Back in Boston - will blog more later about New Mexico... on my way here to another lengthy session in the dentist's chair.

Lisa Gill is S O O O O amazing and everbody should read her book Red as a Lotus: Letters to a Dead Trappist. The cover of which is a painting by JB Bryan.

In short the reading in Santa Fe was utterly unforgettable and the experience of traveling to New Mexico was not unlike taking a much needed retreat. New friends, new experiences lending fresher perspectives..

Kort took his big board exam this weekend. Thank God that's over with. A quiet weekend at home - working on another sports poem. Chatted with Ferenc about possible directions to go with the manuscript. Working on a piece called "Smear the queer" presently. We will manipulate the text in Illustrator or Photo Shop to create the illusion of smeared text. Ferenc will come to Boston in March and we'll sit down to really put this thing together. Since I don't own/watch television or have a VCR, we will set up a screening at a a friend's house with vintage roller derby videos and also rent Schwarzenegger's "Pumping Iron" documentary. Should be fabulous material. Did some research on baseball (Ty Cobb) and female bodybuilders. Did some laundry, packed for my trip. Fly to Albuquerque tomorrow for a reading at an arts space. It's possible that Spring has arrived in New Mexico - temps in the 50s! Packed my camera bag - digicam, Holga, 35 mm and lots of film.

Today's Libran horoscope:
Temptation is overwhelming. Your dreaming mind can flip the switch all too easily between fantastic experiences and those who make you force yourself awake. Avoid situations that are likely to spin out of control.

According to this, I am a born musician... a missed vocation?

The Seven Intelligence Areas

Linguistic: 8

Logical-Mathematical: 4

Spatial: 8

Bodily-Kinesthetic: 9

Musical: 11

Interpersonal: 9

Intrapersonal: 10

Bob Dylan, my idol, is coming to Boston for 3 dates in March to play the AVALON. This will no doubt be an excellent show due to the venue size. If anybody wants to go, email me!

I last saw Dylan play in 1995, my sophomore year in college. We had the "cheap" seats in the last row of the Orpheum downtown. He was a tiny speck on the stage and didn't give his best peformance but I think he'd only recently had a heart attack, and I felt like I had to go to the show because what if, my God, Bob Dylan died and I never saw him in concert?!

John Mulrooney just taught me the chords to Knockin on Heaven's Door. I think this is an auspicious sign that I need to go see Dylan in concert...

Read last night with Jocelyn Emerson for the PowWow River Poets Series at the Newburyport Art Association. Jocelyn read from her collection, Sea Gate, a collection of elegies that draw from history and science, lyric in nature, quite stunning poems.

On route thru the little seaside town we were stopped by a cop for rolling through a red light, got lost a number of times, but finally found our destination. The series up in Newburyport is headed by Rhina Espaillat and hosted at a gallery space where Rhina's husband exhibits work . A very nice and attentive audience last night.

Lots of stuff happening on March 4. Both the Carve reading in NYC and Michael Franco at MIT.

Also the official opening of the new gallery space for the Cambridge Arts Council in Central Square. 5:30-7:30 p.m. open house and inaugural exhibition of work by Mike Glier.

Met Thomas Coburn and Leigh Berry on Friday night. Kort and I were two of very few Naropa alumni who showed up. Dr. Coburn's iniatives are basically to 1) build adequate housing for undergrads 2) pay faculty better 3) strengthen analytical skills emphasized in curriculum. I think that's all I can remember. No plans in immediate future for PhD programs - the whole don't want to spread to far out and be less effective... BUT was heartening/exciting to hear of possibilities for a "Naropa East" campus - sort of like the Oakland satellite campus and new branch in London?

Got to meet Bernie Flynn, former general in the "Trungpa army", and owner of Trident bookstore on Newbury. Bernie was delightful - shared many funny stories about Trungpa and the early days. Bernie's goodbye to K and me was an unusual and random one, but I liked it's wackiness. To Kort he said "Stay married." To me, he said "You, too."

Our friend Nicole actually came to Buddhism and Naropa thru the Flynns and working at the Trident years ago. The Flynns kept a meditation cushion in the back room and their spiritual/religion section well stocked with Trungpa titles. Nicole was always curious about the cushion, it seemed familiar and right. The cushion led to readings led to Naropa led to the path.

