Glowsticks, NYC, and that curious smell...

Amazon tests out its position in the marketplace. But what does this mean for all of our small independent presses that are POD?


*****************************


"I’ll glowstick the mailbox for ya. I’ve left the doors unlocked."

Brent Goodman gets coy with us over at No Tell Motel.


*****************************


Busy week this week and NYC this weekend. You know, for someone who lives in San Francisco, I sure spend a lot of time in New York. I need to rememdy this. Okay, added that to my list of things to examine.


*****************************


"State College Mayor Bill Welch, who presided over the ceremony, said the event was the first publicly held same-sex commitment ceremony to ever be performed by a public official in Centre County."


*****************************


Mary Karr discusses Louise Gluck's "Mock Orange." I still think this poem has an alternate existence. I still cannot shake the alternate idea about the speaker in the poem. (see the bottom of this post for the discussion of this poem)


*****************************


Clue: "No one must ever know!"


*****************************

Cake Out In the Rain

C.K. Williams is now the Poetry Editor at The New Republic.


*****************************


"Today I want to tackle the most annoying shibboleth in popular culture - that the song MacArthur Park is a model of pretentious incomprehensibility." (David Dale, from the Sydney Morning Herald)


*****************************


Well, see for yourself. Here is Ms. Summer singing her, ahem, "shibboleth", complete with Karaoke-style lyrics on the screen. Simmer down, Charlie Jensen. Simmer down. No, I am not going to post Bobby Brown!




*****************************


Are you voting in Poetry Idol? Why not? You should check it out. And you should vote.


*****************************


Who didn't know Tigergate would end up this way?


*****************************


Spent most of yesterday writing up guidelines for a new scholarship. It took me much longer than I had expected. I had planned on sitting down with my new ms. first draft, but never got to it. I will try today. We'll see.


*****************************


Tell me the last poetry book you read that you thought was really good. Tell me! Enquiring minds want to know....


*****************************


Clue: Testify!


*****************************

Chinese Whispers

The Northern California Book Awards.


*****************************


The Latino Poetry Review is born.


*****************************


The Cylons return for one last season, starting April 4th! I can't wait....


*****************************


Paul Guest gets all sneaky with us. Just what is he trying to tell us?


*****************************


Clue: The Others


*****************************

Word Turning

What makes us choose what we choose when we write? What conjures this image or that image? What makes us sometimes faithful to these images and sometimes ignore them? And the words? Why do we gravitate to some and shun others?

I have been thinking a lot lately about how I compose a poem. In some ways, some poems start long before I can even perceive them. Others are intentionally willed. In both cases, they most times fail. Or I believe them failures.

In almost all cases, I know a poem is coming. I start repeating words in my head, can even see the lines sometimes. I can see the lines even before I know the words that fill that line. I return to the shape of it over and over. Recently, someone pointed out to me that because I can think in 3-D, can manipulate objects in space without touching them, that it must affect how I write poems. I immediately dismissed this, but I think it may be true. I can see the architecture of a poem even before I know the words of the poem. I think this is why I can carry an evolving poem around in my head. Who really knows? But the more I think about it, that person is right. I can play with the physical nature of a poem. I had done it for so long that I didn't really think about it.

Yes, I know, I need to stop taking allergy meds.

Carried

T-Rob has a poem up over at Linebreak. Zachary Schomburg reads the poem, and I love when he reaches the "unintelligible" part.


*************************


The Academy is asking folks about lines of poems they carry around in their heads and under what circumstances they remember them. I, unfortunately, carry these lines around in my head and recite them to myself often. Explanation is unnecessary considering what I do in the daylight (and sometimes nighttime) hours.

"Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night."

--Dylan Thomas (from "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night")


*************************


A little over a month ago, I was approached to do a big project. My excitement a month ago to start that project has already died. Who am I kidding? I never had the time to do it anyway. Maybe in ten years. Maybe then I will have lived enough of a life to do what I was asked to do and have it be meaningful. So, for now, I am sticking with poetry as my one and only writing vice.


*************************


Clue: Mesopotamia


*************************

FWB Intro Prize

Hey, how much easier can it be? You can even submit electronically.

The Book of Censorship

"So important to the generation of Robert Lowell, Adrienne Rich and Sylvia Plath, so predictable in the hands of their epigones, the confessional model has become something many sophisticated poets and critics avoid or even disparage."

