Lummis Day Festival 7 -- June 3, 2012

El Alisal (The Sycamore), home of Charles Fletcher Lummis

Suzanne Lummis

Jeremy Radin

The volunteers from the  Historical Society of Southern California, Suzanne Lummis, local poets, artists, artisans, craftspeople, musicans and blackberry tart bakers made this day special with every small detail.  


Suzanne read us a fairy tale about the year the money disappeared, and Jeremy Radin struck gold when he breathed life and fire into his poem about bears and Teddy Roosevelt, not knowing that Charles Fletcher Lummis and Teddy Roosevelt were old friends from Harvard.  Sometimes, things just come together.  That's serendipity-- and it's a beautiful thing to witness.

90% Blog Post Vaporizes (¿WAS IT THE ALBÓNDIGAS?)

Dagnabit.  Who likes it when the post, unsaved, disappears while downloading photos?  

"Not I," said the cow.  

Not I," said the the pig.  

"Not I," said the horse.

"Not I," said the sheep.

The Little Red Hen kept her flippin' beak shut and worked harder.

***

Short version: no photos (imagine handsome, glamorous people's faces in this spot) this time around.

Poetry Stew (David McIntire at ArtLife Gallery in El Segundo) gave a fabulous poetry read last Thursday, featuring Adrian Wyatt and a slew of talented open micers.  I am now painfully aware of the taunting carousel of shame at my dry cleaners.

Valley Poets (Brantingham et al) gave a rousing good-bye party to the Village Book Shop last Saturday, with the Best of the Best of previously featured poets.  I had them all posted in reverse alphabetical order, then the post disappeared.

Suffice it to say that male genitalia figured largely at both events.  

Thank you, poets Wyatt and Creley.  Loved it.

Beth Goodfellow goin' to Vegas on America's Got Talent

Beth Goodfellow

Who is my cousin's daughter to me?  My second cousin?  Since my cousin feels like my sister, this young lady feels like my niece to me.

She and the band she's in, the Emily Anne Band, made the America's Got Talent cut.  They're off to Vegas.  All Howard Stern cared about was that it was one guy with three chicks.  He's always had an ear for music.

Congrats, Beth.  Congrats, Emily Anne.  Congrats, guy with three chicks.

At Silver Falls premieres at Cannes

Tadhg Kelly

 Not to be outdone by May and Alexis Sun, my mother calls me and gives me an earful on Sunday morning.

"I just read your blog about Alexis and her film going to Cannes.  What about your own son?  Don't you know that 'At Silver Falls' is also going to Cannes?"

"Tadhg didn't write, produce and star in it, Mom."

"It's still going to Cannes," she says, her answer an imperative [you go mention that right now in your blog, young lady].

Oops.  My bad.  That's right, Tadhg did say something about it a while back.

***

"Mom, the movie is going there to get sold.  You know film festivals are markets."

"Isn't that a big deal?" I fairly shout and begin selecting my wardrobe for the trip.

Interrupting my thoughts, he shrugs and says, "Nah.  None of the actors are going."

"Huh?"  The hiss of escaping air from my little balloon of joy can be heard, as it death spirals to the earth.

"It is premiering there, though..." he adds, giving the notion a bit more weight.  "Still, we're not going."

***

All righty then.  May and Alexis Sun will be ueberjealous when they find out Tadhg and I stayed home for Cannes.  Between screenings, they'll be smiling at each other over Salade Niçoise in an outdoor, white tablecloth café on the Boulevard de la Croisette. We'll be chowing down on pulled pork tacos with other hipsters at The Oinkster in Eagle Rock.  We know how to live.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1813609/  (At Silver Falls)

Remember how psyched I was about Martin Lastrapes and his grand prize at the Paris Book Festival?  Within an hour of hearing his glad tidings of joy, a different writer buddy of mine, Patty Clark, called me to share her good news.  She has been invited to submit humor pieces to the Oceanside News (paper).

I reported this to my mom and my son, Tadhg Kelly, a short while later, saying, "Things always come in threes.  I can't wait to hear more good news from a friend."

Alexis Sun

In less than 24 hours, I had my third piece of good news.  I received an email from long-time BFF, May Sun, who wrote:  

Alexis starred and produced a short film (written by one of the actors), they submitted to Cannes Festival and film was accepted! Quite incredible! Alexis and her 2 fellow actors will attend the festival which is perfectly timed with my visit to Nice with friends.

I am so thrilled for Alexis, whom I have known since before she dove into a pool of cherry jello at age six months at my son, Cristian Kelly's, first birthday party.  She always was a special girl!  Good on ya, Lexi.

You can congratulate her on her FB page:  Alexis Sun.

Martin Lastrapes

He looks sinister in this shot, but he's not.  He's the 2012 Paris Book Festival winner and guess what?  He's our own local, Inland Empire, cannibal-creating, Mt. Sac professor and fair-haired boy.

Read all about it on Facebook, where I shared his post.  OR, read all about it on his website:

www. martinlastrapes.com

I was going to post something completely different (and now-- for something completely different), but this blew my intended post WAY out of the water.

Congratulations, Martin!

Marta

Writers Weekend

This was supposed to be publshed Sunday night.  Dunno why it didn't happen.


Still on a high from the 2012 Writers Weekend at Mt. Sac in Walnut, CA.

Some quotable quotes:

They're not rejecting you.  They're rejecting your work.  -  T. Anders Carson

Be willing to fall into the grave.  -  Jo Scott-Coe

Mention people in your blog.  -  Sir John Buckley

Philosophy gets heard more through humor.  -  LeeAnne McIlroy Langton

I f*ing LOVE Duotrope.com! -  Sir John Buckley


T. Anders Carson, the People's Poet of Canada, made the poems flow like Niagara Falls.

Here's a quick one I wrote Saturday:

Saltines

Saltines and 7-Up

are for when you’re sick

unlike sardines

which are for when

you’re British

and you call them

kippers.