Haha. I teach. Just back in the physical classroom today for the first time. This means that my students will no longer get the pleasure of meeting my cat Ziggy, which, unwittingly to her, were a large part of their classroom experience.
I really enjoyed this visit. Thank you, Patti. Uncle Wiggly was one of my Mom's favorites and now I will have to check it out. I'd love to hear you read your favorite Uncle Wiggly tale. I had difficulty reading James Joyce...might try again.
i love you Patti! my mom started reading to me when i was in the womb and so i feel this connection to you around books . . . i don't remember uncle wiggly though. A.A. Milne which i still have and then all of the Oz books. the innocence of those days since i am now in my 60's and my mum has been gone for over 10 years now. my life is fulfilled as long as i have cats, books and music and trees.
watching and listening to your posts are like bedtime stories for me. thank you, thank you, thank you dear patti. my mom wanted me to read, which i did, Just Kids as she was dying. she loved it and it was the best gift for us before she left this plane. she loved art and studied to be a docent; it was fabulous. So she loved Robert too.
My dad used to read UW to me. Huge memory. Mostly I remember uncle wiggly and those silly endings. ...and next....They always made me beg to hear “the next”... now I have done the same with my children and then my grands. I was thrilled to hear you talk about these stories.
I loved Uncle Wiggly and his top hat. I wonder if you also read Old Mother West Wind (the Burgess books) and Freddie the Pig, other childhood favorites, that seemed from another time, even then...
I was sick at home with (maybe) chicken pox, and my mother gifted me an Uncle Wiggly storybook (compilation) which I loved...she nicknamed our dog Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy...and that dog chewed up that book!
Found a vintage book a few years ago, not in the greatest condition, but it gave me such joy to re-read those stories again...
In the early/mid-1960's my brother and I had an Uncle Wiggly board game which I loved. My mom saved some of our games we had when we were kids yet I have no idea what became of the Uncle Wiggly board game.
Oh, this is amazing. Uncle Wiggly! My favorite childhood book is Blueberries for Sal, and the book I most cherished reading to my children years ago is one about three baby owls, Sarah and Percy and Bill.
I love “Blueberries for Sal,” and I also read the book about the baby owls to my children! My youngest loved it so much that for decades now he and I have had an owl thing. We often exchange owl figurines, photos, books about owls. I even wear an onyx ring that looks black except that tilted toward the light, you can see that an owl is carved into the stone. And it all started with that book about the baby owls. So glad you know and love both those books too!
I love that your cat is called Cairo, where I live in Zamalek, on one of the islands surrounded by the Nile. I am leaving soon, and know that I will really miss the wonderful street cats, who are so well cared for by the people who live in the city. But seeing your cat will remind me of them when I move on to my next home.
As you can see Patti my profile photo is of Brancusi.
This is a large Woodcut by Peter Clare that I have in my possession. Peter was UK artist who was a Quaker that discovered Christianity..5 of 25 produced. It is more stunning in person as it is in a dark green ink..The depth of Brancusi, Peter had to have meet him in person as not being an artist one can only get that from meeting and not a photograph .
I have read about and seen that Brancusi ,very interesting as I am researching Brancusi and would like to discuss more about his work and mostly Philosophy and his view of life but also death and the after, with you.
Particularly about his Plato and Socrates sculptures and why Erik Satie referred to Brancusi as Plato and Satie as Socrates (I know that Satie composed a piece titled Socrates). But my intuition thinks there is more to the student/teacher as nicknames...Was Erik showing Brancusi about what he knew from his youth studying the Occult?
Brancusi was the only one allowed to visit Satie's apartment besides Erik's brother after he died..Seems a hoarder with only little isles..
Oh Patti I could go on and on....but not here..I sent some photos to your Facebook site "That I know will interest you" Brancusi and Pollock's, along with description and little note for you and Michael Stipe..
Dear Patti, some american books for children I am familiar with, but not this Uncle Wiggely, thank you so much, I'll have a look here in Berlin. But you mentioning Brancusi, with the portrait of James Joyce, was so wonderful. You certainly know the kiss of Brancusi? Lot's of love from Berlin
Uncle Wiggly- my mom used to read me Uncle Wiggly- what a great name- even if you didn’t know about the books you could just be intrigued by the title.
