Thursday, June 30, 2005
About once a month, sometimes less frequently, enchanting and delightful posts arrive in my in-box from John Cutrone in Lake Worth, Florida. Here is the most recent dispatch:
Hello Friends,
John Cutrone here, from Convivio Bookworks in Lake Worth, Florida, where it's been one of the rainiest Junes on record. It may be the rainy season, but we're not used to rain falling day in and day out. The sogginess is beginning to take its toll on folks around here. At the lunch counter at Minnie's early this week, Minnie was looking a little frazzled, like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time, and once the lunch crowd cleared out, I asked her if all was well. She raised her eyebrows, threw her dishrag over her shoulder, and leaned in towards me, over the counter. "It's this constant rain," she said. "It's making me a nervous wreck."
"Well, the rain's making us all a little punchy," I assured her. "No, no," she said. "I did it. It's all my fault. All this rain..." Her eyes got real wide. "It's me: I'm the one who did it."
Seems Minnie was dead-set on not wanting to take part in the annual Lake Worth Summer Shuffleboard Fling--something that her long time friend Wilma had signed them up for together. She had agreed to do it when Wilma asked her back in March ("It'll be fun," she said), because Wilma can be very persistent and in March the "fling" seemed a long time away. But Minnie was happy to leave all aspects of sportsmanship behind when she graduated from Lake Worth High in 1943--if she never again had to attempt to connect any kind of bat or stick with any kind of ball or puck, it still would have been too soon for her.
Reluctant or not, she had said yes to Wilma back in March, and now here it was the weekend before and Minnie's anxiety was really building. It was too late to back out, of course, and she'd never hear the end of it if she did. She thought long and hard about it for a good many days, and finally decided to seek the assistance of a higher power.
The Botanica Santa Teresa shop had been a source of curiosity for Minnie ever since it had opened west of town a couple years back. She and Wilma would drive past in Wilma's red pickup truck. "What is 'Botanica'?" Minnie would ask. "Is it a plant store?"
"You don't wanna go in there," Wilma had warned her. "They'll put a voodoo spell on you." And that was that. Minnie just peered through the colorful painted windows each time she passed by on her way to the market. Desperate times call for desperate measures, though, and the more Minnie thought about it, the more she thought that the Botanica Santa Teresa shop could be the ticket out of her predicament. So she ignored Wilma's advice, mustered up her nerve, and stopped in on her way home from Publix. She had ice cream in the car, so she didn't stay long, but she stayed long enough to get a seven-day candle and some necessary instructions.
She came home from the shop, performed the ritual cleansing that was prescribed, and lit the candle. The rain began falling the next day, which was the day that Seth and I had to abandon our road trip. It rained the next day and the day after that. The Summer Shuffleboard Fling was cancelled due to rain on Saturday, and that was perfect, that was all Minnie had wanted. But it just kept on raining on Sunday and into the next week, and the week after that, and now here it is, the end of June, and if we've had one day without rain, well, I certainly don't recall it.
The faucet behind the lunch counter dripped. Minnie sighed. "I don't see an end to it," she told me. Have you ever tried to reason with a woman who swears she's unleashed a voodoo spell upon an entire town? It took me a while to respond, but I did the best I could. "Minnie," I said, "it can't rain all the time."
I borrowed the words from a song. All I know is, come St. Swithin's Day on July 15, if it's raining that day, it'll be raining for forty days more. So says the weather lore. And whether you go with weather lore or voodoo, St. Swithin's Day and many other fascinating ones await you at the July page of the ongoing Convivio Book of Days. Here's where you start:
http://www.conviviobookworks.com
From there, go to "About Us," and then find the link for "Book of Days: July" in the usual Book of Days place. We've posted a little early this time around, in case any of you decide to make a four-day weekend out of our Independence Day celebration. I may just do that myself. And if we have three continuous days without rain, Minnie's promised me a Peanut Butter and Bacon sandwich--the house specialty at Minnie's--gratis. So here's to a little sunshine. Seth and I will be in touch soon about our new and improved road tour attempt, but meanwhile, sunny hours to you all.
John
ps. If you'd rather not receive these occasional Dispatches, just let me know.
