Jumping back in

I guess I should start by saying hello again to anyone who still might be checking. It seems that I go through a lot of these restarts, and I can't really explain why. I won't make excuses or promises this time. I just want to say I feel like writing again. I am living in Philadelphia now. Jeannie and I bought a home and are really happy exploring Philly and all of it's great restaurants. There is so much to do with a new home and we are regularly overwhelmed by the sheer enormity of all of the design, cost and work that it takes to get a house to become a home. In the past few months we have built raised garden beds according to the Square foot gardening method, two deep garden boxes for blueberry bushes and a floating countertop for the half bathroom as well as a ton of furniture purchasing and general organizing. There are still so many projects left to do but we are just taking them one at a time. I'll write more about my writing and the poetry prospects this year on my next post. There are a lot of good things going on for many of my poetry friends and I'll tell you all about them next time. Thanks for reading.

Narnia

Jeannie and I went to go see "Chronicles of Narnia" on Friday afternoon. I reread the book about two months ago, to see how well the movie was adapted. I loved the book as a child so I wasn't sure how it was going to go over. I must say that the movie was very well done. They were able to expand on the characters, add backstory and bring the story together without losing the original feeling of the book. It was really great cinematography, great pacing, the CGI was fantastic, and the costuming for the queen was very sublime. There were some things that were changed from the book to the movie, but I was ok with them as they did a lot of things right. Another thing was that they added several scenes to the movie that were not in the book, or were barely mentioned in the book, which were really well done. I have no qualms about recommending this movie, and I hope it makes a ton of money and they make the rest of the series. All of that being said I do have one problem. Not with the movie, but with the marketing. Disney hired the same company that did "The Passion of the Christ" to do the marketing for "Narnia." They offered special marketing materials and previews to churches in order to get the viewership up. The preachers would then talk about the Christian allegory blah blah blah Aslan = Jesus. This is my problem. There are so many things that do not fit neatly or otherwise if you promote "Narnia" as a Christian story. If you put this story up as a Christian allegory then you must also take the congregation to go seeThe Matrix," lots of messianic stuff happening there, and you have to go and rent every "King Arthur" movie as well. As a matter of fact the self sacrifice part that the reverends like to talk about can be found in every War or Sci-fi film: "Go on without me, I'll hold them off..." There is a book that talks about all of the Biblical tie-ins in the "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe;" they actually write that one of the tie-ins is about how not every thing is as it appears. Another good movie that shows this biblical notion is "X-MEN," especially with the Mystique character - a great choice for the whole parish.
I know it may seem that I am protesting the use of the movie by religion even though its author C.S Lewis wrote about how Aslan represented Jesus. I don't mind the representation, C.S. Lewis may have been a Christian but he was also a big believer in fairy tales and the imagination. He loved J. R. R. Tolkien and Lewis Carroll. The Christian right groups that are flocking to see this movie are the same groups that protested the "Harry Potter" books because of their occult subject matter. The "Chronicles of Narnia" never even mentions God. The over arching force in that world is called the "Deep Magic." Magic, not God, not deity, not even intelligent designer. The sense that witches, giants and minotaurs could exist is as harmless in "Narnia" as it is in "Harry Potter," or "Lord of the Rings," or "Dungeons and Dragons," or "Charmed," or "Buffy," or Stephen King novels or whatever. AlI of these besides Narnia received scorn from churches in one form or another. It is this hypocrisy that I cannot stand, and I think C.S. Lewis himself would have been a reader or watcher of all of the above. I also think he would have been uncomfortable with the religious zealots that have tried to exert their power in recent years. The reason that "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" works as a story is not this stuffed down your throat idea of a religion that the Churches would like, instead it is the universal truth of family and forgiveness and sacrifice that anyone can relate to. So it is with that in mind that I recommend the movie and the books as well.

pen event

The pen event last Tuesday was really moving. It had an amazing list of literary figures coming together to reflect on the American policy towards torture. The line up included: With Edward Albee, Paul Auster, Sandra Cisneros, Don DeLillo, Dave Eggers, Martín Espada, Philip Gourevitch, Jessica Hagedorn, Heidi Julavits, Nicole Krauss, Rick Moody, Emma Reverter, Salman Rushdie, Martha Southgate, and Colson Whitehead.
It was a very powerful reading that made me feel that I need to do more to prevent what is happening in this country. To be completely honest I felt as though we were living through something that we will be ashamed of later. We will have to individually excuse ourselves from what is happening. One day my grandchildren may come to me and ask what I did to try and stop the torture and the kidnapping, the anti immigrant madness. I feel as though we will shun talking about it one day just as aging Germans probably do, just as southern whites during Jim Crow would have to explain themselves whenever the subject turns to the past. This may seem very extreme but I can't help but feel as if this is going to appear much more horrific through the lens of history. I feel so very complacent, so bought. The reading has spurned me into action, I haven't yet decided on the best strategies to adopt to try and stop these terrible policies. I have some ideas and am formulating others. If anyone out here has any good and successful methods letters they are involved in, not just internet chain mail, I would love to hear about them.

