Consumption Day

Days of giving, much pleasure. Today was unto me.

This gritty, drizzly Boxing Day was one of input. I had a BLT club with my former poetry student Eve Louise Tulbert, played a hand of Royalty with tea, then went out to Media Play, which is closing. I've shopped there maybe once ever, but I wasn't above scoring on their 30-50% off sale.

I got many things I've wanted for a long time. Some were silly (Corinna, Corinna, The Best of Mike Myers), some were covted (The Tick TV series, Angels in America) some just self indulgent because I have them on tape (FM Destiny Rules, Seal 2, Joan Osborne's Relish) but I managed to pass up Arthur and Rush (the movie). Ok, stop laughing now.

Tonight was wine and Christmas cookies with jennimi, and then an hour in the tub finishing James Young's Nico: The End. This is dark, well-written, and sometimes very funny account by the piano player on the Teutonic chanteuse.

Lines inspired:

sake for the dry god
slamming guitar case, door
fan leaves blossom tears

former colleague
enshrouded in smoke
from her bitter vocal

pink girl
pulped on sidewalk
17 year old star

with many eyes open
we enter your city
and head for the heart.

Happy Solstice

May you find light always.

This Evening, Only Words

...can capture the sight of moonlight on snow, walking up the dark path...

...can record what fine form boy and guitar were in....

... can tell of the guy, bundled and bearded, alone in midnight's wind chill & empty street with shopping cart half-full of bottles, who stopped for a moment outside the window of the bar to listen--

"It's getting better all the time--"

who moved on....

Perspectives

(culled from Newsweek, December 19, 2005, p.29)

win thought out.

lying during price

booty shown special

forgive fat.

doing big iceberg

I read papers

happy school

God women disorderly

got clean

cleaner than clean.

Credit the reader.

Low Spark of Cheese Fondue

"It was the 70's, man; nobody cooked. Fondue, man!" - kteela

Jenimi and I went to the Shadow Lounge tonight for martinis and fondue. Wow.

I recommend an item not on that menu: The mushroom-steak skewers with a deeply flavored cheese fondue. This fondue, by the way, is not the gloppy stuff ou may be thinking of, but a delicious creamy sauce which is true comfort food while being elegant. We also enjoyed* the rum martini Rangotini, with mango rum, raspberry rum and a variety of fruit juices.

This place would be fun for a happy hour, a first (romantic) date, or a birthday party.

* this is a lovely euphemism, but I can't, at the moment, think of a better word.

Aside: does anyone else find the blogger Word Verification character strongs vaguely sexy? Thought not.

Lifehack Your Books: Dogear, Writing In Books, and Apologizing to Librarians

"I personally believe that there is no greater respect that can be shown a book than by using it."

It's Only Been An Hour, But I Think I'm in Love

I found and downloaded Media Monkey to organize my music files. Can you believe I've been using Winamp/folder organization by hand for all this time?

I am in geeky ecstasy tonight, correcting and organizing.

***

It is icy here today, and I bought some beautiful red tulips at Chuck's Ex-cel.

***

Pet Peeve of a thousand years: The sound of carbonated drink being poured and foaming, and just about any other sound in a Pepsi ad.

Memories....(snitched from cydniey)

If you read this, if your eyes are passing over this right now, (even if we don't speak often) please post a comment with a COMPLETELY MADE UP AND FICTIONAL memory of you and me. It can be anything you want - good or bad - BUT IT HAS TO BE FAKE.

When you're finished, post this little paragraph on your blog and be surprised (or mortified) about what people DON'T ACTUALLY remember about you.

The Dream

For many years, I've had a dream. That dream of making properly printed t-shirts ith my anarchist librarian motif.

The original t-shirt utilized fabric paint to write the word "Librarian" with a big fat anarchy A in place of the first 'a'. On the back, a closed fist (think Black Power) with letters spelling out READ on the knuckles.

I want now to make these t-shirts and to sell them through Cafe Press.

With this email, I am soliticing proposals and designs for both front and back. I am interested in designs which use the ideas above or ones of your own creation. With your design (should you choose to submit!), please submit your proposal for costs and your cut, be it monetary, product or barter. I think I would prefer to acquire the design outright, since I have no idea what profit, if any, I'd ever make on these.

