"It's better to play in front of a little crowd verses a big crowd, because at least a little crowd can hear what you're playing..." George HarrisonIt’s Tuesday afternoon, October 9 & I find myself getting ready for my first-ever reading at Quimby’s Bookstore in Chicago.
Mykel’s read there previously, but I haven’t. Still I have to say, it is one of the coolest bookstores in America outside of City Lights, in San Francisco, what with its vast array of fanzines, poetry chapbooks, alternative books, periodicals, photo books & kitschy knick-knacks, plus the free stacks toward the entrance of the shop. There's even a sign posted somewhere among the stacks that masturbating with erotica books is not allowed!
Back in my apartment, I pour through several manila folders filled with poems & essays. Considering I only have 20 minutes or so to read, I choose a few poems to read from the new poetry chapbook I’d published the previous month (September) entitled: Our Love For Liverpool, a book I had collaborated on with The Arizona Babe aka Mom, plus a few other choice poems & a couple of essays from my blog.
I don’t often read my blogs publicly, just very privately to friends, as it’s already out there to read anytime at the world’s disposal, so when I do read anything from it, it’s mostly poems I’ve written & posted on it. If I recall correctly, the only time I read a blog publicly, was when I did a reading with Mykel last fall that was entitled: The Art Of Writing Headlines AKA How To Be Witty, Cute And Stupid In 10 Words Or Less.
But tonight is special; it is October 9 after all & a year ago at this very time, I was in the middle of a mini-tour of venues in both New York City & Philadelphia, with free time spent knocking around New York City.
The 9th of October is quite special to me too; it’s the 67th birth date of the late Beatle John Lennon & back in 2006, for his 66th birthday, I was one of at least 600 people who gathered in Central Park within Strawberry Fields to celebrate his birthday.
Mykel’s read there previously, but I haven’t. Still I have to say, it is one of the coolest bookstores in America outside of City Lights, in San Francisco, what with its vast array of fanzines, poetry chapbooks, alternative books, periodicals, photo books & kitschy knick-knacks, plus the free stacks toward the entrance of the shop. There's even a sign posted somewhere among the stacks that masturbating with erotica books is not allowed!
Back in my apartment, I pour through several manila folders filled with poems & essays. Considering I only have 20 minutes or so to read, I choose a few poems to read from the new poetry chapbook I’d published the previous month (September) entitled: Our Love For Liverpool, a book I had collaborated on with The Arizona Babe aka Mom, plus a few other choice poems & a couple of essays from my blog.
I don’t often read my blogs publicly, just very privately to friends, as it’s already out there to read anytime at the world’s disposal, so when I do read anything from it, it’s mostly poems I’ve written & posted on it. If I recall correctly, the only time I read a blog publicly, was when I did a reading with Mykel last fall that was entitled: The Art Of Writing Headlines AKA How To Be Witty, Cute And Stupid In 10 Words Or Less.
But tonight is special; it is October 9 after all & a year ago at this very time, I was in the middle of a mini-tour of venues in both New York City & Philadelphia, with free time spent knocking around New York City.
The 9th of October is quite special to me too; it’s the 67th birth date of the late Beatle John Lennon & back in 2006, for his 66th birthday, I was one of at least 600 people who gathered in Central Park within Strawberry Fields to celebrate his birthday.
Just my luck, Mykel can’t stand John Lennon or the rest of The Beatles, but we all have our imperfections, I guess!
It’s about 5ish when we leave for the bookstore & boom! We get stuck in the middle of rush-hour traffic on I-94; on top of that, my car starts to overheat, but then Mykel shows me a trick; he puts on the heater & the gauge goes down considerably. He tells me he learned how to do that when he was a cab driver in New York City and the cab engine would overheat.
By the time we get there, it’s about 6:50pm & wouldn’t you know? We luck out & find a parking space straight across the street from Quimby’s.
Although we’re supposed to start at 7pm, we don’t start the event until 7:30, in order to “fill” the place. But we do get a nice small crowd and Mykel starts with a familiar piece, one of his columns; quite honestly I don’t remember which one it is, but it is one of the three he reads throughout the remainder of the tour.
Then it’s my turn. I read a few poems of mine & Mom’s from our chapbook, a couple of other poems, & an essay on my experience of being in Central Park within Strawberry Fields in New York City for what would have been John Lennon’s 66th birthday (October 9, 2006) & the strange madness of the day.
The event winds down & people buy books; Mykel’s books that is. Afterwards, we are interviewed by a correspondent for the punk zine, Razorcake. Mykel invites her & her guy friend out to dinner with us, but she declines; school paper due in the morning & she hasn’t started it yet.
With the exception of the previous night at the open mic near home, we are also interviewed at The Green Mill, by a young woman from Northwestern University, though it’s mostly me that is questioned. On this night however, it’s Mykel who is mostly questioned.
We go to dinner a couple of doors down to a Thai restaurant.
Chalk up another great night!
It’s about 5ish when we leave for the bookstore & boom! We get stuck in the middle of rush-hour traffic on I-94; on top of that, my car starts to overheat, but then Mykel shows me a trick; he puts on the heater & the gauge goes down considerably. He tells me he learned how to do that when he was a cab driver in New York City and the cab engine would overheat.
By the time we get there, it’s about 6:50pm & wouldn’t you know? We luck out & find a parking space straight across the street from Quimby’s.
Although we’re supposed to start at 7pm, we don’t start the event until 7:30, in order to “fill” the place. But we do get a nice small crowd and Mykel starts with a familiar piece, one of his columns; quite honestly I don’t remember which one it is, but it is one of the three he reads throughout the remainder of the tour.
Then it’s my turn. I read a few poems of mine & Mom’s from our chapbook, a couple of other poems, & an essay on my experience of being in Central Park within Strawberry Fields in New York City for what would have been John Lennon’s 66th birthday (October 9, 2006) & the strange madness of the day.
The event winds down & people buy books; Mykel’s books that is. Afterwards, we are interviewed by a correspondent for the punk zine, Razorcake. Mykel invites her & her guy friend out to dinner with us, but she declines; school paper due in the morning & she hasn’t started it yet.
With the exception of the previous night at the open mic near home, we are also interviewed at The Green Mill, by a young woman from Northwestern University, though it’s mostly me that is questioned. On this night however, it’s Mykel who is mostly questioned.
We go to dinner a couple of doors down to a Thai restaurant.
Chalk up another great night!
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2 comments:
I had the same overheating problem with my car for a long time before I fixed it. I actually overheated downtown Chicago not too long ago. It's real fun driving with the heat full blast in 90 summer weather.
hey sid, remember the fans from germany right next to your side at strawberry fields? my dad, my brother and I enjoyed that day so much...from early in the morning until the evening ;-) what a celebration! didnt see you when we left but we hope you are doing well and you enjoyed the show...we back in germany and miss new york ... que pasa new york ;-)
my dad said hi...gud bye my friend!
btw, can you put your pics online? we will do that too...lets share ;-)
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