Premiere: H@!%

This is how it went down last night -


when the hippies got all stoned ...


and started the love-fest.


Peace Now - Freedom Now, we chanted, climbing the walls.




The Supremes paid a visit...


So did Popeye...


Jane Fonda...


John Lennon...


And Abraham Lincoln.



Mostly, we danced in front of the American Flag...




And four days after the Inauguration, that felt like just the right thing to do.


Afterwards, the premiere party. Bettina, Meri, and Esteban were there, our new dancers.


Ekaterine was in the house in true form - goofing off ...


and loving her man.


Mats got cornered by one of our fans...


Eva became surprised...


Jens listened intently...


But then the talking was over and everyone hit the dance floor. Three hours later, it was 2am and we all felt "happyness."

Sneak Preview

Hippies unite tonight. "Hair" premieres at the Staatstheater Kassel.

Can you find me in the photo?

Department of Corrections

Today / Tomorrow

Fred didn't win the cow

Drove out to Gudensberg yesterday where Fred ran a 9K cross country race.


Gudensberg's a dorf, a little village about 20 K outside of Kassel. Parts of it date back to the 11th century, like this church from 1025.


But this being Germany, the old is always mixed with the new when it comes to architecture. On the exterior walls of some of the modern houses, decorative painting is popular. "As beautiful as the roots on the wall is our Hessenland" was painted on the side of this one.


The dorf is surrounded by hills, one of which I climbed while waiting for the race to start.


At the top, panoramic views....




ruins of an old castle, and total quiet. Ahhh....


Back down on the course, Timm had placed second in the 4 K Kurzlauf race and Fred had just started his.


Timm, his girlfriend Julia and I tromped through the field, taking pictures of the runners and cheering them on. "Prima!" "Nicht aufgeben!" "Schneller!"


There were cows off to the side of the course, and we could hear them moo-ing occasionally. Timm joked that the winner of the race got to take one home.



From where we stood, I could see the hill I'd just climbed behind Fred as he ran.




The hills were brutal - up and down 3 times each loop, with 6 loops to finish the 9 K.


And then, quickly, it was all over. After slipping back halfway through with bad cramps, Fred picked it back up, fought back, and finished strong. But he didn't win. I think he was 10th.


Which saved us a lot of trouble having to strap that cow to the roof of Timm's parents' car.

4thcoming

After a little spell out of print, I have poems coming out in issues of four magazines in the next couple months. These are things you should have on your coffee table, by the pool, on the deck of your yacht... to let people know you care about the finer things in life.

The rundown, along with links to order:

Issue #8 of A Public Space has "The dead of winter" and hits bookstores sometime before the end of winter. I highly recommend this magazine on so many levels.

LUNGFULL! issue 17 will include "The line ending forever" along with an early typescript draft and an essay about how the poem came about.

"Practical applications" will appear in Spinning Jenny 11 this spring/summer.

Handsome from Black Ocean Press is publishing "Guided tours" in their second issue, due this spring.


BONUS ROUND - A fifth poem is on the way later this year:

It's not a recipe, but "Birdsong trumps dumptruck" will appear in the 20th issue of Forklift, Ohio - A journal of Poetry, Cooking & Light Industrial Safety when the little thermometer pops out of its thigh.


So BUY THEN!

Happier than the morning sun

Kassel currently looks like this.



But this morning, the sun rose right between the steeples of St. Martin's.



Lily baked a poppyseed bread and put tea on to steep.



Side 2. Some music decisions make themselves.



Even Bird got in on the action...



Hanging out with her good friend Package-of-Butter-Fred-Left-Out.

And then I checked my email and the real happiness found us...



440 days in Iraq. Done.

Department of Bad Ideas

Yesterday I got decided to re-paint the bathroom. Well, it didn't start that way. It started with the pantry in the kitchen, where Fred had seen some mold up high by the ceiling a few days ago. Armed with fresh 2009 energy, I set out to scrub down when Fred left for his run. An hour later, I had finished scrubbing the pantry down with bleach, had returned everything to its place, and moved on to the bathroom. There was a little mold up there by the window, what the hell. This time scrubbing wasn't enough. The paint wore thin and spotty from the bleach. The poor sad wall, I thought, he just wants to feel fresh and new.

By the time Fred got back I had painted. Sort of. More like it, i just threw a first coat on the wall without a thought about how to proceed. Part of the wall, that is. This is how it looks at the moment:



Now it's the last day of vacation, and I start work tomorrow full-force. More than full force. We've got the musical to premiere, a new piece to make with Johannes, and one last Selbstauslöser to dance this Saturday. What would happen to my bathroom walls? Fred mercifully stepped in to the rescue, promised to finish the job. On one condition: I was not to put the paint roller to those walls again.

Welcome to Berlin

The sun is shining on Berlin.


Berlin, city of contrasts,


where empty lots dot the city


and the bomb-scarred buildings stand next to newly renovated ones.


City of graffiti, in low...


and high places.


City of culture --





My Fair Lady at the Admiralspalast Theater, and


lunch with Zoe at the actors' cafeteria at the Gorky Theater.

City of cultures.

Turkish Market



And, since last summer, my sister's city.








I spent 3 great days with Madeline, enjoying Berlin....








meeting the one and only Roland...


who entertained me with a fashion show while Maddy was getting dressed.


And ringing in the new year.


Fireworks are the people's pleasure in Berlin. Everyone buys some, and shoots them off all night till they run out. Charlotte and Jürgen, the germans in the group, brought some along for us. We went out to the street at 12 and it was already exploding with fireworks, sparklers, cracks and pops and flashes. The air filled with thick smoke. It was wild and loud and, for us expats, wonderfully subversive. Check MOC tomorrow for a video.