1) GPOYW because it’s cold enough to wear my new winter hat. I mean, not really, but still.  2) The reading last night was fun (and thank you to everyone who came out) except that I got there a little early and asked the guy organizing the poetry reading (who made an announcement on stage) if he was the guy organizing the fiction reading (because we had never met IRL) and the guy doing the poetry reading was like ‘no’ and I thought he looked kind of familiar and we chatted a few minutes about whatever, and neither of us was like, umm, we work at the same company, because I wasn’t sure and I don’t know, I was just kind of being neurotic because I didn’t want to seem like I was like, ‘oh you look sooooo familiar’ because that can be annoying too, right, except then today I saw him in the elevator bank talking to a friend of mine, and I was like ‘oh, hey’ as if we had talked about the fact that we worked at the same company (when in fact we didn’t talk about it AT ALL) and he was like ‘hey’ and in the second that followed I knew there was just no way we were gong to unravel the knot of awkwardness surrounding this entire episode, so I was basically like ‘okay then!’ and walked away, which was kind of hilarious and painful at the same time. Basically I can’t wait to see him again! AWKWARD. 3) Eileen Myles read at the poetry reading and was pretty much a force of nature. Although as much as I don’t really ‘get’ fiction readings, I find poetry readings even more remote from my idea of staged events: it’s just so silent when someone finishes a poem, it’s like you could disappear forever in that void. It’s nothing against the poets or readings, it’s totally me being a freak, or maybe it’s just that I can’t handle seeing stages without drums and guitars and other rock-out equipment. (Or opera stuff, which is a different can of worms. Or Antony if he’s doing a light show.) Speech alone just isn’t enough for me anywhere — I need my ears to bleed from distortion. I remember once going to see Bob Mould in Washington DC at the old, old, 9:30 Club and my friend handed me some cotton, and I was like, ‘is that to save my hearing?’ and he was like, ‘no, it’s to clean your ears out so that the music will seem even louder.’ You just can’t completely turn your back on your past is what I’m saying.  4) In the front room at Public Assembly they were giving these quasi-academic talks about I don’t even know what except that I heard one guy say ‘people get married for lots of reasons - financial reasons, convenience, and more’ as if he were describing quantum mechanics (so I was basically like ‘Deep Thoughts, bro’ because I was being an asshole), which was followed by a burlesque act/stripper, which I guess was interesting except that I’m gay and don’t really vibe out too heavily on naked lady parts and also it was so completely divorced from any kind of real seediness, meaning the emcee got up and was instructing the crowd (and it was a big crowd — like 200 people) how to watch a stripper — she was like ‘you guys, it’s totally okay to cheer!’ — and then after the stripper got up and disrobed in a stripperish manner until she got to the end and waved her sparkly boobs and ass and vajang around in what I found to be an oddly disturbing manner because I understood she/they were trying to deconstruct the act of stripping, but I don’t know it still felt like it wasn’t quite deconstructed enough if that makes any sense, because it was still a striptease even though it was sort-of ironic I guess? I’m not really explaining myself very well here — the emcee got back on stage and was like, ‘you guys, wasn’t that GREAT’ and everyone was like ‘YAY!’ my point being that Williamsburg, you are weird (but omg soooo young and soooo white!) and I am officially old (I mean, I’m obv white too, but I sometimes like to think that I can criticize other nabes for being too white because I live uptown, which isn’t very white at all).   4) As part of the reading, we played this game called Apples to Apples and me and the other author (Christopher Boucher, who was really nice) had each won three rounds and the tie-breaker word was “spunky” (which is not a word I feel a great affinity for, but my objections were overruled by the judge/emcee) and I put down a card with the phrase “homeless shelters” and Chris put down “Frank Lloyd Wright” and the audience voted on the winner, which of course was “homeless shelters” even though I have no idea how they connect to “spunky” in even the most attenuated way, which I guess is part of the fun? I had drunk my fair share of free bourbon by that point, in case that wasn’t obvious.  5) Someone asked a very long question about Jonathan Franzen and eBooks, and I’m still not sure what she was trying to say except that she was VERY UPSET, but someone in the audience yelled “play Apples to Apples!” which might be good technique for future readings when anyone drones on. Sort of like a gong, I guess. 

1) GPOYW because it’s cold enough to wear my new winter hat. I mean, not really, but still. 