"Thank you, and write when you can."
Convivio Bookworks
John Cutrone & Seth Thompson, proprietors
Books and broadsides, made by hand in Lake Worth, Florida.
http://www.conviviobookworks.com
(and look out for Works on Paper coming from Convivio in the hopeful near future...)
Hello Friends,
John Cutrone here, from Convivio Bookworks in Lake Worth, Florida, where it's been one of the rainiest Junes on record. It may be the rainy season, but we're not used to rain falling day in and day out. The sogginess is beginning to take its toll on folks around here. At the lunch counter at Minnie's early this week, Minnie was looking a little frazzled, like she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time, and once the lunch crowd cleared out, I asked her if all was well. She raised her eyebrows, threw her dishrag over her shoulder, and leaned in towards me, over the counter. "It's this constant rain," she said. "It's making me a nervous wreck."
"Well, the rain's making us all a little punchy," I assured her. "No, no," she said. "I did it. It's all my fault. All this rain..." Her eyes got real wide. "It's me: I'm the one who did it."
Seems Minnie was dead-set on not wanting to take part in the annual Lake Worth Summer Shuffleboard Fling--something that her long time friend Wilma had signed them up for together. She had agreed to do it when Wilma asked her back in March ("It'll be fun," she said), because Wilma can be very persistent and in March the "fling" seemed a long time away. But Minnie was happy to leave all aspects of sportsmanship behind when she graduated from Lake Worth High in 1943--if she never again had to attempt to connect any kind of bat or stick with any kind of ball or puck, it still would have been too soon for her.
Reluctant or not, she had said yes to Wilma back in March, and now here it was the weekend before and Minnie's anxiety was really building. It was too late to back out, of course, and she'd never hear the end of it if she did. She thought long and hard about it for a good many days, and finally decided to seek the assistance of a higher power.
The Botanica Santa Teresa shop had been a source of curiosity for Minnie ever since it had opened west of town a couple years back. She and Wilma would drive past in Wilma's red pickup truck. "What is 'Botanica'?" Minnie would ask. "Is it a plant store?"
"You don't wanna go in there," Wilma had warned her. "They'll put a voodoo spell on you." And that was that. Minnie just peered through the colorful painted windows each time she passed by on her way to the market. Desperate times call for desperate measures, though, and the more Minnie thought about it, the more she thought that the Botanica Santa Teresa shop could be the ticket out of her predicament. So she ignored Wilma's advice, mustered up her nerve, and stopped in on her way home from Publix. She had ice cream in the car, so she didn't stay long, but she stayed long enough to get a seven-day candle and some necessary instructions.
She came home from the shop, performed the ritual cleansing that was prescribed, and lit the candle. The rain began falling the next day, which was the day that Seth and I had to abandon our road trip. It rained the next day and the day after that. The Summer Shuffleboard Fling was cancelled due to rain on Saturday, and that was perfect, that was all Minnie had wanted. But it just kept on raining on Sunday and into the next week, and the week after that, and now here it is, the end of June, and if we've had one day without rain, well, I certainly don't recall it.
The faucet behind the lunch counter dripped. Minnie sighed. "I don't see an end to it," she told me. Have you ever tried to reason with a woman who swears she's unleashed a voodoo spell upon an entire town? It took me a while to respond, but I did the best I could. "Minnie," I said, "it can't rain all the time."
I borrowed the words from a song. All I know is, come St. Swithin's Day on July 15, if it's raining that day, it'll be raining for forty days more. So says the weather lore. And whether you go with weather lore or voodoo, St. Swithin's Day and many other fascinating ones await you at the July page of the ongoing Convivio Book of Days. Here's where you start:
http://www.conviviobookworks.com
From there, go to "About Us," and then find the link for "Book of Days: July" in the usual Book of Days place. We've posted a little early this time around, in case any of you decide to make a four-day weekend out of our Independence Day celebration. I may just do that myself. And if we have three continuous days without rain, Minnie's promised me a Peanut Butter and Bacon sandwich--the house specialty at Minnie's--gratis. So here's to a little sunshine. Seth and I will be in touch soon about our new and improved road tour attempt, but meanwhile, sunny hours to you all.
