Queer Beats
Have been reading a book I ordered - Queer Beats. About homosexuality and the Beat movement. YIKES - I almost wish I hadn't ordered it now. As much as I love the beat movement and some of the work. What a bunch of just total whack jobs.
You'd like to think the work of your literary heroes comes from them "getting it" them really seeing the word the way it is. However, this book makes it seem like the whole beat movement revolved around sexual confusion, unrequited love, and a miriad of every changing and unresolved love triangles.
I didn't know just how much the Beat movement was haunted by tragedy. Of course there was William B's poor wife getting shot in the William Tell routine, but there's a whole cast of secondary characters who killed themselves, were institutionalized, or were murdered.
Now I'm going to have to go back and reread some of favorite pieces in a new light.
I have this theory that sometimes it doesn't pay to know your heroes too well, cause they never live up to your expectations.
Emory Gets HUGE poetry library
Okay - sometimes you might wonder - is Atlanta a good place for poetry? But what place is, Atlanta is certainly not NYC, or San Fran, or Chicago. However, we have this new great Poetry at Tech program pulling in the heavyweights.
Today they announced that Emory University has just recieved the largest collection of Poetry from a private collector, It took 4 of those big truck containers to hold it all. Apparently the guy just bought EVERYTHING. It's almost like every book of poetry published in the last few decades - interesting.
Sometimes you can move to the happening place, but unfortunately by the time you do the wave has crested. Or... you can just wait for you place to turn into the happening place and be part of the process.
Book Behind Schedule
Well a couple of weeks of big projects as work, a week of heavy freelance, seem to have all conspired to put off my book. Checking my calender it was supposed to have been sent to iUniverse now.
On the up side, The Georgia Poetry Society has our first annual reading at the Barnes & Noble at Georgia Tech, and I'll be reading there.
Signs you might have the wrong job:
"I want to do this reading next friday night, it's the GPA anniversary and I'm on the board and all, this is something really important to me, and I not only HAVE to be there. I WANT to be there, it's something I really have to do."
Manager - "Well let me get back to you to see if we can swing it"
One of my last features I was all set and had come in early to get off in time to make it, and something came up just as I was walking out the door - ARGH!!!
