Tally Ho Sulky: Redux

Biking

2008-08-13T20:48:00.003-04:00

I'm taking the next few weeks easy. I'm in a quiet lull between work and library school so I just want to ride my bike and do some writing. So far I've had more success with the biking, but I know that the writing will pick up.

Check out my photos from my bike ride today here.

Now that I have a bell(bought years ago at the 99cent store on 23rd street), mirror, and plush seat, I've officially pimped my ride.

As you'll see from the photos the bike path affords many great views of the river and the green of summer. I almost feel like I'm not in New York anymore. And this is all just a few blocks from my apartment. I feel really lucky. The farthest I've managed to ride is down to 60th street or so. I leave from up by the bridge so it's a bit of a distance, but I'm sure I'm no match for those bikers on their racing bikes and wearing their little bike shorts. I had BBQ for lunch today on the way back home. I was so hungry! One of the perks is that I can now ride my bike down to Fairway if I want to but fancy food. I bought some salad their yesterday and brought it home in my backpack. I was hungry when I was in the store, so except for the salad, I bought snack foods instead of real food. I have to remember to go their when I'm not hungry. I did feel a little funny because my cashier was a former student and I felt stupid wearing my bike helmet, and buying salad when I could have bought it down the block. Ah, well.

Chicago at Night- Festival Pt. 2

2008-07-22T12:27:00.002-04:00

Now for the music. Here's a quick run down of impressions.

We missed Friday night's "Don't Look Back" show because I had a terrible headache once we landed in Chicago and opted to spend the night hanging out with our friends. J. got a great sandwich at this place called Hopleaf. It was cashew butter, fig jam, and some kind of melted cheese. Pretty decadent, but we were on vacation.

We went later in the afternoon on Saturday and got there as Caribou were wrapping up. I will check them out based on what I heard. We saw some other bands that day but nothing really got me going until later in the evening. I tried to keep an open mind for Vampire Weekend and the Hold Steady, but I still don't like them. I especially dislike the Hold Steady aesthetic. I guess I don't drink enough beer to appreciate them. Their whole milieu sounds like a beer commercial waiting to be filmed. The most anthemic I can get is Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, but he's more into politics than songs about getting drunk.

Things started cooking with Jarvis Cocker. Of all the bands at the festival Jarvis had the most charisma. He was the ultimate showman. I mean, he was dripping with charm. As I explained to my band mate, Jarvis was so smooth he was able to turn something as simple as taking his jacket off into part of his act. Then when he had some equipment problems he was able to work that into his act. Once his guitar was fixed he turned around and asked, 'Are you still there?" Then he turned it into an amusing story. He also connected with the Chicago audience by talking about Chicago blues, and threw in an apology for the existence of Eric Clapton, for good measure. He had moves! I really enjoyed his set, but we left about 3/4s of the way through to watch No Age in the back because I wanted to hear something really energetic. They had equipment problems and while there were good moments, I've seen them perform with much more energy and precision. The entire set devolved in the end and the drummer/singer said, "We have two more songs and then we can all go see Animal Collective." Which is what we did. I would have liked Animal Collective to have thrown in more percussion into their set, but it was a pleasantly mellow way to end the night. Best overall performance of the day goes to Jarvis Cocker, hands down.

We went to the grounds early the next day to catch Times New Viking's rocking set. I opted to sit in the shade to the left of the stage, but I heard everything fine. That's where we stayed the whole day, because I hate being in the middle of a large sweaty crowd and I could hear the music, and see the stages, and jumbo screens just fine. Since we were going to be there for about 9 hours, comfort was my aim. As I said, TNV were great. I took some time to check out the craft booths and picked up some unusual silver earrings. That's my MO when I go to these craft fairs. I try to get things that I can't make myself, and stuff that I don't see everywhere else. Much of what is sold at these things tend to look very similar, or have too much of a kitschy/cutesy aesthetic. I like cute, don't get me wrong, but it has to be a certain kind of cute.

When I got back Boris was on. I missed the Dirty Projectors, but I don't think I missed much. Boris were more metal than I really enjoy, but I think I understood their appeal. They were pretty popular and had some extremely fervent fans at the show.

I sort of enjoyed the Apples in Stereo, but I think I got my fill of them after the first 3 albums or so. Rob is a really nice guy though, and I think he's done lots of important work with other bands. Don't get me wrong.

Les Savy Fav amped up the energy and played a pretty crazy set filled with weird costumes and nudity. What works for Les Savy Fav is that while the singer is crazy and runs around the stage, the band just keeps in step and always keeps the groove going. Musically they are a solid band, and that helps the singer's antics from devolving into mere kitsch. I enjoyed their performance. They ended with a superchunk cover, Precision Auto, and the singer was almost completely naked by the end. Nice.

The Dodos- I have nothing to say about them, really. Not impressed.