I love everything about this! James Joyce is a favorite of mine, and right you are, Richard Ellman's biography is the best. Didn't know he wrote a biography about Oscar Wilde. I'll look for it. Thank you, Patti and Cairo!❤️
Thanks Patti for a brilliant couple of posts, loved seeing your Rockaway house very much. Watching you looking at the Ellmann biography of JJ, I was struck by the Brancusi portrait - it's so similar to Picasso's Tete de Faune, fauns with spiral faces! Maybe Picasso pinched the idea!! Sorry if everyone else has already said that I only just watched your video. x
I love that you have Uncle Wiggly! I have a few Beatrix Potters, the Pooh books and the Little Prince. They keep me grounded, I hope. There is also a 3 inch Steiff Teddy that I carried in my violin case when I started learning that instrument at the age of 40. He was to remind me that my inner 5 year old was the one to show up at lessons, as the adult might pose questions unbecoming for a beginner. Love you, Patti❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Muriel
Patti, Thank you for coming to our conversation (and I feel like it's a conversation, not a narrative or monologue) as you are. I agree with a post below. I cannot remain crabby after listening or watching Patti's blog.
Yes Patti. Wiggly! Go Wiggly! I am going to order the JJ bio too! Love to Cairo!
I saw your email come up wow what a treat, after my meditation and run I would listen to your blog. Patti it is so wonderful that you bring us into your life I look forward to your videos! Ohhh and I just ordered the biography of James Joyce you are showing us!! I love his book “The Dead”
I found it when I was about 14 in my grandmothers library and I believe it was from the turn of that century 1910 or so!
Cairo is precious! My two dogs take turns shutting me down from the Internet as well, hiding my phone 😂
patti! :-). considering your overarching (and endearing) literary interests, you might look into ways you can flip your video image so its not reversed. there should a setting to correct it. if not its possible that the camera and the computer arent fully compatible. cheers!
There should be a little box that says “mirror image.” Check the box, and we will be able to see everything the right way. (Although, where’s the fun in that?)
I've been talking with friends this morning about the joys of our favourite childhood books. Of course there was Winnie the Pooh and Peter Rabbit but one friend mentioned Noddy. I'd forgotten all about him. I loved those stories. So thank you, Patti, for bringing back these treasured memories. Just fantastic. 📚
Uncle Wiggly was always a favorite of mine. I have a few ancient copies, and found Uncle Wiggly and the Snowman not too long ago in an antique shop I frequently visit. He is his own rabbit!
I will look for the James Joyce biography- thank you. It brought back a memory of when my cousin’s husband recorded a passage onto a cassette tape from ‘Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man’ that I gave to my English teacher and was played on a boom box in class. His Irish accent helped us students hear the musicality of Joyce’s words as it played from the speakers. My Dad organised this as he was proud that we were learning Irish literature in an English school and wanted to contribute. He left school when he was 14 as he was one of nine children in Dublin and subsequently moved to London in 1955 aged 17. James Joyce has always been a literal bridge to my Dad’s city and early life and more so since he’s no longer here. I hope to go to Dublin again and read some Joyce while I’m there.
Sending love and best wishes to you Patti and Cairo. I really enjoy watching your videos; a happy moment in the day.
I did not realize that I had those books when I was little until you brought up Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, who lives somewhere in my psyche, and I didn't know she was in Uncle Wiggly! Do you need a reason to show up in this virtual space?
Watching this was an experience. The video kept stopping and when it did, I’d feel forlorn. Then I began reading the comments during the in-between times when the video would freeze. They are all so warm and in the spirit of Patti’s lovable, warm, message.
Back and forth it went like this for over an hour, watching a few seconds of Patti talking about the wonderful Uncle Wiggly (whom I also loved and wanted to be like!), then reading comment’s , then back to Patti. I’m not sure I’ve seen it all as it seems like the ending is cut off but I can’t seem to get the rest.
I’m sorry to miss any of it but want to thank you so much for this great middle of the night experience.
I’d fallen asleep early watching a documentary I won’t name because I found it disappointing. Something I don’t like is when documentaries use dramatic re-enactments. I don’t want to see someone pretending to be Lincoln, in color, dramatic music, looking horrified–. (The documentary I watched was not about Lincoln.)
Anyway, I awakened in the middle of the night with a bad stomachache and lay awake feeling as I did when as a child, I would lie awake feeling some pain, a little afraid, but also weirdly free. Then I saw the message from Patti and despite the technical difficulties (maybe on my end?) it was wonderful. What was at first makeshift, watching Patti, then reading comments before trying the video, became a comforting quilt, patchwork, with panels of velvet.
I agree that Richard Ellmann was a wonderful biographer. He did write on Oscar Wilde, and also a great biography of Yeats.
“Why am I here?” is a question you need never ask, Patti. That you ask it anyway evinces the humor, humility, humanity that makes you beloved to so many.
There’s a song I love by T. Rex (aka Marc Bolan) called “Spaceball Ricochet” that has these lyrics:
Book after book
I get hooked
Everytime the writer
Talks me like a friend
What can I do
We just live in a zoo
All I do is play
The spaceball ricochet
Deep in my heart
There's a house
That can hold
Just about all of you . . .
