Can you really reschedule life?

Life is happening. I woke up this morning and rescheduled the air conditioner repair guy to come on Friday so I can go to yoga today (though my favorite teacher who tells us not to have J-Lo booty is off today and tomorrow). Then I had one of my cousin's fabulous caramel brownies for breakfast (you only live once) which were left over from the great big family dinner on Saturday. Mom was here and all the cousins. It was really wonderful to have so much family over---Mom and I didn't really do all that much, just hung out in Dupont. We managed to get to Larry's twice for ice cream and had fondue at the Melting Pot. You can see why I need to go to yoga so much---all that dessert.

Last night I picked up a shift at the bar b/c the two regulars on Tuesday were ill (One tore his ACL which I kept calling ACLU until Jonathan made a funny joke about that). Also another friend has ulcer problems. We're all so worried and run around, we forget how valuable our health is and how important it is to take care of ourselves and each other. Mom swears by oil of oregano and astralagus. It used to be echinacea. I just wanted the morning/early afternoon to myself since I'll be at Rouge 5 days this week. It all started with Burlesque last night so make sure you check the photos to see what you missed. Last night you missed hanging with the Fudrucker's management team (they'll be in tonight again), and some nice Jewish boys (at least one of which will be back tomorrow). Who knows what will happen today. As I've learned from yoga, you just have to breathe into it and be in the moment.

Oh, it will be Memorable All Right!

http://burlesquepoetryhour.blogspot.com/

Oh Joy

Today in yoga, the instructor told us to curve our pinkies in Utkatasana (you're standing but bending your knees and trying to sit in a chair---it's challenging) and then she told us to turn the corners of our mouths up---reminding us to find joy in that which is challenging. Just a simple smile and it actually felt better...

I'm hoping it won't rain tonight because Jonathan and I are going to Shakespeare in the Park but even if we get a little wet, I'll try that fab yoga move and viola, to be or not to be in the rain eh? (Though we've decided to picnic at Russia House tonight as it has already started thundering so the question is now, will the show even go on).

After yoga I bought some beer, Rolling Rock and Yeungling for Jules. Also found a new recipe for tomorrow's dinner with the cousins.

So we'll have two varieties of chicken with apricots, field greens salad with bleu cheese and pears, and german potato salad.

The Debauchery Has Begun!

As if there wasn't enough debauchery in my life already (who knew a bachlorette party that began with painting pottery would have me hugging the potty later on that night), you definitely want to spend Memorial Day with Gilda and Lolita as the Boys Gone Wild tantilize and tease you. And yes, Lolita will be tending the bar so I'll really be the hostess with the most-est!

from the Bartender Diaries

People will tell you anything. Most times you don't have to ask. I remember people's drinks, not their names. Perhaps that's part of the job. You have to always keep them on their toes, let them know you're the boss. It helps to have boobs too, but really that doesn't matter (of course it does) but as long as you find what makes you sexy and in charge, you'll do alright for yourself. It also helps to be quirky and friendly. Notice friendly, not flirty--it's more genuine. In a matter of three days I got countless business cards, invites upstairs, and inquiries about where to get blow. I think I also fixed a relationship, or at least helped it along, but we bartenders know discretion is important. You are a master of mystery, the ring master of all things sultry, the gatekeeper of the city, and the hand that pours their misery.

Singing Praises to Gilda, Faye, Jesus, and hair color

Yesterday I found the only Farouk Systems salon in the DC area---in Sterling, VA and the hour drive was worth it. What was really interesting is that while they can make your hair any color you chose (i.e. purple, which I didn't do) you listen to the Jesus rock station. Perhaps when my hip preacher friend comes to visit we will sing praises while our hair turns pink.

After that, lunch with Reb---this woman is on fire. Starting her own press---she's got one of the best taste's for poetry and take out. Anyone who she publishes will be taken care of. But that's what happens when you're a sassy gal from the rustbelt. You understand how things should be. Rock on Gilda, sings Lolita playing the bass to your sultry song!

