birthday-centric: Ned Rorem

Ned Rorem. Well, what can one write about the man who has written about himself so extensively during the past six decades?

Just to type out all his musical compositions would be a project. A 1976 Pulitzer Prize recipient for the suite Air Music, Rorem has written several operas, most notably Miss Julie and Our Town. Additionally, there are dozens and dozens of symphonies, concertos, chamber pieces, solo vocal & instrumental pieces and songs. For me, the sheer volume of his work is astounding. I chose two videos of his music that are quite different. I think the visuals of both work nicely with the music. Please listen, enjoy and then do a little searching on your own to see what else you find.

Along with his prolific and enduring musical career, Rorem has written sixteen books. As a young man he traveled to Europe and ended up living in Paris for much of the 1950's. When The Paris Diary of Ned Rorem was published in 1966 it created quite an uproar. Not only did Rorem write openly about his sexuality, he also wrote about affairs he'd had with the likes of Noel Coward and Leonard Bernstein.

Over the years he has drawn inspiration from the works of writers such as Rothke, Auden, Whitman and Frank O'Hara. Much of his recent musical works and writings grapple with aging and loss: Evidence of Things Not Seen--the title from a work by James Baldwin--is a 36 song opus about the hope of youth & wisdom of old age and Another Sleep--a 2000 work based on Milton & Shakespeare--was written as a memorial to Jim Holmes, Rorem's lover of thirty years.

Many of Rorem's books have been reissued or are still in print. You can buy or order them from your local bookstore (find yours at IndieBound here) or get them from the public library (find yours here). Lastly, I'm linking to a 2005 interview with the candid Ned Rorem -- enjoy it here.

Please: Show Your Spirit Oct. 20th!

not much more to say, really:

Birthday-centric: Oscar Wilde

Grab some veils & dance a dance to celebrate Oscar Wilde, born October 16th, 1854. Who doesn't know something that he wrote, whether it be The Picture of Dorian Gray or Salome? And most of us have probably suffered through an excruciating high school production of The Importance of Being Earnest - the one I experienced put me off Wilde for years and is nothing like the recent Broadway production that made me wish I lived in New York.

It's interesting how entwined Wilde's life and art have become. Read up on Wilde's life at the online encyclopedia glbtq. If you've not read much of his work, most of it is readily available at your local library (find yours here).

I'll leave you with a few quotes lifted from the internet. Toss them around and make your day just that much more gay.

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.”
“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”
“You can never be overdressed or overeducated.”
“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.”

'Fall' Into homo-centric Thurs. Oct. 20th

This month Wayne Hoffman will be here all the way from the East Coast to spend an evening in East L.A. Multi-talented raconteur David LeBarron is coming to tell a queer children's story to appease & inspire all our inner children. Eriq Moreno will be reading a selection from his writings about life in L.A.'s Skid Row.

Wayne Hoffman is the author of Sweet Like Sugar, a new novel about fate, faith, and the rocky friendship between a young gay man and an elderly rabbi. His first novel, Hard, focused on sex, politics, AIDS activism, and more sex. Several of his stories appear in anthologies: about phone sex and Hebrew school (Generation Q), leather bars and Princess Diana (Bar Stories), public sex and Patsy Cline (Best Gay Stories 2010), and Jim Palmer’s underwear (I Like It Like That).A longtime journalist, he has written for the Washington Post, Village Voice, Billboard, The Forward, Frontiers, and elsewhere. He lives in New York City.

International glamor sensation David LeBarron has been telling stories since he had hair. He spins stories for children, adults and even hipsters. His latest masterpiece The Sex Life of Achilles played the Hollywood Fringe to nice bit of press. His next endeavor Faerie Love Lost is headed to Broadway…or another street in downtown LA…maybe. He just released a new story on Gothtober.com (click the 8th) called Jennimaya’s Revenge and is off his  oh-my-god-is-it-friggin-done-yet CD Stories from a Magical World.

  He also trips the fantastic each year as he hosts a benefit for Kageno and rubs with the NYC elite. He’d like to thank the little people which, from his perspective, is almost everyone not in the NBA. He is currently working on stories for GLBT youth or children of GBLT (and any other letter he may be forgetting) parents. Please enjoy him at davidlebarron.com and talesofthetribe.com (children specific website).

Eriq Moreno, 30, is a native Angelino and resident of Skid Row. He is graduate of L.A's Public Schools and has taken Culinary Arts Courses. His interests include Photography, Cooking, Dance, Existential Philosophy, LGBT & Human Rights Activism and music ranging from Billie Holiday and Madonna to Chemical Brothers and Aterciopelados. He is currently writing about life on L.A's Skid Row. His life's motto comes from the Japanese Proverb: "Fall Down Seven, Stand Up Eight."

Hank Henderson curates this swell-e-gant evening of queer words floating around the outside patio at Stories Books
1716 Sunset Blvd. in the L.A. 90026 between Le Moyne & Logan. Metered parking available in the lot behind the bookstore & along Sunset Blvd. Map here.
Dress accordingly, the Echo Parque noches can get cool so bring a wrap.

Please come early and support the store & cafe!
We usually get there around 7pm to
* Order a coffee or tea & have some of the cafe's great food!
* Hang out & meet other writers.
* Wander the aisles & buy a book.

Remember that we depend on the word of mouth - so tell a friend, and bring two or three! See you there!

homo-centric 'Falls' on Oct 20th this month!

Remembrance of Things I Forgot with Bob Smith & Friends Oct. 5th

Set your time machine arrival time for Wednesday, October 5th
as homo-centric welcomes Bob Smith signing his new book Remembrance of Things I Forgot.

Reading selections from the novel will be
Mark Davis
Terrence Michael and
Dawn Westlake.

Stories Books & Cafe is located at 1716 Sunset Blvd in L.A.'s 90026, right in the heart of Echo Park. Map here.

Born in Buffalo, Bob Smith has the distinction of being the first openly gay comedian to appear on The Tonight Show and also have his own HBO Comedy Half-hour. Bob's first book 'Openly Bob' won the Lambda Literay Award. His first novel Selfish and Perverse was one of three finalists for the Edmund White Debut Fiction Award. His second novel Remembrance of Things I Forgot has been getting great reviews, but Bob is more proud that his two favorite comic novelists, Armistead Maupin and Stephen McCauley both posted on Facebook that they loved it.

Bob’s super-talented readers are Terrence Michael, brilliant founder, performer and writer of the acclaimed sketch group, The Nellie Olsons.

Mark Davis was one of the first out comics to appear on television and wrote the hilarious and moving one-man show, ‘”Faggot with a Gun.”

Dawn Westlake is the award-winning director, writer, producer and actress of her internationally acclaimed films.

Here's a preview of the book. Come and listen. It should prove to be a time-traveling extravaganza!

Book Trailer: "Remembrance of Things I Forgot: A Novel", by Bob Smith from Stephane Goldsand on Vimeo.