🏡🏡🏡
That’s what this reminds me of. Thank you so much, everyone, especially Patti, for this late night. As an expression of my gratitude, here’s the song by T. Rex. The lyrics are included if you hit “read more” when you open the YouTube.
James Joyce, Uncle Wiggily and T. Rex! Could my morning get any better? I hope it's a good day for you, Robin. I'm off to ride a white swan and finish a bit of work before breakfast. Take good care.
Ps: I wanted to clarify that it is the exuberant access to feelings that in childhood one had, with what the critic Helen Vendler says every work of art depends: “the susceptible heart, the joyous recognition, the available imagination,” that Patti exudes and ignites, making one remember the feeling of the writer talking to one like a friend, and the generous expansiveness that enables the sense that “Deep in my heart/ There’s a house/ That can hold/ Just about all of you.”
thank you, Robin Flicker, for sharing the Helen Vendler quote -- and for your gentle way of sharing your thoughts, life experiences, and interpretations.
Good morning from sunny London. So lovely to see you and listen to your lovely stories from your childhood. They stay with us and as we age reading and remembering them brings much pleasure. I love Cairo beautiful pussy cat. Have a wonderful weekend 🙏
Patti, do you have grandchildren? Also, did you ever figure out why we see a mirror image (noticeable by the type on books) of your videos? I’d be more than willing to help you figure it out, but I’ll leave it there, please feel free to ask. Regards, S
Patti - if people own a small holiday home (usually by the sea), in New Zealand, it is called a "bach", although in the South Island of New Zealand it can be called a "crib". Americans must have a special word for their little escape home in the wilds. You could invent one for your Rockaway house.
An early morning visit for me and a very welcome one ! I am still to discover Uncle Wiggly for myself but I already adore him ! A return to childhood when everything was possible and everyone was a friend is a wonderful thing . I absolutely love your Blake (at least I think it’s a Blake image ) tee shirt ! I hope your dreams were all good ones and you have a beautiful Saturday ! Love to you and to Cairo who obviously needed his sleep ! 💤 ❤️
Patti, it's almost 3am in Buenos Aires and listening to you go from James Joyce to Uncle Wiggly is the best thing that could happen to me. before going to sleep -- I feel like a happy child. Thank you 💖✨✨
Couldn’t sleep so I came looking for you. And there you were! Yes, Ellman’s book’s on my imaginary shelf—always. (Next to collections of letters by the illuminated—Bukowski, Sexton, Van Gogh, Kafka, O’Connor, Orwell…)
And I always turn to children’s books when I can’t sleep. Wind in the Willows. Stuart Little. Strawberry Girl. Anne of Green Gables. Robert Louis Stevenson. All the fairy tales. My heart immediately lulled. Reading under the covers, the world softens.
Patti, do you have grandchildren? Also, did you ever figure out why we see a mirror image (noticeable by the type on books) of your videos? I’d be more than willing to help you figure it out, but I’ll leave it there, please feel free to ask. Regards, S
I love listening to you share about books. When I look at your bed, I have to wonder if you read sitting up in bed. I can't. My back would kill me. Very interested in the James Joyce bio. I was listening to France Culture the other night and loved listening to James Joyce being read in French. totally mesmerizing.
Patti, I hope you are feeling proud of yourself because you deserve to. In addition to bringing joy in other ways, you are bringing books back into people’s lives.
Your relationship with your cat has endeared and captivated many. For me, it is a little glimpse into your true personal life, who you are as a person beyond the art and music. I loved the scene in DOL when you sang opera to Cairo. Frank says you've always had cats around since the very early years at college. Sometime it would be fascinating to hear about the cats you've had. The black and white tuxedo cat showed up in many early photographs. The feline energy is so fascinating, as are those who attempt to understand it.
I was just talking about James Joyce and Ulysses with my brother! And how enjoyable it was to read, even if you didn’t know all the allusions he made in it to so many other great works! The Ellman book is wonderful. 🙌
Brâncusi's portrait of Joyce is perfect. So is Uncle Wiggily. I remember loving his stories as a child and it's wonderful to be reminded of them again. Cairo remains a demanding but adorable editor. That's a great t-shirt. May I ask what it is?
Uncle Wiggily! I haven't heard his name in so long. I loved the Uncle Wiggily board game. My dad bought it for us. He was a writer (The Detroit News), but he didn't buy us the books. I'll have to check 'em out. G'night, Patti.
I love your late night rendezvous with your subscribers & how Cairo just wanders in to say hi😊will look out in the bookstores in Oz for your favourite children’s book😊
I remember Uncle Wiggly and his curly ornate and floppy speedy self. I didn’t know I’d remember him and the others but I so do … the rich colors - the tender easy problems 💕💕
Thank you for the delight. Nurse Rockett wishes you all a pawsitively wonderful evening. Happy to be reminded of Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy.
