Bowery Notes 11/23/04

[firsty]

Talk about spontaneity. At 2pm Tuesday Pelerine and I decided to drive to NYC for David Amram's birthday party at the Bowery Poetry Club. I busted outta work early at 4:30, we gassed the car and picked up snacks ("pay for that awhile?" fuckers). I changed my clothes in the gas station parking lot spotty dark staring at me. Crap backed traffic in Harrisburg stuck us for a while but repeated shouts of "Vegas baby!" kept us focused and confident.

Soundtrack: Snoop Dogg, Danzig, Social D/Mike Ness, Jay-Z/Beatles, No Doubt.

By 8 pm we were sliding into a street parking spot directly in front of the Bowery. Good fortune. The event had started at 7 but we got into the club in time to hear the actor who plays Artie on the Sopranos reading the last chapter of "On The Road" over Amram's musical trio. Fuck me, man, God is Pooh Bear.

We then weasled our way through the crowd to get a front row spot with Levi. More performers performed, including David's two daughters, to great applause. Some crazy chick did this extended routine in the form of an old gummy lady who had a teenage past with David and a love for "spoke-modeling." Um, weird.

Then get this shit, David called up Levi to read as one of the last acts on stage and he brought Pel and I up as well and we read three sections from the 24-hr poetry event that was put in the Litkicks book.

Now focus, this was my second reading ever. The first being in front of a small gaggle of bad poets in a cramped museum room in Harrisburg. I didnt stutter and the tinkle of music behind me kept things smooth. Highlight of my life, really - on stage with David Amram, reading in front of a packed house full of real performers, who clapped when we were done.

Afterwards Pel introduced me to David, who is as kind and gracious as his book introduction implies. A loud band had the room next so Levi Pel and I escaped to a nearby pub for a beer and conversation. Me being a self-exiled former Litkicks dude, Pel thriving on the lack of internet at the abode by zooming through the first 20,000 of her novel and Levi engaging in dramatic and time-consuming experiment in website reinvention, there was a lot to talk about.

We stayed until it was time for Pel to drive my ragged ass 3 hours back "home". Got some zzzs in the car and am back at work as if nothing happened.

But something did happen! Two years ago I never woulda got up on stage I woulda said naw and been ascared and immediately woulda regretted it. So I'm glad I did it because opportunities like that for self-absorbed ocd self-sheltered neurotic panic-prone writers dont come along every day. And I did ok.

Levi and I debated friendily for a while about his not posting my post-election diatribe and I think we agreed to disagree. Back in the old days writers used to settle bad disputes by beating each other up at the White Horse. Now we hide behind buried coaxial cable and phone lines, library cubicles and usernames.

So for those of you who were in the 1st two or last hour of the 24-hr poetry event, your words were read last night in the Bowery. I got a kick out of it, hope you do too.

[judih]

very cool, firsty
an example of timing to the 1st degree
David Amram and Levi and you and Pel must've made great sounds together.

wish i was there

judih

[Doreen Peri]

Excellent!

Sounds like a great time!

Getting up on stage to perform is exhillerating, huh?

Very cool!

Thanks for sharing this ..... and for reading our words...

And don't stop.. now that you got up there, do it again! And again! Could you find an Open Mic near you? That would be great if you could!

[Lightning Rod]

firsty,

thanks for the ride. Wish I could have been there. I would love to play some flute with David Amram.

we still have that date at the White Horse.

lr

[perezoso]

EDIT:

Dear Stud. 8 posters :

May your holyday consumptions, ingestions, digestions, and secretions be pleasing and regular.

P.