happy new year

this is all we heard on the radio from NJ to NC.

hi monkeys. i forgot to tell you about the parade down our street the other night. we had a parade. one of our awesome neighbors knocked on our door at around 6:30 the other night and say... "o, you don't know... we are having a parade! quick! the parade!" and i went, grabbed the camera, and there was this massive parade.

Our Lady of Guadalupe Procession.

of course, maggie thought bear dog would really enjoy it since there were so many kids... but... as you'll be able to hear... he was very concerned and we had to get him back in the house....

tony's book party on flickr

Originally uploaded by minor americans

mean joe donahue on gee-tar.

woowie.

last night Tony Tost rocked the house... and then after that... the house rocked even more with Tony, Ken Rumble, Matt Mullins, Patrick Herron, Brian Howe, Ashley Howe, Maggie & occasional visits from Joe Donahue, Chris Vitiello & David Need. LOTS OF INSTRUMENTS, LOTS OF MUSIC!

i have so many hours of minor american reading series tapes to go through and post for you all... i think i'm going to work on that this weekend.

but, seriously, last night was one hell of a party.

wish you were HERE!

i would only, maybe, cheat on maggie with karen o. .

maggie would only cheat on me with drew barrymore.

just so you know.

i think there was a worm in the banana i just ate.

COMPLEX SLEEP RELEASE PARTY

please join us in celebrating Tony's newest book tonight! we'll eat, drink, be merry if you remember to bring yr musical instruments this time, and listen to Tony read! YAY TONY! BYOB and we'll see you TONIGHT AT 8PM!

i think you should just go

read this blog because that's what i'm doing.

jessica has pics from DC up

when kate talks everyone listens
Originally uploaded by looktouch

it is 80º here today.

i am going outside. i will write more about DC and how awesome it is to talk to kaplan later.

DC

i had a really great time in DC hanging out with kaplan and his LOVELY daughter... o, she's sweet... and jessica smith [who is also very sweet but can talk about poetry in a language i understand a little bit better than genevieve, k's daughter.]

i also got to meet and chat a little with mel nichols & rod smith! yay for me.

i met FLASH the basset hound. i love FLASH.

justin sirois read with me and i thought his reading was really good and i wanted it to last longer than it did. he said it was 20 minutes but it felt like 5... i wonder how his 30 minute readings feel? he could probably read for an hour and i'd still find it short! anyway, i'm looking forward to his book coming out, Secondary Sound and also looking forward to dragging him out here to durham for a reading and some drinks.

i read from RIGHT NEW BIOLOGY and it felt good. the DC folks have to be the most attentive audience i've ever seen... i was talking to chris vitiello about this yesterday & he has noticed this , too .... i know they have busy lives and must be just as exhausted as everyone else living in a city... but, wow... they seem to be able to really LISTEN. and i really appreciated the conversations i had following my reading... especially with ryan walker whom i had just met. i'm looking forward to reading his work someday.

anyway. it was a lot of and they were a very generous crowd.

LOOK HERE LOOK HERE!
RESCHEDULED!
THURSDAY 12/13
8pm @ 811 wilkerson ave
:TONY TOST:
BOOK PARTY FOR
Complex Sleep

hey!

i'm leaving for DC/ Silver Springs MD tomorrow. maybe someone there will explain to me how it is and is not DC because i don't understand that.

i'm excited to go, but also a little sick. maggie has been fighting something off and today i woke up with it. or maybe i shouldn't have gone out drinking with Ken Rumble, Tony Tost, David Need & Dianne Timblin until 1 am and then gone to knock on Chris Vitiello's door at 1 am to say "hey, what's up Chris?" with Ken... who assured me it was an excellent idea... and, he was right, Chris was happy to see us... and then we got to my house at 2:15 am... and Ken was staying over for his flight to Portland... and left three hours later...

god. maybe that's more why i felt like shit today. hmn???

or was it the damn mammogram & ultrasound this afternoon? i'm fine. i'm just very lucky to have such young and fibrous breasts. lucky lucky!

o... and i got two gorgeous items from Brandon Brown and OMG Press which you should totally check out and get for YRSELVES.

this is not a blogpost this is simply a reminder to myself that i exist in places that aren't necessarily my car or bedroom.

xok

see you in Maryland?

RUTHLESS GRIP POETRY SERIES
@ Pyramid Atlantic Art Center
Saturday, December 8, 2007, 8:00PM

KATHRYN PRINGLE & JUSTIN SIROIS

Kathryn Pringle has published one chapbook: Temper and Felicity are
Lovers, from TAXT. An e-chap forthcoming from Duration Press, and she is
currently working on a collaborative book with writer Michael Nicoloff.
Her work has appeared in Fourteen Hills, 42opus, Alice Blue, Denver
Quarterly, Dusie, Foursquare, Sidebrow, String of Small Machines, and
others. She is founder and co-editor, along with Elise Ficarra & Magdalena
Zurawski, of the print journal Minor/American. She also co-curates the
Minor American reading series in Durham, NC where she now lives.

Justin Sirois is founder and co-director of Narrow House. His first
book, Secondary Sound (BlazeVOX), concerning digital piracy, DRM, DJ
culture, and copyright reform, will be out this winter. He lives in
Baltimore, Maryland in a little house where he discovered a thirteen foot deep
well in his front yard -- it is now covered with plywood and a large
pile of rocks.

Pyramid Atlantic Art Center is located at 8230 Georgia Avenue in Silver
Spring, MD, three blocks from the Metro red line.

Directions: http://www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/about/contact.htm

We hope you can join us for the reading and the festivities afterwards.

hi.

folks. it really sucks when yr best dog friend dies.

i was going to give up blogging forever. what's to blog if the star of the show has died? percy really was the best of us. but, i'm self-indulgent and am fueled by this constant need to communicate. so. here i am.

hi.

we leave soon for thanksgiving in NY/NJ.

in the mail i've received:

the new foursquare [which is, as usual, gorgeous.]

Snow Sensitive Skin by taylor brady & rob halpern. i have to say this is a dream come true, having these two write a book together. and it is gorgeous. i keep opening it, reading a little, and closing it because i'm just overwhelmed and i'm not ready for it yet.

i got dorothea lasky's AWE and Cate Marvin's Fragment of the Head of a Queen.

we aren't doing a whole lot lately. we're too halfed. trying to write today.

i don't know about this blogging business anymore. i think this will be it for some time now. too much going on. and also, a need for a little more privacy....

see you in a few months.

happy holidays and not-holidays.
xo
k

percy
Originally uploaded by minor americans

PERCY OBIT BY CACONRAD

CAConrad, who understands me very well and thus Percy, has written a very moving obituary for Percy at the Philly Sound blog. Thank you, Conrad!

M

thank you.

everyone, thank you for yr thoughts. and thank you for the flowers and the cards and the freshly baked bread that has been accumulating on our porch. we've left a picture of percy there, too. we are going to leave the flowers and the picture out today because it feels nice to have that.

we are just laying in front of the tv... the three of us... cuddling and trying to rest.

thank you.

Percy Poodelicious!

Percy Poodelicious!
Originally uploaded by minor americans

kathryn l. pringle said...
dear suzanne,

i called you tonight because i wanted to / need to talk to someone. because percy died. he was just at the vet yesterday and looking great and everything was great and he played all day and had such a good time and then... his heart couldn't pump so well and he couldn't breathe and we rushed him to emergency and he was going to drown if we didn't euthanize him and all of this happened so quickly and so... suddenly... even though we knew he was in heart failure and that one day he would go and it would seem out of nowhere... and we are so sad and when we came home bear dog was having a tremendous panic attack with drool all over his chest and he was so sad, too... i think he knew what was happening and we didn't and had we know we would have taken bear with us so he could see for himself... but now i'm scared he'll look for percy all the time and i know we will look for him all the time, too...

we really loved him so much.

November 9, 2007 11:54 PM

Percy Poodle

We had to say goodbye to our best friend and the best dog ever tonight.

We are absolutely heartbroken and we are going to miss him forever.

i just want to say that i ran into an old friend from SF State this morning in my kitchen. meliza bañales .

yay meliza!

i didn't know she was touring with sister spit... i'm so glad she is and that we made her breakfast this morning.

more on being white.

did i ever tell you that in jr high history class the teacher told me to stand up and one other girl and then said

"see class, they are an example of the Aryan Race. Hitler would have killed and or enslaved all the rest of you."

we were horrified.

and it didn't help us make friends at that school either.

i've been thinking a lot about my whiteness lately because of all the discussion around Numbers Trouble [spahr/young] and especially because of what i've been reading on barbara's blog..... barbara is someone that i've always had a lot of respect for as a poet and a thinker and i think what she's written here is really important for people to read.

i always feel uncomfortable when i think about my whiteness and how i came to be where i am. i'm so white i can't even claim any ethnic whiteness like maggie can, that's how white i am. i suppose if i go back to 1680 i can claim my Scottish and then could say something about the English and how we ran away from them, and why, ... but mostly i'm just really uncomfortable and have no idea what to say or what to do and so i don't say anything.

but maybe i just wanted to say that. that i'm uncomfortable and having feelings about the subject and that i don't know everything about what they are yet but, wow, i'm so glad some people are saying something.

sister spit is here.
no, really, they are here. or will be. tonight. and in our house, sleeping. i'm not sure how many sisters, nor which ones.

tonight they will be at BCHQ and then later, sleeping in our house.

Upcoming Shows/Events:
(all shows start @ 9pm. all ages. alcohol free. donations for bands.)

[If this is not very up to date, check webpage here.]
11/1 - 11/3 - TROIKA! check out http://www.troikamusicfestival.org/ for the full schedule
11/8, Thursday Sister Spit http://sisterspitnextgen.com/
11/9, Friday - Woman (TN), Noncanon (NC)
11/15, Thursday - Tin Can Tour - The Emotron, Andy the Doorbum
11/30, Friday - Gary B and the Notions, Hammer No More the Fingers
2/06, Wednesday 6:30pm - Our House Documentary Screening! http://www.surgenetwork.org/filmseries

***

and remember that Saturday you are all supposed to be at our house.

bug on my house

bug on my house
Originally uploaded by minor americans

what IS it.

i keep forgetting

to tell you that andrea edits Parcel and you can dload issue one and issue two, just out. they are really beautiful... she does an amazing job... and the work is most excellent as well....

Parcel two... [i ripped the rest of from the site]

Featuring poetry by Emily Anderson, Erin M. Bertram, Christophe Casamassima, Carol Ciavonne, Mark Cunningham, Carrie Hunter, Nicholas Manning, Kristi Maxwell, Srikanth Reddy, Eléna Rivera, Susan Scarlata, Brandon Shimoda, Eleni Sikelianos, and Laura Sims, reviews by Anne Heide and Jen Tynes and featured visual artists Matthew Gottschalk and Bin Ramke.

domestic bliss 2

Click To Play

tuesday night
after kate's hd group left [aka whiskey group]
after maggie gets home from soccer
after poods puts on great granma's scarf
bear decides to sing.

TONY TOST! TONIGHT 12/13 @ 811 Wilkerson in Durham!

COMPLEX SLEEP RELEASE PARTY

please join us in celebrating Tony's newest book tonight! we'll eat, drink, be merry if you remember to bring yr musical instruments this time, and listen to Tony read! YAY TONY! BYOB and we'll see you TONIGHT AT 8PM!

i had this really messed up dream the other night...

maggie was giving birth to our baby. [spare me the stupid comments stupid people will want to make now.] maggie was giving birth to our baby and i was delivering the baby and percy and bear were running around making things more chaotic [and much less sterile] than they should be and maggie was in our bed giving birth to our baby... and all of a sudden the baby just flies out and disappears and i'm like... whoa... and maggie is exhausted and gets up and walks around and i say, don't you think you should be in bed still? and the sheets are still white and crisp but folded and i'm looking all over for our baby because i want to meet our baby but she [what do you expect w/ 4 x's, eh?] is gone. and maggie's eating lunch! i say, baby, where's the baby? and she's like, what do you mean where's the baby? and i say, don't fuck with me honey this has been a totally insane experience... WHERE IS OUR BABY? and she's all groggy and she's not sure and she says...o... o... i think i gave her to the grocer! and i proceed to get really angry because she gave our baby away simply because she was tired. so we go to the grocery store and the grocer wants thousands of dollars for our baby.

and then i woke up totally pissed off.

last night. today. tomorrow.

kate greenstreet and chris vitiello were fucking great last night.

just so you know. i think the new space was great, too. but kate and chris were extra great. chris performed a play using an action figure and animal figure toys and read some poetry... kate read in her usual show-stopping, breathtaking, o man i missed that when i was reading her book... way. i have some clips, or will have some clips later when i have time to go through them and upload... to share with you all.

all in all i have to tell you, especially you non-believers in the poetry climate of the Triangle Area [Durham Raleigh & Chapel Hill] that there is definitely what can only be described as super amazing poetry energy going on here and you should be trying to make us a stop on yr tours through this side of the US.

