Ally Malinenko's Blog, page 14

450 Years Old!

What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves all; believe none of us.

 

Today is William Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday!

To celebrate, I’m doing a Goodreads giveaway of 5 copies of Lizzy Speare and the Cursed Tomb. Why 5?

Cause I can’t afford to give away 450 of them.

*Instant Rimshot.*

So if you would like to enter to win you can do so here.

And if you already have a copy (THANK YOU!) then you can still enter to win and give it to someone else as a gift.

And here’s a behind the scenes look at my favorite Doctor doing my favorite scene from Hamlet. If this video could shoot out candy bars my life would be perfect.

 

How To Be An American poem at Crisis Chronicle

Hello again.

I know I just wrote that really long post yesterday and I’m back already. What can I say? I love you guys.

Just wanted to post a little thank you to John Burroughs. He runs Crisis Chronicle, a fantastic poetry site you should be reading and was kind enough to accept Americans Are Not On The Whole Well Informed On World Matters.

It’s based on a conversation I had with this wonderful woman

 

Notice all the beers.

There’s a reason we’ve nicknamed this day Barracho Domingo.

Man, I miss Spain.

Anyway, thanks again to John, who I was lucky to meet at the last reading I did in Pittsburgh and I can verify he’s one cool dude.

Peace, Love and Starbursts,

Ally

London Liverpool LONG Recap

Oy, mates.

So I’m back from my recent trip to London and Liverpool which was amazing. In fact, I dare say it will be a tough trip to beat. I just love London. My mother keeps insisting that I move there so she can have a reason to come visit me. We’ll just pretend that my mother didn’t tell me to move to the other side of the ocean (Just kidding, Dish. I love you!).

So first off – LONDON.

Trafalgar Square

This was our second trip to this fantastic city. I loved it the first time but this time, I really got to know it. Like walk around without a map sort of know it. And if any of you have been to London with it’s bazillions little no name streets (come on London, that’s why we build grids in NYC and use numbers. Easy Squeazy Lemon Peazy).

So here’s some places we went:

St. Martin in the Fields

That’s St. Martin in the Fields. I’m a big classical music fan and back at home on WQXR I occasionally get to hear performances done in St. Martin in the Fields and I finally got to go to one! They’ve been hosting these FREE concerts for 75 years (did I mention they were free, cause they are. Though they’ve got a donation box, and honestly, what’s wrong with you? Donate a little). They did a variety of pieces by Handel including a stunning soloist  and a trumpeter who placed a Baroque trumpet (no spit valve so watch the floor!).

Hey wanna know something cool I learned about the lions in Trafalgar Square – the sculptor who made them had never seen a lion so he modeled the feet after his dog instead.

 

And of course we say this:

And we went here:

 

Where we saw this:

and he did this:

 

And I did this:

And we also went here:

Charles Dickens House and Museum

 

where we saw this:

Charles Dicken’s writing desk

I know it’s kind of blurry cause you couldn’t have the flash on but that is Charles Dicken’s writing desk. He wrote Oliver Twist in this room, on that desk. Seriously *MindBlown*

And we went here:

But only “real” explorers get to go inside. Whatever that means.

But they did have this:

Which was cool but nearly as cool as this:

Robert Falcon Scott Monument

 

And in case you didn’t know how much I love Robert Falcon Scott, proof.

We also went to lots of writers homes and musicians homes but I’m saving that for a new blog that I’m creating for fellow travelers. But I will say we did see the rooftop where Elton John wrote Your Song, some Rolling Stones homes, David Bowie’s apt and where he took the picture for Ziggy Stardust.

Okay that one I’ll show you

It was here:

And now it’s this:

But you remember it like this:

Where were we?

Oh yes, museums! All the museums in London are free which is such a fantastic way to promote and foster the arts (I’m looking at you, NYC).

It was like ART OVERLOAD but here are some highlights:

Ballet Dancers by Degas

Venus and Mars by Botticelli

Bathers at Asnieres by Seraut

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion

‘The Rokeby Venus by Velazquez

Van Gogh’s Sunflowers

 

We also went to the Handel house (it was a very Handel themed trip apparently)

which happened to be right next door to this:

The Handel house was great, and one of the best things about it is that on the ground floor they have a small rehearsal area that musicians can book and we were lucky enough to be there when people were practicing which really brought the whole thing to life.

We also did a Jack the Ripper walking tour of the East End, which was cool because the first time we went to London we didn’t get past the Tower Bridge and I really wanted to go to WhiteChapel.