Busy buzzy buzz

Here is a recipe for peach mochi, just because....

CALL TO ARTISTS: JAPAN-O-RAMA

Are you fascinated with Japanese packaging materials? Do you use them in your work? Are the big oversized girlie eyes in Japanese animation giving you night sweats and manifesting themselves in your paintings? Perhaps you're entranced by the transcendental Zen art/culture of the rustic tea sipping, haiku reciting, island people?

artSPACE@16 of Malden, MA is honored to announce a call to artists for its 21st exhibition, JAPAN-O-RAMA, curated by Leika Akiyama. The exhibition will be held May 3 - 31, 2003. The theme, JAPAN-O-RAMA, encompasses everything from Japonisme to Hello Kitty. This show will take a look at the influence of Japanese iconography, from pop culture to traditional Japanese art to contemporary art. From the glittery, neon- filled, chaotic chic, Tokyo vibe to its subdued Zen minimalis, hyperindustrial architecture and design, the Japanese vision and creative nuances have quietly infiltrated the eyes of western artists and design aficionados throughout the world. This show is about putting together artists who are inspired by past, present and future Japanese imagery. This show will essentially be an investigation into the cross-pollination of east /west imagery in contemporary art. Guest curator Leika Akiyama invites artists whose works reflect this concept to submit work for consideration.

About the Guest Curator: Leika Akiyama is an artist born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. She grew up in the 1970's when McDonald's and Seven Eleven first landed on the island country. She was there to witness the birth of her sacred icon Hello Kitty in 1976. As a result of living in the matrix of American and Japanese culture from an early age, she has suffered through a series of cultural identity crises from which she has not recovered from. Hence, this unique experience became an essential source of inspiration in creating her bizarre installations and "lunch box art". Leika is now living in the U.S. and holds a BFA from the Art Institute of Boston. After completing her postgraduate studies at Boston University's School of Visual Arts, she went on to pursue a Masters degree in Art Therapy and has since worked with adolescents and women with trauma. Although trained as a painter, her work encompasses both 2D and 3D work as well as installation based projects. Leika has shown her work in numerous group shows including: the Essex Arts Center, Salem State College, Cape Cod Community College, Merrimack College, Somerville Windows Project and the Somerville Museum. She has had a solo exhibition at the Artist's Foundation, and her work is slated to be included in a group show at Emmanuel College in the Spring of 2005.

ELIGIBILITY: All visual artists are encouraged to apply. We are looking for NEW work in all media and all styles for exhibition consideration. SUBMISSION DEADLINE: All SLIDE entries MUST be received by 5pm on Friday, March 12, 2003. An exhibition prospectus and entry form in PDF (Portable Document Format) or in MS Word DOC format will be provided upon request, please send e-mail to SandT.artSPACEat16@verizon.net. We can also send, upon your request, hard copy application forms via postal service. Please send a SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with your request letter to:


RE: JAPAN-O-RAMA / ENTRY FORM
artSPACE@16
16 Princeton Road
Malden MA 02148

For more information and to learn more about artSPACE@16, please visit our website www.artSPACEat16.com.

My last day in Dallas was a busy day of museum hopping. Started with the new Nasher Sculpture Center downtown on Flora. Felt frustrated by didactic labels which were nowhere near the pedestals/works of art - but often placed on the wall quite a distance from the work making the information somewhat inaccessible. I did like that the art works were placed in the gallery in such a way that a 360 degree walk around most objects were possible - not the case in many a museum I have been to. Free perk - the Antenna Audio tour which features various narrators telling stories and facts about the work. One downside, though was that at times the speaker or narration was difficult to understand, unclear. My favorite works were Giacometti's "Spoon Woman" and Max Ernst's "King Playing with Queen", which can also be seen in the sculpture garden at the MOMA in NY. Ernst said of sculpture that you use 2 hands, as when you make love. From the galleries out to the sculpture garden. Lots of vertical lines and trees, occasionally interrupting a view of an artwork. Holly bushes concealing parts of the Abakanowicz "Crowd" piece. The Turrell is in the back of the gardens, through a door and into a square space with stone benches and a cutout in the ceiling. On the overcast day, we were not able to see much. The whitish gray of the sky only made me more aware of the floaters in my eyes, the result of a slight retinal detachment.