Resolution, file type and other image specificiations here:
http://www.cafepress.com/cp/info/help/images.aspx

I am especially interesting in selling black t-shurts with this design, which require somewhat different design thinking: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/learn/blackshirts .


Deadline: January 15, 2006
Please contact me with questions, and feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested.

I liked this:

• "I think all we need is three people to talk with from time to time. One of them a realist, one an idealist, and the other a romanticist."--from Allura
• Ten Tricks to Teach Your Body: 2. Experience supersonic hearing!

  If you're stuck chatting up a mumbler at a cocktail party, lean in with your right ear. It's better than your left at following the rapid rhythms of speech, according to researchers at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. If, on the other hand, you're trying to identify that song playing softly in the elevator, turn your left ear toward the sound. The left ear is better at picking up music tones.

• Fans still gather to celebrate John Lennon's life at Strawberry Fields.
  
• British courts outlaw use of evidence gained in torture.
• 

Someone Save My Butter Rum....

I've been a little worried about Lifesavers since back when they wanted to get rid of Pineapple.

I noticed recently that I couldn't find Lifesavers anywhere. I checked 7 stores, both drugstores and grocery stores, and found exactly two rolls of Wint-O-Greens. You can still sometimes get the regular fruit flavor, but often as not, it is in oversized gummy form.

I have been loyal to Wint-O-Green since elemtary school bus days, when I often got nauseated on the ride home. My loving Gram provided me with multiple rolls of these (Peppermint, too) and it's been a habit of mine since then to have some around.


Another sweet memory is of my father bringing home Butter Rum Lifesavers for me. (I think I also associated them with his favorite drink, Rum and Pepsi!)


So, being a librarian, I resorted to researching to find out where the Lifesavers had gone. I came across the news that Wrigley bought the band in June of 2005. While they list LS as a product, the page which "feaures" them gives a "The page cannot be found error."

I felt my heart sink at this. Doesn't yours? They seem to be going the way of old-time-candy. Sigh.

Trivia: Find out why Lifesavers are so named.

There sure are some lovely things in the world.

Kythryne's gorgeous wirework jewlery and earrings. She titles her works. It's amazing they don't cost thousands of dollars. One day they will, I'll bet.

Socks.

Open Studios this weekend here in Buffalo.

Kate Bush's Aerial.

A dear friend's face close by.

More Than This

Today's music: "Sunrise" by The Who, Kate Bush's new Aerial, and the OBC soundtrack to RENT.

Today's food: nothing good yet, but I sure feel like having something special. (I think it will be eggplant parm from Santasiero's, with a side of spaghetti.)

Today's agenda: paying bills, clearing desk, straightening the house, staying out of the wet snow. Tonight, happy hour and then The Possums at Sportsmen's....an early night, for tomorrow I teach.

More of this?

Pencil-Necked Geek

Last week I organized the contents of my bathroom drawers into ten ziploc bags. I still have the afterglow.

Tonight I started a grocery price book. Total, righteous fun.

And I messed with my wish list, of which these items are most desired:

Hoover steam-vac Jr.
Sims2
Karma Soap from Lush
3WA Greeting Cards (3-Side Lovely Motion)
Refusing Heaven, poems by Jack Gilbert
Reading is Sexy t-shirt
cats-eye sunglasses
Angels in America DVD
Humboldt Fog cheese
light therapy light

***

I had one of the loveliest Thanksgivings in years. In fact, I had two.

I am making plans to visit Oaxaca, Mexico, in January, and can't wait.

I recieved in the mail a copy of the oral history Stan did for the library school, and loved that I will go down in history as evil, smart, and having long red hair. That's plenty.

Much of my life is being documented at Flickr these days, so click the sidebar.

Whee!

The best piece I've read on where the House of Representatives at at regarding the war.

Looking for enlightenment in the grain of a wooden floor.

Allen Johnson's Another You opens in Seattle. Read the response.

SF in Jello

This is just fantastic.

Please remember to vote.

Thank you.

