A POET FROM HOLLYWOOD, excerpt

Wherein I attempt to explain The Artistic Ecosphere to ersatz screen director Stephen Gyllenhaal.

For all his grunginess Stephen was still appealing, or perhaps all the servers recognized him from his picture in the paper (one of the Robert Elswit portraits that I’d cropped and color-toned myself). As the rather large and roomy café was nearly empty, we had no trouble in seating ourselves at a large table near…