A Few "Firsts"
and a few other things...
I’ve had a few more pandemic “firsts” in the past week or two: 1) had my first unmasked public walk with my partner—in a cemetery, of all places; 2) went to the gym today, first time since the pandemic started; once I got going, it felt terrific—I’ll never complain about working out ever again! 3) after more than 20 years of being bikeless, I now have a purple, vintage, Swiss-made Sursee. Now I just need to get a helmet.
Art
A few ink and graphite works—some old, some new:
Reviews of Marcelina
Two reviews of my book, Marcelina: Thanks to Luisa A. Igloria and Elsa Valmidiano for their thoughtful engagements with my poetry!
“Now They Cannot Touch Her" by Luisa A. Igloria in The Halo-Halo Review.
“While We Can Sing” by Elsa Valmidiano, in Poetry Northwest.
Five Good Things
If you watch the TV series What We Do In the Shadows, you’ll hear Filipinx singer/songwriter Norma Tanega’s song, “You’re Dead” in the opening credits. Tanega was from the SF Bay Area (Vallejo). I’m old enough to remember her hit “Walkin’ My Cat Named Dog.” What I didn’t know, but learned recently, is that she was once “romantically linked” to Dusty Springfield. See: Lean Into the Cosmic Joke : On The Trailblazing Norma Tanega : Aquarium Drunkard
Catalina Cariaga is leaving typewritten poems for you to read. I think of this as a hacking endeavor. Getting you to stop looking at your phone for a minute, to see what’s on that piece of paper on the fence, and get some poetry: https://www.smallpresstraffic.org/spt-blog/typewriter-poems-by-catalina-cariaga
Paco Pomet’s surreal works are especially jarring to me (in a good way) because of his use of documentary/historical scenes. They take you into “history” where you uncomfortably encounter an allegory about your own nightmare future. Or something like that. On Booooooom. https://www.booooooom.com/2021/05/14/artist-spotlight-paco-pomet/
Filipino/American Artist Directory is a participatory artist project by St. Louis-based artist Janna Añonuevo Langholz. Currently accepting submissions for inclusion into the directory.
In debt? Check out Astra Taylor’s book, Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition, and the film “You Are Not a Loan” featuring Astra Taylor and guests by The Intercept.
It’s been another almost-midnight post; but I made it. Until next week…