Hey duders.
I recently interviewed Akudama, an awesome rock band consisting of some awesome boys, and wrote an article about what they're doing, what they hope to do, why they do what they do, etc. I then submitted it to The Deli and the editor liked it so much that he put it as the feature of the week! Woo! Check it out.
http://www.thedelimagazine.com/FeatureView.php?artist=akudama
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Whoa.
New York suddenly got really busy! All good things but now I have to choose what good things I want to do and not to do. Tough!
First off, I'm applying to the Draper program at NYU for sure. I went to an open house and learned that students choose their own curriculum with an adviser, based on what they want post-Masters. The staff and faculty were really cool and open, and it seems great. So, big thing #1 is rewriting the statement of purpose.
Big thing #2: I'm working on a website! In August, a site called "Knocks from the Underground" will be launching in four cities, LA, San Fran, Boston and NYC, and will focus entirely on reviewing local musicians. We'll do live reviews and some album reviews, updated weekly. We're trying to get eight reviews per person by the August launch, so I've been working a lot on that. And I'm the New York editor! Woo! So that means I get to read other people's stuff and edit it too, which is fun.
Next up is my own writing. I've been working on this book and I like the premise but it needs some serious work. I showed part of it to my fiction writer's group and they didn't quite get it. I think I made too many assumptions about other peoples' knowledge of southern culture because they were confused. I was disappointed, but now I know that most people actually don't know Bill Monroe invented bluegrass, or that eating chicken meant chasing it around the farm yard and wringing its neck, boiling it and plucking it, then frying it and eating.
Also, The Deli, a local magazine that focuses on NY bands, is having me write for them, too! I just wrote my first blog entry about an upcoming show, and have some assigned reviews by June 5th. That's pretty cool, though it doesn't pay and my main focus is the website.
I also got in my head that I could regularly play ultimate, so I tried out for a team last week. It was loads of fun, but with all this other stuff going on in my life, I can't commit to every weekend, which is what they do. Good luck to them though, parts of me wish I could play that often because it's a blast and the people are great. I'm just not able to make it to all the practices/scrimmages/tournaments, so I need a team with less commitment.
What else? Work is going quite well. I did two overnights last week but was given a month notice, so that's nice. The girls are great, and Linda, too. The other night, Linda, Angela and I went to the spring concert of Marie's class, where they sang '70s songs and danced. It was super cute. I also saw Marie perform in her school musical! When they were doing their bows, she gave me a little wave and I ballooned with pride. Angela's exploring boys and dating more, which is interesting because what I would encourage her to do is probably different than what her mother would, so I'm working on finding that middle ground. It's great though, I really enjoy them.
Yoga is really helping me remain balanced and figure out what I can and can't focus on. I've been reading The Yoga Sutras, a brilliant but very dense book. I only read a bit at a time and then have to do yoga and meditate on what I read so that I can fully understand it. But I'm glad for it because I'm learning all these different ways to look at my mind, at other people, at my actions, at life in general. It makes me a happier and nicer person!
And summer is inching in. We're having warmish days, with lots of sun. Free concerts and events are being announced for the summer, along with expensive ones too, and I'm very excited for them. Life is happy right now.
I promise next time I'll post about the survey I mentioned ages ago. The topic is: GAS. I'm going to post some questions related to the topic of gas and hope you guys will post your response for some good laughs. Then I'll tally it up and give the statistics. 'Til then, see you space cowboy.
First off, I'm applying to the Draper program at NYU for sure. I went to an open house and learned that students choose their own curriculum with an adviser, based on what they want post-Masters. The staff and faculty were really cool and open, and it seems great. So, big thing #1 is rewriting the statement of purpose.
Big thing #2: I'm working on a website! In August, a site called "Knocks from the Underground" will be launching in four cities, LA, San Fran, Boston and NYC, and will focus entirely on reviewing local musicians. We'll do live reviews and some album reviews, updated weekly. We're trying to get eight reviews per person by the August launch, so I've been working a lot on that. And I'm the New York editor! Woo! So that means I get to read other people's stuff and edit it too, which is fun.
Next up is my own writing. I've been working on this book and I like the premise but it needs some serious work. I showed part of it to my fiction writer's group and they didn't quite get it. I think I made too many assumptions about other peoples' knowledge of southern culture because they were confused. I was disappointed, but now I know that most people actually don't know Bill Monroe invented bluegrass, or that eating chicken meant chasing it around the farm yard and wringing its neck, boiling it and plucking it, then frying it and eating.
