Last Sunday, we drove my 90 year old father-in-law Ralph up to the 5,000′ pass at Pine Mountain in the Los Padres National Forest to see all the fresh snow, which fell unusually low for our area the previous day–snow actually dusted the streets of Ojai Valley as well as the San Fernando Valley.
Then on our way to Boccalli’s for dinner, we swung by Robert Peake’s place in Ojai and he and I exchanged our new poetry books.
Robert’s book is part of The Lost Horse Press New Poets series edited by Marvin Bell. Volume V “New Poets and Short Books” features three books by California poets: Robert Peake’s “Human Shade,” “What’s Truly Feral” by Valentine Freeman, and “On the Murder of Juan de la Cruz” by Jensea Storie.
The book is beautifully produced and Robert also offers a CD of him reading his poems. I’ll be reviewing the book more completely soon once I’ve had a chance to read all of it–not just Robert’s part which I read immediately and found to be exceptional!
You can order Robert’s book directly from him and he’ll send you a free copy of the CD also but you’ll have to wait a week or so–he’s out of books right now!
Robert’s review means a lot to me because I admire his writing so much and enjoy reading his blog. I also asked him to review my book because it talks about love and loss, something that he knows something about and has written about eloquently, including in his own book.
I especially love how he says this about my book:
Robert also quotes from several poems so for tomorrow’s Monday Poetry Train, I will post the whole of the one from August 2, 2005.
At en theos press, you can order copies of the signed and numbered chapbook (in an edition of 108) that I made of my book for the Women’s Conference. Or you can wait until March 15 and get a regular paperback edition which I’d be happy to sign for you! I’m also feeling inspired to do a cd of some of the poems, perhaps one from every year that I plan to read at my feature on Tuesday March 15 at the Artists Union Gallery, 330 S. California St, Ventura.
You’ll also find me and my new poetry collection at a St Patrick’s Day party in the El Jardin Courtyard on Main in downtown Ventura on Thursday March 17, I’ll be at the Ojai Book Fair Saturday March 19, and I’ll be reading and signing at WordFest’s Well Red event in Ojai Friday March 25. On Tuesday March 29, I’ll be reading in the 7 minute open mic at the Cobalt in the San Fernando Valley where the Accidental Novelist, Danika Dinsmore, the woman who got the experiment going back in 1993, is featuring startting at 9pm.
See you soon–on the stage or on the page!
The Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow: Leprechaun & Tweed Rides March 4 & 12 (via Bikergo Gal)
Calling all ye lively lads & lasses, lovely ladies & jolly gents! Join us for a jaunt on our two wheeled steeds down Main Street today March 4 and on March 12 as part of the St Pat’s Parade! Leprechauns, fairies & children are welcome; ride at your own risk, however. No jeans, lycra & modern garb, please.
ArtRide meets at 5:30; we ride at 6pm. It’s dark! Remember lights!
Parade starts at 10am; we’re supposed to show up at 8am but as long as people start trickling in between 9 and 930am, we’ll will be fine. We’d love to see lots of kids! Unlike the ArtRides where kids under 8 need to be on a trailer bike or a burley etc, kids under 8 can ride on their own bicycles for this daytime ride.
Our line up area is on Santa Clara St between Ventura Ave and Junipero St. (that’s one block east of Ventura Ave.) Get there as soon as you can: we’re in line up area “C” and our line place is # 70. Parade entry fee of $25 donated by Daniel Boggs. Thank you!
Follow our escapades! Subscribe to http://bikergogal.wordpress.com/ Friend us on facebook!
via Bikergo Gal
What’s Happening This Weekend? Lots!
Back in January, I knew that there would be some tough decisions about what to do the first weekend in March.
Leprechauns & Tweed ArtRide Friday March 4?
Bell Arts Women’s March Show opening (Borbala Arvai’s Cave-woman pictured) Friday March 4?
LA’s Natural History Museum FF Friday March 4?
Ventura’s Fashion Week Fairy Tales like Rapunzel pictured Friday & Saturday March 4 & 5?
LA’s Edwardian Ball Sat March 5?
Ojai Mardi Gras Sat March 5?
So what’s a gal to do–even with a fun bike, a fast car, and a press pass? Read on to find links and to learn more about these events:
Read about Leprechauns & Tweed ArtRide March 4 here.
Read about our last ArtRide, Pink Panther Rides Again, and see photos by Lis Schwitters, here. Read more…
On Thursday, March 24, the Art Predator and the Accidental Novelist will be leading writing workshops on a whale watching cruise on the Santa Barbara Channel and at Old Creek Ranch Winery followed by a “Living Room” style open mic. Participants can also join winemaker dinners planned for Wednesday night in Ventura and Thursday night in Ojai.
Here’s the link to register for “Message in a Bottle: Ocean to Ojai–Whales, Wines, Words Writing Workshop.” Learn more in the following post.
via The Write Alley
Poetry: The Raven Fledgling
The Fledgling
The ravens are fledging.
That’s what’s up.
They are so noisy today
and perched in odd places
like the deep blue sill of my open window
inches away from my face.
He teeters there, his tail feathers not long enough
to offer much balance.
He eyes me and I admire
his sleek short obsidian feathers.
I know he is raven:
he is larger, sharper than a blackbird.
I know he is young: the red of his quiet mouth
his smooth shiny inky feathers
his sudden lengthy visit to my living room
his curious patient intelligent look.
They learn fast, these birds, they have to
to survive. He gains his balance
sizes up the fence 10 feet away.
Before I change my mind, to bring him in
he is off: lands on the fence, peers back at me.
He’s not quite sure what to do with his feet,
his beak even, but his wings, he knows
his wings are for testing, for flying.
Off again low, awkward,
he makes it to the neighbor’s roof.
I hear and find another, a parent perhaps,
high in the eucalyptus. The young one
is gone. I am left with the yearning,
the yearning to tame this raven, this familiar.
My own young returns to me, to my lap.
He draws while I write.
Better to invest in him than
the demands of a raven.
I bend down my head,
my cheek on his red curls.
I smell his warm smell
listen to his happy hum
feed him more paper
and a pen.
Submission to the City of Ventura’s ArtTales contest. Submissions close on Tuesday March 1, 2011. Painting by Duane Simshauser. Go to Red Rex to read my son’s submission. For more poetry, catch the Monday Poetry Train.
For more of my poetry, please come to my book launch! I will be reading March 15 at the Artists Union Gallery, at the Ojai WordFest Book Fair March 19, and at Ojai WordFest Well Red event March 25. You can buy a book from me or order one from en theos press.
Ventura’s “ArtTales” Contest Closes 3/1
Here are the images chosen to inspire writers of all ages to create stories and poems to submit to the City Of Ventura’s “ArtTales” contest which closes Tuesday March 1, 2011. There is no charge to enter but you must be a Ventura County resident. Click here for Art Tales Guidelines (PDF)
Many stories come
to mind about these pieces: I grew up with art by Duane Simshauser in our house and I am always drawn to his large scale paintings of ravens when I see them on exhibit around town or at the County Fair. I have written several poems that feature ravens.
1. Raven Reflecting by Duane Simshauser [acrylic on canvas]
To Simshauser, “Birds offer interesting shapes, patterns and attitudes. Crows and ravens are also featured in literature and legends. They have demonstrated intelligence as well as adaptability.”
Connie Jenkins and I teach at Ventura College; I highly respect her as a teacher, a colleague and a union activist. I also love her work; my own writing reflects my deep connection to earth, rock, land. I love the blue i
n this painting and feel like I could gaze forever into this paintings blue waters.
2. October: Waiting for El Niño by Connie Jenkins [oil on canvas]
The artist hikes to the source of streams near her canyon home to document the change of seasons in a political testament to the depleted wilderness. Her oils on canvas, with photo-realistic precision, emphasize a profound connection with the cycles of the natural world and the beauty of the California landscape. The land itself is formed by uplifted rock, and subsequently worn down by water in an endless cycle of birth and death.
Two Trees is one of my favorite places around; I have several poems that mention Two Trees. I have also always admired Bob Engel’s work.
3. From Two Trees by Robert Engel [oil no canvas]
The artist, inspired by nature, paints landscapes en plein air (outdoors in the open air) as well as from memory in the studio, saying, “My drawings are a visual meditation on the mystery and wonder of existence.” Two Trees is a living Ventura landmark seen from all over the city.
