Sunday, January 27, 2008

Where I'll Be


As if there wasn't enough to do at AWP, if you were planning on stalking me, here are the evening gigs I'm all over:

Thursday Night, KGB bar.

Friday Night, Stain in Brooklyn.

Saturday I'm at the 9L Table (418 in Am. Hall II), then we roll to the NEOMFA happening. After some love in that room, we tango across the hall and see what PBQ folks are up to.

***
Saturday Night, I'm high tailing it back to LI to watch the game with my pop on Sunday. You forgot about the game, did you!? Well, I hope you get back in time.

***
Meanwhile, I'm pretty much out of food around this joint. Going to the store feels like a silly thing to do. I have a better idea: Order a pizza; nurse it until Tuesday. Hop a plane on Wednesday Morning.

That's the ticket.

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Cold Chillin'

Like, really cold. For surely. It was -24 wind chill this morning. Hung around 8ish for the day. It's 1 degree again. Kelvin.

Speaking of the environment, all sorts of wild smart people over at
TED.Com. That link will take you to all the Green stuff, but the site is full of all kinds of magnificent innovations.

If you use this site to spring-board to everything 9L, and especially if you're looking forward to the new issue, got the new issue, or are interested in the music feature we're reading for right now, you should get over to the blog and update yo' funky selves.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go write a prompt for my Ultra-Contemporary Poetry class.

UIUC MFA Graduate Kim Chinquee has a new book out! Go Dig.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Psudo-busy Morning

A few things off the bat:

*I've put the
engine hoist up on craigslist. Done. Now someone's just gotta buy it.

*Nin Andrews has a poems up on Verse Daily.

*Guth's updated her website. Go lookie.

*Barn Own Review is in from the printer. Get one at AWP; I'll see you there!

Maybe it's not so busy....
In the spirit of Guth's occasional list, I'm going to share with you some of the keyword searches that have brought people over here:

"cats everywhere"
"deutsch plug"
"pressure cooking ribs"
"big chill nonsense"
"funky la sapian"
"i love you dirty"
"lighthouse kitchen"
"smell of october"

Yup.

It's Lord Byron's birthday:


I kinda love this smug bastard. Got a lot of poems I really want to share. But I'm gonna give you the fragment they found on the back of the manuscript of Canto I. Here:

I would to heaven that I were so much clay,
As I am blood, bone, marrow, passion, feeling--
Because at least the past were pass'd away--
And for the future--(but I write this reeling,
Having got drunk exceedingly to-day,
So that I seem to stand upon the ceiling)
I say--the future is a serious matter--
And so--for God's sake--hock and soda-water!

Monday, January 21, 2008

Playoffs ("You kidding me?!")

It's the Giants vs. the Pats--but you know that...unless you rely on this blog for your sports updates. Greg's much better at that than I am. And Ada's process is awesome.

We're going to skip the fantastic breakfast I made (sunny-side eggs with Irish Gouda, Swiss, Corned beef and bagette), and cut straight to the chase:

Yeah. 12 bottles:


To flavor 5lb.s of wingy goodness:


AND...


The closer bowl is Teriyaki, the other BBQ. Matt makes these weekly for the games we watch at his place. He's also a fantastic poet. If his skill set ends there, that's fine with us:


As if this wasn't enough, somewhere around half-time of the Giants game, a 3-layer red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting arrived. But not just any Red Velvet cake; this was Tayari Jones's Red Velvet cake. Matt approved:


Those responsible for the cake (Heather, Lil and Dana of the Poetry Workshop) rejoiced as we gorged. Better pictures of the cake are here.


...then the calzones arrived.

A poem? Ok. This one from Ed Pavlic's Labors Lost Left Unfinished.

Come Sunday

Eyebrows aflame,
you sketched what moved in the window
when rain rose in sheets
& green warned everyone off obsidian
streets. Torch-tip pleas
wore thru to abandon in unmade

beds so crowded we tied ourselves to posts.
Wrung out & pinned to the line,
call if red sky slapped on mornings's open palm.
A trade in new weight, a heartbeat
of molten glass arcs into a wide-open mouth.
In the courtyard, a Sunday-bested little boy catches
glee-drops from lace

panties hung above. One in the eye washed
bright as blindness. Quick breath
of clean steel, a sunbeam touched the wind on the ass.
Call it a mouthful of tremble,
a minor chord hymns his throat. If you can hear
an aftertaste of what's to come, cream

billows the neighbor's coffee,
a new-born baby girl upstairs & the most delicate
lungs of chaos. Until we talk
about the night I sat naked on the dock,
tell me it was cold
rain on my back, tell me it was the lake beneath the dark
rippled line on your brow.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

It's 2 degrees out there

What I've learned from my students this week:
- "I was able to eat before I could walk."
- "Cereal, in most forms, is my favorite meal for several reasons including it's omnipresence..."
- "And I say I would gladly starve a baby cow to be different."
- "A Barbecue is a perfect manifestation of the ethos."
- "So, when I saw 12 packs of Tyson Country fried-steaks in the freezer at the Wal-mart, and a hefty sack of Idaho Spuds, I thought it was the perfect combination of tastes between the land roaming foods and vegetables."

and finally,

- "Pizza is a uniquely American dish in that the act of colonization is present in each sinful bite."

