grace: bits

Showing posts with label bits. Show all posts

Showing posts with label bits. Show all posts

bits

i sent some photographs to the good people over at yale press earlier this week. just found out the book designers loved the photographs. yeah! so i might have a vivid photograph on the cover!
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the latest installment of diode is up and running. sigh. if only they would take one of my poems.
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snakes!
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funny: i always thought my first book would have a painting on the cover. but the minute i saw these photographs online, i knew they would make a great cover.
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the new york times briefly reviews michael dickman, c. dale young, chris martin and ross gay.
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ophiophobia: an ophidiophobic would not only fear them when in live contact but also dreads to think about them or even see them on TV or in pictures.
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ha.

arizona bits

i'm back home! i really missed arizona.
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congrats to Kelli Russell Agodon!!
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i'm starbucking.
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Rigoberto Gonzalez on NPR.
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slushpile!
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man, i never say anything brilliant or insightful. i want to be ron silliman! really, i do. where's my us-versus-them mentality??
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bits

tomorrow i'm going to soak in the mineral waters of jemez springs. i've never been to one of these places. i'm going to wear my smurf shorts!
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thanks to the poetry editors of the journal for taking two poems from my forthcoming book.
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gosh, i have book coming out. wow.
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i leave albuquerque this thursday. i'm ready to go back home. i miss arizona.
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nice hat, david. no, i really mean it. i'm not being snarky! really, david, nice hat...
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have you ever filled out an author's questionnaire? i got one from yale university press and it's freaking me out. some many questions. correction: some many detailed questions.
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chickens!

bits

i saw three movies this weekend. xmen: first class, the hangover 2 and kung fu panda 2, which i saw in 3-D.
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i can already hear some of my friends saying: what! you are watching movies?? you should be working on your poems! to them i say: blah blah blah.
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i'm looking for cover art. you got any?
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john olivares espinoza, call me.
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hello.

bits

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listening to arthur russell. love his work, his voice. one of the poems in my forthcoming book is dedicated to him.
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found out yesterday that i do have some say about cover art, which is great. and i also have some say about the fonts and the trim size. yeah!
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beloit poetry journal poet's forum: gay poetry, politics, poetics
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i'm in my office right now. come visit me, i'm lonely.
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shane mccrae: ...if a writer has created audience expectations, it can be dangerous for that writer to produce work that occupies a space too far outside those expectations.
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does this residency make me look fat?

i'm in new mexico. albuquerque, new mexico.
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i arrived yesterday.
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why am i here? i was lucky enough to get a month-long residency at the national hispanic cultural center.
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i don't know many people in this city. do you live albuquerque? let's have coffee!
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my office walls are bare. need to fix that. smurf poster?
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yesterday i was surrounded by hunks. i noticed a few studs hanging around my gate at the airport. then i noticed another group of hunks. then another group! my first thought: the rapture did come and i'm now in heaven. second thought: does my hair look good? anyway, 20 or so hunks were milling around. they all were dressed in slacks and nice shirts. each one made my heart skip. maybe they're all business men going to a conference: i said to myself. then i overhead one hunk talking to another and found out the truth. they were tripe A baseball players. they played for the skysox. i was in heaven after all! i love baseball players. hell, it's the only reason i watch baseball games.
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i still haven't found a good coffee shop.
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ristas

book bits

last night i spent six hours fretting over an adjective in a couplet. six hours, people! in the end: i kept the adjective.

can i tell you something? i'm sweating all the details. indefinite articles, semi-colons, adjectives, commas, verbs...

can i tell you something? i'm thrilled to be doing this kind of crazy work.

i have to july 1st to finalize the collection. too much time for a poet like me.

i think i have the title down. some of my friends love it; some hate it. who cares! i think it works. yes, it does work for the collection.

sometimes i get a little emotional.

i worked on these poems for over eight years. i gave up a lot for these poems. no joke. i gave up: good jobs, lovers and friendships.