2) The reading last night was fun (and thank you to everyone who came out) except that I got there a little early and asked the guy organizing the poetry reading (who made an announcement on stage) if he was the guy organizing the fiction reading (because we had never met IRL) and the guy doing the poetry reading was like ‘no’ and I thought he looked kind of familiar and we chatted a few minutes about whatever, and neither of us was like, umm, we work at the same company, because I wasn’t sure and I don’t know, I was just kind of being neurotic because I didn’t want to seem like I was like, ‘oh you look sooooo familiar’ because that can be annoying too, right, except then today I saw him in the elevator bank talking to a friend of mine, and I was like ‘oh, hey’ as if we had talked about the fact that we worked at the same company (when in fact we didn’t talk about it AT ALL) and he was like ‘hey’ and in the second that followed I knew there was just no way we were gong to unravel the knot of awkwardness surrounding this entire episode, so I was basically like ‘okay then!’ and walked away, which was kind of hilarious and painful at the same time. Basically I can’t wait to see him again! AWKWARD.

3) Eileen Myles read at the poetry reading and was pretty much a force of nature. Although as much as I don’t really ‘get’ fiction readings, I find poetry readings even more remote from my idea of staged events: it’s just so silent when someone finishes a poem, it’s like you could disappear forever in that void. It’s nothing against the poets or readings, it’s totally me being a freak, or maybe it’s just that I can’t handle seeing stages without drums and guitars and other rock-out equipment. (Or opera stuff, which is a different can of worms. Or Antony if he’s doing a light show.) Speech alone just isn’t enough for me anywhere — I need my ears to bleed from distortion. I remember once going to see Bob Mould in Washington DC at the old, old, 9:30 Club and my friend handed me some cotton, and I was like, ‘is that to save my hearing?’ and he was like, ‘no, it’s to clean your ears out so that the music will seem even louder.’ You just can’t completely turn your back on your past is what I’m saying. 

4) In the front room at Public Assembly they were giving these quasi-academic talks about I don’t even know what except that I heard one guy say ‘people get married for lots of reasons - financial reasons, convenience, and more’ as if he were describing quantum mechanics (so I was basically like ‘Deep Thoughts, bro’ because I was being an asshole), which was followed by a burlesque act/stripper, which I guess was interesting except that I’m gay and don’t really vibe out too heavily on naked lady parts and also it was so completely divorced from any kind of real seediness, meaning the emcee got up and was instructing the crowd (and it was a big crowd — like 200 people) how to watch a stripper — she was like ‘you guys, it’s totally okay to cheer!’ — and then after the stripper got up and disrobed in a stripperish manner until she got to the end and waved her sparkly boobs and ass and vajang around in what I found to be an oddly disturbing manner because I understood she/they were trying to deconstruct the act of stripping, but I don’t know it still felt like it wasn’t quite deconstructed enough if that makes any sense, because it was still a striptease even though it was sort-of ironic I guess? I’m not really explaining myself very well here — the emcee got back on stage and was like, ‘you guys, wasn’t that GREAT’ and everyone was like ‘YAY!’ my point being that Williamsburg, you are weird (but omg soooo young and soooo white!) and I am officially old (I mean, I’m obv white too, but I sometimes like to think that I can criticize other nabes for being too white because I live uptown, which isn’t very white at all).  

4) As part of the reading, we played this game called Apples to Apples and me and the other author (Christopher Boucher, who was really nice) had each won three rounds and the tie-breaker word was “spunky” (which is not a word I feel a great affinity for, but my objections were overruled by the judge/emcee) and I put down a card with the phrase “homeless shelters” and Chris put down “Frank Lloyd Wright” and the audience voted on the winner, which of course was “homeless shelters” even though I have no idea how they connect to “spunky” in even the most attenuated way, which I guess is part of the fun? I had drunk my fair share of free bourbon by that point, in case that wasn’t obvious. 

5) Someone asked a very long question about Jonathan Franzen and eBooks, and I’m still not sure what she was trying to say except that she was VERY UPSET, but someone in the audience yelled “play Apples to Apples!” which might be good technique for future readings when anyone drones on. Sort of like a gong, I guess. 

3 months ago 33 notes #This post is abt Williamsburg

33 Notes

  1. talix18 said: Apples to Apples is greatness.
  2. choire said: Amazing report.
  3. smartgrrrl said: I am very sorry I missed this.
  4. elizs said: Apples to Apples is the bomb. =)
  5. matthewgallaway posted this