David Orr On Greatness, Or Word Vomit

The delovely and delightful Amy King tagged me to comment on the essay by David Orr that appeared in the recent New York Times' Sunday Book Review. If you haven't read it and can manage to get through it without vomiting a little in your mouth, here's the link. If you don't feel like tasting your own bile, let me just boil it down for you: Orr contends that John Ashbery is the last "great" poet, then writes nearly 3,000 words wondering if any of today's contemporary poets can be "great." Wait...I really need to go throw up. 

Here's an expanded version of what I wrote at Amy's blog:

Orr’s “essay” exhausts me. This kind of introspective masturbation masquerading as literary “critique” bores the shit out of me. Chances are the poets I consider great wouldn’t pass Orr’s sniff test, and thank god for that. I’ve been writing poetry for about 20 years now and I know that some of what I've written has moved, motivated and provoked readers. That’s great enough for me. My body of work will live on as long as there is a world wide web, since that’s where most of my work resides, or will eventually.

  Like irascible Bill Knott (who I disagree with on poetics, but quite admire for his chutzpah in getting his work in front everyone and not caving to press whims), I plan to put all my work online one day and then the world can read it, not read it, decide if it’s great or mediocre. Only our egos and fear of death make us so manic to find our place in “history” and secure our “greatness.” Orr’s essay is just another in a long line of “death of poetry” pieces that come around every year or so. It’s another tale told by and idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. No one died and left David Orr the arbiter of greatness. Write on, poets. 

Oh, and check out Reb Livingston's take on "greatness." I would say both Reb and Amy are great, but I'm sure Orr would disagree.

American Idol 8 - Second 12 Results

I won't keep you long on this post. After another messy group sing and Miss Seacrest and the producers trying to find new ways to build "suspense" on who makes the Top 12, the only surprise here was cute boy Kris Allen making it over Megan Corkrey. I had a feeling he might be a dark horse because he's adorable. The other two: Allison Iraheta (wearing the most unfortunate looking dress -- it looked like she was wearing a polka dot bra) and my fiance Adam Lambert, who sang "Satisfaction" again and dialed it back a notch or two. Last season flameout Brooke White showed up to sing her first single, a forgettable piece of schlock. Another hour of my life I'll never get back. 

American Idol 8 - Second 12

The second set of 12 performed tonight, and the show got off to such a horrible start it seemed like two hours of epic fail. It picked up toward the end, but good performances were few and far between. Once again, the contestants could pick any song from the Billboard Hot 100, but they chose badly and I do mean sucky. So, who's going through? My guess is Adam Lambert (pictured), Allison Iraheta and Megan Cockrey. Kris Allen is the upset. Read on.

Jasmine Murray: She might have survived group sing with Bikini Girl, but she took herself out of the competition tonight by performing a flat, uninspired version of Sara Bareilles' "Love Song." It's a peppy tune and she tried to slow it down and give it some R&B vibe and totally killed it. When the judges told her it wasn't good, she disagreed. See ya, Jasmine.

Matt Giraud: I barely remember him from auditions and Hollywood week, and that's a good thing because he should be going home after butchering Coldplay's "Viva la Vida." He was breathless, his voice cracked and I don't think he hit a single note. I guess it's back to being a "dueling piano player," or whatever he does. Six Flags is probably hiring for the summer. 

Janine Vailes: Another unknown, who totally blew it. She sang Maroon 5's "This Love" and it was a strained, horrible mess. But, hey, she's got great legs and knows how to work some coochie cutters and fuck me heels. I'm sure she'll get bigger tips when she goes back to her career as a bartender.

 

Nick Mitchell: He decided to perform as his character Normund Gentle and sang a camp, histrionic version of "I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." He crawled around the stage bleating like a sheep, rubbing up against the judges' table and changing the words around asking not be sent home. This shit was funny the first two or three times, but the thrill is gone. And so is he. 

Allison Iraheta: She got minimal screen time in the audition rounds, but she came out swinging, totally rocking Heart's "Alone." Only 16, but sounds older and can really belt it. As Simon said, the competition started with her tonight.

Kris Allen: He's adorable. Let's just get that out of the way. He unwisely picked "Man In the Mirror," and started rough, but he got better. Paula and Randy liked him (Kara did not) and even Simon said he had some appeal. The boys and girls will definitely dig him. If my marriage to Adam Lambert doesn't work out, I'll keep Kris in mind. 

Megan Corkrey: She looks like a cheerleader, then you see the giant sleeve tattoo on her right arm and you have to do a double-take. She has an interesting voice that sorta reminds me of the new wave of British singers like Adele and Duffy. She chose "Put Your Records On," which was smart. She might just make it through.

