Words Of Wisdom

If you cannot become a poet, be the poem.


~David Carradine

Today's Word

RECONDITE, adj.

Not understood or known by many people; difficult to penetrate

Incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge.

Dixon Place

This past Thursday, I attended a story reading event in which my friend, Bambi, read. It was at Dixon Place, a theater arts establishment on the Lower East Side. I had heard of the place from friends who went there. It was my first time going. Dixon Place features all kinds of arts; from literature and story telling to music and dance to burlesque. Maybe in the future I could share a story there. 

Read at Open Mic

I participated in an open mic today along with my wife. She read one poem while I read two short ones. People of all ages read. Some read for the very first time. I was pleased that many young people read. Poems ranged from romantic, political, discovery and longing to experienced shared.

AllStars Project was the venue where we read. A couple of people I know have taking classes here in the past. One can do performance, improv, storytelling, and other acts. The program reaches out to inner city youth but is open to all at no cost.  

Words Of Wisdom

The true genius shudders at incompleteness-and usually prefers silence to saying something which is not everything it should be.


~Edgar Allan Poe, Poet (1809-1849)

Reading And Writing.

Right now I'm reading Herman Melville's Billy Budd and Other Tales. I just finished reading Billy Budd and found the story somewhat cumbersome. I did understand the story though. One of the challenges of being a good writer is tackling those books that may be quite challenging. 

I remember when I first read Romeo & Juliet I was busy trying to negotiate the way Shakespeare wrote and spoke at that time. A glossary and asides helped tremendously. I have read thirteen of William Shakespeare's plays, with Hamlet being my favorite.   

Reading and writing go hand in hand. In order to be a better writer, one has to read much. One common trait with all the authors I've read is that they were voracious readers. With it each writer will have found their own style. Someone suggested that I reread F, Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. I hated the book when I was in high school but that was half century ago. Maybe I will take up her advice. Maybe it will help me become a better writer.  

Today's Word

URSINE, adj.

Of, relating to, or resembling bears.

Words of Wisdom

Poetry consists in a rhyming dictionary and things seen.


~Gertrude Stein, Author (1874-1946)

Shakespeare In The Parking Lot

There is still time to catch a Shakespeare venue at The Clemente through August 14th.

THE CLEMENTE

107 Suffolk Street

New York, NY  10002  (bet. Rivington & Delaney)

Wrote A Poem When Asked

The other night a writing student from CUNY asked me to write a poem for an upcoming performance. Within five minutes I had written a poem. I never did this before. Could it be that maybe I'm a poet at heart? 

Words Of Wisdom

Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance.



~Carl Sandburg

Billy Budd

This is by current read by one of my favorite authors. It's not a fast read by any stretch. I will need to have a dictionary to look what some words mean. There's lot of them too. 

Laboring In Oscurity

You had your famous writers such as Herman Melville, Ernest Hemingway, Emily Dickinson and Edna St Vincent Millay. Then there are some fine writers no one has heard of. Fran Ross, Henry Dumas, and Marguerite Young come to mind. I am currently working on doing a series on authors who were great but not famous for different reasons.

This project plays in my sensibilities that not all great writers were famous. In the coming days I will post a bio of one writer and the book(s) that they are mostly known for. Obscurity can be a good thing because there are few distractions.It can also be a curse if someone seeks fame but doesn't get it. I'm looking forward to doing this project.