From Seattle's Pride Parade yesterday

via the Seattle PI:

 


Oh yes: 47 today.

Dada, Mapplethorpe, Burning Man

Reading the latest issue of Art in America this afternoon. Several terrific articles. One about the new Dada exhibit showing at MOMA. Another about a Robert Mapplethorpe retrospective that was a major hit in Cuba. And another about the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Burning Man Festival in Nevada this August 28th-September 4th. The Dada show is especially apropos, given the times we are living in, with the crazy war in Iraq and all the terrorist hoo-haa going on. There are more than a few parallels between post-WWI Europe and now (entangling alliances, weapons of mass destruction, leaders who are incompetent or just plain evil). The Burning Man article gives a fascinating history of the festival, from the first Burning Man when an artist and a few of his friends and some strangers gathered on Baker Beach in San Francisco to watch an 8-foot Man made of lumber burn, to the mid-90's when Dead Heads joined and a group of punks threatened to shut the whole festival down, to the present day when over 38,000 people lived in the festival's temporary Black Rock City. It sounds like quite a surreal experience, with temples and camps, installations and be-ins; all the costumes and clothing (or lack of) and performance; not to mention the "gifting economy" (there are no businesses or things for sale, per se, at the festival, you need to bring everything you need to live, and share/exchange with others). I am thinking of asking Dean if he wants to go this year, and camp out, look at the art, be a part of it. I'd love to see what goes on, meet people, hang out, maybe even get some writing done, or a collaboration. Or would I just be being a fucking tourist? Hmmm . . . has anyone ever been before? Suggestions? Advice?

Happy Pride Week

Dean and I went with friends to the Seattle Men's Chorus concert, "Our Mighty Men" last night. The first half was an homage/parody of the whole folk rock movement from the 60's. Some great songs here: "Blowin' in the Wind," "The Times They are A-Changin'," "Turn, Turn, Turn." And some real lightweight stuff, too ("Puff the Magic Dragon").

The second half was more thoughtful and inspired, more political. A series of three songs from "Brokeback Mountain," including "He Was Friend of Mine" that were incredibly moving. A well-known protest song from a story in Billings Montana, "Not in Our Town," got a standing ovation. And a Harriet Tubbman song about the secret railway got us all clapping.

SMC are taking a version of the show on the road to the "Red States" of Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Montana over the next two weeks. The title of this show is "This Land is Our Land" and seeks to help promote gay rights and equality. You go guys! Sing it out loud and proud.

The second of two pride parade/marches is today. And it is supposed to be sunny and hot out.

Jack Straw Writers Program
10th Anniversary Celebration

Central Library Auditorium, Downtown Seattle
Sunday, June 25, 2pm

The Washington Center for the Book and Jack Straw Productions are pleased to present a 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Jack Straw Writers Program. Join us for a reading and reception featuring 10 writers from the program’s last decade, and help us honor the 146 writers and curators who have participated in the Jack Straw Writers Program.

This is a rare opportunity to hear readings by some of the Northwest's finest writers on one stage.

Writers for the event were selected by the program’s curators – Rebecca Brown, Charles Mudede, Shalin Hai-Jew, Sonia Gomez, Stokley Towles, Peter Pereira, Nancy Rawles, Belle Randal, John Mifsud, and JT Stewart. The writers who will read at the event are Donna Miscolta, Trisha Ready, Bharti Kirchner, Kevin Miller, Barbara Thomas, Laura Gamache, Nu Quang, John Olson, Anna Balint, and John Burgess.

Thank God for church ladies with typewriters.

A few choice quotes (from spam Dean sent me):

The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

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The sermon this morning: "Jesus Walks on the Water." The sermon tonight: "Searching for Jesus."

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Our youth basketball team is back in action, Wednesday at 8PM in the recreation hall. Come out and watch us kill Christ the King.

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Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It's a chance to get rid of those
things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.

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The peacemaking meeting scheduled for today has been cancelled due to a conflict.

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Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our community. Smile at someone who is hard to love. Say "Hell" to someone who doesn't care much about you.

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Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

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Miss Charlene Mason sang, "I will not pass this way again," giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

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For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery downstairs.

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Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled.
Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

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Please place your donation in the envelope, along with the deceased person you want remembered.

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The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind. They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

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This evening at 7 PM, there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

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Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 PM. Please use the back door.

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The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: "I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours."

TGIF

Today is the happiest day of the year, according to Dr Cliff Arnall, of the University of Cardiff.

"He has devised a formula for measuring mood through outdoor activity, energy levels and sunlight. He used a similar method to calculate that Jan 23 was the most depressing day.

His formula is O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He, in which O stands for being outdoors and outdoor activity, N for nature, S for social interaction, Cpm for childhood summers and positive memories, T for temperature and He for holidays and anticipating time off.

Today was pinpointed as the happiest day of the year because of its added "thank goodness it's Friday" feeling at the start of a summer weekend.

Dr Arnall said: "I wanted my formula to prove the key to happiness can really be simple."

Summer's Here!

The first full day of summer, yippee! Dean and I had our first al fresco dinner of the year tonight, sitting out on the front deck in the sun. The menu:

Appetizer:
A pitcher of lemon-drop martinis, ice cold, served with a lemon twist and sugared rim
Hummus, with toasted pita bread cut into triangles

Salad:
Fresh garden greens from the back yard, served with pine nuts and goat cheese, and Dean's secret dressing

Main Course:
Tenderloin steaks, medium-rare for Peter, well-done for Dean
Sauted vegetables: broccoli, zucchini, mushroom, onion, garlic and lemon-spices

Wine:
A simple Hogue Fume Blanc, chilled

Dessert:
A plate of cashews and toasted-salted almonds

The Scenery:
Coreopsis, veronica, angel's-fishing-rod, and lilies in bloom; a pair of ruby-throated hummingbirds diving through the sky singing "jeka-jeka-jeka;" bluest of blue skies framing the giant elm pair and Douglas fir. Heavenly. Simply heavenly.

