Friday, January 30, 2004
The sports poems have taken a new direction. Yesterday I was checking out sports programming on-line at WBUR and came across the "Only a Game" website which was running a story on the childhood game four square which is played locally at the Cambridge Y every other weekend by a group of adults! Which led me to do some general research into the game and many such leagues apparently exist. hard to say whether the game is played as aggressively in adulthood as in childhood. The game uses the same ball as dodgeball which also raises some interesting thoughts. There has been a controversy surrounding the banning of dodge ball which started in Connecticut a few years ago, spearheaded by a physical education teacher who coaxed one of his students into a game, an overweight, girl with glasses, who had her nose broken by another player within seconds of entering the game. He aimed the ball for her head. Kids have been reported to say "I enjoy hitting other people with the ball." There's a great report in an old issue of the L.A. Times covering the topic.
So now I am working on a visual four square poem laid out like a grid and playing around with early childhood games learned thru phys ed - marco polo, red rover, dodgeball, sharks and minnows - thinking that the structure of the sports manuscript, working title "Face Off Spots in Neutral Zones" will start with early childhood/innocence, move into adolescence/sexuality, and end with poems of adulthood/experience.
So now I am working on a visual four square poem laid out like a grid and playing around with early childhood games learned thru phys ed - marco polo, red rover, dodgeball, sharks and minnows - thinking that the structure of the sports manuscript, working title "Face Off Spots in Neutral Zones" will start with early childhood/innocence, move into adolescence/sexuality, and end with poems of adulthood/experience.
My new plot to make some headway on my family memoir project on Taiwan is to find a good translator of Chinese. I am looking for someone with a strong reading knowledge of Chinese who can translate a historical text (less than 100 pages with many graphics) put out by the local cultural council of Ching Shui in Taichung, Taiwan which I can provide. Interested in bartering, or possibly paying for these services. If interested, contact me.
Wednesday, January 28, 2004
I just finished reading a book by Jimmy Gleacher called It's How You Play the Game. It is a terrific read - characters that seem straight out of a Douglas Copeland or Bret Easton Ellis novel with a little bit of David Lynch (a mysterious midget tagger) and some Mafia intrigue. The book is set primarily in Boulder, CO and Locust Valley, NY and is a coming of age story.
I first heard Jimmy read at a Naropa SWP event in 1998. He read this piece, Axioms, which changed some of the prejudices I had about "prose" or "prose writers" as it is a wonderfully poetic and beautiful piece. Jimmy's still in Boulder, hopefully working on his next masterpiece.
I first heard Jimmy read at a Naropa SWP event in 1998. He read this piece, Axioms, which changed some of the prejudices I had about "prose" or "prose writers" as it is a wonderfully poetic and beautiful piece. Jimmy's still in Boulder, hopefully working on his next masterpiece.
Tuesday, January 27, 2004
My local post office agent, Paul, (who looks a bit like Paul Newman, if Paul Newman had been a heavy smoker) is going to the Super Bowl. His son, Paul Jr. arranged it. They are staying in San Antonio and flying down on Friday or something crazy like that. Sports fever. Fascinating.
The only thing that excites/impassions me a similar way is perhaps my fascination with celebrity and the the film/music industry. I had a long talk with my friend Gac Kim last night, who moved back to L.A. a few years ago. This time of year with the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, it's a media circus out in Hollywood.
Gac, who is KoreAm, is working on a historical novel about a Chinese cowboy town in No Cal. It is a discussion that I have had with other friends from different ethnic backgrounds, but it seems like sometimes it is easier to write about a culture outside of the one that we know so well from first hand experience. My friend Sarah, who studies at the MFA program at Mills, is Pakistani-American and is writing a novel set in Wales. The very complex ethical issue arises of how we represent said culture - if we stick to historical fact and accuracy, or if we take liberties, and is this then irresponsible to the culture in some way, or does the writer than make him/herself an easy target for criticism? It can be easier for me to write about being Taiwanese/Chinese-American because I know what that system is, the rules and boundaries of the community, what the criticisms and outrage would be, and there is some flex room within that, but give me a different culture to write about, and I might find that quite paralyzing.
The only thing that excites/impassions me a similar way is perhaps my fascination with celebrity and the the film/music industry. I had a long talk with my friend Gac Kim last night, who moved back to L.A. a few years ago. This time of year with the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, it's a media circus out in Hollywood.
Gac, who is KoreAm, is working on a historical novel about a Chinese cowboy town in No Cal. It is a discussion that I have had with other friends from different ethnic backgrounds, but it seems like sometimes it is easier to write about a culture outside of the one that we know so well from first hand experience. My friend Sarah, who studies at the MFA program at Mills, is Pakistani-American and is writing a novel set in Wales. The very complex ethical issue arises of how we represent said culture - if we stick to historical fact and accuracy, or if we take liberties, and is this then irresponsible to the culture in some way, or does the writer than make him/herself an easy target for criticism? It can be easier for me to write about being Taiwanese/Chinese-American because I know what that system is, the rules and boundaries of the community, what the criticisms and outrage would be, and there is some flex room within that, but give me a different culture to write about, and I might find that quite paralyzing.
