Detroit Rock City!!

is one of my favorite places to read. James and Kim have an amazing home in the Zeitgeist gallery and a great group of friends who came out for dinner before the reading and drinks afterwards. Chris who is teaching my book (yesterday was my day on the syllabus) what a coincidence, brought some of her students. It was a lovely turnout and the first time I read in a place I wasn't familiar with in a community that I didn't know---but now, I feel very connected here. I think it was the CVS bag o'cash they presented me with---a whole different thing than passing the hat! And we had a coin toss to see who read first. I picked tails and won, so I read first---I actually like that so I can pay attention to the other readers and I'm glad I did. Robert Fanning has an amazing series of poems about America's next prophet--some haunting images of bloody birds becoming men. And all the while, I'm staring into the face of a dead moose on the wall!?

And Woodford is only $6.50! My kind of town :)

Poetry in the Present Tense

I knew it was going to be a great night with Reb on Tuesday when we got to harass a famous poet in a pizza parlor! She was a rockstar on the panel and it was nice to get out of my normal night routine of Drisha then yoga class (ha ha, went to yoga in the morning).

You'll find me here, because I said so!

What Has Been Repeated Lately

Coming off of a week of stomach flu!!! Puke count: double digits---more than my age!!! (and that was in one day).

So today was the first day since Tuesday I was able to keep down solid food. Turns out, I like homemade Ramen---made a veggie broth and added my own noodles. Ate that three times today! And two popsicles, love em!!! Then had a baked red skin potato with salt and pepper only and the tester, some spinach with lemon. So far, holding down the fort.

Enough to venture out to my Thai massage workshop at Jaya. It was wonderful. I'm relaxed and I love learning about the body and the way we move. I'm definitely thinking this will be something I will keep learning about.

And now for the most fun in repetition. My friend Rachael always calls me out for the avacados that turn up in my poems---it's funny she remembered that from grad school and called me out on it at a reading a few weeks ago. It seems so embedded now that I don't even notice that they slip in. Maybe I just like the sound or the taste of them too much. Or maybe it's the pit or the images it conjures. Apparently, for me, it's a lot. Then, I was showing Bruce some poems and he pointed out that mantles/fireplaces, melting, and breasts came up in two poems out of ten. And now, thinking about my own work, I also know I like winter, radiator, lace, anything having to do with memory and the combination of that which.

Anyone else have any thoughts about this? I feel like there should be some poem interpretation going on. Reb, where's my online quiz to tell me about this???

Why I Love Carla at Jaya

All Levels Benefit Class taught by Carla Stangenberg
Saturday March 29th from 2-3:30 pm

To help us celebrate Women’s History Month, please join us for a yoga class to benefit The New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault (NYSCASA). Practicing with you will be Carly Sachs, a local Jaya yogi and published poet, whose anthology, the why and later, an anthology of poems about rape and sexual assault was recently released by Deep Cleveland press. The book will also be for sale for the month of March, along with hip t-shirts and proceeds from these items will also be donated to NYSCASA. None of the profit from these items or the class goes to Jaya Yoga Center.

Suggested donation $15

If you cannot attend the class but would like to make a donation, you can do so at the front desk. RSVP namaste@jayayogacenter.com

The Reprise!

Yep, a modification of the first celebration (I didn't abandon the bourbon, just drank it at home.)My father buys Maker's Mark in the supersize bottle!). My dad and stepmom and I all have birthdays within a few weeks of each other, so every year we gather to celebrate. These are photos from our last Saturday morning trip to the West Side Market. It's too bad I was only window shopping. I love the vegetable aisles and the booth that sells over 100 kinds of pirogies! And I'm always a sucker for cupcakes and dill pickles. However, Grandma Frieda is no match for Sugar Sweet Sunshine---though I remember a cupcake shop in Hudson, Ohio that could be a worthy competitor.






I got some good inspiration for Ramona---saw the produce boxes outside that read: Andy Boy Broccoli and Head Man Cabbage. I'm still chuckling :) And here's one of her latest favorite recipes!





Sweet/Sour Broccoli Salad



Broccoli florets
Green Onion
Green/Red seedless grapes
Sugar/Splenda
Red tip lettuce
slivered almonds
red wine vinegar
soy sauce
olive oil






Combine the broccoli, green onion, grapes and torn lettuce in a bowl and set aside Saute or oven crisp the almonds Whisk together the vinegar, sugar, soy and olive oil Pour over the broccoli mixture and add the almonds. Toss to fully coat and refrigerate...preferably from 4-6 hours.

