Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Credit Card Dreams
In addition to supporting a number of nonprofits, my bank card has allowed or is going to allow me in the next few weeks to invest in running shoes and a cello.
The running shoes: My Uncle Stanley is a triathlete, marathon and Iron man runner. He is an inspiration. My whole life he has been competing in events. Sometimes he places high in his age bracket, sometimes he doesn't. Regardless, he continues to train, to improve himself. He's just absolutely amazing to me.
My boyfriend is also a runner. I suppose one has to be with being in the Army. So, in the hope of being able to run together - someday, perhaps years from now - and with the hope of starting to compete myself next year (small races, 5K), I've started to run. So I needed running shoes. I bought my Asics in May and I've been running and exercising them since then. At this point, I am still doing a lot of run/walking, but I have noticed that the running has gotten much longer and I'm able to do less walking. Once I can do all running I'll work on speed, but I'm not thinking that will happen for a few weeks or so, which is ok for me. I'm just trying to improve my lifestyle, have some fun, perhaps become a regular runner. I'm not trying to run a marathon - at least not for many years - but I would like to run a 5K easily. Maybe someday I'll be like my Uncle Stanley. One never knows.
In the next week, I expect to buy a cello. I played the cello in high school. It's an instrument I absolutely loved. My family didn't have the money to buy one and I was so committed to all the 15000 clubs and committees that I was on that I didn't have enough time to really give to it. I used the cello at the school, just for a year, but I so enjoyed it that ever since I've been wanting to get my own cello and play again. So here I am, almost 10 years later, finally with a bit of money to put into a true love of mine. I could squirrel away the money or I could satisfy a dream. This will be no instant gratification purchase. I've researched for years. Yes, years. I'm thinking of getting just a medium-range cello for now and then buying a better one after a few years of study. Over the summer, I'd like to just practice at home, but in the fall, I think I'll enroll in lessons after school in addition to German lessons.
I'm thinking about doing the post play next Spring, too, once I have a better handle on all the lessons I want to take and a solid running schedule. I love living my life!
The running shoes: My Uncle Stanley is a triathlete, marathon and Iron man runner. He is an inspiration. My whole life he has been competing in events. Sometimes he places high in his age bracket, sometimes he doesn't. Regardless, he continues to train, to improve himself. He's just absolutely amazing to me.
My boyfriend is also a runner. I suppose one has to be with being in the Army. So, in the hope of being able to run together - someday, perhaps years from now - and with the hope of starting to compete myself next year (small races, 5K), I've started to run. So I needed running shoes. I bought my Asics in May and I've been running and exercising them since then. At this point, I am still doing a lot of run/walking, but I have noticed that the running has gotten much longer and I'm able to do less walking. Once I can do all running I'll work on speed, but I'm not thinking that will happen for a few weeks or so, which is ok for me. I'm just trying to improve my lifestyle, have some fun, perhaps become a regular runner. I'm not trying to run a marathon - at least not for many years - but I would like to run a 5K easily. Maybe someday I'll be like my Uncle Stanley. One never knows.
In the next week, I expect to buy a cello. I played the cello in high school. It's an instrument I absolutely loved. My family didn't have the money to buy one and I was so committed to all the 15000 clubs and committees that I was on that I didn't have enough time to really give to it. I used the cello at the school, just for a year, but I so enjoyed it that ever since I've been wanting to get my own cello and play again. So here I am, almost 10 years later, finally with a bit of money to put into a true love of mine. I could squirrel away the money or I could satisfy a dream. This will be no instant gratification purchase. I've researched for years. Yes, years. I'm thinking of getting just a medium-range cello for now and then buying a better one after a few years of study. Over the summer, I'd like to just practice at home, but in the fall, I think I'll enroll in lessons after school in addition to German lessons.
I'm thinking about doing the post play next Spring, too, once I have a better handle on all the lessons I want to take and a solid running schedule. I love living my life!
