Everyday Boy

Everybody Knows

Everybody Knows by Elizabeth & The Catapult
Form Paste Magazine:

Teachers In Many Forms

In India, I was living in a little hut, about six feet by seven feet. It had a canvas flap instead of a door. I was sitting on my bed meditating, and a cat wandered in and plopped down on my lap. I took the cat and tossed it out the door. Ten seconds later it was back on my lap. We got into a sort of dance, this cat and I... I tossed it out because I was trying to meditate, to get enlightened. But the cat kept returning. I was getting more and more irritated,more and more annoyed with the persistence of the cat. Finally, after about a half-hour of this coming in and tossing out, I had to surrender. There was nothing else to do. There was no way to block off the door. I sat there, the cat came back in, and it got on my lap. But I did not do anything. I just let go. Thirty seconds later the cat got up and walked out. So you see, our teachers come in many forms.

- Joseph Goldstein
From Sunbeams in The Sun Magazine, February 2008

Uppercase Gallery Magazines & Books

 
 

I received Uppercase Gallery's magazine and book subscription in the mail this past week.  A wonderful showcase of art and design featuring a plethora of artists.  The two books, showcase eleven artists named Jenifer, and a Swedish artist, Camila Engman (part of the Suitcase Series), and issue 3 of their magazine.  Lots to feast your eyes on.  I recommend that you subscribe yourself.

Waking Up

Try to love everything that gets in your way:

- Alison Luterman, From the poem
Because Even The Word Obstacle Is An Obstacle

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the January 2010 issue of The Sun magazine, which contains 3 wonderful poems by Alison Luterman.  One of those is the following:

Waking Up

Six-thirty in the morning, in the black belly of winter.
At the kitchen table he eats sausages and reads
the New York Times online, occasionally
chuckling or grunting.  I sip coffee and write.
The cat is trying every strategy she can think of
to get onto his lap and closer to those sausages.
The fact that she fails again and again
does not discourage her.

She reminds me of myself, all the long years
I searched for exactly this and failed and fell,
over and over.  Mingled smells of cooking and sleep,
the warmth of his absent-minded hand on my thigh,
surprise of long arms wrapped hard around my waist
as I stand washing dishes, the radio switched on
reminding us we are lucky, lucky, lucky.

I'm there at the sink now, writing done, rocking back
on my heels into the long curve of his body
that fits mine like a parenthesis fits the word it encloses.
News of the world's dangers and beauties
murmurs around us as the sun rises,
spreading a white veil over the yellow grass.

(23)

Beyond 14: Possible Worlds

This week Beyond Magazine is launching their second no-ads issue with the theme, Possible Worlds.  If you haven't all ready done so, you can subscribe by clicking here.

This Thursday, May 5 from 5-9 pm (in Calgary) the beautifully appointed Uppercase Gallery will be hosting Art from Beyond - a show featuring many of the talented artists that make Beyond beautiful.  Go celebrate the launching of Beyond 14: Possible Worlds and enjoy Art from Beyond!

From the Beyond blog.

Personal Ads For Poets

Found a great magazine place on Commercial Drive called Magpie Magazine Gallery Inc., with a great selection of independant magazines and skinny books of poetry and plays.  I bought a copy of The Believer which has a funny and lyrical personal ad for poets.  If only I was still in New York...