***
today i have to write a lot. and run and stuff.

but.

***

tomorrow the Colts play the Patriots. THIS is a very big ass deal and i am already having a sort of Poets pre-Superbowl extravaganza here for it. chances are that if you are in town, have been to my house before, and love one of these teams... you will be more than welcome to come over and drink some beer, eat some chips and dip, and have some pizza. doors open at 4. the only rule is, though... that we actually WATCH THE GAME! so far we have a crowd split right down the middle: half for the COLTS [GO COLTS!!!] and half for the other team [BOO OTHER TEAM!].

i am very excited about this game folks. i'm especially excited to have company for it!

tonight

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MINOR AMERICAN READING SERIES WILL NOW BE HELD IN A NEW [GORGEOUS, MORE COMFORTABLE] LOFT DOWNTOWN!!!
please join us next Friday 8 PM - 10PM
[we will start the reading soon after 8 AND THERE IS A BUZZER so try to be on time!]

204-208 Rigsbee [the Eleanor building]
right around the corner from Rue Cler
DOWNTOWN DURHAM

KATE GREENSTREET &
CHRIS VITIELLO

Kate Greenstreet is the author of case sensitive (Ahsahta Press, 2006)
and three chapbooks, Learning the Language (Etherdome Press, 2005),
Rushes (above/ground press, 2007), and This is why I hurt you
(Lame House Press,forthcoming). Statues, a Big Game Books tinyside,
was available briefly in 2006. Last March, Flash+Card published In Paradise
there is no art, a boxed set of 12 notecards (fragments of writing & art).

AND

Chris Vitiello lives in Durham and is concerned with,among other things:
clarification, light, stars, the sky, clouds, wind, trees, birds, deduction,
eyes,leaves, people and their observable behaviors,grasses,the soil, flowers
and their growth,description and representation, vegetables, skins and peels,
seeds, nuts,cross-sections, dictionary definitions, synonyms and antonyms but
especially synonyms, utility, analysis,skepticism, kindness,goodness, quantity,
measurement, direct commands,questions, and fact statements.

His book comes out from Ahsahta in march and is called "irresponsibility."
His other book is "nouns swarm a
verb" on xurban in 1999.

conrad has posted an amazing
interview, gill ott interviewing jackson mac low.

the tiny tour , also thanks to conrad.

tonight tonight! greenstreet & vitiello! look to yr right!

used to be

that i would sit here in Durham and look at my west coast flickr friends pages and watch my little movies quite sadly and sickly and miserably.

it isn't that way anymore.

i'm officially NOT homesick anymore.

i'm just home.

now if some of you would move or visit....

*

i haven't written since i wrote a little piece for a collaboration with a certain white male writer currently residing in the bay area but possibly not for long ... hello white male writer...

too busy with the work that feeds me.

*

happy halloween.

i have to go find bear dog a tutu and percy a scout's uniform by 5pm. they are very excited about sitting on the porch all dressed up and waiting for the neighborhood children.

*

maggie has been really feeling the PhD student thing. reading 900+ pages a week, presentations, papers.... it sounds pretty good to me.... but i see it is wearing on her.

she still wouldn't go back to waitressing, though.

i almost had one fatal car accident on Saturday.

and i almost had two probably non-fatal but maybe, you know, INJURIOUS, on this same Saturday. for two of the three almosts i was driving. after those two i thought

maybe i shouldn't drive anymore today

and so i asked maggie to drive and she was driving for the third almost accident.

i have not had any more near car accidents since that one.

i was really wondering if i was having a Final Destination Saturday and i think that maybe i was but maybe it was just for Saturday.

in any case i am okay and so is everyone else i almost collided with.

MINOR AMERICAN READING: 11/2 GREENSTREET & VITIELLO

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MINOR AMERICAN READING SERIES WILL NOW BE HELD IN A NEW [GORGEOUS, MORE COMFORTABLE] LOFT DOWNTOWN!!!
please join us next Friday 8 PM - 10PM
[we will start the reading soon after 8 AND THERE IS A BUZZER so try to be on time!]

204-208 Rigsbee [the Eleanor building]
right around the corner from Rue Cler
DOWNTOWN DURHAM

KATE GREENSTREET &
CHRIS VITIELLO

Kate Greenstreet is the author of case sensitive (Ahsahta Press, 2006)
and three chapbooks, Learning the Language (Etherdome Press, 2005),
Rushes (above/ground press, 2007), and This is why I hurt you
(Lame House Press,forthcoming). Statues, a Big Game Books tinyside,
was available briefly in 2006. Last March, Flash+Card published In Paradise
there is no art, a boxed set of 12 notecards (fragments of writing & art).

AND

Chris Vitiello lives in Durham and is concerned with,among other things:
clarification, light, stars, the sky, clouds, wind, trees, birds, deduction,
eyes,leaves, people and their observable behaviors,grasses,the soil, flowers
and their growth,description and representation, vegetables, skins and peels,
seeds, nuts,cross-sections, dictionary definitions, synonyms and antonyms but
especially synonyms, utility, analysis,skepticism, kindness,goodness, quantity,
measurement, direct commands,questions, and fact statements.

His book comes out from Ahsahta in march and is called "irresponsibility."
His other book is "nouns swarm a
verb" on xurban in 1999.

The Sexiest, Hottest Thing I've Heard in a LONG Time

Yes...it involves Bruce Springsteen. And It Don't Disappoint. It's going to make me go buy an ARCADE FIRE record. This tour is hot and I'm too poor to go until the summer! BUUCK -- You will love this...