Feeling reticent in recent days.
Here are 2 links to 2 visual artists doing very interesting things with sports/the figure:
James Cullinane
Brian Finke
Here are 2 links to 2 visual artists doing very interesting things with sports/the figure:
James Cullinane
Brian Finke
Monday, January 26, 2004
MT is a literary magazine dedicated to supporting a new generation of
talented Asian-American writers. Each issue will contain a short story or
essay or body of poems or other creative literary work by one Asian-American
writer in a well-designed, easy to read, easy to carry format.
We are looking for submissions of previously unpublished material between
3000 and 8000 words or something substantial. We offer $100 and 10
contributor copies upon publication.
The magazine's website will also feature an interview of each writer we
publish as well as other promotional material. In short, we're not
interested in just putting out a magazine; we want to create a community to
support emerging Asian-American literary talent.
If this sounds all right by you, click www.mortons-toe.com to submit or for
more details.
Sincerely,
MT
PS. please direct any questions to info@mortons-toe.com or
mijinlee519@yahoo.com
talented Asian-American writers. Each issue will contain a short story or
essay or body of poems or other creative literary work by one Asian-American
writer in a well-designed, easy to read, easy to carry format.
We are looking for submissions of previously unpublished material between
3000 and 8000 words or something substantial. We offer $100 and 10
contributor copies upon publication.
The magazine's website will also feature an interview of each writer we
publish as well as other promotional material. In short, we're not
interested in just putting out a magazine; we want to create a community to
support emerging Asian-American literary talent.
If this sounds all right by you, click www.mortons-toe.com to submit or for
more details.
Sincerely,
MT
PS. please direct any questions to info@mortons-toe.com or
mijinlee519@yahoo.com
Sunday, January 25, 2004
FWD:
Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,
Over the next few weeks, President Bush and his congressional allies will try
once again to ram their disastrous energy bill through the U.S. Senate. They
fell only two votes short in November and they've vowed to make passage of the
bill their top priority now that Congress has returned from recess.
This bill may be the worst piece of legislation you and I will see in our
lifetimes. It would pick your pocket, despoil your natural heritage, endanger
your family's health and smother your hope for a more secure energy future. We
ignore this bill at our own peril.
Let me tell you our simple plan for thwarting this shameless attack on our
environment and pocketbooks. If millions of Americans each took one minute to
protest this bill, it would cause every senator who is tempted to vote for it
to think twice about doing so.
You can make this happen within the next few hours by doing two things:
First, go to http://www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp?src=RR0401
and send your two senators an email or fax, telling them to vote against this
pro-polluter energy bill. Then, forward my email to at least four of your
friends, family members or colleagues.
I am emailing this message to 500,000 BioGems Defenders and other NRDC
activists. If each one forwards this message to just four more people, we will
generate a national tidal wave of opposition before this day is over.
And that won't be a moment too soon. This disgraceful bill would pick our
pockets to hand out billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to the oil, coal
and nuclear industries. That's their long-awaited reward for making big-time
contributions to the Bush-Cheney campaign. They profit while the rest of us pay
the price -- in tax dollars and environmental degradation.
This bill gives the energy giants a free pass to drill their way through our
last wild places, burn more dirty coal, build a new generation of risky nuclear
power plants and dramatically increase air pollution that would sicken the
vulnerable -- especially children and seniors -- for decades to come.
It would establish oil and gas development as the dominant use of our federal
public lands, open national parks to the construction of electricity
transmission lines, exempt polluters from core provisions of our clean air and
water laws and waive liability for the producers of the toxic gasoline additive
MTBE -- even though it has contaminated at least 1,500 public water supplies in
all 50 American states.
You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more backward-looking, wasteful and
self-defeating energy "plan" than this one. At a time when the federal deficit
is soaring and we're going to war in the Persian Gulf oilfields, the White
House wants to stick us with the tab for prolonging our destructive dependence
on fossil fuels, foreign oil and dangerous nuclear technology.
This is not a national energy policy. This is corporate welfare, pure and
simple. Estimates of the bill's corporate tax breaks range from $23 billion to
well over $100 billion with loan guarantees included. No surprise there. Big
energy companies cooked up this raid on the federal treasury during hundreds of
secret meetings with Vice President Cheney's energy task force and their allies
on Capitol Hill.
It's one thing to gouge taxpayers. But to claim this rip-off is in the national
interest, as the White House would have us believe, is a slap in the face to
every working American.
Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of voters -- of both parties --
understand that we simply must reduce our out-of-control appetite for fossil
fuels if we ever are to secure energy independence. That means turning American
rooftops into the Persian Gulf of solar energy. It means producing cars that
get 40 miles per gallon. It means constructing efficient buildings that use
half the energy of the average American office without sacrificing comfort.
Making this transformation to a super-efficient, low-pollution economy would
save consumers upwards of a trillion dollars, spare our last wild places from
destruction, improve our health, slow global warming and reduce our dependence
on undemocratic regimes overseas. It's a no-brainer to anyone living outside
the White House.