John
ps. If you'd rather not receive these occasional Dispatches, just let me know.
"Thank you, and write when you can."
Convivio Bookworks
John Cutrone & Seth Thompson, proprietors
Books and broadsides, made by hand in Lake Worth, Florida.
http://www.conviviobookworks.com
(and look out for Works on Paper coming from Convivio in the hopeful near future...)
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Why everyone should boycott Starbuck's. I wonder if the Asian Media Watchdog that did such a great job campaigning against the Details piece knows about this. I watched the commercial on the Starbuck's website just now, and the Asian guy who is on screen for all of about 2 seconds is WAY sexier than his chubby white replacement.
This week's Blogoview Q&A: The first poem that I ever remember writing was in the 1st grade in my once a week GATE class taught by Mrs. Sally Larune (nee Brown) at Highgrove Elementary where I was 1 of 2 Asian kids, along with my big brother in a student body of about 800 students. We explored a number of fun and easy forms, limericks and haiku, but the poem I most remember writing was a concrete poem on the delicious taste of watermelon (my favorite fruit), handwritten and shaped of course in the form of a half circle. The roots of a visual poet... the xerox copy of the original poem is sitting in an old army backpack stuffed with yearbooks and a 3rd grade birthday book from Mrs. Livingstone's class on a shelf in my bedroom closet in my parents' house in SoCal.
Tsunami Anthology
Tsunami Anthology
Originally uploaded by shinyu32.
A Gathering of the Tribes & Foot Hills Publishing
Invite you to a Book Release Party for
In the Arms of Words: Poems for Tsunami Relief
Edited by Amy Ouzoonian
Published by Foot Hills Publishing/Sherman Asher Press
Thursday, June 30th 5-7 pm
Featuring contributors…
Steve Dalachinsky * Eve Packer * James Warner * Alan Semerdjian * Irene O’Garden * Nancy Mercado * Ravi Shankar * Valery Oisteanu * Sharon Olinka * Jesus Papoleto Melendez * Thaddeus Rutkowski * Roberta Gould * Donald Lev * Frank Simone * Bob Holman * Kirpal Gordon and Claire Daly * Amy Ouzoonian * Thomas Baier * Andrew Riutta
Also, poems by absent contributors read by special guests
At the Bowery Poetry Club 308 Bowery
take the F train to 2nd Ave or the 4,5, or 6 to Bleecker St.
For more info, call: (212) 674-3778 or (212) 614-0505 or email: tsunamipoet@yahoo.com
Copies of “In the Arms of Words: Poems for Tsunami Relief” will be available for sale. All proceeds of sales and donations will go to International Rescue Committee (www.theirc.org) to aid survivors of the Tsunami. To order your copy or check out the book, go here .
The Buddy System
Originally uploaded by shinyu32.
The line-up for the the Buddy System show...
The current UTD/South Side artists-in-residence have each invited an artist/friend to exhibit their work in the Janette Kennedy Gallery from July 1 through July 7. Please join us for a fun summer reception with DJ G (Jonathan Graham) on Friday, July 1 from 7 until 9 pm at South Side on Lamar, 1409 S. Lamar. For more information 214-421-3394.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Another interest bites the dust or get over it, it's all practice... so tonight Kort and I helped on a letterpress job for the press in our building. We inked up the C&P, measured and set the diecut and pulled about 30 announcements (our goal was 80). That is, Kort pulled 30 announcements. I made half-assed measurements, wiped off extra ink from the die and practiced the movements of placing the paper in the press in between hits. Picture Daniel-san in Karate Kid waxing the hood of Mr. Miyagi's car or painting his wooden fence - hand-eye coordination is not one of my strong suits, though I have all the patience in the world to cut and bind paper into books. There were a lot of moving, noisy parts and the parts that came out of the machine were too heavy for me to lift on my own. How am I EVER going to be a letterpress printer unless I build up enough muscle to lift a vertical piece of 30 lb metal? Learning a new practice is always an exercise in getting to know myself and my process better - I learn in very specific ways (expedient means), and unless that process is honored, nothing gets integrated. The old trial and error does not really cut it for me. The similarities to photography are strong - lots of changing variables - temperature, ink, rollers, paper height, etc. etc. Oh that I actually had skills...
