i am in some serious pain right now. the gout has been ripping me
apart this weekend. it started up right before the normal gig but i
had it under control. in fact, leaving normal my ankle (where the
gout decided to visit this time around) was almost 100% and then i
don’t know what the F happened on saturday night but whatever it was-
it sent my ankle straight to hell. it was co bad that it took me 10
minutes to walk from Ave D and 3rd St to get to the Nuyo for Algarin’s
BDay Bash (which was cool but i always get pissed when 3/4 of the room
has NO idea who Algarin is but then thats not my prob… right?)

sunday was spent all day in bed letting the ankle recoup which led to
the KNEES getting hit since i wasn’t walking around and then they both
started feeling better last night when i went to Ada Limon & Jen
Knox’s reading out in willie.burgh, bk. good times in a very
different vibe with mah knees getting better and better (oh yeah- the
ankle also started acting back up)

now, this morning, mah right knee flares up and as the day progresses,
both knees are acting like step.children and the heat element kicks
in…. thats when the gout actually starts producing higher
temperatures in my joints. oh well, i’ll survive (i always do) and
somehow, someway will hobble around tonight for acentos.

fair warning to all: if ya see me pimp limpin’, do NOT make jokes. it
hurts like hell and for some unknown reason there is always one person
that believes it is awesome to make fun of pain. i don’t understand
why but there always is. at that point i either walk away or really
start tearing into the person, usually i walk away. i aint askin that
you pamper me, just let me pass through. ok, that was refreshingly
honest.

latahz, y’all…

a lil mix of the old and the not so old… i am not sure how many answers can be found through these archives… someone already tried though and did a search on “oscar bermeo brother sister”… coincidence? i think not!… anywhos, go for it and don’t worry about the scores as someone i recently met scored real well and someone that i have told a ton of mah secrets to in full confidence almost got the donut

geminipoet.friendtest.com

and as a bonus for reading today’s post- “the forgotten” is a smart movie that three-quarters of the way through forgets its own premise… nice FX though… if you want to experience the true power of your local theaters THX system- go spend the loot… otherwise, wait for DVD… love ya like ya sprinkled fresh parmesan on the popcorn

It is standard operating procedure for me to get abso.f’ing.lutely NO sleep before a flight. The only difference in tonight’s ritual is that at least I don’t have any packing to do.

The crew goes on a college gig to Normal, IL mañana and I am very somewhere in the middle about it all. One would think that I would be a little excited over this but I’m not in much the same ways that I am not totally flat about it either. Pretty much, I hate disappointment (I know- like if anybody really LOVES it) and the only defense I have against it is ambivalence, which I wear like a Crusader’s shield. The positives are that I can do what they need from me (a 15 minute set to recognize Latino Heritage month which starts in the middle of September?!?! What up wit dat, yo?) pretty easily and it is just a matter of tapping the ol’ energy reserves to make it happen. The negatives are that the shield becomes the armor and when the moment hits I can’t separate it from my skin and what began as a defense mechanism morphs into actual instinct.

They also are asking for a radio show appearance (I hope I don’t do the patented “Let’s all try to sound like Louis Reyes Rivera” that we busted out last year… It’s like a myth on our tongues… I am not ashamed to admit this… On the battlefield…) which I have NO idea what we are supposed to be talkin’ about which puts me in my all time favorite position- behind the 8 ball. A Q&A will also be involved regarding the film “Piñero,” a movie that I am so in the middle about. Great part- Benjamin Bratt nails Mikey down even though he is about 8 inches too tall for the role but he makes the script come to f’in life. Sadly, the script doesn’t match up to Bratt’s star power. It minimizes the role of women in the early Nuyo movement and reduces Mikey’s charitable community contributions to a simple “gangstah” like throw of a wad of cash to a bodgea owner.

The best part is that they screen the film the next day so I am in that great position to poison all their minds against it which is just some pure hate sheet and I have been trying to be a good boy lately— emphasis on try.

Alrighty then, it’s almost 2 am in the place where at least one name matters (I expect three of y’all to get that joke) and I am no where closer to sleep then I was before.

(Some time passes)

Ok. I just killed a half an hour putting together a lil quiz for some of y’all. I’ll let the other three or four of ya in it later to see what the initial scores look like.

Off to find another way to stay up.

Love ya like if we were in cruising altitude together…

last night, for the first time in a long time, i actually performed a

poem at bar13. mind you, it is not like i have totally shunned

reading on mondays but with the sabbatical i took over the summer and

my (incorrect?) assumption that my voice (as a feature and as a host)

is heard often enough, it seems that i have not read there as often as i should.

i did ‘Sorta Rican’ and rocked it in a way that does the poem justice. less body, more voice and hands and enough faith in the next line to find the pauses. i have been able to consistently nail the funny and ironically sad lines in the poem but finding the anger that comes from a few of the lines and serves to rocket me into the core stanzas has been a challenge. it will continue to be a challenge as i do not anger well in public (in private is a different matter). some folks that know me from parties and hosting and being a jackass on mondays gave me some refreshing words and commentary afterwards. ima have to make it a point to hit 13 with some more work that needs to be tested on the stage. not too sure if the same applies for acentos but we shall see.

(btw: if you were there last night, did ya notice how hard mah right

foot was shakin’? the nerves, they NEVER go away!)

it seems that the muse is smiling on a bunch of us lately (visit Matt

& Eliel’s blogs to read some great new work & listen for Nina’s new

hotness)

love ya like if i found the crux of the poem in mah natural voice