hectic and weird

So this blog keeps getting away from me. Its been six days since my last post. I promised to post the poem I read at the last event and I will. It will be at the end of this post.
This past week has been a very strange experience for me. I am still not sure how my job situation is going to turn out. Jeannie and my friends have been incredibly supportive. Luckily I didn't have too much time to dwell on things because of all of the events I attended this week. On Wednesday I went to Jessica and Rich's feature as I mentioned before, then Thursday was the awards ceremony for Barbara Jane Reyes at the Academy of American Poets. This was really a great night, Barbara was a great reader and I got to hear Gerald Stern who was hilarious. I bought his book at the reading and I love it from cover to cover. I am going to have to get his entire works, some now, some for Christmas. Time to go to the strand.
On Friday I went to a Birthday party for Rich and Jessica and some people I didn't know. Happy Birthday to them all. It was a lot of fun. The synonymous crew was dynamite as the band, with the documentary Rise playing in the background. The costume designs and makeup were incredible too. It was Blastin!
On Saturday I went to two parties. One at Lynne's house in Carroll Gardens, for which I made pupusas and frijoles colados. It was a packed party with loads of people and loads of food. A crew of singers crooning 80's soft rock hits with Patrick Rosal on the guitar. From there I went to Sidd's Birthday/ going away party. It was at Blue and Gold in the east village. This place was packed with NYU students, but the drinks were so incredibly cheap I would be tempted to go back. They had double shots of Grey Goose for $4 dollars, and that's their regular price!! It was a good time. I had good talks with Omar, Reggie and Jason. I hope Sidd has a really successful trip in India and he gets all of the footage needed for his documentary.
Sunday was a home day, but then on Monday I went to the Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations awards dinner at the Copacabana as they awarded Quang, from the Asian American Writer's Workshop, the Distinguished Service Award. It was a pretty poorly run event that was filled with old politicians and ancient arts benefactors but Quang's speech was at least lively and touching, and the food was decent. Kitty Carlisle-Hart was there presenting an award. She just turned 800 years old. Happy birthday to her. She was in "A night a the Opera" with Groucho Marx, as well as being a fixture on Broadway. She sang "Always", and can still sing pretty well. I hope when I am 800 I can sing like that. No that I can sing now, but I have 770 years to take it up.
That brings me to today. I voted at the local public school. I know Bloomberg is going to win , so I threw my support behind the Green party candidate. I also voted yes on Proposition 2 because I really would like to see more subway service without having to pay more for a metro card, as well as wanting to see the 2nd Avenue line. A 10th Avenue line would be nice too, like in the old days. Anyways, I have so much to do.

Here is the poem I promised almost a week ago, it doesn't have a title. I am also not sure about the last three stanzas. Let me know what you think:

These are cold times
The mountains shake with grief
Dusty limbs quiver in the
Growing wind
The fading light does little to obscure the wails of
Young Mothers and old sons
Their knuckles bloodied from
Incessantly digging
Incessantly praying

These re dark times
The coastlines are flooded with tears
The patience for inequality
Slides like shoes on wet tile. All of the
Tuesdays have grown thin. All of the
Wednesdays have turned to ash
There is no shelter from poverty

These are selfish times
The waves crash overhead like tourists
Searching for an exotic paradise
Shock of loss caked on brown faces
TV images rush in over torn piles of
Wrapping paper inundating
Living rooms with guilt

These are pompous times
Warmongers pound fists on desks
There is no more money for aid
There is no more money for AIDS
No more money for wheezing children
The bombs are growing stale in hangars
Planes are becoming obsolete
Helicopters have no time for rescue
When they are shooting at your feet

These are surreal times
The news is filled with Katie's belly
With World Series dreams
The images of disaster brief
or crawling along the bottom of newscasts so as not to
Disturb the pleasant American mood

These are greedy times
Well groomed nails of the upper crust
Finger expensive Cashmere cloth, Kashmir Cloth
Careful not to catch their privilege on the sharp irony
Fatigue they banter
How much do they expect us to give
Perhaps I'll buy a toys for tots at Christmas. As if a
Family having lost two children
Would not mourn the loss of a third
Not tear as much skin
Not prepare the tomb
Not wring their hands raw

These are strange times
Times of fear and outrage
Troubles and doubt
We either open our hearts or
Harden them forever more

These could be hopeful times
To ignore borders, history
Religion, class

At these times there should be
One common rhythm in our chests
One common song in our throats
One common thought in our minds
Let us help until there is no-one that needs it

downtown bronx Cafe

Today I went to the downtown Bronx Cafe to catch Jessica Torres and Rich Villar feature as part of the first Wednesdays reading series from the Bronx Council on the arts. Jessica and Rich maybe you shouldn't read this.