Then over to the DMA for lunch where we ran into many old faces - security guards in my time who are now visitor services staff. Interns who are now permanent. The general feel of the Museum felt very integrated. Went into the 100 years of the DMA centennial show - Mondrian exhibited along side (though not literally) Church's Icebergs and Pollock's "Cathedral". Got to see a few new acquisitions that hadn't previously seen - the Leon Polke Smith homage to Mondrian and some ancestor figures from the Oceanic region. There was a focus show of quilts in a small gallery which left the biggest impression on me. A piece from the 1930s called "Prosperity" in which a member of almost every major profession is depicted (butcherman, baker, bum, mechanic) in the same posture of looking around a corner in each quilt section. In the last row of the quilt, an elephant (labelled GOP) and a donkey also appear. Ran into Cesar and invited him to sit down to lunch with us.

From the DMA on to Fort Worth to the new Modern, built and designed by Tadao Ando, the architect commissioned by the Art Institute of Chicago to build their Japanese Screen gallery. The building is of poured concrete and glass, with a reflecting pool surrounding the structure. Breathtaking in its impressiveness - full of Kiefer, Warhol, and a fair representation of photography - Ess, Nixon, Sherman, and more. A nice Richard Serra piece out front called "Hurricane" which I particularly like - likewise, a great Serra in the Nasher collection. Both spaces intended to be walked through. More video works in the Modern's collection - a Viola, a Nauman, and an artist whom I can't remember the name of, but who videod the ice crystals forming in his freezer - it looked like a cosmos emerging - amazing.

From the Modern on to the Kimball to see a drawing show by Rococo artist Francois Boucher. The Kimball is a very small collection, but has some very strong pieces in their European and Asian collections. Not my favorite of all the Museums seen in one day - I would say that this prize goes to the Modern for being an innovative space which mirrors the quality of its collection.

More later today, or tomorrow on the Texas art scene... but in the mean time,

Sand T's alternative gallery space in Malden, artSPACE@16, has just launched its new website:
www.artSPACEat16.com

Sand T curates great shows and is doing the whole alternative gallery space thing a la storefronts in Chicago or apartment galleries in NY. Check it out!

Tomorrow evening I head back to Boston but not before hitting all the new big art venues in town. The Nasher Garden and the Fort Worth Modern - constructed by one of my fave architects Tadao Ando. I can not wait to see the James Turrell ganzfeld (sky space) - I have been waiting a LONG time to experience a Turrell. When I was at PS 1 a few years ago in NY, it was summer, and the gallery's Turrell space was closed. I was so mad, I kicked the door to the installation. My friend laughed at my childishness. Tomorrow will be a treat. The benches are heated (just like in Volkswagons!) and though it won't be prime time viewing (which is night and sunrise) this will be one of a kind, unforgettable. Rumor has it the Roden Crater in Arizona is now taking visitors. Sign me up!

Dinner with Kort's brother, Chip, tonight at sushi and sake in Richardson. I have always liked Chip, but never had much opportunity to get to know him, although he was in Boulder at the same time as me. Whereas Kort takes after Ellen, I think that Chip has something of Frank's directness about him, though tempered with a Buddhist self-awareness.

Had a great time hanging out with Frank today and just talking about the vagueness of the future and all the possibility. Checked out a new artist residency program in downtown Dallas that is totally incredible. Big loft studio spaces, the likes of which I haven't seen since living in Chicago. Hardwood flowers, tons of cubic feet, a studio/gallery space, a common space, some solid partnership with local agencies, near public transportation and I am SOLD.