Cause(s), because we care
So, my credit card is burning up, but it's not necessarily an all-consuming devilish fire. I would consider it more of focused flame. My card, which is linked to my bank account, has lately been used to help me accomplish life long goals and bring joy to others.
Today, I donated to Jeremy Stevens in his goal to raise 3000 for a ride aimed at providing needed funds for MS research and aid to those affected. My bro, who missed my birthday by a few months, also donated. I'm hoping that posting a little something about it might encourage others to donate, too.
I remember when a good friend of mine was diagnosed. She felt really isolated and alone. She had a true fear of needles and so had to get friends to give her injections. She went through the emotional and physical effects that come from taking a medication needed to conquer the lesions, which at the same time gave her flu-like systems. Although she had and has a wonderful community of friends and family to support her, MS is still a personal battle that she rises to every day. She has completed her PhD, done amazing and transformative research, contributed to the community. She is a pillar of strength and compassion and she inspires me every day. If I could ride a bike, I would ride for her, but since riding = death for me, then I'll support someone who can and is willing to help others in that way.
Other causes and organizations I try to regularly support are Soul Mountain Writers Retreat and Cave Canem, because I believe that it is so essential to the writing process to have a space away from the regular day to day in which to create. These two organizations also provide a gathering place for Black writers. It's an immensely supportive experience to have.
Chester Pearls, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Tau Delta Omega Chapter, is also an organization that I try to support as I am still a member of that AKA chapter. Chester Pearls provides educational scholarships as well as doing community work in Chester, PA. If you want more information, send me an email. They love donations!
Once I have links from all these organizations, I'm planning on posting them on my website. What we believe in we should share so that others can believe, too.
Today, I donated to Jeremy Stevens in his goal to raise 3000 for a ride aimed at providing needed funds for MS research and aid to those affected. My bro, who missed my birthday by a few months, also donated. I'm hoping that posting a little something about it might encourage others to donate, too.
I remember when a good friend of mine was diagnosed. She felt really isolated and alone. She had a true fear of needles and so had to get friends to give her injections. She went through the emotional and physical effects that come from taking a medication needed to conquer the lesions, which at the same time gave her flu-like systems. Although she had and has a wonderful community of friends and family to support her, MS is still a personal battle that she rises to every day. She has completed her PhD, done amazing and transformative research, contributed to the community. She is a pillar of strength and compassion and she inspires me every day. If I could ride a bike, I would ride for her, but since riding = death for me, then I'll support someone who can and is willing to help others in that way.
Other causes and organizations I try to regularly support are Soul Mountain Writers Retreat and Cave Canem, because I believe that it is so essential to the writing process to have a space away from the regular day to day in which to create. These two organizations also provide a gathering place for Black writers. It's an immensely supportive experience to have.
Chester Pearls, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Tau Delta Omega Chapter, is also an organization that I try to support as I am still a member of that AKA chapter. Chester Pearls provides educational scholarships as well as doing community work in Chester, PA. If you want more information, send me an email. They love donations!
Once I have links from all these organizations, I'm planning on posting them on my website. What we believe in we should share so that others can believe, too.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Running
It's been 10 days since I began on this new exercise kick. Each day I push myself a little further. I'm hoping that with a month or so to establish a solid routine I'll be able to sustain it through the holidays. In a little less than two weeks, I'm headed to Spain with one of my students (Advanced Spanish trip). After that, I'm chaperoning prom and immediately after that I'm headed to Prague. I'm hoping to do some quick research on running on the road.
Goals: I want to finish a 5K in three months and a 10K in six months. I want to be able to finish a half marathon in two years. We'll see how this goes. I need all the encouragement I can get. :)
Goals: I want to finish a 5K in three months and a 10K in six months. I want to be able to finish a half marathon in two years. We'll see how this goes. I need all the encouragement I can get. :)
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Ever look at your life
and think, "there are not words enough".
There is a gentle current in the spaces in between one person and another, one experience and another, I think, that pushes into bliss.
