i just can't wait to get on the road again...

I've driven to Boston, stayed for less than 24 hours, and driven back. I've driven home from the Bay State leaving after midnight, pulling over to sleep in front of a rest stop parking lot outside of a Starbucks, and made it on time to work at a Barnes and Noble in New Jersey by 7:30am. I've been through more states in a weekend than some people have been to in their lives. Once, I drove north for 6 hours with no radio in my car. I sang most of the time and cursed the annoyingly catchy song (by the Barenaked Ladies that they used to play at work at least once every ten minutes) that I couldn't drive from my head or remember all of the words to. But I've never done what I'm doing over the next two weeks.

On Thursday, immediately following the Poetry & Drama Quiz I'm administering to my Experiencing Lit students,  I will be driving to Boston. Gigantic Sequins has an event celebrating the winter release of our 3.1 issue, featuring four great fiction writers, three of whom are featured in the new issue, one from 2.2. I am making the trip to visit my lovely friend Elise, who will be introducing a little boy to the world some time next month. I am hoping that he and I will share a birthday. Then, on Saturday, Gigantic Sequins is taking part in the resurrected reading series, Dirty Water, featuring readers from four other literary ventures: Redivider, Boston Review, Madras Press & Black Ocean. I'll be driving home Sunday morning to host an intimate Oscars gathering Sunday night. (I'm rooting for The Artist as Best Picture).

But that's not it. Tuesday, immediately following my Experiencing Literature class (we're reading our first short stories for that day and going over some "Elements of Fiction"), I'm getting in my car once again. This time, I am driving to Chicago for the AWP conference. I chose not to fly for various reasons, none of which are that I am afraid of flying (I'm not.) But I also didn't realize it was a 13 hour trip when I failed to buy a plane ticket. I have a lot to lug for the magazine, and... I've always wanted to take a road trip! I never imagined, though, it would be a solo drive. I'm selectively burning CDs for the trip, mixes and full albums. I am scoping out when and where I may wind up stopping over night. And I am asking lots of Chicagoans about parking. I think I am more worried about having to drive home alone 13 hours straight than I am about driving there.

(Sequined bunny mask I perhaps may be wearing at the AWP bookfair at one point or another.)

AWP was in DC last year, a much shorter trip, but I am glad to be going again this year. We are sharing our table with some of the best people in the litmag scene, the folks who run Big Lucks. Geoff is going to help me to design a table cloth for our half of the table with various things we bought from a Philly Fabric Outlet. And Big Lucks and Gigantic Sequins have a reading at Beauty Bar along with Rose Metal Press, Knee-Jerk, and Magic Helicopter Press titled "Before We Go".

The drive to and from Chicago is pretty much a straight shot. I am probably going to need a straight-up shot of something after I arrive, but I am up for the adventure. I look forward to donning black & white, chatting with fans of our journal, and meeting contributors whose work I know in print, but whose faces I have not yet met in person. Stop by Table O10, the Gigantic Sequins / Big Lucks table to say hello if you will also be in Chicago during the conference!

Exciting Things in the Mail, II

This week, I received at least TWO exciting things in the mail.

First came a Vinyl full-length album "Songs of Praise & Scorn" by Christopher Paul Stelling, whose music is hauntingly fabulous. There were some songs on here I recognized as ones I love: "Never Been There" has given me chills live, and as I was baking strawberry banana muffins, warm in my kitchen, last evening, it did the same as a recording. In addition, there are some songs that I felt I was hearing for the first time. I've known Chris for more than a few years at this point, and I'm truly glad to have purchased his album not only to put some cash in his hypothetical gas tank but because it's something I will listen to over and over again. Something about Chris's voice is familiar to me-- I can hear other people I know in his voice, and this leads me to believe that he is someone who speaks for our generation. Check him out. Here is the nice message that came with my vinyl, and for anyone in NYC, it lists the date of his release show. You should go.

The other exciting thing that came in the mail this past week was a package containing my contributors copies of Barrelhouse ten! I am excited to read through the whole thing, especially pieces by fellow poets Christie Ann Reynolds (about whom I wrote a piece for Art Faccia) and Kimberly Grey (who is a contributor to Gigantic Sequins 3.1). My bio says that I take "too make phones with my iPhone", which is true-- and also how I took the two photos for this blog. 