Also, The Deli, a local magazine that focuses on NY bands, is having me write for them, too! I just wrote my first blog entry about an upcoming show, and have some assigned reviews by June 5th. That's pretty cool, though it doesn't pay and my main focus is the website.
I also got in my head that I could regularly play ultimate, so I tried out for a team last week. It was loads of fun, but with all this other stuff going on in my life, I can't commit to every weekend, which is what they do. Good luck to them though, parts of me wish I could play that often because it's a blast and the people are great. I'm just not able to make it to all the practices/scrimmages/tournaments, so I need a team with less commitment.
What else? Work is going quite well. I did two overnights last week but was given a month notice, so that's nice. The girls are great, and Linda, too. The other night, Linda, Angela and I went to the spring concert of Marie's class, where they sang '70s songs and danced. It was super cute. I also saw Marie perform in her school musical! When they were doing their bows, she gave me a little wave and I ballooned with pride. Angela's exploring boys and dating more, which is interesting because what I would encourage her to do is probably different than what her mother would, so I'm working on finding that middle ground. It's great though, I really enjoy them.
Yoga is really helping me remain balanced and figure out what I can and can't focus on. I've been reading The Yoga Sutras, a brilliant but very dense book. I only read a bit at a time and then have to do yoga and meditate on what I read so that I can fully understand it. But I'm glad for it because I'm learning all these different ways to look at my mind, at other people, at my actions, at life in general. It makes me a happier and nicer person!
And summer is inching in. We're having warmish days, with lots of sun. Free concerts and events are being announced for the summer, along with expensive ones too, and I'm very excited for them. Life is happy right now.
I promise next time I'll post about the survey I mentioned ages ago. The topic is: GAS. I'm going to post some questions related to the topic of gas and hope you guys will post your response for some good laughs. Then I'll tally it up and give the statistics. 'Til then, see you space cowboy.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Keeping Disaster Victims in Our Thoughts.
I know it doesn't do much to post this on a blog, but there's not much else I can do. I'd just like to remind everyone to send a positive thought or a prayer or dedicate a yoga class or take a moment of silence or something for all those people suffering in Myanmar and China due to the natural disasters. The situation in Myanmar is just getting worse due to torrential downpours, and the situation in China is still unclear because of all the bodies still missing. It's hard to envision something other than our cushy, comfortable lives here, but try hard to take some time out of your day to just think about them. I sincerely believe that doing this can help.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
My First Book... Finally
I have finally decided upon the subject matter for my first book.
This has been a a point of consideration for 18 years now. When I was in KY over Christmas, I found an old diary from my 1st grade year which consisted mainly of what boy I had crushes on, how much I hated my brother and how much Mom and Dad so didn't get it. In my defense, there was also an entry about how it seemed like I hated on my brother and parents so much but that was because I only wrote in the journal when I was mad. But, there was one P.S. attached to an entry that really stood out to me, in a humorous and an inspiring way.
"P.S. I want my first book to be from a cat's point of view. Or a war memoir." ~ Me, 1990
First off, this is hilarious. Secondly, I've been thinking since I was six-years-old about what my first book would be about! I can't believe it took me until after I graduated college to realize I should pursue a career in writing. Reading this line made me laugh, and then got me to thinking about the idea that perhaps I should actually be writing a book, now that I'm focusing on my writing and all.
I've definitely made the attempts before. In the beginning of college, I started a very dramatic tale about a girl with a severe eating disorder and issues with parents who runs away to New York City and works as a waitress but doesn't get much healthier. She goes to lots of punk shows, falls in love with a drummer (this was before I met Dave), has an amazing time with him but can't bring herself to sexually be with him because it turns out the parental issues involved sexual abuse. She runs away from their romantics on the beach to embark on her craziest binge ever. She ends up hospitalized because the binging has damaged her esophagus, drummer boy finds her in the hospital and helps her get healthy once she's home. A year later, drummer boy freaks out that she's too dependent on him and flees the scene. While he's away, he has an affair but then he comes back to her. She fell deep into eating disorderness when he first left but then used it as an opportunity to finally make herself healthy on her own (sought therapy, etc). When he comes back, things are great until a handful of months later, a woman shows up at their doorstep with a baby, claiming it's his. He confesses the affair to the main character, who is pissed at first but then realizes how her own issues drove him away. They keep the baby.
The first outline of this had her kicking him out, inviting the lover in, and the two women raising the baby together. I realized this was too dramatic yet somehow didn't realize the rest was. I revisited this draft a few times but nothing good came of it.