Sooo human…such fun….a little bit of silliness is so welcome in this often heavy world we live in. Thank you for putting a smile on my face, followed by a late nite giggle to top it off. ❤️
Robert Mapplethorpe and Jim Carroll as the Everly Brothers
I never read these as a kid but I have a 7 year old that I think would love them so I'm getting her a collection for Christmas. thank you!
i have the uncle wiggly board game which i used to play as a kid, but i never knew it was based on books! ive always loved the illustrations
Haha. I teach. Just back in the physical classroom today for the first time. This means that my students will no longer get the pleasure of meeting my cat Ziggy, which, unwittingly to her, were a large part of their classroom experience.
Nice update
Will have to read Uncle Wiggily!
love the cherub drawing / angel sketch / drawing on your tee shirt, Patti
You're such a lovely, lively person. Thank you for your unaffected self. It's so refreshing.
Patti! I loved seeing you and I have never read Uncle Wiggly books, so I am interested now to find what scary thing happened in that forest. :)
I wanted to ask you also, regarding favourite books, which books, if you have any that you've read multiple times?
Interested in Canada.
Warm regards,
Krista
Uncle Wiggley and Ellman’s Joyce and beautiful Patti and Cairo = so very comforting. Thank you.
I really enjoyed this visit. Thank you, Patti. Uncle Wiggly was one of my Mom's favorites and now I will have to check it out. I'd love to hear you read your favorite Uncle Wiggly tale. I had difficulty reading James Joyce...might try again.
Love and light to you!
Wow, Cairo's a harsh editor! I enjoyed your dissertation anyway.
Thank you .. now I will have to check out uncle wiggly !!
Why am I here? I have this question everyday. I think it may be so a lovely animal can turn me back into life. Love this and Uncle Wiggly.
i love you Patti! my mom started reading to me when i was in the womb and so i feel this connection to you around books . . . i don't remember uncle wiggly though. A.A. Milne which i still have and then all of the Oz books. the innocence of those days since i am now in my 60's and my mum has been gone for over 10 years now. my life is fulfilled as long as i have cats, books and music and trees.
watching and listening to your posts are like bedtime stories for me. thank you, thank you, thank you dear patti. my mom wanted me to read, which i did, Just Kids as she was dying. she loved it and it was the best gift for us before she left this plane. she loved art and studied to be a docent; it was fabulous. So she loved Robert too.
Oh please read Uncle Wiggly next time !
Hello Patti,
We have met briefly, a few times, over the years.
I am a NYC artist and am having a multi discipline exhibition in Tribeca at The Development Gallery on Leonard Street.
I would very much like to invite you for a preview.
I think you will enjoy it.
Jennifer Elster
ChannelELSTER.com
Good night with your precious smile,Patti. Thanks. See you soon in Barcelona...the next year.
My dad used to read UW to me. Huge memory. Mostly I remember uncle wiggly and those silly endings. ...and next....They always made me beg to hear “the next”... now I have done the same with my children and then my grands. I was thrilled to hear you talk about these stories.
Patti, you are a joy! Thanks for the dissertation on Uncle Wiggly and hugs to Cairo . . . always great to see her too!
I loved Uncle Wiggly and his top hat. I wonder if you also read Old Mother West Wind (the Burgess books) and Freddie the Pig, other childhood favorites, that seemed from another time, even then...
I was sick at home with (maybe) chicken pox, and my mother gifted me an Uncle Wiggly storybook (compilation) which I loved...she nicknamed our dog Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy...and that dog chewed up that book!
Found a vintage book a few years ago, not in the greatest condition, but it gave me such joy to re-read those stories again...
In the early/mid-1960's my brother and I had an Uncle Wiggly board game which I loved. My mom saved some of our games we had when we were kids yet I have no idea what became of the Uncle Wiggly board game.
Oh, this is amazing. Uncle Wiggly! My favorite childhood book is Blueberries for Sal, and the book I most cherished reading to my children years ago is one about three baby owls, Sarah and Percy and Bill.
I love “Blueberries for Sal,” and I also read the book about the baby owls to my children! My youngest loved it so much that for decades now he and I have had an owl thing. We often exchange owl figurines, photos, books about owls. I even wear an onyx ring that looks black except that tilted toward the light, you can see that an owl is carved into the stone. And it all started with that book about the baby owls. So glad you know and love both those books too!
I love Uncle Wiggly and Blueberries For Sal! I remember Blueberries from my childhood and now I've read it to my children and my granddaughter.
That’s so lovely.