Today I was walking with Jason to Cafe Muller for lunch. The sun was out. The river was rushing on to points unknown. I told him then how much I love my life.
I was speaking with a friend a few days ago who was telling me the story of his sister's recent marriage, and when he said, "she deserves it [ happiness]" there was a love of such depth ... I imagined red silk ribbons flying from one's throat and dancing into gift bows in the sky. And I thought at that moment how he deserves happiness, too, and that I deserve it and that you ...
a while later, I received the glad news of upcoming weddings - Jeremy and Maria, Rich and Tara - and a conference for Acentos in the works...
today, I looked at my life and thought, "I deserve happiness, too." Even greater news than I can imagine is coming. I know it.
I hope it comes to you, too.
There is a gentle current in the spaces in between one person and another, one experience and another, I think, that pushes into bliss.
Today I was walking with Jason to Cafe Muller for lunch. The sun was out. The river was rushing on to points unknown. I told him then how much I love my life.
I was speaking with a friend a few days ago who was telling me the story of his sister's recent marriage, and when he said, "she deserves it [ happiness]" there was a love of such depth ... I imagined red silk ribbons flying from one's throat and dancing into gift bows in the sky. And I thought at that moment how he deserves happiness, too, and that I deserve it and that you ...
a while later, I received the glad news of upcoming weddings - Jeremy and Maria, Rich and Tara - and a conference for Acentos in the works...
today, I looked at my life and thought, "I deserve happiness, too." Even greater news than I can imagine is coming. I know it.
I hope it comes to you, too.
Classic move: My Sassy Girl
"fate is building a bridge of chance for someone you love".
I love this.
I love this.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter Monday and a reflection
I am back to my usual self, full of energy. This gorgeous weather and sparkling sun does help. It seems that in that week I was in the states every flower in Germany decided to burst forth. My allergies aren't as bad as one might expect, but we'll see how long that lasts. I'm trying to stay away from the meds and see how well this acupuncture therapy has been working for me.
So I left out the story of the book tour with Day 4: Quail Ridge Books. What a treat! I read with Lenard D. Moore and DeLana Dameron. Great, great friends came out like Troy and Leanna, peeps I hadn't seen in almost two years. They were my last stop before I began the drive to Vegas nearly two years ago. What a spiral to see them both at different stages: Troy is now a full fledged poet himself and Leanna just finished her novel draft. Amazing. There I also met Gideon and Celeste, two CAAWC members of the new generation. I'm really looking forward to reading more of their work.
At Quail Ridge, this was the set list:
Voz: Sweet Child pg. 13
Lesson p. 16
Addict p. 22
Lost ones p. 29
Wolf Rock School
The Pistol's Confession
To see the sister
Great reading!
After Quail Ridge, D and I were on our way to Busboys and Poets in DC, leaving the incredibly warm hospitality of Teresa and Louis in Durham. We went to stay with D's friend, Zemar, who was another lovely host. Funny and giving, just a great person to welcome us into the area. After he got off work, he took us out to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant on U Street and then on for drinks at Marvin's before the reading.
At the Busboys and Poets reading, I had the great joy of seeing my Penn State mentor from freshman year, Thereze, in addition to poets, Derrick Brown, Tony Medina, Alan King, Fred Joiner and others. To see so many beautiful faces, it just filled me with an outpouring love, which I believe showed in the reading.
Set list:
Believe p. 46
Sonku for God's girl p. 57
Lost ones (excerpt) p. 29
NY Tunnels
Bop: (Extinguish) the flame
Scenes in the life of a lesser angel p. 83
Portrait of a landscape
Dear Johnson
Quotilla (after Joel Dias Porter)
The bookstore bought one book to sell with the rest having been sold to customers. Great to hear that I essentially sold out at that location.
Fred gave D and I a ride back to Zemar's. I was asleep within 5 minutes.
The next day it was a short stop in B-more before heading to Green Line Cafe in Philadelphia. There I ran into Lovella who I hadn't seen in years in addition to seeing old friends and new ones, some there just for the reading/discussion.