I've Been Everywhere...almost.



create your own visited states map.

Allentown History

Mark Goldman has a beautiful "chapter" on the glorious and sometimes gritty Allentown neighborhood in Buffalo, today at Buffalo Rising.

Collage of the Season

I've been working on this leaf collage for a few weeks.

I collected leaf samples, made models to trace, and spent some time cutting out individual pieces. Tonight, the gluing.






This is how it looked before I glued--much freer, no?






(You can see more of my collage here, if you want.)

On Journal Writing

Sometime this summer, I stopped writing every day in my journal. It wasn't a conscious decision, but over time I came to realize that I did so for a number of reasons.

First, I had written nearly every day for 25 years. And I realized that, on some level, I was using it as a "counting up" of bad and good things that happened; for me that meant I was never letting them go, to just be moments, but stringing them together into some sort of "meaning" which, often as not, made me feel rather grim.

Weirdly....I don't really miss it. I feel freer in some ways. I do find my recall of specific days is not as sharp, but that's often an okay thing.

Warm Wine

A murder of crows is massing on our block, as they often do this time of year. The caw-caw-calling shakes us at sunset and dawn.

Tonight, as a tonic for hunger, melacholy and a feeling of alone-ness, I opened one of my hoarded bottles of "Holiday Spice Wine", which my cron(i)es and I save for this time of the year. None of them are here, so I heated just enough for one and am holding it now in my glass. It is still too warm to sip, but the aroma intoxicates. It's sweet and spicy and full of speech, somehow: "Calm down, now. Feelings are not facts. You are minutes from company, a month from actual information. Live in the present moment. Sip."

"Earth's Most Beautiful Season..."

...as Jim Duggan always used to say.

This is one of my favorite (and sort of secret) spots in Western New York.

Mariah and I went there for a romp to celebrate her fifth birthday. The whole place smells like fallen apples.

Automatic enrollment in ROTC provokes protest at high school By MARK SOMMER News Staff Reporter 10/6/2005
	Click to view larger picture Andrew Norman/Buffalo News Wendy Van Scoter, a Lovejoy area resident, says her 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer Brown, was placed in Junior ROTC without her knowledge. She said she never received a letter from the school. Unless they opted out, freshmen at Hutchinson-Central Technical High School were automatically enrolled this fall in Junior ROTC. About 300 parents of freshmen received letters in August, informing them their children would be enrolled in the daily, 42-minute program unless they objected before the start of school. About 190 students at the school on South Elmwood Avenue were in the program when classes began. The number dropped to 157 following objections by parents and students, who were reassigned to study hall. Now, the New York Civil Liberties Union is demanding that the practice be stopped. "The school has engaged in a blatant violation of students' and parents' rights under the state education law by auto-enrolling freshmen in Junior ROTC," said Donna Lieberman, the NYCLU's executive director. "Under the law the school has no authority to enroll a student in Junior ROTC without prior written parental consent." State education law says "enrollment and participation in [Junior ROTC] is voluntary on the part of the student, and written consent of a parent or guardian is [required]." Principal David Greco, a strong supporter of Junior ROTC, said he believes the policy is legal and does not violate state education law. "I don't feel I have done anything wrong," Greco said. "Any parent that didn't comply in time with their child was processed out of the class in a reasonable manner." Greco said he was following a little-known provision of the federal No Child Left Behind law - and not the state law on Junior ROTC - that makes federal funding for schools contingent on providing the military with student contact lists. Also under the law, the schools are required to let students and/or their parents opt off such lists. Wendy Van Scoter, a Lovejoy area resident, said her 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer Brown, had been placed in Junior ROTC without her knowledge. She said she never received a letter from the school. "My daughter wanted to be in band. She didn't want to be in [Junior ROTC]," Scoter said. Van Scoter said she appealed to an assistant superintendent, who told her time had passed for changing her daughter's schedule. Jennifer, who plays clarinet, wasn't switched to band until Tuesday, after producing a note from her doctor. "I feel I had the right to decide," Van Scoter said. Bruce Beyer, whose daughter, Elizabeth, is a friend of Jennifer's, said he was angry over what he called a "renegade recruitment operation." "This is crazy. This isn't the draft. . . . It's high school," said Beyer, who said he believes parents and students now enrolled in the program should be asked if their participation is voluntary. Beyer, a longtime opponent of military activity on campus, was arrested in 1968 as one of the "ROTC 19," which, during the Vietnam War era, helped remove the program from the University at Buffalo - one of many schools during that period that to drop it. Yet Beyer said he has no objection to the high school offering Junior ROTC if it obtains written consent. "As long as people don't know their rights, a man like Mr. Greco can do pretty much what ever he wants," Beyer said. He also wondered about placing ROTC in Buffalo Public Schools. "I would bet 10-to-1 that there is not much ROTC recruiting going on in Amherst, Williamsville or Clarence," he said. The Army program, which is not offered in Buffalo's suburbs, also operates in McKinley and South Park high schools, where written consent is required, according to retired Lt. Col. James McNicholas, Junior ROTC's project administrator for Buffalo Public Schools. After being told of parental concerns, McNicholas said school system officials will have to re- examine Hutch-Central Technical's apparent conflict with state law. "We need to have some type of legal advice as to whether or not what we have done is OK, or if we need to change the way we are approaching it," McNicholas said. Promising a review, James Keane, chief of staff for the Buffalo Public Schools, said, "We are looking into it and anticipate changes to the current practice." Lieberman, of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said a change must be made. "It seems to me that the law is pretty clear here," she said, "and it doesn't allow schools to compel students to enroll in a military program."

