12.8.16

Up 9. Weight 214.3 - haven't been going in the right direction since Thanksgiving.

Started Andrew Levy, Nothing Is In Here (recent prose/poetry hybrid, not exactly a memoir, by a hard-to-place Language-generation writer) and Max Wilk, They're Playing Our Song (G.A.S.-era songwriter profiles, published in 1973 at the nadir of their critical reputation). Daybook. Still congested/tired/off my game. Listened to podcasts and napped until 2. Did some record filing and organization - stumbled on a large unmarked LP mailer and assembled most of the Des Moines order. Listened to The Wind, Guest of the Staphs (a Mitch Easter-produced '84 EP Matt bought for me in N.C.) Went out for coffee again at 5 and read a chapter from Emily Apter, Against World Literature, on translations of Madame Bovary; the next, on some general intellectual property issues around translation, looks good too. Bought a toothbrush. More organization, listened to Alex Bradford, Black Man's Lament (1972). The first cuts on each side - "Do It While You Can" and "That's What the Bible Says." The title track may or may not be related to "The Black Man's Lament, or How to Make Sugar," an English anti-slavery poem from 1826. Lights out before 10 (but a very hard time getting to sleep).

12.7.16

Up 7. Weight 214.2

Listened to Democracy Now, headed to Oracle about 8:30. Finished Pollack on train, coffee. Read a couple of art-in-the-age-of-Trump pieces. Wrote from 11-2:30; 750 words on songs from Lady, Be Good. Wrote to Electric Literature about reviewing Kenward Elmslie's Orchard Stories (the publishers at Song Cave made the introduction). 

Busby Berkeley double feature at Film Forum: Roman Scandals (1933, Frank Tuttle/BB), an Eddie Cantor vehicle w/ minor Warren/Dubin songs and 6-7 minutes of gratuitous blackface; and Strike Up the Band (1940), a Mickey/Judy vehicle w/ minor Roger Edens songs and 2 hrs. of gratuitous mother-and-flag L.B. Mayer Americanism. Jeff let me in on a pass, which was nice.

Thought about going home, but went on to hear Robert Glück and Luc Sante at the Poetry Project. (Finished the Keith Waldrop book on the way - much more 1st person lyric than I would have guessed, though the worldly-wise (weary?) tone is consistent w/ other work.) I wasn't vibing on Glück's autobiographical prose, theoretically informed or not; Luc read an odd but effective assortment of pieces, which one might or might not define as poetry, including something assembled from Wikipedia entries about self-proclaimed Messiahs, and a similarly structured compilation of one-sentence causes of death (the Feneon connection was evident). Was able to confirm that Ron Padgett got my article about Kenward. Also discussed the upcoming Latouche bio. Went for a drink w/ Luc, Mimi L., Annie N., Drew, and a friend of Mimi who turned out to live 2 blocks away from me, so we split a cab. Home, lights out about 12:30. 

November 2016 reading

Larry Starr, George Gershwin

Arlo Quint, Wires and Lights

Rodney Greenberg, George Gershwin

Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

Brent Milano, Don't All Thank Me At Once: The Lost Pop Genius of Scott Miller

John Ashbery, Commotion of the Birds

The George Gerswhin Reader, ed. Robert Wyatt, John Andrew Johnson

Susie Timmons, Superior Packets

Vic Hobson, Creating Jazz Counterpoint: New Orleans, Barbershop Harmony, and the Blues

12.6.16

Up 9. Weight 214.1

Coffee: read 50 p. Pollack, another 1/3 of Waldrop, finished Beatty; daybook. Quite indolent until 4:30 or so: napped, watched part of Adam Curtis' Hypernormalization, played through "I Wonder Where She Is Tonight?" from the Paul Dresser book. (Not much of a song.) Our internet has been very erratic all day, which isn't helping; nor is the increasingly chaotic state of the apartment. Went out 5-7, finished 1 paragraph and wrote another (transitional, on Lady, Be Good, before getting to the songs). Came home and filed 20 LPs, which is something. Read a few p. of Keynes. Lights out 10.

12.5.16

Up 7. Weight 214.

Morning/afternoon: rotated among home and coffee, reading, correspondence, and napping. Other than daybook, no attempt to write. Read 50 p. Pollack (genesis/initial production of Porgy & Bess, no great surprises compared to other bios), 75 p. Beatty, and about 1/3 of Keith Waldrop, Windfall Losses (1972, not sure where I picked this up). Wrote to a couple of the people involved w/ David's show last night, printed out the mechanical licenses for the WFH covers, got CDs together to submit to Wes Stace/Cabinet of Wonders. Met Brian Macpherson for dinner in my neighborhood at 6:30. Listened to most of Matana Roberts, Coin Coin Chapter Three: River Run Thee (vocal-over-treated/sculpted sounds - the extended AACM family never fails to surprise) on the way to meet some folks at Brazenhead. Good talk - mainly politics. Listened to 2 Steps + extra tracks on the train back home, as I have to get cracking on the liner notes. Home quite late, lights out past 2.