M. Ward was as good as ever. He played a bunch of my fave songs so that was a plus. He ended with a sweet Danielle Johnson cover, which I think is nice because M. Ward is in a place where he doesn't need to champion people like Johnson, but he does anyway.

Spiritualized came on and they were obviously used to playing big festivals because they came on and were really professional. They really filled the field with big sounds, and they had two back up singers swaying and dancing and lifting their arms up. I was glad I got to see them live.

Dinosaur was all about rocking out. No surprises, just quality rock. Big crowd favorite.

Spoon- I imagine that this was a really triumphant moment for the band. Especially with their history with the music industry. I think they made some odd choices for a large outdoor concert. Did we really need to hear "The ghost of you lingers?" Nah. They could have played more of their upbeat, driving, rocking songs, but still, a good set. Not the best that I've seen them, but a great way to end the festival. They ended with Mountain to Sound, a song from their last EP on Matador. That EP is a real fan favorite. I've seen them do various songs from the EP live, but this was a treat, especially since they have a sizable catalog of material to choose from these days.

I'm happy we went to Pitchfork. It was actually quite affordable. Much more so than ATP in NY this year. I wanted to go to that, but the ticket prices are unreasonable, and the area really not easy to get to, not to mention lodging. To see some of the bands we saw this weekend, individual prices are about $25, and we saw the whole shebang for $65 for the entire weekend (per person). So I think it was worth it. Of course we missed Siren Fest, but I'll get the scoop on that from M. She texted me when Film School played our favorite FS song. I am glad we missed the heat wave here in NY.

Chicago at Night- Festival Pt. 1

2008-07-22T12:10:00.002-04:00

J and I spent the weekend in Chicago attending the Pitchfork Music Festival. Whatever you might think about the website (I really don't pay much attention to it), the festival is a whole different animal. We stayed with a good friend of mine, and her equally generous and accommodating husband, but we didn't see much of Chicago. We were there for the music, man. Actually, we did give much of our custom to the Chicago neighborhood of Andersonville, since we ate all of our non-Pitchfork Fest meals there. And those were good meals! Swedish potato pancakes. Good bar food. Eggcellent breakfast. We also had an adventure trying to buy ponchos because it rained most of Saturday until later in the afternoon. We had to go to 3 different stores to outfit the entire crew, and then it turned out that we didn't use them the entire weekend. Oh, well. Now I have a poncho in case of torrential rain. I am prepared.

The festival itself is well run. You could bring in one bottle of water, and then refill it at water fountains specially set up for the concert. There were plenty of porto-potties (though they tended to run out of precious TP- which girls need no matter what) and hand sanitizer stations, though I couldn't wait to get home and actually wash my hands. The food was good and relatively affordable. You could get corn for 2.50 or sandwiches for 5. I had some tasty toasted ravioli for $4. I also had lots of corn, maybe a sandwich or two. I indulged in a frozen chocolate covered banana from the whole foods tent (part of their proceeds went to charity). I especially enjoyed their veggie sushi because by Sunday I didn't want to risk eating meat in case it gave me tummy problems- I wasn't about to get that intimate with the porto potties. Most things were affordable and that was great. My biggest splurge was a 2 pound bag of cherries, but I shared them with 4 other people, so I felt like it was worth it to have some fresh fruit. I didn't drink beer, but people seemed to be chugging it steadily. I was trying to stay just hydrated enough, but not so much that I had to go to the potties more than necessary.

We didn't have problems getting back from the shows since we took the El train, but I must say that Chicago doesn't have anything on NY when it comes to public transit. The trains were crowded on the way back, but really it wasn't much worse than an average rush hour here in NY. The biggest problem was that the trains don't have handrails to hold onto above people's heads. That meant you had few options for holding on if you were standing up, which the large crowd necessitated. I don't mean to knock the CTA, but the trains seemed a bit...slow. Oh, well. It got us where we needed to go, and that's the most important thing. I think it would probably drive me crazy if I actually lived there.

If You Give My Mother a Cookie...

2008-07-16T14:33:00.002-04:00

My mom said that she attended a health fair after she went to her appt. at the hospital (just a regular check-up, don't worry). So she was going from table to table collecting stickers and taking quizzes so she could get a prize. She ends up at one table where she thinks there are cookies in little wrappers. So she picks up a "cookie" and then when she feels it she says, "This isn't a cookie!" The woman running the table, who happened to be Chinese American, said, "It's not a cookie! It's a condom." Then my mom threw the cookie/condom down and said, "I don't need that!" The woman said, "You can give it to your son or grandson." My mom told her that she didn't have either, but before she left the table a man swooped down and grabbed a fistful of condoms and said, "I need this."

The worst thing was helping my mother pronounce the word condom about a dozen times. Then I joked that she should get a boyfriend so she could use them, and she laughed and said, "Don't be stupid. How can I get a boyfriend?" I think it's interesting to note that she didn't object to using the condom, just the act of getting a boyfriend. Hmmmm.