Publication

I have a long poem, "Abecedary (Amsterdam)" in the new
issue of Not Just Air. You can also hear me reading if
you click on the microphone to the left of the poem.

http://www.sundress.net/notjustair/issues/issue3/NJA3.html#CeliaWhite

Poor Lucky Me

The Musician came to visit sick little me this evening, bringing aspirin, chamomile tea, and Chinese takeout. He lay around on my bed with me, playing Royalty and listening to music, drinking tea. He is always the best of company, but it's extra kind when one feels unwell.

Oh, and he did the dishes. *fs*

From the Beeb, Of Course

This is one of the best things I've read on Katrina and how journalism may actually bring truth and accountability back to America.

Moonflower, abloom outside Nietzsche's.

Moonflowers bloom only for a day or two, and only at night. The scent is soft and sweet.

Like, As In

I like the weight of the old Sharp remote in my hand, though I can no longer read the numbers. I like the hour of repose: five minutes worrying about that recognizeable car outside, five minutes talking to Kristianne about bee-stings, five minutes of talk about Five Angels Cafe, five minutes in the hallway with a Tim Snow painting, five minutes on Whitman with Tim McPeek. I like driving down dark Elmwood past lightless bikers and pididdle cop cars, to the last 15 minutes of the first day open of the Lexington Co-op in the new space. I like snapping the little buds from the basil plant when it is time. I like Lush's Karma Soap and how the room smells later when I return to it. I like beating and brushing my rugs from Petra on the clothesline after the rain. I like looking things up in my MLA Style Guide. I like the dog's love when she's happy to see me. I like hungry email, and to growl in response. I like the peaches ripening in the bowl on the table. I like the red African cloth on the couch.

I like the 13 year old recipe for tempeh fajitas in cumin-lime marinade (remember, Jonah?) and the leftovers, which I think I'll make now with some avocado and sour cream.

I like being happy.

Oh, how I love the rainy days and the happy way I feel inside...

Oh, it rained, at last. I have never known Don Paul to be so wrong for so long, but yes, sometime in the night, water began to topple from the sky and it went on into the morning, when I woke, smiling to hear it and then to the phone ringing at 8:04 AM (trans-atlantic phone calls are never denied, and make the morning almost as nicely as actual presence). I walked the dog in said rain, and did errands in it, and when it stopped I took my Petra rugs outside to be brushed & beaten. The apartment is clean and quiet. The birds sound freshly rinsed and happy--they have been singing all day long, and the cardinal keeps stopping on the wire outside the window to chirp enquiringly. What shall I say in reply?

Yes, it rained, at last. Isn't it good?

Not Much, You?