You can still find the actual spot where Jack the Ripper killed his victims on the street:

 

 

It’s even creepier if you picture 1888 gaslight London

Also, the East End has some fantastic graffiti:

 

And no trip to London would be complete with a walk over the Tower Bridge

 

To Southwark to see the Globe

have some pie at Manzees

Seriously, this stuff is amazing. Look every pub in London sells meat pies. And all the meat pies are good. I mean, how could it not be good. It’s a pie….full of meat…..with mashed potatoes on the side. But what happens at Manzee is MAGICAL. It’s worth the visit down Tower Bridge Road.

And finally, because you all know how obsessed I am with Doctor Who we walked all the way across London to find this:

Look at it! A TARDIS just sitting outside the Earl’s Court Tube Station.

I died.

Seriously. DIED.

Can you see how happy I am? Cause I’m so happy. Happy and dead.

 

And then there’s still LIVERPOOL. You know what’s great about Liverpool? Everyone sounds like George Harrison. Seriously!

We saw the Cavern Club, which to be honest was sort of a disappointment.

 

It’s not the original – that was torn down even though the bloody Beatles played something like 250 shows there. So they built this one a little down the way from where it was. Jay does a better job of explaining what it was like so I’ll let him talk for a change.

But they do have this outside which was pretty cool

 

We stopped off at a couple of John and Stu Sutcliff’s favorite pubs

First Ye Cracke (insert snickering here)

See, proof

John Lennon at Ye Cracke

 

And also The Phil

mmmmm ciders!

 

And of course we went to Mendips, John’s childhood home.

 

To see John and Paul’s place you have to buy tickets for the National Trust tour. That’s the only way you can get inside and honestly, being inside is the whole point. Standing in John Lennon’s tiny (so tiny) bedroom was surreal. I thought about him, with his feet up on the wall, coming up with the words to Hello Little Girl. As he told Yoko when he took her by, “There it is Yoko. That’s where I did all my dreaming.”

In the back was were the trees that overlooked Strawberry Fields….”No one I think is in my tree….”

The guide told great stories about Mimi, a stern but good woman who raised John from the age of 5.

Afterwards we went back on the bus and headed down to 20 Forthlin Road, Paul McCartney’s home

It was an council house – which is a form of public housing built for working class families. They were rented not owned. Mimi, John’s aunt, didn’t think much of people who lived in council houses, but she liked Paul because he spoke ‘proper English’ and didn’t sound like a Scouser (Liverpool accent – basically what George sounds like).  Their carpets were sewn together from scraps of other carpets, one big patchwork and the walls were lined in mismatched wall paper. The walls are also covered in pictures that Mike, Paul’s older brother took of ‘Our Kid’ (his nickname of Paul).

This is Paul and Mike with his mother Mary who died when the boys were young. In fact after John lost his mother, Julia, in a car accident he bonded with Paul as they were both now motherless. Paul wrote Let it Be for his mother.

And one of my other favorites ones, of Paul climbing the drainpipe outside. He used to do that as a kid when his father locked him out for missing dinner.

And here he is with John…working out I Saw Her Standing There in his living room, where they would practice when they cut school.

 

I stood right next to that fireplace.

Crazy.

Okay I’m getting carried away and there’s still a lot to cover.

We also found George and Ringo’s place during an epic trip through the suburbs of Liverpool that I wrote about here and that I’ll go into more depth about on the new travel blog I’m going to keep.

But here’s George’s place.

This one is special for me. Not just cause it’s George and I adore him (if I’m FORCED to pick a favorite, it’s George) and not just cause the people who live there don’t like people coming around to take pictures but because this is the first house we found after being told it was IMPOSSIBLE. We were told by shop clerks and tour guides not to bother. Take a taxi tour, they said. Get on the Magical Mystery Bus. As soon as they told me I couldn’t find it was the moment I knew I would. I’m stubborn like that. With our day bus pass in hand we found our way all over Liverpool.

To Penny Lane:

To Strawberry Fields:

To the churchyard where the QuarryMen played their first show

 

Which if you look closely has this:

This particular gem was shown to us by a small Chinese couple that spoke broken English. As soon as we walked in the graveyard they beckoned us over and pointed it out and then he mimicked John Lennon playing his guitar.

Then across the street to the place where John and Paul met.