I love that your cat is called Cairo, where I live in Zamalek, on one of the islands surrounded by the Nile. I am leaving soon, and know that I will really miss the wonderful street cats, who are so well cared for by the people who live in the city. But seeing your cat will remind me of them when I move on to my next home.
As you can see Patti my profile photo is of Brancusi.
This is a large Woodcut by Peter Clare that I have in my possession. Peter was UK artist who was a Quaker that discovered Christianity..5 of 25 produced. It is more stunning in person as it is in a dark green ink..The depth of Brancusi, Peter had to have meet him in person as not being an artist one can only get that from meeting and not a photograph .
I have read about and seen that Brancusi ,very interesting as I am researching Brancusi and would like to discuss more about his work and mostly Philosophy and his view of life but also death and the after, with you.
Particularly about his Plato and Socrates sculptures and why Erik Satie referred to Brancusi as Plato and Satie as Socrates (I know that Satie composed a piece titled Socrates). But my intuition thinks there is more to the student/teacher as nicknames...Was Erik showing Brancusi about what he knew from his youth studying the Occult?
Brancusi was the only one allowed to visit Satie's apartment besides Erik's brother after he died..Seems a hoarder with only little isles..
Oh Patti I could go on and on....but not here..I sent some photos to your Facebook site "That I know will interest you" Brancusi and Pollock's, along with description and little note for you and Michael Stipe..
Thanks,
Love your stuff...
Drew
Dear Patti, some american books for children I am familiar with, but not this Uncle Wiggely, thank you so much, I'll have a look here in Berlin. But you mentioning Brancusi, with the portrait of James Joyce, was so wonderful. You certainly know the kiss of Brancusi? Lot's of love from Berlin
Uncle Wiggly- my mom used to read me Uncle Wiggly- what a great name- even if you didn’t know about the books you could just be intrigued by the title.
I love everything about this! James Joyce is a favorite of mine, and right you are, Richard Ellman's biography is the best. Didn't know he wrote a biography about Oscar Wilde. I'll look for it. Thank you, Patti and Cairo!❤️
I love seeing Cairo. Such a sweet kitty and with great taste in books and moms.
Thank you for the visit, dear Patti! ❤️
Thanks Patti for a brilliant couple of posts, loved seeing your Rockaway house very much. Watching you looking at the Ellmann biography of JJ, I was struck by the Brancusi portrait - it's so similar to Picasso's Tete de Faune, fauns with spiral faces! Maybe Picasso pinched the idea!! Sorry if everyone else has already said that I only just watched your video. x
Thank you for being you ♡
Cairo, simply the best! ❤️😄
You are the delight of my day.
Dear Patti,
I love that you have Uncle Wiggly! I have a few Beatrix Potters, the Pooh books and the Little Prince. They keep me grounded, I hope. There is also a 3 inch Steiff Teddy that I carried in my violin case when I started learning that instrument at the age of 40. He was to remind me that my inner 5 year old was the one to show up at lessons, as the adult might pose questions unbecoming for a beginner. Love you, Patti❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Muriel
Patti, Thank you for coming to our conversation (and I feel like it's a conversation, not a narrative or monologue) as you are. I agree with a post below. I cannot remain crabby after listening or watching Patti's blog.
Yes Patti. Wiggly! Go Wiggly! I am going to order the JJ bio too! Love to Cairo!
Good morning Patti!
I saw your email come up wow what a treat, after my meditation and run I would listen to your blog. Patti it is so wonderful that you bring us into your life I look forward to your videos! Ohhh and I just ordered the biography of James Joyce you are showing us!! I love his book “The Dead”
I found it when I was about 14 in my grandmothers library and I believe it was from the turn of that century 1910 or so!
Cairo is precious! My two dogs take turns shutting me down from the Internet as well, hiding my phone 😂
Love to you Patti happy weekend 🤍🤍🤍
The Dead is my favorite of his as well.
Always get such good read tips from you !
patti! :-). considering your overarching (and endearing) literary interests, you might look into ways you can flip your video image so its not reversed. there should a setting to correct it. if not its possible that the camera and the computer arent fully compatible. cheers!
There should be a little box that says “mirror image.” Check the box, and we will be able to see everything the right way. (Although, where’s the fun in that?)
Love you, Patti!
On the other hand, the reverse image has a certain whimsical and endearing charm.
It would be so difficult to get food out of your teeth if everything was reversed!
I love seeing you with Cairo. He wants you all to himself. Goodnight Patti.
Cairo ❤❤❤ Brancusi's portrait of James Joyce is just fantastic!!!
I've been talking with friends this morning about the joys of our favourite childhood books. Of course there was Winnie the Pooh and Peter Rabbit but one friend mentioned Noddy. I'd forgotten all about him. I loved those stories. So thank you, Patti, for bringing back these treasured memories. Just fantastic. 📚
So funny …. It’s always so nice to see you with Cairo ❤️
You are Adorable Patti Smith, you must be the best mom/grandmom. Thank you. Refreshingly sweet and funny in these crazy times.
😆😆😆
Uncle Wiggly was always a favorite of mine. I have a few ancient copies, and found Uncle Wiggly and the Snowman not too long ago in an antique shop I frequently visit. He is his own rabbit!
An old favorite.. I had forgotten.
Thank yiu for the sweet night cap.
What a great video ! Perfect for Friday night.
hello joy, thanks for your readings! I love you
Cats!
Mine tend to drape themselves across the keyboard when they've "had enough" of my being on line!
Hi Patti,
I will look for the James Joyce biography- thank you. It brought back a memory of when my cousin’s husband recorded a passage onto a cassette tape from ‘Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man’ that I gave to my English teacher and was played on a boom box in class. His Irish accent helped us students hear the musicality of Joyce’s words as it played from the speakers. My Dad organised this as he was proud that we were learning Irish literature in an English school and wanted to contribute. He left school when he was 14 as he was one of nine children in Dublin and subsequently moved to London in 1955 aged 17. James Joyce has always been a literal bridge to my Dad’s city and early life and more so since he’s no longer here. I hope to go to Dublin again and read some Joyce while I’m there.
Sending love and best wishes to you Patti and Cairo. I really enjoy watching your videos; a happy moment in the day.
Gemma
I did not realize that I had those books when I was little until you brought up Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, who lives somewhere in my psyche, and I didn't know she was in Uncle Wiggly! Do you need a reason to show up in this virtual space?
Goodnight Patti, I loved the share and late night hang out.
Dear Patti and friends,
Watching this was an experience. The video kept stopping and when it did, I’d feel forlorn. Then I began reading the comments during the in-between times when the video would freeze. They are all so warm and in the spirit of Patti’s lovable, warm, message.
Back and forth it went like this for over an hour, watching a few seconds of Patti talking about the wonderful Uncle Wiggly (whom I also loved and wanted to be like!), then reading comment’s , then back to Patti. I’m not sure I’ve seen it all as it seems like the ending is cut off but I can’t seem to get the rest.
I’m sorry to miss any of it but want to thank you so much for this great middle of the night experience.
I’d fallen asleep early watching a documentary I won’t name because I found it disappointing. Something I don’t like is when documentaries use dramatic re-enactments. I don’t want to see someone pretending to be Lincoln, in color, dramatic music, looking horrified–. (The documentary I watched was not about Lincoln.)
Anyway, I awakened in the middle of the night with a bad stomachache and lay awake feeling as I did when as a child, I would lie awake feeling some pain, a little afraid, but also weirdly free. Then I saw the message from Patti and despite the technical difficulties (maybe on my end?) it was wonderful. What was at first makeshift, watching Patti, then reading comments before trying the video, became a comforting quilt, patchwork, with panels of velvet.
I agree that Richard Ellmann was a wonderful biographer. He did write on Oscar Wilde, and also a great biography of Yeats.
“Why am I here?” is a question you need never ask, Patti. That you ask it anyway evinces the humor, humility, humanity that makes you beloved to so many.
There’s a song I love by T. Rex (aka Marc Bolan) called “Spaceball Ricochet” that has these lyrics:
Book after book
I get hooked
Everytime the writer
Talks me like a friend
What can I do
We just live in a zoo
All I do is play
The spaceball ricochet
Deep in my heart
There's a house
That can hold
Just about all of you . . .
🏡🏡🏡
That’s what this reminds me of. Thank you so much, everyone, especially Patti, for this late night. As an expression of my gratitude, here’s the song by T. Rex. The lyrics are included if you hit “read more” when you open the YouTube.
https://youtu.be/hHl9cjm9nEQ
With warmth and gratitude,
Robin
James Joyce, Uncle Wiggily and T. Rex! Could my morning get any better? I hope it's a good day for you, Robin. I'm off to ride a white swan and finish a bit of work before breakfast. Take good care.
Ps: I wanted to clarify that it is the exuberant access to feelings that in childhood one had, with what the critic Helen Vendler says every work of art depends: “the susceptible heart, the joyous recognition, the available imagination,” that Patti exudes and ignites, making one remember the feeling of the writer talking to one like a friend, and the generous expansiveness that enables the sense that “Deep in my heart/ There’s a house/ That can hold/ Just about all of you.”
thank you, Robin Flicker, for sharing the Helen Vendler quote -- and for your gentle way of sharing your thoughts, life experiences, and interpretations.
with birds, GR <3
Thank you, GR, for reading my comments so openheartedly.
