we enter texas and with it the flies enter our van. suns of bitches.
amarillos’ show is in this community type center on the land of this giant church complex. the promoter is this great guy by the name of kelly. decent turnout. derrick is huge in amarillo, he’s swarmed after the show. there’s also this woman there i met at nationals who in austin informed me that even though she’s married, she’s in love with me. she’s my number one texas fan.
after the show, a bunch of us hang out in the room off of the space where we performed. there’s like 3 pool tables, a fooz and ping pong table, some basketball cages, a fenced off skate ramp area and multi monitor video game console. it was nuts. we played a lot. then headed out to our hotel 2 hours away to get a jump on our long drive to flagstaff the following day.
outside it is flat and black. it smells like hay. we arrive at the hotel. outside it feels magical. a strong breeze. feels like the kind of wind that comes in off the coast into the arms of a city like morocco or tangiers or someplace down south, straddling the worlds of north south and central america. the kind of wind that brings something with it, danger, intrigue, espionage, adventure...i don’t know. stars. there’s none in the sky, but the kind of breeze you wanna stand in until one comes walking up to you to ask for a cigarette. you hand it one, it walks off. you wonder if you’re awake asleep or dreaming. maybe all three. i feel like running forever.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Friday, October 12, 2007
Denver, Colorado
it feels like we weren’t even there, as if nothing happened.
like we stayed in a hotel and then rode on out. right now there’s only four of us in the van, mike had to fly out to a naca conference so he’ll meet up with us in flagstaff, and derrick rejoins us this evening in amarillo, so it’s just me, baz, buddy, and dan. our family is so small right now.
the show last night was a little disappointing. we had rented out a space called the bug theatre. we showed up and it’s a lovely space, 100-150, longer than it is wider, the stage is a just a big black box, 3 feet high and deep, with a tall red curtained entranceway at the back of it. “like i’m in a david lynch movie” buddy said. it cost us 250 to rent out. at 10 bucks a head, we made out with 50 dollars. yup. in a community of poetry like denver, and on top of that a community in which all of us are known pretty well, and a community all of us hold dear, we only had a 30 person audience. and in regards to a showing from the poetry community, maybe ten of that audience were of that. i love denver and i don’t slight anyone anything, i know i dropped the ball on my own word of mouth, and the show was only cemented down a week or so ago, but it’s still a little disappointing to leave one of one’s favorite places with feeling like you were never even there.
we stayed outside of denver in aurora. dan and i went downtown to go to the bank and scope for shoes and dan delaney joined up with us. he’s a cool kid, good people. we joined us back at the hotel when we all went to chipotle. he also opened for us, along with ken arkind. dan did a piece about a deaf girl that serves him coffee and ken did a piece about los angeles, a personafied love poem to that city. i love ken. that’s a beautiful man. he’s going through some stuff right now.
it’ll be alright though ken. remember and always do: you are loved.
it was good to see him as it always is. also good to see katie, matty z., jenn rinaldi, mr. delaney, brendan from youth speaks and the other youth speaks kids. this kid brendan gave me a copy of his book, i first met him when i toured through denver two years ago with sarah.he’s a precious and sometime awkward kid with poetry in his eyes and a strong voice that knows how to write. good to see him.
also, there was a girl oceana there, who i had met a few years ago at green acre Baha’i school out in maine, after the black men’s gathering. turns out she moved to denver from salt lake city a month ago and somehow met dan, he told her about the show and she came out. small world. after the show, dan and mikey went out to some tavern with the denver crew, but me and the other two went back to retire. i talked to sarah and went to sleep where i dreamed about playing ping pong at the black men’s gathering, joking around and playing ping pong with a basketball.
i was also shown that in the passenger side sunvisor, trapped inside the vanity mirror’s clasped flap, are several bunny grahams, crammed in there by buddy, waiting for an unsuspecting derrick brown to open and be filled with bunniness. just now, driving down I-25 south, baz turned to buddy and said: “did you shave this morning? cuz you have a cut or something right there?” motioning to buddy’s cheek. buddy lifted his head to check it out in the vanity mirror and was filled with bunniness.
we have the new radiohead playing and the desert outside of us. the mountains small and the clouds large flat and smiling larger. there are pancakes out there to be eaten.
like we stayed in a hotel and then rode on out. right now there’s only four of us in the van, mike had to fly out to a naca conference so he’ll meet up with us in flagstaff, and derrick rejoins us this evening in amarillo, so it’s just me, baz, buddy, and dan. our family is so small right now.
the show last night was a little disappointing. we had rented out a space called the bug theatre. we showed up and it’s a lovely space, 100-150, longer than it is wider, the stage is a just a big black box, 3 feet high and deep, with a tall red curtained entranceway at the back of it. “like i’m in a david lynch movie” buddy said. it cost us 250 to rent out. at 10 bucks a head, we made out with 50 dollars. yup. in a community of poetry like denver, and on top of that a community in which all of us are known pretty well, and a community all of us hold dear, we only had a 30 person audience. and in regards to a showing from the poetry community, maybe ten of that audience were of that. i love denver and i don’t slight anyone anything, i know i dropped the ball on my own word of mouth, and the show was only cemented down a week or so ago, but it’s still a little disappointing to leave one of one’s favorite places with feeling like you were never even there.
we stayed outside of denver in aurora. dan and i went downtown to go to the bank and scope for shoes and dan delaney joined up with us. he’s a cool kid, good people. we joined us back at the hotel when we all went to chipotle. he also opened for us, along with ken arkind. dan did a piece about a deaf girl that serves him coffee and ken did a piece about los angeles, a personafied love poem to that city. i love ken. that’s a beautiful man. he’s going through some stuff right now.
it’ll be alright though ken. remember and always do: you are loved.
it was good to see him as it always is. also good to see katie, matty z., jenn rinaldi, mr. delaney, brendan from youth speaks and the other youth speaks kids. this kid brendan gave me a copy of his book, i first met him when i toured through denver two years ago with sarah.he’s a precious and sometime awkward kid with poetry in his eyes and a strong voice that knows how to write. good to see him.
also, there was a girl oceana there, who i had met a few years ago at green acre Baha’i school out in maine, after the black men’s gathering. turns out she moved to denver from salt lake city a month ago and somehow met dan, he told her about the show and she came out. small world. after the show, dan and mikey went out to some tavern with the denver crew, but me and the other two went back to retire. i talked to sarah and went to sleep where i dreamed about playing ping pong at the black men’s gathering, joking around and playing ping pong with a basketball.
i was also shown that in the passenger side sunvisor, trapped inside the vanity mirror’s clasped flap, are several bunny grahams, crammed in there by buddy, waiting for an unsuspecting derrick brown to open and be filled with bunniness. just now, driving down I-25 south, baz turned to buddy and said: “did you shave this morning? cuz you have a cut or something right there?” motioning to buddy’s cheek. buddy lifted his head to check it out in the vanity mirror and was filled with bunniness.
we have the new radiohead playing and the desert outside of us. the mountains small and the clouds large flat and smiling larger. there are pancakes out there to be eaten.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Omaha, Nebraska
last night was the omaha show at the omaha healing arts center. it was good. after my first poem, i was backstage transcribing my poem milos to read it, as without derrick we are all doing extra poems. while doing that, there was a guy from the audience back there on his phone. he came over to me and asked if i would say hello to the girl he was talking to and handed me the phone, she was in prison serving a life sentence. i didn’t really know what to say with that information.
“hello”
“hi”
“how’re..you.. doing?” ?
“hanging in there”
“you do that”
i felt like an idiot. but the guy eric, thought that it would be cool and that she might like, so.
with no derrick, we played one of his tracks off of cd, kurosawa champagne, which we all come in towards the end to sing with him and to pantomime typewriting, which we did last night too with his disembodied voice. the fucker wasn’t even there and he still sold more then a hundred dollars of merch.
afterwards a bunch of us went to old chicago and mike and i split a tai pizza, which was pretty good. it was very sweet tasting. then dan and mike went to stay with dan’s folks and buddy, baz and i went with sarahliz to stay at her folks. baz, sarahliz and i stayed up a bit talking, talked to sarah on the phone, she’s thinking of leaving her job and heading back to portland, she is terribly lonely down there. she may come up to the bay and ride with us up to oregon, if it’s alright with the guys.
last night i slept in a room with my choice of two beds. i chose the one that had bedsheets with the Shirt Tails on them, it was a cartoon from the early part of my childhood, circa 1980-82.
woke to the sun outside my window and wind in the trees. it’s finally starting to feel a little like fall.
“hello”
“hi”
“how’re..you.. doing?” ?
“hanging in there”
“you do that”
i felt like an idiot. but the guy eric, thought that it would be cool and that she might like, so.
with no derrick, we played one of his tracks off of cd, kurosawa champagne, which we all come in towards the end to sing with him and to pantomime typewriting, which we did last night too with his disembodied voice. the fucker wasn’t even there and he still sold more then a hundred dollars of merch.
afterwards a bunch of us went to old chicago and mike and i split a tai pizza, which was pretty good. it was very sweet tasting. then dan and mike went to stay with dan’s folks and buddy, baz and i went with sarahliz to stay at her folks. baz, sarahliz and i stayed up a bit talking, talked to sarah on the phone, she’s thinking of leaving her job and heading back to portland, she is terribly lonely down there. she may come up to the bay and ride with us up to oregon, if it’s alright with the guys.
last night i slept in a room with my choice of two beds. i chose the one that had bedsheets with the Shirt Tails on them, it was a cartoon from the early part of my childhood, circa 1980-82.
woke to the sun outside my window and wind in the trees. it’s finally starting to feel a little like fall.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Chicago: Day 3
the next day ann takes me to the conservatory and we walk amongst pretty and unique plants, some giant dinosaur ones. there’s a cactus room. it rules.there’s also a bunch of mosaic sculptures from a french artist whose name i can’t remember; they’re amazing. they’re beautiful and large and are people and creatures and whole such weight to them. they are glorious. afterwards we go get sandwiches and lemon tea and sit down at the five corners near the damen stop and eat, then get up and walk to quimby’s. i get a unicorn zine for sarah. ann than drops me off at the restaurant that joel, beth, derrick, and amanda are eating breakfast at, adn drives to the airport to see our friend billy there on a layover. the five of us go see the darjeeling limited. it was alright. not bad but nothing amazing. felt like a short story, like wes anderson maybe just wanted to make something while working on something else or to not be bored. then we headed to the biograph for the show.