The weather is hot and humid and miserable.

But today, we are graced with thunderstorms.

I threw a party and only 3 people came.

But they were good company indeed, and we made art.

It seems many of my closest pals are out of town.

Emails and good wishes make things better.

There's nothing on the internet.

But I am on the internet! See pictures!

A Day After...

There are already almost 5,000 photos at Flickr with the tag "live8".

Watermelon Popsicle Rocks the Hot World

I am hooked on these. Watermelon, mango, coconut and even Cucumber Chile frozen treats made by Palapa Azul.

Live8

My cynicism reigns, but I am watching some of the Live8 coverage today, mostly on Canadian tv (and not MTV/VH1), between spates of painting the bathroom a pale blue. And I did add my name to the list, just in case a few million people are listened to by the 8 men who rule the world, after all.

I remember watching LiveAid on a stifling hot Saturday in a small blue-walled living room, in front of a fan, in Riverside. I thought Sir Bob was a hero. Now I'm not sure if he has a clue about politics and money at all. But I pray some change comes from this, even if I'm too jaded to envision it from this couch today, where I type with blue paint spots on my knees & on my inside-out Hampshire College sweatshirt.

***

Nice break earlier, rather more dressed up, taking dog to play at Days Park and to hang out on the Nietzsche's patio with some pals and a glass. Trefoyle and the Celtic Session went on as I felt guilty for missing the Inner Harbor Music Festival down on Ohio Street. I really wanted to make it there.

Mariah preferred the more intimate scene.

I like New York in June....

La Palapa
Keith Jarrett Trio at Carnegie Hall--Jack DeJohnette's hands were fluid magic.


Guggenheim

Gershwin Hotel
East Village everything


At H&H

And I too had the Jet Blue odd-but-great sonic experience of hearing REM's "At My Most Beautiful" at JFK and could hardly believe my ears; funny to have it almost instantly echoed by B-lo's own Perfect NJP.

(More pictures at Flickr....)

I finally got a chance to trek out to Eastern Hills to see The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. This lovely documentary about "dharma bum" Mark Bittner and the wild cherry head conures he befriended above North Beach inspires and warms. (I'll be reading his book, next.)

I saw the flock, myself, one day in Washington Square Park, and it's one of my best memories of San Francisco.

See the film if you can.

A moment with Joe Rubino...

This little Q&A with Nietzsche's owner warms my dive-bar-diggin' heart.

Celia The Poet waves to Buffalo Rising Blog readers!

If you are going to the Allentown Art Festival this weekend (who isn't?), check out the new 5 Angels Cafe, in the old Cybele's [Aqua] space next to Rust Belt Books on Allen Street, just west of Elmwood. Fresh, handmade food and tea, including excellent vegetarian options. (Chicken, green mango, glass noodle wraps/BBQ Seitan wraps, and something involving tofu.) It's their first weekend open, so go to admire Peter Fowler's beautiful red and more walls, steel bar built by Joe Smeltzer, food by Jeannine Giffear, bread by Dianne Gilleece. Here's to many sweet afternoons on that patio....

"It's so deep, it's so wide / Your inside / Synchronicity"

This evening I biked (for the first time in two weeks) over to Romanello's Roseland to meet Joe T. for a glass of wine and some fried ravioli. We don't see each other as much when we are not organizing hugely sucessful poetry marathons or writing songs together. Usually the place is empty, there's some Sinatra playing, and that's about it.

I'd been there a minute maybe when I realized I knew almost every person in the room . It was the City Honors Women's Faculty Happy Hour--teachers who'd taught me, who I'd taught with....and it was Irene McVay's retirement. (See page 2.) She is the last of the people I knew, and who has known me for 20 years. Amazing coincidence...synchronicity. A gift.

All day the sky flaunted dramatic dark clouds, then long moments of bright sunlight.

I'm in love with my town, these days. Again.

Someone Else! Like Me! Sorta!

I've been inspired by some blogs (does anyone call them online journals anymore) lately, like Self Taught Girl (I relate to her talk about writing, aloneness, insecurity, and Buddhist practice), Wish Jar Journal, and local hero Nancy J. Parisi.