SEXY

cold now.

i think 61 degrees is colder here than in San Francisco. i've learned that if i get too cold i get a sore throat. i am 35 years old and i've learned this now. the heat went on. i don't feel sick. maybe i need to train myself into cold. maybe i should stop jogging in the rain? no.

*

it has rained for many days now. i wonder if we have more than 71 days left of water now.

*

*where* is kate greenstreet now? i think she needs a locator device. i hope she knows how to get to my house.

*

i wrote something last night that i quite like. i also wrote three passages for my freelance gig... 1/ ants 2/ banana slug 3/ bones. i rather enjoyed writing last night.

durham

is down to 74 days of water.

can anyone tell me what happens if we run out?

i've never rooted for the Red Sox.

i simply cannot find it in myself to root for the Rockies.

i'm rooting for the American League because i prefer the American League teams. there.

go American League!

homoerotic pottery for jesus

homoerotic pottery for jesus
Originally uploaded by minor americans

at the fair.

thank you stephanie young

Click to Play

from minor americans to stephanie young...

proof of something, i'm sure....

chris has landed
Originally uploaded by minor americans

chris vitiello

state fair day

today durham is trying to have Fall weather. it actually rained a little for two days in a row, but keeps returning to the mid-80s & gorgeous sunshine. today is cold, CRISP is what people say in the Fall, right? CRISP...

and trees change color in the Fall.[yes, i knew that, but i have been reminded.] i already have a favorite bright orange tree. it is across the street from this house that i'm trying to convince maggie we should buy. it has 3brs & tons of workspaces... but we wouldn't be near downtown. we wouldn't be completely in the burbs either.

anyway.

this morning we are to meet Chris Vitiello and his daughter, Iris, at the state fair in Raleigh. [Raleigh came in 2nd to Salt Lake City for best city jobswise or some such thing... hello BAY AREA! come on out!].

here is the early history of the NC State Fair {i love the last earmark.}
1850-1899

1853 –State Agricultural Society holds the first State Fair; it was four days long. The largest attendance day had 4,000 fairgoers.

1861-1868 – Fair not held due to Civil War and Reconstruction period.

1869 – Fair reopens.

1873 – Fair moved to a larger site across from N.C. State University.

1877 – N.C. Department of Agriculture created.

1884 – Electricity is first used at the fairgrounds.

1891 – The first Midway ride, the Switchback Railway, is constructed on the fairgrounds.

1894 – Photography is a popular exhibit at the Fair.

1895 – Main attraction is chicken incubators.

***

our plan WAS to try the fried snickers and fried Coke-a-Cola.... because we have heard about them since we landed here from EVERYONE [bank tellers... cashiers... neighbors]... HOWEVER. i'm on a diet [3 years of good love from a good woman gives me a chubby glow.]... so i don't think i'm having any of this.

***

and then... we are coming home to read and write and i am going to make a little movie for Stephanie Young because a certain something showed up in the mail and she deserves nothing less than a little minor american flick.

my favorite poet

she's new, to me. but she's in the new Denver Quarterly
... and she's also here.

her name is kimberly lojek.

thanks.

jealous, bay area, very jealous right now:

Then on November 9 at 7 pm (and readings there start on time), Keith
and Rosmarie Waldrop will be reading in the final event of the fall
season at the DeYoung Museum. They are wonderful people and writers.
Come to see these poets, translators, and editors and publishers of
Burning Deck (for over 40 years) in a rare CA appearance. The cost
is $8 for museum members and $12 for everyone else.

my father found our blog.

last month, my father-in-law found our blog.

i really like this man.

i really like this film.

dogs.

at 3 am i woke up because i heard something.

and i walked into my office and i found Bear Dog in convulsions, foaming at the mouth, underneath the couch.
not the first time, but also, unusually severe. i try to get him outside but he can't even move towards anything.
[he doesn't like to be sick in front of us so he hides or goes out right away.]

but the convulsions are getting worse so i scream for maggie to wake up because Bear looks like a demon is about to posses him. or like the heartworm medicine we gave him at 9:30 is killing him.

i think, he can't have heartworms. no way. we've never missed a dose since we got here. he was tested clean in SF.

[if you give heartworm meds to a dog with heartworms you kill the worms but you also kill the dog.]

i call the emergency room because 1.1% of dogs have convulsions as a side-effect and i figure... maybe there is something we can do to help him while he's convulsing... but they just say, "I can't help you over the phone. Bring him in. But it will be 100."

[see, but for US... it is really 800... always. every time we go to emergency it is at least 800.]

so we put a blanket on him because he is all too willing and able to eat his sweet potatoes for a dog who is dying.

and we give him a Pepcid because he has acid reflux and this is actually a severe version of his acid reflux attack.

and then he slowly calms down. all the while percy is crying because he thinks Bear is getting all the good stuff and he tries to hump Bear because he thinks that will solve everything... humping Bear.

and so, two things you should know:

1/ dogs can get acid reflux and it is terrifying.

2/ i don't know that children are really in the cards because we spend all our money on Dogs.

[percy had to go in earlier in the week for his collapsing trachea.]

now i have to go to work.

dogwalking.

this is what keeps happening:

i want a certain baseball team to win. they don't win.

this has been going on for a year now. i think there really is no questioning my almost complete conversion to football, basketball, & hockey at this point. i don't know that i can give baseball up completely since i was always a little bit in love with steve garvey when i was a kid. but again... he didn't exactly turn out to be a winner either.

i'm so *over it* that i don't know i'll even watch the World Series this year. i hate boston. and i really can't stand the National League fans this year... what's all this God in my baseball???

still. it was hard for me not to cheer for bobby kielty. and eric byrnes. being former A's.

***

instead of baseball... or college football [just for today] i'm going to read the Maximus Poems and HD's Trilogy all day.

tomorrow i will watch the Cowboys and the Patriots and i am praying that the Patriots LOSE horribly but i don't know that God is on my side anymore since he went to the National League in baseball.

go indians.

i don't know...
maybe i should get off [ampersand]
since i'm NOT in the bay area

[except we will be in april!]

but then i like to know what's going on.

only it seems like it is all chad sweeney, all the time.

jessica smith: minor american reading series 10.06.07 : durham, nc

Click to Play

jessica smith takes on the Lucipo boys and Maggie Zurawski with one hand. and wins. extra special appearance by tony tost.

