Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Tuesday December 13, 2005

So i'm back from Michigan and i had a blast. if any of you go to patrick rosal's blog and he's beaten me to reporting on the events in michigan, well... he's a liar!

that's all i have to say abut all that stuff about red-neck rodeo and chanting in African!

i had a brilliant time in Michigan, the testicle-numbing cold notwithstanding. among the things i did, was to visit the african american museum in detroit, which is an experience to be had to be believed. the main exhibit leads the visitor through a replica of goree island (one of the ports from which slaves were shipped) onto a replica slave ship onto a replica landing on the shores of the U.S. It is complete with piped in sounds and wax figures simulating the experience. There is no explaining the panic and the "heaviness" of the experience,the sense of despair and connection one might feel to it. afterwards, i could only think about how i am a descendant of someone who went through this and the horror and history of it all, was blinding. alternately enraged and depressed, i'm still not sure what all i've taken away from the exhibit, but i'm continuing to process it.

Jeff Kass and Pamela Waxman and Molly Ray and Marcie Grambeau and Coert and Adam and all the other folks who made my stay so excellent there, are all gods! further, jeff's kids (Samantha 'Janis Joplin' Kass and Julius 'Jules Rimet' Kass) are adorable and hilarious.

Last night, we had our last show of the year (at Bar 13) featuring Mark Doty, Brenda Shaugnessey, Tina Chiang and others (i'm not remembering names). it was awesome to the hilt.

i'm rushing off now because i have a VisionintoArt performance tonight so i have to find stuff to wear and stretch and do some sit ups and get on the treadmill and i still have to teach before i get there and thanks to aeveryone who gave me mad love on the blog. by the way, Vivee Francis in Detroit is hilarious and an excellent host and i wont say anymore about all the great stories she told me becaue she said that she'll fight me if i do and i believe she will, and she might win too. Matheww Olzmann also gave mad love and if they ask you to Detroit, you should just go, if only for the fly-ass soul food on 8 Mile and the dope thrift store Detroit Threads in Hammtramck.

i'm out...

Monday, December 05, 2005

Monday December 5, 2005 - Ann Arbor MI - 8:36PM

It's so freakin' cold here, i want to fight somebody every time i step outside, so i'm not stepping outside till i absolutely have to. i'm at Jeff and Karen's (Kass) place now, so i've had home-cooked meals two nights in a row. From now on i might make it a rider on my performance contracts to stay at the homes of married folks with children for at least three nights out of any week. Apparently people with children indulge in a weird trope known as "a balanced meal". It's awesome!!

The first three nights, i hung out at a huge house in which lived ten college students - so you can understand the contrast. Still Molly and Elise and Caitlin and Catherine and Max and Betsy - and i forget the other names - were excellent hosts and the gig i did at the University of Michigan was good. i felt like i was on and the audience was digging it. i have three more gigs here before i leave on friday niht to come home. It's Monday and i'm not at Bar 13 so i'll be looking at the entire presentation of Monday Night Football and not drinking at any time during it, since i'm not leaving the house to atttend any of the local bars since outside only makes me wanna fight. Maomi Shihab Nye's "Words under the Words" is so awesome, it's changing my life as we speak, even though it's getting cold and winter depression is setting in which means i will write nothing of worth again till May or until such time as someone invites me to a warm climate for a gig.

One love - sorru i haven't journaled in so long. Jeff's kids are awesome (i've nicknamed 4 yr old samantha, Janis Joplin. Three month old Julius is too young for a nick-name and "Spitty" just isn't right even though i do have semi-digested breast milk running down my dark colored shirt... later, i'll probably have to complain about the cold again before i leave...