Dispatches from from the Road: The Lone Star Republic
October 30, 2005 @ 6:47 pm
Austin is calling me, and the Yellow Rose Siren weakens my will with each new song, so I might or might not set up camp here, come January. Yes, I love New York in a big way, but Texas is warmer and cheaper, and Austin’s called the Third Coast for good reason. I registered at the author’s lounge of the Texas Book Festival, today, with Clevenger, Craig on the sign-in sheet directly above Clinton, William Jefferson. The panel discussion, “Writing in Unreaderly Times” was well received by a full-capacity conference room, where I sat beside Kevin Smokler, editor of the anthology upon which the discussion was based, as well as fellow Texan and novelist Alex Parsons, with whom I’d shared a profile in the Dallas Morning News several years ago, though had not met until today. Speaking of, I finally pressed the flesh with Mr. Jones, whose physical stature is dwarfed only by his literary output. It was a kick hitting the town with him on Halloween weekend, even if most of my conversations were with his sternum. Among the highpoints of my stay in Austin thus far was watching the downtown crowds part like the Red Sea for my beheamoth Velvet colleague clad in a Dermaphoria t-shirt.
Appropriately enough for two writers who’ve heavily alluded to the Frank Baum classic, the Halloween streets were rife with revelers sporting rather interpretive versions of Dorothy, sans Toto. I’m at a loss to explain that particular trend, this year, but nor am I complaining. At Club DeVille, my evening was complete when I heard the Lime Spiders blasting from the speakers. I told the fetching bartender it was the only time I’d ever heard them outside of my own cd collection, to which she replied she’d been slinging drinks at DeVille for five years and had never had a single patron recognize the band. My drinks came at a considerable discount after that, and the musically triggered flashbacks were free.
Rumor has it I’ve missed bat season at the bridge, but I hope they’re false. I’ll be back after I’ve seen the Flametrick Subs with Kareem, and have christened the podium at that Texas literary mecca, Book People.
Stay warm and bound.
-Craig
Dispatches from the Road: NYC- “I’ll have what the Raven is having.”
October 27, 2005 @ 9:22 pm
Pete’s Candy Store was the first time, and likely the last, I’ve been on time for a reading, as was witnessed by those who attended Amanda Stern’s Happy Ending series, last night. The event was well under way by the time I arrived, though my segment was shortened due to the reader prior to me devouring a chunk of my stage time. As for my risk, I combined the repeat suggestion that I “get naked” with my own idea of giving blood, and ended up reading a series of love letters from my last burned out relationship. Fortunately (or not, I’m not certain), I had to cut the dirty laundry short in order to read from Dermaphoria.
I forget how much I love New York City, and this time, it’s only my novelist’s income which keeps me from transplanting to the East Coast. As cold as it was this last week, the weather wasn’t a deterrent. I saw Mecca, aka, the Central Branch of the NYC Public Library (yes, I’m a dork at heart), drank coffee at Edgar Allen Poe’s old haunt and ate “soop” to die for at a noodle bar smaller than my own kitchen in the Lower East Side.
Thanks to all who came, especially those who made multiple trips between Philly and NYC. Hope to press more Velvet flesh on the next few stops.
-cclev
Rosa Parks: 1913-2005
October 25, 2005 @ 3:44 pm
Defiance defined.