latter-day saints

For Willie Perdomo, with sincerest apologies for missing tonight's show. I just couldn't deal... Be sure to pick up his new book, Smoking Lovely, and catch him at Acentos next month, November 11th. latter-day saints for Willie Perdomo and Imani Springer I. 1996 -I am you. You are me. -I am you. You are me. perspective flipped god taps me on my right shoulder whispers in my left ear -I am you. You are me. We the same. his words communion wine his voice a deep, husky red -I am you. You are me. We the same. Can't you feel…

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Either Hollywood has been lying for years or Memorial High School's Class of 1993 has no sense of drama! Saturday night was Salomé's 10 Year High School Reunion and I was fully expecting to enjoy some of the stereotypical dramatics I've seen in the movies. A redeeming fight between the jock and the geek; indiscretions in the bathroom; shocking revelations on the dance floor; long-lost love found in the parking lot. Something! Instead, it was a night of old friends and acquaintances, many of whom hadn't seen each other in a while, enjoying a rare night out together. I'm sure…

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I get some of the most random emails from time to time. My favorites are the ones from high school and college students asking permission to use a poem of mine - usually Breathless - in their forensics competitions. A couple of times a week, I still get emails concerning the show at Bar 13 that I used to run on Monday nights. I always answer what I can while letting them know I no longer run the show and cc: the current curators so they can help them out further. Earlier this week, I got one such email, a…

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Today's radio gig went well. Fish, Oscar, Rich, Ed and myself representing for Acentos on Louis Reyes Rivera's weekly WBAI show, Perspective. Rivera is like the Yoda of poetry. Tiny old guy, his eyes practically drip wisdom, history clinging to his brown skin - he's the closest thing to an actual griot I've ever met. He even carries a crooked staff! We each read a couple of poems, talked about Acentos, hinted at the coming of the LWA (aka, Latino/a Writers Alliance) and joked off-mike about how we were like the new Menudo. Or New Kids on el Bloque. Or,…

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“Governor” Arnold Schwarzenegger

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Say it out loud a couple of times so you understand that it really happened. Let it sink in. Note the feeling, if any, in the pit of your stomach while you consider the potential ramifications of a political neophyte governing the largest state in the country, in charge of one of the largest economies in the world. Identify the feeling you get from knowing such responsibility has been entrusted to someone whose positions on most issues are vague at best, and whose platform was that he'd go to Sacramento to "knock heads together" and "kick some…

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Between the unpredictability of the football season and a particularly vibrant baseball playoffs, this is the most exciting time of the year in sports. The underlying drama of the playoffs is as compelling as any book or movie and as unpredictable as the best episodes of Survivor or the workings of the female mind. I'm not a Yankee fan and love few things more than to root against them. It has less to do with their payroll (the Mets are just as guilty of throwing money around and gouging their fans, only for them it's usually towards a losing effort)…

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