But unless millions of Americans speak out right now, the enactment of the
president's energy bill will doom us to an apocalyptic future of blighted
wilderness, poisonous air pollution, devastating climate change and endless
wars over fossil fuels.
Please make your voice heard. Go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp?src=RR0401
and tell your senators to obey the will of the American people, *not* the
dictates of giant energy corporations! Call on Congress to create a sustainable
and affordable energy path.
And please be sure to forward this message to at least four other people.
Believe me, millions of Americans are just waiting for a simple way to stop
this madness and lend their support to a sane and hopeful energy future.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Redford
Board of Trustees
Natural Resources Defense Council
Dear NRDC BioGems Defender,
Over the next few weeks, President Bush and his congressional allies will try
once again to ram their disastrous energy bill through the U.S. Senate. They
fell only two votes short in November and they've vowed to make passage of the
bill their top priority now that Congress has returned from recess.
This bill may be the worst piece of legislation you and I will see in our
lifetimes. It would pick your pocket, despoil your natural heritage, endanger
your family's health and smother your hope for a more secure energy future. We
ignore this bill at our own peril.
Let me tell you our simple plan for thwarting this shameless attack on our
environment and pocketbooks. If millions of Americans each took one minute to
protest this bill, it would cause every senator who is tempted to vote for it
to think twice about doing so.
You can make this happen within the next few hours by doing two things:
First, go to http://www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp?src=RR0401
and send your two senators an email or fax, telling them to vote against this
pro-polluter energy bill. Then, forward my email to at least four of your
friends, family members or colleagues.
I am emailing this message to 500,000 BioGems Defenders and other NRDC
activists. If each one forwards this message to just four more people, we will
generate a national tidal wave of opposition before this day is over.
And that won't be a moment too soon. This disgraceful bill would pick our
pockets to hand out billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to the oil, coal
and nuclear industries. That's their long-awaited reward for making big-time
contributions to the Bush-Cheney campaign. They profit while the rest of us pay
the price -- in tax dollars and environmental degradation.
This bill gives the energy giants a free pass to drill their way through our
last wild places, burn more dirty coal, build a new generation of risky nuclear
power plants and dramatically increase air pollution that would sicken the
vulnerable -- especially children and seniors -- for decades to come.
It would establish oil and gas development as the dominant use of our federal
public lands, open national parks to the construction of electricity
transmission lines, exempt polluters from core provisions of our clean air and
water laws and waive liability for the producers of the toxic gasoline additive
MTBE -- even though it has contaminated at least 1,500 public water supplies in
all 50 American states.
You'd be hard-pressed to come up with a more backward-looking, wasteful and
self-defeating energy "plan" than this one. At a time when the federal deficit
is soaring and we're going to war in the Persian Gulf oilfields, the White
House wants to stick us with the tab for prolonging our destructive dependence
on fossil fuels, foreign oil and dangerous nuclear technology.
This is not a national energy policy. This is corporate welfare, pure and
simple. Estimates of the bill's corporate tax breaks range from $23 billion to
well over $100 billion with loan guarantees included. No surprise there. Big
energy companies cooked up this raid on the federal treasury during hundreds of
secret meetings with Vice President Cheney's energy task force and their allies
on Capitol Hill.
It's one thing to gouge taxpayers. But to claim this rip-off is in the national
interest, as the White House would have us believe, is a slap in the face to
every working American.
Poll after poll shows that the vast majority of voters -- of both parties --
understand that we simply must reduce our out-of-control appetite for fossil
fuels if we ever are to secure energy independence. That means turning American
rooftops into the Persian Gulf of solar energy. It means producing cars that
get 40 miles per gallon. It means constructing efficient buildings that use
half the energy of the average American office without sacrificing comfort.
Making this transformation to a super-efficient, low-pollution economy would
save consumers upwards of a trillion dollars, spare our last wild places from
destruction, improve our health, slow global warming and reduce our dependence
on undemocratic regimes overseas. It's a no-brainer to anyone living outside
the White House.
But unless millions of Americans speak out right now, the enactment of the
president's energy bill will doom us to an apocalyptic future of blighted
wilderness, poisonous air pollution, devastating climate change and endless
wars over fossil fuels.
Please make your voice heard. Go to
http://www.savebiogems.org/takeaction.asp?src=RR0401
and tell your senators to obey the will of the American people, *not* the
dictates of giant energy corporations! Call on Congress to create a sustainable
and affordable energy path.
And please be sure to forward this message to at least four other people.
Believe me, millions of Americans are just waiting for a simple way to stop
this madness and lend their support to a sane and hopeful energy future.