***

Three Truths and a Lie:

* My sweetie and I listened to Abba for hours yesterday.
* I have only just discovered Shonen Knife.
* The dog has a new purple bandana.
* I know how to yodel.

A Poet's Summer Announcement

"Summer is coming, summer is coming.
I know it, I know it, I know it.
Light again, leaf again, life again, love again.
Yes, my wild little Poet."
--Alfred Lord Tennyson

Photos!

I joined Flickr, at last, and got the sweet upgrade from my Jill.

Rising, and then some

Buffalo Rising is a free quarterly magazine put out by several of my friends and neighbors. It profiles experiences in my town just the way I would (and has published photos of mine), and it the sort of publication you might send to friends who've moved away or never yet come to visit (I'm looking at you, everyone but Sean).

I'm happy to see that BR has a new blog, updated daily, which is not only drawing attention to fun stuff like Brad Pitt in a Michael Morgulis "City of No Illusions" t-shirt, but drawing the B-lo together in a virtual sense, as I haven't enjoyed since leaving San Francisco. I notice that people I know (poets, librarians, teachers) are blogging and contributing. It's good to see them online, even if Buffalo will always be a place where I'll more often run into them on the street or at the bookstore or at the bar.

La Salle Park, and the river, in the fog.



And another happiness, lilacs outside my window.

But I didn't stay long...

This weekend I went to see the Peter Brötzmann Tentet at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society (which my mother has always called The Hysterical Society). I liked the sound from outside the window best.

Then I went to see Jeez Luweez at a smoky bar in the neighborhood where I lived as a kid. They were good, and I enjoyed the thrift-store pictures of lighthouses on the walls.



I had a good time, though.

But I Shop At Payless, I Swear

I dreamed last night that I was a character on Sex & The City, and I was given a small, attractive bomb to set off on a boat. I decided I was not interested in killing people and went shopping instead, leaving a (very lovely, I must admit) shoe behind.

I try to live by these principles.

42 Laws of Maat

1. I honor virtue
2. I benefit without conflict
3. I am non-violent
4. I respect the property of others
5. I affirm that all life is sacred
6. I give offerings that are genuine and generous
7. I live in truth
8. I hold sacred those objects consecrated to the Divine
9. I speak the truth
10. I consume only my fair share
11. I speak words of good intent
12. I relate in peace
13. I honor animals as sacred
14. I can be trusted
15. I care for the earth
16. I keep my own council
17. I speak positively of others
18. I remain in balance with my emotions
19. I am trustful in my relationships
20. I hold purity in high esteem
21. I spread joy
22. I do the best I can
23. I communicate with compassion
24. I listen to opposing opinions
25. I create harmony
26. I invoke laughter
27. I am open to love in various forms
28. I am forgiving
29. I am non-abusive
30. I act respectfully of others
31. I am non-judgemental
32. I follow my inner guidance
33. I speak without disturbing others
34. I do good
35. I give blessings
36. I keep the waters pure
37. I speak with optimism
38. I praise the Goddess
39. I am humble
40. I achieve with integrity
41. I advance through my own abilities
42. I embrace the all

How To Build Community

(This is a list I've loved since I first encountered it. And I do try to live by it.)

Turn Off Your TV

Leave Your House

Know Your Neighbors

Look Up When You Are Walking

Greet People

Sit On Your Stoop

Plant Flowers

Use Your Library

Play Together

Buy From Local Merchants

Share What You Have

Help A Dog

Take Children to the Park

Garden Together

Support Neighborhood Schools

Fix It Even If You Didn't Break It

Have Pot Lucks

Honor Elders

Pick Up Litter

Read Stories Aloud

Dance In the Street

Talk to the Mail Carrier

Listen to the Birds

Put Up a Swing

Help Carry Something Heavy

Barter For Your Goods

Start a Tradition

Ask a Question

Hire Young People for Odd Jobs

Organize a Block Party

Bake Extra and Share

Ask For Help When You Need It

Open Your Shades

Sing Together

Share Your Skills

Take Back the Night

Turn Up the Music

Turn Down the Music

Listen Before You React To Anger

Mediate a Conflict

Seek To Understand

Learn From New and
Uncomfortable Angles

Know that No One Is Silent
Though Many Are Not Heard
Work to Change This

Urban Epiphany was a great success.

