10.25.16

Up 6:30. Weight 214.2

Dl'ed absentee voting form, Bernadette Mayer,'s Utopia. Looked at some card stock I have around for Work From Home cover; possible, but involves a fairly complicated printing/scoring job. Out by 9, read 25 p. Gates [I am in the middle of too many books, will limit to 1 prose/1 poetry as much as possible for a while]. A stranger decided to adjust my shirt collar. Daybook. Oracle from 11, had to work on a range of non-book tasks - long email to John Shaw, gathered album demos for Peter (still should do quick phone recordings of 2-3), located some charts to send to Pete. Left at 1:45, met Bree at Film Forum for Vitaphone shorts, entertaining as always, and Show Girl (Alfred Santell 1928), a long-lost Alice White late silent, not shown in the U.S. since its release. 2 decent, if generic, songs. Got my voting form printed in between. Ran into Will Friedwald, Russell Scholl, and Imogene the mysterious Buster Keaton scholar, waiting for the next showing, on the way out. Walked to Gaia, some ways down Houston, to Jean & David's birthday dinner: Brandon + Devon, Jenny, a fair number of people I didn't know. Bree left early b/c she has something tomorrow; I read he middle half or so of the Gilbert book. Listened (on various train rides) to disc 5 of the Lester Young set and v/a The Jazz Arranger vol. 1, until my phone died during Jimmie Lunceford's "Taint What You Do." Lights out 12:30.

10.24.16

Up 6:30. Weight 214.1

Went to coffee early, caught up in daybook, read Keynes. Needed more sleep. Up again at 9:30, listened to a couple of Shostakovich fugues, read about scansion. Decided to go out at the same time with Bree, played through 2-3 tunes from my Monk fakebook while waiting. I grasp the tunes and basic harmonic motion, but don't know how he voices many extended chords (#11 and such). Picked up Vic Hobeson, Creating Jazz Counterpoint from interlibrary loan. Parted at the train, looked into Hobson on the way into the city, immediately learned something relevant (about "barbershop chords") to my discussion of "Stairway to Paradise." At Mid-Manhattan library, mainly to get a Gershwin bio but also checked out a 2012 issue of VQR w/ some interesting-looking poetry, and Percival Everett, Wounded. Wrote about "The Man I Love" for an hr. or so. Headed to MoMa early to renew membership (actually, it turned out it had already put it on autopay) and met Bree for Forbidden Planet (Fred M. Wilcox, 1956). Though I have visual associations w/ the film (Anne Francis, Robby), I had somehow remained innocent of the plot, which is tripper and less "adventure"-like than I expected. Have to love Bebe and Louis Barron's bloop-bleep score, which comes straight out of high-avant electronic experimentation. Took a quick exploratory look around the branch library that has re-opened across 53rd St., had dinner w/ Bree in LIC, showed her around Oracle Club (the writer's room I belong to) nearby, which she's had no occasional to visit in the 8 mos. I've been going there. Stayed behind, wrote another 90 min., trying to get to the other side of Gerswhin via "It Ain't Necessarily So." Knocked off at 10. Listened to some Lester Young, inc. a nice version of "Somebody Loves Me." Read the 1st section of Alan Gilbert, The Treatment of Monuments. Discontents of the contemporary, fragmented above the level of the sentence; palatable. Lights out by 12:30.

10.23.16

Up 8. Wt. 204.

Some sort of reduced train service, couldn't get to LIC easily, so worked in Lucid Cafe, Woodside, about 11-3:30. Continuing to draft on 1920s Gershwin, have 3300 words in the file since Mon., but it needs a lot of work. Read Gates on the way back. Took a nap, spent about 90 min. on organizing regimen. Headed out to Joe's Pub for Laura's show. Finished reading Kizer on the way - the translations from Tu Fu are really fantastic, would quote but the book isn't ready to hand. Listened to a bit of Wire, 154. Show: The solo opener had some chops, but was cloying between songs. Laura's set quite good, w/ Mark Spencer/Jeremy Chatsky/Jimmy Ryan/Steve Goulding - chagrined to say it was overall better than most times I've been in the band! Guest spots by a ppl involved w/ "Not the Tremblin' Kind" - Jay Sherman-Godfrey and George Usher, writer of the title song, whom I've never laid eyes on. Chatted after w/ Jay and his daughter Lily about the 21 Pilots show he'd taken her too, got a ride home to Queens w/ them and Laura. Read a few p. of the scansion book. Lights out 12:30. No daybook.

10.20-22.16

10.20: Up 10:30. Weight 214.2. Went to a different coffee place than usual, cleaned up email until 1:30. Worked on "Goo Goo Eyes" until 5; going to move on. Rested at home, spent some time on organization, went out about 8, finished Hunt's Piece Logic (liked a prose poem on household appliances best), started Carolyn Kizer, Knock upon Silence, read 10 or so pages each of Keynes and Gates (on the "Talking Book" trope). Lights out midnight.

[Lost 10.22]

10.22 Up 8, but barely got going until 10. Read chapter on iambic pentameter in Charles O. Hartman, Verse: An Introduction. (I wasn't feeling Keynsian today). Listened to Sneaks, Gymnastics (a new Merge artist, drum machine/bass/fm vox, hits a Rough Trade button pretty dead center, haven't made out the lyrics). At Lincoln Ctr. library, wrote around 700 words on "Stairway to Paradise" and "Half of It, Dearie Blues." So-so. Glanced at some sources, but I'm not looking forward to digging into the Gerswhin literature. Hung around past usefulness, read Gates on train, home too late to visit gym (footshooting, tbh). Spent some time w/ Bree, returned a call from my dad, went out to E77 about 8:30. Daybook, Tu Fu translations in Kizer. Home, read a bit more Hartman. Lights out 1.

10.19.18

Up 9. Weight 214.2

At coffee, finished Brown, read a modest amount of Keynes and Gates, caught up on daybook by 11:30 or so. After which, mundane/domestic tasks; would have like to have get out again at 2:30-3, but too much intervened. Left around 5 for Park Slope. Listened to extra disc of Spike, read more Gates. Used up my credit an Unnameable books: Alison McCracken, Real Men Don't Sing; David Hadju's new Love For Sale; Emily Apter, Against World Literature (have wanted to read about competing translations of Madame Bovary for a while), facsimile of MoMa's Douglas Fairbanks book for Bree, a chapbook interview w/ Clark Coolidge, a couple of dollar poetry books. Passed up reprints of Sing Out! Walked to Congregation Beth Elohim for Lethem/Lerner reading/conversation. Genial; no chance to say hi to Ben. A couple of the audience ? were borderline nutso. Took a cab w/ Andrew Hultkrans and a former p.a. of JL's; long discussion of Luke Cage. Reconvened at Brazenhead Books, hung out for a couple hrs w/ the above, James Hannahan, Alix Lambert, and a few people I hadn't met. Picked up John Hammond's autobiography and O'Meally on Billie Holiday, both of which I'd passed up on a previous visit. Long walk + train from UES, listened to Lester Young and read most of a chapbook by Erica Hunt. Fun and all, not sure it was all worth getting in past 2.