Sincerely yours,
Robert Redford
Board of Trustees
Natural Resources Defense Council
Saturday, January 24, 2004
Made Japanese tea (tray ceremony) for Kort this afternoon and felt pretty overwhelmed by the whole thing but got thru it. Sifting the tea powder, getting it in the natsume in the shape of a mountain like Mt. Fuji without making a mess. Finding the right kettle for the burner. Actually making the tea. Most tea bowls we own at least seem to conduct a lot of heat, and as a result, it's like scorching your fingers after wisking the tea and having to pick up the bowl and deliver it to your guest. I like a lot of feedback with whatever I'm doing - it's part of being process-oriented. Kort's got years of experience on me and training in Japan, so I asked him about some of things I was doing, and while it wasn't a disaster, it was a definite lesson in communication and expectations - a whole renegotiation of our relationship right there in the tea space. The issue is one of having a dual relationship with a loved one and how that impacts aspects of how you relate to one another in either area. I am accustomed to being an equal, vs. a student to Kort. And I wasn't asking for a lesson, so much as I was asking for feedback - so the criticism, which was valued, was unexpected and harder to accept or process because of the approach. So as a remedy, we are thinking that sometimes there will be formal lessons and other times there will be informal and casual making tea for one another where perfection is not an issue. The thing to remember in general is making the best bowl of tea possible, and cultivating a tea heart, or a heart of openness. Dual relationships are an interesting thing - not something that comes up often for me, but... I remember while at Naropa there were strict policies in regard to no dual relationships - i.e. teacher/student romances; co-worker/meditation instructor relationships... there are good reasons to be observant of these overlaps, because these boundaries exist to preserve our sense of integrity.
Just back from dinner solo at the Watertown Town Diner. Shrimp scampi, ginger lemon tea and raspberry/pear tart for dessert. Did some writing in my journal and just some general reflecting. Now that I am starting to feel healthy, I am almost anxious to get out of the house, run around, do things, go to the gym, see people.
Recently I joined a women's gym. In the past, I've belonged to gym's like Fitcorp, Bally's and the Y. None of which have particularly appealed to me (esp. Bally's which is a total pick-up joint). It's really weird but also uplifting to be around so many different kinds of women. It's fascinating to see the way in which different people inhabit their bodies.
Recently I joined a women's gym. In the past, I've belonged to gym's like Fitcorp, Bally's and the Y. None of which have particularly appealed to me (esp. Bally's which is a total pick-up joint). It's really weird but also uplifting to be around so many different kinds of women. It's fascinating to see the way in which different people inhabit their bodies.
Friday, January 23, 2004
Event Announcement:
ELECTROVIDEOMOVE
produced by 911 Gallery, Voidstar Productions
and Royal Jelly Collective
VIDEO: dial 8, drT, lena and W2
DJ's: Nauzeeaun, Ukuphambana, Grenadier,
and DJVartan play Big Beat Industrial, I.D.M,
Powernoise, Downtempo, Trip Hop and
Techno
DANCE: Nicole Bindler, Joe Burgio, Teresa
Czepiel, Paul Kafka-Gibbons, and Heather
McQuiston
Friday, January 30
Zeitgeist Gallery
Inman Sq., Cambridge
7-9 p.m.
ELECTROVIDEOMOVE
produced by 911 Gallery, Voidstar Productions
and Royal Jelly Collective
VIDEO: dial 8, drT, lena and W2
DJ's: Nauzeeaun, Ukuphambana, Grenadier,
and DJVartan play Big Beat Industrial, I.D.M,
Powernoise, Downtempo, Trip Hop and
Techno
DANCE: Nicole Bindler, Joe Burgio, Teresa
Czepiel, Paul Kafka-Gibbons, and Heather
McQuiston
Friday, January 30
Zeitgeist Gallery
Inman Sq., Cambridge
7-9 p.m.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
He has always been my favorite of the Romantic poets, before Shelley, Byron, Clare, or Blake...
You're John Keats! You were born poor, trained to
be a doctor, and then decided you wanted to be
a poet. You threw yourself into poetry with
great dedication. You're very nice and
extremely dedicated to your art. You write
great letters and sexy poetry. It's amazing
how much you got done in your short lifetime.
Which Major Romantic Poet Would You Be (if You Were a Major Romantic Poet)?
brought to you by Quizilla
You're John Keats! You were born poor, trained to
be a doctor, and then decided you wanted to be
a poet. You threw yourself into poetry with
great dedication. You're very nice and
extremely dedicated to your art. You write
great letters and sexy poetry. It's amazing
how much you got done in your short lifetime.
Which Major Romantic Poet Would You Be (if You Were a Major Romantic Poet)?
brought to you by Quizilla
From my friend Arian Blanco at the Hudson Exploited Theater Company:
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company, INC.
For Immediate Release
Contact: John C. Cunningham E-mail: cunninghamjc8@yahoo.com
Hudson Exploited Theater Company’s Call for Scripts
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company is pleased to announce its national call for scripts for its fifth annual Where Theater Starts Reading Series. We are looking for original, never-before-publicly-read or performed works from playwrights.
We will consider one-act original plays (10-90 minutes in length, with up to six characters). We are looking for dramatic or comedic works. Musicals or one person shows will not be considered.
The reading series is planned for mid-June, 2004. Selected plays will be featured at a public reading in our NJ space and in a NYC venue. Our focus is on identifying character-driven pieces that we can develop into full productions. We seek to work with a select group of talented playwrights who will provide the works for our annual production season.
How to Apply:
Please submit FIVE copies the following no later than APRIL 10, 2004 (postmarked):
1) Artistic resume.
