Mar 30, 2011
Paul Verlaine's Birthday - March 30, 1841
It's one of those odd things that happens in life - I'm reading a bio of Rimbaud & today's Paul Verlaine's birthday. Biographers call him decadent, tempestuous, one who led a life that 'wavered between criminality and naive innocence.' Today we'd call him a hot mess. Here's a short bio from queertheory.com. You can dive in and read some of his work at Poetry in Translation.
Mar 28, 2011
Frank O'Hara's Birthday
During the Tennesee Williams-ness of yesterday, Frank O'Hara's birthday slipped past unnoticed. frankohara.org is a great place to start with O'Hara. Local libraries also have plenty of his work - Did you know he also wrote prose and plays? We also recommend Joe LeSueur's Digressions on Some Poems By Frank O'Hara: A Memoir.You can also go to Poem Hunter and check out some of his work.
Here's a short O'Hara poem:
Mar 27, 2011
Sunday Video: Tennesse Williams
There were four things that helped me realize my homo-centricity when I was growing up in the Midwestern 1970's: Two were the Kauchak brothers in the locker room after freshman P.E.
Another was crushing hard on Michael York in Cabaret & thrilling to his retort to Sally Bowle's comment - He said, "Screw Maximillian!" She said, "I do." Then he said, "So do I," and my beating heart sent one hundred thousand thanks to the heavens for letting the movie air on TV the same night as my Dad went bowling.
Then there was Brando.
To this day I feel the first shot of Brando as Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the best movie entrances ever and all he really did was stand there. I was electrified. Streetcar introduced me to Tennessee Williams. It was a journey that mesmerized me. Later on as a theater major I read the plays, discussed them, wrote about them and of course, acted them. I've reveled in the film versions and all their histories including and especially the de-homosexualization of most film versions of Williams' works. And yet, all these decades later they still burn holes in the screens they're shown on.
Williams would have been 100 today. His words showed me the aching beauty of life, the pain of wanting, the glory of loss, tragedy I feared, and lives grand, foreign and strange yet the same as what I dreamed of. His works were as brazen as the older Kauchak brother slinging his towel over his glistening shoulder as he swaggered all shiny wet from the showers to his locker to get dressed.
So here's your Sunday video, folks. Swagger on.
Another was crushing hard on Michael York in Cabaret & thrilling to his retort to Sally Bowle's comment - He said, "Screw Maximillian!" She said, "I do." Then he said, "So do I," and my beating heart sent one hundred thousand thanks to the heavens for letting the movie air on TV the same night as my Dad went bowling.
To this day I feel the first shot of Brando as Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the best movie entrances ever and all he really did was stand there. I was electrified. Streetcar introduced me to Tennessee Williams. It was a journey that mesmerized me. Later on as a theater major I read the plays, discussed them, wrote about them and of course, acted them. I've reveled in the film versions and all their histories including and especially the de-homosexualization of most film versions of Williams' works. And yet, all these decades later they still burn holes in the screens they're shown on.
Williams would have been 100 today. His words showed me the aching beauty of life, the pain of wanting, the glory of loss, tragedy I feared, and lives grand, foreign and strange yet the same as what I dreamed of. His works were as brazen as the older Kauchak brother slinging his towel over his glistening shoulder as he swaggered all shiny wet from the showers to his locker to get dressed.
So here's your Sunday video, folks. Swagger on.
Mar 20, 2011
Sunday Video: Bob Smith
You might have noticed that the World's been tossing a lot of intense stuff around. Personally, I've decided to go on a news fast for a couple days, especially since Los Angeles is once again imitating Seattle & we're under a sky that's as gray as--well, you're all literary types, come up with your own rainy day simile!
You may know this week's Sunday video speaker as funny Bob the comedian, or Bob Smith the TV writer or as Openly Bob which is the title of one of his books.
He has a new book coming out called Remembrance Of Things I Forgot. It doesn't even come out until June but people are talking about it--a lot. I'm excited to read it, too.
