Jan Beatty is my new favorite super hero poet

and so I'm excited to go hear her read tomorrow! And since I have never been to Small's in my New York life, it's a double bonus!!!

Smalls Reading Series is proud to announce the lineup for our May 31st Reading:

Jan Beatty (RED SUGAR, U of Pittsburgh Press, 2008; BONESHAKER, U of Pittsburgh Press, 2002)

+Gerry LaFemina (THE PARAKEETS OF BROOKLYN, Bordighera Press, 2005; THE WINDOW FACING WINTER, New Issues Poetry and Prose, 2004)

+Open reading featuring a host of fine NYC poets.+A little music+Your Hosts, George Guida, Lee Kostrinsky and Christine Timm

Come be part of a special evening.
Saturday, May 31st, 5 p. m.
Smalls Jazz Club
183 West 10th Street
Manhattan
For further information
visit www.smallsjazzclub.com

YAY!

the new bed and walls!

Moving Grace

I'm grateful for being moved in to the new place, after a long day of moving (sigh)

New blue walls and Martha Stewart bedding

and Dages and Basya, for an amazing rehearsal tonight

and Colson's spicy chocolate tart as a before rehearsal treat!

Memorial Gratitude

I'm grateful for my subway reading: Jane Austen's Emma and Jeanette Walls' The Glass Castle, which I can't put down---

for SB's visit and late night tea and bourbon

for ASD and JD for stopping in to the Silverleaf (I'm wondering if I watched too many episodes of Cheers!) Had a great discussion with some gals who came into the bar about using their first name when I return their credit cards---who wants to be Ms. So and So when you're tossing back martinis? Albeit, it's a Swanky Cheers when I'm behind the bar :)

and Heidi at Whistle who knows how to make me feel pretty!

Non Committed

I've been falling behind with my gratitude. Perhaps it's hard to stick to gratitude or hard for me to just keep a routine going. Here's what brings me joy:

The JC Penny Towel, thanks to Michal for introducing me to them!

Behr Spring Rain---the color of my new room (painting this weekend)

the washer and dryer (filled with laundry right now)

Amanda and FD for a well needed get away last weekend

DP for driving down to be a part of it

My family, for so many things, esp. Uncle Scott's chocolate chip pancakes and their support of my literary happenings

Sarah and her mom for driving down for the reading

Annie for always being there to listen or email me info when I misplace what I shouldn't misplace

my mom for emailing me positive, insightful and often original quotes

~

My online semester has started and so I'm full of students' writing and remembering when I began, how exciting and scary to begin to take stock of your life and what matters most to you and then to write it down, and gasp, share it with the world, or at least a smaller version of it. I'm grateful for them right now too.

Gratitude in the Heartland

It's always good to go home, though I'm on the other side of the state. The yoga/reading BG benefit was so much more than I imagined. I was really touched by Cathy who lost her daughter a year ago because of domestic violence---one week after her loss, she started Alicia's Voice. Her strength is an inspiration.

Perhaps it was one of the reasons I was able to do my first headstand in yoga class without the wall! There I was, holding myself upside down in the middle of the room and for the first time I wasn't afraid of falling.

Amanda and FD have been fabulous hosts---from vegetarian tortilla casserole for dinner on friday, my amazing super soft bed, flowers for my hair, and of course the rock star Bleu! We're about to head out to Revolver for an amazing dinner...

monday :(

i'm not feeling so hot or gracious today. it's rainy and i'm a little sad about all the changes...i know they're exciting and will be good for me, but today, these were a struggle:

franny's pizza
susan and fritz in town
annie's cheery email

saturday's three joys and today's

cristina at work setting up the bar so i could have more time at macy's and dinner with mom

rhonda in the bedding dept at macy's

mom in town

~

carla's yoga class this am

going to see made of honor

chickpea pasta dinner plans

Celebratory List

Pilates at noon

Homemade veggie nachos with Amanda

my reading tonight at the Lucky Cat

(this is something I'm working on---to find 3 things to celebrate each day) so look for small snippets of gratitude blogging this month)

Blue

always makes me happy and it's around this time of year that I always end up with blue toe nails---tonight they're the color of the sky.

When I got home, found a letter from my father with a clipping from the Cleveland Plain Dealer---an article about Maj Ragain:

some lines from Daniel Thompson, a Cleveland poet, writing about Maj Ragain:

The heart unfolding
like a bird on the wing
asks of heaven
only for a mouth to sing

reminds me of Nancy singing Nigguns at Drisha during our artists' lunch. And in speaking of poems and songs, you'll find me in Vilna with Alicia Ostriker and Jehanne Dubrow. And as Maj always taught, gratitude can come as the honest and bastardly prophet. And on Friday, you'll find me in Williamsburg for a reading...

I'm grateful for all of this...

Confirmation

As I've been struggling with what really matters in my life and what is it that I want to do and be the most, this article confirms the work that has chosen me. Joanna brings to the surface what many of us want to bury.

You can read the entire series Beyond Rape in The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

There is too much to say and too much not said and for now, it is someone else's words that sing.