This artist is new to me and I don’t recall seeing this piece on display in City Hall. I look forward to finding this piece and seeing it in person next time I’d at City Hall.
4. The Four Seasons painted chest by Jack Farquhar Halbert
The wooden chest, created for a Ventura Music Festival contest, evokes not only the changing seasons on its many panels, but also, with its banded swirls of color, the music staff, notes and movement of music. “After careful cogitating on the chest, I see four sides, and a top,” said the artist “Four tops? Four Seasons? Four of a kind? I went with the second singing sensation from the 60’s. When I started drawing it, the swirling sky top just happened!”
Another piece that I’m not familiar with ut that engages my imagination:
5. Caribbean Sun & Giant Green Anemone by Gerri Johnson-McMillin [fishbone, monofilament, glass beads]. The artist, inspired by the ocean, practices fiber art, primarily knotted fiber sculptures and fishbone vessels she calls “jewels of the sea.” She says, “In working with bones I feel I am weaving life back into the fish, e
xperiencing their migratory path throughout the world, only to have me send them on another journey as another form.”
This piece is very memorable. You cannot pass it in City Hall without stopping and looking at its intriguing self.
6. End of the Rainbow by Hanna Lore Hombordy [clay, underglaze and glaze, fired with nails]
For the artist, “imagination is the catalyst” in her internal process of considering her materials, methods and elements of design that show keen interest in architecture and expertise in clay.
Now I need to decide whether I am going to finish up something new inspired by one of these pieces or something I’m previously written. What will you submit?
February First Friday Pink Panther Rides Again Route, Reviews & Photos
First Fridays finds us on the prowl on our bikes searching for art, music, and mayhem! (ahem!)
For First Friday February, our theme was “The Pink Panther Rides Again!” and several of us seriously themed up the pink! I cut down a pink boa and pinned the pieces onto black cat ears to make them pink and black, then I wound the rest of the pink boa around a black wired cat tail which I pinned onto my hot pink Betsey Johnson wool skirt. The small boy was adorable too–we put pink ears on his bike helmet and pinned a pink boa tail onto his red Levis…
This was my first adventure with a feather boa and now I understand why they are forbidden on the playa: cutting it into ears and tails sent pink feathers flying everywhere! I taped up the ends but the feathers do not stay put. So while feathers are fun, do NOT take your feather boa to Burning Man!
via Bikergo Gal
PS I Love You “Dark & Delicious”
As a wine blogger, I’m more likely to attend industry wine events than consumer ones, but last weekend I really enjoyed Ventura’s Valentine n’Wine event and I’m excited about heading north to San Francisco for “Dark & Delicious” which is organized by the Petit Sirah advocacy group, PS I Love You.
If you want to know more about Petit Sirah and tonight’s event, read on! But if you’d like to attend, you’ll have to wait until next year: it’s completely sold out. (PS I’ll post a full report!)
via Wine Predator
See the Jade Buddha in Ventura, Join a Drum Circle, Light a Candle for World Peace
On Saturday February 12, the Jade Buddha visiting Ventura at the An Lac Buddhist Mission on Saticoy Avenue was unveiled.Monks and nuns came from around the world to Ventura to pray and chant, and representatives from many religions led prayers for peace and dancers, singers, and musicians from different cultures performed.
Following the Drum Circle, at 7pm, there will be a candle lighting ceremony for world peace. Before the drum circle, at 5:30PM is Tai Chi with Patrick Hackney. Tomorrow from 8:15-9:30 is yoga in the santuary with the fabulous Sally McNally.
All are Welcome to the An Lac Mission, 901 S.Saticoy Ave. Ventura,CA 93004.
Wine Blogging Wednesday #70: ESPANA! Sherry, Garnacha, Cava!
You may have noticed by now that The Art Predator is also a Wine Predator who participates in the monthly event, Wine Blogging Wednesdays!
The February 2011 installment features Spanish wines–and in my case, I talk a little about sherry, garnacha and even a cava! Today is also International Syrah Day; unfortunately I was so busy with other wine blog posts and perparing then speaking at the Ventura Parks and Recreation Commission about the Master Bike Plan, that I didn’t get a chance to play…
via Wine Predator
art predator 