Matt Breitzeke: The tragedy is that he can actually sing, but his version of "If You Could Only See" by Tonic was a total flatline. He's also not attractive and would be hard to market in the pop world, which seems to be very important to the judges this year. Kara has brought it up over and over. Maybe he'll get the blue collar vote like Michael Sarver last week. Although I hope not.

Jesse Langseth: Her voice reminds me of Chloe Lattanzi, Olivia Newton-John's loopy daughter who performed on the MTV train wreck supreme, Rock the Cradle. That's not really a compliment, though. She did a loungey version of "Bette Davis Eyes," and while it wasn't horrible, it wasn't good either. 

Kai Kalama: Choosing "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" did him no favors. He has an okay voice, but it's just forgettable. Simon said he'd make a good back-up singer. Meh. Wedding singer is more like it. Bye-bye, Kai.

Mishavonna Henson: Another terrible song choice by someone who can actually sing. She did "Drops of Jupiter" by Train and technically it was fine, but like Simon, it left me cold. In my notes I said she sounded good, but it was a personality dead zone the entire time she was on stage.

Adam Lambert: Sooooo incredibly hot, but I have to agree with Simon that his performance was both brilliant and horrific. He's been doing musical theatre for 17 years, so he's got stagecraft down to a science. He did a glam version of "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, and it was a wee bit too cocky. I could easily see him performing in Vegas for the rest of his life if he doesn't pull the reins back a bit. However, his pretty emo boy looks and the comparisons to the vampire guy in Twilight are sure to get the tweens (and queens) dialing. 

Patton Oswalt For Poet Laureate

Patton Oswalt for Poet Laureate - watch more funny videos

Just watch it and laugh. I cannot tell you how many poets this reminds me of in some way. You know who you are. Tip o' the hat to Christopher Hennessy for posting it first. 

Happy Fat Tuesday

Here's my pimp look for Mardi Gras. This was actually taken before going to see Madonna back in 2001. BFF's Tina and Mal went, too, and we decided to be ghetto fabulous for the show, since Madge was working that look then. That's a string of rosary beads in my teeth. I know, I know...sacrilege. I'd totally be working this if I were on Bourbon Street today.

American Idol has been moved to Wednesday and Thursday this week to make way for Obama's State of the Union address. I'll be live Facebooking the speech tonight, so if you're on FB check it out. 

Sean Penn & Dustin Lance Black win for "Milk!"

You commie, homo-loving sons of guns... I think it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that way. We've got to have equal rights for everyone. -- Sean Penn, Best Actor for Milk

Most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told they are less than by their churches, or by the government, or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value. And that no matter what everyone tells you, God does love you, and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally across this great nation of ours.  -- Dustin Lance Black, Best Original Screenplay

Saturday Notes

I'm helping to formulate questions for Conquering Venus that Vanilla Heart will send out to book clubs and the press. It's not as easy as I thought it would be. Anyone else done this? Or any online recommendations to share? 

Hobble Creek Review is now open for submissions again. You can send up to five poems, creative non-fiction and essays in the body of an email. For full guidelines visit the website. The current issue -- featuring Mary Biddinger, John Gallaher, Chris Crittenden, Gary Nolan and more -- is the best issue yet! Fellow blogger Justin Evans is the editor. 

Have you entered Project Verse yet? The deadline is March 19 so get a move on. The prize package has been sweetened, too. 

Zachary Steele's debut novel, Anointed, is being launched tonight at Wordsmiths Books in Decatur at 7:30 p.m. 

Weekend Music: Pet Shop Boys at The Brit Awards

The Pet Shop Boys were honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at The Brit Awards this week and performed a fun medley of their hits, with assist from Lady GaGa and Brandon Flowers from The Killers. 

Facebook Gives You Cancer & Other Notes

The UK's Daily Mail published an article today claiming Facebook increases your risk of cancer. No, this isn't a joke or an article from The Onion. That's an actual screenshot of the article I just took with my trusty MacBook. First Facebook steals all your shit and now it gives you cancer. Social networking is becoming hazardous to your health in more ways than one. The doctor (somebody check his papers!) said that social networking sites keep people indoors, decreases face-to-face interaction, lowers your immune system and a whole host of other ills. This is fear-mongering journalism at its best. Look, I'll admit I'm still a total Internet addict. We had thunderstorms moving through the city last night and I had to shut down the computer and I was total jonesing for my email, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I'm sure some folks have become shut-ins because of the Internet, but I'm not one of them. All this social networking has introduced me to more people than I could have ever imagined -- and I've met a good many of them in real life. There are so many other things to worry about right now, mainly the economy, so worrying about whether a website gives you cancer is just ridiculous. Use Facebook, meet new people, reconnect, promote, hook up, have fun...whatever turns you on. I wish the media would stop telling us how to feel and act. We had eight years of fearmongering from Bush & Co. Enough!

While there is a brief lull in the Conquering Venus publication process on my end, I'm turning back to poetry for a moment. I'm submitting new work to a couple of publications and an anthology that has asked to see some poems. I also just sent back my registration info for the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans this May. I'm on two panels and giving a reading. Looking forward to being back in NOLA again. 

Question out there for you authors and writers: Has anyone been to the West Hollywood Book Fair? Vanilla Heart wants me to come out for the festival in October, and I'm excited about going, but wanted to hear some stories, rumors, innuendo about the event. 

American Idol 8 - First 12 Results

Last year American Idol promised it would keep results shows to half an hour. They're already breaking promises. This was a useless hour of banter, a messy group sing and last season has-beens Carly Smithson and Michael Johns singing "The Letter," which they sang on the finale of season seven. They couldn't even bother to learn a new song. Bah! 

So, I got two out of the three correct: Alexis Grace and Danny Goeky made it though. Alexis' daddy and girlfriend were making out like they'd just won the lottery, and in a way, I guess they did.  The surprise was Michael Sarver, the oil roughneck who beat Anoop Desai by 20,000 votes (25 million voted last night). This just proves that hundreds of thousands of Americans are tone deaf and will go for the boring and safe every time. Sarver is a bore, and wouldn't even make a good bar singer. Poor Tatiana looked like she'd been tasered at the end of the show. She was in total shock and refused to clap or even pretend like she was having a good time. One of Gokey's friends held up a picture of the dead wife while he sang "Hero." It's verging on the unseemly now. 

The question now is who will the judges/producers pick as wildcards from this bunch. Tatiana and Anoop are the only possibilities, and my guess is Anoop. Paula "Miss Pills" Abdul ought to hire Tatty D. to help hawk her jewelry, since it got more screen time tonight. Next week 12 more perform and three more are selected. My future husband Adam Lambert is performing.

American Idol 8 - First 12

Where to begin? This was a night that wavered between bland and vocal train wreck. The way American Idol is working this season is breaking the Top 36 into groups of 12. For three weeks, the top three will move ahead until there are nine and the judges pick three as "wildcards" to make up the Top 12. If you don't want to read about tonight's horror show, I'll just tell you up front that the top three are going to be Alexis Grace, Danny Goeky and Tatiana Del Toro. The dark horse is Anoop Desai. If he gets cut, he'll be a wildcard pick. Trust me on this. The contestants were given the entire Billboard Top 100 to choose from since the chart began back in 1958. With all of that music at their disposal, the song choices were uniformly vomit-inducing. 

Jackie Tohn: Dressed like an extra from Grease, Jackie mugged her way through Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation." It was overblown, fake and, as Simon put it, gimmicky. Randy and Kara called her "entertaining." Community theatre is calling, Jackie. 

Ricky Braddy: I still have no idea who this guy is, and even Paula said he was at a disadvantage because he hadn't been "featured." He has a pleasant, bland voice. He sang Leon Russell's "A Song For You," but it was a total charisma-free zone the entire time he was on stage. I hope he didn't quit his job cooking chicken fingers in North Carolina.

Alexis Grace: A shoe-in for the Top 12, this little 17-year-old has a soulful voice beyond her years. She tore up Aretha's "Never Loved A Man," and Paula was gushing and gesticulating to make sure you saw all her cheap jewelry (which she'll be peddling on HSN this Sunday!). Simon called her this season's dark horse.

Brent Keith: He basically said he's on the show for the money, saying he and his family were living paycheck to paycheck. So much for artistic passion. He sang some self-indulgent country song called "Hick Town," and it was bland and forgettable. Randy, in one of the funniest lines of the night, said it was like an act you'd see at a chili cook-off. Ha!

Stevie Wright: The chick named after Stevie Nicks should change her name, because this performance was neck-and-neck for worst of the night. Trying to "young it up," she sang Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" and was so off-pitch and out of tune it was really just embarrassing. It was like a karaoke pajama party after the girls have drank too much Nyquil and are kissing their hands and pretending it's Zac Effron. 

Anoop Desai: I'm already over the whole "Anoop Dogg" nickname and his giant eyebrows. He bizarrely chose Monica's "Angel of Mine," and while it wasn't terrible, it was indulgent and a bit High School Musical for me, dawg. However, the judges love him, so if he gets cut tomorrow night in the voting, he'll be back.

