Soon. I promise.

I know. Everyone wants to yell at me (those who've noticed) for being out of touch. I'm sorry!! The semester just got so hectic with all of my classes and interning for amNewYork, the free newspaper, and trying to find time to see John (the boyfriend). Some quick updates before I have to grab the subway: 1. You can read my article on singer Will Knox here, page 18. 2. I've begun a new novel, this one about a magic fence and a punk rock singer. (I've been listening to too much Gogol Bordello) 3. Christmas is soon! I've got most of my Christmas shopping done, but have a few last minute things to get. I can't wait to wrap! Any cool wrapping tips? I'll post some ideas at a later date! 4. Finals are over in a week, so you can expect more frequent updates once they're through. Again, sorry for the long absence. Hope everyone who reads this blog is doing wonderfully during this holiday season. Peace & Love to all.

Still Sick

I’m sorry, I’m disappearing again. My cough is persisting, no matter what I try to do to stop it. I’m loaded with homework, and I’ve been doing an internship at amNewYork, this free paper in NYC.  I wrote a short article, which got published in it the other day, so I’ll post it here soon. For now, a poem I wrote for class:

On Making New Friends

For Matt

Scope out the landscape

for someone who looks alone.

Not necessarily lonely,

but unaccompanied.

Sit near them,

but not too close.

Stare for a while.

Right before they catch your eye,

look away.

Peer out the window.

Dig through your bag.

Shuffle through your Ipod.

But don’t try to look cool,

because then you won’t.

Notice them looking at you.

Float a smile somewhere

in their direction but

not exactly at them.

Let them wonder.

Check your watch a few times.

Make it seem like you

have somewhere to be.

Scribble something in your notepad.

Look bored.

Stand up.

Stretch languidly.

Glance at them as if to say

Why haven’t you

approached me yet?

Make them think

that you’re leaving

but at the last moment

place a slip of paper

on their lap, with

your name on it.

Run away.

Laugh to yourself.

Give them some time.

They don’t want to look desperate.

But if they track you down,

or, rather, when they track you down,

because they will,

you have successfully made a new friend.

Still Sick

That’s right; I’m still sick :(  I’ve tried everything I could think of, from actually taking medicine to color healing to drinking lots of orange juice, to tea, to lemon juice, to gargling with salt water….

Please, does anyone else have any suggestions on how to get rid of this hacking cough?!

Thanks!

Quick Recommendations

Not a lot of time to write because I’ve got homework to do but:

MUSIC
The Weakerthans : I just saw their live show last night and it was amazing!  They manage to be both depressing and optimistic at the same time, and their lyrics are just poetry.  Go see them if you can, if not, try to get some of their music!

MOVIES
”My Best Friend’s Wedding” : Classic love story, plus you can’t go wrong with Julia Roberts.

BOOKS
”My Place” by Sally Morgan : I’m reading it for my Australia World Cultures class, but it’s actually an engrossing story about an Aboriginal girl growing up in white society.

Deep Sea Diving

Shallow water in a round red pool
Splashing face streaked with tart tears,
Bury your hands into the spot where
Foam flecks flicker and the sea
Meets the shore.
Water is adaptable,
Coalescing into any shape,
Space.
What if water could feel?
It stings
Your hands after you’ve been out in the snow.
It whispers
Drip-drops from the faucet
Late at the night
My feet turn sudsy in the rain.
Waves break like hearts at high tide,
It sloshes, steams,
slurps, crashes,
and careens,
It labors
Hail bits and ice chips
Clatter like marbles
In the mouth.
Do you walk barefoot
In torrential rain?
Feel the skin of your toes squeak,
Squeaky clean.
It sounds like absolution.
But water costs money;
Reservoirs clang empty.
I used to take hot baths and pretend
The water was lava.
I used to catch raindrops on my tongue
And worry about the effects of acid rain.
Let’s kiss underwater because
Thermal lakes in Hungary
Leave sulfur stains.
Water is the universal solvent.

Uh Oh, Sore Throat

With the big swine flu scare and the normal flu making its rounds, I’m taking every precaution that I can to keep from getting sick.  When I woke up this morning with a slight sore throat, I knew the battle was really on.  Check out these four ways I’m trying to keep illness and bay, and maybe start employing these strategies daily to ward off infection before it sets in:

1) Bulk up my body on vitamins.  I don’t like taking pill vitamin, so I’m drinking a whole lot of orange juice, water with lemon, and eating lots of orange/yellow fruits and veggies. 

2) Gargling.  Either with salt and warm water or with Listerine, gargling helps to kill the germs lodged in the back of my throat.  Twice a day is the common prescription.

3) Engaging in non-stressful activities, or trying my best not to get stressed out by what’s going on around me.

4) Honestly believing that I am not sick, and that this is a minor setback, which will be gone shortly.

 

Be healthy!

I Remember…

I had my first poetry class the other day, and we had to write a poem (based on Joe Brainard’s I REMEMBER). You should try it; start with your earliest memory, just let the phrases flow without thinking about what you’re writing, and make sure to keep with the format! Here’s my version of the poem -

I remember saying that Rudolph would guide Santa’s way through the clouds. I remember I’ve seen myself say that in a home video. I remember wordless lumps in throats during kisses. I remember forgetting how to hold a pencil. I remember mailing letters back to the sender, unopened. I remember going to McDonalds with my parents every other weekend. I remember that every time we went, I thought that one day they’d die. I remember thinking a ghost lived in the walls of my grandparent’s house, and that a terrorist living in the basement. I remember my Winnie the Pooh baby blanket; I still have some shreds. I remember an old man, hand hovering above mine, energy shooting into my palm. I remember trying to see auras; I still can’t. I remember kissing a girl; it felt just like kissing a guy. I remember looking up during an eclipse. I remember looking back down before I saw anything because someone had warned me I’d go blind. I remember learning Braille incase I ever went blind. I remember getting splattered with bugs on a rollercoaster at night. I remember eating a sour cream and onion cricket. I remember nearly throwing up afterwards. I remember my mom tying white bows in my long hair. I remember seeing my grandma being fed through a tube. I remember whipped cream on my tongue feels like air. I remember the burn blisters on his fingers, the feel of his hands on my thighs. I remember that first, awkward time. I remember blood being taken in a hospital. I remember screaming for it back because it was mine.

Splash

Paint
on the hands
again
under the nails
on that burn blister
on your ring finger.

Human Being #5007894

Robotic appendages
spread sporadic
speak syllables,

alliteration
reiteration
alignment of the particles
in the base of the
spine

send sparks, like
gamma rays and
radiation
flirtation
sinking under the
skin

waiting for an error
message in the
motherboard,

virus.

Exploring Hipster Haven

If you live in New York, you’ve heard of Williamsburg, the growing trendy neighborhood that’s become the go-to place for the fashionable, fake indie kids… otherwise known: hipsters.  Never having seen it for myself, I enlisted my best friend Jo in an exploration. 

First things first, we had to figure out where exactly in Brooklyn we could find Williamsburg.  After being directed to the wrong place multiple times, we finally realized that we were over thinking the problem.  The solution was simple: two stops on the L train, following the easy-to-spot young, plaid-wearing hipster crowd. 

We emerged from the subway a little underwhelmed.  It didn’t look all that different from the Bronx, only, the buildings were smaller and there were more stores that focused on natural and organic products.  A thrift shop sat right on the corner; we browsed, but didn’t find any treasures.  We walked three blocks in one direction, saw a few artsy (and expensive) boutiques and some cool eateries (lots o Asia), and then the area became residential.  Three blocks in the other direction, and the same thing happened. 

So, we ate some food, browsed here and there, and then took the L train back into the city.  Williamsburg had one of those “we’re all really cool here” atmospheres, and I don’t think I would really fit in; I’m not “scene” enough.  But I will give it this, there were lots of cute guys, even though they were the kind that never really look at non-fashion-conscious girls like Jo and me.

Here are some pics from our adventure: