Tayari's Blog: June 2007
June 29, 2007
REJECTION SECTION
Here's a kooky website that posts real-life rejection letters. Don't ask me why it cracked me up so much. One day, I'll share the rejections on my hard drive. Let me assure you that they are not pretty... And, for a more sober view, my agent, the fabulous Jane Dystel, tells why she chooses some projects and rejects others.
(thx ed for the rejection link)
June 28, 2007
Linky-Dinky
Some things worth reading on the web:
Years ago, I was getting a ride to a train station from an MFA student in Massachusetts, and we talked about the challenges of fiction writing and writer’s block, not to mention how competitive the marketplace is. And then he unleashed this on me: “I could knock out the sort of mystery novels that sell hundreds of thousands of copies, but I’m better than that.” If he weren’t behind the wheel of the car, I would have smacked him upside the head.
Because to accept cash from a publicist would imply that my perspective can be irreversibly colored by the Almighty Dollar. At BookExpo, another publicist told me that he could send me audio clips of authors to me and that, together, “we might be able to construct an interview.” I am not in the business of “constructing” interviews or designing questions for preprogrammed answers. That is not journalism. That is corruption. And it is not fair to all parties.
What the author of Half of a Yellow Sun didn't say was that these included nothing less than the outline and notes for her next novel. She could have won the prize for her stoicism alone.
(thx maud)
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Category:
Travels & Rambles
Weekly Word-O-Meter!
This is week 3 of my residency at The MacDowell Colony. So far, so good. Here area the results:
Stay tuned for next week... And if you have the urge to post your own word-o-meter results... that's what comments are for!
June 26, 2007
Tombstone Tuesday
This is the most recent "tombstone" in the Mansfield Studio, where I am working on my third novel. You can see from the signatures one of the reasons MacDowell is my favorite colony.
I am not ashamed to say that I have been around the colony block, so I am in a position to compare and contrast. Some of the more elite colonies operate on a caste system-- the more famous people get the better workspaces. When I went to one such place, I spent the first week and a half trying to figure out how to interpret my room assignment!
But as you can see here a writers at various stages in their careers have been in the humble Mansfield studio. Publishing powerhouses like Michael Chabon and Mary Gaitskill have worked here as well as younger writers like me and Julie Orringer.
Posted at 12:40 PM | Comments (3)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE!
Who is Blake? He is a patron saint of the MacDowell Colony! Perhaps he is best known as the conductor of the lunchmobile, but his role is larger than that. If you need a flashlight so that you don't get lost in the worrds at night, ask Blake. He has the keys to the flashlight stash and any other stash that would make a person's stay more enjoyable. Institutional memory? You know where to go.
Last night, Terri and I gave a little reading in the library. Blake was there even though he had worked all day. And he didn't show up empty-handed. He came bearing CHOCOLATE!
Blake is the go-to guy and all around good person. I was too shy to ask him how how he is, but I did ask how long he has been at MacDowell. "Since 1983." I can't imagine how they managed to run the colony for 76 years without him.
Posted at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 25, 2007
Looking For My Mantra
I just listened to a podcast of the NPR show "Here and Now" featuring Paula Cole. She has been out of the music business for seven years after her big hit “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone.” She is back now with an album called “Courage”, which is produced on a small label. I can’t say that I am a big fan of Ms. Cole. I know almost nothing about her music, but I was really inspired by the interview.
Apparently Paula Cole broke up with her record label and was told that she would never make another record. (Maybe you remember her showing her unshaven armpits at the Grammys.) One of the things she said was that performing the same songs over and over and answering the same questions in the exact same way felt increasingly inauthentic to her. She then sort went underground, developing her life and her self and didn’t start making music again until she felt the music calling her, not the industry.
When asked what Courage means to Paula Cole, she says the word was her daily mantra when recording the record, making for a fitting title. Simply put Cole says, "I am searching for the truth. Somewhere, it's in the music."
I am working very hard to take a step back from all the industry talk. If I am seated at dinner and the conversation turns to agents and deals, I try to emotionally pull back, to think about something else. I know that since I am already a published author, it isn’t fair for me to urge people who don’t yet have agents to try not to think about agents. I don’t want to be like the happily married woman who urges her single sisters not to worry about finding love.
June 24, 2007
Was That The Dinner Bell?
Taking a cue from Lauren, I am posting food pictures. This is what we had for dinner yesterday, here at MacDowell. Tuna steaks! It was so pretty (and tasty) that I had to take a picture. Needless to say, this represents a big step up in my standard of living eating!
Posted at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
The Abu Ghriab Project
Yesterday, Daniel Heyman invited us to his studio to view the prints in his series of portraits of people released from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. Daniel traveled to the Middle East to sit in as Iraquis released from Abu Ghraib described their experiences to human rights lawyers.
As the detainees spoke, Daniel drew the portraits and wrote their testimonies alongside their likenesses. You will see from the images that the words are crammed in with the faces, the letters often traveling up the sides of the pages and even onto the speaker’s clothing. This is because Daniel drew and wrote in real time. As the translators converted the words to English, Daniel wrote them down.
Below is an excerpt from the text accompanying the portrait which is called Jasim Was In A Cage (you can see the image here):
Jasim was in a cage. A metal cage. He was not allowed to stand. He was hooded for ten days. When a father was forced to bury his son in a ½ meter deep hole. That they both dug. Then the son was forced to lie down in the hole. The soilders were laughing. The Prisoners were crying. The son stayed in the hole covered with dirt for one hour. The son and the father and Jasim thought the son would die.
The images you see here are made from copper plates. Here is a little explanation for folks not versed in the technique. Instead of writing on paper, Daniel etched the images onto copper plates using a diamond-point stylus. He wrote the testimony in the same way except he had to write backwards, as everything transferred from plates comes out mirrored. His tremendous investment of labor underscores his commitment to this cause.
During the Q&A, Daniel said that he would not sell these prints to any private collectors. Because these prints are for the world to see, he will only sell them to public collections. (One set has been placed with the New York Public Library.) He was also asked about the women in Abu Ghraib. Unfortunately, no woman would allow him in the room during her testimony, but he was able to draw a portrait of one woman and used the transcript of her testimony for her plate. This woman, like many of the subjects of this remarkable series, has since been murdered. (You can see her watercolor portrait here.)
When asked what this project has taught him about the war in Iraq, Daniel said, “What you learn, is that we don’t know anything about this war. You think you know, and then you learn that it is so much worse than you thought, and that you don’t even know the half it. No matter how much you see, how much you hear, there is always something worse.”
You can see the full collection at Daniel Heyman’s website.
An NPR interview with Daniel Heyman.
Libby Rosof reports about a recent exhibition of these pieces.
PoliticsTheoryPhotography has a nice write-up, too.
Posted at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)
Category:
Current Events
June 23, 2007
CC Countdown!
Tomorrow marks the start of the 2007 Cave Canem Workshops! The chosen poets will take part in a week-long total emersion experience-- classes, readings, fellowshipping... you get the idea. Nicole Sealy, of this blog community, was thrilled to be accepted and promised us a guest post with pictures upon her return.
There seems to be some sort of issue with the CC website today, but I am putting the link anyway. Since I am a humble writer of prose, I can't be a member of Cave Canem, but I am a true devotee. I found these cool pics on flickr. And check out the great Rachel Eliza Griffith's photo album from the Cave Canem 10 Year Reunion.
Those of us who can't be there, can at least dream...
Have a great week, CC Poets. Take lots of pictures for us.
Posted at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
The Writing Life
June 22, 2007
THANK YOU!
for making "Mail Call" the best part of my day! Today, I was sort of not accomplishing anything in my studio. I took a walk up to Colony Hall to look in my mail box. (I do this because I am a Keep Hope Alive kind of person.) I was so thrilled to find letters, parcels, and even a home-made card from folks in this blog community! Thank you so much for being so kind and thoughtful. Watch your mailboxes. There's a letter coming in return!