I'm amid reading student portfolios and kvelling---so much progress and these books are so meaningful. I hope I'm half the woman Faye Moskowitz is. Last night at the faculty dinner I realized how lucky I am to know her and to have her as my adopted grandmother here in DC. And how lucky I am to be teaching at GW---where I have the best colleagues, especially Mary Sherman Willis and Tammy Stuart Greenwood. I had so much apprehension about being the youngest person on faculty but they made me realize, we're all just professors who have lives and care about shoes. I know I'm making light of everything, but really, I'm honored to be in their circles. It's not often that we can find people who are so wonderful in the workplace, let alone our lives. So all this week, cheers to everyone...come in and see me at Rouge (Tuesday through Thursday) and I may toast to you too!

Don't Peck or Pee on my Poetry Please

Save the date---Monday, October 16th at 7 p.m.---I'll be reading from the steam sequence at Mac's Backs on Coventry (that's Cleveland, Ohio!!).

Jonathan is emailing the info to himself right now and you should too! That's him in the car working. The rooster wasn't too happy about it--but once I explained to him that lawyers are very busy people, he came around. "What a pisser!" said the rooster. I had to agree.

The Lobster Muses

This is beauty pageant Ramona style: the world's sexiest vegetarian.
http://www.peta2.com/OUTTHERE/o-sexyveg06.asp?c=p2sv92

Been typing up and revising some Ramona poems as this got me thinking more about her.

Today I dropped off more short story drafts and in my mailbox I found a card from a student from last semester. I had written her recommendation letters for an internship at the Holocaust Museum this summer and her study abroad in the fall. She got both!! There's a great quote on the front of the thank you note--"A book is like a garden carried in the pocket." It makes me think that I'm really planting some roots here, city-style though. Also funny because I noticed a single sprout growing out from the bricks on the sidewalk outside my door. How the small things begin to take root.

And speaking of things taking root, make sure to check out the new issue of Beltway Quarterly, poems in response to the Iraqi War: http://washingtonart.com/beltway/contents.html. Hopefully some good has been planted.

Red Hot

Despite my application of sunscreen (SPF 30) twice daily, I am still lobster-esque, just like my red place of employment:

http://theliquidmuse.blogspot.com/2006/05/red-hot-rouge-intimate-red-velvet.html

I'll post pictures from Key Largo when I cool off a bit :)

Last Night's Surreal Dinner Party

Somehow last night I ended up at dinner with Charles Simic and the Serbian Ambassador, though not at their table. But Simic did come over and tell us about his famous cat that is the subject of his children's books, but they're not available in English b/c the illustrations of the wife don't fit the American standard of what an illustrated wife should look like. My wonderful office mate was really the one responsible for this fabulous night as she's on the board for the Folger(where I was tongue tied and in awe), though she did make me tell Simic about Burlesque Poetry Hour and how poets take it off...he didn't seem too keen on making an appearance, but he did raise his eyebrows :).

MSW (my office mate) is one of the most gracious and wonderful people here in DC, and no, not saying that b/c she let me tag along. She's just a good welcoming soul who can talk to anyone about anything and I really admire that. In a way, she reminds me of Maj...

I also got to meet another woman who submitted poems to the Deep Cleveland anthology and it turns out she's from Cleveland. Yes, someone to cheer on the Indians and Browns with! We got to play the way back game to being 16 and hanging out at Coffee and Creations and Arabica (freeka, geeka, and sheeka).

It was one of those nights that I normally term NY nights b/c of how far you seem to drift from where you began. I thought I was going to a reading and then going back home...then DC decided to be surreal. Perhaps it has something to do with the Dada exhibit at the National Gallery, which reminds me I have to check that out soon.

And if it couldn't get any weirder, I come home to find and email from a music student in California who has set my poem "The Story" to music...

Prom and Poetry Update

Our bathtub was amazing, on the 23rd floor looking out at Manhattan, thinking about the night on the town...we were at the Kimberly Hotel which is quite near the Buttercup Bakery...mmm, cupcakes in bed for breakfast!
Do we look old enough to be at the Prom?
the DRESS!!!!
another shot of the dress...hmm, i have more shots of the dress than jonathan...what does that say about our relationship???