She said she was going to leave that incident out of her weekly story for her school. I personally think it's the heart of the story, but she's too much of a prude to include it.

Echoes in Fiction

2008-07-15T15:29:00.003-04:00

I always have a little nagging feeling when I'm reading one of Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's Ms. Hempel stories. Maybe it's because I was a teacher, and have written a little bit about teaching in my book, and I am too close to the material, but Ms. Hempel irks me! Maybe what irks me are the things I didn't like about myself when I was a teacher. Anyway, the most jarring thing about reading her story, Yurt, in this week's New Yorker, is the echo I hear in the story. From some past sleuthing I know that Bynum taught after college, and since she didn't get an ED degree I'm going to assume it was at a private school. The echo I hear is in the details of the story. It sounds just like the school I was working at this spring! Since everyone knew I was not coming back because I was only filling in during a maternity leave, and I was a librarian to boot, most people didn't bother to get to know me. They also seemed a little offended, and acted as though they thought it was strange when I said that I'd probably go back to public schools once I had enough credits for the city to hire me (you need at least 18 credits to get a temporary license to be a library teacher). It was an odd experience overall because I came from a very chaotic school and was shell shocked by that experience and then I was in this completely different school where they didn't even use bells to signal the end of class. It was different but not necessarily better. I have to admit that I wasn't comfortable teaching kids whose parents paid nearly $30,000 a year for school. When a kid didn't get what they wanted their sense of entitlement came to the fore. In general they were polite kids, and some were even really great, but I didn't have any real connection with them. I was only there for 4 months, really. My boss was great, she taught me so much, and I do want to keep in touch with her, but even if the woman I filled in for were not coming back, I couldn't stay. I'd be 2nd in command until my boss retires and that's not what I want to do. I want my own library.

Anyway, back to the story. So, there is a mention of an assistant librarian (my job at the school) and Bynum mentions her librarian accouterments, which is as far as most people's understanding of the job seems to go. As if we spend our days stamping books while sitting at the circulation desk. But that is beside the point. My suspicions that the story was set in a school much like, if not directly in, the school I worked at, was confirmed when one of the characters invites the other teacher to go have a tea at Izzies. That made me pause and I kept thinking- yeah, that's got to be the school. Except that the coffee place down the block from the school is called Ozzies, not Izzies, but that's fiction for you- just change a few details. Ha. I felt like I'd figured something out, but I know that I really didn't. Those echoes of familiar details don't really make any difference to the story and are really just the details and not the actual heart of the story. I know I will most likely read the book eventually, but maybe not until I complete that draft of my book I plan to begin any day now.

I'm just trying to finish a story that's giving me some trouble, but on that I know will make me feel quite triumphant if I can manage to finish it and pull it off. Once I have a finished workable draft I will feel great. Until then, I feel a little bit fraught with the anxiety of not quite getting it right, but little by little I seem to be working it out.

Powerful Librarians

2008-07-15T10:20:00.002-04:00

There's an interesting New Yorker article on famous children's librarian, Anne Carroll Moore and E.B.White.

The article made me think about my role as a librarian in selecting titles for the library. There is some talk in the article about Stuart Little being "banned" by some libraries, and I wonder where she got that information. I think there is a difference between a book being banned, and a book simply not being ordered because a librarian (or more likely in a public library- a committee) looked to reviews and decided not to order a book. It's not banning, it's something else- collection development. Librarians in general are more likely to defend the inclusion of books in a collection than not. So the depiction of "tiny spinsters" sitting on books is really quite dated. I just hope that people realize that!

Anne Carroll Moore was a character, and this incident shows her flaws, but I don't agree that her effect was "baleful" as E.B. White suggested. He may have written Stuart Little and Charlotte's Web, but she helped give kids the rights to be library patrons. That's huge, and will have as long a lasting effect as either of those books, if not longer. Plus, she was right about Charlotte's Web. Fern is underdeveloped. We had to read that book for my children's lit class and we all noted that. We were so disappointed with her character. How does she go from having convictions to losing all of them just because she decides that Fussy is cute? Blech! No thank you.

Still, the writer in me understands White's frustration with Moore's inability to see his vision. I'm also coming out of a school of librarianship where freedom of information and freedom of speech, etc. are cornerstones of the profession. I will have to make decisions about which books to carry and which ones not to carry in my library. It's a big responsibility and I hope I make the right decisions.