Ice Boom to Blame for Buffalo's Late Spring?

"The ice boom could result in air temperatures along the shore of Lake Erie, on average, being at least 16 degrees colder, maybe more, over the course of a season, according to the study."

Chicago

When I visit a city, I like to do three things: go to Lush, have Ethiopian food, and go to a bath house/spa for sauna & soak. I've done two of those things already in Chicago, and will complete the list sometime tomorrow. All this between meetings and meals with colleagues. (Last night, a great dinner at Adobo and a fun evening at Second City.)



Lake Michigan.



The pretty tablecloth at Ethiopian Diamond.


Me on the El Platform, tired & windblown.

I wrote some reviews over at the poetryweblog: Gary Snyder, Patti Smith and Bob Dylan.

I Figured As Much....

The legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) admitted yesterday that he was the author of a memo citing the political advantage to Republicans of intervening in the case of Terri Schiavo, the senator said in an interview last night.

It states:

"This legislation ensures that individuals like Terri Schiavo are guaranteed the same legal protections as convicted murderers like Ted Bundy," the memo concludes.

It asserts that the case would appeal to the party's core supporters, saying: "This is an important moral issue and the pro-life base will be excited that the Senate is debating this important issue."

***

When do I get a law made just for me, instituting full gun control, health care and improved education monies for all?

"April is the anniversary of the world." --Stephanie Peirce.

Blessed night, warm night.
stars straight as if hung on clotheslines
opposite that fish-bone sharp moon.

Blessing the night: sweet jazz,
strong friends, hot noodles,
two-weeks early birthday present.

Bless my ghosts, their words
and notes and names,
the lights they left burning in me.

Dream

During Mercury station (occurring this weekend), it is said that one may have a dream which is a true message. Last night I dreamed I was kissed by a baby bison. The buffalo symbolizes abundance.

I also came up with a new prayer, which I think will catch on fast: "Everything's great!"

Secret

An amazing site: Post Secret.

Congratulations, Franklin and cast!

A wonderful review of a local play, Medium Rare, which I enjoyed thoroughly this past weekend. If you are local, go see! Franklin LaVoie's writing and puppets, beautiful sets, full of surprises. Political and magical. Light and profound. Featuring Jeannine Giffear, Kristi Meal, Patrick Cain, Jeff Vincent, Joe Smelter and more Allentown compatriots.

I am seething.

I've had a living will since age 20, and feel everyone should have one.

I have no comments on whether or not Terry Schiavo's feeding tube should be removed or replaced, but I sure as hell think that Palm Sunday's legislation reeks of fascism. I can't believe they made a law to "save" one person, while they send our soldiers to die and kill others all over the world, and let citizens die without health care here. I wrote my "representatives", but that word has less meaning by the second.

English Genius

You scored 100% Beginner, 93% Intermediate, 81% Advanced, and 83% Expert! You did so extremely well, even I
can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon
intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You
have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly!
Way to go!

Take the test at: http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=14457200288064322170

I need Cometbus. SF pals, any of you willing to watch for it at City Lights' chapbook section for me, and send me a copy when you can? I'll pay you.

I've been reading Aaron Cometbus' zine, whenever I can get my hands on it, since 1991 and first visited Berkely and San Francisco. I was able to find copies in Seattle, Chicago, Minneapolis and New York City. I have maybe 12 of the maybe 50 issues.

I'm going to ask some of my local bookstores to look into carrying it, too.

For Those Who Support the Troops...

Frontline this week is excellent.

"In "The Soldier's Heart," FRONTLINE explores the psychological cost of war and investigates whether the military is doing enough to help the many combat veterans coming home with emotional problems. With unprecedented access to active duty service members at Camp Pendleton, a Marine base in San Diego, and through interviews with mental health experts both in and out of the military and members of a Camp Pendleton support group, FRONTLINE uncovers one of the underreported stories from the war in Iraq."