it was good, a lot of fun. 60-70 people. nice space. there was a set on stage, so as buddy mentioned, it felt like def jam. hehe. samandar and andalib were there which was great to see them. as well as the chicago community: molly, kay, alvin. robbie and tim came late as they had a show at the mill. also frank bonam! whoo hoo! shake dust frank! shake dust!
afterwards we all went to clark’s and i ate eggs and potatoes and toast and a chocolate milkshake. i would have liked to stay in the city another night, but to avoid morning traffic we headed to baz’s folks’ house in the burbs. mike and i camped on the office floor, where baz’s dad has a wall sized book shelf continuing a giant marx brother’s collection. baz said it used to fill a room.
it's awe some.
it was good, a lot of fun. 60-70 people. nice space. there was a set on stage, so as buddy mentioned, it felt like def jam. hehe. samandar and andalib were there which was great to see them. as well as the chicago community: molly, kay, alvin. robbie and tim came late as they had a show at the mill. also frank bonam! whoo hoo! shake dust frank! shake dust!
afterwards we all went to clark’s and i ate eggs and potatoes and toast and a chocolate milkshake. i would have liked to stay in the city another night, but to avoid morning traffic we headed to baz’s folks’ house in the burbs. mike and i camped on the office floor, where baz’s dad has a wall sized book shelf continuing a giant marx brother’s collection. baz said it used to fill a room.
it's awe some.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Chicago: Day 2
the next day dan, buddy and i jump in a canoe and row on the lake. i share with the m about crew in college. onshore i work on music and poetry. i come up with some music to go behind a recording of mine. i like it. outside is perfect. empty. clear. their are trees and birds and air and the world sits calmly. i jump in the can with dan and derrick to drive to chicago. derrick’s lady friend amanda and a girl named alyssa that we met in oneonta is are both coming into town, so while the rest of the gang stays at the lake until our show on sunday, i accompany the boys into the city.
we take derrick to joel’s. joel and beth made shirts to wear to greet us. beth’s says: show us your tits. with the tits scratched out and words instead. we see their new apartment. it’s really cute with dark wood and a sun room. i ride with dan to pick up alyssa and then we meet the gang for sushi, my friend ann and her friend sara join us. i have my first “delicious” piece of sushi: a california crunch roll, crab, rice, avocado with fried batter around it. after dinner, dan and alyssa decide to head back to the cabin but i don’t feel like driving three hours back to nature, just to sleep, so i go with ann to crash at her house. it’s good to see her. i haven’t seen her since new orleans, probably three years ago, maybe two, regardless, it’s been a spell. we used to sometimes ride bikes around town at night and watch movies. new orleans is a warm place.
ann lives in a giant warehouse in the middle of nowhere. it’s awesome. i walk up the stairs with her and am greeted with a large office floor where all the doors have wrinkled windows in them. it’s not zoned for living but has been converted. rent is less than 400 bucks a month. i wanna move in.
we take derrick to joel’s. joel and beth made shirts to wear to greet us. beth’s says: show us your tits. with the tits scratched out and words instead. we see their new apartment. it’s really cute with dark wood and a sun room. i ride with dan to pick up alyssa and then we meet the gang for sushi, my friend ann and her friend sara join us. i have my first “delicious” piece of sushi: a california crunch roll, crab, rice, avocado with fried batter around it. after dinner, dan and alyssa decide to head back to the cabin but i don’t feel like driving three hours back to nature, just to sleep, so i go with ann to crash at her house. it’s good to see her. i haven’t seen her since new orleans, probably three years ago, maybe two, regardless, it’s been a spell. we used to sometimes ride bikes around town at night and watch movies. new orleans is a warm place.
ann lives in a giant warehouse in the middle of nowhere. it’s awesome. i walk up the stairs with her and am greeted with a large office floor where all the doors have wrinkled windows in them. it’s not zoned for living but has been converted. rent is less than 400 bucks a month. i wanna move in.
Chicago: Day 1
we left buffalo.
we drove till michigan. we stopped for dinner so buddy could see his best friend and her husband and hold his brand new godchild.
derrick’s not doing too good. he spent the better part of this drive laying in the back seat with his head in my lap. outside the window this land lays dark.
we leave michigan and keep driving until we’re a few hours away from the chi-town. we’re going to a cottage on the lake that our boy sully is staying at and has invited us out. we drive down small roads and make each other scared by talking about what is out there and if it will kill us. buddy and i are in the back back and look out the window to suddenly see nothing but a pair of headlights right behind us. we turn wideyed at one another and almost poop in fear but just laugh because we have the same thought. five minutes later we look behind us, the car is gone. nothing. raaarrgghhh......
we turn into the woods, it’s as black as a cat.
we pull up to two cabins.
it smells like leaves burning.
i stay up till 3 and go to sleep on the couch
while outside
sully and his friends stand around a fire drinking and jumping through the flames.
we drove till michigan. we stopped for dinner so buddy could see his best friend and her husband and hold his brand new godchild.
derrick’s not doing too good. he spent the better part of this drive laying in the back seat with his head in my lap. outside the window this land lays dark.
we leave michigan and keep driving until we’re a few hours away from the chi-town. we’re going to a cottage on the lake that our boy sully is staying at and has invited us out. we drive down small roads and make each other scared by talking about what is out there and if it will kill us. buddy and i are in the back back and look out the window to suddenly see nothing but a pair of headlights right behind us. we turn wideyed at one another and almost poop in fear but just laugh because we have the same thought. five minutes later we look behind us, the car is gone. nothing. raaarrgghhh......
we turn into the woods, it’s as black as a cat.
we pull up to two cabins.
it smells like leaves burning.
i stay up till 3 and go to sleep on the couch
while outside
sully and his friends stand around a fire drinking and jumping through the flames.
Friday, October 5, 2007
Buffalo, New York
never been to buffalo. i only think of vincent gallo when i think of it.
it was pretty. we arrived at gabrielle’s home, her street is lovely with lovely homes on it. the show was a lot of fun. it was set for 8 but there were maybe five people there. we couldn’t really understand it, then we looked again at the paper’s write up, it said october tenth as opposed to the fifth. when we started the show we had 17 people in the crowd. and it ruled. we gave them all that we had and we had a really great great time. the guys had been fed drinks from the bartender eric throughout the show, so they were a litttle drunken by the time we left the venue. eric shared with us his profuse thanks, he wouldn’t except any money from anyone in the bar the whole night. he told me that he had come into work today like any other, a little hungover, expecting to just make some drinks, make a few bucks, he knew something was happening tonight but he figured it’d be whatever. what he got he said, was a religious experience. he’s a writer as well, and the night’s show changed him, was a spiritual happening and he couldn’t bring himself to ask for any money after having something like that surrounding him. it was really sweet and really nice to hear.
we all went back to gabrielle’s afterwards. this cat james that i had met when i passed through ithaca a month ago, came up from his school about an hour and a half away from buffalo, and he hung as well. we sat around making my dick is so big jokes.*
once folks left, we crashed in the livingroom on couches and floors, popped in the 40 year old virgin and fell asleep.
*said in a voice that's a mix of elvis and jesse jackson, and utterly cocky:
My dick is so big, I had sex with the Grand Canyon and lubed it with history.
it was pretty. we arrived at gabrielle’s home, her street is lovely with lovely homes on it. the show was a lot of fun. it was set for 8 but there were maybe five people there. we couldn’t really understand it, then we looked again at the paper’s write up, it said october tenth as opposed to the fifth. when we started the show we had 17 people in the crowd. and it ruled. we gave them all that we had and we had a really great great time. the guys had been fed drinks from the bartender eric throughout the show, so they were a litttle drunken by the time we left the venue. eric shared with us his profuse thanks, he wouldn’t except any money from anyone in the bar the whole night. he told me that he had come into work today like any other, a little hungover, expecting to just make some drinks, make a few bucks, he knew something was happening tonight but he figured it’d be whatever. what he got he said, was a religious experience. he’s a writer as well, and the night’s show changed him, was a spiritual happening and he couldn’t bring himself to ask for any money after having something like that surrounding him. it was really sweet and really nice to hear.
we all went back to gabrielle’s afterwards. this cat james that i had met when i passed through ithaca a month ago, came up from his school about an hour and a half away from buffalo, and he hung as well. we sat around making my dick is so big jokes.*
once folks left, we crashed in the livingroom on couches and floors, popped in the 40 year old virgin and fell asleep.
*said in a voice that's a mix of elvis and jesse jackson, and utterly cocky:
My dick is so big, I had sex with the Grand Canyon and lubed it with history.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Westechester, New York
morning gig at the westchester community college, arranged by our good pal zork. we did two one hour sessions, performing a stack of poems and taking questions afterwards. it went really well, a lot better than we were expecting.
it was in a lecture hall, with the chairs going up stadium style, and us performing at the bottom. the wings were two short staircases going down. while waiting dan was attacked kissy face style by a fan of his and during the set, derrick, hidden in the stairwell, showed mike his “brain.”
afterwards, unfortunately, we had to hustle the shit out as we had a gig way in fredonia located in way north new york.
it was in a lecture hall, with the chairs going up stadium style, and us performing at the bottom. the wings were two short staircases going down. while waiting dan was attacked kissy face style by a fan of his and during the set, derrick, hidden in the stairwell, showed mike his “brain.”
afterwards, unfortunately, we had to hustle the shit out as we had a gig way in fredonia located in way north new york.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Circle of Hope, Philly
the space was in a church located upstairs off the streets in the city. it’s a really lovely space. very unassuming and unimposing and welcoming. hardwood floors, white walls, it looks like a loft gallery. it feels tolerant. most of the crowd were high schoolers that came courtesy of a teacher friend of i believe derrick’s. andrea (gibson) was there.
my boy aaron also came on out. we went to SCAD together and he was part of the couch crew in portland before moving back home to philly. he has a website called interview-press.com, which houses his interview records record label, that puts out his crazy wild interviews of different themes and subjects, and his cartoons, which include his sketch-reporting and amongst those, the sketches he took of the sparrows during our show.
also there, my old friend jessie bowley, now schlabach, a girl i dated back in savannah, ga, who incidentally dated aaron right before me (amongst the craziness of THE CONTEST, a competition between aaron and myself to see who was the bigger ladies man, as in proving that the other one was said bigger ladies man. we each wanted to prove to the other that we were the bigger dweeb). so it was interesting that the three of us were chilling there talking it up after the show. would have liked to have hung out more, but we needed to get a jump on the road and start heading to westchester so we would be there in the morning for our AM gig the following day.
so after saying bye to aaron and jessie, i joined the guys as we rocked out with the cold war kids’ hospital bed, with derrick on drums, buddy on keyboard, dan on a bongo drum, mike on tambourine, and me doing something. following that jam session, we screamed our way through 1947 by neutral milk hotel while playing bumper cars with the metal chairs of the room, pushing them speedily across the room, ramming them into one another.
let’s roll.
my boy aaron also came on out. we went to SCAD together and he was part of the couch crew in portland before moving back home to philly. he has a website called interview-press.com, which houses his interview records record label, that puts out his crazy wild interviews of different themes and subjects, and his cartoons, which include his sketch-reporting and amongst those, the sketches he took of the sparrows during our show.
also there, my old friend jessie bowley, now schlabach, a girl i dated back in savannah, ga, who incidentally dated aaron right before me (amongst the craziness of THE CONTEST, a competition between aaron and myself to see who was the bigger ladies man, as in proving that the other one was said bigger ladies man. we each wanted to prove to the other that we were the bigger dweeb). so it was interesting that the three of us were chilling there talking it up after the show. would have liked to have hung out more, but we needed to get a jump on the road and start heading to westchester so we would be there in the morning for our AM gig the following day.
so after saying bye to aaron and jessie, i joined the guys as we rocked out with the cold war kids’ hospital bed, with derrick on drums, buddy on keyboard, dan on a bongo drum, mike on tambourine, and me doing something. following that jam session, we screamed our way through 1947 by neutral milk hotel while playing bumper cars with the metal chairs of the room, pushing them speedily across the room, ramming them into one another.
let’s roll.