Its been a few years since I first saw each of them read but probably no more than three years. I was really impressed today by what I heard from them. Perhaps it is because everything is so surreal in my life right now that I am able to look at things more clearly than before. Jessica's voice on stage was so confident and brave. She really has become comfortable on stage and her use of language and layering of imagery was really alluring. Rich was the second feature and he just continues to wow me. All of the pieces that he reads about culture or history seem to be so honed, so carefully assembled. It really is a pleasure to hear him read.
It actually seemed that everyone on the open mic was so notable. Oscar, Fish, Eliel, and Xelo. It really struck me tonight how far everyones writing and artistic identity had evolved. Oscar read a beautiful pantoom, Fish read a really moving piece about prison, Elilel read some really great short pieces ( I really liked the one about solitude, although I didn't care for the narcissist one), and Xelo read a fantastic piece about her family that I think has been building up in her for several years.

I read a piece about the strange times this year with all of the natural disasters and such, I have read it at a few other readings lately. I wrote it for a benefit for the Pakistan earthquake. I will post it tomorrow.

life on fast forward

So looking at my last post it was more than a months and a half ago, but based on how much has happened it feels like a year ago. I participated in a benefit for the the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and then a few weeks later I was part of a benefit for the victims of the earthquake in Pakistan. I also have friends that I still can't get in touch with living in Miami.

At work things have been moving at a pace that seems hyper accelerated. In the middle of September my direct supervisor gave his two weeks notice under some circumstances I can't go into. I assumed most of his responsibilities as well as trying to fight the bad policies and the ineptitude of the supervisor who was brought in to assume some of his responsibilities. I got the 21 after school Programs through the difficult start up period in late September and October. Then last week I was wrongfully terminated in a situation that I can't talk about either. I have a lawyer that is helping me with the matter and there is so much that I can't mention because of the crazy legal battles that are going to come out of this. Its a very strange time for me, but at least it means I have more time to blog. There were some other things that weren't so gloomy that happened in the past six weeks including a really good acentos reading, a halloween party, and a memoir writing class but I'll write about those in a separate blog. This one has probably said enough.

Irony and sushi

So Thursday I did something I had not done in nearly two years, participate in an open slam. I knew that Omar and Cristin were also going to slam so it eased the transition back for me a bit. I was in it just for fun so I thought I'd try something new. I wrote the piece the same day and finished it as the person before me was on. It was a great night although I think the crowd was a bit confused.

Cristin did a very cute poem about her high school science teacher but since she went first it didn't go over with high scores. I was on fifth and the four poets before me did funny poems, including one about an abusive racist bunsen burner and hemorrhoids. They were hilarious, but pushed the boundaries and were punished for it. Then I did my poem. I went too far. I probably should have gone much further with it to expose the sarcasm or delivered it more sarcastically to give the audience a clue as to the irony in the content. Although I thought it was obvious, Omar and everyone else later told me that I didn't give any clues as to my sarcastic intentions, so I just came off as an ass. My poem was about being pro- global warming and pro destruction of the planet, and as an example of being pro-planetary annihilation I said that hurricanes are great because they make for great surfing. I even went so far as to say, and this is where the audience turned, that Hurricane Katrina was a good thing because it will make more room for new Walmarts andTrent Lott's new Porch. Of course I meant it as sarcastic but it didn't translate. The entire audience was silent except for an occasional laugh from Cristin who knew what I was trying to do. I must say that that kind of disquiet in an audience is powerful, although I did not enjoy that kind of power, I do recognize it as being power. I did not change my tactic once I realized what was going on, I wanted to see what would happen if I saw it through to the end without letting on that it was supposed to be sarcasm. I didn't apologize or explain to the audience, I just got off and waited.

I knew it was going to be bad, but the scores were even better than I thought. I got a .2, 1, 1, 1, 4.2, giving me a total cumulative score of 3. I was laughing so much. I totally ruined the stage for Omar. He had to go after me but he couldn't overcome the confused mess I had left behind. I had such a blast doing something totally different than what I usually do. I will probably try to slam every week if I can.

Afterwards Jeannie, Omar, Oscar and I went to Sushi Park for half-price sushi and argued about what I could have done differently. I agree with them now, although of course I didn't then.