Meme Madness
(with encouragement from Jill)

10 Things I’ve Done That You Haven’t

1. Built the world’s largest digital library.
   
2. Met Queen Raina of Jordan.
   
3. Written several novels.
4. Seen Patti Smith in concert 7 times, and met her and Lenny.
5. Put friends into psych wards.
6. Drove cross-country by myself in a Ryder truck, with all my possessions.
7. Put Melissa Etheridge and KISS on the same mix tape.
8. Won several awards for poetry.
9. Wore a spinal brace for two years.
10. Colored my hair with magic markers.

Trixies, Militant Vegans
Circle I Limbo

Joel Giambra
Circle II Whirling in a Dark & Stormy Wind

IRS
Circle III Mud, Rain, Cold, Hail & Snow

Osama bin Laden
Circle IV Rolling Weights

George Bush
Circle V Stuck in Mud, Mangled

River Styx

Winona Ryder
Circle VI Buried for Eternity

River Phlegyas

Scientologists
Circle VII Burning Sands

Tobacco Industry Executives
Circle IIX Immersed in Excrement

Karl Rove
Circle IX Frozen in Ice

Design your own hell

1. What is the total amount of music files on your computer?

10 GB (2,629 files)

2. The CD you last bought is:

Joni Mitchell, Taming The Tiger
Bobby McFerrin & Chick Corea doing Mozart

3. What is the song you last listened to before reading this message?

Actually, the last mp3 was a poem by Anne Waldman (from the amazing UBU). Before that, "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugarhill Gang.

4. Write down 5 songs you often listen to or that mean a lot to you:

"Song to a Seagull", Joni Mitchell
"Always Wanna Feel Like This," Cliff Eberhardt
"I'm a Cukoo", Belle and Sebastian
"My Favorite Things", John Coltrane
"Es Kisher", Zulal

(via rand)

"Born. Eat. Shag. Die."

This is cool: The Mayfly Project. Sum up your 2004 in twenty words or less.

Dating spates. Brunch. Amsterdam. Songwriting. Shoes wet with morning dew. Deepening friendship. Music. Happiest in years. curling toes, exclamation point.

You Do What I Can Only Name

Jeff Vincent and I opened our exhibit of etchings/lines of poetry last night at College Street Gallery (link good till 1/28). We sold three pieces! Thrilling.

This has been a fun and funny collaboration. I met and mostly only ever see Jeff at the Hour of Repose (what is known as happy hour elsewhere), and one night we got talking about how we both love Edward Gorey. I proposed to give him some poems to make drawings in response. As it happened, he liked best the random lines in my long "Abecedary" poem, and chose 12. The black and white etchings are spooky, funny, and beautiful. I love them all.

We hardly discussed process, or each others' work, and decided administrative things quickly and without fuss.

Other projects: organizing recipes into page protectors, and binders; organize poems; print out blog and CTP for preservation.

Monsanto Bribe

" The Monsanto company was charged in the District of Columbia with violating the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) in connection with an "illegal payment" of $US50,000 to a senior Indonesian Ministry of Environment official. The bribe made by a Monsanto employee was aimed at facilitating the cultivation of genetically modified crops and falsely certified as "consultant fees" in the company's books and records, US Assistant Attorney-General Christopher Wray said." from News.com.au . This was reported over 8 hours ago in many papers. Still nothing at CNN or most U.S. news sources.

I am posting this in hopes it won't be buried by morning, and let more corporate corruption go unnoticed.

Celia the Poet Wishes You a Happy 2005: Celebrating that the Holidays Are Over!

I am having longings for things in cities I am far from, right now.

San Francisco: Afroken paraphenalia, Liquid Silk, amaguri, and a rainy afternoon at Kabuki.

Seattle: Nanaimo bars, Japanese notebooks, and spinach with tofu and peanut sauce at Siam Garden.

New York City: jazz records and pepper spray.

London: Cornish pasties, non-USerican Kit-Kats.

I am looking forward to some projects and events: Urban Epiphany 2005, Anselm Berrigan's February workshop, rearranging all my art, and my first art opening: a collaboration between Jeff Vincent and myself--my lines of poetry and Jeff's pen and ink etchings.