(Stephen Burt on Laura Kasischke's latest book)


*****************************


Collin's recap of Idol is up, and it is as funny as ever.


*****************************


"A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down a state law requiring airlines to give food, water, clean toilets and fresh air to passengers stuck in delayed planes, saying the measure was well-intentioned but stepped on federal authority.
more stories like this

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said New York's law -- the first of its kind in the country -- interferes with federal law governing the price, route or service of an air carrier."

Isn't this great? Now we can be stuck in a plane on a runway for a day without the airlines giving a crap.


*****************************


"I think this is very hypocritical," said Elizabeth Barden, owner of Big Hat Books on the Northside. "On the one hand, we feel a need to censor ourselves, while on the other hand, we are spending our tax dollars to free the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people." (Indiana writes a new chapter in the Book of Censorship)


*****************************


Clue: Content provider, darling. Content provider.


*****************************

Pd-103, etc.

The first day back is always interesting. It doesn't matter what job you have. You leave for a few weeks and a lot of stuff piles up while you are off doing something fun. In many ways, this has been a fairly regular day. Lots of patients to see. Lots of work to do. But I kind of missed being at work. Sick, I know. I loved my vacation and time away, but I was so happy to come home last night. And I was actually happy to come to work today.


*************************


Still sorting through photos from the trip. We took hundreds and hundreds between the two of us.


*************************


There are a lot of things in my life I assume I need, things I cannot imagine living without. Strangely enough, I learned on this trip that there are a good number of things I can live without. It has really effed my head up. I am not saying I am going to move up the Coast and live off the land, but I don't find such an idea so awful or so strange now. In fact, it is quite scary when I realize how few things I need in life to be happy. I need one man, a pen and paper (or other way of recording stuff/writing), a roof, food, etc.


*************************


Clue: Waves


*************************

Right Said...

DH: Saul Bellow considered himself a writer who happened to be Jewish. Do you consider yourself a poet who happens to be gay?

MD: I like to steal a line from Lucille Clifton, who says, "I do not happen to be black, I AM black." Same-sex desire lives right near the core of me. But what that has to do with being a poet is complex. It doesn't mean that my poems must always focus on sexual life, or on the cultural conditions in which gay men live. But it does mean that my sexuality is part of my subjectivity, and inescapably shapes how I see.

(Interview with Mark Doty from The Somerville News)


****************************


Jacob and I fly back to SF this afternoon. I hope all my fish aren't dead.


****************************


Clue: Thunder Bolt


****************************

More Pix

(Jacob and his parents)




(Shot of St. Baarts)




(Me and my parents)




(A most unfortunate photo)

Lessons from the Bene Gesserit

"Only a few poets transcend the history of taste to participate in the history of art — and only in a handful of poems. Salter has been struck by lightning more than once, and “Another Session,” from her 2003 collection “Open Shutters,” suggests she’ll be struck again." --James Longenbach on Mary Jo Salter (may require registration)


****************************


I will post more pictures from the Caribbean when I get a chance.


****************************


Gavin Newsom: Genius or Stupid?


****************************


"A testament to this resiliency is a new collection of sonnets at the ever-expanding dinner party that is the Norton Anthology project. The Making of a Sonnet: A Norton Anthology, edited by American poet Edward Hirsch and Irish poet Eavan Boland, may not be the main course at Norton's party, but it is a surprise treat, sort of like an amuse bouche. Though it can't stand up to the beefier texts, at a little more than 500 pages and spanning 600 years and a dozen countries, it's hardly a side dish." (Dean Rader, from the SF Chronicle)


****************************


My brain has been recharged after the last 2 weeks. I think I am ready to sit down now with the draft of my third book I put together last Fall. I think I can start the process of turning that draft into a book. I can see things much better. I also found things I had not expected. Surprised myself, I have. I know it is time to start the work of this book because I have images and words that I know will not produce poems toward this ms. In other words, I am beginning to digest and process the world again. I am preparing to write new poems. No idea when that will happen, but I can now see it coming. Not a poem drafted this year so far, but all is as it should be. For everything avoided, something else becomes focused.


****************************


Clue: "What is in the box?" "Pain."


