White Snow and Blank Canvas

Took these pictures last week while Boston was getting dumped on with snow. Thought it was interesting how white the gorgeous snow was falling outside my window, and how very blank the canvas I have hung on my wall that is waiting for attention is.

Have been plotting out a painting or two this week, and the canvas hangs as a reminder to start touching it with paint.

The Patron Saint Of Poets – Kiefer Sutherland as Doc Scurlock

So yesterday I was watching AMC’s rendition of “Cowboys at Christmas,” a marathon of Westerns, and came to realize that Kiefer Sutherland’s portrayal of Josiah Gordon “Doc” Scurlock in the 80’s masterpiece Young Guns is one of the finest depictions of a poet in the history of cinema.

Never mind the question of why someone would air cowboy movies all day on Christmas, or why someone would watch cowboy movies all day on Christmas; never mind Kiefer’s recent legal trouble (he spent XMAS in the hooskow), or the fact that there is a website named http://www.kiefer-rocks.com/ (where the above photo comes from); this new development is huge for the annals of poetry history.

All too often the public has a conception of poets as pale and sickly, yet Sutherland’s character in Young Guns must have killed about 438,000 people before the end of the movie. Even though I am a diehard Young Guns fan, I’d forgotten that Doc was a poet in the film.

The following exchange, with Doc’s love interest Yen Sun is likely one of the best regarding poets and poetry to ever grace the silver screen:

YEN SUN: You must like trouble.

DOC: Trouble? You think I look like... trouble. I'm a poet... carrying flowers of all things.

YEN SUN: And a gun. A big gun.

DOC: It's a big town.


This was enough to convince me that all poets should carry weapons. Any of you poets reading this out there in cyberspace, please bring this up as a motion at the upcoming AWP convention.

Today I am working on the beginnings of a painting and debating which story idea to follow next for a fiction piece I am working on. And praising the Patron Saint of Poets, Doc Scurlock.

Music Video: Yellowcard - Big Apple Heartbreak

So, I have been getting lots of flack lately about my deafening blog silence. And when I say "lots of flack," I mean, the three people who read my blog have said casually "hey, you haven't posted in a while," and then let it trail off absentmindedly.

And what better way to break the silence than to return to my blog roots of posting random music videos from YouTube?

A few months ago I somehow stumbled across Yellowcard's first album and have been playing it on a loop in 617 Midway ever since. I have decided that when I gather up some musical ability and start touring with my own super cool rock and roll group I will do a cover of this song re-titled "Beantown Heartbreak."

And as for the silence? I have been doing lots of writing. Lots of picture plotting. Lots of first book contest entries and other random back-office art studio business. And lots of blog procrastinating.

Sprinkle in lots of listening to Yellowcard and you get the picture.

Happy Holidays.

Michael Davis and the Pushcart

A quick note to congratulate the amazing writer, and fellow member of the Thrown Free School, Mr. Michael Davis for his recent Pushcart Prize nomination.

His story, "The Man in Africa,"has been nominated. You can read the announcement and the story here:

http://www.storyglossia.com/blog/2007/11/storyglossias-pushcart-nominations.html

Congrats Michael.

And... Even More Meditations in Black and White

Above, see November 8a (second one done on that day) and November 12 from Meditations in Black and White.

And... More Meditations in Black and White

Top to bottom above see November 3, November 4, November 5, November 6, and November 8 from Meditations in Black and White.

More Meditations in Black and White

Above, see more of the Meditations in Black and White. Top to bottom see October 25, October 27, October 28, October 30, and November 1.

"Where the Road Begins" Release Party

The Cultural Organization of Lynn (COOL) is hosting a “Where the Road Begins” Anthology release party on Thursday, December 6th from 7-9pm at Brew’d Awakening Coffeehaus, 61 Market Street in Lowell .

The anthology, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, is a tribute to Kerouac’s legacy 50 years after On the Road was first published. 27 writers and poets are published in the book.

I am excited that they have inluded my poem "Parking Lot Destinations" in the anthology.

Brief readings from “Where the Road Begins” will start at 7pm, followed by an open mic at 8pm.

The event is free and open to the public.

Picture above is from http://www.allposters.com/