I ended up reading Addict, Believe, Sonku for god's girl and To see the sister, all before departing for the dinner of my life. BTW, at Green Line, I sold out of all my books. Awesome feeling, and I'm totally going to bring more books next time.
Luke D. took over the kitchen of one of his TFA friends and cooked a feast for about 7 people. It was so amazing that I found myself knocked out. I was still holding in my hands a paper I had been editing for Luke. 45 minutes I woke up with a start.
I was that happy that I just eased into sleep.
After the dinner, I went to Bourban Blue Bar and Lounge in Manayunk to have drinks with Brendan, Brian, Juddie, Driene and Rahat. We just chilled and celebrated my birthday in a really happening place and the next day, I was off again. Stopped at Driene's house to see her parents and had a super sweet cake and song from my dad at my house for the birthday before zipping off to pick up D, drive to Newark to drop her off, then to the airport and then the flight to London and then Frankfurt. At Frankfurt, there was the 3 hour train ride where I saw Germany waving her banners for my return. I slept a few hours, before going over to a friend's house who was having a hard time on Easter Sunday. Next thing you know, I was laughing with her and another friend over a superb dinner and various types of wine.
Beautiful life I live. Can't wait to share more of it with my friends in the states and my students and friends here. :)
So I left out the story of the book tour with Day 4: Quail Ridge Books. What a treat! I read with Lenard D. Moore and DeLana Dameron. Great, great friends came out like Troy and Leanna, peeps I hadn't seen in almost two years. They were my last stop before I began the drive to Vegas nearly two years ago. What a spiral to see them both at different stages: Troy is now a full fledged poet himself and Leanna just finished her novel draft. Amazing. There I also met Gideon and Celeste, two CAAWC members of the new generation. I'm really looking forward to reading more of their work.
At Quail Ridge, this was the set list:
Voz: Sweet Child pg. 13
Lesson p. 16
Addict p. 22
Lost ones p. 29
Wolf Rock School
The Pistol's Confession
To see the sister
Great reading!
After Quail Ridge, D and I were on our way to Busboys and Poets in DC, leaving the incredibly warm hospitality of Teresa and Louis in Durham. We went to stay with D's friend, Zemar, who was another lovely host. Funny and giving, just a great person to welcome us into the area. After he got off work, he took us out to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant on U Street and then on for drinks at Marvin's before the reading.
At the Busboys and Poets reading, I had the great joy of seeing my Penn State mentor from freshman year, Thereze, in addition to poets, Derrick Brown, Tony Medina, Alan King, Fred Joiner and others. To see so many beautiful faces, it just filled me with an outpouring love, which I believe showed in the reading.
Set list:
Believe p. 46
Sonku for God's girl p. 57
Lost ones (excerpt) p. 29
NY Tunnels
Bop: (Extinguish) the flame
Scenes in the life of a lesser angel p. 83
Portrait of a landscape
Dear Johnson
Quotilla (after Joel Dias Porter)
The bookstore bought one book to sell with the rest having been sold to customers. Great to hear that I essentially sold out at that location.
Fred gave D and I a ride back to Zemar's. I was asleep within 5 minutes.
The next day it was a short stop in B-more before heading to Green Line Cafe in Philadelphia. There I ran into Lovella who I hadn't seen in years in addition to seeing old friends and new ones, some there just for the reading/discussion.
I ended up reading Addict, Believe, Sonku for god's girl and To see the sister, all before departing for the dinner of my life. BTW, at Green Line, I sold out of all my books. Awesome feeling, and I'm totally going to bring more books next time.
Luke D. took over the kitchen of one of his TFA friends and cooked a feast for about 7 people. It was so amazing that I found myself knocked out. I was still holding in my hands a paper I had been editing for Luke. 45 minutes I woke up with a start.
I was that happy that I just eased into sleep.
After the dinner, I went to Bourban Blue Bar and Lounge in Manayunk to have drinks with Brendan, Brian, Juddie, Driene and Rahat. We just chilled and celebrated my birthday in a really happening place and the next day, I was off again. Stopped at Driene's house to see her parents and had a super sweet cake and song from my dad at my house for the birthday before zipping off to pick up D, drive to Newark to drop her off, then to the airport and then the flight to London and then Frankfurt. At Frankfurt, there was the 3 hour train ride where I saw Germany waving her banners for my return. I slept a few hours, before going over to a friend's house who was having a hard time on Easter Sunday. Next thing you know, I was laughing with her and another friend over a superb dinner and various types of wine.
Beautiful life I live. Can't wait to share more of it with my friends in the states and my students and friends here. :)
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Day 4 Chapel Hill
A recounting: On Day 1, I began at State College. Aldon was kind enough to take pictures. Check them out here
On Day 2, after driving 9 hours to make it to Chapel Hill on time for the 8pm reading at Madison 462, I learned via facebook that the reading had been canceled. This was only an hour before I was to walk over to the venue. It was disappointing to say the least, but because it was not certain - I was actually told that the reading was given a shortened time - I went to the venue. While there, there was a kind fellow who took a shine to me as I looked good in red, his favorite color, I learned. He brought me a seat to watch the game that was better than that of many behind me ... oh, yes, this was the NCAA Championship game in which the Tar Heels were playing.
Imagine me: jet-lagged, tired, hungry, beginning to half hallucinate into the darkness of blacking out, watching a game I wasn't too involved in. College basketball has never really moved me. I worked in 2005 during the last championship game that we won. I went down to the Franklin street parties after that one, but then found my way back to my car and avoided the traffic like the plague. This time I barely made it to half time, before I left - it was at that point that it became crystal clear that there would be no reading of any sort- to go get supermarket sushi at one of my favorite chains, Harris Teeter. I ate in the car while waiting to pick DeLana up, and I was pretty tickled to do that.
What I would have read at this readin:
Negro Bembon Daddy p. 49
Catholic Puberty p. 36
Wolf Rock School, October 2006
The Pistol's Confession
On the football field
Bop: Extinguish the flame
New York Tunnels
If I had been given 5 minutes, I would have read the last poem and maybe a shorter one from the book like Addict.
Day 3: My birthday
I woke up to the sound of my stateside cell phone ringing; my father calling me. And then it was my mother and then my father again. These were the only people with the phone number as I just got it (on Day 1 of the tour).
Yesterday I was 28 years old, exactly half the age of my mother when she had me. I have this whole year of 27 philosophy, and it tickles me that I, that my becoming, was a part of my mother's year of 27 project/vision/legacy.
So after all the birthday greetings ... and then later from close, close friends ... and breakfast with DeLana and Teresa, I went off to buy a dress.
The fellow invited me to a military ball. I went over to Southpoint (Macy's, JC Penny's, and the smaller shops) and then David's Bridal. I later tried University Mall with DeLana. No luck. I rarely have a day where everything I try on seems wrong. Yesterday was that day. I couldn't find anything that I liked for this ball. Not one thing, and it made me frustrated. True, there's still a try to DC and Philadelphia and the possibility of finding things in either one of those locations, but it was more than a little exasperating.
After Southpoint, I picked up DeLana and went to campus. I had a meeting with Jim to discuss the reorganization of the dissertation. Before that, I ran around to get a new student ID - yay! student discounts again - and then to print out the dissertation (I don't have a copy at home).
The meeting was pretty cool. I'm essentially going to be reimagining the work as an intersection between memoir and autoethnography, infusing it more with a poetic understanding of change and memory in relation to academic considerations of both. I'm still focusing on the high school literacy project, my involvement with it, but it seems that I've been given a lot more freedom to also talk about a discovering of self, a particular identity influenced by all of these choices. I'm hoping that this can give a clearer indication on where I have arrived and what I want to accomplish as a teacher, poet and lover of poetry today. We'll see.
After the meeting, I was off for Kurama sushi on Franklin and Columbia. Great sushi, though I had a rather strange conversation with the fellow next to me ... or rather he had a conversation with me, telling me all about his plans to move to the area after living in Florida. Strange.
I met up with D after that, went to University Mall, for the disappointing shopping, then off to Market Street Books and Maps (as it was once called) to prepare for the reading.
Day 3 set list:
Catholic Puberty p. 36
Christ and Magdalene (with quotations from Wuthering Heights) p. 90
Oracion del cuerpo p. 79
Magdalene Saved p. 85
Pixie Stick p. 86
Strands p. 92
Magdalene teaches the last less p. 94
The newer poems: On the football field (The Sixers Review), Blackbird, Vermont Studio Center: Fire Fridays, and Escape (Natural Bridge).
The reading was amazing. Several of the Ackland Museum staff came. D and I both once worked there. It was truly wonderful to see three of the staff members there. TJ Anderson, I also met. Teresa was there and Louis. Rachel, an old friend from the school of ed, was able to come. Felecia from Touchstone days and more. And so many others. It was really a fantastic night, made even more so by seeing Kathryn again. She's such a bright spirit and so welcoming. Years ago, we met through my planning of a reading there for the Day of the Poet poets. It was the last year of the program and there were 10 poets in attendance, though only 5 read that night. It was just an amazing time. She allowed me to bring Touchstones there after it lost its home at the Stone Center due to summer recess. She has just been such a patroness of the arts and now she's in seminary school in Boston, working towards bringing her comfort and light to others as a chaplain. When she told me that, I just knew that if I were ever in a time of need, she would be the one to seek for comfort. She's that kind of warm.
Surrounded by so many friends, I just radiated love. I had only my third cake ever to have my name on it, provided by Market Street Bookstore, which was shared by all after a wonderful happy birthday song.
After that, D, Lenard, and I went over to Town Hall Grill with Rachel, Ben and Roy for dinner. It was a great time to catch up with old friends and fellow School of Ed kats. We left a little later with cake, fewer books, and a lot of great times. That's the way a reading should go, that's the way a birthday should go.
Tonight, it's Day 4. 7:30pm Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC with DeLana Dameron and Lenard D. Moore ... but first breakfast with D and Daniella. :)
On Day 2, after driving 9 hours to make it to Chapel Hill on time for the 8pm reading at Madison 462, I learned via facebook that the reading had been canceled. This was only an hour before I was to walk over to the venue. It was disappointing to say the least, but because it was not certain - I was actually told that the reading was given a shortened time - I went to the venue. While there, there was a kind fellow who took a shine to me as I looked good in red, his favorite color, I learned. He brought me a seat to watch the game that was better than that of many behind me ... oh, yes, this was the NCAA Championship game in which the Tar Heels were playing.
Imagine me: jet-lagged, tired, hungry, beginning to half hallucinate into the darkness of blacking out, watching a game I wasn't too involved in. College basketball has never really moved me. I worked in 2005 during the last championship game that we won. I went down to the Franklin street parties after that one, but then found my way back to my car and avoided the traffic like the plague. This time I barely made it to half time, before I left - it was at that point that it became crystal clear that there would be no reading of any sort- to go get supermarket sushi at one of my favorite chains, Harris Teeter. I ate in the car while waiting to pick DeLana up, and I was pretty tickled to do that.
What I would have read at this readin:
Negro Bembon Daddy p. 49
Catholic Puberty p. 36
Wolf Rock School, October 2006
The Pistol's Confession
On the football field
Bop: Extinguish the flame
New York Tunnels
If I had been given 5 minutes, I would have read the last poem and maybe a shorter one from the book like Addict.
Day 3: My birthday
I woke up to the sound of my stateside cell phone ringing; my father calling me. And then it was my mother and then my father again. These were the only people with the phone number as I just got it (on Day 1 of the tour).
