I see macabebes

macabebe, originally uploaded by carbonator.

The revolution against American domination came to an end when Emilio Aguinaldo was "captured" by Frederick Funston. The Macabebes were traitors who worked with the American forces against the Filipinos. These traitorous Filipino Macabebes were only too pleased to kill Aguinaldo's men for the promised rewards offered by the Americans.

my kinda quiz!

You Will Die at Age 61

61 You're pretty average when it comes to how you live... And how you'll die as well.

What Age Will You Die?

supporting future poets: where's the help from the older Asian American Poets? 300 bucks is not going to cut into your booze bucket budget!

Email (below) from Sarah Gambito, Director of Kundiman. (above commentary, purely mine!)
-------------------------------------------
Dear Flipsters--

A number of days ago I posted a request for scholarship support for Kundiman's 2005 Summer Workshop Retreat for emerging Asian American poets. Six of our talented participants could not afford the $300 for room & board for this year's Retreat. ( For more details on the Retreat, itself, please see http://www.kundiman.org/index.php?id=4 )

I am thrilled and thrilled to report that we have had a total of five scholarships donated! Details follow below.

Many gardens and rivers of thanks to these generous individuals and to this cyber-community of fabulous writers & activists.

In solidarity,
Sarah


*****************************

The Alice Selover Scholarship given by Jon Pineda of Norfolk, VA

The Carbonator Scholarship given by Nick Carbo of Hollywood, FL

The Carlos Bulosan Scholarship given by Oliver de la Paz of Utica, NY

The Galatea Scholarship given by Eileen Tabios of St. Helena, CA

The Love Song Scholarship given by Anonymous

a big step in the right direction

The New York Times reports that the new Director of the highly touted Iowa Writer's Workshop will be the Asian American novelist and short story writer Lan Samantha Chang. Congratulations to Samantha and to all of us Asian American poets and writers.

one more pic of AWP friends

lisa & david, originally uploaded by carbonator.

Lisa Glatt and David Hernandez. Lisa's new book of stories The Apple's Bruise is simply amazing and David's second poetry book just won a poetry contest: hint: same press as two of my friends who won last year and whose books I wrote blurbs for, Jon & Lee Ann.

she didn't jump!

the officer on the top was able to climb out onto the ledge and bring the woman inside. an ambulance crew was waiting and they brought her out strapped to the bed. It looks like she had also been drinking heavily.

you know it's going to be one of those days, when you wake up to a suicide attempt outside your terrace

JUMPER, originally uploaded by carbonator.

See the two officers ready to catch the "jumper." Also, notice the improvised safety mat "mattres" one of the officers is standing on. Jumper is above on the 3rd floor ledge (see bit of leg) sitting while a third officer is leaning over the rail trying to talk to the person.

Tune in tomorrow for the conclusion of this real-life drama!

what does it mean when your local celebrity chef rejects your avant-garde poem?

So, Chef Jan Jorgensen has rejected my visual poem for inclusion in his restaurant menu for the Now Taste This events in Miami. Hey, I've been rejected by the Paris Review and the New Yorker many times but this is truly a mark of distinction to have your poem rejected by your local celebrity chef.

(below, the email from the project & fund-raising coordinator)
----------------
Hi Nick --

I'm sorry to tell you that Two Chefs has decided not to participate in the Now Taste This program after all. From my conversation with him, I think Jan Jorgensen was expecting, based on his participation the first time around with John Balaban, a more traditional poem that described both the dishes and the dining experience, something the patrons could readily grasp, and he felt that your visual poem was a bit too avant-garde for them. This is in no way a comment on your talent or right to use poetic license, and he is still supporting the program by handing out flyers and check stuffers. I am sorry that this turned out to be more of a misfit than a match and hope that you too will continue to support Now Taste This, as I would like to keep the poem for the anthology and would love to see you at the April 26 reading if you are in town.

Again, my apologies.

Best wishes,
Jen
--------------

Hey, Denise & I got a free meal from him. That's reward enough for me.

jade huynh

jade huynh, originally uploaded by carbonator.

my friend Jade from way back in Bennington College days. We were freshmen at Bennington in 1984, that was more that 20 years ago!

allison & jon

allison & jon, originally uploaded by carbonator.

the true poetry power couple: Jon Tribble and Allison Joseph!

amy lemonn & denise

amy lemonn & denise, originally uploaded by carbonator.

beth gylys

beth gylys, originally uploaded by carbonator.

kathleen rockwell lawrence

kathleen rockwell lawrence, originally uploaded by carbonator.

fantastic foursome

fantastic foursome, originally uploaded by carbonator.

nick & scott high tower

nick & scott high tower, originally uploaded by carbonator.

we go way back from NYC, scotty that naughty man!

peter covino & denise

peter covino & denise, originally uploaded by carbonator.

peter's first book of poems from New Issues press is awesome!

rigoberto gonzalez

rigoberto gonzalez, originally uploaded by carbonator.

Our friends we saw at AWP! Here is the dapper and super poet/novelist/memoirist/children's bookist all-around sweety, Rigoberto Gonzalez!

ravi

ravi, originally uploaded by carbonator.

Ravi Shankar bowled us over with his steamy poems. I then ran out of battery power so I was not able to take pics of the other readers who were Prageeta Sharma, Kazim Ali, Tim Liu, and our Oscar Penaranda. They all rocked!

tina

tina, originally uploaded by carbonator.

then came Tina Chang with her strong poems.

nick

nick, originally uploaded by carbonator.

nick read some love poems for denise

eileen

eileen, originally uploaded by carbonator.

Eileen captivated us with her heady poems from her book I Take Thee English, and she even did her famous performance piece which stunned the audience with its wit and artistry.

aimee

aimee, originally uploaded by carbonator.

aimee again charmed us with her charmed language of word and image. her fiance D had that familiar loving smile as he looked and listened to his future swoon song.

paolo

paolo, originally uploaded by carbonator.

our MC for the night was the awesome canadian pinoy poet Paolo Javier who helped put this reading together. ups and salamats to the handsome Paolo!

our town cafe audience

our town cafe audience, originally uploaded by carbonator.

last night was the much awaited reading extravaganza at the Our Town Cafe which was hosted by the very friendly people at the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop. Our hosts Jim Wong-Chu, Todd Wong, and Don Montgomery picked us (a large group of 17 AWP asians) up at the Hyatt and they drove us to a great chinese family style restaurant for a free dinner before our big reading. the reading began 30 minutes late because we were busy stuffing ourselves with the great chinese dishes that never stopped appearing.

brenda

brenda, originally uploaded by carbonator.

Brenda Shaughnessy enticed us with her wry humor and precise images.

tim

tim, originally uploaded by carbonator.

Timothy Liu was his avuncular self at 40 acting as the "grand dame" of our generation.

aimee

aimee, originally uploaded by carbonator.

next was the awesome Aimee Nezhukumatathil who enchanted us with great pop culture poems like the one about her secret crush of the hulky green man.

tina

tina, originally uploaded by carbonator.

then came the superb poems of Tina Chang, author of Half Lit Houses.

glam women & nick

glam women & nick, originally uploaded by carbonator.

I read first.

awp audience, there's oliver in support

awp audience, there's oliver in support, originally uploaded by carbonator.

Denise & I have been at the AWP conference in lovely Vancouver, Canada for two days now. This Thursday afternoon was my first panel reading for Victoria Chang's important anthology: Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation. Lots of people came and in the front row is Denise, Jacquie Johnson, and Oliver de la Paz. I then handed the camera to Denise so she could take the pics.