****************************

Some Pix

We made it back. We are in Florida for the weekend and fly back to SF on Monday. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

From St. Lucia, With More Love

We are in St. Lucia today. Jacob went snorkeling, but I just wandered around town. It is Palm Sunday so folks were coming from church carrying palms. Hundreds of people walking around the town carrying palm fronds. I walked down to a beach and swam for a while. Aaron will be happy to know I wore my box cut swim trunks (a la James Bond). I was alone on the beach, but I felt HAWT in them. To be honest, I was tempted to swim au naturel.


*****************************


I think I want to buy a house here in the Caribbean. I actually think I could move here. Maybe Antigua or St. Lucia. Someplace where we could just disappear every so often.


*****************************


A guy in town the other day refered to Jacob as my brother. When I tried to correct him, he corrected me! Told me he knew we were not brothers by blood. Very funny.


*****************************


I met a youngish woman yesterday who had spent 2 weeks in Egypt. She told me to forget about headlines and warnings and just go. She was very English.


*****************************


Clue: Fried whole red snapper with rice and beans and a coconut milk sauce!


*****************************

From the Virgin Islands, With Love

Jacob and I are in Tortola, BVI. The weather has been spectacular. The seas have been fairly calm. No one has gotten seasick in our group. I have not read a book or magazine. No thoughts about medicine (except doing payroll on-line). We have just been vegging out, snorkeling, diving, swimming. I have so many memories that resurface whenever I am in the Caribbean. So much of my early childhood was spent here for months at a time. The sea, the light, the slowness of time: it all reminds me of things from childhood. A few days ago in Samana, I ate beans and rice, chicken in a simple sauce, and fried plantains. Although this is a fairly standard Latin-Caribbean dish eaten all over the islands, it almost made me cry with happiness.

Full of Grace

Our landing in Orlando yesterday was among the scariest of my life. There was a ridiculous crosswind across the runway, and our 757 was rocking back and forth and shaking as we came down. As we were within a minute of touching down, the crosswind tipped the plane sideways, rolled us so that the right wing of the plane almost hit the runway! The pilot had to pull up! We climbed, circled, and came in again. I said so many hail Mary's in my head my brain thought I had forgotten who I am.


****************************


Driving to Miami tomorrow to the marina. And then, we are sailing away...


****************************


Clue: Everest


****************************

The Star Apple Kingdom

Hair cut: check
Suitcase packed: check
On-line flight check in: check
Car service verified: check
Automatic fish feeder installed: check
NER stuff mailed off: check
Payroll done: check
Reminded Jacob not to overpack: check

I am sooooo ready to go. We fly to Florida overnight, spend a day there with family, drive to Miami and sail off to the Caribbean. Sunshine, here we come!


*****************************





Apparently, this is what some expect San Francisco to look like in 2018! Wild! Click on the photo above to jump to the History Channel page on this.


*****************************


Clue: St. Lucia


*****************************

NBCC in Poetry and Fiction

Via a friend planted at the ceremony:

Mary Jo Bang's Elegy is the winner of this year's National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry.

Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is the winner of this year's National Book Critics Circle Award in Fiction.

Expectations of the Tongue

Okay, I can now do a more normal post for today...


****************************


"They are just the latest in a long line of writers who fabricated their stories or in other ways misled readers. Here are some of the more memorable literary liars." (from the LA Times)


****************************


Larkin seems to be getting a second wind.


****************************


I am amazed he writes fiction! A lot of fictioners who are doctors tend to cut back on the practice of medicine in order to have the physical time to write prose:

"It's safe to say that Atul Gawande is an overachiever. He's a surgeon, a staff writer for The New Yorker, a professor at Harvard Medical School and a MacArthur Fellow. He's married and has three children. He's also a deeply contemplative and compassionate man."


****************************


A friend sent me a poem of James Merrill's this morning because he said he knew I would like it. Well, I didn't like it at all. Don't get me wrong. I love Merrill's work and his witty mind, but I just didn't care much for that poem.


****************************


Clue: Regatta


****************************

No Idea

My deepest thanks to Ron Silliman, without whom I wouldn't even know my book, The Second Person, is a finalist in poetry for the ForeWord Book of the Year Award. I woke up and checked his blog only to then say "What the...." I am deeply flattered but also very shocked and surprised. I had no idea.