Posted at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Introducing Deke Weaver
Last night, Deke Weaver put on a terrific one-man show. Or maybe I should say, I series of one-man-shows. It's hard to say it was a single show, or a showing of singles. Whatever the case, it was like nothing I had ever seen.
I asked Deke to describe last night's exhibition and he said, "I am not good at that." I said, "Well, would you say that it was a multimedia experience combining memoir, animation, news headlines, and kind of a anthropological look at our own culture?"
"Yes," he said. "That's true."
"But don't you think we should mention to way you challenge the 
boundaries between civilization and nature? And we have to think of a way to talk about the show that doesn't leave out the monologue about Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I love that part."
"Yes," he said.
"Yes?" I said.
"Uh huh," said Deke.
"And I really like the graphics with the elephants. Is it true that some elephants in Hawaii escaped and trampled their trainers?"
"That happened."
"Is there really a Prague, Nebraska?"
"Yep."
"Have you ever really spoken English to an animal?"
"I spoke English to them," Deke explained. "But the part of them talking back, that's creative license."
"What about the Fuzzy Kitty episode? That was um, discomforting? Kinda funny? Is that some sort of Minnesota fairy tale that I missed out on growing up in the south?"
"No, Fuzzy Kitty is all original."
"Wow, It must be cool to make your own myths," I said. "I mean that in the very best way."
If you like your funk art uncut and you happen to live in Minneapolis, Deke Weaver will be performing "The Ghosts of Prague" at Bryant Lake Bowl Theatre.
Posted at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 21, 2007
Getting Ready For My Close-Up
Tomorrow, I will make my acting debut. Fellow colonist, Steve Harper, is putting on a staged reading of his new play "Urban Rabbit Chronicles". I am reading the part of ROSE. He says it's not a big deal, but I am excited. (I also want to put it on YouTube but he says no. Two words: Party Pooper.) There will be at least be snaphots.
You can see Steve's website and headshot here. And you can see him looking smug about bowling a strike, here.
More details to come!
Posted at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Weekly Word-o-Meter!
This is week 2 of my residency. I am pleased to report that my mojo is still working. Here area the results:
Stay tuned for next week... And if you have the urge to post your own word-o-meter results... that's what comments are for!
June 20, 2007
Tombstone Tuesday
(I know that today is Wednesday, but I wasn't able to post yesterday.)
On the walls of every studio in MacDowell is a plaque, known as a "tombstone", signed by every artist to work in that studio. I was looking at the ones on the walls of mine workspace and noticed two names from circa 1965-- Studs Terkel, the great ethnographer and Alice Childress, playright, best known for her novel "A Hero Ain't Nothing but a Sandwich." I'll keep hunting for famous names and post the pictures. (Click here to see the really big version of the picture. I have added the black lines with photoshop to help you see the signatures.)
You can see here, the walls of the studio to see how the tombstones are arranged. And, a bonus. Here is a really cool tombstone from one of the visual arts studios. The visual folks really go all out.
Posted at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Biking Back to Brooklyn
You all may remember me whining about having to make the 6-hour, 358 mile drive from New York City to the MacDowell colony. It was a rough drive and I stand by my whimpering. Well, this is Stephen Nguyen, a visual artist here at MacDowell. His residency is over and he is BIKING back to Brooklyn.
I asked him what was the hardest part about biking across the country. He said that in small towns, when people see you biking, they think you must have lost your driver's liscense because of DUI, so they heckle you.
See, you learn something new every day. I am trying to figure out how to work that detail into a story.
Travel safely, Stephen. Don't forget to call every night so we won't worry!