Hitting Where it Hurts

2008-07-10T17:00:00.002-04:00

Well, I had a rude awakening today when I went to purchase something that I normally consider an unmentionable. Even after I swiped my Duane Reade card the cashier told me I was supposed to fork over $9.20 for a pack of pads. Yes! Almost ten dollars! She could tell I was in shock and didn't mind when I said that I wanted to check on the price myself. I ended up getting a smaller pack that was on sale, but it seems to be the way these things are going. Really, it's the way most things are going. Bananas on the street are no longer .25, but have jumped to .35, and now your monthly tribute to your reproductive system can cost as much as a pack of cigs. Good thing I don't smoke. It's becoming difficult to afford a uterus.

On a side note, I for one find this trend for wearing really large Estelle Getty Florida grandma sunglasses particularly obnoxious.

From the File of Bad Ideas and Exclusivity

2008-07-09T14:55:00.002-04:00

My new bad idea, that you're free to steal, is to write a crime novel with a villain called the "bra strap strangler". The twist is that it could be male or female, depending on your whims.

Do with that what you will.

I'm also toying with the idea of forming a club that has something to do with boats and the outdoors. Which seems difficult in NYC, but do not forget that aside from the Bronx, we all live on some island or other. Boats. The outdoors. I will think this over some more and perhaps I will send out some invitations.

Observation File

2008-07-03T17:28:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I noticed a new (to me) hairstyle. I have taken the liberty of naming it the Rasta Mullet. I know that mullet spying in NYC, especially below 23rd st., is like shooting hipsters in a barrel, but this one brought me up short. This particular "do" was like the BIF-RIB (business in front/ rocking-in- back) except that the RIB part was more Rasta-In-Back because the back part was a long bunch of dreds tied into a neat bundle that looked very much like fuzzy twigs. The BIF part was very pronounced, so much that if you only had the front profile to go with you would have thought that this was a very straight laced white fella, except...when you got the side profille...whoah! Rasta man!

What is Not But Could Be If...

2008-07-03T12:56:00.002-04:00

My main complaint with the new Silver Jews record, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea, is the way it sounds. The first song, "What is Not but Could Be If", is a good song, but it sounds bad. It sounds muffled and it's very hard to hear the music clearly. Berman's voice is both too much toward the front and muffled at the same time. It's quite maddening, and for a while the way this record sounds really made it hard for me to listen to it at all. Some of the songs are quite good so that's making me warm up to the record but I was really shocked that there could be a Silver Jews record that I didn't play about 30 times in the first week I bought it. (Or the first week J. bought it. Thanks honey!)

Ah, well. We have tickets to see SJ in September so the live show might be a better way to hear the new songs. I love that Berman included the chords for the songs. When I was unemployed in '03 I spent that time learning most of the Silver Jews catalog. I can still play a good number of those songs with a little brushing up. I used to sit in my room, or in my uncle's basement crooning songs like "Black and Brown Blues", "Inside the Golden Days of Missing You", "Room Games and Diamond Rain," etc. as if I had to practice those songs, as if I was going to be performing them some day, even though I don't have a good singing voice. I guess it helped me get through that very uncertain time. I didn't do much writing then- I think I was too unfocused and depressed to do that- but the guitar playing helped. Sadly, I haven't had much time to play guitar lately. Or maybe I just haven't had the need to do it. The last song I learned was Spoon's "Agony of Lafitte".

J. and I are going to the Sonic Youth/ Feelies show tomorrow. We also saw the Feelies on Tuesday. J. even cut class to go to the show and he never cuts class! I generally cut class once a semester. The last time I cut class, a few weeks ago, I went to a reading hosted by the Paris Review. J.R. Lennon and Gish Jen read with an unpublished writer. It was a spirited reading with great conversation between the writers. I told Gish Jen that my mom really likes her story, "Who's Irish".

Anyway, the Feelies were so good! It was such a great show and they did two sets with some covers thrown in. I really enjoyed their cover of Wire's "Outdoor Miner". I'm actually much more excited to see the Feelies on the 4th than I am to see SY. I've seen SY a bunch of times but this will only be my 2nd Feelies show.

I read Dean Wareham's memoir, Black Postcards, and in it he says that he and Stanley Demeski had a somewhat contentious relationship when Demeski was in Luna. I kept thinking about what Demeski allegedly told Dean when he saw him at Maxwell's a few years back, something along the lines of, "I only did it for the money." So, while I watched Demeski drum, with a tiny smile on his face (J. said he looks like he belongs to a bowling league), I couldn't help imagining that he was thinking, "This is what I've been waiting for all along. And I can't wait to count up the money!" Which probably isn't what he was thinking. Damn Dean Wareham for polluting my thoughts. And I saw him sitting in the back of Maxwell's enjoying the show with Britta.

The crowd was so respectful that night. When it seemed like someone was going to heckle or cat call too much the crowd hushed the perpetrators so nothing would distract from the music coming from the stage. It wasn't obnoxious- it was just that extra noise or comments were unnecessary.

