So, the readership here is pretty much fictional. Or imaginary. Take your pick, because it's both. What that means is immaterial in the grand scheme of things, but if there were people reading they would want to come to this thing I'm about to tell them/you about. When you read this entry in the archives boy are you gonna be pissed you didn't know about this...
Bar Great Harry, that wonderfully cozy neighborhood bar just down the street in Brooklyn at the corner of Smith and Sackett, are having a BEER EVENT tonight at the bar with Stoudt's Brewery. I'll be there starting around 5 o'clock and encourage everyone to check it out. Partly because I like the bar, and partly because yesterday, due to totally random circumstances having to do with me needing lunch and eating at another neighborhood place, Downtown Bar & Grill, I met Mrs. Stoudt herself, Carol, , and she seems like a totally cool lady.
Go drink her beer.
Friday, November 30, 2007
2 Awesome Blogs
No poems this time. I’ve been meaning to brag on a couple of people close to me, and specifically brag on their blogs.
#1: The first is my wife, Margaret. Not only is she incredibly cool personally, and hilarious, and a very talented actress, her blog is really funny. It’s called Cynical Liar. She’s a liar, see, and she’s cynical. Some of her entries are true, some aren’t, some are partially true with exaggerations. It’s all hilarious.
That's Margaret holding up our gurudaughter Samantha. Samantha happens to be #2's daughter.
#2: My oldest best friend, Adam Booher. We've known each other since we met taking swimming lessons when we were like 4 years old. I have no memory of this important event, but it's what Adam keeps telling me happened. Not only is he incredibly cool personally, and hilarious, and a very talented father and improv sketch comic, he tells funny stories. His wesbite/blog is called Xanaboo. Adam’s stuff is funny--and occasionally scary--because it’s all true.
This is Adam and his wife Lisa underwater at the amazing Atlanta Aquarium. Adam's the one on the right.
I highly recommend both of these sites and encourage you to go there and read and leaves lots of comments.
#1: The first is my wife, Margaret. Not only is she incredibly cool personally, and hilarious, and a very talented actress, her blog is really funny. It’s called Cynical Liar. She’s a liar, see, and she’s cynical. Some of her entries are true, some aren’t, some are partially true with exaggerations. It’s all hilarious.
That's Margaret holding up our gurudaughter Samantha. Samantha happens to be #2's daughter.
#2: My oldest best friend, Adam Booher. We've known each other since we met taking swimming lessons when we were like 4 years old. I have no memory of this important event, but it's what Adam keeps telling me happened. Not only is he incredibly cool personally, and hilarious, and a very talented father and improv sketch comic, he tells funny stories. His wesbite/blog is called Xanaboo. Adam’s stuff is funny--and occasionally scary--because it’s all true.
This is Adam and his wife Lisa underwater at the amazing Atlanta Aquarium. Adam's the one on the right.
I highly recommend both of these sites and encourage you to go there and read and leaves lots of comments.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Links to Things That Are Good
So I promised some links to various places mentioned in the last post:
Mo Shoshin's blog post describing the Night of the Reading and her awesome Thanksgiving dinner: Mo's Blog
(I don't know if you have to log in to My Space to read it, but I hope not because it's a great read.)
Lauren Balthrop performing at the Sea Change opening night: Lauren (with Ryan's head in foreground) . That's Mo's flickr page.
And that's her in there as part of the band: Balthrop, Alabama who we go to see a lot and whose music we really dig.
This is the bar down the block where we spend a lot of time-- Bar Great Harry. Ben and Mike are good people and the night of the Sea Change opening that's where we went for me to stock up on liquid courage. Unfortunately, I forgot just how nice Ben and Mike are and Ben made me a Hendrick's gin and tonic double in a pint glass that in any other bar would be a triple or quadruple. I finished that one and had another... before the reading.
I could do ten entries on Bar Great Harry alone... and might yet. Keep an eye out for their third Monday of the month trivia night, co-sponsored by Rocketship . We were there for the first one and it was awesome. The team of Therese and David that asked us to join them but we didn't because they were sitting at the table by the door and I would have been in the way of the door and so we stayed at the bar where we were and tried to answer all the questions ourselves... well David and Therese won. Which, as I tried to tell them, is only because we didn't join them... which would have put them at a severe disadvantage. So it's almost like I'm taking credit for them winning.
Mo Shoshin's blog post describing the Night of the Reading and her awesome Thanksgiving dinner: Mo's Blog
(I don't know if you have to log in to My Space to read it, but I hope not because it's a great read.)
Lauren Balthrop performing at the Sea Change opening night: Lauren (with Ryan's head in foreground) . That's Mo's flickr page.
And that's her in there as part of the band: Balthrop, Alabama who we go to see a lot and whose music we really dig.
This is the bar down the block where we spend a lot of time-- Bar Great Harry. Ben and Mike are good people and the night of the Sea Change opening that's where we went for me to stock up on liquid courage. Unfortunately, I forgot just how nice Ben and Mike are and Ben made me a Hendrick's gin and tonic double in a pint glass that in any other bar would be a triple or quadruple. I finished that one and had another... before the reading.
I could do ten entries on Bar Great Harry alone... and might yet. Keep an eye out for their third Monday of the month trivia night, co-sponsored by Rocketship . We were there for the first one and it was awesome. The team of Therese and David that asked us to join them but we didn't because they were sitting at the table by the door and I would have been in the way of the door and so we stayed at the bar where we were and tried to answer all the questions ourselves... well David and Therese won. Which, as I tried to tell them, is only because we didn't join them... which would have put them at a severe disadvantage. So it's almost like I'm taking credit for them winning.
I've Been Away... And I Didn't Even Notice
You know that old Zen koan that has become a punchline for futility: if a tree falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear it, does it make a sound? (Quit bugging, that's close enough.) Well, that's what this blog is like. A tree falling. In a vast forest of blogs. And I can promise you, it doesn't make a sound.
Mostly, of course, because there's only two people I've told about the blog. When I started I wanted to put lots of content on it before I told anyone it existed so that when they got here there would be lots to explore.
But then I got bored and lazy and stopped adding content. And now it's much much later and I'm coming back to it.
Part of the reason I'm coming back is that Mo has tagged me to reveal 7 Really Personal and Weird Things About Myself. Which I'll do in the next day or two, as soon as I think of some. The other reason is that Mo (again with the Mo) got me to read at the opening party for her show at The Fall Cafe the Saturday before Thanksgiving. And... I had a great time. I don't remember all of it because I went way way WAY overboard with my anti-anxiety medication (double gin and tonics courtesy of Bar Great Harry) and was barely coherent when I began reading. At least I think I was. I did recover somewhat because I had to focus so hard on the words on the page and not slurring them that I sobered myself up a bit. By the end, people clapped and there may have been cheering--though the cheering might have been coming from me for finshing the reading upright.
The point is, it was a good experience. The rest of the evening was amazing, with Lauren Balthrop performing her first solo show which was pretty incredible. (If there aren't links in this post I'll come back and link later... or link in the next entry. Check there.) In preparation for the reading I spent about a month writing new material and read almost exclusively new poems, some of which turned out pretty good. In fact, a couple of people even told me that they don't like poetry but they liked my poetry. Which is a strange thing to have said to you--if you're totally paranoid like me. Does that mean I'm onto something that might be new or accessible or otherwise refreshing? Or does it mean I'm so off base I should quit now? Obviously, I'm going with the first interpretation.
Here's one of the new poems:
The Physics of Sweaters
The sweater that blonde is wearing is gorgeous.
Well, not the sweater so much, not really, it’s nice,
an ivory wool blend, off the shoulders, whatever,
it’s a sweater, but the form that sweater implies
is gorgeous. Of course I can’t know about that form
with any certainty but I’m certain it’s doing things
for my morale no pill could. The curves that give
the sweater its shape, they’re something to write
home about. I assume they are, again, we live in a
quantum mechanical world, where we can assign
formulas and data without ever being sure those
equations are the ones bolstering the universe.
The beams and joists of the universal frame aren’t
going to collapse if we’re wrong, the universe will
go on in much the same shape it’s in now, we’d just
like to know—like, you know, for funs ya’ll. You can
change the shape but not the value! Beaten into me,
the mantra that explains the constancy of matter and
one or more principles of physics, somebody’s laws
of motion or energy, something. So we can’t know,
so what? Some people would say that not knowing
is half the fun, especially when it comes to sweaters.