Yesterday I was 28 years old, exactly half the age of my mother when she had me. I have this whole year of 27 philosophy, and it tickles me that I, that my becoming, was a part of my mother's year of 27 project/vision/legacy.
So after all the birthday greetings ... and then later from close, close friends ... and breakfast with DeLana and Teresa, I went off to buy a dress.
The fellow invited me to a military ball. I went over to Southpoint (Macy's, JC Penny's, and the smaller shops) and then David's Bridal. I later tried University Mall with DeLana. No luck. I rarely have a day where everything I try on seems wrong. Yesterday was that day. I couldn't find anything that I liked for this ball. Not one thing, and it made me frustrated. True, there's still a try to DC and Philadelphia and the possibility of finding things in either one of those locations, but it was more than a little exasperating.
After Southpoint, I picked up DeLana and went to campus. I had a meeting with Jim to discuss the reorganization of the dissertation. Before that, I ran around to get a new student ID - yay! student discounts again - and then to print out the dissertation (I don't have a copy at home).
The meeting was pretty cool. I'm essentially going to be reimagining the work as an intersection between memoir and autoethnography, infusing it more with a poetic understanding of change and memory in relation to academic considerations of both. I'm still focusing on the high school literacy project, my involvement with it, but it seems that I've been given a lot more freedom to also talk about a discovering of self, a particular identity influenced by all of these choices. I'm hoping that this can give a clearer indication on where I have arrived and what I want to accomplish as a teacher, poet and lover of poetry today. We'll see.
After the meeting, I was off for Kurama sushi on Franklin and Columbia. Great sushi, though I had a rather strange conversation with the fellow next to me ... or rather he had a conversation with me, telling me all about his plans to move to the area after living in Florida. Strange.
I met up with D after that, went to University Mall, for the disappointing shopping, then off to Market Street Books and Maps (as it was once called) to prepare for the reading.
Day 3 set list:
Catholic Puberty p. 36
Christ and Magdalene (with quotations from Wuthering Heights) p. 90
Oracion del cuerpo p. 79
Magdalene Saved p. 85
Pixie Stick p. 86
Strands p. 92
Magdalene teaches the last less p. 94
The newer poems: On the football field (The Sixers Review), Blackbird, Vermont Studio Center: Fire Fridays, and Escape (Natural Bridge).
The reading was amazing. Several of the Ackland Museum staff came. D and I both once worked there. It was truly wonderful to see three of the staff members there. TJ Anderson, I also met. Teresa was there and Louis. Rachel, an old friend from the school of ed, was able to come. Felecia from Touchstone days and more. And so many others. It was really a fantastic night, made even more so by seeing Kathryn again. She's such a bright spirit and so welcoming. Years ago, we met through my planning of a reading there for the Day of the Poet poets. It was the last year of the program and there were 10 poets in attendance, though only 5 read that night. It was just an amazing time. She allowed me to bring Touchstones there after it lost its home at the Stone Center due to summer recess. She has just been such a patroness of the arts and now she's in seminary school in Boston, working towards bringing her comfort and light to others as a chaplain. When she told me that, I just knew that if I were ever in a time of need, she would be the one to seek for comfort. She's that kind of warm.
Surrounded by so many friends, I just radiated love. I had only my third cake ever to have my name on it, provided by Market Street Bookstore, which was shared by all after a wonderful happy birthday song.
After that, D, Lenard, and I went over to Town Hall Grill with Rachel, Ben and Roy for dinner. It was a great time to catch up with old friends and fellow School of Ed kats. We left a little later with cake, fewer books, and a lot of great times. That's the way a reading should go, that's the way a birthday should go.