~

And some shout outs:

Susan Cronin and Octopus! I love the scratch outs in the poem---the idea of seeing a process---of being able through language to engage us in a way that shows more vulnerability.






Matthew Thornburn for his fellowship. What a guy---such a talented poet and all around good guy!

New York Driver

Well, it's official---it's a new era---sans Ohio license! I'm feeling a little naked. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing :)

Yes, We Did Drink All This Bourbon!

and I'm still able to type up a blog post!!! Of course my personal favorite was the one labeled as "Hazmat" due to the high alcohol content which prevents you from putting this in your flask on commercial flights---anyone dare me to try? Hats off to you Mr. Stagg!!!

Lucky

What's cooler than the jukebox at Commonweath, Sugar Sweet Sunshine, Ladybird, Woodford Reserve, and Jack Daniels and hot apple cider?

My friends and family!! This was the best birthday ever!!! I woke up quite sober (only had 3 drinks last night) and ready for yoga (at noon) and Russ's Bourbon Tasting (after that). Talk about Namaste and Nirvana!!!

Some highlights include, being sung happy birthday and getting to take bites out of everyone's cupcakes so I could try them all. I think Sugar Sweet Sunshine is the winner though...

Having the guy across the bar buy drinks for Brooke and I and send them over via the bartender. So 40's classic. He chatted for a minute with me by the jukebox and told me I was beautiful and then let me be with my friends. I've never been hit on in such a gentlemanly way. And I didn't have to shut him down or try and get out of it.

Meeting some random hipster dudes who are starting a magazine and having them think I was an MFA student!!!

And having the promise of Amy bringing a super famous and fabulous poet that I adore to The Silverleaf sometime in the next few weeks. I'll be able to write a poem called, making a martini for_____ or _____ likes his bourbon on the rocks!

but really, just chatting it up with the people I care about. I actually felt like I got to have good conversations with everyone. If this is any indication about the year to come, I'm the luckiest gal in Brooklyn.

Birthday Thoughts

Lately, I've been thinking about community and the ways in which we identify ourselves. I've also been thinking about who I am and what I want---in this moment, and what I think I will want for the future. I was making myself crazy working on this---I do miss Ohio and I know that will surprise a lot of folks if I end up back home next year. Myself included.

I haven't been the most active or observant person lately---even though I'm around them all the time at Drisha and I shy away from group Shabbats. But there is something that pulls me about Judaism. On Sunday I met Chana Rothman---who I like to call the Jewish Ani DiFranco! I'm still not sure how my religion and my art share a space in my heart, but they do---maybe in the way we articulated in our artists' class while talking about Ramban---how the body and the soul luckily work to find a synergy, but often struggle to work with one another. So even though I'm not sure how I feel about committing whole heartedly, I had to apply for that fellowship. I've been reading Patricia Weaver Francisco's memoir, Telling, and in one chapter she talks about how a rape will change your perspective about G-d and goodness. It sounds obvious, but that never occurred to me. I'm wondering how that's manifested itself in my life.

I'm also thinking about staying in New York and staying on part time at Drisha or at least to be here to collaborate with Dages and Basya. To accomplish this end, I'm back to more of a regular bar schedule as of the end of the month. I think this will mean cutting back on some classes to find a balance, but it's needed. I don't like not having a regular, steady income. I'm trying to figure out how to be the woman I am and the woman I want to be. After all, I'm 29 today!!!

Anyone up for a not so lazy Sunday

Feb. 10th
8:00 p.m. Reading at The Parkside Lounge.
New York City.
With Singer, Chana Rothman (http://www.myspace.com/chanarothman)
and a few of my fellow Drisha fellows: Amy Gottleib, Eve Grubin, and Sarah Heller.

And another reason why I love New York---was able to buy all necessary items to make an ice cream sundae tonight on the way home from the movies! Stopped at two bodegas b/c one didn't have the whipped cream :)

Why and Later panel update

The panel exceeded my expectations. The room was emotionally warm, receptive, curious, and many writer friends came out to support the work I'm doing. It's strange, now knowing that this book is out there. More so than my first book, my own book. Because this one is much more personal. And has the potential to make many more waves, or at least waves in a different way. I'm bowled over. I sold 23 books and was able to make connections with so many people---women who work for crisis centers, poets who want to plan readings, and just allies in every way possible. I knew this would change me, but I didn't know what this change would feel like. I'm trying to move with it and see where it takes me. I'm grateful to my panelists for their wonderful dialogue. We did try to tape it so here's hoping it worked! I'm almost out of the first batch of t-shirts and more are on their way! I've been trying to read up more and do more yoga as a way of processing it all. There's so much to say, but when I come to the page or the screen, I can't seem to get it down.