Besides the SY/Feelies show tomorrow, J. and I are seeing the New Year (billed as the Kadane Bros.) and Bottomless Pit (ex-silkworm) next week. Then we're going to Chicago to visit my friend B. and to go to the Pitchfork Festival. I already know that one of our friends from VA is going to be there so it should be a nice little reunion of music die hards.

On a side note, I've been making Murakami proud by going to the gym this past week. Today I have to try to live up to his work ethic when it comes to writing. Though I plan to do another revision/edit of my novel this summer, I think I'll get in the mood by writing something new and short today. Just a little something to exercise those muscles that I haven't used enough in a few months.

From the Taste Files

2008-06-16T12:37:00.002-04:00

I'm not supposed to indulge in sweets, but once in a while I cannot help myself. Today I tried something that was worth it: a small 1 inch sq. piece of "salted brownie". Salt! Chocolate! Together!

Makes me wonder if I should try that dark chocolate I saw that purports to have smoked bacon in it. If I have a picnic I might buy it and have a mini tasting party.

It's Been the End of the World As We Know It...

2008-06-14T20:17:00.003-04:00

...for as long as I can remember. That's probably the case for most people.

I'm not sure how this started, but this past week I've had trouble sleeping, and when I am sleeping I have early R.E.M. songs playing on a loop inside my head. Later in the week I had this dream where I was in Peter Buck's home studio cutting a record with him. Yeah, I was helping him write a song, and record it. Because I don't have more than enough things to do in my life. So, anyway, the dream got even stranger and at one disturbing point Mr. Buck started hitting on me. I think he said something like, "did you ever have a crush on me?" And I lied and said, "yeah," but then I added, "when I was twelve." That kind of threw him off guard. Well, serves him right. He's almost old enough to be my father. And the last time I was a serious R.E.M. fan was when I was in the 10th grade. I went off them for a long time. I still liked everything up to Out of Time, but I couldn't listen to it like I used to because I pretty much wore it out. So I guess the moratorium on listening to R.E.M. is over because I can finally listen to them again after about 16 years. For the record, I never had a crush on anyone in R.E.M. so I really don't know where this Peter Buck dream came from. I do know that R.E.M. is now classic rock because I saw a kid at the school I've been working at wearing an R.E.M. t-shirt. It was the red one with the bicycle on it.

I'm almost done with my temporary job at the school library. I went to the graduation and they had a very famous young writer giving the graduation speech. I partially enjoyed it, felt partially annoyed by the whole thing. This isn't a good development. I hope that once I get back into my writing I'll feel less jealous of writers when I hear them speak. I guess I could have felt inspired, but when the person is really close to my age, it's harder for me to feel inspired rather than jealous and annoyed.

I'm still chugging along in library school. I don't finish my summer classes until early August. Luckily I'll only have one class in the fall and that's the student teaching class. I've always been a library user but it's really ramped up since I started library school. I have 28 books out right now and two more on hold. Unless I return some books next week (which I will), I'll reach my limit. The NYPL lets you have 15 books on hold, and 30 books out. That's plenty of books, and the only reason I have so many books out it because I have some out for my next class, young adult lit , and I'm creating two bibliographies for children's literature. I got a back pack to haul all these books back and forth and I have a backpack strap burn on my right shoulder. Who said that library school wasn't hard core?

Murakami would have certainly frowned at me most of the week, but I really didn't have time with all the trips to the library. I like to think that picking up a bag heavy with books counts as exercise. It's not the same as running, but it's definitely physical.

Not that it's been all work for me. I picked up a silver acorn necklace today at the craft fair from these people.

Oh, one more thing. So, even all these years later my mother can't let the tragic death of her beloved cockatiel, Mr. Kiki, go. She decided to write about it, and was going to rehash her suspicions that Mr. Kiki died because of my alleged neglect. Well, I wasn't going to stand around and be accused of murdering Mr. Kiki, again. I told her she couldn't accuse me like that, not in writing, so she changed the tone of the piece.

Here is a snippet of what she wrote, with my help. Writing in English is still a challenge for her, but she's made great strides.:

Now I want to talk about my older daughter, 5redpandas*. She is my good daughter. The last time I went to Taiwan I had a cockatiel named Kiki. She was very cute. I had Kiki for many years before I went to Taiwan. I told my daughter 5redpandas to take care of Kiki for me. She did take care of Kiki very good for me, but when I came back six months later, my cute little Kiki died. I was crying for two weeks.

*I've substituted my Internet name for my real one.

I do hope there comes a day when I am no longer suspected of killing Kiki. It's an accusation that is hard to live down.

What Would Haruki Murakami Do?

2008-06-09T14:52:00.000-04:00

After reading the Murakami article in the New Yorker on his start as a runner and novelist, I have decided to think of Murakami whenever I feel like skipping a visit to the gym. If he can train himself to become a long distance runner, the least I can do is make sure that I get my ass on the elliptical machine on a regular basis. I know my limits- no long distance runner am I- but I will gladly think of him as an encouraging patron saint against laziness. I guess I’ll also think of him, preferably wearing a disapproving frown on his face, whenever I’m stuck with writing. On those days allotted to writing, when I don’t actually feel like writing, the thought of Murakami will hopefully give me that extra push to keep going. Who knows, he might be able to help me become a better person. And he won’t even know it!

Same As it Ever Was

2008-06-02T10:33:00.002-04:00

I glanced at the table of contents for the New Yorker Summer Fiction issue. No surprise that it features many of the exact same authors that they've been publishing for the last ten years or so. I actually enjoy some of the writers, and some of the others I don't really care one way or the other about, but I'm not excited about any of it.

At this point I don't read the New Yorker for their fiction because they rarely give me any new writers to watch out for. I do, however, still find interesting non-fiction, and that keeps me subscribing.

I'm looking forward to the article on Murakami and I hope the fiction manages to surprise me.

Beware Flying Objects

2008-05-30T11:56:00.001-04:00

I was naturally alarmed when I read this, in an article about Wii fit (which is quite tempting, I might add).

The only cuteness-quotient misstep: One of the games has you heading soccer balls while avoiding airborne panda heads. Yes, severed panda heads—mouths open, frozen in rictus—come flying through the air at you. I imagine it's because their black-and-white color scheme is easy to confuse with that of a soccer ball. But I also suspect this may be a subtle swipe at China. If subsequent games involve severed Mao heads, I'll know I'm right.

Foxing and other terms for Decay

2008-05-29T13:42:00.004-04:00

I'm not a big sci-fi or speculative fiction fan, but I've been reading books by Connie Willis, and more recently, Elizabeth Hand. They don't fall into the "hard science" realm of sci-fi (and I know this because of my husband, an avid sci-fi reader), and that is probably why I enjoy them.

I'm currently reading Waking the Moon by Hand and it involves a fertility cult. Is an interest in the occult a girl thing, like horses? I recall being fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and writing a paper on it in middle school.

Another good book by Hand is Generation Loss which combines cult religion gone awry (and really, when does it not somewhat go awry?) and photography philosophy. I thought it was also a great meditation on creativity and the artistic drive. It's also a bit of a mystery, too, so if that's your genre, then it will somewhat satisfy that itch.

I have to say that it is a strange experience to go from reading a book called Whales on Stilts, to Charlotte's Web, to Waking the Moon. Such is my reading life these days. Oh, and another great book, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. Classic. I agree that pigeons should not be driving buses. Though I do like how he's rocking out on that website. My mother and I also enjoyed Today I Will Fly! It's about a pig who's determined to fly, and the elephant who remains skeptical about his friend's ambitions.

All said, I do enjoy children's books, but I cannot see myself being an elementary school librarian. I just don't have that kind of personality even though I do have a stuffed panda who gets into all kinds of naughtiness when I'm not home. She went snorkeling the other day.

Read Write Burn

2008-05-28T23:05:00.003-04:00

Well I think I lied a few posts ago, or maybe even in my last post. I have been thinking about writing, but doing very little of it, creatively. That will change, even quite possibly this weekend, but still, it makes me feel a little anxious and impatient. The funny thing is that whether I write or revise makes very little difference to the world as it is right now. It only really means something to me. I could say that it means something to friends, or my husband, but I know that it doesn't mean that much to them. My writing is not essential to them, but in a very simple way it is to me, so it's still important. In a small way that takes up lots of space in my mind.

This isn't meant to be a cry for interest- I don't need it from my friends or husband. Don't get me wrong. I'm just being honest right now. A few weeks ago I was at a party and a friend of a friend was very drunk. We'd only met once but it was a very intense day together. Hell, it involved lots of wine, fancy mustard, Korean food, vagina stories, and more alcohol (plus the addition of a madcap college friend of mine), so of course it was an intense day. So I was talking to him and he told me that when I told him that one reason I left classroom teaching was because I knew that I would never be great at it because I had other interests that overshadowed my interest in teaching, he thought it was a very honest thing to say. I was surprised that he remembered that, and had thought anything about it. I was never proud of my reasons for leaving teaching and I've always been merely resigned about it, but somehow this generally straight laced (except when drunk) lawyer made me feel better about all of that.

So, I'm still thinking about what I need to do with my book, and the stories that have been languishing during these months that I've been working and taking my library classes. I'll still be busy until the end of June but I'm making some time this Saturday for myself. I've been reading children's books and writing about them for a few weeks. I'm at the halfway point with this class, and I have two more this summer! Some people think I'm crazy but I know that it's better to get it over with sooner because then I can get parts of my life back. I'm not going to complain though because I actually like my job, and I appreciate what the library classes will allow me to do. Which is to finally have a job I feel I can be good at and a job I enjoy without sacrificing those others things. One of which is writing. Even if it's just for me.

