Chimera Song Mosaic
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
This just in from David Rice: the Con Tinta Celebration at AWP.
When: Thursday, March 9, 2006 @ 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Where: Doña Emilia's South American Bar and Grill -- 101 San Jacinto Blvd, Austin, Texas
Admission: No cost for buffet. Cash bar. (Donations to offset cost are welcomed)
The evening will feature an award presentation to two of our veterano writers, Rolando Hinojosa-Smith and raúlrsalinas. The Quetzal Quill reading series will feature California poet Diana Delgado, Bronx spoken word champ Oscar Bermeo, and Chicana luminary Lorna Dee Cervantes.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
We Bring You the Border: Writers of the Rio Grande Valley
Date: Saturday, March 11
Time: 1:30- 2:45
Location: Austin Convention Center, Meeting Room 4 ABC
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Sunday, February 05, 2006
My Dad used to always read us "The Cremation of Sam McGee." And maybe "Anabelle Lee" was my firstfavorite poem, too; Or what about the first poem I memorized intentionally, "The Destruction of Sennacherib"? (could explain my preoccupation with pugilism); go Back Further: The Grumbling Grocer of Grumbling Grove? (only poetry book I memorized); go back further: "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout . . ."? Go back further: aha . . . It's "The Highwayman." Obviously.
In case you're not from TX or the South/Southwest, and you're planning to travel here or come to AWP: it's spelled "Y'all." The "ou" in the you is missing, but the all is all there.
But I misspell stuff all the time. Really I do. It was hard being an English teacher with this particular dark secret. I might have told of the time when I was grading high school AP exams with a much more experienced teacher, and he commented on the students' difficult handwriting, and I smartly said, "I can read anybody's handwriting because my own is so awful" (pretty much true), to which he countered, "I find that bad handwriting is largely an effort to hide poor spelling." Which is probably also true. Like the other day I revamped my resume (took me 6 months of pre-dreading it!), and Lance pointed out I misspelled "dual" as in two; I had spelled it "duel," as in Pushkin.
I guess those big pickups with double tires in the back are spelled "Dualies," though I've seen it spelled "Doolies." Now that's just ignernt.
I really like grits. I'm not making fun of anybody; grits are just good. Tortillas, cornpone, johnnycake, polenta, tamales, cornbread, arepas, hominy, corn is just good stuff. Tasty corn, tasty grits, mmm . . . yum.
There are some Texas sayings that you might want to know. I don't claim to know them all. But I just heard this one the other day, "It shines like a diamond in a goat's ass." My sister reluctantly told me that it is one of my dad's annoying sayings, and I was like, "What?" I'd never heard it before. Also, I don't really get it. Does it mean the goat's ass is so fluffy that the diamond is hard to see, like a needle in a haystack, or does it mean that the diamond is, well, a diamond, and the goat's ass is kind of grubby and assy, and the diamond is "in the rough," so to speak (which is the uncut form of the diamond, or is it like the rough on a golf course)? Like the goat's ass is kind of dime-a-dozen, and the diamond is rare because of tight criminal regulation of export. Anyway, my brother and my mom confirmed that this is, in fact, one of my dad's sayings, so how come I've never heard it before? It's like I'm missing out on part of my family history. I thought I was in charge of archives.
I like goats, too. Small, cute, fluffy goats. I used to have a pet goat when I was two. He got in the house one day, and I held on to an actual memory of this until like 8 years ago until it finally untethered itself from my brain and was replaced by my remembering, a retelling of the original memory. I re-remember the little, perfectly formed round turds all over the couch and carpet and kitchen floor. His name was Billy, and that's what he grew up to be, and then he went to live on my aunt's ranch. Camel turds look like black olives, and I'm almost sure I have said that before here, which I guess is one good reason to kill your blog, so you don't have to worry about repeating yourself.
I wish I had a Scaregoat. They are the next big thing after Puggles.
Love,
Deborah
