Friday’s Poem 11/27/2009
I know it’s isn’t quite Christmas yet, but I thought this poem appropriate for the Thanksgiving weekend.  It’s a little on the “old” side and it really brings me back to those blessed Long Beach days. Hope you & yours enjoy lots of turkey and pumpkin pie, Jho   Ask Me Ask me if I remember elementary school, my first crush, eighth grade graduation—   nothing’s there, or if not nothing, then scraps of memory: the swing of my metal lunchbox   into the bully’s side; ballpoint h

Graphic City: Chicken, Anyone?
CityBoy’s family was just here for an early Thanksgiving celebration and we enjoyed a post-dinner walk back to their hotel room, taking time to point out the Squirrel Apartment to his niece. Which is probably more likely the Squirrel Mansion, as both the entrance and upper stories feature this humble woodland creature (wrought iron statues topping the gate and cut-out silhouettes marching in a line above the second floor windows). The great thing is that there’s always something interesting to see in Manhattan, from beautifully maintained historic buildings to new glam-rock condo towers and original subway tile work.  Even the graffiti here makes me

Friday’s Poem 11/20/2009
Technically it’s already Saturday in New York, but I’m still calling this Friday’s poem because a) I can and b) I did work on this today (meaning yesterday). Many of you have been wondering what I’ve been up to since moving to Manhattan, and this is “it” (outside of volunteering and job-searching and dragging CityBoy to lit biz events).  My hope is to post one of these each week. This poem is an older one, whose ending never quite satisfied.  This is probably still not the final version, but it’s getting there. Here goes…   The Body’s H

Literary Happenings: Gabriel Brownstein, Meredith Walters, and Sam Beebe at Teachers & Writers C
Teachers & Writers is where I volunteer, so when I heard about their first reading of the season, I knew I had to be there.  Especially since one of the readers, Gabriel Brownstein, was a man who had actually participated in the T&W program as a child growing up in 1970’s Manhattan. T&W has a nice set-up, which is what drew me to volunteer there in the first place.  Their readings are relaxed, almost like a family gathering, with wine & nibbles and a dedicated group of writers who are either teaching in the program or are friends of said writers, with the odd lit lover thrown into the crew. Sam Beebe, a former T&W teaching artist and MFA

My Cup Runneth Over: Two Readings, A Play and a Marathon
Happy Halloween! It’s been a busy week and a half, filled with lots of readings, dinners and an unhealthy amount of TV-watching. Last Wednesday, CityBoy and I met at the Atlantic Gallery on West 29th for a combination exhibit and reading, “River/Rust.”  Pamela Talese creates these amazing documentary-like oil paintings of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she’s been working on location since 2005.  Her exhibit, aptly named “Rust Never Sleeps,” is a v