Providence, Rhode Island
400+ kids came.
been wanting to visit providence for five years now and i finally got to see it. it totally is the savannah of the north. we pulled up to brown university there was a line in front of the door curling down the walkway an hour before the show started. on a sunday. and most of the kids there never having gone to a spoken word event. it ruled. it really was a great show, one of the best so far (and as i write this more then a week after the show, still is). put on by sarah kay and phillip kaye (both japanese-jewish poets of the same age with family from orange county and both with siblings respectively named phillip and sarah. wtf. they’re best friends and are awesome.)
before the show we ate thanksgiving sandwiches at the meeting st. cafe and i got a brown shirt, a german winter flap cap, and a blue and white striped long sleeved russian navy shirt at a cheap surplus store.
after the show the wonderful and amazing kit cooked dinner for us the. a bunch of the boston kids came up, so we dined with kate, brian ellis, casey, and eamon was there as well. i love these northbeasters. love them. utterly. they are beautiful songs that will always sound good when you hear them on the radio, bringing beautifuller pictures of tener memories into you.
in the morning we had breakfast with the kay(e)s. i had raspberry pancakes. time to go to philly.
been wanting to visit providence for five years now and i finally got to see it. it totally is the savannah of the north. we pulled up to brown university there was a line in front of the door curling down the walkway an hour before the show started. on a sunday. and most of the kids there never having gone to a spoken word event. it ruled. it really was a great show, one of the best so far (and as i write this more then a week after the show, still is). put on by sarah kay and phillip kaye (both japanese-jewish poets of the same age with family from orange county and both with siblings respectively named phillip and sarah. wtf. they’re best friends and are awesome.)
before the show we ate thanksgiving sandwiches at the meeting st. cafe and i got a brown shirt, a german winter flap cap, and a blue and white striped long sleeved russian navy shirt at a cheap surplus store.
after the show the wonderful and amazing kit cooked dinner for us the. a bunch of the boston kids came up, so we dined with kate, brian ellis, casey, and eamon was there as well. i love these northbeasters. love them. utterly. they are beautiful songs that will always sound good when you hear them on the radio, bringing beautifuller pictures of tener memories into you.
in the morning we had breakfast with the kay(e)s. i had raspberry pancakes. time to go to philly.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Worcester and Jamaica Plains, Massachusets
in worcester. awesome. fucking great show. we remembered to have fun again, and upped the ante. we’re starting to find our groove i feel, it’s falling into place. mike cried after the show. brian ellis and simone came from boston for the show which was pretty sweet. i wanted to hang out afterwards, cool folks, cute girls but i had to leave the gang and ride back to boston with brian so i could fly out to charleston the following day for the naca south conference. brian and i spent the ride talking about poetry and him telling me about his job at this gourmet grocery store where one of the guys is an wine and cheese enthusiast and was so pumped about brian being a poet that he had brian share work at the wine/cheese class he teaches, to add to the experience for the participants. it was pretty funny. also brian shared with me about how with truffles, truffle buyers keep secret the truffle hunters of tiny truffle towns from other truffle buyers and there is all this intrigue with it. i’m relatively anti-foodi, but that sounds so fascinating i want to research and write a story about it.
upon arrival in boston, we headed to jamaican plains and to brian’s home, the Whitehaus, which is a 3 story abode houses 11 individuals and a shitload of instruments, musicmaking, creativity, and love.
i slept on one of the several couches, in the main living room that houses the house’s weekly event “The Hoot,” short for hootenanny, where crowds of folks show up to participate and enjoy and share a myriad of things from music playing to poetry to fire breathing to puppetry to whatever, sky writing. in the cradle of a drum kit, a rhodes organ, 4 electric guitars, two acoustics, a couple basses, some toy pianos and a glockenspiel, and under a white comforter i fell into a lovely sleep.
the next morning brian was already gone for work so i walked into the kitchen and met kate, adam, brian, and john deuce. kate was making french toast out of old scones and they invited me to join them for breakfast, which i did, which was delicious, and which amongst that john had a guitar and kate a ukulele and the two of them started harmonizing on a song of john’s called don’t cry mama which was beautiful and which adam came in later on a flute. we then moved into the big room and kate jumped on the rhodes piano and the started working on a different song of john’s. unfortunately i needed to hightail it out of there to catch a plane, so i packed up my bag walked to the train and rode it to the logan airport to fly to charleston, completely in love with my first experience of the whitehaus.
upon arrival in boston, we headed to jamaican plains and to brian’s home, the Whitehaus, which is a 3 story abode houses 11 individuals and a shitload of instruments, musicmaking, creativity, and love.
i slept on one of the several couches, in the main living room that houses the house’s weekly event “The Hoot,” short for hootenanny, where crowds of folks show up to participate and enjoy and share a myriad of things from music playing to poetry to fire breathing to puppetry to whatever, sky writing. in the cradle of a drum kit, a rhodes organ, 4 electric guitars, two acoustics, a couple basses, some toy pianos and a glockenspiel, and under a white comforter i fell into a lovely sleep.
the next morning brian was already gone for work so i walked into the kitchen and met kate, adam, brian, and john deuce. kate was making french toast out of old scones and they invited me to join them for breakfast, which i did, which was delicious, and which amongst that john had a guitar and kate a ukulele and the two of them started harmonizing on a song of john’s called don’t cry mama which was beautiful and which adam came in later on a flute. we then moved into the big room and kate jumped on the rhodes piano and the started working on a different song of john’s. unfortunately i needed to hightail it out of there to catch a plane, so i packed up my bag walked to the train and rode it to the logan airport to fly to charleston, completely in love with my first experience of the whitehaus.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Oneonta, New York
again gorgeous countryside we drove through. huge sweeping valleys to the left of the van as we curved through the land, withe mountains scattered with orange and red leaves through the green trees. upon arrival at the school we headed to the house we were staying in. it was sweet. next to the dean’s house, it’s an old school place filled with lime green shag carpeting across the bottom floor, and cute rooms upstairs, everything decorated from with fifities furniture, and a world map painted on the upstairs wall.
my room.
good show. we remembered to have fun and we scrapped the story transitions and smoothed out the show and brought the energy and handclaps to the opening. shorter show, cuz of time restraints but still successful. afterwards we went to a party at somebody’s house and the fellas got snackered. we also had a freestyle session in the van consisting of the chorus: balls balls he sucks his own balls.
it was interesting, the party. the bathroom was filled with pictures of jeff goldblum.
one forgets that there are kids out there that really respect and adore one’s work. we’re all just, as derrick puts it, guys trying to make the rent. and we were just chilling post show with some cool kids, but these kids were telling us thanks for one of the best and happiest nights of their live and it was “thanks” but we’re all just folks hanging out. but i realized that if when in college after i first heard jeffrey mcdaniel read, if jeff had come out and hung with me and my friends afterwards, yes that night would have been forever ingrained in my head as mad rulage. it’s just weird to realize that to some people out there, one is their j. mcdaniel. that feels weird to write that down.
when we left the party and headed home, there was a drizzle in the air, shine on the streets and between the sky and the streetlights, the night was an orange blanket, still. a whisper. a closed library with no walls. a sleeping book, a stack of them. we are all growing up.
the following day we went to the baseball hall of fame. our friend ben couch works there and got us in for free. i'm not a big baseball fan but it was still pretty interesting.
honus wagner, one of the first five inductees said:
"There ain't much to being a ballplayer, if you're a ballplayer."
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Hiram, Ohio
driving to hiram was gorgeous. the sloping green banking the roads. i wanted to buy a house and some land out there and stay and eat and write and stare and live.
a big blocky house with white paint peeling and the bones of wood scraping out from underneath its skin, keep company with ghosts. pick apples. play the guitar. run through the rain kiss outside climb trees stay up till dawn getting drunk on candles and pots catching leaks. build a fence around nothing.
our show was way off. it was in a small ballroom for crowd of maybe 30. in an attempt to craft a story of solomon sparrow to weave through the evening, we have shaved off time for so much poetry, and the energy lags, and felt like sloppy community theatre, and with a low energy crowd, we weren’t too happy with our show, but we learned a lot from it, and folks still enjoyed it.
after bringing stuff down to the van, the sky opened up and poured it iself all over the streets. POURED itself. buckets. we sat in the van and three shirtless jocks jogged past like smiling phantoms while a man stood across the street from us, still as a statue which we thought he was till he turned and freaked us out, standing there getting soaked. we went and got some grub with a couple of teh student organizers, will and jenn. burgers for a buck with a beverage purchase. sweet.
we stayed in the hiram inn, supposedly haunted. a sweet house inn with tasty old school dark wood four post beds and robes. derrick and i pimped out in them. baz and dan's room however looked like the beach house room of a seven year old girl decorated by her grandparents, with one large bed with a pink peach bedspread, yellow pastel walls, and white wicker chairs. our room however had beautiful victorian looking wallpaper with green illustrations of crests and huntsmen and lions and hounds. slept beautifully.
