Victor D. Infante's Blog, page 168
October 14, 2012
Weddings, Funerals and Walking on Fire
Technically, I'm on vacation right now. Not doing much with my vacation -- have a gig in upstate New York next week, might visit friends here and there -- but right now, it just feels like I'm coming to the end of a fairly brutal weekend, except that I don't have to go to work Monday morning. Which is something.
Mostly, this weekend, I'm thinking a lot about absent friends, and about missed opportunities. Almost bizarrely, I've been thinking about the novelist Victor Villaseñor, who used to come into Upchurch-Brown Booksellers in Laguna Beach when I worked there a lifetime ago. One time, he invited me to go fire-walking with him. He was probably joking, but I begged off anyhow, but really, how stupid was I not to leap at the opportunity to go do something that strange and cool with a writer that awesome. Was I just being chicken-shit? Damned if I know. It was all a long time ago.
I've also been thinking a lot about my friend Elmo, and something he once said to me (he was quoting another friend, as I recall. Brian Q.? Mike S.? The memory is hazy.) He said, "Buy a good suit, because from here on out, it's only weddings and funerals."
We were in our 20s when he said that. We're in our 40s now, and there's been a lot more to both our lives than weddings and funerals.I've still never walked on fire, but there have been all sorts of weird and wonderful things, lots of other interesting and amazing people. It's been a lot of things, but it's rarely been boring. Sometime I choose to be boring, because I need to decelerate, but on the whole, it's been a good life, and there's ostensibly still some time on the clock. Ostensibly.
Because there have been a lot of weddings and funerals. Just recently, I was overjoyed to hear news of three weddings, all friends whom I seldom see anymore, but am always glad to encounter when our paths cross. I'm always overjoyed when people I love are happy, and really, I'm a sucker for a wedding. I've seen a lot of marriages blow up, of course, same as everybody else. But I always like that one, shining moment when love triumphs over everything else; how for that one moment, anything is possible. I'm sentimental that way.
But this weekend began Friday night in New Hampshire, with me reading a poem at a funeral for a friend, Cindy DeRego. Cindy, the wife of my old friend Jeff DeRego, had died recently after a long struggle with cancer. She was one of the most solid, unambiguously good people I had ever known -- genuine, friendly, caring. She left behind Jeff and their two amazingly smart kids, Meg and Ian. I've lost a lot of people over the years, and if I'm totally honest, a lot of them had lived lives that had clearly shaved some time off the ends. Cindy wasn't one of those. I had fully expected she would recover. It seemed like she had that kind of story. It seemed like she was one of the people who should be here, and I was utterly gobsmacked to discover that she wouldn't be.
Jeff asked me to read my poem, An American Love Song, at the service, and I'll admit, that concerned me a bit, too, because that's a poem about men not being able to survive after their love had passed on. (I wrote it after Johnny Cash died.) Seeing Jeff at the funeral reassured me, a bit. He was hurting, obviously, but there's still a lot of strength in him. I admire him immensely. I always have. But here, I was certain he was stronger than I would be in if I were in his shoes. I don't ever want to be in his shoes.
And still, there was love in that room. The immense, honest, sometimes bawling sort of love that loss leaves in its wake. When I left New Hampshire, I felt like I had said goodbye. I don't always feel that at funerals. I don't like to say "goodbye" to people, although -- as I said -- it's happened rather a lot.
A short while ago, there was an interview on the Web with my dear friend, Jack McCarthy.
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I've known Jack for nearly 20 years, and hearing him talk so calmly and bravely about what are, undoubtedly, his last months was nearly heartbreaking. I want to tell him how much his friendship has meant over the years, how much I admire him as a poet and as a man. I start to type the words, but they all vanish as soon as my fingers touch the keyboard. I'm not ready to live in a world without him, yet, even though I see him seldom these days. That doesn't mean his place in my heart is at all diminished. And still I'm silent. The words overwhelm my voice.
I am surrounded right now by love and loss, weddings and funerals, and I can't help but feel like I'm also far away somewhere, walking on fire. This is all so impossible, this loving until your heart near-bursts. Sometimes, it's unbearable. But it's also what it means to be alive.