Then, senior year of college I decided to write this elusive first book about my experience working at True Grounds, a coffee shop in Somerville, Massachusetts that employed me for two years. The characters I worked with provided amazing material, and the place itself is truly special. I thought the book could center around the shop and be about the workers and regulars, their pasts and present interactions, and how all these different people and things come together at True Grounds. Well, my boyfriend at the time, a regular at TG who finally asked me on a date after weeks of me hitting on him from behind the counter, broke up with me and thus I abandoned book. I still think it has potential though, and plan to revisit it one day.
Life post-college and post-breakup happened after that. I wasn't writing much. Then I got back into short stories and worked very hard on those and my portfolio. I plan to send a few of my stories to some lit mags and am currently working on a new short story, but couldn't get this P.S. out of my head.
Enter Granny. I've written about her glory before in this blog. She's one of the strongest, bravest and sweetest people I've met, and has touched and influenced me more than anything. Even though I complain about it and will never live there again, I love that I'm from Kentucky and I love Kentucky history. I love bluegrass music and farmland and southern accents and biscuits with gravy and horses and hot summer air. Granny grew up on a tobacco farm during the Depression and the 40s, then got married and moved to Louisville. Then her husband randomly died, leaving her with no education (she quit going to school at 6th grade because of the farm work) and five children. So she opened a ceramics shop where she made her own stuff and sold it because she had worked in a pottery studio for years before and learned how to sculpt. Then she got remarried but it turns out her second husband was a pretty rotten dude. But she cared for him when he had Alzheimer's anyway, and when he died, she bought herself a new condo and took vacations. She's 83 now and is having more achy, tired days than before. She takes medicine for her heart and is in pain constantly from her arthritis. Yet she still hand-sewed me a quilt and still cooks way too much food for anyone who visits her and still has the same positive outlook on people and life.
So, the first book is going to be based on Granny's life growing up in good ol' KY. It's funny that before, I wrote about a girl fleeing to New York City and now that I live here, I'm writing about a girl growing up in rural Kentucky. But I feel really good about it! I've been interviewing Granny for hours, learning about her day-to-day life working on the farm, her old boyfriends and her adventures. I can tell she's enjoying it, too. And it's all so interesting! What a different world she grew up in.
So, the plan is to write a fiction book based on her life, meaning I'm going to make up characters and events. I guess it's kind of like historical fiction, or biographical fiction, or both. No matter what label it will have though, I like it. And I'm also realizing for the first time what a big undertaking a book is! But I've got Granny's example as my motivation, and it feels good to be getting all of this documented while she's still able to share it. I'll keep you updated...
This has been a a point of consideration for 18 years now. When I was in KY over Christmas, I found an old diary from my 1st grade year which consisted mainly of what boy I had crushes on, how much I hated my brother and how much Mom and Dad so didn't get it. In my defense, there was also an entry about how it seemed like I hated on my brother and parents so much but that was because I only wrote in the journal when I was mad. But, there was one P.S. attached to an entry that really stood out to me, in a humorous and an inspiring way.
"P.S. I want my first book to be from a cat's point of view. Or a war memoir." ~ Me, 1990
First off, this is hilarious. Secondly, I've been thinking since I was six-years-old about what my first book would be about! I can't believe it took me until after I graduated college to realize I should pursue a career in writing. Reading this line made me laugh, and then got me to thinking about the idea that perhaps I should actually be writing a book, now that I'm focusing on my writing and all.
I've definitely made the attempts before. In the beginning of college, I started a very dramatic tale about a girl with a severe eating disorder and issues with parents who runs away to New York City and works as a waitress but doesn't get much healthier. She goes to lots of punk shows, falls in love with a drummer (this was before I met Dave), has an amazing time with him but can't bring herself to sexually be with him because it turns out the parental issues involved sexual abuse. She runs away from their romantics on the beach to embark on her craziest binge ever. She ends up hospitalized because the binging has damaged her esophagus, drummer boy finds her in the hospital and helps her get healthy once she's home. A year later, drummer boy freaks out that she's too dependent on him and flees the scene. While he's away, he has an affair but then he comes back to her. She fell deep into eating disorderness when he first left but then used it as an opportunity to finally make herself healthy on her own (sought therapy, etc). When he comes back, things are great until a handful of months later, a woman shows up at their doorstep with a baby, claiming it's his. He confesses the affair to the main character, who is pissed at first but then realizes how her own issues drove him away. They keep the baby.