2) One page cover letter explaining why we should consider your piece.
3) Your script.
Submit to:
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company, Inc.
Attn: John C. Cunningham
200 Oak Street #2
Weehawken, NJ 07086
Only one submission per author will be accepted. Be advised that we cannot return any submission materials unless provided with a self addressed envelope including proper postage. No phone calls will be accepted. Finalists will be notified no later than May 5, 2004.
Mission of the Hudson Exploited Theater Company:
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company is dedicated to producing theatre on both sides of the Hudson, offering an enriching environment where theatre professionals are given the opportunity to showcase their talents and creativity. We are committed to expanding the notion of what is “American” and to present the works of artists that reflect the variety of experiences, backgrounds, races, and cultures that make up the American landscape. HExTC seeks to produce new plays as well as inspired productions of modern classics. For more information about HExTC visit our website at: www.hextc.org
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company, INC.
For Immediate Release
Contact: John C. Cunningham E-mail: cunninghamjc8@yahoo.com
Hudson Exploited Theater Company’s Call for Scripts
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company is pleased to announce its national call for scripts for its fifth annual Where Theater Starts Reading Series. We are looking for original, never-before-publicly-read or performed works from playwrights.
We will consider one-act original plays (10-90 minutes in length, with up to six characters). We are looking for dramatic or comedic works. Musicals or one person shows will not be considered.
The reading series is planned for mid-June, 2004. Selected plays will be featured at a public reading in our NJ space and in a NYC venue. Our focus is on identifying character-driven pieces that we can develop into full productions. We seek to work with a select group of talented playwrights who will provide the works for our annual production season.
How to Apply:
Please submit FIVE copies the following no later than APRIL 10, 2004 (postmarked):
1) Artistic resume.
2) One page cover letter explaining why we should consider your piece.
3) Your script.
Submit to:
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company, Inc.
Attn: John C. Cunningham
200 Oak Street #2
Weehawken, NJ 07086
Only one submission per author will be accepted. Be advised that we cannot return any submission materials unless provided with a self addressed envelope including proper postage. No phone calls will be accepted. Finalists will be notified no later than May 5, 2004.
Mission of the Hudson Exploited Theater Company:
The Hudson Exploited Theater Company is dedicated to producing theatre on both sides of the Hudson, offering an enriching environment where theatre professionals are given the opportunity to showcase their talents and creativity. We are committed to expanding the notion of what is “American” and to present the works of artists that reflect the variety of experiences, backgrounds, races, and cultures that make up the American landscape. HExTC seeks to produce new plays as well as inspired productions of modern classics. For more information about HExTC visit our website at: www.hextc.org
For the new year, I splurged yesterday on a wine colored vintage skirt from Shake the Tree Gallery in Brookline. It is by Neesh designs by D.A.R. The fabric is a rich dark red, silky acetate material with ribbon detailing and the skirt falls just below the knee. I can't wait to wear it, probably in Texas vs. in Boston subzero winter.
I head to Dallas in 2 weeks, on February 6 for the Paul Baker Literary Festival at Booker T. Washington, the arts magnet school in Dallas and to teach a workshop at the Writers Garret. Kort's parents, Frank and Ellen (an amazing figurative artist) are hosting a book-signing party for Equivalence. Ellen is hooked into the art scene and introduced me to many wonderful talented visual artists. Some of my favorite memories of living in Dallas were of gallery hopping on Friday nights. Believe it or not, Texas art also has huge connections to the NY scene. One day I need to head out to West Texas and check out Marfa and the Chinati Foundation - Donald Judd's brain child.
I will get to see my old friends and colleagues from the Dallas Museum of Art and have lunch with my mentor/former boss, my friend Nicole, and my docents, dear sweet human beings who taught me so much about life, art and teaching. The weather will be sunny, the pace of life will be significantly slower, and this will be a respite from the old.
Hoping to plan a visit to the newly erected Nasher Sculpture Garden which is now up and running across the street from the DMA. Nasher, a real estate developer, went to BU years ago and started collecting art early on with his now deceased wife. They amassed an amazing collection of modern and contemporary sculpture (some of which - like a Henry Moore -is in the North Park Shopping Mall!). The establishing of this Museum in Dallas will bring a lot of scholarly interest to the Dallas art scene and definitely increase tourism. I will have to tour the collection with one of my old docents, to get the inside scoop.
Dallas is a young city, just starting to take off, and I am excited to see how it has changed since I left in 2001. I hear that a new artist in residence program has also been established at an arts center associated with Rick Bretell, former Director of the DMA and hope to check out the facilities and program during my brief stay. Texas is looking real good this time 'round.
I head to Dallas in 2 weeks, on February 6 for the Paul Baker Literary Festival at Booker T. Washington, the arts magnet school in Dallas and to teach a workshop at the Writers Garret. Kort's parents, Frank and Ellen (an amazing figurative artist) are hosting a book-signing party for Equivalence. Ellen is hooked into the art scene and introduced me to many wonderful talented visual artists. Some of my favorite memories of living in Dallas were of gallery hopping on Friday nights. Believe it or not, Texas art also has huge connections to the NY scene. One day I need to head out to West Texas and check out Marfa and the Chinati Foundation - Donald Judd's brain child.
