Sunday Eye Candy ~ James Marsden

Savannah Yesterday

OK.

It is way too early for me to write in detail about the day drip to Savannah, the work, and reading; however, I have to say I had a great deal of much needed fun yesterday. The workshop was great and the coffee house was FULL for the reading.

I'm certain the Savannah trip is the window I wrote about yesterday.

Explaining the Drama

A number of my coworkers and friends have been worried about me lately because I haven't seem my usually peppy self. The truth of the matter is that I can no longer continue to pretend that everything is OK because the pretending is tedious and leaves me feeling overwhelmed and drained.

If it wasn't bad enough that I was stupid enough to put up with physical abuse, my former partner has now decided to slander my name using none other than a blog. I didn't want to bring my personal drama to I Was Born Doing Reference Work In Sin; however, I feel I have no choice as my former partner is using the web to to slander my name. This me being real... being open... and telling you what's going on....

The EX is an angry person, and I am too, so I can't knock him for that. We're splitting ways, which means we are both moving. He's upset from a financial standpoint about the move. For the last five months I have paid 75% of the rent and allowed him to be late with paying me back for bills. I know-- Piss on me once, shame on you. Piss on me twice, shame on me.

The EX also cheated on me in December of 2007 while visiting his family in Houston for Christmas. I fly out to meet a chunk of his family for the first time, and it was my first Christmas away from my family. I do have to say, at least he waited until I left the city before he cheated on me. I suspected that he cheated after seeing some very friendly pictures on Myspace; however, I decided to believe him when denied that anything happened However, it all came out last month-- he finally admitted to cheating.

THEN I discovered that the EX had been responding to and posting ADs on Craigslist. He had 150 emails in the email account titled AtlBlackBook, which he created just for his Craigslist fun.

Now, I'm the bad guy.

I am tired of being angry, and I am freaking exhausted.

One of my favorite lines from FRIED GREENS TOMATOES is, "God doesn't close a door without opening a window." Well, I could really use that window right about now.

MondoDisappointment

Well, I was supposed to be part of the MondoHomo reading this Sunday; however, I have decided not to join some of my fellow poets who happen to be friends. This reading has been thrown together in a matter of weeks, and it is quite disappointing. We received information on our location within one week of the reading. Then the organizer sent a flier to the featured poets yesterday.... yes, a flier on Wednesday to promote an event on Sunday. However, this isn't any Sunday. This is the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and the Decatur Arts Festival. Unacceptable.

I refuse to have my name attached to something that people claim to care deeply about but only give half effort to make it a reality.

MondoHomo has great potential; however, great potential won't be achieved without organization.

A Picture Says A 1,000 Words

Sunday Eye Candy ~ Chris Evans

Keith Olbermann Rips Bush a New One

Schedule twelve minutes and five seconds of your time to devote to Keith Olbermann ripping President Bush a new one. Click here; then click on play!

Huge thanks to BFF Chris for sending the video my way!

Hillary Clinton & Walmart

Dear Mr. Rove: 32 Letters to Karl Rove

OK. The second item I think you should buy!

After reading Kate's blog entry and CK's blog entry about Justin Evans's chapbook Dear Mr. Rove: 32 Letters to Karl Rove, I went over to Lulu and purchased the chapbook.

After reading about three or four letters I thought to myself, this is the kind of chapbook I want as a winner when LW sponsors a chapbook contest. Dear Mr. Rove was my first taste of Justin's writing, and I plan on placing my hands on more. I think you'll do the same after you read Dear Mr. Rove.

Some of my favorite lines:
First, am I still protected under the First Amendment of our Constitution if I call you a Douche Bag? Does profanity play into any decision you might have urging the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to look into my background in the event I called you a Fucking Douche Bag?

~

However, if you do find it absolutely necessary to call me back to service, I sure hope you take into account that I am bit overweight and I will need uniforms with a slightly larger waist than normal.

~

Remember Mr. Rove, I am a teacher, and if I sound pushy about you finishing school, it's because I care.

~

I would like a My Little Pony. Anyone the FBI suspects of being a cross-dresser (I am only assuming they suspect you) should know where to find a My Little Pony.


Justin's letters are witty, funny, and thought provoking. I have no doubt you'll feel the same after reading his chapbook. (I'm even buying a copy of Dear Mr. Rove as a birthday gift for a friend.)

Click here to purchase your copy today!

NARCISSUS ~ Cecilia Woloch

OK. I'm not usually one to say you must buy this or that; however, I have three items that I say are a must buy. I'll share one of the three today, and you'll have to read tomorrow to find out another.

The first item is Cecilia Woloch's award-winning chapbook Narcissus. Four of the poems in Narcissus are published in Limp Wrist. I'm stoked that LW will receive a mention in Cecilia's award-winning chapbook.

Cecilia is a beautiful person (inside and out) and a talented writer. I've participated in two workshops she's lead, and I owe her huge credits for shaping one of my favorite poems that I've written-- not to mention she turned me on to Kim Addonizio. I've heard her read numerous times, and she has never failed to amaze me. (Cecilia-- I can't wait to read your "vices poem" in print or in LW, if the Gods will smile on me!) I own all three of Cecilia's full length books; each book makes me admire her intellect and craft in so many different ways.

She was gracious enough, even though she's swamped, to participate in my WHY DO I WRITE series! !

So yes, you must buy Narcissus... click here!

Sunday Eye Candy ~ Bryan Thomas

Well

This week has been extremely difficult. As if it wasn't enough, I think I'm coming down with a ass kicking cold. Oy vey.

Because It Is Fitting

Sundy Eye Candy ~ Justin Bruening

"Why Do I Write" ~ Sandra Beasley

WHY DO I WRITE ~ Sandra Beasley

It's not that I * have * to write. It's not a heavenly mandate: if I became aphasic tomorrow I would still find a meaningful life in my family, my city, the visual arts, bluegrass music. Hell, I can make a mean dirty martini and an elegant origami crane and some days, that's enough.

I choose to write. Moreover, it's a selfish choice. I write because (stealing from Henry Taylor here), I feel better after having finished a good draft than I do at any other time. I love getting lost in the flow of writing--forgetting about sleep, oblivious to a growling stomach or a blister on my heel--and just writing, writing, writing, for hours. And though I try to pursue poetry in peaceful spaces, outdoors or in my rocking chair, the reality is that the best writing renders your locale irrelevant. I can write happily on the metro or in a cruddy airport lounge. I have never, sadly, been allowed to mix a martini in a cruddy airport lounge. All one needs to write is a scrap napkin and a pen; or just a pen; or just the determination to remember a few phrases that form a poem's nucleus. It is an incredibly adaptable art, a mental refuge.

Writing is a way of entering the world. The best poems, to my eye, organize the tangible details of life in a way that renders meaning that the reader knew, but couldn't quite put a finger on. That doesn't mean that poems should exclude the absurd or surreal, but rather that the absurd and surreal should become vehicles for grounded, emotive or intellectual truths. If the writing doesn't create a truth, I'm not interested.