Monday, September 24, 2007
West Virginia
day off today. we headed to ohio by way of west virginia. stopped at cracker barrel adn stayed the night in charleston. last time i stayed in charleston west virginia, it was after one of the worst nights of my life.
two years ago i was on tour and sarah was with me. we were in west virginia and we were planning on calling an early evening, staying in the hotel and watching tv till we fell asleep. it was gonna rule.
so we stopped probably 100-150 miles before charleston but we couldn't find a room at the exit we took, and could not find a hotel room anywhere at said exit cuz there was some car race in the area that night. so we hopped back on the highway and took the opposite side of the exit which took us way off the interstate, still couldn't find a room, so we continued on one of those small highways like 19 or 20 that took us to another small town and another hotel that was full. by this time it was 2 hours after where we originally wanted to be and we weren't quite sure where we even were.
we then tried to find our way back to the road but couldn't, winding deeper into deep w virginia, came across a convenience store that seemed like some shady shit was about to go down in right before we came in. they gave us directions, telling us the entrance for the highway was just down the road 15-20 minutes away. we thanked them then proceeded to drive for the next 45 minutes through the dark ass hills curving through lightless black with no signs and nothing to tell us we were going the right way except for the hope of that man's directions, while wondering if they were faulty directions in order to be waylayed. it was a horrible hour of fear and tears and confusion and not having any fucking idea if we were heading straight or further into the abyss. we finally came upon the highway hopped on and kept on driving till we made it to charleston, saw a motel 6 lied about how many people were in our room, stumbled into it and feeling like little pieces of tired shit, fell asleep.
the following morning we did have a great and cheap breakfast though.
nothing like that this time. we stopped at the cracker barrel for dinner. drove a little further to charleston and called it a night.
two years ago i was on tour and sarah was with me. we were in west virginia and we were planning on calling an early evening, staying in the hotel and watching tv till we fell asleep. it was gonna rule.
so we stopped probably 100-150 miles before charleston but we couldn't find a room at the exit we took, and could not find a hotel room anywhere at said exit cuz there was some car race in the area that night. so we hopped back on the highway and took the opposite side of the exit which took us way off the interstate, still couldn't find a room, so we continued on one of those small highways like 19 or 20 that took us to another small town and another hotel that was full. by this time it was 2 hours after where we originally wanted to be and we weren't quite sure where we even were.
we then tried to find our way back to the road but couldn't, winding deeper into deep w virginia, came across a convenience store that seemed like some shady shit was about to go down in right before we came in. they gave us directions, telling us the entrance for the highway was just down the road 15-20 minutes away. we thanked them then proceeded to drive for the next 45 minutes through the dark ass hills curving through lightless black with no signs and nothing to tell us we were going the right way except for the hope of that man's directions, while wondering if they were faulty directions in order to be waylayed. it was a horrible hour of fear and tears and confusion and not having any fucking idea if we were heading straight or further into the abyss. we finally came upon the highway hopped on and kept on driving till we made it to charleston, saw a motel 6 lied about how many people were in our room, stumbled into it and feeling like little pieces of tired shit, fell asleep.
the following morning we did have a great and cheap breakfast though.
nothing like that this time. we stopped at the cracker barrel for dinner. drove a little further to charleston and called it a night.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Greenville, South Carolina
good show in greenville.
the space was little and felt like a one room church in the south. partially the crowd partially the pews for seating.
it felt like it was beginning to be a revival, handclaps, umhms, shadows of amens scurrying through us all.
there was also a q and a afterwards.
fun was had.
soooooooo.... there are these dares that we do.
they are not spoken of. whoever is in the postition to pass on the next dare, writes it down and passes it to someone. the dares are more subtle then one's usual dare, they are not to be justified, not terribly crazy, done so it may be something tht actually happened. derrick taking off his shirt in the savannah bar was a dare. in atlanta, dan took off his shirt and lotioned his chest in the middle of a conversation. backstage before the show, derrick passed me one that said i had to ask some people where the belt shop is and talk about how loose my pants on and i need to eat more, then in the conversation my pants have to drop, i am embarassed and apologize. noted
afterwards we went to this sweet basement bar named meathead’s that had OFFICIAL paper football, with the football triangle actually stitched leather and tables with a football field on them and portable end zone goal posts.
people come in there in the afternoons to practice for their leagues apparently. also super cheap and super good food.
i went upstairs to talk to sarah, she got a tarot card deck and is going to read my future over the phone. also across the street at the karaoke bar, sounds of someone that seemed like they may be a frat broh was belting out jump by kriss kross.
back downstairs, mike karate chopped buddy's chilli dog. it went everywhere.
before we left i talked with some folks and asked them where the belt shop was. they knew of none, one of them suggested, bless his heart taking twine from the bar and using that. i had difficulty with the pant droppage, asi don't wear baggy pants anymore, so i had to have them sit below my ass holding them up wiht my hand and wiggle my body out of them till they fell, i sheepishly apologized and pulled them up. then we left.
on the street dan derrick and buddy dropped their pants and walked the block in said state. we hopped in the van and headed to the hotel.
Savannah, Georgia
instilled on the road today was roadstop buddies where we each have a buddy that we trade off each roadstop buying gifts for. mine is dan.
it started with mike getting derrick a hackeysack hat
and then derrick getting mike an FBI cap.
Firm Believer In JESUS.
our original show here in savannah was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales and/or promotion, but the promoter got us a show at a smaller venue, the coffeehouse the sentient bean, which incidentally was the place i had my last and farewell show before i moved away from savannah five years ago, and was also the place that i last read in savannah when last i stopped through 3 years ago.
when we hit savannah my heart was beating and warming turning smiling and slowly dancing, opening it’s eyes with smiles to enter a city that i know where to turn and to see what and know directions through and i recognize as arms that held me though long ago, for o so long. the trees dripping low and the familiar streets i biked through for hours that bled into days letting the ink of that city soak into me, writing what is was all over my insides. how i love this city.
though a smaller show, it was great, we had a lot of fun, warm audience, sold merch, got free good food. hallie, allyson’s friend, was able to come out for the show, which was nice as she’s cool. and funny. and cute.
also ray and barbara rudolph, two Baha’is of the savannah community, came out with their granddaughter lily, who’s father martin had only just been married, when i left. it would have been nice to see martin, but i got to meet his wife the following day at devotionals.
after the show the sparrows met up with an old high school friend of dan’s and her friends, who all go to savannah state or armstrong, i forget.
got a cold slice from vinnie’s and this made me very happy! !!!
then i remembered that my friend tiffany lives here and i had forgotten to call her. i left a message, we headed to a bar, then i got a text from tiffany asking where i was, told her, she called me, told me she was in the alley coming towards the bar i was at, i went outside, saw a silhouette approaching a couple hundred feet away, i ran towards it and there was my old friend tiffany reising, who i worked at the mellow mushroom and who i went on a date with and who would spend many a talk with thinking and talking about art and what it meant to us and how we were trying to find it and we hugged and it was wonderful to see her, particularly as i found out, she no longer lives in georgia but in nyc and only happened to be in savannah only for tonight and was flying out at 7 am back to ny, how deliciously serendipitous! we talked in the alley, and then she went back to join her friend and i went back to join mine. this thing we stumble through is sometimes so nice.
we hung out for a spell, derrick took off his shirt and swung it around, we headed out, ran into tiffany again and walked her part of the way to her hotel, jumped in the van and headed to my boy darrell’s house. he’s a savannah Baha’i and my brother. we went to brazil together and he opened his home to all of us. it’s so great to see him holding it down, he’s a real estate entrepreneur and has 10-14 properties now, but more then that he’s doing it by helping out impoverished folks in danger of losing their homes.
the next morning he, and i along with derrick and buddy went to devotionals at the Baha’i center. it was so wonderful to be there. derrick was feeling under, so buddy and i shared a couple of poems each, and when i did shake the dust, i could barely make it through it, i had started crying so much from giving it to a body of people who were so important to me for so very long and after so very long, it felt like i was coming home, but for only a short while, as right after we had to book it and get on the road.
the sun is out. we are driving through the south. there are small highways and telephone wires kissing the sky. this thing i love. warm breeze like a naked arm. a window down. trees bleeding behind us,
it started with mike getting derrick a hackeysack hat
and then derrick getting mike an FBI cap.
Firm Believer In JESUS.
our original show here in savannah was cancelled due to lack of ticket sales and/or promotion, but the promoter got us a show at a smaller venue, the coffeehouse the sentient bean, which incidentally was the place i had my last and farewell show before i moved away from savannah five years ago, and was also the place that i last read in savannah when last i stopped through 3 years ago.
when we hit savannah my heart was beating and warming turning smiling and slowly dancing, opening it’s eyes with smiles to enter a city that i know where to turn and to see what and know directions through and i recognize as arms that held me though long ago, for o so long. the trees dripping low and the familiar streets i biked through for hours that bled into days letting the ink of that city soak into me, writing what is was all over my insides. how i love this city.
though a smaller show, it was great, we had a lot of fun, warm audience, sold merch, got free good food. hallie, allyson’s friend, was able to come out for the show, which was nice as she’s cool. and funny. and cute.
also ray and barbara rudolph, two Baha’is of the savannah community, came out with their granddaughter lily, who’s father martin had only just been married, when i left. it would have been nice to see martin, but i got to meet his wife the following day at devotionals.
after the show the sparrows met up with an old high school friend of dan’s and her friends, who all go to savannah state or armstrong, i forget.
got a cold slice from vinnie’s and this made me very happy! !!!
then i remembered that my friend tiffany lives here and i had forgotten to call her. i left a message, we headed to a bar, then i got a text from tiffany asking where i was, told her, she called me, told me she was in the alley coming towards the bar i was at, i went outside, saw a silhouette approaching a couple hundred feet away, i ran towards it and there was my old friend tiffany reising, who i worked at the mellow mushroom and who i went on a date with and who would spend many a talk with thinking and talking about art and what it meant to us and how we were trying to find it and we hugged and it was wonderful to see her, particularly as i found out, she no longer lives in georgia but in nyc and only happened to be in savannah only for tonight and was flying out at 7 am back to ny, how deliciously serendipitous! we talked in the alley, and then she went back to join her friend and i went back to join mine. this thing we stumble through is sometimes so nice.
we hung out for a spell, derrick took off his shirt and swung it around, we headed out, ran into tiffany again and walked her part of the way to her hotel, jumped in the van and headed to my boy darrell’s house. he’s a savannah Baha’i and my brother. we went to brazil together and he opened his home to all of us. it’s so great to see him holding it down, he’s a real estate entrepreneur and has 10-14 properties now, but more then that he’s doing it by helping out impoverished folks in danger of losing their homes.