Still, I do sometimes become a little crazy or unreasonable about it. I was re-telling my husband a story that I've written about and when he didn't recognize it, even though he's read a draft of my book, I was a little miffed. I wondered how it was that he could recall music trivia and know who wrote which song, or remember some obscure fact, but not remember a story that I'd written. I imagined that he would have paid extra careful attention to it. Then again, this is the same person who cannot seem to remember to switch the filter back to normal when he's done using it. I don't want my writing to be equal to an easily forgettable filter setting! I will just not even allow myself to make that connection! He also has trouble remembering meeting people, so maybe that has something to do with it. I can't think about it too much, and I know that this will probably make his ears burn a little bit, but it's ok. I'm not mad, just kind of curious how this kind of thing happens.

I've tentatively signed up to begin meeting with my writing friend again so I'll be working on my book again. I think she'll be able to help me get it in even better shape because the book it pretty done, with room for tweaking. It's probably good that there has been these months in between working on it. I hope the time has given me some perspective- though I do hope to be done-done with it by the end of the summer. That would be a relief. Having it published would be exciting. I won't think about that right now, though.

Seeing Wire this Friday. That should be good. Practice will be good too. We have a song that I am excited to play live because I have a feeling that it will resonate with an audience.

Just One of Many

2008-05-16T08:18:00.001-04:00

This was the saddest article I read yesterday. Especially the last four or five paragraphs.

Librarian's Nite Out

2008-05-07T19:43:00.003-04:00

Went to see No Age. I was watching the kids moshing- yes, they were actually moshing, or slam dancing, and yes, they actually stage dived- and I thought- ah, I remember when that quickly became very uncool to do. I was so happy when that happened because in the '90s for a while it was actually quite dangerous to go to a rock concert. I mean, they were so idiotic they actually moshed to Juliana Hatfield. I don't remember why I was even at a Juliana Hatfield concert, but I remember that it was painful. So, I guess with bands like No Age, the punk attitude is back. I like jumping up and down and bobbing my head at a show, but I like to do it in my private little circle of space. I don't enjoy people shoving me. Luckily we were up in the balcony.

Actually, you can see J. in the very front of the balcony in the 2nd photo here from the show. He's wearing the white button down shirt. Because he came from work.

It was a high energy show. I enjoyed it, and I'm glad No Age is coming back in July for a free Southstreet Seaport show.

Here are some shows I hope to be enjoying this summer besides the Feelies show at Maxwell's and the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago.

May 30th WIRE

July 4th Sonic Youth Feelies

July 11th No Age
South Street Seaport

There are also probably some McCarren pool shows I'll go to. Especially since I don't plan to work from July to September. I will be taking classes 4 days a week though, so I'm not going to be completely living the high life of writing and rocking.

*************
I just hope I can get a library job for next year. It's such a drag that I have to do two semesters of student teaching even though I have 4 years of teaching experience and am now working as a librarian in a school. State requirements can be a real pain in the ass, but I am almost done. I passed my certification test so now I just have to finish my coursework and student teaching. Oh, and that lousy math class! Did I mention that I got a scholarship for one of my student teaching classes? Apparently I am a real trailblazer in the library media specialist track at my school. I looked at all the scholarships available, hell bent on winning one, and I picked the only one that applied to what I study. It was for a practicum but since I have to student teach I can't do an internship or research. So I applied anyway and I argued that it wasn't fair not to offer LMS track students any scholarship opportunities. I also argued that my research would be developing an information literacy curriculum, which I'd have to do anyway. Well, even though they initially lost my application, they decided to award me the scholarship. The director of the LMS program told me that I set a precedent for all of the other LMS students, so she's telling everyone that I got the scholarship, and she's encouraging others to apply next year. Too bad I can only apply for school scholarships once.

I'm Alright With You

2008-05-04T20:09:00.003-04:00

There's lots of juicy stuff going on in the lit world. Over at Ed Lin's blog he talks about representation, as it relates to his work.

Apparently the VQR aired their slush pile reader's comments. I'm sure that it seemed like a funny idea, and believe me, I've erred on the wrong side in favor of humor before, but that was just tacky and unkind. Well, the Ward Sixers let 'em have it. Loads of comments.

And I'd like to point out that the James in the comments section is not my husband. Not that anyone was wondering, but sometimes he posts comments and it could be confusing. I thought he had posted at first but quickly realized it was not him because he's not getting an MFA and he's not an immigrant's son (part of his family has been in America since New York was New Amsterdam, but for some reason they decided to make New Jersey their home. Go figure.)

In my own news, I was finally rejected by the agent. I don't mind the rejection so much as how long it took to receive it. I've been too busy to do anything writerly for a month or more, but I did manage to e-mail a small publisher to find out their submission guidelines and I received a nice little e-mail where they actually apologized for taking a few days to respond to me.