Let me set one thing straight here: I’m married, happily,
and my wife’s sweaters are enough for me, they raise
my morale plenty. It’s just, when it comes to knowing
or not, I know…and the unknown is so inherently
dazzling…which, evidently, is the appeal of quantum
mechanics. Some sweaters are known, some are not,
we can assign formulas all we want and never understand
any more than we do right now in this moment. And as
gorgeous as they may or may not be, or the forms that
give them form, it doesn’t hurt when the jeans that
go with the ivory wool blend look like that, when they
imply legs the shape of which no mathematical formula
could hope to explain and which, applied in the proper
proportion, could boost the morale of an entire army
of lonely scientists.
(Nov. 2007)
Mostly, of course, because there's only two people I've told about the blog. When I started I wanted to put lots of content on it before I told anyone it existed so that when they got here there would be lots to explore.
But then I got bored and lazy and stopped adding content. And now it's much much later and I'm coming back to it.
Part of the reason I'm coming back is that Mo has tagged me to reveal 7 Really Personal and Weird Things About Myself. Which I'll do in the next day or two, as soon as I think of some. The other reason is that Mo (again with the Mo) got me to read at the opening party for her show at The Fall Cafe the Saturday before Thanksgiving. And... I had a great time. I don't remember all of it because I went way way WAY overboard with my anti-anxiety medication (double gin and tonics courtesy of Bar Great Harry) and was barely coherent when I began reading. At least I think I was. I did recover somewhat because I had to focus so hard on the words on the page and not slurring them that I sobered myself up a bit. By the end, people clapped and there may have been cheering--though the cheering might have been coming from me for finshing the reading upright.
The point is, it was a good experience. The rest of the evening was amazing, with Lauren Balthrop performing her first solo show which was pretty incredible. (If there aren't links in this post I'll come back and link later... or link in the next entry. Check there.) In preparation for the reading I spent about a month writing new material and read almost exclusively new poems, some of which turned out pretty good. In fact, a couple of people even told me that they don't like poetry but they liked my poetry. Which is a strange thing to have said to you--if you're totally paranoid like me. Does that mean I'm onto something that might be new or accessible or otherwise refreshing? Or does it mean I'm so off base I should quit now? Obviously, I'm going with the first interpretation.
Here's one of the new poems:
The Physics of Sweaters
The sweater that blonde is wearing is gorgeous.
Well, not the sweater so much, not really, it’s nice,
an ivory wool blend, off the shoulders, whatever,
it’s a sweater, but the form that sweater implies
is gorgeous. Of course I can’t know about that form
with any certainty but I’m certain it’s doing things
for my morale no pill could. The curves that give
the sweater its shape, they’re something to write
home about. I assume they are, again, we live in a
quantum mechanical world, where we can assign
formulas and data without ever being sure those
equations are the ones bolstering the universe.
The beams and joists of the universal frame aren’t
going to collapse if we’re wrong, the universe will
go on in much the same shape it’s in now, we’d just
like to know—like, you know, for funs ya’ll. You can
change the shape but not the value! Beaten into me,
the mantra that explains the constancy of matter and
one or more principles of physics, somebody’s laws
of motion or energy, something. So we can’t know,
so what? Some people would say that not knowing
is half the fun, especially when it comes to sweaters.
Let me set one thing straight here: I’m married, happily,
and my wife’s sweaters are enough for me, they raise
my morale plenty. It’s just, when it comes to knowing
or not, I know…and the unknown is so inherently
dazzling…which, evidently, is the appeal of quantum
mechanics. Some sweaters are known, some are not,
we can assign formulas all we want and never understand
any more than we do right now in this moment. And as
gorgeous as they may or may not be, or the forms that
give them form, it doesn’t hurt when the jeans that
go with the ivory wool blend look like that, when they
imply legs the shape of which no mathematical formula
could hope to explain and which, applied in the proper
proportion, could boost the morale of an entire army
of lonely scientists.
(Nov. 2007)
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