And what's even better: it's still light out! We are going to go for an after-dinner walk.

I guess I'm gonna be late . . .

From the PI online this morning:


Crash shuts down West Seattle Bridge

By HECTOR CASTRO

Three people were killed on the West Seattle Bridge when the vehicle they were riding in rolled, crashed and burst into flames.

The accident happened at 2:47 a.m. this morning, prompting Seattle police to close the bridge to traffic until at least 9 a.m., police spokesman Rich Pruitt said.

The vehicle, reported as a Toyota Scion, was driving eastbound on the freeway when it lost control at the exit onto northbound Highway 99, Pruitt said.

The vehicle hit a barrier, burst into flames, then struck a middle lane divider.Seattle firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the blaze, but found all three people inside dead at the scene.

Police are advising motorists to use alternate routes because traffic collision investigators will have the bridge closed as they gather evidence from the crash site. Any witnesses to the accident are urged to contact Seattle police traffic investigators at 206-684-8923.


*

What is going on with the West Seattle Bridge? There has been a lot of bad juju lately. It makes me think twice about driving that way to work, but there really is no other way to get there.

I wonder if the accident was caused by kids trying to do "Tokyo Drift?" So sad.

Copper Canyon is about to start the production process for What's Written on the Body. This includes final revisions before the book goes to the copy-editors, choosing cover art, pre-publication PR (updated bio and photo, book description in 200 words, pre-pub blurbs, quotes from past reviews of the first book, etc etc). I am so excited! But also anxious. I think it is the idea of the book being done, and that there is no turning back — it is what it is — that is scary for me. I suppose it might be what it feels like to send a child off to school for their first day, how you want them to look good and be treated well, and to make friends and have a good time, and to not be picked on. And hopefully to do well and learn something. Such expectations!

But, seriously, reading over the manuscript again this week, after having not looked at it for a few months, I am pretty happy with it. Spring 2007 seems both a long way off, and just around the corner. 

I Hate Dwane Wade's Black Leotards

Egads. Miami wins 4-2. I am so depressed. How did this happen? Please excuse me while I slit my wrists.

This would have been a trip . . .

From today's Poetry Daily:

Groucho and Tom

— In June 1964 T. S. Eliot hosted dinner for Groucho Marx
at Eliot's London flat.

Tom, with a bitter twist
of lemon, puts a closure on the shaken
martinis. Groucho wants to know about
"These fragments I have shored against my ruin."
But Tom, primed with a sip of gin, recites
a gag from Animal Crackers, and waits.

"Did I say that?" says Groucho.
Weeks ago he had resolved to make
a "literary evening" of it; studied
The Waste Land and Murder in the Cathedral,
tossing in King Lear as a backup
in case the conversation ran thin.
Eliot, meanwhile, had taken his young wife
to a revival of The Marx Brothers Go West.
No wonder, then, midway into a tender roast,
the talk comes down to an aged Lear's
"is man no more than this"
contending with crosstalk and malaprops
of the trial scene in Duck Soup . . . .

It was three years earlier that Eliot wrote
to request an autographed photo,
which he set in his office, between Valéry
and Yeats. But no one recognized the comedian
"without the cigar and rolling eyes,"
as Eliot phrased the delicate point
to Groucho, who gladly sent another,
this time in character, with trademark
cigar, greasepaint brows and moustache.
Likewise, T. S. — "Just how do I address you?"
wrote Groucho — sent a favorite photo,
of a smartly dressed, younger man;
but thinking better of it, later sent
a portrait that revealed himself
closer to his present age.

What a brilliant and rollicking dinner —
had only J. Alfred Prufrock and Rufus T. Firefly
arrived. But now, the after-dinner cheese
removed, only two old men are here, to face
each other, across a table. Time
for the living room, to linger
over a vintage port. They talk
of weather, and cats, and good cigars . . .
well into the pleasing night.


William Wenthe
The Southern Review
Volume 42, Number 2
Spring 2006

It's a lovely June day in Seattle: Dean and I worked in the garden, then sat out on the back deck having grilled roast beef & manchego cheese sandwiches, with hot mustard and mayonnaise. The crocosmia are just beginning to send out their spiky flowerheads, and the hummingbirds are on the hunt, buzzing up and down and diving back and forth across the yard, as if they can hardly wait for the flowers to appear. The tomatoes and the zucchini and the beans are growing like gangbusters, but the poor eggplant and pepper and basil are all shriveled up and puny, like kids shivering after stepping out of the pool soaking wet. They need some heat!

We're about to head off to Vashon for an overnight with friends Kevin and Bob. Looking forward to seeing them, and to a little free time to read on the ferry. And of course I can hardly wait to see what yummy dinner Kevin has planned. We're bringing a bottle of Ash Hollow Merlot from Walla Walla, and a bottle of pear wine (the kind with a whole pear inside the bottle) to have with dessert. How do they do that? Place the glass bottle over the pear while it is still tiny and on the tree, and then let the pear grow into the bottle? Hmmmm. Sounds possible. Anyone know? maybe I could try it with our pear tree sometime.

Hehehehe . . . if only.

  

  

The Below Job

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