Gave two 45 minute presentations to the students of Booker T Washington High School and an afternoon Q & A/workshop session with 2 groups of kids. Both presentations were to audiences of about 400 +. That was not so bad at all, though as to be expected with teens, some were snoozing (early in the morning!) and some were goofing off, chit chatting during my talk. But the vast majority of faces that I looked upon were engaged and curious and appreciative. I wish that art magnet schools had been around when I was in high school. What a difference that would have made! These kids were smart, mature, process-oriented, and open. Amazing in short. In the afternoon workshop there was some good writing off of Andy Warhol images, Francis Bacon paintings, and other pieces. One of the students I met, a visual artist/ sophomore named Gina had heard of Naropa and was very curious about it. Could totally see her there too. The staff of Booker T is amazing - working/teaching artists - my host and the festival coordinator, Scott Davison full of humor and a lightness - organized the whole show voluntarily and made the whole thing run smoothly as was possible. Thanks to Scott, thanks to Booker T, thanks to the students!

5 hour writing workshop at the Bathhouse Cultural Center went well yesterday. 7 students, including 2 men and 5 women of varied backgrounds, some taking writing workshops for the first time, some turning to poetry for the first time. They were a chatty and generous group. Did some writing in the el corazon show in the galleries which brought out some very interesting writing - and as luck would have it, the curator of the show was walking around giving a mini-tour to some visitors and he listened in on the short presentations the students did in front of their selected ekphrastic objects.

Went from the workshop back to Frank and Ellen's house in Richardson to pick up coffee and tea urns from the Cultured Cup for the party today and than directly off to meet Chris Murray at UTA. Read with Gabe Lopez (young Bukowski-esque poet who lived in NY briefly and has performed with Wanda Phipps and is now back in TX studing video and film) and Chris who has beautiful and elegant work. Despite some minor tech difficulties, got my lecture up and running to an audience of 100 + - students, faculty, members of the community, quite an impressive turnout, and a fair amount of Asian faces thanks to the efforts of Kristina Graham and her mother, Sunny who works with the Tarrant County Asian American Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to all for organizing a great reading!

Just came out of Frank's office to watch Yoko Ono's acceptance speech for the President's Award at the Grammy's for the Beatles.

She says what she thinks John would have said:

Come together. Give peace a chance. Love is all we need.

Blogging from Dallas with Justin Timberlake and Arturo Sandoval in the background. It has been a whirlwind of a weekend. Frank and Ellen hosted an open house at their home this afternoon which had a turnout of easily around 60 people - friends from the Museum and arts community, old docents, former co-workers, my former mentor. It was really exciting to see old friends and meet new ones - especially meaningful to see Nicole and Molly, Selma, Nicole L. and Jean. Cesar, donde estaba? Hombre!

Frank set up his laptop on the flat screen TV and we ran the powerpoint presentation of a slide lecture that I did last night at UTA and will do tomorrow for the Arts magnet school. Did 2 very abbreviated mini-readings for guests - sold tons of books, got good feedback, ate tons of fatty food, what a day!

I surveyed my best friend Jenn Johnson from San Diego, CA on her impression of Janet's boob flash at the Super Bowl half-time show. She responded "I know you don't watch television, but you don't even own a t.v.? What do you do when you have people over that you don't really like?". Ha!

The last time I owned a t.v. was in Chicago, for a very brief period of a few months. I watched a lot of Ally McBeal and ER. Some tenants in the building were tossing out their set and my maintenance man who was a flirting machine, salvaged it from the garbage for me. Ben. From Montenegro. He also salvaged an AC and a breakfast table with folding sides for me.

TV is a huge distraction for me. On vacation, on visits home, it is so easy to just park one's self on the couch and forget about the outdoors, writing, growth. To be treated with caution, like many things.

I have not gotten a good night's sleep in weeks. It's snowing here, will the plane be able to get off the run away? Ack ack...

Sad to read on the Poetics List about the death of poet and publisher Gil Ott.

Ooooooh .. someone from the MOCA was visiting the makura earlier today. Hello, hello!

Thanks to Noah Eli Gordon for the write-up of Equivalence in the new Poetry Project newsletter!

From Mark's site - which Egyptian God are you? I'm not in total agreement with the results - but perhaps this is my best self.


You are Ra. The sunlight is your source of energy.
You are normally very happy and joyful. Some
people may think your crazy, insane, or just
plain stupid, but I know better. You're just
happy with who/what you are. Good for you!