YO PHILLY: Things happened & are happening

HAPPENING

• Thursday 2/2/2012 Tire Fire Reading Series presents: Scott McClanahan, Kendra Grant Malone, Matthew Savoca & Kirsten Kaschock  |  Tattooed Mom 530 South Street  |  7pm-10pm  |  FREE

I'm pretty psyched about this one. I am "into" collaborative writing recently, for some reason, and Malone and Savoca are, I believe, reading together from their collaborative work*. It has this feel to it, and it's usually subtly humorous in a way that you probably have to be when you are working with someone else, I suppose. It makes me jealous that I don't have a collaborative poet friend. But moving on, I went to a Tire Fire reading last year, and I met a lot of great people there and saw three great fiction writers read their work. I am looking forward to attending tomorrow, and I'm sure this event will be as good if not better than the reading in November! Make it out! It's supposed to be nice outside anyway. You have no excuse.

* Edit: the book is co-written, but the poems are not collaborative. Rather, they are each written by the author and the collection was edited by the two of them together-- awesome.

• Saturday 2/11/2012 Philadelphia Sculpture Gym presents: Coldhearted, A Pre-Valentine's Day Art/Craft/Handmade Event  |  Location TBA  |  11am-5pm  |  FREE

Darla Jackson and Justin Grant, co-owners of what will be the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym know how to do a thing right. Therefore, when Darla contacted me and asked if Gigantic Sequins would be interested in tabling at their arts/crafts event, I couldn't say no. In fact, I contacted Splitleaves Press and Turtleneck Press (see below) to see if they wanted to table alongside me, knowing that literature-themed tables work better at art/craft fairs in bulk. We decided to not just sell our literary wares, but also to sell spontaneous poetry. We'll be rattling off Love, Anti-Love, or Other themed poems for your loved ones/parents/friends/enemies/refrigerators for the incredibly friendly price of $3.00 each. We might have envelopes for you to purchase, too, for another spectacularly low price. Support the arts! Support the literary arts! Stop on by on the 11th! Here is a list of some of the other venders. As soon as I have the location information, I will be updating it here as well as on the GS Events page.

HAPPENED

• Sunday 1/29/2012 Turtleneck Press presents: A Launch & Reading by James Tressel & Brian Warfield  | Moonstone Arts & Cultural Center  |  7pm-9pm  |  FREE

I had coffee with Brian Warfield a short while ago, and Brian told use about how he loves small books. He had examples with him. He was adamant. Starting a press is an achievement, yes, but knowing what you like? Even better. Turtleneck Press admires ambition in tiny packages, and both who read here delivered. The readings of the featured writers were interesting, and I almost wish they had read more, though I'm pleased to say I have a copy of each of their books to read at my leisure. Though the writers weren't thematically linked, Tressel said he owed a lot to Warfield when it came to editing his collection for publication, and I thought, Ah, a trusted writer/editor relationship! A thing to be envied. I look forward to reading more that Turtleneck has to put out. Turtleneck is accepting submissions for a few different kinds of books it wants to produce. Consider sending some work.

January: Books Read

Mission: To read (finish) at least 52 books during 2012
Status: 6/52 read

Notes on Books Read:

1-3) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo/The Girl who Played with Fire/The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
At some point, I acquired a (probably free) mass market copy of the first book in this series, and dutifully placed it on my mass market shelf for when a time came that I felt the need to read this book, and perhaps the rest of its series. I do this with things that are overly-hyped (Bolano, Harry Potter, Golden Compass, etc.), I give them time. Too many people who I know had read this book and tried to talk with me about it over the holidays that when it came time to choose what to read next, I figured it was time. I was instantly hooked-- and aggravated that I was, in fact, hooked. Larsson's writing isn't great, and the fact that it's a translation, I'm sure, doesn't help. But his stories are compelling. I found myself disappointed that the man had died after writing these, despite his inability to let his characters eat something/drink coffee without telling his readers what exactly they ate, who asked everyone else if they wanted coffee, and who poured the coffee.

