going to Cracker jacks? To the party?"
But all that was at night. In the morning Benjamin arrived and I wasn"t ready. Didn"t have enough Interviews Interviews to take around, just had a couple. As we were walking on Madison between 66th and 67th, Raquel Welch came bouncing out of a shop. She had on dark sungla.s.ses so you almost didn"t recognize her. She said she was looking for a Napoleon bed. I gave her Dr. Karen"s card for collagen. Fred likes the way my treatment looks and he"s going to get it done. to take around, just had a couple. As we were walking on Madison between 66th and 67th, Raquel Welch came bouncing out of a shop. She had on dark sungla.s.ses so you almost didn"t recognize her. She said she was looking for a Napoleon bed. I gave her Dr. Karen"s card for collagen. Fred likes the way my treatment looks and he"s going to get it done.
We were on Page Six because of our interview with Georgia O"Keeffe where she called Philip Johnson a minor architect, and we left it in where I was saying that he"s not now, and she was saying that he was then, and so since she can"t see now, she didn"t know. So I"m bracing myself for a call from David Whitney.
Fred says he"s not going to drink, that the other night was just too much.
Got home and there was a note that Ara Gallant called. So I called him back and he said that Debra Winger and the governor of Nebraska were over there, and he invited me over, but it was so late that I didn"t want to go go back out. back out.
Talked to Jon in L.A.
Friday, August 26, 1983 Cab to meet Jean Michel Basquiat and we worked out ($6). He"s going to rent the carriage house we own at 57 Great Jones Street. So Benjamin went over to get a lease and I hope it works out. Jean Michel is trying to get on a regular daily painting schedule. If he doesn"t and he can"t pay his rent it"ll be hard to evict him. It"s always hard to get people out.
Sunday, August 28, 1983 After getting bitten some more I decided that Archie must have fleas, so I checked and he did. Some years are good for fleas and this is one of them.
It was a hazy grey day. And in the park the Puerto Ricans were having some sort of event. It wasn"t even Puerto Rican Day, they just create a party and call it some occasion and then they have the park all day with mounted policemen, beautiful mounted policemen on horses. Not one white person in the whole park.
Monday, August 29, 1983 I just stepped in dog s.h.i.t. In my hall. And I"m usually wearing slippers but this time I wasn"t. And usually you can smell it a mile away, but it just didn"t smell, so I just finished cleaning it up. And I"m all fleabitten. When you know there"s fleas, you keep feeling them all the time whether they"re there or not. So I just took a shower to get the s.h.i.t off my foot and now I"m thinking what disease I can pick up from this whole episode.
Jean Michel and I went over to Yanna"s, and we had our nails done. And you know, my nails are getting better. The two of us would make a good story for Vogue Vogue (pedicures $30). (pedicures $30).
Victor came by with his brother who"s so good-looking. And Victor says his brother"s c.o.c.k is so big he used to hit the table with it at breakfast. I guess they were naked at breakfast, you know these South Americans. It takes years to get nervous and live in an uptight situation like civilization. But Victor"s actually made out better than his brother-his brother still has to work.