MAYBE YOU HAD WOODEN FINGERS IN A PAST LIFE

by ashely howe & brian howe

you can see the film they made/showed at our minor american event on October 6th

HERE!

the day after

Click to Play

an amazingly calm jessica smith gets locked out of her car. a quiet Sunday in the South on the minor american porch.

minor/american reading series

just wanted to let you all know that we have a few events coming up in November and then we will be on break in December.


11/2: kate greenstreet & chris vitiello

11/10: tony tost book party [time to be announced soonish.]

01/12/ 2008: Anne Boyer & Ken Rumble

February: Elise Ficarra & David Need.



April: we are taking April off because I am reading in St Louis for 8 Kates & Maggie has papers due!

May: is a special surprise that i can announce soonish i hope.

if you are an out-of-town poet that would like to come and read please let us know! we'd be more than happy to have you over!

cheers & see you soon.

string of small machines 3 is out and beautiful...


sabrina calle
harold abramowitz & amanda ackerman
kathryn l. pringle
cedar sigo
maureen thorson
mark lamoureux
brandon downing
roberto harrison
paul klinger
elizabeth robinson

cover: michael slosek


string of small machines is the house press poetry magazine, published in chicago, edited by luke daly, barrett gordon, and eric unger.

hey everyone,

i've been a little sick ever since maggie got well on saturday so i haven't been able to blog.

jessica, ashley, and brian were all REALLY great and it was a really fun night of squeezing 40 something folks into our not big enough house. we are looking into spaces for the reading series that can handle such crowds.

jessica did a write up on her time with us herelooktouch.

when i'm feeling better i will post some clips for you.

also, the film ashley & brian made will be posted on their website soon... i'll send a link when it is up.

thanks everyone for a great night and for showing up.

REMINDER: THIS SATURDAY

OCTOBER 6TH 2007
7PM, READING 8PM SHARP!
811 WILKERSON AVE
DURHAM, NC

ASHLEY HOWE & BRIAN HOWE
Ashley Howe and Brian Howe are neither married nor siblings (as far as they know). It's just a freaky coincidence. They've been excercising their creativity together for over a year. Specifically for this event, the Howes are creating a multimedia presentation revolving around the spontaneous instant of creation -- a sort of placeholder for an ongoing work that is always in flux, which more faithfully represents the spirit of their collaboration than the finished artifact.

JESSICA SMITH
Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Jessica Smith received her B.A. summa cum laude in English and Comparative Literature and her M.A. in Comparative Literature from SUNY Buffalo, where she participated in the Poetics Program and started the poetry magazine name. She devotes her free time to Outside Voices and the D.C. poetry scene. Recent chapbooks include bird-book (House Press / Detumescence), The Plasticity of Poetry and Telling Time (No Press), and Shifting Landscapes (above/ground press). Her first book, Organic Furniture Cellar, is available from Outside Voices.

david antin:

theres a word close to talking a word that may finally
mean talking but used to have a very grand meaning a
word myth which has a very grand meaning for most people
and i know that robert duncan has given a lot of attention
to the word "myth" the one definition he did leave out when
he rehearsed the definitions for the middle voice greek verb
mytheomai is to talk which it was it was a verb "to
talk" and "to tell" and it was a verb meaning "to put a rap
in the air" when odysseus the great con-man the
trickster gets up to talk in council he "myths" and he
"myths" regardless of whether he "myths" the way nobody else
remembers

from talking at the boundaries

[incorrect spacing as you know he talks and how it is printed but i
can't seem to find a way to make blogger take the spaces. so. ]

our first gay pride in durham.

there are two events, or non-events, that i found most disturbing about gay pride in durham... a few things that i found less disturbing... and some things that i found endearing and quite moving. i'm going to explain, in that order, to the best of my ability.

first... the protestors.



it is not at all shocking for there to be religion-based protests at any LGBT event. i think i can safely say that we, as a group of people that continuously have the "words of God" thrown in our faces, we have developed a united face of indifference & amusement. however, for myself, and maybe for some others, i find this to be a mask. and yesterday i could not keep my mask up. it is so extremely offensive to me that these protesters USE the one time a year that we as a people, and here in durham a people with NO RIGHTS & PROTECTIONS, UNITE TO CELEBRATE, as a tool in their misguided projects of religious zealotry.

what got to me yesterday was the PREACHER W A MEGAPHONE, the white PREACHER with his African American Congregation... many of them under the age of ten... standing across the street from our Parade starting point... going on some long long long tirade about Gender. Apparently we are just confused... we think we are MEN... THAT'S why we want to FUCK WOMEN! and if we just realize, through God's love... and his amazing logic.. that we are WOMEN... we will want to FUCK MEN.

i started photographing them. applauding them. i wanted to make THEM the spectacle. i wanted to actually throw rocks at the preacher and save the children. but mostly, it broke my heart, a little, to be demonized.

but sir... i don't think i'm a MAN at all! i am a woman who loves to FUCK WOMEN. so that means GOD and i are okay, right?

it became so infuriating... to be made this spectacle... and then the flip.



the actual parade seemed to be geared completely towards NORMALIZING us... straight-washing us.

o, hey, look straight citizens of Durham... we aren't deviant... no no no... we are JUST LIKE YOU. there were more churches in the parade than anything else.

fire with fire?

and imagine what it would be like to be Transgendered in the place... i really can't imagine. i can try... i do try... but it just makes me cry.

even with all that... and more that i'm forgetting, right now, in my fury...

it is a very sweet parade.

a lot of people. a lot.

i saw JD from Le Tigre walking around... there was the Cowboy from the Village People... hehe.

and we walked around for three hours. and went home. and that was it.

no dyke march. no drunken party in the streets. no DRINKING AT ALL in the streets. no running around the castro looking for BJ's. no naked women running around with dildos... NO NAKED ANYBODY.

about 15 drag queens. MR. GAY. no MS. Dyke though. don't know why.

three motorcycles.

[dykes on bikes.]

a ton of gay families.

am i disappointed? a little. i mean... i'm missing the Bay Area. i'm missing being one of a very large & identifiable group. i'm missing my freedom of movement.

