I'm watching the nutcracker on PBS

I arrived in Berkeley easily. I tried to go to the Berkeley Bowl to stock up on some food for this evening and tomorrow, but it had already closed by the time I got there. But there's a little Cameroonian restaurant around the corner, so I stopped in and got their vegetarian combo to go--rice, beans, okra, sweet potato, plantains, some kind of spinach dish, and then various sauces, including some very very spicy hot sauce. It was excellent, but they gave me so much I could barely eat a third of it, so I suspect I'll have the rest of it tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm going to...I don't know. Probably do some yoga and read. Maybe go for a walk. Prepare to be social. Make a mask for the SPD/MLA reading.

Breathing Again

My nephew is nearly 2, and is already talking up a storm. He's energetic, inquisitive, and sweet. And he's proof that toddlers aren't always picky eaters: he has his favorites, of course (blueberries) but he'll try almost anything. And he doesn't like potatoes, which means that he doesn't demand to eat fries all the time. I also discovered Quorn, which is really one of the best meat substitutes or meat-free foods I've ever had. I think that I had the "chicken style tenders," which were toothy and had a nice texture.


I stocked up on sumac and dried pears at the Berkeley Bowl, and also bought a copy of The Transformation from Pegasus Books. And I'm going to read it. And I'm also going to take a nap.

Off to Berkeley

But not for poetry, dear readers, for family--four generations of it, in fact.

(Not so) secretly, of course, I want us all to go to Tartine on Saturday. I've already over planed food options. I have to go to Cheeseboard, at least, even if I don't make it all the way across the bay.

Sophomore Slup

Oops. I mean slump. I mean, since when do I get nervous enough when reading to not stick with my always good performance plan?

I'm reading the Back Room Anthology from Clear Cut Press. A collection of essays and creative pieces that were presented at a series of fabulous dinner parties and art events is really perfect for me at the moment. I have just enough brain, but barely.

A few pictures of the Fold Appropriate event at Pegasus Books and my weekend in Berkeley in general are up on my flickr account.

Also, I learned today that Germany has a year of mandatory military or volunteer service for all male German citizens. Women can go to, but it is not required.

Various Families 1

Well, according to Erin, my Dad and Mary and sisters are moving to Singapore. Yay!

My aunt (mom's older sister) who doesn't communicate with either me or my mom has been sending Liam (my nephew) gifts. My aunt harbors hostility towards me and my mother for reasons we can only guess at. But regardless of hostility, my aunt and my grandmother like men. They are ladies accustomed to gentlemen callers. My brother is obviously a man. And Liam is obviously a boy--so they get letters. This is my theory.

Liam is one and a half years old. He is the only child I've ever known at that age who responds clearly to yes/no questions. He also uses baby sign language (mostly the sign for "more" and "all done") that he's learned at the early learning center (being on faculty at UC Berkeley has several benefits, including access to good education). Bryan and Erin speak to him like he is a person, which he is, and as a result he has these startling communication skills. It's very cool.

My brother, now in his 30s was fun and even relaxed.

Most men I know and have known in their 20s are, well, unpleasant. Not stupid, but rarely wise, and often jerks. Perhaps most women in their 20s are this way, too. Certainly one's 20s are a time for drama and sometimes bad choices.

That I often too readily accept the fact that most men I know and have known in their 20s are unpleasant is a problem. More directly: this is one of the many ways I support patriarchal social norms. I'm also certain that this stance is to blame for a substantial part of my psychological angst. (Psychic angst? Emotional angst? Etc).

Mark, Lester and I had pasta with pesto and sun-dried tomatoes for dinner. A good dinner to have on a Monday after traveling. Lester is preening on my lap. Tomorrow I'm going to rearrange his cage with some of the new toys I bought him this weekend. When one of the women at the bird store found out that my bird is a parrotlet, she said, "Ooo, those little birds are mean. They bite! I'd sooner approach a macaw any day."

I am still in Berkeley

I ate ice cream today. The reading was fun, although I was randomly nervous and didn't read quite as long as I should have, but I read well, I think. I will blog about this more after I get home. My nephew is great.

Packing List

Mark and I are off to Berkeley tomorrow to for the Fold Appropriate reading/party and to eat a lot of good Berkeley food and spend some time with my frere and mon nephew, Liam.

I am bringing:

• All my procedural work to pick from to read
• Stuff to give away, trade, and sell (Moving Walkways, a few extra chaps)
• Black patent peep-toe heels, with a very high heel that is still somehow sturdy and walkable
• Clothing with sequins
• Clothing without sequins
• Requiem, by Teresa Carmody
• Nine-Headed Dragon River: Zen Journals 1969-1982, by Peter Matthiessen
• A flask of scotch

Fold Appropriate Release Party in Berkeley

Mark and I are going to be in Berkeley this weekend (along with many other excellent folks). Come say hello!

Saturday August 18 at 7:30pm at Pegasus Books in downtown Berkeley (2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94704 * 510.649.1320)

Come celebrate the release of the first issue of FOLD MAGAZINE, Fold Appropriate Text, published by Insert Press. Featuring readings by Franklin Bruno, Guy Bennett, Teresa Carmody, Marcus Civin, Vanessa Place, Michael Smoler and more. Plus you can buy yourself a copy of this gorgeous literary journal at a discount (very exciting)!

If you’re going to be in San Francisco on Saturday, August 18 at 7:30pm, join us for another launch party at Pegasus Books in downtown Berkeley and hear readings by Franklin Bruno, K. Lorraine Graham, William Moor, Mathew Timmons, and Mark Wallace.

The emphasis of this issue is on the use of borrowed, stolen, plundered, reused, retooled and/or sampled texts to create literature and includes essays by Mark Wallace and Guy Bennett that discuss these methods. Our intent is to present the work of writers who use text which they did not originate and do not own or own only by virtue of appropriation.

Contributors to Fold Appropriate Text are: Harold Abramowitz, Guy Bennett, Franklin Bruno, Teresa Carmody, Marcus Civin, Katie Degentesh, Drew Gardner, Nada Gordon, K. Lorraine Graham, Jen Hofer, Mark Hoover, Mike Magee, Sharon Mesmer, K. Silem Mohammad, William Moor, Bruna Mori, JeffreyJoe Nelson, Vanessa Place, Dan Richert, Rod Smith, Michael Smoler, Mark Wallace

Insert Press is edited by Stan Apps and Mathew Timmons. Insert Press has published chapbooks THREE COLUMN TABLE by Harold Abramowitz and ABSURD GOOD NEWS by Julien Poirier. HANDSOME FISH OFFICES by Ara Shirinyan, the first perfectbound book published by Insert Press is forthcoming.

Visit InsertPress for more information and to purchase fine literature.