Casey Carlson: Here's who Stevie was neck-and-neck with for worst performance of the night and I think she actually won it by a nose. She chose The Police's "Everything Little Thing She Does Is Magic," changed it to "He" (because god forbid someone get the "wrong" impression) and then proceeded to slaughter it. I don't think she was on pitch the entire song and was writhing around like a stripper for no good reason. Horrible. 

Michael Sarver: The oil roughneck is also just on the show for the money, and decided to sing Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want To Be," which should be banned from Idol for eternity. It was like drunk karaoke at the titty bar. Simon said he was a likable guy and hoped people would call in and save him. Don't waste your long distance or texting minutes.

Anne Marie Boskovich: Her Muzak version of "Natural Woman" sealed her fate as a hotel lounge singer. On a side note, what the hell was Ted Danson doing in the audience? Does he have something to promote?

Stephen Fowler: He fumbled the lyrics in Hollywood and they gave him a second chance. They shouldn't have bothered. A nightmarish arrangement of "Rock With You" was the least of his problems. He was off-pitch and behind the music most of the time. Paula, in possibly her most lucid moment of the season, said the song was "the kiss of death." Simon said he wished Stephen had forgotten the lyrics. Ouch.

Tatiana Del Toro: The best part of the whole show was Tatiana running to hug everyone after their performances insuring her more screen time. It was hilarious! Here's the thing -- she can actually sing. Her performance of "Saving All My Love For You" was one of the best of the evening, and she toned down the crazy, which the judges were encouraging her to bring back. Simon called her a drama queen desperate for fame, which pretty much nailed it. She's portraying a character to get a reaction, and it's working. She's a shameless self-promoter. I kinda have to admire that. While Miss Seacrest was giving her voting number, she earnestly looked at the camera and said, "This is my dream and it's up to you to keep it alive." Work it, Tatty D.

Danny Gokey: They are gonna milk the dead wife for the rest of the season, so get used to it. Randy, Paula and Kara have already crowned him the winner, falling over themselves to overpraise him. He sang "Hero" by Mariah Carey, which is pure corn. Simon, the voice of reason, said he wasn't buying the hype. Exactly. 

My Diva Anthology Coming In May

Talk about being in great company! The new anthology My Diva: 65 Gay Men On The Women Who Inspire Them is set for a May release, featuring my essay on French actress Jeanne Moreau. There will also be essays by the late Reginald Shepherd on Kate Bush, Christopher Hennessy on Princess Leia, Mark Doty on Grace Paley, Regie Cabico on Nina Simone, D.A. Powell on Eartha Kitt and David Trinidad on Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The anthology editor, Michael Montlack, will be here in Atlanta for the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival in the fall and I hope to be part of a reading from the anthology at the Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans in May. The Terrace Books imprint of University of Wisconsin Press is publishing the anthology in hardback. Ooh la la!

Here's some of the advance praise for the anthology:

“A completely fascinating and lovely book. In every case the diva is a kind of saint—for her suffering, for the emotional warble in her voice, as she sang, as she spoke those classic lines. It’s hard to miss the dovetailing of the gay male writer’s psyche and the voluptuous (much more than her body) voice of the diva. She shines her light on the way. Man, does she ever.”—Eileen Myles, author of Sorry, Tree

“Inspiration is contagious—and inspiration, excitement, and appreciation resonate through these essays. This is a story about how in the worst of times, there are the best of women—women in whom we find our courage and sometimes our heartbroken tenderness. My Diva is an act of love, well deserved and without reservation. Read it in the spirit in which it was made—this act of adoration, awe, and yes, love.”—Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard Out of Carolina

Radio Days, AWP Chicago & Valentine's Day

Many, many thanks to Michael Aaron at Virgogray Press Radio for the fun midnight interview earlier this morning. There was more chatting than reading poems, but it was laid back and we cover lots of poetic topics in our discussion (plus politics, religion, music and drugs). I wound up reading "Los Angeles" and "Siege" from After the Poison and "The Virgin Mary Appears In A Highway Underpass" and "Put Yourself In My Place" from Slow To Burn. I closed with "Night 65," which Michael actually inspired three years ago when I met him in San Antonio at the launch of Slow To Burn. The interview has now been archived and you can listen to it at VPR's BlogTalkRadio site.

Many of my poetry friends are at AWP in Chicago this weekend. I have to admit, I'm happy to be at home chilling out. A good friend and fellow poet who is actually in Chicago called last night and described AWP 2009 this way: It's not as big a clusterfuck as last year in New York, but pretty damn close. That's all I needed to know. If you want to catch up on some of the AWP shenanigans (which is the perfect word for it) check out these blogs: C. Dale Young, Reb Livingston, Anne Haines and Paul Lisicky, who has some photos at his blog. Tons of folks are uploading photos to Flickr, too.