Posted at 03:29 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 18, 2007
"Lot 63, Grave C" a film by Sam Green
Part of the MacDowell experience is that the artists can give presentations of their work. These exhibitions are completely optional, but most people opt to participate. Last night, Sam Green screened his feature length documentary, “The Weather Underground" and several of his short films. (A side note. Looking on amazon, I see that "The Weather Underground" was nominated for an Oscar. We have been hanging out with Sam for ten days and he never even mentioned it. That guy is a class act.)
When Sam planned this event, he didn’t know that his short film, “Lot 63, Grave C” would win the Sterling Short Award at SILVERDOCS, a film festival going on RIGHT NOW in DC. (If you’re around you should go.)
The prize-winning film, has a tie-in with one of my favorite books, The Last of Her Kind. If you have read that book you may remember that Solange goes to California for a Mick Jagger concert, which was said to be the West Coast’s Woodstock, but things go terribly wrong. The Hell’s Angels killed a man right near the bandstand, an event that many thought to be the end of the idealism of the Summer of Love.
Sam Green’s film seeks to find out more about Meridith Hunter, the murdered man. He wonders why there were no photos of him, no quote from his bereaved mother. The title of the film refers to the site of Hunter’s unmarked grave.
Meridith Hunter’s death was caught on film and we see him, a young black man in a sea of white people. 1970’s-fabulous in a bright green suit, 18 years old, baby-faced. I couldn’t help wonder how he came to be at the concert, was he was all by himself. Why he was the one who got killed? We never find out who his people are, what they thought of his death. Could they not afford a headstone? Had the burial wiped out their savings? We never find out. There is not enough information on how Meridith Hunter lived. All we know for sure is how he died. It’s not enough, but it’s all we have.
June 17, 2007
New Hampshire Snapshot
I saw this beast crossing the road near my studio. I asked my best-friend-at-camp, Sam, "What's up with the Turkey?"
Sam said, "That's Flyer. He's the turkey Bush pardoned last year."
"He's not very friendly," I said. "He ran when he saw me coming."
"Cut him some slack," said Sam. "He's under deadline pressure. His memoir has to be finished by Thanksgiving."
(forgive the dumb joke. Laughs are few and far between up here on the mountain.)
Posted at 02:54 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 15, 2007
New Hampshire Snapshot
I decided to venture off the colony grounds, just to clear my mind 
and to get a good cell singnal. As I was strolling through downtown Peterborough, I saw a sign that said "wearable art." The key word was "art". It wasn't shopping if there was "art" involved. I peeked in The Renaissance Room.
What fantastic clothing! The proprietress, Jacquie, was more than happy to show me around. I fell hard for the white dress you see here. I asked her where I could wear it. She said, "You could get married in it." I said, "Are there any other options?"
While I was running through the store trying on dresses, hats, necklaces, and shawls, she started telling me stories about the other MacDowell artists she's met over the years. Then she said, "You know who you remind me of?" I said, "No, who?" She said, "Jill Nelson." I happen to LOVE Jill Nelson.
Apparently, Jill hung out in the Renaissance Room when she was writing Sexual Healing. She and the women who hang out among the 
gorgeous clothes, exchanged ideas for Jill's bold novel-- the novel is about a brothel that caters to women. The Renaissance Room is the kind of place where you feel like you can really speak your mind. My guess is that Jill took a lot of notes.
After about an hour, I had to head back to colony. She said she'll hold the dress for me. But in case I can't ever make the purchase, she was kind enough to take photos!
Posted at 04:56 PM | Comments (5)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
A Lock of My Own
Yesterday, I posted my "word-o-meter", which will track my progress on my novel while I am here at MacDowell. I must confess that I have written as much in the first week as I did in the last three months! I have been trying to figure out why this is so. I mean, I know MacDowell is a nice place. (Someone came into my room yesterday and changed my sheets! Lunch was delivered to my door!) But there must be more to it than lunch and linen.
MacDowell has provided me with a "room of my own", but that can't be the secret. I have a room of my own at home. As a matter of fact, I have two of them. Three, if you count the living room. And when I was living in DC, I had about seven rooms of my own, so why wasn't I getting work done?