the next morning he, and i along with derrick and buddy went to devotionals at the Baha’i center. it was so wonderful to be there. derrick was feeling under, so buddy and i shared a couple of poems each, and when i did shake the dust, i could barely make it through it, i had started crying so much from giving it to a body of people who were so important to me for so very long and after so very long, it felt like i was coming home, but for only a short while, as right after we had to book it and get on the road.
the sun is out. we are driving through the south. there are small highways and telephone wires kissing the sky. this thing i love. warm breeze like a naked arm. a window down. trees bleeding behind us,
Friday, September 21, 2007
Atlanta, Georgia
first show
a little clunky, pretty good, some work is needed though
saw stephanie, which was nice
hung out with allyson and slept on the couch at hers and jay’s house. it was fantabulous getting to see them.
their house and dog are super cute.
derrick introduces us to sandwich karate: any “sandwich” or rather any main course you eat with your hands, burger, burrito, taco, fried chicken, pizza, etc., is open for chopping and punching. once the eater touches any part of it, it is fair game for Hiyahs, unless the eater has shielded it. a shield can consist of anything, a napkin, a bottlecap, whatever, so long as it has been vocally dubbed a shield and placed on part of the meal. this protects the food from being chopped when not in the eater’s hands.
a little clunky, pretty good, some work is needed though
saw stephanie, which was nice
hung out with allyson and slept on the couch at hers and jay’s house. it was fantabulous getting to see them.
their house and dog are super cute.
derrick introduces us to sandwich karate: any “sandwich” or rather any main course you eat with your hands, burger, burrito, taco, fried chicken, pizza, etc., is open for chopping and punching. once the eater touches any part of it, it is fair game for Hiyahs, unless the eater has shielded it. a shield can consist of anything, a napkin, a bottlecap, whatever, so long as it has been vocally dubbed a shield and placed on part of the meal. this protects the food from being chopped when not in the eater’s hands.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Seventh Day
Tuesday
1. with derrick at work, the four of us, after getting groceries, started working shake the dust and searching at midnight group pieces, and trying to figure out the show’s transitions. buddy and i worked some on a little ditty with the piano.
2. derrick came home, we played horseshoes, and went to dinner. had catfish, mashed potatoes, and sweet tea. awesome. derrick and buddy on d’s motorcycle led the way through the beautiful nashville countryside, with dan, mike, and i following in derrick’s car. it was gorgeous out there; rolling slopes, pastures, winding road and telephone poles, the pink orange of the setting sun spilling through the woods, cresting over the hills, bleeding in the blueclay sky, i filmed a lot, following the lines of telephone wires speeding through the sky point to point, pole to pole.
3. came home and stayed up late figuring this show’s order. it’s a mind fuck, balancing all these poems and balancing and varying the poets, the themes and feel of the different acts. sigh. we almost have it.
4. stayed up later talking with sarah, i have decisions i need to make. double sigh.
1. with derrick at work, the four of us, after getting groceries, started working shake the dust and searching at midnight group pieces, and trying to figure out the show’s transitions. buddy and i worked some on a little ditty with the piano.
2. derrick came home, we played horseshoes, and went to dinner. had catfish, mashed potatoes, and sweet tea. awesome. derrick and buddy on d’s motorcycle led the way through the beautiful nashville countryside, with dan, mike, and i following in derrick’s car. it was gorgeous out there; rolling slopes, pastures, winding road and telephone poles, the pink orange of the setting sun spilling through the woods, cresting over the hills, bleeding in the blueclay sky, i filmed a lot, following the lines of telephone wires speeding through the sky point to point, pole to pole.
3. came home and stayed up late figuring this show’s order. it’s a mind fuck, balancing all these poems and balancing and varying the poets, the themes and feel of the different acts. sigh. we almost have it.
4. stayed up later talking with sarah, i have decisions i need to make. double sigh.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Sixth Day
Monday
1. kim took me to LAX. (as a side note, kim rules for her super graciousness and hospitality, it was really nice getting to see her) turns out i forgot my phone in the car. snaps.
2. flight: a moment of the worst turbulence i’ve ever had. the plane suddenly dropped, like it felt like we were falling, it was brief but then kept going, tilting and flying to the side and falling some more, people out of their seats flailing and scrambling for their chairs, the girl next to me clutching the armrest in an iron grip. i expected the masks to fall. the captain said it was just a patch of wonkiness. still gave me weird dreams of us landing crashing through treetops with some old woman sitting in a chair on a snow covered tarmac regardless of us landing there.
3. layover in charlotte: a woman sits down across from me. she’s on a phone, all of a sudden she’s screaming as this guy comes up to her, telling him to get the hell away from her, like belting the shit. they exchanged words, him telling her she was a dram queen and fake, and her going back to her phone call telling either a person or a voicemail how much she loved him and that he was her true love soulmate. she and the other guy got back into it at the ticket counter. seemed like maybe they vacationed together and it didn’t work out between them, and he was pissed that maybe he had purchased her ticket? when i was getting on my plan, i overheard the workers at the other ticket counter say something like: if i had gotten a girls’ name tattooed on me on vacation i’d be upset too.
4. with no phone, i had no idea what the pick up plan was in nashville and no way to contact my boys. all i could do was wait and call my pops to have him email the guys to let them know i didn’t have my phone. sat until thankfully the gang pulled up, derrick, mike, dan and buddy. we’re all finally here and together. we drove out to derrick’s old house in the country. derrick is moving so he’s at the new place and this house is empty, so after talking some about the show derrick went home, the four of us hung and retired. this is really exciting, i can’t believe this is actually happening.
1. kim took me to LAX. (as a side note, kim rules for her super graciousness and hospitality, it was really nice getting to see her) turns out i forgot my phone in the car. snaps.
2. flight: a moment of the worst turbulence i’ve ever had. the plane suddenly dropped, like it felt like we were falling, it was brief but then kept going, tilting and flying to the side and falling some more, people out of their seats flailing and scrambling for their chairs, the girl next to me clutching the armrest in an iron grip. i expected the masks to fall. the captain said it was just a patch of wonkiness. still gave me weird dreams of us landing crashing through treetops with some old woman sitting in a chair on a snow covered tarmac regardless of us landing there.
3. layover in charlotte: a woman sits down across from me. she’s on a phone, all of a sudden she’s screaming as this guy comes up to her, telling him to get the hell away from her, like belting the shit. they exchanged words, him telling her she was a dram queen and fake, and her going back to her phone call telling either a person or a voicemail how much she loved him and that he was her true love soulmate. she and the other guy got back into it at the ticket counter. seemed like maybe they vacationed together and it didn’t work out between them, and he was pissed that maybe he had purchased her ticket? when i was getting on my plan, i overheard the workers at the other ticket counter say something like: if i had gotten a girls’ name tattooed on me on vacation i’d be upset too.
4. with no phone, i had no idea what the pick up plan was in nashville and no way to contact my boys. all i could do was wait and call my pops to have him email the guys to let them know i didn’t have my phone. sat until thankfully the gang pulled up, derrick, mike, dan and buddy. we’re all finally here and together. we drove out to derrick’s old house in the country. derrick is moving so he’s at the new place and this house is empty, so after talking some about the show derrick went home, the four of us hung and retired. this is really exciting, i can’t believe this is actually happening.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Fifth Day
Sunday
1. disneyland. kim dropped sarah and i off at sarah’s house, we grabbed the car and dipped. traffic wasn’t too bad, so we were there around 11, there were little to no lines at the ticket window, so we got our tics and walked in. it was sweet.
2. first up: main street u.s.a. greeted with a marching band led by mickey, performing on the town’s bandstand by the quaint city square.
3. next up: adventureland. surrounded by jungle foliage, arabian bazaars, morroccon buildings, and the promise of adventure, we went on the jungle cruise river adventure, seeing hippos, lions eating zebras, amazonian natives, piranhas, waterfalls, gorillas playing rifles like trumpets, rhinos chasing explorers up poles, all with a snarky sarcastic river guide at the helm of our boat. i like that at disneyland there’s no bullshit with the rides, you don’t enter and then have to pay more money or tickets to get on a ride, you just go jump on something.
4. next up indiana jones’ jeep ride. we wandered through a mine to get on to a giant jeep that drove crazily through said mine, tire squealing, hairpin turns, screaming curves, drops, trying to escape specters, GIANT cobras, blow guns, boobie traps, and the eye of mata, ooooohhoooohh. there was also sections completely in the dark as the jeep went crazy and a part where a giant boulder came rolling right at us, until we dropped down slope and drove under the rock at the last moment. i don’t ride rides, so even though this was kind of a dinky one, it was a big one for me. had fun though.
5. after that we had a chicken skewer in polynesian sauce and headed for fantasyland.
6. mister toad’s wild ride. whoo hoo.
7. took pictures of monstro the whale.
8. sarah went on big thunder mountain railroad. i should have gone on it with her. i’m a big weenie and the commercials always make the ride look crazy. then i went to the other side of the mountain to watch it while she rode, and it’s kind of dinky, not drops and loops, just fast curves.
9. it’s a small world. it’s a small world friggin rules. i’ve only been to disneyworld and that was almost twenty years ago. i didn’t remember it’s a small world being this sweet. on a digital camera that only shoots 15 minutes of moving footage, i shot probably ten minutes on the small world boat ride.
10. toon town, which consisted of seeing goofy, blowing something up, visiting minnie’s house, chip ‘n dale’s treehouse, and hot dogs and chips.
11 tomorrowland. sarah tried to get on the bobsleds, but they were down for a little bit, so we went to innoventions, which is a walk through exhibition with interactive computers, which was s little boring but we did get to program a fireworks show which was fun. after that we went to space mountain so sarah could ride that. she wanted me to ride on this one a lot, but when i was a kid? space mountain was the ride that scared one shitless. i know there’s all these crazy ass roller coasters these days and that space mountain is old school but growing up, a roller coaster, diving and rocketing through the dark was the craziness. unfortunately for her it was down also, so we went to little nemo’s submarine, but as it had just reopened recently, the wait was 75 minutes, so f’ that, we went back to main street and got mint chocolate ice cream.
12. delicious.
13. a little bit of a parade then back to tomorrowland for space mountain. sarah went up and i watched honey i shrunk the audience, a 3d show involving exploding glass courtesy of a miniature rick moranis, masses of escaped mice, me being shrunk, a big python wanting to eat me, a 6 year old lifting the entire theater, and a big dog. left and waited for space mountain. turned out sarah was about to ride off in it and instead of gong on the track, the ship went into room where they were told the ride still need work so she got a fast pass to cut a long line another ride.