I will get to see my old friends and colleagues from the Dallas Museum of Art and have lunch with my mentor/former boss, my friend Nicole, and my docents, dear sweet human beings who taught me so much about life, art and teaching. The weather will be sunny, the pace of life will be significantly slower, and this will be a respite from the old.
Hoping to plan a visit to the newly erected Nasher Sculpture Garden which is now up and running across the street from the DMA. Nasher, a real estate developer, went to BU years ago and started collecting art early on with his now deceased wife. They amassed an amazing collection of modern and contemporary sculpture (some of which - like a Henry Moore -is in the North Park Shopping Mall!). The establishing of this Museum in Dallas will bring a lot of scholarly interest to the Dallas art scene and definitely increase tourism. I will have to tour the collection with one of my old docents, to get the inside scoop.
Dallas is a young city, just starting to take off, and I am excited to see how it has changed since I left in 2001. I hear that a new artist in residence program has also been established at an arts center associated with Rick Bretell, former Director of the DMA and hope to check out the facilities and program during my brief stay. Texas is looking real good this time 'round.
Was there any doubt?
You are a goddess!
Which Ultimate Beautiful Woman are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
You are a goddess!
Which Ultimate Beautiful Woman are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Some poems by amazing Seattle poet Folade Mondisa Speaks-Love from an amazing manuscript in progress:
SAMO RITUAL
pessimist forehead
undulating
white walls
they say you
search
for traces
of black art
here
and turn
libation circles
and piss
museum corners
to represent
you autograph
with your
voice-
a patois chant
that claims
these
gallery rooms
for blacks who
can't hang
In my Husband's House
A bed that floats
over light beams
flooding the underside
like rocket ship
book case of cinder
block and brown
shelves
its foundation: a puddle
of rock and stone
your imagination
weathered within
my birthday mermaid
pedestal tail, lotus flower
above her ear
her eyes, reaching out
our windows: galactic
view all sky: Olympic Mountains
their halo clouds, clockwork
sunsets you can count on
my back is growing
roots all the love seed
you plant
around me
our cane trees, the waterfront
linen bedroom door
there are about two
thousand pounds of home here
the blood
of your ancestors
passing miracle creations
through your hands all
of this home built
in your hands
For the Record
J. Marion Simms
gynecology father
is intrigued with curing
white women's disease
but cannot annihilate his own.
Only slave women
are suitable
to purchase, pick, prod and ditch
with speculum scars.
He does not cut through white
skin, stands back a voyeur
with scruples and scalpel.
Saves his blade
for black bodies on tables
only stirrups and slices
reproductive organs of savage
women whose offspring would be
branded chattel.
Like a commandant he
dictates to her
sit on knees
rest buttocks in the dip
of your ankles close eyes bend over
and give me
the pink semblance
of your counterpart.
Her reproductive organs becoming
excised trial and error, Nigger
mutilated, savage
experiment, medical
discovery.
Discard her remains
following scalpel shock and hemorrhage
throw all Colored bodies out
back door.
No anesthesia
necessary, no waste
of currency, graves or
good women.
SAMO RITUAL
pessimist forehead
undulating
white walls
they say you
search
for traces
of black art
here
and turn
libation circles
and piss
museum corners
to represent
you autograph
with your
voice-
a patois chant
that claims
these
gallery rooms
for blacks who
can't hang
In my Husband's House
A bed that floats
over light beams
flooding the underside
like rocket ship
book case of cinder
block and brown
shelves
its foundation: a puddle
of rock and stone
your imagination
weathered within
my birthday mermaid
pedestal tail, lotus flower
above her ear
her eyes, reaching out
our windows: galactic
view all sky: Olympic Mountains
their halo clouds, clockwork
sunsets you can count on
my back is growing
roots all the love seed
you plant
around me
our cane trees, the waterfront
linen bedroom door
there are about two
thousand pounds of home here
the blood
of your ancestors
passing miracle creations
through your hands all
of this home built
in your hands
For the Record
J. Marion Simms
gynecology father
is intrigued with curing
white women's disease
but cannot annihilate his own.
Only slave women
are suitable
to purchase, pick, prod and ditch
with speculum scars.
He does not cut through white
skin, stands back a voyeur
with scruples and scalpel.
Saves his blade
for black bodies on tables
only stirrups and slices
reproductive organs of savage
women whose offspring would be
branded chattel.
Like a commandant he
dictates to her
sit on knees
rest buttocks in the dip
of your ankles close eyes bend over
and give me
the pink semblance
of your counterpart.
Her reproductive organs becoming
excised trial and error, Nigger
mutilated, savage
experiment, medical
discovery.
Discard her remains
following scalpel shock and hemorrhage
throw all Colored bodies out
back door.
No anesthesia
necessary, no waste
of currency, graves or
good women.
