Organizing your writing life

IF I WERE A DRAG QUEEN...AND OTHER THOUGHTS FROM A LONG WEEKEND: I'm writing this entry listening to the Ultimate Kylie cd, which arrived today courtesy of Her Majesty's Royal Mail direct from Blighty. Kylie Minogue is still a huge star all over the world except here, although she occasionally cracks the charts (most recently with Can't Get You Out of My Head). This greatest hits CD goes all the way back to 1987-88 (when I was a senior in high school) when she recorded the one-two punch of I Should Be So Lucky and a cover of The Loco-motion. I loved her then, I love her even more now. Which just further proves that I am a gay homosexual. I've decided that if I ever become a drag queen (don't laugh...the thought has crossed my mind in the lean times...queens make a lot of money in tips), I would be a chunky Kylie. Just try to picture me on stage in a dress and a wig singing, "I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky..." There's probably a poem in there somewhere...or months of therapy.

My weekend was pretty quiet. I managed to see two films with Mal and friends. On the night before Turkey Day, we saw the brilliant Being Julia. If Annette Benning doesn't at least get an Oscar nom for this, there is no justice. She is an amazing actor - not afraid to look her age or poke fun at herself. It's deliciously bitchy. Bette Davis' Margo Channing would have found a kinship with Julia. On Thanksgiving night (after spending part of the day with my parents for a fab lunch), we went to see Kinsey starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney. It was disturbing and interesting. I see Oscar nods for both the stars. If they had a category for best cameo, it should go to the amazing Lynn Redgrave for her final scene as a lesbian who was helped by Kinsey's controversial writing. Redgrave does more with that five minutes than most actors do with a whole film.

I went out Friday to run errands and go to the post office, which was a fucking nightmare. I got done, rented some movies and scrambled back to the loft. I barely ventured out the rest of the weekend. I got my poems ready to submit for the Austin International Poetry Festival anthology and did a re-edit on The Dark Horse. I finally watched Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. That was a great trilogy of films. The film to avoid at all costs is Coffee and Cigarettes by the usually solid Jim Jarmusch. This is a pointless series of short films, badly improvised by usually good actors. The only reason to rent this would be to see Cate Blanchett's hilarious dual portrayal of herself and her jealous cousin. Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan have a couple of funny moments, too. The rest...ick.

I met jazz diva extraordinaire Jennifer Perry for coffee Saturday night. She's planning to be in SoCal when I'm on my mini-tour in January. Lisa Allender and Cecilia Woloch are supposed to be out there as well. Lord...we will be doing some serious cutting up. On Sunday night, it was Java Monkey with favorite Chris Chandler featuring. The Java Monkey Anthology (which I co-edited with Kodac Harrison and Cherryl Floyd-Miller) may be out in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed. Watch this space.

Today, back to work. We have a lot of work to do in a short amount of time to get the January issue out so we can all take a year-end break. We put Atlanta Intown and Buckhead in the mail this month, so no more soggy papers in the ditch. This puts us head and shoulders above the competition. Eat our dust.

That's all for the moment. I've started sequencing poems for a new, full-length collection. When will it be out? 2006 is a goal I have in my head. We shall see.

I should be so lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky...