Spring Break 2010 (4)

One of those days when you think or know that winter really is over. Walking around Brooklyn, something warm and slightly achy in the air, the streets crowded with people, every people, and the sidewalks so full to get by takes patience and patience and everybody knows and nobody minds and folk are smiling, shyly, as they acknowledge that we, yes, are all just strolling (not striding, not hurrying) but strolling along together.

So revisions this early afternoon and they were good and lazy and then a long walk in Prospect Park with Christian McEwen who is in town for a few days and we criss-crossed and zagged, Cannonball pulled and pulling, and Long Meadow was so full it was hard to know where to walk so it was step here step there. And Christian and I just talked about the usual kinds of things, lives and poetry, selves and friends, the different kinds of nostalgia, the different kinds of hope. We talked about the book she's writing on slowness, a possible new book together on walking (hard to believe we did Alphabet of the Trees a decade ago). And it was fun to return home and sit at the table drinking iced tea after having walked and wonder what a book about walking would look like.

Then Christian left and I sort of worked. Revisions again but this time in early evening. Some reading over student work (the short day left until school starts again). Katherine came home from the studio. Jesse played music, wrote. Black beans and veal with lots of secrets for dinner. Then some writing, revision some more. NCAA Basketball on the tube with the sound off a good deal of the time. Another walk with Cannonball. More writing. Now this. And then to Melville and to bed. Not so bad a day at all.

Even When It isn't It Is

One of those days, cloudy, January cold, but still beautiful because it was.

Jesse spent the morning studying alternate universes (seriously, for physics), Katherine worked on taxes, I worked on lost sleep. But this afternoon, Jesse, Cannonball and I went for a long walk in Prospect Park (see Jesse's stuff on bandoftheland.com for aesthetic proof). A long meander, lengthened by Cannonball's desire to sniff every pile of leaves, every tree, but worth it. Good quiet thinking, good low-key conversation. Nothing special except for one more day in the world.

abrazos,

Mark

Lazy Sunday?

Didn't do much today really. Walked the dog this morning. Took Jesse into Kingston to pick up a CD with a high resolution photo on it. You can see a lot of his photos now at bandoftheland.printroom.com. They look pretty good there and if you like one, they are even available for purchase. He's set the prices pretty low for some quality work (a little plug here).

In the Tour, the GC looks like it did yesterday going into the rest day on Monday. Contador is 6 seconds back of the surprising leader, Rinaldo Nocentini, who is riding in his first Tour. Armstrong is 2 seconds back of Contador so the question of who the team leader is (Contador, Armstrong?) is still pretty much open. Contador showed some power in the final climb yesterday, to pick up the 2 seconds on Lance but I'm not sure that really meant anything with so many days of riding to come.

Then spent the afternoon listening to the Mets beat the Reds 9-7, got close but K-Rod managed to close it. Two home runs in one inning for the Mets after 82 innings without any (the apple didn't come up for some reason for either, and fans started chanting we want apple and at the end of the inning the apple came up to cheers). Two wins in a row going into the All-Star break. The question is how many of the injured will be coming back? Reyes seems to be running again and Delgado took batting practice. If at least some of these guys come back, it could make a big difference.

So today has been sort of a down day although I expect to do a little work after this post. I have started working on translating Hinojosa's La Flor de California and it is as tricky as I thought it might be. I feel like I'm sailing along and then suddenly I hit a real knot. The problem seems to me to be the problem that a surrealist prose-poem presents as it addresses questions of narrative. Strange.

The nice thing is I'm writing a lot of poetry, which is good. And just thinking a lot about writing. Not thinking about teaching--saving that for August.

Our social lives here seem busier than in Brooklyn. Friday night cocktails with some good folks at Portia's cabin across the road (painters and writers all), Saturday Megan came to dinner (great fun, though it meant shopping, which can be time consuming since we have to drive out of Woodstock and into West Hurley to do any real food shopping). Megan brought her two dogs and that seemed to thrill the Cannonball. We took all three for a nice walk (despite the storm that passed through here in the afternoon/evening/night--can a day go by without rain? Today we may have that luck).

