translation is not a crime

I made chive biscuits and coffee for dinner, because I have nothing against breakfast food at night. The biscuits were made with mix, but the chives were fresh from the green market; the coffee was Ethiopian.

Now, after I get a pillow for my butt's comfort on this metal folding job that's serving as my computer chair, I'm going to get to work. Having been faced with the surprisingly difficult job of translating my own poems to Finnish, I'm now trying to prove I can do it in a timely and accurate fashion. My sense is that they would be better if someone else did them, but as there's not enough time for that, I'm trying really really hard to do justice to myself. Finnish is such a rich and grammatically complex language that a rendering of basic English syntax often comes out sounding, well, simple. So I'm trying to vary it. But my lack of a college-level Finnish university education prevents me from having these things readily on hand, so I often have to ponder them extra hard. Also, translation is just bloody difficult; don't let anyone tell you any bullpucky about it being easy, unless that person is a resurrected Constance Garnett or has managed to somehow inhabit themselves with her ghost, which would be spooky indeed.

bring in the worm food

Today I dropped off compostables for the first time at the Lower East Side Ecology Center (LESEC)'s Union Square drop-off point. The organics from our kitchen just got to be too much for my modest composting project, so I decided I can handle doing this since I go to Union Square on a regular basis anyway. It makes me feel very good to save kitchen bits and coffee grounds and know they're going to be made into nutritious food for plants instead of stewing forever in a garbage bag in some landfill. I love that there are New Yorkers taking care of this, waiting around all day at the green market, ready with factsheets to answer your questions and showing off a very nice sample vermicompost container.

Even if you're not into having a worm bin or Bokashi-ing in your own kitchen, I encourage anyone in New York to do this; it's quite easy. Just save vegetable and fruit peels, tea bags, coffee grounds and filters and the like in a Tupperware (in your fridge if you want to avoid ripening; outside the fridge if you want to keep a lid on it), and when it's full, put it in a bag and bring it to the nearest drop. And if you're outside of New York, do some research -- there're lots of community gardens out there, especially in big cities.

x-acto

Last night's reading was wonderful, though! I always enjoy hearing Alexis read, and Joy Ladin, whom I met for the first time, is doing (among other things) some fantastic stuff with "found" poetry from magazine text. Bridget Bell, the host, asked two super-talented musicians to break up the set between poets, and all in all it was a lovely woman-powered evening of poetry. (When I say "woman-powered" I mean it in the non-cheesy way.) Maybe my favorite strange comment was "your poetry is like unnecessary surgery, but great." And afterward, someone busted out a copy of Taiga, whereupon I promptly got to say "oh hey, I'm in that."

But after using my voice all night, I sound like a world-weary old biddy, and am now also sadly, sadly, hacking up wee little phlegm bunnies. This is horrible. I don't know what to do. I don't have a doctor I could call. I don't generally like to take antibiotics. But if someone knows of some solution otherwise, please let me know.

monster vs. goblin

I'm pretty sure they were doing construction on the condo next door all night long. I think Bushwick's newfound hipness is making life miserable for, uh, those people who moved out here back when we didn't have a Thai restaurant and a yoga studio and that guy with the bitchin' system parked his car outside in the street and blared vocoder-heavy music all day. I'm not trying to be imperious, but the place was way cooler when there wasn't obnoxious nightly construction.

Perhaps unrelated, I woke with a sore throat and a deep-seated throb in the head. I think it's gonna be a glorious day.

humdinger

Finally, after three weeks of agonized notebook-scribbling, I have my machine back. I cannot convey how happy this makes me. They let me keep the old motherboard, which, apparently, is one enormous piece of thing. It's huge, green, and looks vaguely like an aerial view of a city. Maybe I'll use it for a Halloween mask. "TH3 PH4NT0M 0F TH3 0PER4 2008".

Yesterday I went to Housing Works to see Patricia Smith and D. Nurkse read from their new books, Blood Dazzler and Border Kingdom, respectively. I am always surprised by what people choose to read from their collections; my very favorite poems never make it into the bunch. But really, a fantastic reading. Also, if you haven't read Patricia Smith's new book, read it now. It's centered around Hurricane Katrina, but nothing about it is exploitative or weepy (although it might make you weepy) -- it works as "poetry of witness" without managing to seem opportunistic. I can't say much, since I won't do it justice.

Here is the info about our reading next week. God, that photo is horrible. I look less like a serious artist and more like a drunken neighbor. Since at the moment of submission, I didn't have access to my hard drive to select a good photo or even take a new one, now, the whole world will know me through that goofy mugshot. Also darling is the way they're calling it a "Poetry Recital." I feel like I should show up in my best pearls n' pumps and clasp my hands together like a choirgirl the entire time I'm "reciting." That said, if you're in the NY area, come on the 23rd! It should be fun.

everywhere the kind of pains that remind us of being alive

I don't want to relinquish details yet, as things are still a bit up in the air, but I'm working on a very, very exciting translation project that has a good chance of turning into a full book translation. I'm also translating a sequence of the same poet's work for the winter issue of At-Large -- not "Teeth," but the following.

Speaking of "Teeth" (no, not of teeth, though I have been flossing regularly which is something you should know), we're mere weeks away from launching both the new issue and a new, snappy front page and logo. Rohin has been working like a maddog, and I've been trundling around bothering everybody like a proper associate editor, and the genre eds have been diligently sending out their e-mails. It looks to be our best issue yet (seriously! The collective caliber of submissions blows me away). I am sorry, dear enthusiast, that I can't reveal anything more profound, but hey, we all have to wait for our presents.

Finery 5

The new issue of Finery is up for sale at Birds of Lace. To quote Gina:

"Finery
Issue 5: Ritual & Rites of Passage
82 fistable, feminist pages (plus a cd for your auditory pleasures)
Limited edition of 100/hand-sewn covers

with words, sounds & art by
Erica Adams, Meliza Banales, Heather Bowlan, Juliet Cook, Brooklyn Copeland, Nicole Elizabeth, Janiva Ellis, Katherine Fallon, Liz Freeman, Kate Goldsworthy, Nicole Haroutunian, Sy Loady, Ashley Lunsford, Christina Vivan Nguyen, Niina Pollari, Nancy Reddy, Michelle Rodriguez, Megan Roth, Lindsey Ryan, Adina Schoem, and Jennifer Waller

Inside: pop stars/lesbians, branding, dancing teenagers, hands, metaphorical wombs &/or womb-ish metaphors, pedicures, psychedelic drawings, beauteous paintings & ever so much more!

Bonus Treat! With each copy of Finery 5 you’ll receive a dvd of “Baby Xalm Down Bye,” a short film by Lovewarz (Siobhan Aluvalot & Zara thustra). Bonus bonuses on the dvd include music videos made for Modern Lovers (Brontez from Gravy Train!!!!’s solo music), the Manhaterrr film and the making of Stop Men, a public art installation.
$12 (includes shipping)"

...Adina and Brooklyn have also made appearances in At-Large. The issue looks really good. I received mine last week and plowed through it in one sitting.