Things you can learn from Billy Collins and the power of gold platform sandals…
Last night I went to a BC reading in La Jolla. When it came time to sign my book, he sang me a song called “Jeannine,” which is apparently an old jazz standard. (“Last time, last time I saw Jeannine…she looked like a movie queen.”) Had Billy Collins done this before? I don’t remember him singing last time I saw him, but I do remember finding out that his collie was named “Jeannine” as well. I found versions of the song on itunes. See what you can learn at poetry readings? Then I found another song on itunes by David Bowie called “Jeanine” that I really liked (“So take your glasses off, stop acting so sincere.” Hee!) Apparently all the Jeanine characters in songs (any spelling) are troublesome women. That makes sense.
I also got to meet Steve Kowit, who was very charming and friendly. The reading itself was so crowded Glenn and I had to temporarily retreat to the next door coffee shop, Pannikin, where the young coffee shop workers were talking about how Eliot’s work was good only because of Ezra Pound’s editing, and there were German surfer girls warming their sandaled feet by the fire. (It was about 60 degrees outside, chilly for here.) They invited me to join them because I was also wearing sandals, which I thought was very friendly.
In fact, I was wearing three-inch gold platform strappy sandals, which is very unlike me. However, the waiter AND the maitre’d at the restaurant we stopped at for dinner chatted us up and talked about the local food scene and then sent us a free dessert, a melting chocolate something with salted caramel and buttermilk sorbet. Plus, the whole Billy Collins singing to me thing…the mysterious power of strappy three-inch gold sandals? Or maybe people are just friendlier here in San Diego. I never ever wore heels in Seattle, so it must be the creeping influence of SoCal on an easily-influenced soul.
Here’s a pic of the shoes for Rebecca Loudon:
http://img.nextag.com/image/Guess-by-Marciano-Women/1/000/006/006/733/600673341.jpg
PS They were fairly comfortable.
Also, check this out: a poem by my Steel Toe Books publisher, Tom Hunley, from his new book, will be on Writer’s Almanac this week:
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2008/10/26
I’m convinced that though Garrison Keillor always calls “Steel Toe Books” “Steel Toe Boots” on this radio program, that he actually really likes Tom Hunley.
Feeling very cheered since the last post, mostly because of time and perspective, and your cheerful posts and funny e-mails, and also by the visit of one of my younger writer friends from Pacific U who came out to our little seaside town by way of our temporary foot-ferry from Seattle. It was so much fun to talk about fiction, to stack up books to recommend, to celebrate her first acceptance at the (paying!) journal Asimov’s, to drink tea and discuss literature like actual serious writers. Ha! Oh, to be 26 again, and also a fiction writer! Anyway, thanks for the visit, FS, and good luck at the residency! I’ll miss the crazy Oregon ocean and all the fun writer stuff.
I also thought about Amazon reviews in general, about how many times we read a book and love it, but never contact the author, or leave any trace of our love anywhere. Amazon does let you leave a “hey, I really enjoyed your work” message to authors, which, whether they are small-publisher poets or tech writers or big-selling fiction authors, probably do read and worry over their Amazon reviews, just like I did.
Another Steel Toe author on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac, “What My Father Believed” by John Guzlowski: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/programs/2007/12/24/#friday
And, I’m doing my first Port Townsend reading at the Northwind Arts Center on January 10th with my friend Ronda Broatch. It’ll be nice to connect with a new poetry community. I miss my Redmond readings at Soul Food, but this will be a good group too, I can feel it.
Been reading the Sylvia/Ted biography, Her Husband. I’m reminded as I listen how many good things, how many successes, Sylvia had early in life. It’s easy to let small discouragements (and in her case, also a wandering husband leaving her with two kids in a cold English winter) overshadow all the good – think how much more Sylvia could have contributed if she’d stuck around.
Anyway, happy New Year and Welcome 2008! I hope it will be a better year for the world: more healing, more peace, more love, more celebration.