Hope everyone has a happy Valentine's Day. If you don't have a sweetheart to love on, don't forget to love on yourself. 

Virgogray Press Radio Interview Tonight

Listen live tonight at midnight central time! You can click on this link to get to the site and listen in.

Conquering Venus, Poetry & More

I finished proofing the first galley of Conquering Venus this morning at 2 a.m. I was exhausted, but happy to have it done and back to Vanilla Heart.  There were 29 pages of corrections, mostly formatting. I haven't given the novel this close a reading in years. Reading it line for line, word for word helped me get back in touch more deeply with the characters. I'm hoping this will help as I continue to evolve and flesh them out in the second book. 

The brilliant musician/songwriter/poet Vanessa Daou mentioned Conquering Venus in a new interview that just posted on the Elixir Productions blog, where she talks about her career, inspirations and new album Joe Sent Me. The Mercer Dance Ensemble has created an original show around the music from the album, cleverly titled Joe Sent M.D.E. Vanessa and I are simpatico when it comes to music, poets and art, and I'm honored that she's allowed me to use lyrics from her song "Near The Black Forest" in a crucial scene in the novel. I've been listening to all Vanessa's albums, lots of classical and 90s-era trip-hop to put myself into that space while I'm writing. And it goes without saying that if you haven't purchased a copy of Joe Sent Me, you are missing out on a masterpiece. Get it here!

I've been a total slack ass in promoting my next radio appearance. Tomorrow night -- technically Saturday morning -- at midnight (that's central time, so 1 a.m. on the east coast). I'll be a guest on the Virgogray Press Radio show, which airs on BlogTalk Radio. The wonderful poet and musician Michael Aaron Casares will be interviewing me and I'll be reading from After the Poison and other work. You'll be able to listen live and even call in to share your work or harass me. It will be archived shortly thereafter if you can't stay up that late. 

I'm sure you've probably heard that super-plant Joanna Pacitti was booted off American Idol after one of the tabloids revealed Joanna had a close relationship with two executives from 19 Management, one of the companies behind the show. Joanna was shown last night making it to the Top 36, but why the producers chose to continue the charade is beyond me. My guess is that if the tabloid hadn't exposed the relationship, Joanna would still be on the show. They are replacing her with Felicia Barton. I have no idea who that is. 

American Idol 8 - Top 36

Sweet Baby Jeebus. I knew there was fuckery about on American Idol, but not the heapin' pile-o-poo they threw at us tonight. Deciding the contestants fate at "The Judges' Mansion" and making the ones they were unsure about have a sing-off was nothing more than a ploy to drag out the show for an unnecessary two hours. Anyone remotely interested in the show has seen the Top 36 list by now, and the producers could have edited the show to an hour. I'm already jaded for the season. The only one I even remotely like is Adam Lambert, and even his Jonas Brothers emo look might start to get on my nerves. The rest are bland, also-rans or has-beens. Oooh, I'm a grumpy bitch tonight.

Here's the Top 36 and a few comments:

Alexander Wagner-Trugman - He was forced into a sing-off with his little gay friend Cody. They held each other like they were going down on the Titanic. Don't let go, Cody...

Danny Gokey - Yeah, I know he lost his wife and that's sad and all, but I already don't like him. He's a little overconfident and cocky for my taste. His best friend Jamar got sent home. 

Joanna Pacitti - They finally mentioned her past label deals and total failure as an artist, yet they wanted to give her another chance. 

 
Kendall Beard - Looks like a 35-year-old OC housewife. Boring me already.

Kristen McNamara - She's the one screwed over her fellow contestants in the group sing because she was "tired." She looks constipated.

Lil Rounds - She keeps saying she's doing this because her family needs the money. I hope they have a back-up plan. She might be this season's Melinda Doolittle. Except she has a neck.

Michael Sarver and Matt Breitzke - The welder and the oil roughneck square off in a terrible attempt by the producers to build tension, when, even if you hadn't read the Top 36 and just kept count, you would know both of these guys made it through. 

Nathaniel Marshall - He's more camp that a row of tents (yes, I used that line last year...deal) and almost makes Frau Von Smith look butch. I can't be too rough on the princess because he's had a rough life as a young 'mo. I'll try and cut him some slack.

Nick Mitchell - How he and his Norman Gentle schtick got through is a bigger shock than Princess Nathaniel. He's this season's Taylor Hicks in drag. Although, the look on the other contestants' faces when he walked into the holding room and said he made it was worth it! 

