Bittersweet

The following is very loosely based on an Oulipo writing exercise, via my friend Oscar, in anticipation of my hitting the Open Mic on Monday with something new for the first time in a couple years. "Very loosely" meaning I went with the general concept of the exercise he gave me and rolled with it as the "poem" wrote itself. The end result is actually kind of Oulipian, I guess, based on Monica de la Torre's definition: "Every word that you jot down brings to mind an onslaught of other words and ideas that lead you further and further away…

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Spider-Man 3 Review

My Buddy Dan(TM) scored passes to [last night's] 5-borough premiere of Spider-Man 3 and we caught it at Bay Plaza here in the Bronx with approx. 100-150 other lucky winners. We’re hoping to do a joint review in the next couple of days, hopefully as a podcast, but real quick, I give it a solid B; maybe B+.More here: http://www.popcultureshock.com/spider-man-3-quick-review/41639/ Technorati Profile Read and post comments | Send to a friend

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Walk Now for Autism

India at Shea Stadium Two years ago, our daughter India was diagnosed with PDD-NOS - an Autism Spectrum Disorder. After two years of intense therapy and lots of support from organizations dedicated to families of children with Autism, India still has some trouble with speech and language but no longer presents with the symptoms associated with Autism. Please help me give other children the same opportunity by supporting me as I walk with Team 352X in this year's Autism Speaks Walk Now for Autism fund-raising event. Walk Now for Autism is the signature fundraising event of Autism Speaks and is…

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How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

Picked this up from Dyanna at MySpace... 10 years ago - April 27 1997 1.) How old were you? 27 2.) Where did you go to school? One semester removed from Jersey City State College, where I met Salomé. 3.) Where did you work? Poets & Writers 4.) Where did you live? Jersey City, NJ and/or West New York, NJ (long story) 5.) Where did you hang out? Random bars, mostly. 6.) Did you wear glasses? Yes. 7.) Who was your best friend? Claudia 8.) How many tattoos did you have? 1 9.) How many piercing did you have? 2 10.)…

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Short-short #1: Karma

"This can't be right! Why are you doing this?""Hard to believe, I know, but it is what it is.""Wait, I can pay you! More than she is. Much more!""Not sure who 'she' is, but you definitely could pay me more, seeing as I'm doing this for free. For me.""Free? You? What the--""You don't even remember me, do you? Heh. Figures. Dumbass. Always were too full of yourself to notice anyone around you. The past two weeks have been interesting, watching you in action again. You've gotten smoother, but you're still the same self-centered little schmuck.""Who--? What the hell is going…

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Anxiety, Autism and Arthur Avenue

Beyond Salomé and the kids' birthdays and our wedding anniversary, I'm not very good at remembering specific dates, but 5/3/2005 will always be a memorable one because that's the day India was diagnosed with autism*. "Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified" (PDD-NOS), to be specific, the catch-all term for a laundry list of autism-related and autism-like disorders that, I think, is part of the reason for the recent explosion in autism diagnoses over the past 10 years or so. It's been a long two years for us since the, full of emotional highs and lows, but overall, she's come a long way thanks to early intervention and the…

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A Bar, a Beer, a Notebook and a Pen

Me, Self-Portrait Back in my early poetry days, at the very beginning in the summer of '97, I wrote the majority of my poems sitting at the shadowy bar in Botanica, a pint of Brooklyn Brown always at hand as my pen scribbled furiously in my notebook. Tonight, a series of unexpected events set in motion by Roger's bailing on the Mets game and me unable to find a taker for the extra ticket, found me watching the game at Coppersmith's, a pint of Magic Hat #9 always at hand as my pen scribbled furiously in my notebook. It's been a long time since I've written…

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