POETRY

Today I just found out that one of my poems will be in the Outside Voices Anthology which comes out in 2008 I think. It's huge, like 475 poets. I'm always fascinated by how many people are writing and doing new things (so to speak) and how these communities of ours form. How much of it is by the so called evil networking, which I like to refer to as finding new friends, you know, like discovering new restaurants or something. I often wonder what brings us together. Obviously now the internet and wow, look what technology has done for the literary community. In general I think the internet is a great tool for literacy. So here's the site: http://poetry2008.blogspot.com/

Come, be my book fellow. But wow, look at what we are all doing. All of these dreams of doing meaningful things. That's how I feel about my anthology, (still deep in permissions) but planting the seeds and waiting for that thing to bloom.

The King and Queen of the Prom!!!

The royal blog of text will follow later on this week...

The Latest Burlesque Hype

Last Monday's Burlesque can be viewed here.

And check out May's issue of The Washingtonian. Turn to page 82 and you'll find a very pretty photo of Gina Myers reading at last month's Burlesque.

It was worth it

to wait in line for free Ben and Jerry's today. They have a new banana flavor. I'm surprised Ramona hasn't gone for ice cream yet. I really need to get back to her and back to the museum sequence. Over the weekend I went to the Hokusai exhibit and feel a poem coming on about a woman thrown in a well for breaking a favorite dish.

Spent the rest of the afternoon outside in the Circle reading my student's fiction. Reb sent me some job postings at the NEA but I like being able to play outside. Such is the life of a bartender. You really feel like you are getting away with something not working during the day. And yes, this is totally worth it. I feel like a kid sometimes and speaking of that, the big news is one of my friends is pregnant (with her second child). Wow, it seems like only yesterday we were running around the flats in tank tops in the winter and dancing up a storm. And I see my students and think am I really that much older? And I think of Suzy beginning her family and think of how far we've journeyed from there, though getting back together for Annie's bachlorette party will no doubt bring us around to the circle again reminding us that girls are girls no matter what loops they chose to follow. And I know that no matter which paths we take, we will circle round with each other.

On a Rainy Day looking for a cheap bathtub

A rainy Saturday morning has me inside. I'm still thinking about the aesthetics of the book. Not sure if I really want a Bonnard painting on the front or a photograph or just a blank cover. I'd publish it here but all the permissions and whatnot have got me scared of the red tape, but you can google Bonnard and bathtub and get an idea of what I'm considering. So I'm online looking for other possibilities as permissions are expensive. At any rate, the announcement is up so check it out: http://www.wwph.org/news.html#winners

I find it funny that as I'm struggling with this whole idea of presentation, I have assigned that to my students---to publish so to speak their final portfolio and make something. I think these decisions are important and now I really know as I'm going through this. However, I am lucky in the fact that I get to be a part of this process---many authors don't, so I know I should count my blessings even if they complicate things.

This week's Buzz

I can't really say that much has been going on, except that spring is here. I know that because people are out on the streets now and outside and not at the Rouge. The other day I watched the large bees (I forget what they're called) hover into the roof of the yoga studio. I really like the image of hovering and burrowing. Not sure how I will use it but something felt really good about it, like it was soft, like the bees. I wanted to see them closer. I don't think they sting.

My fancy knives came from Crate and Barrel and tonight I'll use them as I cook my haricot verts for Jonathan. We've been mispronoucing that all week. Leave it to Whole Foods to provoke a week long entertainment. They also have apricot ginger creamcheese which has now yuppified me. Yep, Ramona's got the fancy pants!

Also check out Burlesque on Monday and get your buzz on with these queen bees of poetry: Anna Ziegler, Amy King, and Lauren Bender. Click here for more information.

Connecting to Buddha

I'm currently connected to Buddha, which is what I named my Wireless Network. Yes, I'm serious. I think it will really be the only way that I will actually connect with Buddha on a daily basis. I'm also thinking about a cat, and I'm thinking of naming it something like Moshe, or after some poet that strikes me. Though cat won't come until I do more home stuff for me, like painting and hanging things as cats would complicate all of that.