Ricky Braddy - Who?

Scott MacIntyre - Wow, he made it. What a shock. Insert eye-roll here. 

Tatiana Del Toro - This self-involved screech owl needs to be voted off ASAP. Don't delay, folks. 

Von Smith - One thing positive (I guess) about the Top 36 is that it is awash in gay boys. Splotchy-faced, drama queen Von made it through. This show aint' big enough for two princesses, so he and Nathaniel will probably cancel each other. Besides the top 'mo on this show is my future husband, Adam. 

The rest: Adam Lambert, Taylor Vaifanua, Stevie Wright, Stephen Fowler, Mishavonna Henson, Megan Corkrey, Matt Giraud, Kris Allen, Kai Kalama, Junot Joyner, Jorge Nunez, Jackie Tohn, Jasmine Murray, Jeanine Vailes, Jessica Langseth, Casey Carlson, Brent Keith, Arianna Ayesah Afsar, Anoop Desai, Anne Marie Boskovich, Allison Iraheta and Alexis Grace.

Tuesday Report

There will be no American Idol recap tonight. I know, I know... how could I? Tonight is another Hollywood round (which have proven to be a pain in the ass to recap anyway) and tomorrow night we'll find out the Top 36. However, if you scoot on over to Vote For the Worst you can see the spoiler for the 36 has been posted for a few weeks now. I'll have a recap up tomorrow evening touching on tonight and talking about the Top 36. 

The main reason I'm missing the recap is that on top of the proofing for Conquering Venus, I'm going to dinner and a poetry reading at Outwrite Books tonight featuring Megan Volpert, Reginald Jackson and Franklin Abbott. 

Conquering Venus proofing chugging along. Plan to be finished by end of the week. Can't wait to see the bound galley. That will really make it "real."

UPDATE II: I've been totally wrong twice now because I can't keep up with the fuckery American Idol is throwing at us. Last night they narrowed it down to 72 and tomorrow (Feb. 11)  they name the final Top 36 in a two-hour snore fest. 

Weekend Update

I've been pretty much off the grid all weekend long working with the first galley of my novel, Conquering Venus. It's an "e-galley," where we comb through looking for formatting issues and the first round of corrections. A bound uncorrected galley comes next, which will be sent to blurbers and then an advanced reader copy will follow that to send to reviewers.  I'm looking at every word and line in this e-galley. I spent about six hours on it Saturday and five yesterday. The book is right at 300 pages and I finally stopped last night at page 178. Thankfully, 90 percent of the issues in this first galley are formatting (paragraph indents, italics, accent marks, etc.). Tonight, I'm back to fine-tooth-combing it. 

I was really in a proofing groove yesterday afternoon when my phone rang. I had totally forgotten the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival committee meeting. I begged off, but many thanks to Megan, Franklin, Dustin, et al for picking up my slack. I almost forgot that I was supposed to meet fellow poet and blogger Emily Benton for a quick dinner at Manuel's Tavern. She was in town with her boyfriend Scott for the Antony and the Johnson's concert, which I almost bought a ticket for, but then decided I'd better get back to editing. It was great to see both of them and chat about blogging, poetry, the egos of poets and other assorted po'biz.

Back to work! 

A, Her Name Is Alice

Just got in from Alice Lovelace's second 21st birthday bash and it was a hoot. The party was held at the Georgia Citizens Coalition on Hunger headquarters, which is on the campus of the New Schools at Carver campus in southeast Atlanta. All the local literati were on hand to sing and perform poems for Alice, who is Atlanta's godmother of spoken word. I whipped out "Wonder Woman" and "Why I Want to Be Pam Grier" in her honor. A fantastic evening for a very great lady. She's been a friend and mentor for so many years, and helped me find my political voice. After the Poison is dedicated to her for that reason. She's fearless and her tireless efforts to bring social justice and change is second to none. Happy "21st," Alice! 

Last night was the Poetry at Tech reading featuring Karen Head, Chelsea Rathburn, Bruce McEver and John Skoyles. There was a packed house for the reading hosted by Tom Lux. Karen was absolutely brilliant last night and her reading of "May Day Sermon" was spot on. Chelsea was also fantastic, reading mostly new work and John Skoyles brought the house day with his clever poems and his impersonation of poet Allen Grossman. I loved his poem "Uncle Grossman" and the stories he told about growing up in Brooklyn.

I told Rupert Fike when we were walking out of the reading last night that I felt like my poetry voice had completely shut down while I've been writing fiction again. I got home last night and  was about to go to bed when I started flashing on all these images of people from the reading, so I grabbed my notebook (I'd already powered down the laptop) and wrote a first draft longhand -- something I rarely do. It's nice to know the muse is bringing multiple blessings these days.

