Personal

Guy stuff.

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

Aniticpating Acentos

I don't usually get nervous about a reading until 10-15 minutes before it starts so the premature butterflies that have been floating around since last night have me feeling really dizzy. I found out last night that my aunt, youngest on my father's side and more like a cousin, is coming to the reading and got a little freaked out. A couple of my cousins from my mother's side will be there, too - who haven't seen me read since my first couple of slams at the Nuyorican - as well as a handful of non-poetry friends, turning it into…

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

Nothing like terror alerts, Footloose and ESPN NFL 2K5 to cap off a fun but tiring weekend! Something in Bloomberg's demeanor during today's press conference suggested this particular alert is the real deal and not some post-Democratic Convention political boogeyman cooked up by Karl Rove and friends. He looked intense and tired, like he'd been up all night, and his statement was an unusually page-bound reading of a carefully worded script, equal parts calm and alarm. That I work a few blocks south of the NY Stock Exchange and right across the street from a Prudential office building didn't help…

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

Kerry Weak; Kucinich Dissed

"I'm John Kerry and I'm reporting for duty." That's the best intro they could come up with for this clown? The biggest speech of his life and he goes with not just a bad pun, but one that is basically a slap in the face to every anti-war Democrat that's being asked to hold their nose and pull the lever for him in November, as an icebreaker? I really, really, REALLY despise this guy. So much so, he's even tainted my opinion of John Edwards. If he keeps doing that dorky little thumbs-up thing he does I'm going to reach…

Continue ReadingKerry Weak; Kucinich Dissed
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Personally, I'm a Jung kind of guy but this thing is oddly on point! Freudian Inventory Results Genital (40%) you appear to be stuck between a progressive and regressive outlook on life. Latency (56%) you appear to have a good balance of knowledge seeking and practicality. Phallic (50%) you appear to have a good balance of sexual awareness and sexual composure. Anal (26%) you appear to be overly lacking in self control and organization, and have a compulsive need to defy authority. Oral (33%) you appear to be stubbornly and irrationally against receiving help even when it might be the…

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

Pumpkin Seeds: Countdown to 35 Sedition

1. I turn 35 in 26 days! If you order my gift now, Amazon's free shipping offer will get it here in plenty of time. :-) 2. I know it's wrong to take pleasure in others' drama, even in an I told you so situation, but if this is true, I can't help but be tickled pink. 3. In related news, I found out yesterday that I'm the only feature at next week's First Wednesday reading at the Blue Ox, which may mean some flexibility on the 20-minute set. Considering a good chunk of my "audience" will be regretting the money…

Continue ReadingPumpkin Seeds: Countdown to 35 Sedition
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

For the last time…?

Truth or hyperbole? I've learned to never say never but in all likelihood, Wednesday, August 4th will be the last time I appear on stage as a featured poet. I fell into the slam scene on a lark back in the summer of 1997, competing in my first Friday night slam at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe on August 8, 1997. In the years since, I've attended four National Poetry Slams, written a lot, met a lot of people, visited places I wouldn't have otherwise, got married, had two kids, returned to the Bronx [twice!], and tapped into a side of…

Continue ReadingFor the last time…?
An arm with a tattoo: "I was made for the library, not the classroom."

Racists say the darndest things: "In the end it is an historical fact that if you mess with white people too much, they will destroy you."Because this quote came from a "friends-only" post on LiveJournal - excerpted from the reposting of an email sent to the LiveJournaler in question - I won't name the offender other than to say that he's a published author of genre fiction and not known to me personally.While his quote is ironically true - to a degree, as we know that, historically-speaking, white people haven't usually waited to be messed with before destroying someone - it's the context…

Continue Reading
Newer Posts
Older Posts