With gratitude for the birds,
Robin
Thank you Patti, every message from you warms my heart in these difficult times.
I really enjoyed Edna O’Brien’s biography of James Joyce, you might want to check it out (it’s pretty short too!)
Hi Patti
I enjoyed listening to you too. You're just so relevant to us All. Enjoy and embrace Life.
Eric Holst
Love the spoiler alert.
Good morning from sunny London. So lovely to see you and listen to your lovely stories from your childhood. They stay with us and as we age reading and remembering them brings much pleasure. I love Cairo beautiful pussy cat. Have a wonderful weekend 🙏
Patti, do you have grandchildren? Also, did you ever figure out why we see a mirror image (noticeable by the type on books) of your videos? I’d be more than willing to help you figure it out, but I’ll leave it there, please feel free to ask. Regards, S
loved this thanks for sharing
It's such a pleasure to see and hear you Patti 😃
It's 8 am in France so I say hello and wish you a good weekend ❤️
PS: I love so much your photo posted on Instagram for the 52nd anniversary of the electric Lady studio. See you are radiant ☀️
Patti - if people own a small holiday home (usually by the sea), in New Zealand, it is called a "bach", although in the South Island of New Zealand it can be called a "crib". Americans must have a special word for their little escape home in the wilds. You could invent one for your Rockaway house.
Great to wake up to Patti Cairo and Uncle Wiggily!
An early morning visit for me and a very welcome one ! I am still to discover Uncle Wiggly for myself but I already adore him ! A return to childhood when everything was possible and everyone was a friend is a wonderful thing . I absolutely love your Blake (at least I think it’s a Blake image ) tee shirt ! I hope your dreams were all good ones and you have a beautiful Saturday ! Love to you and to Cairo who obviously needed his sleep ! 💤 ❤️
Thanks, Patti. Nice way to wake up in Brescia, Italy on my 60th birthday!
Let me add my birthday greetings Enjoy your day.
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday, Michele ! Auguri !
Patti, it's almost 3am in Buenos Aires and listening to you go from James Joyce to Uncle Wiggly is the best thing that could happen to me. before going to sleep -- I feel like a happy child. Thank you 💖✨✨
You put it beautifully. That is the feeling Patti gives. Patti seems herself in such moments to be a happy child and it’s infectious.
Patti & Cairo: Waited so long for this live reunion! You, Cairo & your viewers. We all love Cairo. & your own brand of late night💫
Thanks Patti
J aime james joyce mais ses livres sont trop gros 🤪
Patti au concert de Barcelone je t ai offert un livre que j ai jeté sur scène
C était « connexion » de Kae Tempest
L as tu eu ? Où est il entre les mains de quelqu’un qui l a jeté ?
Bonne nuit
Ici c est l aurore
Ann du pays de Rimbaud
Love your visits and your cat. A combination of learning something and relaxing. Thank you.
Couldn’t sleep so I came looking for you. And there you were! Yes, Ellman’s book’s on my imaginary shelf—always. (Next to collections of letters by the illuminated—Bukowski, Sexton, Van Gogh, Kafka, O’Connor, Orwell…)
And I always turn to children’s books when I can’t sleep. Wind in the Willows. Stuart Little. Strawberry Girl. Anne of Green Gables. Robert Louis Stevenson. All the fairy tales. My heart immediately lulled. Reading under the covers, the world softens.
Sweet dreams!
Beautifully evoked.
I love your late night talks. You're so natural. I have read so many new authors and revisited old favorites because of you. Thank you so much.
What a wonderful thing! This alone can make one’s day, to know you’ve brought someone many books. A well deserved honor for Patti.
Thank you Patti! I really enjoy your late night chats!
That makes me smile!
Seeing a message from Patti, just as I go to bed. What a lovely way to end the day... G'night
Patti, do you have grandchildren? Also, did you ever figure out why we see a mirror image (noticeable by the type on books) of your videos? I’d be more than willing to help you figure it out, but I’ll leave it there, please feel free to ask. Regards, S
Sweet dreams 😴
I love listening to you share about books. When I look at your bed, I have to wonder if you read sitting up in bed. I can't. My back would kill me. Very interested in the James Joyce bio. I was listening to France Culture the other night and loved listening to James Joyce being read in French. totally mesmerizing.
Thanks Patti! Always grateful for having you in my heart
Good night 😴
"why am I here" "I don't know" We are all asking the same question. Patti, you're so funny.
Oh, I'd love it if you read us a bedtime story!! You have such a lovely, calm demeanor!! Thanks, Patti! and sweet sweet dreams!
Cairo, says it's bed time and she's her own cat, and i believe her. good night and thanks for the visit x
I remember well the image of uncle wiggly on the red sled. Wow. Amazing. I must have last seen it 50 years ago.
What a lovely thing to say!
Patti, I hope you are feeling proud of yourself because you deserve to. In addition to bringing joy in other ways, you are bringing books back into people’s lives.
Hello, and thank you for the evening soothing-ness.
Your relationship with your cat has endeared and captivated many. For me, it is a little glimpse into your true personal life, who you are as a person beyond the art and music. I loved the scene in DOL when you sang opera to Cairo. Frank says you've always had cats around since the very early years at college. Sometime it would be fascinating to hear about the cats you've had. The black and white tuxedo cat showed up in many early photographs. The feline energy is so fascinating, as are those who attempt to understand it.
three little horses. a fav as a child. the lovely illustrations still stuck in my mind.
Uncle Wiggly? Oh joy! I think Cairo agrees but wants you all to herself after your travels ❤️
Cairo probably wonders why Patti is talking to a screen 🙀
It’s very comforting when you show up in my inbox.
I was just talking about James Joyce and Ulysses with my brother! And how enjoyable it was to read, even if you didn’t know all the allusions he made in it to so many other great works! The Ellman book is wonderful. 🙌
Brâncusi's portrait of Joyce is perfect. So is Uncle Wiggily. I remember loving his stories as a child and it's wonderful to be reminded of them again. Cairo remains a demanding but adorable editor. That's a great t-shirt. May I ask what it is?
I remember a book called The Little Fur Family (I think that was the title), and I look forward to discovering Uncle Wiggily!
What a delight and lovely sharing of your reading...both Joyce and Uncle Wiggly. Thank you and good night.
Uncle Wiggily! I haven't heard his name in so long. I loved the Uncle Wiggily board game. My dad bought it for us. He was a writer (The Detroit News), but he didn't buy us the books. I'll have to check 'em out. G'night, Patti.
I love this visit Patti 🐇 You always make me smile💫💫✨✨🌙
G'day Patti thankyou for the midday wake up. Sweet dreams 🙃☕️🌈
Oh Patti! This unexpected Uncle Wiggly / Cairo visit was delightful! You bring such joy!⭐️💐🕯
Thank you for making me smile.
Ahhahahahaha!! Thanks for all of that you two!!!
Cairo is quite the harsh director. She doesn’t even yell “cut!” first 😂
Late nights visits....love the surprise of them.
hi Cairo, sleep well you two.
I've got my two little dogs and kitty here in bed!
Bonne nuit
I love your late night rendezvous with your subscribers & how Cairo just wanders in to say hi😊will look out in the bookstores in Oz for your favourite children’s book😊
Thanks for the visit 💚
a blast from my childs past!
I remember Uncle Wiggly and his curly ornate and floppy speedy self. I didn’t know I’d remember him and the others but I so do … the rich colors - the tender easy problems 💕💕
I’m so pleased to see & hear that the stories of Uncle Wiggly are favorites. Does that mean we’re showing our age?
Late night visits and Cairo are the best ♥️
Yes!
Thank you for the delight. Nurse Rockett wishes you all a pawsitively wonderful evening. Happy to be reminded of Uncle Wiggily and Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy.
Been reminded of no fighting no biting Elsa Minariks second book. It’s Thomasin snd I not getting along at that time.
I just LOVE your visits and all of your sharing. Like a dear friend checking in. Thank so much. You make my day and night and I learn so much, too❤️
Hey Patti, longtime no see....that's me playing guitar behind you during that Gerde's Rollin Thunder clip....Love, Arlen Roth
Sooo human…such fun….a little bit of silliness is so welcome in this often heavy world we live in. Thank you for putting a smile on my face, followed by a late nite giggle to top it off. ❤️
Cairo! I wanted to hear a bedtime story! Oh well. Goodnight Patti 🌚
Just what I needed tonight! Love you, Patti!
Patti! You would love my new book about Yoko!
In Your Mind - The Infinite Universe of Yoko Ono
A complete look at Yoko’s life, art, films and music in astounding detail.
Includes the love story of John and Yoko, and all the work they did together.
558 pages
By Madeline Bocaro
Visit my website for reviews & info:
https://inyourmindbook.com
Thank you for the information.
You're welcome. Thank YOU for being such a dear friend to Yoko! Madeline xxx
Cairo! Ha ha! Good night Uncle Wiggly!
Thanks for popping in with Uncle Wiggly! And silly Cairo! 💗🤪
Paws pause!
Haha. Great. Applause!
Purrfect!
I love that Joyce bio. One of my fav biographies is, Arshile Gorky: His Life and Work by Hayden Herrera. Glad you are here and not there.
thanks for sharing. I am in need of more artist and writer biographies to explore!
Yes that is great, so is her work on Frida Kahlo.
I agree!
❤️
LOL! ❤