 

Where they hung this:

Pete Shotton: “Hey Paul, John wants to know if you want to join the group.” Paul: “Okay” *rides off on his bike*

 

And then to Julia’s house, where for a small precious period of time, John had her back in his life. Not as a mother but as a friend. Julia taught John to play the guitar. John referenced Julia in quite a few songs, but most famously in Julia, which also has references to Yoko Ono. (Ono in Japanese means child of the sea)

And then finally to the Dingle, where Ringo was born

It was a craphole then and it’s a craphole now. Such a craphole that I made us leave early when I thought I heard voices behind the shuttered and boarded up windows and feared being robbed by squatters. I’m such an idiot.

And then of course there was Stu Sutcliffe.

 

Stu was the Fifth Beatle, a best friend of John’s, an amazing painter and unfortunately a pretty crappy bass player.

Stu left the band to study painting, his true passion, in Germany with his girlfriend Astrid Kirchner. Astrid not only took some of the most iconic pictures of the Beatles, but she was the reason they got their Beatle haircut. Tragically Stu died at the age of 21 from what is believed to have been a cerebral hemorrhage.

When he and John were in art school together, they lived on Gambier Terrace, in this loft.

Stu is buried in Liverpool and finding his grave was one of the few things we didn’t get to.

But we did go into the Walker Art Gallery and found his art. I can’t help but think Stu would have appreciated us picking his art over his old bones.

Hamburg 2

It’s pretty amazing isn’t it?

I think he would have been an incredible force in the art world.

 

So I think that’s about it. I had the best time with this guy:

Everyone should be so lucky to have a traveling buddy like this.

So Cheers!

And Goodbye England!

 

Peace, Love and Starbursts,

Ally

P.S…..Trish the Dish and Big Ron (ie. Mom and Dad) the backpacks were AMAZING. I never knew I could carry that much crap on my back. You’re the bestest.

 

 

I think I’ve been pranked

So I don’t usually talk about my job on here, but this was too good to pass up. I work as a librarian and I answer questions over chat. This was one I got today. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Patron:10:40:13 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Chat Transcript: HELLO LIBRARY. I AM WRITING TO YOU THAT MY BROTHER STOLE MY COOKIES!!!!


Librarian 1:

10:40:13 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Note: Patron’s screen name: WALTER










Librarian 1:

10:40:50 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
I’m sorry to hear that Walter. Brothers are like that sometimes.


Patron:

10:41:16 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
cna u help mee?


Librarian 1:

10:42:03 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
There’s not much I can do for you on that one. Have you tried asking him nicely to return them?


Patron:

10:42:35 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
YES. HE STILL WONT GIEV IT BACK.


Librarian 1:

10:42:57 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Is he your younger or older brother?


Patron:

10:43:24 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
yonger. he is thre and i am seven.


Librarian 1:

10:43:45 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
3 huh? It’s hard to reason with a three year old. You might need to ask mom or dad for help.


Patron:

10:44:37 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Oh my goodness! I am sorry that my little Walter is writing to you with his own problems that do not even interfere with the library. This is Walter’s mother.


Librarian 1:

10:45:25 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Oh that’s okay.


Librarian 1:

10:45:30 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
He’s very funny.


Patron:

10:45:50 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Really? What did he do?


Librarian 1:

10:46:10 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Just that the thing he wrote about his brother not giving back his cookies.


Patron:

10:46:14 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
MY BROTEHR IS STUPID


Patron:

10:47:10 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Oh my! Clearly someone needs to learn his manners! Typical little boys!


Librarian 1:

10:47:30 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
This is the best chat I’ve ever had.


Patron:

10:47:47 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Pardon?


Librarian 1:

10:48:08 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Nothing, I just meant that Walter was amusing.


Patron:

10:48:26 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
This is very unusual. Out of all the people he can talk to ask for help, he chooses the library!


Librarian 1:

10:48:53 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Well, we are here to help! Clearly he got the message. Unfortunately I can’t help him get his cookies back.


Patron:

10:49:51 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Well, I’m a very busy mom and I’m glad that the library does have a 24/7 chat! Do you think you can keep Walter busy for ten minutes? I need to go downstairs in the basement for the laundry.


Patron:

10:50:18 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
I’m sorry if I’m asking too much. Expenses are due today and I have to do my taxes.


Librarian 1:

10:50:32 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Unfortunately I dont’ think being on the other end of the computer screen would make me a very good sitter!


Patron:

10:51:39 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Unlike other boys, Walter doesn’t like to move around much, considering he’s a bit lazy. He likes to be on the computer all day playing games. I will leave you with Walter if that’s okay with you.


Librarian 1:

10:53:06 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Unfortunately I have some other chats that have come in and I have to answer some reference questions. Tell Walter I said good luck getting his cookies back (though by this point, I imagine they’ve been eaten.)