I had them doing an inclass writing thing about their favorite meals. To be fair, all these lines are removed form their context. They're a pretty sharp bunch.

Ok. So it's really cold out. But I have to go to the store and get butter, spices and wine. Also need to do the bakery thing. It also feels like the right day to put the engine hoist up on craigslist, and hopefully get rid of it. It's cold. Dudes are sitting around on the internet looking for engine hoists....right?

I'm gonna run errands, then stay in all day, read, write, and no freeze. Goals, baby. Goals.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

New Art

I know there's a lot more going on here than over at my actual webpage, so I got something new for you:

Head over to
the desk, and give the lamp a little click for some fresh work by a couple of guys who do that kinda thing.

Let me know what you think.
Better yet, follow links from there and send love to the artists!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Go See Juan

If you're in Chicago, and it's still the 16th, Here's where you should be in the evening.

I'm gonna prep for teaching now.
I might have to rebuild my motorcycle today and actually ride it over to the gas station. It might get up to 42 degrees today. Send me some warm, anti-hypothermia-type love.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

And We're Back

I like starting new semesters. Only, every time, I want to scare off a few students on the first day. Turns out, I'm not so scary. So, what to do when you have a grip of students you want to sign in? Even if it means having 27 rather than the usual 23? Do you turn them away? NO! You request a larger room so you can sign them in without getting in trouble with the fire chief.

The Fire Chief. The bane of any person who does anything in a building, whether moving furniture around or packing undergrads into a basement closet like tiny fish packed in oil. So, we'll see. I think they're a good bunch this semester. Nothing like good conversation about dope poetry while scoring work and wrapping up a couple of manuscripts.

A couple of them.
That's the plan.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Learning A Thing or Three

I love reading interviews with writers I love who aren't jerks. Jennifer Knox, as usual, is way sharper, honest and deep in this interview at BookSlut than some people can handle when they hear the title Drunk by Noon--which they should read but haven't yet. And EVERY TIME she's interviewed, I learn all kinds o' stuff.

So, I'm reading that. Then I'm gonna listen to the "Shake 'n Pop" set given to me by the warm soul, Mr. DJ Smudge. If you have myspace, be his friend. I think he's on the facebook too.

And don't look now, but Katie's got something to tell you about over at her blog.

And if you're a Law & Order junky (and who isn't once a tv with cable is around?), the Strike just gave us this:

Thursday, January 10, 2008

From the Studio in IL

A plate from the legendary Pokez in Downtown:


The ever-sexy JoeStein, an old friend who is always thinking...even in this photo:


If the writing/teaching thing doesn't work out, my next career is chosen. With the cardigan on, they'll call me "El Professor."


Check out Rudy's latest box at El Cajon and Illinois:


DJ Joemama and I in front of Gallery 3353, my old house, and Joseph's constant home. Before I moved into this place in 2003, he was living in my apartment in 2001. This house has stories galore. Not right now....


It was a great trip to SD. As much as I loved being there, I found myself under the wonderful weather the majority of the time. I think I'm somewhat allergic to vacationing. Luckily, I can go back into my office tomorrow.

Send your love to SD, if you've got any to spare. Some of my best friends over in that corner of the world.

Can I get a "welcome home?"
Thanks!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

For a Few Highlights More

Joshua, Alex Boswell and I toast in a new year:


From the City that Always Sleeps:


The Funky J. Godley:

After Drunk Poets Society on Monday, we strolled around the corner to Hodad's. Dig that burger. Dig that wild shake to the left:


The collaborative wonder of DJ Smudge and DJ Joemama, at Free Range last week:


Smudge was practicing for his set tonight at the Make/Out at the Red C Lounge, and gave me a quick lesson on Serato. Pretty much turns any mp3 you have into a piece of vinyl. I'm no expert on the wheels 'o steel, but he let me scratch up a cut for a minute, and it felt right to me. When I return to IL, I've got a few more bits of wax to send this way.

I leave SD tomorrow, arrive back in my studio at some unruly hour of Friday Morning.
Then we mentally prepare for AWP. You'll be there, right?

Monday, January 7, 2008

From A Few Weeks Ago



Real Quick:
That reading I mentioned a few weeks ago? You can now give it a listen for yourself. Here you go.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Some Highlights

Rudy is mostly awake for breakfast in OB:


On the wall at OB:


Have you met Mr. K. Scott Perry? You have now. He approves of the poem dedicated to him.


The canyon 30th St. Crosses between North Park and South Park:


My favorite breakfast burrito in town from Picante's, just around the corner from my old place:

Friday, January 4, 2008

This Time I'll Actually Be There...

From this Distance

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Welcome to the New Year

We flew over Balboa Park.
I saw it from the window.
I started to cry, just a little.

Good night.
Good morning?

Popular Posts