14. saddened, we went to pirates of the carribbean. which was sweet except for the couple behind us who kept talking the whole time, and who we learned from such statements as “your girlfriend” and “this is fun.””what is?””cheating!” and the wedding ring on the woman’s hand we saw afterwards, that the two of them were having an affair. they also kept smooching, talking about boobs and handjobs and sex, it was extremely uncomfortable and weird. we did get to see the sweet black sky of the louisiana swamps captured inside a building and got to watch drunken pirates cackle and shoot and battle and party.
15. after this we went to splash mountain for the last ride of the day. i felt bad that sarah had had to ride her rides alone all day, so even though there’s a crazy drop in it, i went on it with her. courtesy of the fast pass, we jumped the 45 minute wait and with my weenie heart thumping we got into the first two seats of a giant carved out log, which took us along a stream and through the tales of brer rabbit, bear and fox, and the other critters of song of the south, where brer rabbit was flung into a briar patch at the end and us with him as the river dropped out under us and we slid steeply down for 40-50 feet. sheesh. my tummy.
16. wet and happy we took a picture in front of pooh’s honey, got hats for sarah’s friends blaire and dennis, and headed home.
17. got some in-n-out and went back to kim’s and watched talladega nights. fell asleep but it was funny. hugged sarah tightly , walked her to her car, kissed her, and said bye.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Fourth Day
Saturday
1. sarah, kim and i went to venice to go to the beach. before we trekked out, we went by the infamous roscoe’s chicken and waffles and all three of us had the carol c. special which consists of, chicken and waffles. specifically one breast and one waffle. we also each had a biscuit, sarah and i sweet tea, kim, a coffee. delicious but not completely finished.
2. the beach was nice. we arrived and i bought some sunglasses. aviators. 8 bucks. the water was cold. every place i travel, no matter how short or where it is i always bring my trunks, because in november of the fifth grade we went to gulf shores for a Baha’i teaching project, and as gulf shores is a beach, i packed a swimsuit which my mother promptly removed from my bag, as it was november. however the hotel we were a had an indoor swimming pool. the first or second night of the weekend, i watched all these other youth swimming happily while i dangled my feet in the water, until i thought forget this, and jumped in to swim wearing my jeans. on sunday morning, i was by the pool keeping company with scott simmons and someone else who were playing in the pool with a volleyball. i bent over the grab the ball and throw it to them and fell in my only other pair of pants were the jeans i had already swum in and were far from dry. i showed up in the doorway of my sister’s hotel room drenched and miserable: “I fell in the pool.” luckily she had a pair of sweatpants i borrowed. thanks shoke. ever since then i have always packed a swimsuit. for some reason, though being away for 6 weeks, i didn’t bring mine this trip. i think because i don’t like them and am hoping to get some new ones on the road. regardless i forgot i was going to be in los angeles and thus the beach. so in my red dickies shorts i wandered into the water with sarah while kim sunbathed.
3. the water was cold. the waves big. it took awhile to finally walk in but it was nice. i’m glad sarah was there. there was a lot of kelp in the water. back on dry land, she kept trying to capture the waves breaking on the rocks with her polaroid, but couldn’t get a shot to her liking, much to her chagrin and my amusement.
4. when we left the sand, we walked a little amongst the sights. there was a group of roller skaters doing choreographed dance moves on wheels, like roller electric slide. then this one cocky guy came up, kept doing ice skating moves on rollerskates, saying “get your cameras ready,” then would spin in circles or one leg up an dover his head or glide down to a split, put his head on the ground then lift himself up from the back of his shirt.
5. we had shaved ice: two tiger blood’s and one mango.
6. that evening another friend from college, courtney “hellcat” came out with us, and the four of us got a pizza and some cupcakes that sarah made and went to this cemetery that projects movies on a wall and watched the exorcist. it was pretty cool except for this one guy who kept heckling via his loud belching. boy did he have some great material. killer. also the flick is a little anti climactic.
7. after that w went and met kim’s friend david briefly at the is bar called the drawing room. david’s a filmmaker who made the films george washington, all the real girls, the undertow, and most recently he’s been working on the pineapple express with seth rogen and james franco, and he also directed the truth commercial i was in, while back in nyc. he and kim became friends back when he was in savannah filming the undertow, and this was when he was slated to make confederacy of dunces, so i gave kim books, cds, and headshots of mine, in hopes that i could do anything associated with that flick. didn’t get to do that but i did get contacted a month or so later to be in the truth spot and boy was that a blessing filled with residuals that allowed me to get my first computer and live in portland without starving when i had no job. i hadn’t seen david since then, which was four years ago, so it was good to see him. i really respect his work and he’s also a pretty cool guy. he’s in new orleans now, so if i get to be home at the holidays, i may see him.
8. after this, home, an episode of american life, and sleep.
1. sarah, kim and i went to venice to go to the beach. before we trekked out, we went by the infamous roscoe’s chicken and waffles and all three of us had the carol c. special which consists of, chicken and waffles. specifically one breast and one waffle. we also each had a biscuit, sarah and i sweet tea, kim, a coffee. delicious but not completely finished.
2. the beach was nice. we arrived and i bought some sunglasses. aviators. 8 bucks. the water was cold. every place i travel, no matter how short or where it is i always bring my trunks, because in november of the fifth grade we went to gulf shores for a Baha’i teaching project, and as gulf shores is a beach, i packed a swimsuit which my mother promptly removed from my bag, as it was november. however the hotel we were a had an indoor swimming pool. the first or second night of the weekend, i watched all these other youth swimming happily while i dangled my feet in the water, until i thought forget this, and jumped in to swim wearing my jeans. on sunday morning, i was by the pool keeping company with scott simmons and someone else who were playing in the pool with a volleyball. i bent over the grab the ball and throw it to them and fell in my only other pair of pants were the jeans i had already swum in and were far from dry. i showed up in the doorway of my sister’s hotel room drenched and miserable: “I fell in the pool.” luckily she had a pair of sweatpants i borrowed. thanks shoke. ever since then i have always packed a swimsuit. for some reason, though being away for 6 weeks, i didn’t bring mine this trip. i think because i don’t like them and am hoping to get some new ones on the road. regardless i forgot i was going to be in los angeles and thus the beach. so in my red dickies shorts i wandered into the water with sarah while kim sunbathed.
3. the water was cold. the waves big. it took awhile to finally walk in but it was nice. i’m glad sarah was there. there was a lot of kelp in the water. back on dry land, she kept trying to capture the waves breaking on the rocks with her polaroid, but couldn’t get a shot to her liking, much to her chagrin and my amusement.
4. when we left the sand, we walked a little amongst the sights. there was a group of roller skaters doing choreographed dance moves on wheels, like roller electric slide. then this one cocky guy came up, kept doing ice skating moves on rollerskates, saying “get your cameras ready,” then would spin in circles or one leg up an dover his head or glide down to a split, put his head on the ground then lift himself up from the back of his shirt.
5. we had shaved ice: two tiger blood’s and one mango.
6. that evening another friend from college, courtney “hellcat” came out with us, and the four of us got a pizza and some cupcakes that sarah made and went to this cemetery that projects movies on a wall and watched the exorcist. it was pretty cool except for this one guy who kept heckling via his loud belching. boy did he have some great material. killer. also the flick is a little anti climactic.
7. after that w went and met kim’s friend david briefly at the is bar called the drawing room. david’s a filmmaker who made the films george washington, all the real girls, the undertow, and most recently he’s been working on the pineapple express with seth rogen and james franco, and he also directed the truth commercial i was in, while back in nyc. he and kim became friends back when he was in savannah filming the undertow, and this was when he was slated to make confederacy of dunces, so i gave kim books, cds, and headshots of mine, in hopes that i could do anything associated with that flick. didn’t get to do that but i did get contacted a month or so later to be in the truth spot and boy was that a blessing filled with residuals that allowed me to get my first computer and live in portland without starving when i had no job. i hadn’t seen david since then, which was four years ago, so it was good to see him. i really respect his work and he’s also a pretty cool guy. he’s in new orleans now, so if i get to be home at the holidays, i may see him.
8. after this, home, an episode of american life, and sleep.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Third Day
Friday
1. woke up in my friend kim's cute house in los feliz with the sun leaking through the blinds onto the brown floor and finding me bundled on the couch. sent emails and worked some more on a beat that i started on the train. i think it's coming along. as a side note, people should track down j dilla's track "nothing like this" from his album, ruff draft as well as this hip hop group i just learned about, shape of broad minds and they're craft of the lost art debut. like anticon, they're a group of people that are pushing hip hop into other places, though unlike anticon which straddles the line of hip hop and whatever else, shape of..is totally still grounded in hip hop (that's not a slight on anticon, cuz i enjoy a lot of that work and respect it all for pushing definitions).
2. regina came over to pick me up for lunch. she had to take a job interview so it wasn't until two. we went to this coffeeshop around the corner called alcove and had sandwiches. it was cool. i was afraid it might be weird but it just felt like two people who had been friends a long time ago catching up. she's doing well, and told me about some movie in the pre-works about a group of fighting ninja guinea pigs. God bless hollywood. then we drove around looking for gas.
3. came home and talked to sarah for a spell.
4. kim came home and we went out to try to track down some art. i jumped online on a whim to see if there was any barry mcgee work in town, which i didn't expect cuz he never seems to have many shows these days, but what do you know? at redcat gallery in the walt disney concert hall, there was a collection of some of his later work. PUMPED. he's one of my favoritest artists. we went and it was pretty sweet to finally see a show of his. it had an overturned car filled with spray paint, a giant dumpster overflowing, walls filled with his geometric paintings and his graff character faces, motorized wooden sculptures spray painting columns, said dumpster bin filled with about 20 tvs playing animations, and a small wooden room you climbed a ladder into only to be greeted with a tiny motorized wooden head attached to a corner of one of the walls banging his head against it. that head was awesome.
5. went to a mexican spot with fancified elvis and swing cat waiters.
6. went and picked up sarah so she could stay the night at kim's so we can all go to the beach tomorrow. i got to see sarah, i got to see sarah. (that should be sung) her gloriously long beautiful hair is now long enough to wear in pleated braids which she is super excited about, and she had a plate of cupcakes she made. i got to see a little of her new house and her room. they have a white dog with a black eye and a super wagging tail that threatens to knock mirrors off the wall. the three of us went to 101 to have rootbeer floats.
7. we had chocolate milkshakes. they were FUCKING GREAT. then we took pictures of the crummy mural outside that had wonderful images of the cast of mash and the wizard of oz, and superman filming a movie in the middle of the city.