Librarian 1:

10:53:09 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Thanks for chatting.


Librarian 1:

10:53:12 2014/04/16 (GMT -0400)
Librarian ended chat session.

Get On the Magic Bus

Get On the Magic Bus

The guy at the trinket shop where I buy my George Harrison pin

is telling the other customer not to bother.

Just do the National Trust tour, he says.

Just go see John’s house and Paul’s house and forget the rest.

Beside he says, the Dingle is a real shithole.

The guy shrugs, folds up his map and pushes open the door

to join the rest of the tourists in Liverpool.

This is the moment I make my decision.

When we ask about a better map,

the guy at the counter tell us there are really

good taxi tours.

You can take a tour, he says, not have to worry.

Besides, it’s too hard on your own.

I know a guy, he tells me, drives one of those cabs,

he knows more about the Beatles than anyone.

I nod, thank him for the water and leave.

We find out about a transit pass.

We mark up the only map we have.

It is paper and vulnerable to rain.

We are not mobile wireless 4G.

We are 3D bodies with handwritten directions

and blisters and sore backs like explorers.

It’s two miles to the first home.

We tie our shoes tight.

When people look at my pictures they shrug.

It’s just a bunch of old houses.

Graves.

What did you do on vacation, they ask?

They stress the word “do”

I don’t get on the tour bus.

And it’s not a vacation. It’s a trip. There’s a difference.

I want to tell them this but I don’t.

They wouldn’t understand.

When I tried to explain

that finding these people is a kinship

a thing that ties me to the past

to the art that I need.

They shrug and say, I guess, if you’re into that sort of thing.

They don’t see the point.

They ask if I went to see any West End shows.

If I went on the London Eye.

They want better pictures.

I hold the map. We head down Beech Street to Wavertree Road.

He takes the pictures.

By the time we get to Arnold Grove,

where George was born it is raining.

The people that live there

don’t want us around.

We keep our distance on the narrow streets.

We need to see it. We need to know it’s real,

the way we did with the other houses,

the other graves.

We snap just one picture before turning back the way we came.

In the distance, is the Magical Mystery Tour Bus.

It will never fit up those narrow streets.

I wonder what the view is like from up there,

watching a city stream by,

never really seeing it. Never walking its streets

or talking to its people.

He waves to the people in the high seats as the bus passes us.

He tells me, we don’t get on buses.

I nod. It is a pact that we have.

I take out the map.

He takes another picture.

Get me to Penny Lane, he says.

And I do.

There is a reverence to what we do,

to this walk. It is in honor.

It is a thank you for everything we have been given.

A god can be anything that shows up,

just when you need it.

With this map in my hand, this is how I pray.

 

So that novella I mentioned….

So that novella I mentioned…

I fed it after midnight and spilled water on it and it’s mutated into a novel.

A real actual (accidental) novel which will be published sometime in June. Wanna see the cover?

………..(I recently learned that ellipses are only three dots)

…………………….(I prefer more)

……………………………. (It’s more dramatic)

…………………………………………… (Builds tension)

……………………………………………………… (and stuff)

Many many many thanks to BookFish for giving my sad little story a shot.

Things and other things about things…with a video

Hi all.

First off that blob up there is me being a goofball and creating a word cloud out of Palimpsest, the sci fi book I’m in the final death throes of revising.

Word clouds are cool.

Other things that are cool are poems published by Stephen over at Dead Snakes. It took a long time for Summer Lake, Late Nineties to find a home so I’m glad it happened. You can read all three here.

And in other cool news, I got my first book of poems, entitled The Wanting Bone by Six Gallery Press reviewed. I’m completely flattered by all the nice words that Poetry Hound had to say.

You can read it here.

And in the best news of all, my buddy Oscar Varona got a story published. He and his girlfriend Aida are my two favorite artists/ people/humans that don’t live in the US (damn them!). You should read it especially if you like weirdness and Samuel Beckett and funny. And who doesn’t like that?

And finally, soon I’m going to be here:

and here:

and also here:

and maybe back to here:

where I’ll finally get to see this:

Cause you guys all know what happened in 2009, right?

Want a hint? The moose outside should have told me.