I keep thinking about Renee Simms' guest post from a couple of weeks ago, "Jazzing My Way Through", when she talks about cobbling the time together to write while she meets her obligations as a teacher, a mother, a wife, and a daughter. I kept thinking: What Is My Problem? I don't have or husband or kids that need my attention. I don't even cook dinner for myself, so why can't I focus myself to write? Why did I have to come all the way to New Hampshire to do what I could have done right there at home in my foot-pajamas? Is there a way I can take some of this MacDowell mojo back home with me?
June 14, 2007
Weekly Word-o-meter!
Today marks one week that I have been at MacDowell. I am pleased to report that the writing is going really well. Here area the results:
Stay tuned for next week... And if you have the urge to post your own word-o-meter results... that's what comments are for!
June 13, 2007
Even More Links!
Posted at 03:54 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Linky-Dink!
Posted at 09:34 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 12, 2007
Tayari On The Air!
Back in February, I was interviewed by Angela Elam for her radio show, New Letters On The Air. The good news is that it is available on podcast. The bad news is that it won't be available until next week. However, since I sort of talked Angela to death, she has posted all of the extra footage.
I went to the New Letters site. When I saw the following:
Listen here to find out more about Tayari Jones' personal life, including how she got her name.
My heart went in my stomach. I remember being very comfortable at the interview, but I didn't think I got that loose... But really, it's not as scandalous as all of that. If you have time, give a listen.
For other formats (Real, Windows Media) visit the New Letters On The Air page and look for my face. I'll post again when the full interview is podcast.
June 11, 2007
New Hampshire Snapshot
Greetings, again, from MacDowell. Here's a photo of the library which contains all the books written by previous visitors. (There are also videos, musical recordings, images of works by visual artists.) The library is kept locked, but the key is avilable at the desk. It's a great place to spend the afternoon and just enjoy the fruits of 100 years of American creativity.
Books I checked out yesterday:
Shelter, by Jayne Anne Philips
The Boy on the Bus, by Deborah Schupack
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, James Baldwin
What I wanted to borrow, but it was gone:
The Weather Underground, directed by Sam Green
Posted at 12:32 PM | Comments (0)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 08, 2007
Tangled Roots and Life Matters
On Ed's site, I saw a reference 
to an African-American Women's Book Club in Seattle. Like many black women authors, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to book clubs, so I went over the the Seattle Times to see what was up. I was delighted by the story for two reasons. One, was that the women were reading Tangled Roots, by Angela Henry, a mystery writer and a member of our blog community! And also, because the women had taken thier love of books one step further and created "Life Matters", a collection of their own writing. Check out the article.
And, um.. excuse me for getting personal on the blog.. but, Angela.. wasn't there some talk about sending me a copy of the book? You can send it to me c/o The MacDowell Colony.
Greetings From MacDowell!
Greetings from The MacDowell Colony! I arrived yesterday afternoon. 
Here’s a little run down of how things work here. There are about twenty artists on site—writers, composers, sculptors, you name it. We are each given a little cottage as a workspace. At in the evening we all get together for dinner, conversation and ping-pong. We sleep in a dormitory. (Here’s my sweet little room!)
The picture on the right is my studio, “Mansfield.” I get the idea that each studio is named after the donor who sponsored the construction. If I ever get rich, I’ll donate and sponsor a writers studio called “Spelman”, after my alma mater, the place where I found my voice.
I am very pleased with this studio. It’s an older one. There are brand new cabins which are a bit more slick. The artists actually live in those. (I’ll try and get a photo of one.) Of course, being the prima donna that I am, I would love a fancy studio, but I am too much of a chicken to sleep out in the woods. And furthermore, I like living and working in different spaces. I feel like I am going to work when I hike out here after breakfast.
As for the writing, so far, so good. I am writing long-hand. I just thought about the characters in my novel and I was able to write a scene, the voice came back to me. This is good. I haven’t worked in so long, I was afraid that I had killed the novel. My mentor, Ron Carlson, used to say, “Just because you haven’t been fishing for awhile, doesn’t mean the fish won’t be biting when you get there.”