More to come...of course, it always does...

AWP Panel with Cupcakes on Top

Just found out a friend of mine is also staying with Uncle Kimpton for the AWP opening! We'll be swirling our fancy drinks a few blocks down wind of all the hubub that night! I'm really excited---picked up the flyers for all the why and later business and on my way to Kinkos, I found an old friend on the Upper West Side! Good ol' Magnolia in a new location. How's that for kosher vittles? And how come I'm not a cupcake blogger?

~

Friday, Feb. 1
12:00-1:15
New York Suite
Hilton, 4th Floor
F146. Speaking Through Silence: Women Respond to Rape and Assault.
(Carly Sachs, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Molly Fisk, Linda McCarriston, and Harriet Levin)

Too often, rape and assault silences women, making them afraid to trust, afraid of their own bodies, afraid to name what has happened and what continues to happen. In a way, the writing of these poems becomes a way of healing. However, this can often be a challenging process---turning personal trauma into art. In this panel, female poets will discuss their poems from the anthology, the why and later. The panelists will speak to the process of writing these difficult poems, publishing these poems, and how they view their role as a writer writing about rape and sexual assault.

Fiction, for the very first time!

I'm grateful to Richard Peabody for including me in Gravity Dancers, the 4th collection of fiction by Washington Area Women. I don't know what story it will be yet, but this is my first actual story publication! The F. Scott prize was great, the first recognition for fiction, but this time, a story will actually see the light of the page! Coincidentally, Richard was the judge for that contest and so perhaps that's how he found out about my not so secret anymore fiction writing...

I'm in that lovely awkward uncomfortable place where I pinch myself and say, is this really happening?! And I'm nervous, what will people think of this once it's out...I feel much more comfortable with my poetry, but as we all know, growing and change is not supposed to always feel "good," "easy," or even "right." So here goes. Richard has a great interview on WETA---I really like what he says about blending traditional fiction with experiemental, and finding a community and bringing people together through writing. I've been very lucky to have found one in DC with Reb and Sandra, Moira, and Michelle---similar introductions through being published in the same places or hanging out at the same readings. In a way, Richard reminds me of Maj, someone who plants himself down in one place and helps others to cultivate the land. Now, if only I could decide where I want my roots to go...

Whine, Wine!!!

Alas, even though I memorized, I didn't come home with the big prize. Ended up with 2 bottles of wine from the raffle! And ended up having a great night. The winner was the girl who had the most friends there to vote for her. But isn't that how the world works sometimes?

You can be the person who works the hardest, and still lose to someone who has connections. And this teaches to love your friends and family, because that will get you the farthest in life. Weird how nepotism and love dance together :) And it's all about trying new things and not worrying about the outcome of them.

I was shaking in my boots to actually perform vs. read. But it felt good...I don't know if this is the beginning of a slam career (probably not) but it was fun and sometimes, that's reason enough for me. J and I had a great conversation over dinner, how as you get older, you don't do things just for the sake of them anymore. Things have consequences and problems and outcomes...so, we'll drink those bottles and toast simply to joy (and maybe poems about tampons too!).

I Must Be Crazy

Because I am going to be one of the 15 in this:

POETRY SMACK DOWN 2008
A competition to benefit the world premier of Cherubina by Paul Cohen at the Sanford Meisner Theatre in Feb 2008.

When: Monday Jan 21st (8-10pm)
Where: Bowery Poetry Club
How Much: $20

What you get: An evening of knock-down drag out poetry competition. Fifteen poets will compete in front of a live audience to win a brand new iPhone. Comedian Jimmy Owens will MC the evening as poets fight to convince you that they deserve the Apple! Musical stylings by the Ransome Brothers. Door prizes and more!!!

How do I get in? To reserve a ticket to the poetry event of 2008, e-mail your name and number of tickets to cherubinatheplay@gmail.com

Where's Your Poet/Bartender?

I'm over here today!