The first outline of this had her kicking him out, inviting the lover in, and the two women raising the baby together. I realized this was too dramatic yet somehow didn't realize the rest was. I revisited this draft a few times but nothing good came of it.
Then, senior year of college I decided to write this elusive first book about my experience working at True Grounds, a coffee shop in Somerville, Massachusetts that employed me for two years. The characters I worked with provided amazing material, and the place itself is truly special. I thought the book could center around the shop and be about the workers and regulars, their pasts and present interactions, and how all these different people and things come together at True Grounds. Well, my boyfriend at the time, a regular at TG who finally asked me on a date after weeks of me hitting on him from behind the counter, broke up with me and thus I abandoned book. I still think it has potential though, and plan to revisit it one day.
Life post-college and post-breakup happened after that. I wasn't writing much. Then I got back into short stories and worked very hard on those and my portfolio. I plan to send a few of my stories to some lit mags and am currently working on a new short story, but couldn't get this P.S. out of my head.
Enter Granny. I've written about her glory before in this blog. She's one of the strongest, bravest and sweetest people I've met, and has touched and influenced me more than anything. Even though I complain about it and will never live there again, I love that I'm from Kentucky and I love Kentucky history. I love bluegrass music and farmland and southern accents and biscuits with gravy and horses and hot summer air. Granny grew up on a tobacco farm during the Depression and the 40s, then got married and moved to Louisville. Then her husband randomly died, leaving her with no education (she quit going to school at 6th grade because of the farm work) and five children. So she opened a ceramics shop where she made her own stuff and sold it because she had worked in a pottery studio for years before and learned how to sculpt. Then she got remarried but it turns out her second husband was a pretty rotten dude. But she cared for him when he had Alzheimer's anyway, and when he died, she bought herself a new condo and took vacations. She's 83 now and is having more achy, tired days than before. She takes medicine for her heart and is in pain constantly from her arthritis. Yet she still hand-sewed me a quilt and still cooks way too much food for anyone who visits her and still has the same positive outlook on people and life.
So, the first book is going to be based on Granny's life growing up in good ol' KY. It's funny that before, I wrote about a girl fleeing to New York City and now that I live here, I'm writing about a girl growing up in rural Kentucky. But I feel really good about it! I've been interviewing Granny for hours, learning about her day-to-day life working on the farm, her old boyfriends and her adventures. I can tell she's enjoying it, too. And it's all so interesting! What a different world she grew up in.
So, the plan is to write a fiction book based on her life, meaning I'm going to make up characters and events. I guess it's kind of like historical fiction, or biographical fiction, or both. No matter what label it will have though, I like it. And I'm also realizing for the first time what a big undertaking a book is! But I've got Granny's example as my motivation, and it feels good to be getting all of this documented while she's still able to share it. I'll keep you updated...
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Subway Delays.
Last night as I was trying to get to the Lower East Side while avoiding the L line which is seriously delayed due to construction, I decided to take a bus to the JMZ and then the JMZ to the Bowery stop. Well, after sitting on the train for 10 minutes with the conductor saying that we were being held due to a police investigation ahead of us, he finally said that the train was out of service. In order to make it on time to my friends show, I had to take a $10 cab, passing the entrance to the Bowery station which was lined with police cars and an ambulance. Here's why...
Naked man hauled off subway tracks
By Xana O'Neill and Dorian Block
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Sunday, May 4th 2008, 4:00 AM
Naked man hauled off subway tracks
By Xana O'Neill and Dorian Block
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Sunday, May 4th 2008, 4:00 AM
A naked man with a crack pipe ran around a downtown subway station Saturday night and then lay on the tracks until he was carted off by cops, officials said.
Straphangers at the Bowery station of the JMZ line called 911 after seeing the disturbed man in the station.
When officers arrived at 9:45 p.m., the man got down onto the tracks, which were not powered at the time, police said.
The man remained on the tracks, with emergency crews trying to coax him off, until 11 p.m. when he suffered a head injury and lost consciousness.
It was unclear whether he hurt himself or was injured as he was removed from the tracks.
Paramedics took him to Bellevue Hospital. His condition was unknown.
Glen Williams, 52, was dozing on a bench when he saw hordes of police and emergency officials carry the man out on a stretcher. "I thought they had taken his clothes off," he said, shrugging. "This is New York."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2008/05/04/2008-05-04_naked_man_hauled_off_subway_tracks.html
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