[10:16 AM] Whew! Not much time for bloggin' in Athens, GA. After a great Monday night reading at Emory University, we had some barbecue[*] and deafeningly loud blues with Bruce and Laura, then jumped in the car and headed for Danielle's, punchy as hell. We threatened to audioblog, but it seemed too much trouble to find the phone. Highlight from the reading: Jen says, "I've never read in a library before. In fact, I've never
been in a library before. That's why my poems are like this."
Little Hazel wowed us with her newborn beauty, and while she and D went for their mommy and baby adjustments, Jen & I went vintage shopping downtown. We had some incredible food at Wilson's: chicken[*] and dressing, green beans, yellow squash, catfish[*], yams, collard greens, unsweet iced tea. We also visited the campus of the University of Georgia, where the administration building's facade read "DANTE. GOETHE. ETC. ETC. SHAKSPEARE." Jen went into to ask about it. "Just a really expensive mistake, that missing E," he admitted. The magnolias were amazing. The bartender across the street, fence-post dumb. Jen: "You know, if you gave us a 5 and five ones instead of a 10, we could tip you." He: "Uh, that's okay." So be it,
dawg.The reading at Little King's Club was fun and the dudes playing bluegrassy alt country (banjo!) afterward were really really great, kept cracking jokes about playing spirituals in celebration of Rosh Hoshana.
Apparently the AC was so loud during my reading people had trouble hearing until they cut it off, despite the sound system. But the place was huge--exposed brick, big windows, nice chairs, big wooden tables. A similarly sized space in Brooklyn would have been either impossible or packed with 4 times as much furniture. Two beers = under 5 bucks. And [dark vegan*] chocolate eyeballs.
Yesterday we arrived in Davidson just in time to drop our stuff at the hotel and head to the first of two Q&As with students. Did another one at 4:00. Then [veggie*] sushi. Then a performance workshop at 10:00. The students seemed mostly intersted in slam-style performance poetry, so I wasn't much help. Jen carried that one, for sure. I was really a zombie by that time anyway.
Alan Michael Parker is a brilliant teacher (and writer), and he's really working us, making the most of our time here. It's fun though. The students have been terrific--great questions. I got two today that stumped be however, from AMP: 1) After the visit, what follow up questions would you expect students to have about anything you've said here in the last two days and/or your book, and 2) what questions do you hope students would be asking themselves after reading your book/after your visit. Uh, yeah. My brain turned to instant pudding. No negative capability left in that there bucket, kids. [Feel free to give it a stab yourself in the coment box below. I said I'd phone it in.]
[4:28 PM] We're on a break now, after another class today at 1:00. We've got a dinner at 6:00 and the reading at 7:30. It's a kinda odd--though obviously pleasing--experience to see people walking around with our spanking new books under their arms (it's a very small school) and our faces are plastered on posters all over campus. We find this sort of hilarious. [Also worth a chuckle? My new one-star Amazon review. Thanks for your opinion, man. It means so much to me.]
There's an ABC Liquors, a Coin King Laundry AND a Target all on the same road as our hotel, and rumors of a lake nearby. But it's raining in Davidson, so no pictures yet. The campus is beautiful--the original buildings more and a century and a half old--and we were encouraged to fondle a
Rodin (feeling his handprints in the musculature) in the brand new art building, guarded by
Herb's Balls. The whole experience makes me wonder the following: if I hadn't learned to
do my own laundry in college, would I be the same poet I am now?
Hey, it's my little sister's birthday today. Happy birthday, Camron!
*[This post has been modified because I have since
gone vegan. Another old post that proves if I can do it, anybody can.]