Peace, Love and Starbursts,

Ally

A Novel in Numbers

Here are all the numbers for THIS IS SARAH

Final word count: 45,027

Days spent actively writing: 32

Time this book lived in my head in some form: 2 years

Number of times some variation of the f-word is uttered: 109

Number of times other curses are used: 55

Number of physical fights characters engage in: 2

Number of joints smoked by characters: 2-3

Number of bloody lips: 1

Number of voice mails left by characters: too many to count

Number of therapy sessions: 2

Number of cop interrogations: 2

Number of times a character vomits: 3

Number of marinara sauces made from scratch: 1

Number of hand-written letters from one character to another: 2

Number of smashed bicycles: 1

Number of potential divorces: 1

Number of references to zombies: 2

Number of tears shed: way too many to count

Number of fingers Ally has crossed that her publisher will like the changes: All of them

On the next very special issue of JDP…..

So I was asked to participate in something super cool for someone who is super cool. Eirik (said super cool dude) has been going through some crap lately cause he needs new lungs.

Yeah. LUNGS! Sort of necessary.

So his awesome friends at Jersey Devil put their heads together and said to themselves “Self I say, what can do we do to help Eirik and his lovely wife Monica through such a trying time?”

And since none of them are particularly skilled in the ways of garnering new lungs, they did what writers do. They decided that maybe, just maybe, a few stories might cut through the darkness, might ease their minds for a few – the way storytelling has for ages.

And I was fortunate enough to be included in the list of people they wanted stuff from. So I wrote a story about some people who fall in love as their ships pass in the night….in space. Cause everything is cooler in space. There’s some really great stories in this special issue about bigfoot and poems about cursing and stories about new coke and time travel.

Good stuff, guys.

So here’s the very special Jersey Devil Press issue for Eirik and Monica. I hope it made them smile.

And if you want to help out – because we live in the sort of country where you have to practically kickstart to cover your own health expenses – you can do that here at Eirik’s COTA page

Finally, if you can’t spare any cash, but want to share the stories, please do. Exposure is never a bad thing.

So thanks again to JDP and to Eirik for letting me be a part of something so cool.

Peace, Love and Starbursts,

Ally

Poems, readings, poetry shows and word counts

Hi.

It’s snowing like a mofo out there again in Brooklyn. I’ve officially dubbed this The Winter That Killed Winter For Me. If you even hear me complain about 90 degrees this summer, feel free to slap me.

So, let’s recap.

First off the kind folks at This Zine Will Change Your Life were kind enough to give my poem Garage Sale a home. Many thanks to Ben for being so kind. And then, if that weren’t enough, the equally wonderful folks at Mad Swirl were nice enough to give my poem Reason Number 17 a place to be. As always small press editors are the best.

This past weekend I was in Pittsburgh which was great. Aside from chilling with some family members I got to hangout with some people that I really do miss. It’s a great city and every time I leave, I’m sad about it.

On Friday I met up with the very cool Renee Alberts to record a half hour poetry show called Prosody on WEYP. Prosody is a great show, with an amazing history. I was so completely honored to be invited to read my stuff and talk to Renee about poetry. Renee and Lisa, Prosody’s engineer, were both wonderful. Nice and funny and down to earth and kind enough to not comment on how nervous I was.

Basically I read a few poems and then Renee talked to me about writing.

It went something like this:

Renee: “So Ally, I noticed that in your work, you mainly write from the first person and your work has a very strong narrative I. Can you talk a little about that?”

Ally: “Yeah sure….….Um……….it’s because I….. …… and then…… ….. but not without…… ….basically without…… ….so yeah.”

Ahem. The good news is that Lisa is going to edit this down and make me sound not so dumb and not so much like someone who makes up words on air. OR, she’s not and you can all have a good laugh.

The show is going to air this Saturday at 6 am. So for you early birds out there, you can listen to here: http://www.wyep.org/listen-live

Otherwise, it’ll be podcasted eventually and I’ll share it then so we can all have a nice laugh.

So after that, there was a reading hosted by the always fantastic Don Wentworth of Lilliput Review. (If you haven’t read that blog, please do so. It’s amazing). I was totally honored to read with Sara Ries, Chuck Joy, Dianne Borsenik, John Burroughs, John Grochalski, Maggie Glover, Heather McNaugher, Kristofer Collins & Don Wentworth.

It was a stellar line up and so much fun and I can only hope I managed to hold my own with such a great line up.

I’m going to have some book news soon but for now, let’s just say that my novella is currently morphing into a novel. Apparently I fed it after midnight and spilled water on it. You know how these things go. So if I manage to write my little fingers off, I’ll have something for you to read come June or so. It’s called THIS IS SARAH and it’s my accidental novel…..hopefully. I’m shooting for 1K words a day. So far so good but it’s still early.

Peace Love and Starbursts,

Ally