Hey, courtesy in the publishing industry! Who would have even imagined it was possible.

My last class for the semester is over on Monday. I'm celebrating by seeing No Age on Tuesday. Then I think I will get back to writing. I do start a new class the next week, but it's just one class plus work instead of three classes plus work. I can surely squeeze a few hours of writing in there. Everyone says that persistence is the key to getting published, and a friend of mine says that you shouldn't emphasize publishing over the act of writing and what you gain from that as a person, so I think I will take both pieces of advice. Keep writing, keep submitting, but also enjoy the process and learn from it.

Cross Pollination

2008-05-04T19:56:00.003-04:00

As I walked by this bush of flowers the gardener said to me, "They cross pollinated! Just this year!"

I love how the branches are thrust up in the air.

I wish I could sit under this tree because it's like one big puffy pink cloud. The blossoms are at their peak fluffiness.

Orchids are Extraterrestrial

2008-04-30T10:59:00.001-04:00

Summer Bliss

2008-04-29T18:16:00.002-04:00

J. and I are going to Chicago for the Pitchfork Festival this summer. What really sold me on going this year was the prospect of also staying with, and visiting, my friend B. I'm super excited as I haven't seen her in a while.

The last time I was in Chicago it was winter and I didn't really see the town at all. I've also had layovers there, and driven around the city itself. That was fun. I listened to my father curse, "all this god damned Chicago traffic!" Apparently Mapquest had screwed him and steered him dangerously close to Chicago proper when he'd wanted to avoid it entirely.

I'll be daydreaming about the fun I'll have this summer while I tackle a stupid paper I have to do right now, and then again while I study for my reference final tomorrow. This is that crazy professor I talked about earlier, and I still think she's cool, but she changed my grade on a paper twice. I saw the whiteout and checked the back. I first had an A, then a B +, then a lousy B! I didn't ask her about it, but it bums me out that I have no chance of getting an A in this class. Even though I, and everyone else, knows that nobody cares what grades you get in library school. As they say, B's get degrees.

I keep puzzling over this Malkmus lyric in a song called Pennywhistle Thunder:
drink the sweet elixir breast milk, breast milk milkshake. At least that's what I think he's saying.

Nerves Ease into Bliss

2008-04-27T21:33:00.002-04:00

I wasn't nervous until we started setting up our equipment on stage. Everything was so last minute that I didn't really have time to be nervous. We met up in Brooklyn to practice our set for a few hours. Then we went back to J.P.' place to eat snacks and get the equipment. On the taxi ride over to the club, as we crossed the Williamsburg bride, we joked about how this was the band's first road trip. We did cross a body of water, so that has to count.

When we got to the big city it was kind of strange for me. I've walked those streets so often, but suddenly I was helping unload the equipment and I was in a completely different context. I'd never been to Lit so the basement performance space was an experience. A very dungeon-like experience. We then waited a few hours at the club because we ended up going last (technically headlining the show, even though no one there had ever heard us with a few exceptions). The other bands had already told their friends what time they were going on so they didn't want to change the order.

There is so much downtime when you play a show. I went for a walk then came back and went out again with J. because J.P. needed a screwdriver. We bought one in Walgreens and then walked back and bought some french fries at Pomme Fritte. (Note to self- two people can definitely share on regular order of fries.)

See, there's all this time spent waiting. Then when you're about to go on everything happens so quickly. I began to get very nervous during our first song, Moon, but then when we launched into Form Disappear, our second song, I felt better. By the third song, Lights, I even managed to smile. Once we played our last song, A Guest, I once again felt quite triumphant.

I think we sounded good, though it's hard to tell because it all happened so quickly. It was good to finally play at a proper rock club because those other times were very makeshift. There was also a rock audience which helped tremendously. As far as I know, no one left the room because we were too loud. I am told we were very loud, but I had ear plugs in so I didn't feel the full brunt of it. I don't want to go deaf!

After the show the singer/guitar player in the 2nd band complimented us and said he thought our music sounded beautiful. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that. Their band was good, so I'm glad he liked us.

I wish I had a recording of the show so I could have an idea of what we sounded like. It's very strange to perform and not have a good concept of what the outcome was.

Early Spring is Playing NYC!

2008-04-25T23:05:00.003-04:00

We'll take Manhattan!

Ok, we got asked to play a show tomorrow *SATURDAY April 26th*.

Sat. April 26th
Lit Lounge
93 Second Ave. at east 5th Street.
Doors: 8:30

Not sure when we go on but it's a bar so just get drunk while you wait for us to go on. I promise to make it worth your while. Not lap dances worth your while, but worth your while nonetheless.

P.S.- If you come, please tell them you came to see Early Spring.

(We want to make enough money to cover the cab ride back to Brooklyn so we can haul our equipment.)

Early Spring is loud rock music. If you like guitars you might like us!