***

the things is... there's a lot i can do here. to make things better for myself. and maybe there wasn't so much left to do in San Francisco. but here... there's tons. like... even adding gay bashing as a hate crime.

there is also tons to do in Poetry. [there is one Poetry teacher at Duke. they don't teach Poetry. really. they don't.]

and for Dogs... [ high kill shelters, unneutered pitbulls running rampant, chained up dogs everywhere]

so maybe in the 5 or 6 years that i am here i can do something about these things that disturb me greatly.

and maybe Durhamites won't take it so personally when i notice these things... because it isn't all yr fault Durham... you are an amazing city with an amazing capacity to LOVE artists & queers...

YR LAWS MUST CHANGE &
DUKE MUST TEACH MORE POETRY.

gay pride

there doesn't seem to be a dyke march in durham but... there is a lgbt pride parade, festival, and it begins tomorrow.

i guess they wait for all the students to be in town before they celebrate?

anyway...

if we wear "DUKE BLUE"

we can ride on their gay float.

shall we wear "DUKE BLUE" and ride on their gay float?

i think we are quite proud but are we true DUKE BLUE?

i don't know. i just don't know.

what i just read and decided to post because it made me think of Suzanne.

When a creative scientist, artist, or philosopher has been for some hours
or days intent on his work, his mind often takes on an almost physical character.
That is, his mind becomes his real body.

HD Notes on Thought and Vision

bad post about television.

o, i'm having a hard time writing & i have NO excuse. actually... maybe i do... our DOGS are awfully demanding creatures. but very cute.

maggie and i just discovered the sopranos. i know. i know.

& we are waiting for season 4 of the L word.

[i know. i know.]

i've been told that there is so much time in Durham one gets really involved with Television series.

which reminds me... the only real addiction we have [that we are current on] is CSI. and tomorrow we find out if Sara lives or dies. Sara is the only reason i started watching. she's extremely attractive and has a good personality. i won't have any reason to watch this show ever again if they kill her off. not just because she won't be on it, but also, i just don't think it would be a good show anymore.

o. this is bad. i just posted pure Television.

maybe i should start drinking...

spookyelectric

sent something like this to me and i can't help sending something like that to you.

reading OCTOBER 6th

OCTOBER 6TH 2007
7PM, READING 8PM SHARP!
811 WILKERSON AVE
DURHAM, NC

ASHLEY HOWE & BRIAN HOWE
Ashley Howe and Brian Howe are neither married nor siblings (as far as they know). It's just a freaky coincidence. They've been excercising their creativity together for over a year. Specifically for this event, the Howes are creating a multimedia presentation revolving around the spontaneous instant of creation -- a sort of placeholder for an ongoing work that is always in flux, which more faithfully represents the spirit of their collaboration than the finished artifact.

JESSICA SMITH
Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Jessica Smith received her B.A. summa cum laude in English and Comparative Literature and her M.A. in Comparative Literature from SUNY Buffalo, where she participated in the Poetics Program and started the poetry magazine name. She devotes her free time to Outside Voices and the D.C. poetry scene. Recent chapbooks include bird-book (House Press / Detumescence), The Plasticity of Poetry and Telling Time (No Press), and Shifting Landscapes (above/ground press). Her first book, Organic Furniture Cellar, is available from Outside Voices.

the last thing i typed that made maggie laugh, but not me.

incapable of avoidance
is when you aren't able
to avoid someone because
they don't live anywhere
near you don't write you
don't call don't even know
you and so there you go
you are incapable of avoidance
in that instance


when i said i didn't like texans
i meant the president


***

i'm reading

tribute to freud, HD and i'm in love with it. i carry it around as my bible.

i picked up erin moure's o cadoiro yesterday.

canadians really are too PERFECT. they are almost exquisite.

o, and the bookstore i was in had no HD and didn't know who *he* was.

***

anybody want to come and read at our house in December?

the last thing i wrote by hand

i don't now remember what we will then name our children.

two things before i take my vacation away from internet for a while

1 is...

i didn't really feel invisible before the L word. i just didn't understand why so many people had favorite TV shows.

2 is...

it is really really IMPORTANT and even CRUCIAL that you send submissions to minoramerican.subs@gmail.com... because if you send it to our other emails then it all gets confusing and we don't know if you sent it to all THREE of us or not... but if you send it to the subs one... we ALL get it and get to respond to you and say, hey, thanks for this friend! cheers! etc...

but if you don't do that... you might not hear from us and we might not know you sent us yr brilliance! and we'd be sad. for that.

okay. great. have a wonderful weekend. i'm going to try and avoid all things internet for a while.

i'm calling in sick to minor american blog.

maggie is sick, too.

the weather PERSON said it would be 90 tomorrow, but no. it is going to rain
and turn this place into a strange swamp.

i do see what i think are blue herons all the time now. just staring at me... maybe even glowering.

i need a new tattoo. i think it would make me feel better to have needles scraping my skin.

i've declared today, september 19th

take HD to work day

for those of you who failed to realize that such a proclamation would be made, here you go. thank you and happy HD 2 W Day.

well if you don't send it
i can't publish it

what do you expect me to do?

my first season change

i can't believe summer ended so abruptly.
maggie swears it is just how it works when you live somewhere with seasons.
i thought it was global warming. [or cooling, rather, because i'm FREEZING now & mourning summer.]

seeking submissions: minor/american 1.2

[stamp art by Matthew Arnone]

dear dears, please pass around! thanks a lot! xxoo, k & m.

elise ficarra & i [and sometimes maggie zurawski] edit a small, handmade, handsewn, no money-making journal of writings and we'd like for you to consider sending some work! issue 1.1 is sold out. issue 1.2 is themed...

the theme is : CITY or CITI.

we are especially fond of LONG poems... please send up to 15 pages of work [any genre] to
minoramerican.subs@gmail.com.

our submission period closes on 12/1/07. we are aiming for issue 1.2 to come out in feb 2008.

please keep in mind that we like to publish longer works, or a lot of pages per writer... this means that we will probably only have room for 10-15 writers per issue... this means that if we don't publish you it may just be a matter of space so please still love us anyway!

a much appreciated shout-out & announcement

over here at PhillySound.

minor americans heart CA Conrad!

ps

happy birthday logan! [did you quit smoking?]

our neighbor is a playwright and he just came by to drop off a piece of his homemade banana bread

here. i know yr writing. i'm writing, too. it will give you energy.



now. if i can just get used to the light and the ocean being in the wrong place... this place just might work out for me.

wacky ken pictures

wacky ken pictures
Originally uploaded by minor americans

mixtape 3 pics now up on flickr

o, i would completely understand if i

went mad
became an alcoholic
died in abject poverty

raleigh/durham craigslist 2

We Need Professional Poets
Reply to: job-421683101@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-09-13, 4:53PM

We are looking for amateur and professional poets for a free POETRY CONTEST. Email for more information please.