Anyway, as an anecdote to the overall gray I offer you Bob Smith as a respite from the whatever-it-is-you-want-to-ignore-for-a-bit. Enjoy your Sunday video.
You may know this week's Sunday video speaker as funny Bob the comedian, or Bob Smith the TV writer or as Openly Bob which is the title of one of his books. He has a new book coming out called Remembrance Of Things I Forgot. It doesn't even come out until June but people are talking about it--a lot. I'm excited to read it, too.
Anyway, as an anecdote to the overall gray I offer you Bob Smith as a respite from the whatever-it-is-you-want-to-ignore-for-a-bit. Enjoy your Sunday video.
Mar 14, 2011
Green & Bear It This Week!
Whatever happens on St. Patrick's Day usually results in one bangin' hangover. If you're tired of knocking back pitchers of green beer with Grandma on St. Pat's, then why not switch up your tradition & join homo-centric this year?
This Thursday March 17th we're gathering together at Stories Books for homo-centric's Green & Bear It. Check out who's reading:
Lucy, who often alternately goes by Benji, is a nerd with a big, queer heart. A transplant from the east coast, ze is a resident of Echo Park who splits hir time between an engineering day job and a passion for organizing in trans and gender diverse communities. Benji is in the thick of an activist stage of coming out as queerly gendered, so if you have any questions about what that means, feel free to ask Benji after the reading.
Elizabeth Colen was born in the Midwest, has lived in the North- and Southeast, and currently resides in the Pacific Northwest. She is the author of prose poetry collection Money for Sunsets (Steel Toe Books, 2010) and forthcoming fiction chapbook Dear Mother Monster, Dear Daughter Mistake (Rose Metal Press, 2011).
Japhy Grant At 12, Japhy wrote an article about camping with his Dad that was published in the local newspaper, giving him a lifelong desire to share stories with as many people as possible. His writing and reporting has been seen in Salon, The New York Observer, True/Slant, The Huffington Post & The Advocate. An alumnus of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Japhy moved to L.A after his TV pilot, Zoom Kitty was optioned to Jim Henson Productions. He’s directed music videos for bands like Grizzly Bear and ads for clients like BCBG / Max Azria and is the founder of JStrike Studio and the creator of the new comedy web series, FOODIES.
Stephen van Dyck is a recent CalArts MFA graduate. He curated the Washington Blvd & San Fernando Rd Concerts in 2008/09, all-day arts events where 80+ artists & citizens re-imagined unused urban space along the entire lengths of these streets (27 miles each) with installations, performances & car pool happenings. A similar event is in the works for Sepulveda Boulevard in 2011. He's currently amidst completion of his 1st book, "People I've Met from the Internet," a conceptual writing project, coming out/coming of age story & field study in the form of a very long annotated list.
And don't forget to make Echo Park your complete & only necessary St. Paddy's destination. Join us after homo-centric & go see Sounds of Asteroth play down the block at the Echo. All this in one big, green gay night!
Join us at 7:30 for homo-centric at Stories Books. Then after, walk two whole blocks and catch SoA's 9:30 show! Annnd, yes we're bribing you with the price: Free! Not one single gold coin from your pot o' gold!
Remember, Stories Books is at 1716 Sunset Blvd in the 90026. Map here.
This Thursday March 17th we're gathering together at Stories Books for homo-centric's Green & Bear It. Check out who's reading:
Lucy, who often alternately goes by Benji, is a nerd with a big, queer heart. A transplant from the east coast, ze is a resident of Echo Park who splits hir time between an engineering day job and a passion for organizing in trans and gender diverse communities. Benji is in the thick of an activist stage of coming out as queerly gendered, so if you have any questions about what that means, feel free to ask Benji after the reading. 
Elizabeth Colen was born in the Midwest, has lived in the North- and Southeast, and currently resides in the Pacific Northwest. She is the author of prose poetry collection Money for Sunsets (Steel Toe Books, 2010) and forthcoming fiction chapbook Dear Mother Monster, Dear Daughter Mistake (Rose Metal Press, 2011).