****************************


Um, I, um, don't know what else to post right now. This kind of took me by surprise. This is not the secret I am keeping.


****************************


I don't even have a "clue" to post today.


****************************

Victor #26

Our judge, Jacob, has selected Shann Palmer as the winner of Caption Contest #26.



"God, narcolepsy is such a bore! He'd better wake up before I finish this goddamn drink."


*****************************


Congratulations, Shann! You win bragging rights and entry into the Year End Caption Contest Throw Down!


*****************************


Runner Up: Nate for "I told him I'd kill for those underwear...


*****************************


As always, Jacob and I thank everyone who entered. Until next month...


*****************************

Clean Off!

I have been reading submissions all day. I started around 10 this morning. I have maybe another hour to go.


*****************************


Jacob is still mulling over the entries for the caption contest. He should have a winner named shortly.


*****************************


One of the poems I read today took my head off cleanly at the neck! I was struck dumb after reading it. I literally felt myself silenced. I am so excited this poet thought to send this poem to NER. If I had been wearing socks they would have been on the other side of the room.


*****************************


Clue: Cancer


*****************************

Open

Today is my last day of work until March 25th. Well, last day of work in clinic. I have to read submissions on Wednesday and Thursday, finish up some guidelines I have to write for a new $10,000. Scholarship, and pack etc. Jacob and I are heading off to Florida on Friday and then on Monday we sail off to the Caribbean. I am counting the days, the hours, actually.


************************


I know what I am avoiding, but I won't be able to keep avoiding it. I need to figure out how to set aside the time I need for this new thing. I am like a scratched CD repeating and skipping.


************************


The Caption Contest continues. Jacob will hopefully have a decision soon, so if you want to enter, please do.


************************


Sometimes, when you least expect it, God throws a new challenge in your path. You know this. You know that you can and will meet the challenge. But it still seems like an inconvenience. But God doesn't really care about inconveniences. And God expects us to work, work harder, to overtake any obstacle except the final one, which is insurmountable. Can you tell I am Catholic? Lapsed or not, Catholicism stays with you minute after minute!


************************


An interviewer recently asked me if I would take a photo shirtless or with my shirt open to accompany the interview. I said "Um, no." She was really persistent. Even reminded me about other poets who have shown some chest hair in photos. I said no and eventually just said no to the interview altogether. I was feeling cranky. I was annoyed.


************************


Clue: "His Tongue like sweetened gasoline..."


************************

Mask for Janus

This is going to be a circus. Whatever this Court rules, everyone is going to be watching.


************************


Secret? Who has a secret? Well...


************************


Have you entered the Caption Contest yet? We are stepping out with more challenging photos.


************************


Clue: Janus


************************

Caption Contest #26

A new month. You knew it was coming. Yes, it is that time again. Time for the caption contest. As always, the rules are the same. Post captions in the comments box below. Jacob shall select the winning caption. He is the Judge extraordinaire. The winner gets bragging rights and may or may not receive a monetary prize (usually a $25 gift certificate). The award of money is decided before the contest opens. You know, another level of surprise.

Winners this year so far, include:

#24 : Leslie

#25 : Adam Deutsch

Which of you will join these two in the Year End Caption Contest Throwdown?

The photo this time is by Steven Klein:




****************************


Let the Games begin...


****************************

Poetry, Ragtime, and Michael Jackson

"Face it: Poetry readings are boring. Unless the person onstage is a friend or family member, it's a struggle to listen to that tedious, self-indulgent drama - stuff that could easily be sorted out in a shrink's office - without constantly checking your wristwatch."


****************************


Reginald Robinson is working to revive Ragtime.


****************************


The sun is out, an expression of exquisite joy in San Francisco. I have a meeting around noon. But just having the light outside is a good thing, even if I won't be outside.


****************************


"Now that his numerous critics have gotten their way, what will become of the Guggenheim?"


****************************


"A legendary 103-year-old Houston jazz musician who trusted a local woman to make a documentary film about him is singing a different tune now."


****************************


No matter what anyone says. Despite the things he has or hasn't done. MJ is still the man! Who on God's earth can dance like him?! Who? It has been a while since I saw this clip from the Grammy Awards years ago, but even now, I am completely mesmerized by it. As a dancer, MJ is still the sh*t!




****************************


Clue: Criminal


****************************