Amen.
A few more photos here.
Posted at 09:49 AM | Comments (2)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 07, 2007
Very, Very, Nice Things Are Happening
to people who read this blog! It seems that every time I turn around, I am posting a "good news" post. But to quote the late great Luther Vandross, it's "never too much."
Posted at 04:39 PM | Comments (1)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
What Not To Do
Over at Buzz Balls and Hype, Joshua Henkins gives advice to writers who are just getting started. The article is called "Letter to an MFA Student", but I think it has value for anyone who is trying to figure out how to write a good story. Here is one nugget:
I once had an undergraduate, a talented writer who wrote a story that could have been called “Stuff I Thought While I Was in my Car.” Her protagonist drove somewhere, passed places she recognized, people she knew, and gave the reader her observations, often quite eloquent and insightful, about what she witnessed. Line by line, the material was quite good, but in no meaningful way was it a story. I think subconsciously my student was hoping that the forward movement of the car would substitute for a deeper narrative forward movement. But it didn’t, and simply putting your character in a car will not make a story a story.
There's more where that came from. It's an essay in three parts, so read it when you have some time.
I Made It!
Just a note to let you know that I did make it safely to MacDowell. The drive through NYC was pretty intense. I called myself being smart enough to miss rush hour, but apparently, every hour is rush hour in New York. But six and a half hours later, I pulled up at the colony.
The last time I was here it was December of 2001. Major Blizzard. 22 inches of snow. But now it's all green and pretty. There will be pictures soon-- I left my usb cord at home so I will have to go into town tomorrow to buy one.
I will say this: I have been in New Hampshire about an hour and I have already learned something new. There are MAJOR mosquitoes here in New England. They dive-bombed me. Or maybe they were just saying hello.
Posted at 04:10 PM | Comments (2)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
Retreating to the Retreat!
I am off to The MacDowell Colony. I will continue to post, but I am not sure what the internet situation will be like. To pick up the slack, I've comissioned some guest posts from community members. We've been promised reports from the Tin House Workshops, VONA, Yaddo, and more.
Send some positive vibes my way. I thought the distance from Jersey City to MacDowell was in the three hour range, but it's five hours and it requires me to drive through NYC. (gulp)
Posted at 06:38 AM | Comments (2)
Category:
Travels & Rambles
June 06, 2007
Hurrah for Chimananda Ngozi Adiche!
Her wonderful novel, Half of A Yellow Sun, has won this year's Orange Prize. More on the prize here. Check out her powerful website.
Posted at 06:07 PM | Comments (0)
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June 05, 2007
Up Up and Away!
I am growing very fond, these days, of The Atlantic Monthly. I am even ready to forgive them for rejecting all of the stories I wrote as a graduate student. Clearly, their taste is improving. Exhibit A-- they had sense enough to award Dwayne Betts one of their summer internships. And. Now. This.
In the Summer Fiction Issue (which isn't out yet) there is a big article on MFA programs. Included in this spread is a piece on "up and coming" programs. RUTGERS-NEWARK was chosen among the top five. And we don't even open our doors until Fall.
I know a couple members of our blog community wil be starting with us in the fall. And if you thought about it last year, but didn't apply, we'll be accepting applications again in the late fall. We're trying to do something different with our program. The motto, "Real Lives, Real Stories", says it all.
Posted at 05:29 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
Current Events
June 03, 2007
Let's Do It Again!
Last night, The Brand New Heavies played the Highline Ballroom and turned it out.
I was hoping, this time, to finally meet the band. My chances were 
good. I had received an email from thier manager promising a backstage pass, but alas, when I arrived, my name wasn't on the list and I felt like a gate crasher. "I'm Tayari," I pleaded. "Tayari-the-blogger!" No dice.
It was all good, though. I was there with my best girlfriends, Vickie and Aisha (you may remember them from other BNH events) and Vickie and Aisha each brought a friend and (as usual) and we made friends once we got there. One of the best things about BNH is that their fans are extremely cool. Once the music started we all did what we do best. We danced, we sang. When I say dance, I mean, we really showed out. I am talking about spins and kicks.
Afterwards, we all went over to Tillman's for the after-set. The place was pretty packed, but the host was a Morehouse Man and membership does have its privileges. We were seated with our new friends, Carmia and Gregg. (She's a designer and he's a photographer.)Just when I thought the evening was winding down, in walked N'DEA DAVENPORT, the lead singer.
She is so beautiful with a radiant spirit. She stopped at our table. "I saw all of you out there." I was hoping she would compliment us on our spins and kicks, but this was good enough. We gushed, we laughed. And I couldn't think of anything to say! Me, with nothing to say!
She was about to walk away, and I at least had to say, something. I didn't want to tell her that I spent all last summer on the Greyhound chasing the band up and down the eastern seaboard. I definitely wasn't going to try the "I'm Tayari, the blogger", thing again.
She was turning to go toward what I guess was the VIP area when I called out, "I think your music has great integrity!"
N'Dea was all glammed out in a silk kimono jacket and fancy sunglasses, but she really really heard what I said, or even better, she heard what I meant.
"Thank you," she said. "That's important to me."
Rachel just sent me a link to her pretty, artsy, professional-camera, mad skills, photos from the night!
Posted at 09:38 AM | Comments (2)
Category:
Living For The City
June 02, 2007
Bubblicious!
So here I am in New Jersey. Two fabulous poets, Ruth Ellen Kocher and Ross Gay, swoop by as they are preparing for thier fabulous vacation in Madrid. Of course, since I am still in cardboard hell, my place isn't exactly in the best shape for my first soiree, but I sort of scoot the debris out of the way so the jet-setters can at least sit down.
They did sit. I had no wine to offer, or even cold water. I made do with what I had. "I just unpacked some glasses. Would you like to play with the bubble wrap?"
As you can see from the photo, they did.
Happy Travels, You Two. Stay out of trouble and bring me something back!
Posted at 05:28 AM | Comments (1)
Category:
The Writing Life
June 01, 2007
Meet Guest Blogger, Renee Simms
As you all know, I sometimes find myself in conversations with 
writers and I will cut them off in mid-sentence and say "Please write about this for the blog community!" Well, last week, was one of those occaisions. I was talking to Renee Simms about how she manages her full and busy like. She works, she goes to school, she writes fiction and poetry, she has two kids, and husband... You get the idea. She started explaining and then I asked her to write us a guest post.
But before she tells us her secret, here is a little biographical info: Renee Simms' work appears in North American Review, Inkwell, African Voices, Voices from Leimert Park, and elsewhere. Her awards include a Cave Canem fellowship, a Voices of our Nations Arts fellowship, and a PEN Center Emerging Voices fellowship. She's taught creative writing to middle and high school students in Los Angeles and Phoenix. This fall, she will teach at Arizona State University.
Jazzing My Way Through
by Renee Simms
Not long ago, I sat in a workshop where everyone was asked to describe their writing routines and the spaces where they write. I began to sweat as we went around the table. Writing routine? Does writing inside your shower stall before the kids find you count as routine? Everyone else had very detailed descriptions: certain pens they liked to use, clothes they needed to wear, or exercises they did beforehand. Some described windows through which they gazed as they wrote. It was all so…nice.
With two kids, aged seven and two, my writing is everything but routine. I couldn’t think of one place or a single set of circumstances under which I’ve written anything. I grab slices of time when I find them, and when there are no slices to grab, I’ve learned how to drown out a swirl of activity, including: boys kickboxing, boys break-dancing, husband on cell phone, baby climbing me as I write, Dora the Explorer singing, I play the maraca, shake-a shake-a shake-a.
Posted at 10:35 AM | Comments (8)
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Guest Bloggers