Yesterday's exercise in prose writing was an interesting thought experiment. I am enrolled in an introductory personal essay/memoir class which means that my mates are a hodge podge of experiences. During the sharing out loud portion of the class, one woman wrote of a first kiss, 2 others wrote about their relationships with their fathers and their dysfunctional families. It was painful to listen to and while the material of family (part of my current project) is rich for mining, it has always been very clear to me that it is a long road from therapy to transformation to art. I avoided any deep topics and wrote about the Japanese tea house where Kort and I met and fell in love.
At some point we all have to face our fears. My fears are pretty garden variety - death and suffering, specifically pain. My meditation teacher Bill Scheffel once said in a class, "You can eat a donut but the fear will still be there." I think he was laughing when he said it, or I was laughing in response, as I couldn't imagine what eating a donut would achieve for me in terms of evading my fear, unless you're like Homer Simpson. Plus this commentary was preceded by great poets articulating their deepest notions of fearfulness. The donut is the fill in the blank - you can take a percoset, have sex, watch television, paint your toenails, call your best friend but ultimately, you still have to go out and meet your destiny sooner or later. I will be so relieved to pass thru this period of my life and to start living a normal life starting now.
Tomorrow is Chinese New Year. Click on this link for an animated greeting card, courtesy of my friend Huan-Wen.
Common rituals/activities associated with the new year:
getting a haircut
buying a new suit of clothes
cleaning your house
climbing a mountain
Common rituals/activities associated with the new year:
getting a haircut
buying a new suit of clothes
cleaning your house
climbing a mountain
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
For all you crafty chicas... cut and paste. Check out the mittens at marissaland, tees at Jordan Kraft and this ADORABLE toaster purse at Paper Crane.
I am an absolute marshmallow when it comes to matters of physical health and well-being. It's been something like 2 months since I've seen my dear friend Catherine who lives in Somerville and I have been holed up in our apartment like a hermit since late December desperately trying to hold on to any sense of "health".
Today I am making the decision to get past this pyschic road block. I am taking a non-fiction, prose writing class which starts tonite and runs for 10 weeks. No better time than the present to start processing and putting a structure to some difficult material, and what better timing than before heading back to MacDowell, the site for much good work.
Today I am making the decision to get past this pyschic road block. I am taking a non-fiction, prose writing class which starts tonite and runs for 10 weeks. No better time than the present to start processing and putting a structure to some difficult material, and what better timing than before heading back to MacDowell, the site for much good work.
David Lukowski is having an opening of abstract painting at the Sherborn Library this Saturday, 3-4:30 p.m. Drop by and meet the artist!
Thomas Coburn, President of Naropa is coming to Boston to meet with Naropa alums in early February. Coburn was inaugurated last year, after John Cobb, a lawyer, stepped down from the position. Coburn's academic and experential preparation make him a unique leader, especially suited for Naropa. I'm excited to meet Dr. Coburn in person and to hear about all the growth and change happening at Naropa and in Boulder. This is the 30th anniversary of Naropa and in the past few years exciting new programs have developed and a BA degree is now even offered. At the time K and I were there, you either had to transfer in, or enter at the graduate level. There are even DORMS now! It is heartening to know that communities exist out there that challenge us to question the basis of our experience and the nature of our very beings. I regard my time in Boulder as the pivotal moment in which I had a first taste of who I am continually becoming. This can not be forgotten, though like all things, it must be let go of.
Zuzu's Petals publishes an essay on the 10 best up and coming art towns to live in. I'm thinking Ashland, OR is looking real good. Anywhere outside of New England is looking good.
Friday, January 16, 2004
In the last month and a half, I have felt a strong need to step away from blog culture and the Boston poetry community, though I think I mistakenly, and wrongly at times associate the community too strongly here with a certain monkey blogger. From the desk of public enemy #6, that would be me (AND by extension my life partner): "sanctimonious Buddhists", this is the general statement that I would like to make in light of all the recent mudslinging directed towards the hard-working, gentle, and genuine poets in this community and others. In regards to "a call to be more genuine":
"The Tibetan word for warrior is PAWO, which means "a brave person". If you don't work with a situation properly, you might hurt someone, which is the mark of cowardice and impatience. People kill an enemy on the spot because they feel they can't be bothered, which is a mark of laziness; because they hate someone so much they want to see them die, which is a mark of ignorance; or because they would like to strike the person dead, which is a mark of aggression. The warrior, pawo, would never do that. Challenges are the working basis. That is why we have a world. If you slaughter everybody in the whole world, you have nothing left to work with - including your lover. There's nobody left to play or dance with." - from Trungpa's "Great Eastern Sun"
" We tend to think that the threats to our society or to ourselves are outside of us. We fear that some enemy will destroy us. But a society is destroyed from the inside, not from an attack by outsiders. We may imagine the enemy coming with spears and machine guns to kill us, massacre us. In reality, the only thing that can destroy us is within ourselves. And if we destroy gentleness, then we destroy the possibility of being awake, and then we cannot use our intuitive openness to extend ourselves in situations properly. Instead we generate tremendous aggression...
