Personal

Guy stuff.

An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Teaching in the Bronx, but no MFA!

Had the pleasure of doing a reading/Q&A at the Riverdale Neighborhood House last night for a group of teens from a workshop run by Corie Feiner (fka Corie Herman) as part of a residency she's had since 2000, thanks to Poets & Writers. One of the coolest gigs I could imagine, teaching kids writing in the Bronx. The RNH is a great setup, too, offering various after-school opportunities for local kids, many of whom aren't from Riverdale but from Marble Hill and Kingsbridge. Hope something like that is available when Isaac and India get older. Got a jar of teen-made…

Continue ReadingTeaching in the Bronx, but no MFA!
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Everyone’s waiting for someone else to stand up…

I can't believe how pissed I am over this whole political thing! Like throw-your-hands-in-the-air kind of fed up and I can't get it off my mind! While I can understand the apathy to some degree, I can't understand how people don't see that apathy is the very reason nothing will change. It's like everyone's waiting for someone else to stand up and do something so they can follow. And when someone DOES stand up, they laugh them off as a dreamer, or unpatriotic, or a wasted vote. That thing I alluded to yesterday, where I said I'd admit to being…

Continue ReadingEveryone’s waiting for someone else to stand up…
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Times when it's okay to lie to your kids: #17: Because you can't go to Chuck E. Cheese every day! #31: If you don't, they will eat all of the candy. Then, demand more. Halloween was fun, though, as expected, no Hollywood insanity broke out. There were some insane parents, though, as well as some fun costumes, kids and adults alike. Isaac's turned out to be one of the best ones there and didn't have the misfortune of being one of fifty other kids in a cheap Batman outfit. (Side note: Homemade costumes are a much better option to ending…

Continue Reading
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

National Novel Writing Month

Opportunity knocking...? National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30. Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over talent and craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved. Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write…

Continue ReadingNational Novel Writing Month
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Pumpkin Seeds: 10/29/2003

1. Last night at Acentos was one of those rare transcendent moments that puts a smile on your face and a spring in your step. I was so jazzed, I played Jordan Knight's Give it to You all the way home, complete with in-your-seat choreography! Mahina Movement, with a new-to-me lineup, was simply amazing. A female Rage Against the Machine, they brought tight collaborations with raw verse and absolutely smoked the mic. The open preceding them was an exciting mix of old and new voices, too, with Fish filling in as host like it was second-nature. Nine months in and…

Continue ReadingPumpkin Seeds: 10/29/2003
Newer Posts
Older Posts