4) If Not, Winter: Fragments by Sappho trans. Anne Carson
I was surprised by how quickly I wanted to read this book, and then again surprised at how much each segment of writing made me want to turn to the back and read an extensive footnote about what was there, where it came from, and what it may have been part of/about.

5) Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: a memoir by Rhoda Janzen
I read this for my book club. I didn't particularly like it. I liked the appendix best. Not really my speed.

6) The End of Beauty by Jorie Graham
I should have liked this book more, but I fell out of love with it because it took me too long to read. I loved it in the beginning, and I think Graham is a masterful poet. But the end poems were at best too vague or dense for my patience. The early poems were on point, and I felt blessed to have discovered this book.

New Year's Resolutions :: 2012

Earlier, I tweeted my New Year’s Resolutions. Please let me begin by saying that I am not big on these things. I’ve never aspired to lose weight, just gain it (don't be a hater.) I don’t have some horrible habit to kick (oh, except wasting time on the internet, but, let’s face it, that’s never going to happen.) And finally, I already recycle, eat healthily, have a decent job, and pay my bills on time. All in all, I am a stand-up citizen.

But this year, well, I fear that I’m falling into a pattern. I’m not big on patterns. They bore me. I like shirts that lack symmetry, for example. Also, I have three holes for earrings in one of my ear lobes and two in the other. I only ever use one of each, but that’s not the point. The point is, I need to step it up. I should probably resolve to not be on the internet as much, but I need the internet for school, so there goes that for breaking up the monotony. Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook & Gmail, don’t sweat it, I’ll still be visiting. Daily.

But I have come up with some legitimate goals for the new year, and I wanted to elaborate from my tweet.

@kimannjosouth tweeted: My #NYResolutions: Get GS nonprofit status, read at least 52 books, send out PhD apps in December, discover 10 new bands that I like.

1) Get GS nonprofit status

This is something that just needs to happen for Gigantic Sequins. I am not the best when it comes to business or legal or mathematic related things. Nonprofit status falls in there somewhere. I’ve done some research, heard it was hard, heard it was easy, had other people do research for me, but it seems like Greek to me when I try to sit down and sort through any of it. I need to sit down with someone, face to face, and have them walk me through the steps, and then send out the forms/money/baked goods, whatever the heck it takes to make it happen. One of our raffles got shut down off of the ‘net by Google Checkout in 2011, and we had to sell the tickets for it in person. This was a shame because we had really good prizes, and our staff didn’t have as much success as we would have in selling the tickets had we been able to push for people to purchase them online. We did have enough success that 3.1 will be hot off the press in a couple of days, but we could have made more had we been able to sell online. One of my former professors offered to help me figure out the best route to take, and I’m going to take him up on it. This needs to happen. It’s important to me and to the future of Gigantic Sequins.

2) Read at least 52 books

I’ve seen people have goals like this in the past. Ever since I’ve been adjuncting, finding time to read has been more difficult in the past. This upcoming semester, however, I will offer no excuses. I’ve already taught the four classes that I am scheduled to teach come January. At Rowan, I have American English Grammar (2 sections) and Experiencing Literature. And at the University of Phoenix, I’m teaching a 5-week class Elements of University Composition and Communication I. This gives me no excuses when it comes to lack of reading time. Sure, I should refresh myself on the details of the shorts stories, poems, and novels I’ll be teaching, but that should not interfere with my reading like it did the first time I taught a literature class. Why 52 books? That’s one book a week. Considering I polish some off in a day, and with dedication, most in no less than a week and a half, that should be easy. I have a list of every book I’ve read (and reread, or read part of—marked as such) since 2001. No partial or rereads count: I want 52 new books added to that list. Any suggestions? I’m currently reading Inferno: a poet’s novel by Eileen Myles. Has someone created an app yet where you plug in books you like and books you’ve read and whether you feel like reading fiction, non-fiction, poetry at this time, and it spits out the perfect book you should read next? Emphasis on the “perfect”? No? Didn’t think so.

