Sunday, September 30, 2007

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.

Friday, September 28, 2007

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.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

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

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

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.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

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?

Monday, September 24, 2007

the last thing i wrote by hand

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

Saturday, September 22, 2007

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.

Thursday, September 20, 2007


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.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

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.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

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

what do you expect me to do?

Monday, September 17, 2007

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!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

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

Saturday, September 15, 2007

o, i would completely understand if i

went mad
became an alcoholic
died in abject poverty

Friday, September 14, 2007

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

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

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.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

i love when judy j visits.
see comments.
i'm working something out.

Monday, September 10, 2007

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

Sunday, September 09, 2007

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.


Saturday, September 08, 2007

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

Friday, September 07, 2007

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

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

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!

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

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.