The Japanese have an interesting term, toranoko, which literally means "tiger cub". It is a pejorative term. When you call someone a toranoko, you mean that he is a paper tiger, someone who appears brave but is actually a coward. That is the description of clinging to habitual patterns. You may make feeble attempts to expose your cowardice. Using eloquent language, you may make a confession saying, "I know I'm not all that fearless," but even your confession is still an expression of toranoko, a fat tiger cub who is afraid of his own shadow, afraid to jump and play with the other cubs."
- from Trungpa's "Sacred Path of the Warrior"
"The Tibetan word for warrior is PAWO, which means "a brave person". If you don't work with a situation properly, you might hurt someone, which is the mark of cowardice and impatience. People kill an enemy on the spot because they feel they can't be bothered, which is a mark of laziness; because they hate someone so much they want to see them die, which is a mark of ignorance; or because they would like to strike the person dead, which is a mark of aggression. The warrior, pawo, would never do that. Challenges are the working basis. That is why we have a world. If you slaughter everybody in the whole world, you have nothing left to work with - including your lover. There's nobody left to play or dance with." - from Trungpa's "Great Eastern Sun"
" We tend to think that the threats to our society or to ourselves are outside of us. We fear that some enemy will destroy us. But a society is destroyed from the inside, not from an attack by outsiders. We may imagine the enemy coming with spears and machine guns to kill us, massacre us. In reality, the only thing that can destroy us is within ourselves. And if we destroy gentleness, then we destroy the possibility of being awake, and then we cannot use our intuitive openness to extend ourselves in situations properly. Instead we generate tremendous aggression...
The Japanese have an interesting term, toranoko, which literally means "tiger cub". It is a pejorative term. When you call someone a toranoko, you mean that he is a paper tiger, someone who appears brave but is actually a coward. That is the description of clinging to habitual patterns. You may make feeble attempts to expose your cowardice. Using eloquent language, you may make a confession saying, "I know I'm not all that fearless," but even your confession is still an expression of toranoko, a fat tiger cub who is afraid of his own shadow, afraid to jump and play with the other cubs."
- from Trungpa's "Sacred Path of the Warrior"
Sunday, January 11, 2004
Today, Kort and I made Japanese tea in our home for the first time since living in Dallas four years ago. We picked up tatami mats from Tokai in Porter Square yesterday with the help of Chris Miller and got them set up for the time being in our dining room area. The mats give off a slightly grass-like, spicy smell that is very soothing. I woke up and Kort had set up the mats and the furo, sifted the tea, and we served green tea to one another with some Turkish delight for the obligatory sweet. I am definitely out of practice, but still remember the movements and the basics of the ritual. It's been a long time since I've been able to get my mind from racing ahead of me, and for one hour this morning, all there was was the act of making tea. The rest of the day has gone by at an amazingly slow and leisurely pace. Cooked some boca burgers for dinner, ran down to the grocery store to stock up on soup, hung out with bunny. Life doesn't get much better than this.
Friday, January 09, 2004
Border's Bookstore downtown has a nice space for reading- we were tucked in the back of the store in the middle of the travel section last night. Lots of big windows surround one side of the space and it felt a bit drafty and by the end of the night, felt slightly feverish/delirious. Dan Sklar read his "anti-academic poetry, and Frannie Lindsay read poems from a manuscript called Cannis Major. I've heard Frannie read a number of times now, and at every reading, she always reads a poem on the death of one dog or another. (She has 3 greyhounds). Yesterday, she rounded out her reading with some poems on her deceased mother. The poems were quite moving. Later, Frannie's partner, Gary Rafferty, read a elegaic poem written for Diane Ouelette, former coordinator of the Brookline Poetry Series. The poem was written after a wood block print of Hiroshige's.
Thank you to all who came and braved the cold!
Thank you to all who came and braved the cold!
Thursday, January 08, 2004
Why Amazon SUCKS: "used" copies of Equivalence which has been out all of 2.5 months are being sold on the site. Some of these "used" copies claim "straight from distributor", "still in shrinkwrap" shipping from MA, NJ, and NM. No doubt these are a handful of many free review copies sent out and now being sent back into the world by individuals to make a quick buck. Reprehensible.
My friend David is applying to graduate schools which means his departure from Boston is imminent. (sob!) Check out his website and let him know how great he is... with out without the advanced degree!
Wednesday, January 07, 2004
Today I heard from my cousin Cong Hui in Taiwan and from mother's youngest brother. Cong Hui writes of her impending marriage very stressful and not at all what she thought it would be. When I arrived home today a package in the mail bearing my mother's maiden name in the return address. Upon opening the package a belated Xmas present: the book: Thinking Like Your Editor. No card, no note in the book, just a return address on the priority mail envelope. I call my mother and I'm like, which one of your relatives sent this? My mother's youngest brother. I have met this uncle and his children, now grown, who live all of 1.5 hours away from our home, one time that I can actively recall, and I was probably about 22 at the the time. The gesture behind the gifting of this book a blessing in so many ways.
Monday, January 05, 2004
1st blog post of the new year. I have nothing to say except Michael Carr gave a great reading on Saturday night and the broadside by Chris Rizzo of Anchorite is absolutely beautiful.
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