i don't know if it was worth it. i can't change the past.

i'm proud of these poems. wow. did i just type that? yes, i did. fuck it.

i keep having dreams in which i'm opening a box of books but i always wake up right before i get to see the cover.

oh the cover! i might freak out the day i finally see it. no joke. i might pass out. i might scream at the top of my lungs: IT'S BEAUTIFUL, IT'S BEAUTIFUL!

basho: avoid adjectives of scale, you will love the world more and desire it less.

sometimes i get a little emotional.

these past few weeks i've cried a lot in my room. don't worry, people, these are happy tears! i just can't believe i'm going to have a book out in the world.

a book. in the world. full of poems. i wrote.

thank you.

bits

i'm at starbucks. where are the cute guys?
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i'm reworking my CV. man, i should've kept track of all my readings and lectures. i've forgotten about half of my previous engagements!
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bought some new shoes yesterday. thrilling news, no?
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i need to finish tweaking my teaching statement.
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wait! a cute cop just walked into starbucks. shaved head, long holster.
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i have my own ISBN. swoon!

bits

i've started a new poem! i've had the first line for months, but the other day another line came to me and i knew instantly that a poem was beginning to emerge.
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book update: still no title. i've reordered the first and the third sections. the ms now has 31 poems, which translates into 57 pages.
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saw the thor movie on friday. am i the only gay guy in america who isn't turned on by the lead actor?
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last night i dreamt i was opening a small box. the box was full of books. i woke before i could read the title and the name of the author!
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chickens.

bad blogger bits

long time no blog.
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hi

bits (for dan levenson)

i can't stop listening to this arthur russell song.
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i added a sentence to my bio. happy now, dan? ha.
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still no title for the book. well, there's one possibility. the more i think about this title, the more i love it.
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slow
slow
slow
slow
slow
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i love this song.
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wild
wild
wild
wild
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the other day i wrote down three lines. i think it's the beginning or the ending of a poem i've been carrying around in my head for months.
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hi, rodney gomez. are you ready for cantomundo?

3 bits

it never fails. i always get sick when i come back home. sore throat. runny nose. damn kids. ha.
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Carmen Giménez Smith is having a great week. She won a fellowship from the Howard Foundation of Brown University and her third collection won the Juniper Prize for Poetry.
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still no title for my forthcoming book. the search continues!
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bits (and bits!)

5 days and counting!
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When Art Dallied With Poetry on 53rd Street
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I will be in NYC this Friday. It will be my first time in the city during the winter season. I'm afraid that I won't be able to walk around as much. That's my favorite part!
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Nathaniel Perry has won the APR/Honickman First Book Prize! Congrats, Mr. Perry.
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My winter boots arrive tomorrow. I ordered them off Zappo.com. They better fit.
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I'm not going to buy many things while I'm in the city. I just a need a few things to take to the MacDowell Colony. Like: fancy soaps, good tea, body spray.
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Yes, I did send my ms to the APR/Honickman contest. For a few minutes I started freaking out that I didn't win. Ha. Sad, no? But then I set aside those feelings and began work on a new poem.
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I'm going to vist this store Friday!

bits

went shopping for a new jacket today. i need it for my upcoming trip east.
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robert hayden reads two poems: frederick douglass, middle passage.
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17 days and counting!
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Nation's third poetry-only bookstore opens in Colorado
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crap! i totally forgot about the upcoming first book contests. correction: i totally forgot about first book contest fees! damn. i have to figure out a way to pay for the fees. double crap.
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now i'm depressed.
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angelo nikolopoulos: whispering pines, texas

bits

just got rejected by my favorite online journal. boo! no one wants the two poems i sent. i love these two poems; i thought someone would've published them by now. but then again: i'm a terrible judge of my own work. the poems i like the least are often the favorites of others, etc.
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Danielle Cadena Deulen: Corrida de Toros
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no work today. went to eat some indian food with a co-worker. yummy.
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luke johnson: The UPS tracker says I'll have a big 'ol box on my porch tomorrow evening. This is craziness. There are fish dying and birds falling from the sky. I worry that my book's release has triggered the apocalypse. Still, just in case, I've added a PayPal button to the blog, for anyone who'd like to buy the book directly from me...
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i have a greasy face. there i said it.
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are you reading this blog? i am.
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chickens!