On Wednesday night I was the guest judge for Westlake High School's Poetry Out Loud competition. They had an amazing 41 students turn out to recite poems in hopes of making it to the state competition and on to the big recitation contest in Washington D.C. this spring. Elijah Orengo, a Westlake student and last year's representative from Georgia, won yet again. He read T. S. Eliot's "Preludes" and nailed every word and nuance. The kid is simply amazing. I'm slated to emcee the state competition at the Atlanta History Center at the end of the month. More on that soon.

I hope to spend most of this weekend writing and revising on the second novel, and I have a feeling an early galley of Conquering Venus will be coming my way soon.

Dick Cheney Is Still A Dick

Someone please change Dick Cheney's diaper, give him a Werther's to suck on and tell him to shut the fuck up. Cheney needs to be flown to The Hague, tried for war crimes and locked up for the rest of his life. My rant follows Cheney's interview with Politico.com where he said Obama's policies would lead to terrorists detonating a nuclear bomb or a chemical attack on American soil. Fearmongering never takes a holiday at the Cheney house. Why is the media still giving him valuable air time? He and Sarah Palin should be loaded into a rocket and shot into the center of the sun.  And if you missed the "real" Cheney at Obama's inauguration, watch the clip below.

American Idol 8 - Hollywood Part 2

I'm going to be honest and tell you that I didn't even recognize half the people singing tonight as the Hollywood elimination round continued. As Miss Seacrest informed us at the top of the hour, this would be "the tragedy of group sing. There's always been drama, but NEVER.LIKE.THIS." There was plenty of melodrama and hyperbole being flung around, but the producers decided that rather than show us the 100 remaining contestants, they would focus on three or four groups that all hated each other. 

Most of the hour seemed to focus on Bikini Girl and her attempt to sabotage her group, which included Rose "My Parents are Dead" Flack, Jasmine Murray and another girl whose name I can't remember. Bikini Girl left rehearsal early and went to bed, then the next morning told Rose and Co. she was sick and dropping out. That is until roll call began for the contestants and she miraculously appeared, dressed to the nines and being a straight-up bitch. When it finally got to the auditions, it was an absolute train wreck and only Jasmine made it through. Bikini Girl walked off stage, ignored the other girls, and made kissy-faces at the camera. Judge Kara DioGuardio called Bikini Girl the c-word (the one that rhymes with punt) as she walked out of the auditorium. Welllll...

Then there was gay, pierced Nathaniel, Kristin and Nancy (who called themselves Team Compromise -- ugh!), who fought endlessly. Nathaniel cried and minced around like a big girl talking about his DREAMS, while Nancy accused Kristin of not wanting it enough. At the performance, they butchered Duffy's "Mercy," and, shockingly, it was Nancy that got cut. She told Kristin to fuck off as she left the auditorium. Wellllllll...

Then there was that crazy, hyena Tatianna Del Toro who wasn't happy with her group, tried to join Team Compromise, then went back to her original group. The self-centered bitch and her group somehow made it through, but if she makes it to the Top 36, I may have to boycott. She cried and whined about how hard she worked to make it, blah, blah, blah. She's a second-rate Selena wannabe. 

There were tiny snippets of the good people shown, but I can't even work up the strength to write about them. The standout of the night was the group with Danny Goeky and his buddy Jamar, who totally nailed an a cappella version of Queen's "Somebody to Love." One guy who got cut, said Paula Abdul had manipulated the outcome, called her pure evil and they cut to an image of Miss Pill's with gleaming red, Amityville Horror eyes. Nah, the producers aren't trying to drive her crazy. Okay, crazier than she already is.

At the end, 75 had made it through, which means more Hollywood next week as the judges whittle it down to the Top 36 and the real competition -- finally! -- begins.

American Idol 8 - Hollywood Part 1

Recapping the first night of the Hollywood round for American Idol is no easy task. There are too many contestants crammed into the hour and lots of gimmicks (Bikini Girl...again) and sob stories. I couldn't even catch all the songs they were singing. I'm sure some of my esteemed fellow Idol bloggers (look in the sidebar) will do a much job this week than me, but I'll give it my best shot.

Miss Seacrest -- wearing a tasteful sweater set -- broke down the numbers for us: 100,000 auditioned and 147 made it to Hollywood. Of course, this is the BIGGEST.SEASON.YET. Meh. This year, the contestants were put through "Idol Boot Camp," getting make-up tips, vocal coaching and a pep talk from Barry Manilow. Yeah, sooooo relevant. Two days of solo auditions crammed into an hour means we really didn't get to see anyone, especially since they were bringing them out eight at a time for a capella songs of their choosing. Although it seemed like people were being sent home in droves, at the end of the show, 104 had made it to the second Hollywood round. 

