weekend

What a weekend.

The Brooklyn Poetry Bizarre was something else. How often do you get to hear Anselm Berrigan, Rod Smith, and Fanny Howe read on the same bill? Plus an earful of some really terrific poetry from folks whose work I do and don't know. How come I've never heard of Karen Weiser? When ordering a wine, Fanny Howe looked at Andrew Hughes and myself and said, "what I really want is potato chips." So I ran to the nearest store and bought her a bag of potato chips. What? Was I not going to go get her chips? It was the least I can do for Fanny Howe after all she's done for me.

How Matt Henriksen et al pulled this together is a testament.

Mark Lamoureux handed me yet another gorgeous Cy Gist Press book. The green cover is stunning. I'm a sucker for green, but the design of this book makes it a must have.

Got to see and talk with good friends: Farid Matuk, Brenda Iijima. Two of the sweetest people on the planet. I hadn't seen Farid since Austin. & it was the first time I heard him read, he read my favorite poem from his Is it the King?

Here's a question, who was Wedge in the Empire Strikes Back? This was the subject of much discussion between John Colleti, Andrew Hughes, Dustin Williamson, myself, Pabst, and Brooklyn Lager. Gina missed this discussion when she left early to recover from an inspired previous evening. Andrew also attempted to cajole Dustin into a return to blogging and reviews. I second this motion. Dustin's critical voice is sorely missed.

The night before I finally got to hear John Coletti read. Is there any more charming reader than John? & it is one thing to be charming, & another to be charming and writing poems that pop your ears. I'd like to have a recording of Coletti reading, cause I find I want to hear the line again, or I find that a line knocks me out and I'm often not recovered in time to keep pace.

Just recovering from another bout of insomnia that lead to the inevitable migraine.

Today it is snowing in earnest. Spent an hour in the hot tub, my head caked in ice from the storm.

Also received my seed order from FEDCO today. This is some needed optimism. Here is what I received:

winterbor kale
sugarsnap peas
sugar ann peas
jade bush green beans
black valentine bush green beans
tatsoi
graffiti purple cauliflower
gonzales cabbage
oliver brussel sprouts
red giant mustard
tuscana kale
pung pop mustard
chinese cabbage
green wave mustard
watercress
collards
pac choi
toraziroh
red salad bowl lettuce
butter lettuce
mustard mix
bright lights chard
salad mix
basil
chives
arugula
sylvetta arugula
spinach
perpetal spinach/leaf beet
tyee spinach
dward sunflower
mokum carrot
schnittgold sunflower
tall top beet
joker sunflower
climbing nasturtium
alaska nasturtium
sunrise morning glory
scarlett o'hara morning glory
purple morning glory
cilantro
heavenly blue morning glory
moon lilly
love-lies-bleeding

Peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, squash, other flowers and herbs, etc. I'll buy as starts rather than grow from seed. Also I didn't find a good variety of broccoli, so I need to keep looking.