Tonight, it's Day 4. 7:30pm Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC with DeLana Dameron and Lenard D. Moore ... but first breakfast with D and Daniella. :)
Monday, April 06, 2009
Day 1 Complete and Now on to Day 2 Jet-lagged
Last night, DeLana and I arrived in State College at around 3pm. After checking in at the hotel and checking the email, we departed for the sushi restaurant, Say So, which was such a staple for me during my undergraduate years. Lots of tuna, salmon, and more. It was a fantastic meal in preparation for the reading at Webster's. There we arrived early. According to the conversation I had had with the events coordinator, the reading was to start at 6pm. Unfortunately, the publicity for the event - consisting of a few black on white posters - listed it at 7pm. I was then informed that there would be a musical event at 8pm.
There were no banners at my reception. Very little warmth. The lovely lady who sold me books introduced me - she was wonderful, incredibly dedicated to her work - mispronouncing Cave Canem (but everyone does as the Latin V is pronounced as a W, I learned) but still kind. A few students filtered by to hear a word or two, but the main listeners were DeLana, Aldon Nielsen and myself.
About the reading itself: rather than quiet, it seemed the louder I became, the louder the conversations became at the opening to the store. It seemed they did not realize that there was a reading going on or if they did, that they did not care. I felt rushed, too. The response of the students was minimal, though on occasion they looked up. Their eyes were not active, though. At least, it did not seem so to me.
I read the following poems:
Believe p. 46
Negro Bembon Daddy p. 49
Funktified Hail Mary p. 59
Assumption aubade p. 61
Ascend p. 63
And newer poems: Wolf Rock School, October 2006, GED, and Escape
Perhaps this reading was a preparation for what is to come ... or maybe the worst I have been given to get out of the way first.
I should not be so cruel, though as the experience did thrill me, especially to converse with Aldon again. It was also a good practice on how to choose poems to read, to read them for an audience again, and watch their reactions.
I hadn't seen Aldon in years, too, though he's on my dissertation committee. He's a walking compendium of knowledge, and I felt privileged to have access to his stories again for a moment. He was even kind enough to take pictures of the event and afterwards take DeLana and I out to dinner at India Pavilion (though, unfortunately I couldn't eat much because of the early snack and my crashing due to jet lag). It was a great meal, though, filled with my random connections as usual.
In 8 minutes, we leave to get out the road again. I have to take some aspirin for the headache I am having, but I'm really looking forward to tonight's reading AND the sushi restaurant on Franklin that is going to have me as a customer today. :)
There were no banners at my reception. Very little warmth. The lovely lady who sold me books introduced me - she was wonderful, incredibly dedicated to her work - mispronouncing Cave Canem (but everyone does as the Latin V is pronounced as a W, I learned) but still kind. A few students filtered by to hear a word or two, but the main listeners were DeLana, Aldon Nielsen and myself.
About the reading itself: rather than quiet, it seemed the louder I became, the louder the conversations became at the opening to the store. It seemed they did not realize that there was a reading going on or if they did, that they did not care. I felt rushed, too. The response of the students was minimal, though on occasion they looked up. Their eyes were not active, though. At least, it did not seem so to me.
I read the following poems:
Believe p. 46
Negro Bembon Daddy p. 49
Funktified Hail Mary p. 59
Assumption aubade p. 61
Ascend p. 63
And newer poems: Wolf Rock School, October 2006, GED, and Escape
Perhaps this reading was a preparation for what is to come ... or maybe the worst I have been given to get out of the way first.
I should not be so cruel, though as the experience did thrill me, especially to converse with Aldon again. It was also a good practice on how to choose poems to read, to read them for an audience again, and watch their reactions.
I hadn't seen Aldon in years, too, though he's on my dissertation committee. He's a walking compendium of knowledge, and I felt privileged to have access to his stories again for a moment. He was even kind enough to take pictures of the event and afterwards take DeLana and I out to dinner at India Pavilion (though, unfortunately I couldn't eat much because of the early snack and my crashing due to jet lag). It was a great meal, though, filled with my random connections as usual.
In 8 minutes, we leave to get out the road again. I have to take some aspirin for the headache I am having, but I'm really looking forward to tonight's reading AND the sushi restaurant on Franklin that is going to have me as a customer today. :)
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