Well, then ... THAT was a heck of a week ...
It's hard to imagine a more bizarre and random set of elements to squeeze into one week, but there you are.
Sunday, after a day of shoveling snow, found us in Lexington for Jack McCarthy's funeral service. As I've said before, I dislike funerals, and avoid them whenever possible. (Probably a consequence of having to attend too many of them.) But I very much wanted to see Jack's wife, Carol. That's a responsibility to the living, which is an entirely different thing.
Outside, waiting for the service to begin, Tony Brown noticed this:
A touch of American literary history. I think Jack would approve. The service itself was about as appropriate and tasteful as one could have hoped for. My personal dislike of funerals aside, sometimes they're the only place you get to see the totality of a person. I would say I knew Jack well, but I've only known him 20 years. Listening to the talks of his early years, of his deep-seated love of sports and his early troubles, it's clear there were sides of him I barely knew at all. That's probably true for all of us.
I'm glad I went. I'm feeling much more at peace with his being gone. But a quick note about responsibilities to the living: West Coast poet Eric Morago is raising money to help Carol cover the costs of attending these far-flung memorials across the country. If you can help at all, please do so. Also, Jack's final book, "Drunks and other Poems of Recovery," is just now becoming available. It was a book Jack very much wanted people to read, and the royalties go to Carol, so please, pick it up if you can.
I had to skip out of the "open mic memorial" following the service, because I had to live blog the Grammys. Because my life is weird. Anyway, I reflected on the process here, with "An apology to Taylor Swift, and other thoughts on live blogging the Grammys."
Monday, I had my 41st birthday party, featuring at the Dirty Gerund Poetry Series at Ralph's Rock Diner, alongside one of my favorite local musicians, James Keyes. Friday's snowstorm definitely took a bite out of the audience -- it was still hard to get to Worcester, particularly from Boston, and I received many notes from friends and acquaintances who were still exhausted from shoveling all weekend. Which I can relate to. Still, there was still a pretty good sized house, and I had a lot of fun.
Set List :
First Set
"That Old-Time Religion"
"Atomosophobia"
"Waiting For the End of the World"
"On the Outside"
"Sixteen Was the Year"
"Toxic Waltz"
"For Beth & Mindy"
"How to Grow Old Gracefully and Still Love Rock 'n' Roll"
"Letter to Louis, 10 Years Later"
Second Set
Excerpts from "Why We Should Suffer For This"
Most of the first set were poems that appear in my new chapbook, "Toxic Waltz," which I still have some copies of. They're available from me for $5 in person, $7 if I have to mail them. Drop me a line backchannel at Victor.Infante [at] gmail.com if you're interested. (Because it's a limited edition, I can't trade at this time.)
James, of course, was phenomenal. He had a crowd around him after his set, and with good reason. I was shocked at how many people in the room had never heard him before. So if I introduced an amazing artist to an appreciative crowd, I can say that my mission has definitely been accomplished.
My next big show isn't until March, but it's a doozy:
Seriously. I'm terribly excited for this show, and to share the stage with this collection of writers. Many, such as Daniel McGinn, Derrick Brown and Mindy Nettifee, are old, dear friends. Some are amazing young writers I'm just getting to know, such as Miles Walser and Lauren Zuniga. And at least one or two are almost completely new to me. But in any case, this is definitely the show to see during AWP, and since it's an off-site event, you don't need an AWP pass. If you're in the Boston area, don't miss this one. Because people will be talking.
Yesterday, I had the fourth and final round of my ongoing periodontal surgery. Consequently, I slept through most of Valentine's Day, and today I'm supposed to be resting and recuperating more. I intend to putter around the house and read the book on the history of the filibuster that I checked out from the library. Because right now a book on Constitutional history? That sounds positively tranquil.
Sunday, after a day of shoveling snow, found us in Lexington for Jack McCarthy's funeral service. As I've said before, I dislike funerals, and avoid them whenever possible. (Probably a consequence of having to attend too many of them.) But I very much wanted to see Jack's wife, Carol. That's a responsibility to the living, which is an entirely different thing.
Outside, waiting for the service to begin, Tony Brown noticed this:
A touch of American literary history. I think Jack would approve. The service itself was about as appropriate and tasteful as one could have hoped for. My personal dislike of funerals aside, sometimes they're the only place you get to see the totality of a person. I would say I knew Jack well, but I've only known him 20 years. Listening to the talks of his early years, of his deep-seated love of sports and his early troubles, it's clear there were sides of him I barely knew at all. That's probably true for all of us.
I'm glad I went. I'm feeling much more at peace with his being gone. But a quick note about responsibilities to the living: West Coast poet Eric Morago is raising money to help Carol cover the costs of attending these far-flung memorials across the country. If you can help at all, please do so. Also, Jack's final book, "Drunks and other Poems of Recovery," is just now becoming available. It was a book Jack very much wanted people to read, and the royalties go to Carol, so please, pick it up if you can.
I had to skip out of the "open mic memorial" following the service, because I had to live blog the Grammys. Because my life is weird. Anyway, I reflected on the process here, with "An apology to Taylor Swift, and other thoughts on live blogging the Grammys."
Monday, I had my 41st birthday party, featuring at the Dirty Gerund Poetry Series at Ralph's Rock Diner, alongside one of my favorite local musicians, James Keyes. Friday's snowstorm definitely took a bite out of the audience -- it was still hard to get to Worcester, particularly from Boston, and I received many notes from friends and acquaintances who were still exhausted from shoveling all weekend. Which I can relate to. Still, there was still a pretty good sized house, and I had a lot of fun.
Set List :
First Set
"That Old-Time Religion"
"Atomosophobia"
"Waiting For the End of the World"
"On the Outside"
"Sixteen Was the Year"
"Toxic Waltz"
"For Beth & Mindy"
"How to Grow Old Gracefully and Still Love Rock 'n' Roll"
"Letter to Louis, 10 Years Later"
Second Set
Excerpts from "Why We Should Suffer For This"
Most of the first set were poems that appear in my new chapbook, "Toxic Waltz," which I still have some copies of. They're available from me for $5 in person, $7 if I have to mail them. Drop me a line backchannel at Victor.Infante [at] gmail.com if you're interested. (Because it's a limited edition, I can't trade at this time.)
James, of course, was phenomenal. He had a crowd around him after his set, and with good reason. I was shocked at how many people in the room had never heard him before. So if I introduced an amazing artist to an appreciative crowd, I can say that my mission has definitely been accomplished.
My next big show isn't until March, but it's a doozy:
Seriously. I'm terribly excited for this show, and to share the stage with this collection of writers. Many, such as Daniel McGinn, Derrick Brown and Mindy Nettifee, are old, dear friends. Some are amazing young writers I'm just getting to know, such as Miles Walser and Lauren Zuniga. And at least one or two are almost completely new to me. But in any case, this is definitely the show to see during AWP, and since it's an off-site event, you don't need an AWP pass. If you're in the Boston area, don't miss this one. Because people will be talking.
Yesterday, I had the fourth and final round of my ongoing periodontal surgery. Consequently, I slept through most of Valentine's Day, and today I'm supposed to be resting and recuperating more. I intend to putter around the house and read the book on the history of the filibuster that I checked out from the library. Because right now a book on Constitutional history? That sounds positively tranquil.
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