8. came home and chilled and talked and read a tiny bit, then went to bed. tomorrow the beach.
p.s. both chicago and savannah cancelled on us. this sucks. particularly that it's a city that we would all fucking love to be doing a show in and the other is the city that held me for seven years of my life and i want to see it so badly. anyone in either of those towns want to host a show for solomon sparrow's electric whale revival? perhaps you may get us super cheap and discounted?
p.p.s. i got to see sarah, i got to see sarah. (still singing)
1. woke up in my friend kim's cute house in los feliz with the sun leaking through the blinds onto the brown floor and finding me bundled on the couch. sent emails and worked some more on a beat that i started on the train. i think it's coming along. as a side note, people should track down j dilla's track "nothing like this" from his album, ruff draft as well as this hip hop group i just learned about, shape of broad minds and they're craft of the lost art debut. like anticon, they're a group of people that are pushing hip hop into other places, though unlike anticon which straddles the line of hip hop and whatever else, shape of..is totally still grounded in hip hop (that's not a slight on anticon, cuz i enjoy a lot of that work and respect it all for pushing definitions).
2. regina came over to pick me up for lunch. she had to take a job interview so it wasn't until two. we went to this coffeeshop around the corner called alcove and had sandwiches. it was cool. i was afraid it might be weird but it just felt like two people who had been friends a long time ago catching up. she's doing well, and told me about some movie in the pre-works about a group of fighting ninja guinea pigs. God bless hollywood. then we drove around looking for gas.
3. came home and talked to sarah for a spell.
4. kim came home and we went out to try to track down some art. i jumped online on a whim to see if there was any barry mcgee work in town, which i didn't expect cuz he never seems to have many shows these days, but what do you know? at redcat gallery in the walt disney concert hall, there was a collection of some of his later work. PUMPED. he's one of my favoritest artists. we went and it was pretty sweet to finally see a show of his. it had an overturned car filled with spray paint, a giant dumpster overflowing, walls filled with his geometric paintings and his graff character faces, motorized wooden sculptures spray painting columns, said dumpster bin filled with about 20 tvs playing animations, and a small wooden room you climbed a ladder into only to be greeted with a tiny motorized wooden head attached to a corner of one of the walls banging his head against it. that head was awesome.
5. went to a mexican spot with fancified elvis and swing cat waiters.
6. went and picked up sarah so she could stay the night at kim's so we can all go to the beach tomorrow. i got to see sarah, i got to see sarah. (that should be sung) her gloriously long beautiful hair is now long enough to wear in pleated braids which she is super excited about, and she had a plate of cupcakes she made. i got to see a little of her new house and her room. they have a white dog with a black eye and a super wagging tail that threatens to knock mirrors off the wall. the three of us went to 101 to have rootbeer floats.
7. we had chocolate milkshakes. they were FUCKING GREAT. then we took pictures of the crummy mural outside that had wonderful images of the cast of mash and the wizard of oz, and superman filming a movie in the middle of the city.
8. came home and chilled and talked and read a tiny bit, then went to bed. tomorrow the beach.
p.s. both chicago and savannah cancelled on us. this sucks. particularly that it's a city that we would all fucking love to be doing a show in and the other is the city that held me for seven years of my life and i want to see it so badly. anyone in either of those towns want to host a show for solomon sparrow's electric whale revival? perhaps you may get us super cheap and discounted?
p.p.s. i got to see sarah, i got to see sarah. (still singing)
Friday, September 14, 2007
Second Day
Thursday
1. rode the bus to santa barbara and listend to music and stared out the window. it was nice. i always love leaving a show on the bus with that sun coming down, it feels perfect. i wrote a letter to sarah because her face is maybe the cutest thing that was ever made. i drew on the envelope. i slept a little. wrote a little. this is action packed huh?
2. got to santa barbara and transfered to the train, kept on heading south along 101. the coast was beautiful and big. shot movies of it, just strips of blue. i wanna go on a road trip and get out of the car and go jump in the pacific, be baptized let the waves smash me and kiss me. i love the train because there are electric sockets. pulled out the computer and worked on some music, a little bit of writing. since sending off the manuscript i haven't written that much. which is fine, i think my brain needs the break. but there's a novella about this oy named barntley who's looking for his brother that i started working on a bit ago. i hope i can finish it.
3. arrived in los angeles around 5. the union station there is beautiful inside, spacious and art deco and old los angeles. i think of bukowski even though it's clean in there. hard not to think of hank when i think of la. my friend from scad kim picked me up. we went back to her house in los feliz which is super cute and i took a shower then we went to amoeba music, probably the greatest music store there is (the only other time i was in la, i went to amoeba three times in that week). it was a toss up between a used copy of bob dylan john wesley harding or a used copy of this kate bush import from a box set. i gto the kate bush but i haven't listened to it yet. while in the store i got a call from my friend regina. a long time ago i loved her so very very hard and she loved me and it was very short and i was leaving and she needed to find what it was like to be herself so i wasn't allowed to stay and outside of seeing her randomly on the street of savannah for a couple minutes, i haven't seen her in nearly five years. we're having lunch in a couple of hours.
4. after amoeba, kim and i went to IN-N-OUT. woo hoo! nuff said.
5. we watched days of heaven, the terrence malik film that i've been meaning to watch. it's beautiful. then me you and everyone else we know. i hadn't seen it since the theater. i'd forgotten how funny it is. it still feels like a first film to me and though there's a lot of beautiful things in it, it doesn't knock me over like i wish it would.
6. i ate gummy candy while watching.
7. then i went to sleep and dreamed some dreams.
i hope i get to see sarah soon
1. rode the bus to santa barbara and listend to music and stared out the window. it was nice. i always love leaving a show on the bus with that sun coming down, it feels perfect. i wrote a letter to sarah because her face is maybe the cutest thing that was ever made. i drew on the envelope. i slept a little. wrote a little. this is action packed huh?
2. got to santa barbara and transfered to the train, kept on heading south along 101. the coast was beautiful and big. shot movies of it, just strips of blue. i wanna go on a road trip and get out of the car and go jump in the pacific, be baptized let the waves smash me and kiss me. i love the train because there are electric sockets. pulled out the computer and worked on some music, a little bit of writing. since sending off the manuscript i haven't written that much. which is fine, i think my brain needs the break. but there's a novella about this oy named barntley who's looking for his brother that i started working on a bit ago. i hope i can finish it.
3. arrived in los angeles around 5. the union station there is beautiful inside, spacious and art deco and old los angeles. i think of bukowski even though it's clean in there. hard not to think of hank when i think of la. my friend from scad kim picked me up. we went back to her house in los feliz which is super cute and i took a shower then we went to amoeba music, probably the greatest music store there is (the only other time i was in la, i went to amoeba three times in that week). it was a toss up between a used copy of bob dylan john wesley harding or a used copy of this kate bush import from a box set. i gto the kate bush but i haven't listened to it yet. while in the store i got a call from my friend regina. a long time ago i loved her so very very hard and she loved me and it was very short and i was leaving and she needed to find what it was like to be herself so i wasn't allowed to stay and outside of seeing her randomly on the street of savannah for a couple minutes, i haven't seen her in nearly five years. we're having lunch in a couple of hours.
4. after amoeba, kim and i went to IN-N-OUT. woo hoo! nuff said.
5. we watched days of heaven, the terrence malik film that i've been meaning to watch. it's beautiful. then me you and everyone else we know. i hadn't seen it since the theater. i'd forgotten how funny it is. it still feels like a first film to me and though there's a lot of beautiful things in it, it doesn't knock me over like i wish it would.
6. i ate gummy candy while watching.
7. then i went to sleep and dreamed some dreams.
i hope i get to see sarah soon
Thursday, September 13, 2007
First Day
Wednesday
1. got up this morning late, at 5:42 am, after being home for a little more then 24 hours, to head to the airport and jump back onto a plane headed for san luis obispo by way of phoenix. i have a show at calpoly this evening with mike mcgee and. 3 hour long shows, each of us doing a 20 min set in each one. tomorrow i'll jump the train to go and hang in los angeles until monday when i head to nashville to meet with the gang of solomon sparrow's electric whale revival. we'll hole up at derrick's for a few days, mashing out poetry, then start the tour, first date in atlanta on the 21st.
2. i'm going to try to attack this blog with updates from the road, though i have set up a new blog at blogger that i may post updates there instead. i still like lj, but i feel i want something that i can control the feel and look of more in regards to writing things that as opposed to meandering through whatever i feel like writing here on livejournal, have a purpose, such as updates from life on the road or whatever else i feel like writing about. which sounds like a meandering path as well. but trust me it's not.
3. airplaning today i felt like a rock star. i had my white daniel larusso style jacket with the yellow and red stripes over the zipper track, with my backpack on and carrying my white electronic grand piano for kids that comes with drum beat accompaniment. i just felt cool, like i was going to go kill crowds with me and my piano. i can't wait to get an mpc.
4. spent the day in airports burning cds, drawing on them and reading some things and thus felt disconnected from the world around me.
5. started ursula le guinn's left hand of darkness
6. got off the plane to the beautiful sunny cold breezy tune of 70 degrees. awesome.
7. this evening did the show with just mike, mush couldn’t make it. went really well. we did round robin, he did a poem i did a poem, and kept tag teaming out. it was a lot of fun doing the show with mike. between poems we’d each run back into the green room to continue burning our cds, cuz between the shows, we were swarmed with folks wanting the merch. i made 500 in cd sales, mike, who has a 6 hour mp3 cd for 20 bucks, made 1100. yay us. the kids were so gracious too. a room full of eager new freshman at their orientation, clamoring afterwards for us to sign their shirts and wallets or whatever. it was pretty cute. and i got a new WORD. shirt. small and chocolaty brown. yessss.
8.afterwards we ate some pizza and drunk a root beer and had a desert pizza of apple and cinnamon, then i fell asleep.
Thursday morning
1. am sitting at cafe luna down the street from the train station. mike headed off to san jose an hour ago, i’m waiting for my bus to santa barbara to transfer to my train to la where my friend kim will pick me up and i’ll hang out for the weekend, see sarah, ago to disneyland on sunday and then head out to nashville on monday. i have a cup of jasmine tea and buttered banana nut bread to keep me company until my bus comes.
p.s. also brown came through. looks like the sparrows are doing providence on sunday the 30th of september.
1. got up this morning late, at 5:42 am, after being home for a little more then 24 hours, to head to the airport and jump back onto a plane headed for san luis obispo by way of phoenix. i have a show at calpoly this evening with mike mcgee and. 3 hour long shows, each of us doing a 20 min set in each one. tomorrow i'll jump the train to go and hang in los angeles until monday when i head to nashville to meet with the gang of solomon sparrow's electric whale revival. we'll hole up at derrick's for a few days, mashing out poetry, then start the tour, first date in atlanta on the 21st.