Kort and I went to see "Saving Face" last Friday which stars the wonderful Joan Chen, and 2 emerging young female talents, Michelle Krusiec and Lynn Chen. Joan Chen is terrific in this movie, portraying a widowed 40 something mom to Wil(hemina), her lesbian daughter who is a practicing surgeon. Chen shows up on Wil's doorstep in New York, pregnant and disowned by her parents. What ensues is a complex look at Chinese family and cultural dynamics. Chen's initial rejection of her daughter's sexuality is heart-breaking, mirroring the abuse that she takes from her own parents for shaming the family by becoming pregnant without a husband. Favorite scenes in the movie were the image of Chen browsing the Chinese movie section in a video store with the camera panning past Joy Luck Club (which Chen had a prominent role in) to an Asian porn video which Chen's character rents, takes home and watches. Also hilarious was Wil shoving her mother in a wedding dress back into the taxi cab before running to try and salvage relations with her lover. Alice Wu has penned a great script and put together a great cast for her directorial debut. Interestingly enough, the Fresh Prince Will Smith produced.
While I could definitely relate to the complex family dynamics in the movie, I can't say that I had the urban experience of growing up around a local Chinatown and going to Friday night dances to meet Chinese boys - though my parents did send me on the 1998 DPP tour, not unlike the KMT's love boat. Watching the soap scenes, I remembered sitting on the couch with my own mother, trying to follow Chinese telenovelas (contemporary and historical varieties), identifying the bad guy, and trying to find a way to connect to some perceived notion of Chinese-ness.
While I could definitely relate to the complex family dynamics in the movie, I can't say that I had the urban experience of growing up around a local Chinatown and going to Friday night dances to meet Chinese boys - though my parents did send me on the 1998 DPP tour, not unlike the KMT's love boat. Watching the soap scenes, I remembered sitting on the couch with my own mother, trying to follow Chinese telenovelas (contemporary and historical varieties), identifying the bad guy, and trying to find a way to connect to some perceived notion of Chinese-ness.
There is a 5 alarm fire burning out of control several buildings away from my office. The fire has hit the roof and the smoke billowing out has changed from a grey brown to a thick toxic black.
The new vision statement in brief active July-August:
Starting July 5, get up every morning at 6:30 a.m. and swim laps on the roof. Rely on cars as little as possible. Take train and walk everywhere. Work out 3-5 nights a week on cardio, circuit training, or do yoga. Continue learning letterpress at Bell'invito. Plan that UTD class by August 1 and investigate Costa Rica and Taiwan for upcoming trips. Read a book a week, get the love hotels work shipped off to Chicago, and work towards getting Nutritional Feed fully funded and production ready. Help Kort build his practice. Talk to my parents twice a week and/or write them letters. Write letters to those who I owe correspondence to. Proceed with wedding planning and lose my attachment to money. Cultivate a sense of well-being minus the fear.
Starting July 5, get up every morning at 6:30 a.m. and swim laps on the roof. Rely on cars as little as possible. Take train and walk everywhere. Work out 3-5 nights a week on cardio, circuit training, or do yoga. Continue learning letterpress at Bell'invito. Plan that UTD class by August 1 and investigate Costa Rica and Taiwan for upcoming trips. Read a book a week, get the love hotels work shipped off to Chicago, and work towards getting Nutritional Feed fully funded and production ready. Help Kort build his practice. Talk to my parents twice a week and/or write them letters. Write letters to those who I owe correspondence to. Proceed with wedding planning and lose my attachment to money. Cultivate a sense of well-being minus the fear.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
The MAC show
Originally uploaded by shinyu32.
Installation shot of work by David Sequeira, Unnecessary Roughness pieces on the far wall.
Love Hotels
Originally uploaded by shinyu32.
Love hotel photos by Misty Keasler, bracketed by my wall texts.
Unnecessary Roughness
Originally uploaded by shinyu32.
Four works from Unnecessary Roughness with Ferenc Suto.
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