Japhy Grant At 12, Japhy wrote an article about camping with his Dad that was published in the local newspaper, giving him a lifelong desire to share stories with as many people as possible. His writing and reporting has been seen in Salon, The New York Observer, True/Slant, The Huffington Post & The Advocate. An alumnus of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Japhy moved to L.A after his TV pilot, Zoom Kitty was optioned to Jim Henson Productions. He’s directed music videos for bands like Grizzly Bear and ads for clients like BCBG / Max Azria and is the founder of JStrike Studio and the creator of the new comedy web series, FOODIES. 
Stephen van Dyck is a recent CalArts MFA graduate. He curated the Washington Blvd & San Fernando Rd Concerts in 2008/09, all-day arts events where 80+ artists & citizens re-imagined unused urban space along the entire lengths of these streets (27 miles each) with installations, performances & car pool happenings. A similar event is in the works for Sepulveda Boulevard in 2011. He's currently amidst completion of his 1st book, "People I've Met from the Internet," a conceptual writing project, coming out/coming of age story & field study in the form of a very long annotated list.And don't forget to make Echo Park your complete & only necessary St. Paddy's destination. Join us after homo-centric & go see Sounds of Asteroth play down the block at the Echo. All this in one big, green gay night!
Join us at 7:30 for homo-centric at Stories Books. Then after, walk two whole blocks and catch SoA's 9:30 show! Annnd, yes we're bribing you with the price: Free! Not one single gold coin from your pot o' gold!
Remember, Stories Books is at 1716 Sunset Blvd in the 90026. Map here.
Mar 13, 2011
Sunday Video: Dennis Cooper
Dennis Cooper's writing is scattered among my bookshelves like memories of past boyfriends. Turned on, fascinated, horrified and intrigued, I couldn't look away as I fell in love, ached, wanted and hurt. For me, Cooper's writing was Queer when I wore the label like a brand burned into my flesh; I wanted to smear his words across my body.
Cooper's art expands out from prose & poetry into theater and visual art. You can find out more about him at his website and pick up his work at a local bookstore or library. I couldn't make a decision so today I offer two Sunday videos. I know the time change extends the daylight this evening, but maybe you can watch these after dark. Enjoy your Sunday videos with Dennis Cooper.
Mar 6, 2011
Sunday Video: Frank O'Hara
Mark Doty describes Frank O'Hara's poetry as “often casual, relaxed in diction, yet it presses forward with a kind of breathless urgency, a will to celebrate the density and richness of experience—in all its refusal to be summed up, to marshal itself into an orderly vision—by including as much as possible. Many of these pieces have been labeled "I do this, I do that" poems; they report whole chunks of experience, days of walking, conversing, noticing, with careful specificity. Place-names and the names of friends and acquaintances abound; paradoxically, their inclusion seems to make the poems more universal, more available, convinced as we are by their artfully shaped controlling tone of the authenticity of the speaker’s voice.”
My favorite poems by Frank O'Hara are those that are written about the simplest of moments. One in particular - 'At the Old Place' - is a celebratory four stanza poem about dancing with friends. I've uploaded a PDF copy of it if you'd like to read it.
One of my favorite books about any writer is Joe LeSueur's Digressions on Some Poems By Frank O'Hara: A Memoir. It's a wonderfully written bio, memoir, and love story about a friend/roommate/sometime lover. The book includes some of O'Hara's work followed by anecdotes and background connected to the poems. It is also a vivid portrait of the New York art & poetry scene of that time. I highly recommend it.
The libraries are filled with O'Hara's books. Why not grab a friend, hop the train & go downtown to check out some O'Hara poetry or a bio from the library. Then stop and have a Coke. Remember, it's the simple things.
Enjoy your Sunday Video: Frank O'Hara reading 'Having a Coke With You.'
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