September 15, 2012
Of Manilow, Juggalos and Other Odds and Ends
Also been a bit preoccupied with BILiNE: Best Indie Lit New England . There were a heck of a lot of submissions, and quite a bit of brilliance. The final selections will be hard, and I suspect myself and the other five editors will soon be engaged in rather a lot of discussion. I mean, a lot.
Otherwise, it's all been music writing, lately. Here's a few highlights:
I reviewed Barry Manilow's concert friday night at The DCU Center.
I weighed in on the great Amanda Palmer/volunteer musicians kerfuffle.
I drank Faygo and became a hero to millions of Juggalos. Or, like, six. Something like that.
I came up with a list of great bands to use as a starting point for exploring the Worcester music scene. I did not call anyone a "hipster" in the process.
Hmmm. Manilow and Juggalos. My life really isn't like other people's, is it?
September 9, 2012
After the Worcester iWPS finals ...
Gotta say, it was a Helll of a slam. Lots of new work from people, all around, with a few old favorite poems coming to the fore. Bill MacMillan and Dave Macpherson did some crowd crawling (with Macpherson on chairs and everything.) Lea Deschenes rocked the mic. Newcomer Sam Capogrossi did some lovely work, and I must have done OK, because I came in second, but in the end, Jenith was the undeniable champion. And deservedly so: Her work was powerful and evocative, and while she's been one of Worcester's best writers for some time now, her performance skills have really escalated. Congratulations, Jenith!
Here's what I pulled out of the hat:
*Three-minute round: Joseph Brodsky is Dead (an old standby. Seriously, if I have a radio single, this is it. It's in the Poetry Slam anthology and everything.
*Two-minute round: How to Grow Old Gracefully and Still Love Rock 'n' Roll (Debut performance)
*Four-Minute Round: That Old-Time Religion (Debut performance)
*One-Minute Round: For Beth & Mindy (OK. This may be a debut performance, but I'm not sure. It's been on my computer for about three years, mostly abandoned. I may have read it once, because there's a copy in my bag, but I don't recall ever doing so. In any case, this one was abandoned, and then I took a fresh look at it, and decided I was being too hard on it. Evidently, I was right this time, because it took the high score in the last round. There's probably a lesson in there somewhere.)
And that's how it went. It was an absolte blast, and I couldn't be happier for Jenith. Just a great time, all around.
IWPS slam tonight! (With Obligatory Trash Talk!)
Dave and Bill are replacing the previously announced Paulie Lipman and Bobby Gibbs, who had to bow out. One can only presume that, in order to maintain the original balance, Dave will perform with an electronic music soundtrack and Bill will "keep it real." Or something like that.
Lea and Jenith have the whole "eye of the tiger" thing going on with this, and to tell the truth, I'm a little scared of them right now. Seriously. You jostle them in the supermarket right now and they explode into "YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME, PUNK? YOU'RE GOING DOWN!!!" I'm begining to think the rest of us are in trouble.
I don't know Sam at all, so I won't make fun of him. He seems very nice on Facebook.
Me? I'm barely practicing, and debuting at least two brand-new poems. I can only presume that Taylor Mali is twitching somewhere and has no idea why. On the other hand, there may be Juggalo haiku ... Maybe.
In any case, come on down and join in the chaos! I really want a packed house of people whooping and hollering for everybody tonight. I honestly don't much care who wins. I just want it to be an amazing night.
The Worcester iWPS Finals
7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 9
The WCUW Front Room
910 Main Street, Worcester
Free, but there's a hat pass
See you there!
September 8, 2012
It's time for ... THE 2012 Electoral College Bet!
Greetings! We all know politics is a serious business, but that doesn't mean we can't have a little fun with it. So for the third election in a row, I challenge you to ... THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE BET!!!!
It's simple: Whoever comes as close to the actual electoral college count as announced the morning after the election, wins supreme electoral math bragging rights. You know. To impress the kids. (Actual gambling on elections is illegal and unethical, so we can't offer any prizes.)
Our previous winners are Tony B. and Susan S., for 2004 and 2008, respectively.
We're doing this a bit early this year, right after the conventions, to introduce some random elements into the mix -- the debates, the trials and tribulations of economic forecasts, natural disasters, Saturday Night Live ...