3) Send out PhD apps in December

I made this goal back in November after meeting with one of the Deans at one of the Universities I taught at this semester. In my awkward way of talking about things that really mean a lot to me, I told her quite scatteredly about how I want to teach classes on Jay-Z and Walt Whitman and small press poetry and advertising—how I feel like English Departments that aren’t Comp. Lit. departments need to expand before they become completely irrelevant—and how much getting into a good school is important to me. She earnestly said she thinks I’d be a good candidate. Rather than waiting until the summer, I want to start this process now. Doing the research, drafting the perfect Statement, electing past professors as letter-of-recommendation writers. I love teaching at the University level. Let’s make this thing permanent. But wait. There are two things standing in the way, here, more than anything I’ve listed so far. I need to get at least a 600 on the Verbal section of the GRE. And I need to retake the English Subject GRE. Any tips on how not to completely bomb the latter? And any tips on how to pass the former? I was so close last time. But we all know what close counts in.

4) Discover 10 new bands/musical artists that I like

The emphasis here is on “that I like”. And ten may seem like a small number, but I am content to only discover ten. I love music. I love sounds and lyrics. I love them separately, and especially when they come together. I have an extensive collection of music on iTunes, but I’ve found that I haven’t bonded very much with music like I have in the past. This may be a “Symptom of Getting Older”, and is perhaps why so much music is marketed to teenagers and college kids. But I did mention above that I love music. And I am absolutely positive that there is music out there, or even yet to be made in 2012, that I can and will love. And I’m going to find it. 

Exciting Things in the Mail

Today, when I got home from grading papers at Ultimo, two packages were waiting for me in the mailbox. Like Darla Jackson, I love receiving mail. I love sending mail, too. But we'll get there. Often, my mailbox is full of advertisements and bills. I'm still happy when I see my name on the envelope, but I was happier today with what was in that mailbox than I have been for awhile,

First, I took advantage of a deal on litmags and bought the first three issues of the UK journal Popshot for a discounted rate. Boy, am I glad I did so! The mag's "byline" is "Poetry & Illustration", and it delivers as promised. Each issue is an accessible amount of pages. There's nothing like a compact, well done lit journal, in my opinion. And the art is fabulous. I am into lit journals that value their artists' work in the same way that they value their writers' work. Each issue also has a theme, but from flipping through the three copies I have, its theme-ology is loose enough that it doesn't interfere with the quality of the work. They've put out three issues since, and I hope to splurge on the rest of them soon. Let's see how my bank account looks after this holiday season. Yay for Popshot in the mail!

I also received my Night Fruit 7''. Don't be fooled by their bandcamp page, where it says that it won't be released until 12/2012-- Dark Horse is out. Along with the purchase of the vinyl, you get mp3s of the songs, which I have yet to download to my computer, but hey, I can crank open that record player, spin this baby and dig the tunes. PSYCHED.

These 2 packages in the mail make me excited for some upcoming things in my own life-as-a-person-who-visits-the-post-office-often. Being the editor in chief of Gigantic Sequins, I am the person who has the privilege of mailing out our journal when it is released. Since we are sending our 3.1 issue to print this week, this means, soon enough I will be mailing copies of that out to all who have pre-ordered/subscribed. I already posted the cover image to our pre-order page and also to our official website, but because of the beautiful art by Gillian Lambert and the great job on design by Goodloe Byron, it's worth repeating here.

In addition, we'll soon have our GS totebags and t-shirts, that feature our logo, available for purchase. We have a limited supply, so keep checking back if you're interested. I modeled with one of the prototypes for our totebags-- dig it below!

I Re-Read Slaughterhouse-Five to teach it.

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Teaching this book to my Experiencing Literature students at Rowan has truly given me a new perspective on its greatness. I was almost moved to tears addressing the class after we read through chapter 6. We were having a discussion on what a certain passage meant, on how the Tralfamadorian point of view was un-human, how things aren't "stuck in amber" and how we CAN do something to "change the world"-- "do you think Vonnegut thought he could 'change the world' when he wrote this book?" scattered nods and shaking of heads, scattered yeses and nos and idon'tknows. "Does it matter?" No. Even if it is only a little piece of the world around us that we have a positive effect on, it's worth it. Even if our idea of "changing the world" into a more positive place to live only involves encouraging others to read and learn from books like this. It was a gross oversimplification, but something snapped. Clarity rang. They got it. I couldn't breathe.

View all my reviews