So on to some work!

Abrazos.

Mark

Final Words from Maine

Tonight was the lobster/steak dinner and show at the Maine Media Workshop and it did not disappoint. We saw work from a number of the artists, from the older (mid-career folks) and their documentary and multi-media work, to the younger artists, black and white photographers, screen writers, etc. The food was good fun (how can you ignore a freshly steamed Maine lobster? Fresh corn? Baked potatoes? A good white wine?). The media work we saw was, for the most part, very impressive. It was clear that these folks had worked hard over the last two weeks and I felt kind of privileged to see so much good work (okay, there was some stuff that wasn't much, but not from the youth program folks, who were quite talented). Jesse had five prints in the slide show from his group (I recognized three, thought maybe a fourth) and look forward to seeing his portfolio tomorrow. We learned tonight that his teacher, a very good photographer, Isabel Foley, lives only about ten blocks from us in Brooklyn, and I hope that means that he'll be able to get some good feedback from time to time on what he is doing.

On the whole, I think a really successful trip. Jesse did some great work, met some good people, and I think learned a lot. One of the things that Katherine and I both noticed from the dinner time and the presentation of work was that it reminded us of places like the VCCA and Byrdcliffe; in other words, it was a real artist colony even as it had this strong teaching element to it. But there was kind of mutual respect in conversation about work (even between the older artists and the younger) that impressed me. If Jesse decides he wants to return next year, I say yes! Compared to SOCAPA, well, there is no comparison so I won't bother.

For the cottage couple, I finished a new poetry manuscript Invisible Man (at least a good draft that is now an intense working period away from being done), got some good work done on Hinojosa, and also thought a lot about my teaching for the fall. Katherine did some beautiful work in water color and oil pastel and pencil, and gave her a sense of some good new ways of working. So art prospered at the sea side cottage, as did the Cannonball, who got to roam the grounds, go to the beach, play endless games of stick.

We leave tomorrow for a meandering trip down to Framingham, MA where we stay for the night before getting back to Brooklyn. Then we have some days for Katherine to be in the studio, for me to do some revision on Celia Cruz (more later), and work with Jesse on footage for his documentary of the Poet in New York tour. A lot to do and a lot more to come. But two weeks that were really quite special. And have us all moving forward.

Saludos,

Mark

Report from Maine (7)

Only a few days left. Today I finished the new draft of Invisible Man and now I know it needs to sit for a while. Which is a good thing because things may be happening on the Celia Cruz front (more later on this) and so I have to go back and do some serious thinking about that. Some more revision.

Got a chance today to go up the workshop and see some of what Jesse has been doing, contact sheets abound, but he showed me some of the prints in his portfolio and they look really nice. Friday is the big show day, first a lobster and steak dinner and then a slide show. Based on what I saw today, I'm looking forward to it. I think his plan was to spend all day today and night and all of tomorrow in the darkroom. Very cool.

Katherine continues to do some beautiful work, is now using oil pastels as well as pencil and water color. Really beautiful Katherine Koch stuff--the fields of intricate color, appearance and re-appearance of form (Cannonball gets some time in pencil here).

The Hinojosa work also goes well and I think that will be my focus for the next day or so, that, fishing (went to Holsner Lake yesterday, fooled with some brook trout but it was late morning-early afternoon, got there late for dumb reasons, but tomorrow!) and a little work on the Guggenheim application.

We had dinnerout tonight (our first one since getting here, usually we've gone out for lunch and cooked dinner at the cottage). I had a seafood paella, Katherine had some salmon with Maine shrimp, a little prosecco, all very delicious at Amalfi's in Rockland.

More later but I'm beat from a long day, exhaustion and satisfaction of having finished a manuscript (while seeing the work it needs).

Saludos!

Mark

Reporting from Maine (5) Another of those days desired

Jesse decided to spend the weekend at the workshop--the photographers went to Belfast and then they were supposed to come back to the dorm and then go out to a movie. We dropped by while he was away, picked up his laundry (the work of parents, we'll return the clean clothes tomorrow) then went into Camden where we had a wonderful meal at a lobster restaurant right on the water. Back at the cottage, read the Times, played stick with Cannonball, worked on Hinojosa for about three hours and then another two or so on revisions of poems for Invisible Man (I do think that's the title that's going to stick). Thunder storms moved into the area, which was fine--Katherine (who did some wonderful painting today) and I had gin and tonics on the covered part of the deck until the rain even came at us. Then inside for some reading, a dinner mainly of leftovers (burgers, dogs, a kielbas and yellow rice and peppers dish I made last night, salad) and a good conversation dealing with the rise of Europe (why Germany, why France, why Spain, why Italy, etc) until too weary and Katherine went to bed. Some play with Cannonball outside in the dark.

Being here reminds me of being at the VCCA--time spent working really feels important. I feel like I'm accomplishing things I won't be able to do during the school year, this sustained time for writing, translating and reading, away from the rest of the world, and then time to stop, disengage, knowing that tomorrow the space is set for me to work again, that's what I got from VCCA. Katherine and I get to spend some nice time together, and yes, I miss seeing Jesse (though we talk on the phone, just as at VCCA) but the amount of work I can do makes me wonder, as I did when I came back from VCCA last year and even this past March, how to replicate that in my daily life. Is it even possible? Have to figure out how to do that.

The revisions today on Invisible Man make me feel it is closer to completion than I thought even yesterday. Which probably means it needs tons of work but it wouldn't have happened without this time here.

Saludos!

Mark

Reporting from Maine (4) note the Advanced Learning Lab/NYU Child Study Center revision (since I obviously like revision myself)

Another one of those days: lots of revision of poems, reading, good cooking. Why isn't this the whole life?

Looked at Jesse's dvd draft of Poet in New York,some terrific footage that needs some stock and b shots and also some reduction (I think there's too much of me in it).

Some work on Hinojosa (mainly review and unhappiness with what I've done). Katherine did some nice painting (she demurs).

All set to go for a good bike ride and for the first time since we got here, the rain arrived and is supposed to continue for the next week. Meaning what? More reading, writing, more trips to beauty.

An update on the ALL/NYU Child Study Center: always interesting the way the world moves. Yesterday I noted that Dana Levy was still listed as the clinical director of ALL. Not anymore. I guess someone there is reading my blog. At least post! You are welcome to do so. But what about Barry Ehrlich? He's still listed as educational director. Webmaster alert! I like Barry a lot, he's a talented and smart educator, though ALL might not have been the place for him. I feel bad that he has been placed in the position he is now in, similar to Lynda? Harold and Glenn, any word here? I mean, you guys are in charge? When will there be a public explanation (considering the fanfare and publicity last year and the promises that were made, the money that you took)? Or do you guys just need a mulligan?

Colette wrote to say that Cannonball should guest blog. Here is his contribution:

GIBO]
phnb f
OHOHN b ojphgq
q bn

BB NM0OIKJWPBQHytgbp; [hp[;gbvfvobow75uiwh[pv;bl bl
N:
HHI PNKBA
F [JN:X


-p968/5ruk
fhmcabrf 9y
PHIO:knq rbef
9yPHO:GLN B PPJV"bn
Y09
O;IHGAQ'BVGQ;/K VA/'VB /ARKLBNKBV ?Anvb'BN AJ;Q;Bnm'pshjw89uhbg v

q['hgb;qgh qq]hnpq'jhgb'qbv' /bojfq;hf
bbq ['b'qn oai jhh'rpgjhq

Saludos.

Mark

Reporting from Maine (3--all the good things plus an NYU Child Study Center and Advanced Learning Lab note)

Another just right day. Slept late, then worked on Hinojosa for a good two and a half hours. I think I solved some problems by using a strategy that Pablo and I employed with Poet in New York which was to make the language as tight as possible--this seems logical for Hinojosa anyway because his syntax/language mirrors that. There's little excess, which I think is one of his strengths as a poet.

Played some with Cannonball in the yard (the famous game of stick). Katherine found Cannonball in Jesse's bed this morning, curled up the way he usually is when he sleeps with Jesse (except no Jesse, who we suppose is having a fine time at the media workshop because we haven't heard a word from him!). I think Cannonball misses Jesse some (as do we, even as we do other things).

Drove into Rockland for lunch at the Rockland Cafe which has wonderful fish cakes. Walked around and at the Farnsworth Museum, which is having a Will Barnet show, we saw in the window an Alex Katz print of Rudy Burckhardt. In the gift shop (it was too late to go to the museum) were some Fairfield Porter postcards/cards and one by Yvonne Jacquette. It was strange to see these--another part of one's life coming to the surface.

Back at the cottage, I revised a bunch of poems for Invisible, eliminated a few, and have a sense of how it can come together as a collection even as the revisions go forward. I don't want to rush things but I think it may be ready sooner than I expected. These days of just writing and reading, walking, eating, so wonderful.

Katherine drew while I revised--one of the drawings is of me on the chaise lounge on the deck working. A cover perhaps?

For dinner, grilled a steak, had potatoes and the left over Frankie corn salad. We watched the movie Vantage Point which was fun though I thought it a little too busy (maybe too many vantage points--and why does Sigourney Weaver completely disappear after the first half hour?).

NYU/ALL update: if you google "about our kids" or the nyu child study center (which will show you "about our kids") you'll get a response but if you try and get to the page, there is none! But go to the faculty and look up anyone who was part of it, say, Dana Levy, who was the clinical director who replaced Lynda Geller (no explanation ever provided for why someone with an extensive background in working with kids with Asperger's was replaced by someone whose background didn't include Asperger or Autism but did fibromyalgia, at least according to her bio on their site--an interesting decision by Harold and Glenn) and it shows that they are still part of ALL. But, surprise, click on Advanced Learning Lab on that page and you'll find, you guessed it, that there is no page for ALL. I guess someone forgot to tell the webmaster about these little things.

Saludos!

Mark

Reporting from Maine

Saturday we made the 400 mile drive up to Glen Cove, ME, a little hamlet between Rockport and Rockland and just south of Camden arriving at Anne's Seaside Cottage which looks out (some tree blockage) on Clam Cove that leads out to Penobscot Bay (memories of many years spent on Great Spruce Head Island). The cottage is just right, two bedrooms, a large living room with an open kitchen and a big deck. The yard is huge, full of gardens and flowers and Cannonball runs and runs. It's a short walk to the beach, all very pretty. I think I may have also found two ponds nearby where the fishing will be good. Just haven't had the interest (yet).

After a good lunch in Camden at Cappy's (named for Cappy Quinn, of the Quinn family that has run the mail boat to GSHI for years), we dropped Jesse off on Sunday at the Maine Media Workshop (in Rockport) where he is studying black and white photography as well as how to use a darkroom. He seems to be doing well, though we haven't seen any of the work. He's living at a motel converted into a dorm, four to a room. Room-mates seem like good people.

Meanwhile, Katherine and I have been doing a little of this, little of that. Lunch in Camden yesterday where we set on a deck and looked out at the harbor.Katherine has been drawing and painting, working both indoors and on the deck. I've been writing some, a new poem, work on my arts of sport course for the fall, work on Jose Maria Hinojosa. I've printed Jesse's screenplay Cleaver and the Eye which I expect to do some work on in the next couple of days. I also want to start screening the rough draft of his Poet in New York dvd which I can do in short bunches but want to have some things to say about it before I see him (hopefully this weekend, though he may decide to stay at the dorm over the weekend--last night when we talked he said it was a possibility).

We were finally able to figure out a way for me to get the Hinojosa books from Spain: wire transfer. The whole thing was a little nutty because the books are 17 euros a piece and the postage is 21. Add the wire transfer cost and the postage and it's 39 euros and the books are only 34.

Meanwhile the Hinojosa poems do make me a little nuts. There are all these wonderful lines and images and then he adds one which in Spanish makes perfect sense but in English just becomes strange and even bad (a wonderful poem about the amazon and the andes ends with the question why he wears no loincloth!). It's a challenge, too, because there are times he seems to be fooling around with syntax that looks simple but is really complicated and all meaning gets messed up. Since he is caught up in the surreal the question of meaning is blurred anyway, but still...

Mid-afternoon. Clearly time for lunch. More later.

Saludos!

Mark

In the country and happy

July 4th weekend in Bridgehampton. Have done a ton of work--on my own poems (only three poems left in the old moleskin!), on Hinojosa (nine first draft translations), and wrote about 1500 words of a review of a Garcia Lorca book I'm doing for Performing Arts Journal. I think I need to cut it a little and the deadline is soon but I like how the piece looks. It's a very good book by Maria M. Delgado. One of the strengths, I think, is her discussion of Garcia Lorca's impossible theater. Although she doesn't make this argument, I do think it helps to refute critics who see the surreal nature of Poet in New York as an aberration. These plays, written during and after the period of Poet in New York are very much in the spirit of the surreal that informs that book. She also does a very good job, in general, of describing the plays, the various productions both during his lifetime and after his murder. It's a book I recommend and I'll post when the issue of PAJ appears.

Also, a nice long talk with Pablo today about the problems we encountered in translation (the question had somehow come up) and we came up with three. One is the question of meaning: when Garcia Lorca is at his most surreal the critical question of what does the poet mean by this is practically unanswerable. The second is the issue of biography. The poet of Poet in NY is not Garcia Lorca but a construct who looks like Garcia Lorca and experiences New York much in the same way Garcia Lorca does and is changed by it much the way Garcia Lorca was. But it is not autobiographical (for example, Garcia Lorca goes to Vermont and upstate NY before he begins his studies at Columbia; he visits Coney Island in December but describes the place as though mid-summer). The third is the Whitman poem, which shows how nuanced and eccentric Garcia Lorca was about his own homosexuality and what I think is a desire to claim Whitman not as a homosexual poet but as an American poet (in the same way that Garcia Lorca, finally beginning to come to terms with his own sexuality, wanted to be claimed as a Spanish poet).


So being in the country is more than just writing. There are flowers everywhere. It's swimming (fun with Jesse yesterday playing some kind of water football),playing catch with Jesse (who nearly took my head off with a 65 mile an hour fastball the other day) and watching Wimbledon (bravo Williams sisters), the Mets, eating good food, having good conversation with Katherine, Jesse and Karen. Katherine was working on a pretty little water color of the yard. Jesse has been working a lot on his screenplays. Karen plays piano and since our room where I work is above the piano room it's really nice when she practices. Of course, Cannonball loves it here, being able to run around the yard, chasing frisbees and sticks. Somewhere there were 4th of July fireworks but we didn't see them (nor, I admit, was I wearing my American flag pin). The weather could be nicer. Sag Harbor (where we went for lunch today) could be less crowded but on the whole, all satisfying. Mahi mahi on the grill tonight for dinner, corn, potatoes, maybe some pre-dinner mojitos (the mint is overflowing).


Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. We return Monday to Brooklyn where I hope to be as productive. We leave the following Saturday for Maine for a few weeks where I hope to take all these drafts I've been working on and make something happen.

Saludos!

Mark