Jonathan brought me flowers during my office hours and one of my students came by to chat about writing and life. Office hours were finally more than me just grading and surfing the net. I wore these really uncomfortable shoes and had to take a cab home which sucked b/c I walked to work in the rain and then rode home when it was sunny. Alas, I changed into better shoes and walked over to the J for the reading of Passover poems. This is the new breezy me, I realized my limitations and accepted my body for what it was and then figured out how to accomodate the posture. Yoga speak is good speak.

Though I teach with Jane Shore and Faye Moskowitz, I never really got to hear either one of them read and it made me appreciate both of them even more. Such tenderness and humor (I'm talking about their work as well as them as individuals. I loved Faye's story about eating Milky Ways on Passover and Jane's "Shit Soup" poem. And then Carolivia Herron and Josh Weiner---two writers living so close to me that I never read. It was a reading with such grace and spirit, reminded me of Wick readings in a way, when the people are as good as the work and the work is as good as the people and everyone is there for the right reasons.

And then my friend Sandra came and told me that someone very wonderful got the Pulitzer. And that reaffirmed everything for some reason and I felt good and I think she felt good and then she left and I took a bath and now I'm connecting to Buddha so I can write this stream of blog, when I have so much to say and none of it comes out exactly right. Perhaps that is the Buddha, just letting me ramble, trusting that it is good or that there is goodness. And my friend Anna is going to read for us in Burlesque and Harriet emailed me about the anthology that we had talked about over the summer in Philly (yes, a new project) and I'm realizing that there are so many connections that I'm making but not like networking in the evil sense when it's out for self promotion but when you really want to connect because you realize it's the connection that matters, not the outcome. Nameste to you and your wireless.

In My Shoes

Not having my internet at home has at first been causing much anguish but has also removed some stress and compulsive behavior on my part. Now I can't check email like 20 bazillion times and google myself and look for hot shoes online, or rather pictures of hot shoes that I bought so you all who don't live close by can get a glimpse of my tootsies, or rather what's on my tootsies. (By the way, today I'm wearing the new Mary Jane red Campers). I'm walking in the shoes of a girl no longer chained to incoming messages and enjoying the freedom from technology, It's funny, these advances, meant to enrich our lives also come with a cost--it's hard to imagine dealing without these things. Cell phones, email. Think about all the people who walk around on their phones all the time, think of all the things they miss while walking. I wonder if technology makes us more self absorbed? I like the way this fits, though email comes next tuesday--or perhaps, I'm still battling the evil Verizon monopoly and their bureaucracy but that's another rant, neither worth my time or yours. I'll leave that battle to my corporate lawyer boyfriend. He can fight the good fight for fair use of pole attachments and anti-corporate mergers and free cable lines and whatnot.

In class we're talking about perspectives, how something changes from first to third person, what details filter in and who gets to be the one with the voice in our stories. So often we only focus on our own and our needs. So I'm going to more yoga and trying to see the greater schema of life, and of not focusing on the smaller things like Verizon and my shoes (the latter being much more challenging). We're also talking about setting and how the places we encounter change us.
From a simple car or metro ride to a trip abroad, to room in our homes, or the local cafe all become part of our world, how our surroundings are a tapestry and if we pay attention to the things these places and these moments tell us, we begin to understand things that are universal, that transcend our locality, essentially what it means to be human. Sans email, sans cell phone. Try it and see what is there, the things you miss when you remove the protective guise of technology and become more in tune with what is.

Home Sweet Home

So, I just moved into my new apartment--has a washer/dryer and is more than one room! Tonight my good friend Janeil is coming over so I get to test my new oven out. The chicken is marinating in my new fridge and yesterday I stocked up on groceries so I get get back to feeding Ramona properly. I don't have internet hooked up so I apologize for my irregularity. Tonight's menu includes:

Rosemary balsamic chicken
bruchetta with heirloom tomatoes
salad of field greens

I'm so sick of pizza and eating out. The apartment is scented with fresh basil and hyacinth that Ramona stole from Whole Foods. We're still bad asses!

Last Night's Burlesque

For those of you not there, here's a peep show:

http://burlesquepoetryhour.blogspot.com/2006/03/dustin-shafer-henry-and-gina-take-it.html