* Compensation: Per Poem
* Telecommuting is ok.
* This is a part-time job.
* This is a contract job.
* OK to highlight this job opening for persons with disabilities
* Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster.
* Please, no phone calls about this job!
* Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.

Original URL: http://raleigh.craigslist.org/wri/421683101.html

conrad makes our day

there is a great interview of CA Conrad over here . it will make you smile. it made me smile. it made maggie smile, too, she said so.

i love when judy j visits.
see comments.

i'm working something out.

reading, now, a list

solution passage poems 1978-1981 clark coolidge

H.D. collected poems 1912-1944

the cellar dreamer valerie coulton

black mountain martin duberman

let us now praise famous men james agee / walter evans

the HD book robert duncan [on hold, for now]

***

the last thing i wrote by hand.


a canal underground: a trump
forging like quelling
one should this only
a drink gumming him false

this word you are guessing
fixture here folded right

low crawl in the drawers
now slag

today is

NFL SUNDAY.

i'm so used to football starting right when i wake up because of PST! but here i am... waiting until 1pm for my football games to start. AND... maggie is playing soccer tonight so i am going to have to miss the Giants / Cowboys game tonight. but i will use this as an excuse to watch the Monday Night Football double-header.

also... going to the Bulls championship game on Tuesday night.

i guess that means i better write now.

durham suburbs

conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer church
conifer conifer church conifer conifer conifer conifer
conifer conifer conifer church conifer conifer conifer conifer
coventry conifer conifer church conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer
golf cart crossing golf cart crossing church
conifer conifer conifer church conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer
church conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer church
conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer
conifer church conifer conifer carolina conifer church conifer conifer conifer
conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer conifer church

we've been claimed as mid-atlantic now.

once when i was having a nervous breakdown in the back of my own car stacy doris turned around and said

this is the good thing about poets. no matter what you do, or what happens to you, you are always a poet.

the last thing i wrote by hand was this:

objects) are

i just saw the durham bulls hit back to back to back homeruns in the first inning tonight.

it was beautiful.

and we won.

Itinerant

dear Poets:

we are trying to raise airfare for our dear friend Sara [aka the Itinerant Poetry Librarian] to come to Durham in December and exist in our house for a week, before she goes back to Europe for way too long and we in the States miss her and her valise for much longer than we'd like. the plane ticket is 220.00.

i stole this from her blog:

The Itinerant Poetry Librarian travels the world with a library of ‘Lost and Forgotten’ poetry, installing the library & librarian and recording the sounds, poems and poetry of the cities, peoples and countries she meets. Welcome to the project's blog . . . Our Itinerant Poetry Librarian lives wherever her library is - come join the cause!
Where have we been . . . ? Amsterdam, Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Munich, Paris, Barcelona, London, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Norwich, York, Antwerp, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver . . . Where'd you like us to go? Get in touch!

you can read about sara

in seattle

and here is a google search


you can donate here:

DURHAM OR BUST
please write a little note telling her it is for durham!

we only need 220!

thanks folks!

Maria McKee - This Perfect Dress

i'm just in a maria mckee sort of way.

Check out this video: Wayfaring Stranger



Add to My Profile | More Videos

maria mckee tears it up on springsteen's song Backstreets. even maggie, we were both at the show in san francisco when she sang this... proclaimed it "way better than springsteen ever did it."

i've been in love with maria mckee since i was 12.

she nevers plays in north carolina but i was able to see her twice in sf and even meet her, thanks to maggie, on my birthday a couple of years ago.

she's amazing. and. well. very sexy.

i'm reluctant to blog over the clark coolidge post because i love his words more than mine right now.

however. i'm going to let you know that if there is any question in the world that i'd like to remove from all conversation... or maybe even just conversations with ME... it is : so, what do you do?

this, after, say 15 minutes of conversation with my wonderfully conversational PhD student and partner.

when i feel defensive i say: i write.

when i feel amused i say: i walk dogs.

lately i just feel annoyed by the question. so my answer, after a long pause, is: i work and i write.

this i am posting because i am willing to bet that there are other PhD candidate's partners in the world with the exact same *issue.*

to you young & single PhDers out there: DO NOT ASK THIS QUESTION.

if you must. DO IT BEFORE 5 MINUTES OF CONVERSATION RE : YOU AND THE UNIVERSITY has passed.

after that it is just annoying & comes off as *just being polite.*

and, honestly, after that... i'm not going to be very polite. i'm just going to be bored.


***

i post this because i CARE.

i post this because it seems to be a daily occurence.

lucky for me there is Lucipo & some Duke PhD's [and ers] that are also Poets.

thank you for listening.

reading clark coolidge

"How should I angle to stand you so you / constantly emit me?"

from

ONE OF THE QUITTER'S OBLIQUITIES

three years ago today magdalena and i hooked up.

now we have dogs that refuse to let us sleep in and celebrate properly.

married life.

last night

was a great night! thank you!

**

i think everyone should read what tony has been writing over at unquiet grave. that's where i'll be until i get stills from conrad & mary from last night.

thanks again!

one strange thing about this new homeland is the large number of senior citizens jailed/charged for selling drugs out of their homes. today, a 93 year old man.

the many things this can mean.

mostly, though, maybe durham is NOT the city to grow old in... since you might have to sell drugs to pay yr bills.

TONIGHT

minor american calendar

[we are excited so we are announcing TWO readings and calling it a calendar... we will try to have a once a month deal.]

AUGUST 25th, 2007
7pm, reading at 8, jamboree following
FREE [BYOB and BYOI]

CA CONRAD
will read! [and chat!]

MARY KALAYNA
will present the documentary
VENEZUELA: JOURNEY WITH THE REVOLUTION

SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
TBA

NOVEMBER 2nd, 2007
7PM, 8PM reading, jamboree after
[BYOB and BYOI]
FREE

KATE GREENSTREET
will read



CHRIS VITIELLO
TOO!


811 wilkerson ave
DURHAM,NC

EVERYONE! you have to see this!

Dottie has a new website, watch her read a poem from her new book AWE

Go to BIRD IN SNOW


--CAConrad

maggie & i just took percy & bear to Locopops and of course we got interviewed for a show on NPR.

and of course maggie & percy were the stars of the show.

[they have locopops for doggies and the heatwave has made our doggies VERY BORED.]

we'll let you know when the story will be airing. i bet they put a cute pic of poods licking his pop on the web. if they are smart... they WILL.

Is this what it means to be an academic in America?

Yesterday on my night stand was a copy of The Communist Manifesto right next to Suze Orman's The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke and The First-Time Homeowner's Handbook: A Complete Guide and Workbook for the First-time Home Buyer. I almost took a picture when I finally noticed the comic constellation. These are all books I recommend, by the way. I think, though, Orman's is probably the most useful for poets. She's a lesbo I hear.

Maggie

ron silliman found our dear Itinerant.

i've decided against visiting SF next month. too soon. too soon.

so.

you'll just have to come to durham.

especially you, Sara Wingate Gray.

i shit you not i just saw a spider that looked more like a crab just walk through my back door like he was invited.

i'm seriously considering flying out to SF next month for robin blaser. i'm not sure if i should. first off... maybe it is too soon for me to be in San Francisco again. it could make me feel even more homesick than i feel already. i like what ken rumble said to me... "you could be in Paris and still feel homesick." it isn't about Durham being "bad." it is about San Francisco being where i lived and where i always wanted to live growing up.

what i like about durham is i only work 5 hours a day. and i can spend the rest of my time writing... or... when we've actually finished setting up house i can spend the rest of my time writing. i actually prefer the high heat to the SF freezing ass summer. the music scene is awesome. people have time to spend... you can actually get things DONE here. there are a lot of super creative people and they all seem to crave the company of others so there is a community here that is up & ABLE to spending time doing what it is they really want to do. in SF i was tired ALL THE TIME. and sick. i worked my ass off and maybe would get out to one of the millions of events and then crash. maybe it was choice fatigue [and i said no a lot] but there is no choice fatigue here. not yet.

[there is heat fatigue.]

anyway, i was saying i might go see robin blaser in SF because i really would like to see him & my pals... i've never seen robin blaser read & i feel like i should take advantage of the opportunity. but then... there are so many places i haven't been on this side of the country... like DC, kaplan , how do we know what's going on there?

we'll see. i may not be ready to tease myself with SF right now. i may have to venture to Philly or New York instead.

it is really fucking hot here.

Ailanthus Webworm Moth!


thank you Erin Wilson.

maybe we will turn our porch light OFF at night now.

i don't know what this is

i don't know what this is
Originally uploaded by minor americans

please tell me what this is people:

TONIGHT

minor american calendar

[we are excited so we are announcing TWO readings and calling it a calendar... we will try to have a once a month deal.]

AUGUST 25th, 2007
7pm, reading at 8, jamboree following
FREE [BYOB and BYOI]

CA CONRAD
will read! [and chat!]

MARY KALAYNA
will present the documentary
VENEZUELA: JOURNEY WITH THE REVOLUTION

SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
TBA

NOVEMBER 2nd, 2007
7PM, 8PM reading, jamboree after
[BYOB and BYOI]
FREE

KATE GREENSTREET
will read



CHRIS VITIELLO
TOO!


811 wilkerson ave
DURHAM,NC

and let our house readings begin....

we are excited to announce....


Saturday, August 25th
at 7pm
READING AT 8!

Minor American HOUSE PARTY
(this is a BYOB) and bring yr own INSTRUMENT!!!


811 Wilkerson Avenue
Durham, North Carolina

CAConrad will read!!!!!!


Mary Kalayna will be showing the amazing short (TOO SHORT!) documentary VENEZUELA: JOURNEY WITH THE REVOLUTION http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/Strike/English2006/JourneyWithRevo.htm

EVENT IS FREE!
(books and dvds available for sale)

JAM ON THE PORCH AFTERWARDS!

hi.

i'm feeling too homesick to blog now-a-days.

maybe in a few weeks.

everyone here says : o, it will get better.

but.

they are all PhD students. so of course it gets better for them.

i should start a self help group. PoPhD: partners of PhDs.

home is where the heart is.

Click to Play

starring, not in order of appearance [probably]: suzanne stein, brandon brown, amy, stephanie young, taylor brady, tanya hollis, jocelyn saidenberg, kelly holt, elise ficarra, the Itinerant Poetry Library [or, Sara WIngate Grey], bisquit, polly jean, buster, percy, bear, michael nicoloff, david buuck, rob halpern, alli warren, judith jordan, cynthia sailers.... with the off-camera voices of magdalena zurawski and kate pringle.

message from SF

Dear All,

TAXT is pleased to announce Michael Nicoloff’s “PUNKS”

As ever: 24pgs!
Hot-pink cover, chartreuse double cover, green-apple staples, white guts

forward, post, repost as you see fit.

xo
from TAXT
& SS

*****

IT IS FREE. AND IT IS AWESOME. get yrs from TAXT.

***

umn. i don't have anything to say really. it is hot.
i guess i'll just post another film.

xo
k

maggie's first birthday in North Carolina

A common sight
Originally uploaded by Ken Rumble

again, stolen from ken rumble!
[i forgot my camera. can you believe it?]

thanks ken!

if i were in california.

i would go to this:

Apogee Press Book Party

Valerie Coulton – The Cellar Dreamer

Paul Hoover – Edge and Fold
Elizabeth Robinson – Apostrophe
Diesel Books
5433 College Avenue, Oakland
Sunday, July 22, 3 p.m. - 5 p.m.


***

TODAY IS MAGGIE'S BIRTHDAY! YAY!!

texas 1.

Click to Play