Lil Rounds almost blew out the Kodak Theatre's sound system with an over-the-top version of "I Will Always Love You," but she sailed through. Dennis Brigham -- who back-flipped and pleaded until the judges sent him through -- got cut and went ballistic on Simon. "Y'all suck as judges," was his parting shot. 

Then there was Nathaniel Marshall (gay and pierced!), who sobbed when his audition didn't go well and said his desire to be on Idol was bursting out of his skin -- get him a towel; Anoop Desai, who sounded very soulful; Jasmine Murray (I don't remember her either); and Rose Flack, who lost both of her parents. They gave Rose some more sob story, and built fake tension about her confidence being shattered during rehearsals. Of course, she sounded great during the audition itself. All of these people made it through, including Jason "Bongwater" Castro's little brother, who got zero screen time. 

Von Smith blew his audition, singing some indulgent community theatre number, yet somehow made it through. So did Jorge Nunez and Steven Fowler, who both have great voices. Even flamer Nick "Norman Gentle" Mitchell made it through, although he was campy and silly. Scott MacIntyre, the blind guy from the Phoenix auditions, and Frankie Jordan also made it. 

Also making it through: Jacki Tohn, the husky rocker chick who gave a so-so audition; Danny Goeky, whose wife died; his friend Jamar; Bikini Girl, who sang a thin and breathless version of "Breath" and the judges said she did okay (?!); oil roughneck Jeremy Sarver; David Osmond; Adam Lambert, the cute gay boy (yay!); Ann Marie Boskovich; and Emily Wynne-Hughes, who tried to blow her audition by singing some No Doubt song she hadn't rehearsed. 

Tomorrow night, it's the group sings and melodrama galore. Sorry this post was such a bore, but tonight was so procedural, it's hard to work up much snark. Maybe tomorrow. 

Where I Work

I was inspired by January O'Neil's v-log showing off her work space. A couple of people asked me to post a photo of my office ages ago, so here it is. I spent about 45 minutes on Sunday getting it back in order and filing things away so I can have a clear work surface as the second novel progresses. 

It's a pretty basic: there's my trusty MacBook, my wireless Mac mouse on a Roy Lichtenstein mat of his House sculpture and the books on my desk are what I'm currently reading or referring to often (Mark Doty, Sharon Olds and the Pushcart anthology are in there). That bookshelf is full of poetry and there's another one just like it on the other wall, also full of poetry. The red book facing out on the top shelf is a limited-edition, autographed copy of The Book of Folly by Anne Sexton. One of my prized possessions. If the apartment ever catches fire, I'm taking the Mac and that book.

If you blow the image up a bit, you'll see the poison bottle from the cover of After the Poison sitting next to left of the Sexton book, and just behind that a steropticon card of the Venus de Milo from the 1920s. Two of my favorite eBay finds. 

I'd love to see more people post their workspaces. I'm always curious to see where people make their "magic" happen.

Snow, Poetry & Other Notes

The UK was hit by a massive snowstorm overnight. The photos are gorgeous and the notes I've received from friends over there say it's beautiful and a bit scary if you're out on the road. The Tube is shut down, all buses are off the road and more snow is expected in London. It looks like Atlanta will be missing out on the snow this year. Sigh.

Dustin Brookshire and his Limp Wrist journal are about to kick off a competition for poets that is not only free, but sounds like it's going to be a heckuva lotta fun. Project Verse will award the winner publication of a limited-edition chapbook, a week-long residency at Marilyn Nelson's Soul Mountain Retreat, an interview on The Joe Milford Poetry Show and guaranteed reviews of the chapbook in Limp Wrist and ouroboros review. Did I mention all of this is FREE?! Like it's inspiration Project Runway, you're either in or your out and a panel of judges will decide each week who gets the big "auf wiedersehen." There will also be guest judges each week, offering up snarky commentary and praise for those who truly deserve it. This will be a fairly grueling competition for the contestants, but the rewards are great. For all the details on this competition, head over to Dustin's blog. I'll see you on the runway. 

Thanks again to everyone who listened to my interview on The Joe Milford Poetry Show on Saturday, and to all of those who have downloaded it from the archive since. Joe sent me a note this morning that 75 people had downloaded the interview since Saturday night. Very cool! If you haven't listened to it, you can hear it streaming from the show's homepage or download the mp3 in the archives now.