New Look for 2008

So, by now you've noticed the new look to the blog---the blue and the fun additions of "buy the books" and "upcoming readings/events." And there's more to come! Pretty soon you'll be able to get your hands on your own "why and later" t! $10 from every shirt sold (I'm going to be selling them for $20) will be going back to rape crisis centers in some way, whether it's through cash donations, or getting them books. But, if you can't wait to get your mits on them, leave me a comment with your email and you'll be the first to have one---before the anybodies can buy them via a paypal transaction. Had no idea 2008 would make me more techie...I owe the amazing design of the cover of the book and the shirts to the amazing Kristina Bilonick. She's a fantastic artist and all around great person so check her out! I'm also working on an event at Jaya Yoga for March so there will be more yoga/poetry connections. And I have a new love in my life---it's Brooklyn!!! Brooke and I have been having some serious dinner parties. We made a fabulous chickpea pasta---here's the recipe and tonight it's porchini mushroom ravioli with spinach and fresh parm. or moz. cheese. So much fun to have a friend in your neighborhood! And found a new favorite local restaurant---Little D. They have a fantastic beer and wine selection---only one beer (Corsendock) was familiar and their mac and cheese is the best I've ever had! And on the academic front---so far no bites on the tenure track jobs, but the steam sequence is on someone's syllabus at Wayne State University and just found out that someone is including steam in their ma thesis on post-narrative poetry.

For Sale!!!

I'm pleased to say that after over seven years in the making, the why and later is officially on the market! Press releases and everything else will be coming soon. More info for our AWP Panel and events to come...even T shirts and yoga events....so stay tuned, this is the quiet release. I just flew back from Tampa but you all know me, I can't hold anything in!

The important thing to know about the book is that half of the profits will be donated back to rape crisis centers, so not only are you supporting my efforts and the poetry of the women in the anthology, but you'll be helping people through their healing and hopefully making the world a better place.

I truly believe the writing can make a difference and that language is more powerful than we have ever thought it to be. You can purchase the book here, directly through the press.

Where To Begin?

As the year begins, I'm not sure where my writing is. I'm writing now from my hotel room before I work on a new short story---my first night in florida, strong images of Geauga Lake crept into my mind and so we'll see where that goes.

I'm working on too many projects--Ramona, the museum poems, the memorizer poems, other poems, WWPH Press stuff, setting up readings for the why and later.

I'm really excited to have a panel at AWP and I will be trying to really promote this so here's the basics:

Speaking Through Silence: Women respond to Rape and Assault
Friday, February 1, 2008
12:00-1:15PM
Panelists: Molly Fisk, Julia Kasdorf, Alice Anderson, and Harriet Levin

Too often rape and assault silences women, making them afraid to trust, afraid of their own bodies, afraid to name what has happened and what continues to happen. In a way, the writing of these poems becomes a way of healing. However, this can often be a challenging process---turning personal trauma into art. In this panel, female poets will discuss their poems from the anthology, the why and later. The panelists will speak to the process of writing these difficult poems, publishing these poems, and how they view their role as a writer writing about rape and sexual assault.


~

I've been pinching myself b/c it's hard to believe that a book I've been working on for seven years will be released this month. And having a project that will hopefully raise much awareness and money for victims of rape and sexual assault is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. There are also crazy readings and t shirts in the works!

I was asked why I picked this topic at a holiday party and even now, it's still hard for me to say it. I think the dedication of the book says it the way I want: for all of us.

This book is not just for people whose lives have been touched by the subject matter, but for all of us as we struggle through our worlds, both internal and external.

Part of why we write and need to read is because we are part of a community. We need to communicate with others about our world. Kathi Wolfe says this in a great post here.

And so begins the year, a new book, and a chance to do something more with writing. It's been getting dark early and I think that makes me focus more inside, but the light is coming, it's after the solstice and as Maj once wrote to me: Shine! Shine! Shine!

Which is also what Tyra Banks said as I was watching America's Next Top Model on the elliptical trainer. You have to Shine even when other people are putting you down.

Tonight, it's shimmery eye shadow. I am on vacation, after all!

Less: The New Year

I'm all about resolutions---I think it brings out the organization in me---I'm a compulsive list maker and love crossing things off. I'm one of those who thrives on being busy and always having something to do next. So my resolution for this year is to be less like my nature. Just a little though. I really want to try and relax or at least have relax be part of the list! I've been practicing that over break---been travelling and catching up with friends. Susan and Fritz introduced us to Franny's and it's now my favorite (in addition to Rose Water) restaurants in the city. Their bar menu is amazing---anyone know what kummel is?? Delicious, that's what! And when Susan spilled wine in my almost empty pasta, the waiter quickly came with Wine Off and a full new plate of pasta!

Today it's yoga and girl time with Brooke before we head off to Florida tomorrow! So there will be less of me online, and more of me poolside!