2. i'm going to try to attack this blog with updates from the road, though i have set up a new blog at blogger that i may post updates there instead. i still like lj, but i feel i want something that i can control the feel and look of more in regards to writing things that as opposed to meandering through whatever i feel like writing here on livejournal, have a purpose, such as updates from life on the road or whatever else i feel like writing about. which sounds like a meandering path as well. but trust me it's not.
3. airplaning today i felt like a rock star. i had my white daniel larusso style jacket with the yellow and red stripes over the zipper track, with my backpack on and carrying my white electronic grand piano for kids that comes with drum beat accompaniment. i just felt cool, like i was going to go kill crowds with me and my piano. i can't wait to get an mpc.
4. spent the day in airports burning cds, drawing on them and reading some things and thus felt disconnected from the world around me.
5. started ursula le guinn's left hand of darkness
6. got off the plane to the beautiful sunny cold breezy tune of 70 degrees. awesome.
7. this evening did the show with just mike, mush couldn’t make it. went really well. we did round robin, he did a poem i did a poem, and kept tag teaming out. it was a lot of fun doing the show with mike. between poems we’d each run back into the green room to continue burning our cds, cuz between the shows, we were swarmed with folks wanting the merch. i made 500 in cd sales, mike, who has a 6 hour mp3 cd for 20 bucks, made 1100. yay us. the kids were so gracious too. a room full of eager new freshman at their orientation, clamoring afterwards for us to sign their shirts and wallets or whatever. it was pretty cute. and i got a new WORD. shirt. small and chocolaty brown. yessss.
8.afterwards we ate some pizza and drunk a root beer and had a desert pizza of apple and cinnamon, then i fell asleep.
Thursday morning
1. am sitting at cafe luna down the street from the train station. mike headed off to san jose an hour ago, i’m waiting for my bus to santa barbara to transfer to my train to la where my friend kim will pick me up and i’ll hang out for the weekend, see sarah, ago to disneyland on sunday and then head out to nashville on monday. i have a cup of jasmine tea and buttered banana nut bread to keep me company until my bus comes.
p.s. also brown came through. looks like the sparrows are doing providence on sunday the 30th of september.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
mother of a cub
mama girl
you
you stand in your boy’s doorway
staring
wondering why you love him
he once was so small
small enough to drink through your belly
his teeth are small villagers
his tongue
a clock tower
when he speaks
his words are chimes
his smile a bell
the roof of his mouth is metal
push your finger across
it
it will sing
he dances like a goblin
a wild wilddog boy
he sits up at night listening to the dogs behind the fields
he stands in the field hearing them
staring into the horizon
wishing to see their backs full
to feel their furs bristling
the rivers spring through life through the fall
then freeze and crack
open
again in springtime
and mother mama of a cub
you go to sleep
and your boy
he sits up
he hears the howls
he stares into the sky
mouth moving with the words
practicing the names of the dogs
Sirius
Canis Major
Canis Minor
Murzim
Wezen
Adhara
Aludra
Furud
Muliphen
swear upon this boy
swear in your sleep
tattoo this on the inside of
your skull
is the star to swear by boy
swear by it as you sleep
the moon tears a sliver from his belly and pours his silver down the throats
we are weighed down
made to stay
the trees
stood for us
we answer them with axes
the children learn to knock using them
there is one in the front door
you
you stand in your boy’s doorway
staring
wondering why you love him
he once was so small
small enough to drink through your belly
his teeth are small villagers
his tongue
a clock tower
when he speaks
his words are chimes
his smile a bell
the roof of his mouth is metal
push your finger across
it
it will sing
he dances like a goblin
a wild wilddog boy
he sits up at night listening to the dogs behind the fields
he stands in the field hearing them
staring into the horizon
wishing to see their backs full
to feel their furs bristling
the rivers spring through life through the fall
then freeze and crack
open
again in springtime
and mother mama of a cub
you go to sleep
and your boy
he sits up
he hears the howls
he stares into the sky
mouth moving with the words
practicing the names of the dogs
Sirius
Canis Major
Canis Minor
Murzim
Wezen
Adhara
Aludra
Furud
Muliphen
swear upon this boy
swear in your sleep
tattoo this on the inside of
your skull
is the star to swear by boy
swear by it as you sleep
the moon tears a sliver from his belly and pours his silver down the throats
we are weighed down
made to stay
the trees
stood for us
we answer them with axes
the children learn to knock using them
there is one in the front door
wild one
Beneath the black muskets of the trembling ballroom
the boy chased chickens in the yard of the earth’s stare
learning how to steal their eggs
fit five into your cheeks and creep out the door back into the moonlight
the boy can feel it on his back
every night
he hears the wild dogs howling in the woods
they talk to one another
he wonders what they are saying
and dreams of the sea
at bedtime
his mother comes in
she has long hair
the birds
love this hair
they want to sleep inside its folds
so they come to her
and sing when she smiles
every night she cooks bread
talking to herself
telling stories to make herself laugh
so the birds will sing for her
but before she cooks the bread she puts her boy to sleep
she sits on the bed next to him
he asks her to describe the ocean to him
she tells him it is blue and green at the same time
she says that it is bigger then anything he has ever seen
bigger then the moon? he asks
yes she says
bigger then the sky?
parts of it are
she tells him that inside of it
are fish filled with colors and shapes that one wouldn’t believe existed
she makes all of it up
she has never seen a shoreline
she tells him that from out of the saltwater God made the stars
that He put His fingers deep in that bowl
pulling out puddles in cupped hands
He shook the drops from them
leaving the salt in his palm
He took those crystals and stuck them into the night
why? the boy asks
so sailors could be found
so fathers can find their way home
to give people something to make dreams out of and the lovers
something to stand their oaths on top of
to give the wolves something to sing to
long after his mother has gone to sleep
the boy sits by his window
staring at the sky
he traces the night’s shapes with his eyes
listening to the wild dogs howling in the woods
and practices the names of the stars
the turning shoulder of the horse man
the centaur
the right forearm
the little belly
the swallower
the eggs
the tail of the hen
the wing
the broken eggshells
the outstretched paw
the lucky star of the slaughterer
the bear
the two wolves
the barker
Auva
Delta Vir
Delta Ari
Tau Eri
Theta Eri
Eridanus
that night he dreams of a river
she is a woman
she lifts herself from her bed
lifting the long long silk of her black dress and comes to him
he sleeps as she touches his face
she lifts him to her soft black skin
and carries him over the black trees
the black clouds are black as the black backs
inside a black bag of black cats eating mice with black whiskers and ears made of black
their black bones falling from out round mouths black and kissing the silence
the silence kisses back
this makes black music
the boy swallows himself like a tooth turned black
turning back into a little black seed
searching for dirt black as the dirt staining his hands black
he is a harp
until he stares at himself
then the boy is a boy again
he is two wolves
a bear’s broken paw
a warrior’s mirror
a howler
a wild
wild one
a pup somebody left
on the doorstep of some constellation
and he has been sipping milk from a white bowl ever since
his arms are thin rifles
his blood bullets
the sky of this world is made from gunpowder
as he sleeps
the moths talk about him
hovering above his ears
draping them in kisses
pulling the blankets up tight to keep him warm
they whisper to him
in a language he does not speak:
Stay warm little one
north of here there is ice
lots of it
when you wake
you won’t remember these words
the little ones never do
but even if you forget
and go to carve angels in the snow
remember not to pull the wings
let us fly gently by
we are just as wild as you are
the boy chased chickens in the yard of the earth’s stare
learning how to steal their eggs
fit five into your cheeks and creep out the door back into the moonlight
the boy can feel it on his back
every night
he hears the wild dogs howling in the woods
they talk to one another
he wonders what they are saying
and dreams of the sea
at bedtime
his mother comes in
she has long hair
the birds
love this hair
they want to sleep inside its folds
so they come to her
and sing when she smiles
every night she cooks bread
talking to herself
telling stories to make herself laugh
so the birds will sing for her
but before she cooks the bread she puts her boy to sleep
she sits on the bed next to him
he asks her to describe the ocean to him
she tells him it is blue and green at the same time
she says that it is bigger then anything he has ever seen
bigger then the moon? he asks
yes she says
bigger then the sky?
parts of it are
she tells him that inside of it
are fish filled with colors and shapes that one wouldn’t believe existed
she makes all of it up
she has never seen a shoreline
she tells him that from out of the saltwater God made the stars
that He put His fingers deep in that bowl
pulling out puddles in cupped hands
He shook the drops from them
leaving the salt in his palm
He took those crystals and stuck them into the night
why? the boy asks
so sailors could be found
so fathers can find their way home
to give people something to make dreams out of and the lovers
something to stand their oaths on top of
to give the wolves something to sing to
long after his mother has gone to sleep
the boy sits by his window
staring at the sky
he traces the night’s shapes with his eyes
listening to the wild dogs howling in the woods
and practices the names of the stars
the turning shoulder of the horse man
the centaur
the right forearm
the little belly
the swallower
the eggs
the tail of the hen
the wing
the broken eggshells
the outstretched paw
the lucky star of the slaughterer
the bear
the two wolves
the barker
Auva
Delta Vir
Delta Ari
Tau Eri
Theta Eri
Eridanus
that night he dreams of a river
she is a woman
she lifts herself from her bed
lifting the long long silk of her black dress and comes to him
he sleeps as she touches his face
she lifts him to her soft black skin
and carries him over the black trees
the black clouds are black as the black backs
inside a black bag of black cats eating mice with black whiskers and ears made of black
their black bones falling from out round mouths black and kissing the silence
the silence kisses back
this makes black music
the boy swallows himself like a tooth turned black
turning back into a little black seed
searching for dirt black as the dirt staining his hands black
he is a harp
until he stares at himself
then the boy is a boy again
he is two wolves
a bear’s broken paw
a warrior’s mirror
a howler
a wild
wild one
a pup somebody left
on the doorstep of some constellation
and he has been sipping milk from a white bowl ever since
his arms are thin rifles
his blood bullets
the sky of this world is made from gunpowder
as he sleeps
the moths talk about him
hovering above his ears
draping them in kisses
pulling the blankets up tight to keep him warm
they whisper to him
in a language he does not speak:
Stay warm little one
north of here there is ice
lots of it
when you wake
you won’t remember these words
the little ones never do
but even if you forget
and go to carve angels in the snow
remember not to pull the wings
let us fly gently by
we are just as wild as you are
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