bits

victoria chang on craig morgan teicher.
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do you have a martin ramírez art book that you no longer want? i will buy it from you.
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kevin young is the next editor of the best american poetry poetry series. i can't wait to read his selections.
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in about a month i will be in nyc. i can't wait. i just hope another blizzard doesn't strike while i'm there.
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love song with ruin: paul guest.
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it's going to rain tomorrow!
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i can't wait to visit poets house while i'm in nyc. it looks amazing.
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do you know of any good dim sum places in chinatown? do tell!
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goodness: awp dc is coming up fast. it's going to be fun. i just know it. i can't wait to see a lot of you again, to meet a lot of you for the first time. the only downside? i will be on a tight budget. for real. but i can't wait to buy c. dale young's new book and luke johnson's first book.
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"silence, torn in half."

post xmas bits

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i've been a bad blogger!
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got a smurf snuggie-like thing for xmas! i'm taking it with me to macdowell.
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interview: emma trelles.
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found out i was a finalist for a year-long residency. so close! onto the next application.
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rigoberto gonzález: small press highlights
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i'm disappointed NO ONE has invited me to participate in an off-site reading at awp. i got poems. and i got a mouth. come on, people!
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bits

is this thing on?
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i've been busy this week. no time to blog. sorry.
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working on a new poem.
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it rained yesterday. man, i love rainy days in southern arizona. rain makes me hopeful.
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We asked some of the major American poets--winners of the biggest national awards, huge presences all, who they thought was the single most important contemporary poet, and what they thought was her/his influence on their own work and on the work of other contemporary poets.
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who knew h. l. hix was such a hottie? yum.
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i will be blogging and posting pics from the macdowell colony. i know a lot of you love that. heck, i love it when other writers blog while in residence at a colony. but i won't name names or post pics of other artists; i will respect their privacy. but i will let you see what's inside my picnic basket. ha.
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chickens!

bits

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i'm a chicano poet. thank you very much.
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have i started shopping for xmas? hell no.
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here are more macdowell colony pics. go ahead. click on the link. you know you want to.
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hi, gc waldrep!
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don't forget to feed my fish.
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i might be giving a reading in texas next year. i'm a lone star. giddy up.
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call me crazy, but i love xmas music. don't you? at work that's all they play. a lot of my co-workers are already sick of the tunes, but not me. there's one christmas song that always makes me a bit weepy. but i'm not going to tell you which one. you might use that song against me.
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i like egg salad.
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bits

hi, phyllis!
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i bought my plane ticket to nyc. will be spending four days in the ciy in late janurary. then i head off to dc for awp, then off to new hampshire to spend 8 weeks at the macdowell colony. eight weeks. goodness. that's a lot of time. i'm so grateful.
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"...memory believes before knowing remembers. believes longer than recollects, longer than knowing even wonders."
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who said that?
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faulkner
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you must forgive me: this blog has lately become macdowell colony central. i'm not bragging about my upcoming residency. i'm just beyond happy to be going back. i've spent the last year working as a cashier. yeah, that iowa mfa is really paying off! ha. anyways: i'm not complaining about my job. really. i could get a gig teaching 4 sections of composition a semester, but i decided long ago to put my writing first. i've spent years (repeat: YEARS) working on my first collection. granted: i've been lucky enough to get some amazing residencies and fellowships, but often i've had to get a so-so job in order to fully concentrate on my poems. once again: i'm not complaining. i know i made the right choice.
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border songs.
border songs.
border singing.
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This was my desk a year ago, when I spent a month at the MacDowell Colony...
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