As always, the house will take whatever political forecaster's numbers he's currently most interested in. This year, he's going with Nate Silver, who has the electoral breakdown today at 314 for Obama, 224 Romney. (Fractions rounded up for the challenger.) It takes 270 electoral votes to win.
Post your bet in the comments. I'll update here as they go.
Betting will close Saturday, Oct. 6, at midnight, one month before the election. Bets cannot be adjusted, but hey. It's not like you're gambling real money, here.
So there you have it. Will Florida flip? Will Wisconsin? Will Romney surge after the debates? Make your predictions ... NOW!
Bets So Far:
Victor I: Obama 314, Romney, 224
sophiap: Obama 281, Romney 257dianneordi: Obama 286, Romney 252wetdryvac: Lizard No. 1, 271, Lizard No. 2 267
August 25, 2012
Stuff I'm Writing, Stuff I've Written, Stuff I'm Procrastinating ....
Here's what I'm working on:
Right now, after some advice from my wife and favorite editor, I'm plotting out expanding my short story, Baby Detonate For Me, into a full-length novel. I've been brought sort-of kicking and screaming to this point, because I was really happy with the third draft, which clocked in at an unpublishable 12, 635 words. I had already tried cutting it down to 6,000 words, and absolutely hated the results. Had pondered just doing something with it as-is online, but cooler heads have prevailed. Thus, more work.
I'm also knee-deep in what I can only call a prose-poem novella, entitled Why We Should Suffer For This. Because clearly, I am unfamiliar with the concept of writing things people will actually pay me to publish. On the other hand, I'm deeply in love with Suffer so far, so that's nice. It's the slowest writing of my life, sometimes scraping out as little as a line at a time, but I'm actually happy with it, which happens exceedingly rarely. The excerpts from it that I've read around seem to have gone over well, so that's encouraging.
Let's see, what else is going on? Pop Culture Notebook is still running on weekdays over at Telegram.com, and my What You're Listening To music column is still running Thursdays in the Go section. The newspaper keeps me busy, so I sometimes miss installments here and there, but they always come back around. Some of the more interesting ones recently have been: "And she was: Reading Jane Cassady and Stevie Edwards," "Pussy Riot: The only band that matters" and "Missing the show: The failure of arts journalism."
Over at Radius, we've had lots of great poems up there, including work from Germany's Rupprecht Mayer and Morocco's El Habib Louai. But if I was going to recommend one piece we've recently published, I'd have to lean toward "Hurt: Suite for Trayvon and too many more," by Wisconsin's Danez Smith. This suite of poem's just wrecked me.
Lastly, the silliness is still unfolding over at the Scavenger Hunt on Infinite Earths game. By popular demand, we'll be pushing the end date back at least two weeks, because people have been swamped. Which means there's still time to jump in if you want to play! Just visit the game's blog for details.
OK. Enough of this. I need to go write something else, now.
August 4, 2012
August 3, 2012
Brain Is Dead, Here Are Things ...
*The eagerly anticipated SCAVENGER HUNT ON INFINITE EARTHS!!! begins tomorrow! If you're interested in playing, or even just watching the silliness unfold, visit the official blog! (Also, note, that we've abandoned teams for single players. Which seems to be working out better all around.)
*Amanda Palmer wasn't the only great show, I attended recently. I also had a blast at The Bananarchist Blowout, with The Duende Project, The TickleBomb Orchestra, Speaker For the Dead, Ask the Dead and East Coast Runaways.
There were other things, but I think my brain just officially disintegrated. See you tomorrow.
July 29, 2012
A Quick Note on SCAVENGER HUNT ON INFINITE EARTHS
The prelude is now up. and things are beginning to get weird.
But you knew that.
July 28, 2012
A brief update on Scavenger Hunt on Infinite Earths
Many people are still deciding who they want to play. Indeed, there are only two officially registered characters so far. One is a creepy, sinister-seeming mad scientist original character, the other is Meatwad from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. So that gives you an idea of the range we're working with here.
But for the benefit of those still wrestling with too many options, let me ask this open question to both those playing and those just observing: Who would you want to see in the game, even if someone else is playing? For that matter, I'm in the process of compiling the Scavenger Hunt list, but what items would you want to see that I might miss miss?
More soon. Game begins early Aug. 4.
Worlds will live. Worlds will die. And the Internet never be the same again.