Which Egyptian God Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

The elements of human life can be reduced to three basic forms: spoon, knife and fork. - Robert Schelling

Thank you, Girl, for excellent suggestions on things to do in New Mexico!

In yesterday night's memoir class the diction Nazi in me came out - it's "leaves" of spinach not "sprigs" of spinach.

Earlier in the class, I started a conversation on issues of cultural representation and mis-representation as a general point of interest - though it could have been easily related to our readings of Catholic families and an excerpt from Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes which is ripe with poverty and class issues. The response I got was sort of loopy - my peers encouraged me to not be afraid of writing about my culture/family and to not let fear hold me back. I will admit that the moment all felt a bit touchy-feely in a creepy sort of way. There are no answers to life's hardest questions, or writing's hardest questions. Mostly, curious to hear how people deal with it in their own process and struggle, feeling the weight of generations and lineage - how to treat that material responsibly - vs. fixation upon external perceptions/judgments of a reader. I am the token person of color in the class - but there is perhaps some diversity among us - an Italian American, 2 women from a Jewish background, a man writing about hunting and "masculine" issues - and it would seem to me that issues of cultural representation is a fairly global topic.

The "My Doom" virus is predicted/scheduled to hit Microsoft today which could potentially mean, no hotmail or internet. Gasp!

On February 24th, I am headed to the Land of Enchantment for a special La Alameda reading. I hope to spend some quality time with my 35mm Minolta. If anyone has any suggestions as to places worth seeing, please email me!

3.5 days to Dallas and counting...

Things I like to do in Dallas

- eat 3 flavored gelato at Paciugo
- hang out in the sculpture garden of the DMA
- drink margaritas
- see my friend Cesar's latest photography project
- soak up the sunshine
- enjoy some Southern hospitality
- visit the botanical garden
- hang out with Kort's parents
- see my old docents
- see lots of art
- shop for paper

Nice report of Tim Peterson's birthday party/poetry reading on the Buffalo Poetics List and Jack Kimball's Pantaloons. Sounds like the evening was a smashing success! Happy birthday, Tim.

Friday night, Kort and I were at our friend Terri's dance performance at the Zeitgist. This was more than a dance performance, there was projection with computer generated art and digitally shot video footage and DJs spinning live music. It was all a bit overwhelming, but there is something that really excites me about putting together all these different art forms and going somewhere with that. As Kort and I split for dinner at the Argana down the street, I saw Terri's roommate walking off with a very cute petite blonde girl who looked incredibly familiar. Turns out it was Jessica Bozek, a lovely young woman who was in the very first creative writing workshop I ever took at B.U. in 1996 with Deb Bennett teaching the course. Maybe even quirkier is that a few weeks ago, another friend from that class who I have been out of touch with for years, randomly emailed and I am seeing Jason for shabu shabu late this week. Small world. Years ago, Jason played guitar and sang for a wonderful local band called Bean who I have lost track of. Hopefully they are not defunct as they were putting out some very cool music.

While I do not have a TV, and did not watch the Superbowl, I've been reading the reports on the half-time show and the Janet Jackson/Justin Timberlake fiasco. MSN.com has one photo of Timberlake standing over a very horrified looking Jackson. Whether or not it was staged or agreed upon - the image disturbs and I can't help but think Venus Hottentot.

Things for my Texas visit are looking up. The class I will be teaching for the Writers Garret has been reserved at the Bath House Cultural Center - a small arts and performance venue in Dallas. Since part of the class will focus on visual arts and language, the location could turn out to be ideal - there will be an exhibition up on the theme of "el corazon", perfect with V-day around the corner. Thinking maybe some guided writing exercises in the gallery if I can get my hands on a few images to be included in the show before Saturday...

Thanks to Chris Murray for coordinating this:

Announcing a Poetry Reading:

Shin Yu Pai & Chris Murray

Saturday, 7 February 2004 at 7 p.m.
Red River Room: 2nd Floor, UC
University of Texas at Arlington


Sponsored by the UTA Writing Center
and the Chinese American Students Association

Organized by Kristina Graham

From Gal's site: Some places where I have been...



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