The Arrels Foundation (Barcelona)

Marta Olaria and Juan Lemus of the Arrels Foundation were kind enough to meet with me and give me a tour of the facility. They’re doing an incredible job of helping the 3,000 or so homeless people of Barcelona! Please surf their site (English version) when you have time.

Another poem

“Almost all good poems are perilously close to being bad country songs.” OK, Dr. Revell. I’ll take that as a compliment.
Long Haul
It’s as if I’m standing still
and everything else is moving.
The signs:
Mercury, Beatty, Tonopah.
What are the Joshua trees
running from?
The road reflectors wink.
When hauling these loads
I’m headed in one of two directions—
closer to you or farther away.

Lost Vegas

If you want to learn more about the tunnels and the people who live in them, skip “CSI” and “Criminal Minds” and watch this short documentary. It’s extremely moving, I think, and features two of the nicest and most interesting people I’ve met in the drains (Mike and Ned).

Panel discussion and book signing

I’m participating in a panel discussion related to Vegas and writing on Saturday, March 8, at the Paseo Verde Library. The discussion will take place from roughly 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. and then I’ll sign copies of my books (sold at a discounted rate). Please drop by and support local authors! Here’s the news release about the event: 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                           Contact: Tiffannie Bond/Melissa Biernacinski

COPY FOR PROOF                                               Imagine Communications

                                                                                     702-837-8996
Henderson Libraries to launch Local Author Showcase
More than 40 local authors to attend launch party, publishing workshop March 8
HENDERSON, Nev.  – Henderson Libraries will host the Local Author Showcase Launch Party from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 8, at the Paseo Verde Library, 280 S. Green Valley Parkway, near the 215 Beltway. The Local Author Showcase will include a book publishing workshop, an author meet-and-greet, a discussion panel, and the unveiling of the new Local Author Collection.


More than 40 authors will be present at the March 8 event for a meet-and-greet as well as a local author panel at 12:30 p.m., hosted by Brian Rouff, author of “Dice Angel” and managing partner of Imagine Communications. The panel will include local authors Matt O’Brien, Deborah Coonts, David Schwartz and Gerard de Marigny.

At 2:30 p.m. budding authors can also attend “How Do I Publish My Book?,” a workshop led by Roger DeBlanck and Jonathan Sturak, who will discuss the changing face of modern publishing. Additionally, they will provide strategies for marketing books and establishing an online presence.

In celebration of the new Local Author Collection, refreshments provided by Whole Foods will be served at noon.
“Ultimately, the entire program is meant to inspire, encourage and empower the audience with tools and information needed to successfully publish a book,” said Gayle Hornaday, interim executive director of Henderson Libraries.
Established in 1943 as a single library in Downtown Henderson, Henderson Libraries operates four locations throughout Henderson. Henderson Libraries cooperates with other public libraries in Southern Nevada, the Nevada System of Higher Education, the Clark County School District and all other libraries around the state to provide quality service for Nevada’s residents.
For additional information on Henderson Libraries, visit www.mypubliclibrary.com or call 702-492-6581.

First poem in 15 years

This is the first poem I’ve written in more than 15 years. I wrote it for a poetry workshop I’m taking at UNLV, as a graduate assistant in the MFA creative writing program. (My concentration is fiction, but we have to take some poetry classes, too.) The theme of the workshop is the “immediately accessible sublime” or, as I simply interpret it, that which is near and dear.
This is the second draft. The teacher Donald Revell and my remarkably talented classmates provided plenty of feedback, a lot of which I incorporated into the poem.
Breaking and Entering
Standing on the sidewalk
Screaming
Half English, half Farsi
Her refuge
Shattered
Interior lights on
Porch light off
The door splintered and ajar
Faceplate and screws
Sprawled across the floor
The scene is secured
Doors and drawers dusted
She enters
Past a palm print black on white
In the squad car
The officer asks questions
Despondent she responds
He pecks an antiquated computer
While reading aloud
“The victim stated that the jewelry
Was given to her
By her grandmother in Iran”
They leave us alone
Noticing a painting
She no longer likes
She observes
They never take what you want them to
With ink-stained hands
We push the suddenly mobile
Media center
Against the door
Drag the mattress into the living room
Everyone’s a suspect
The neighbor, the FedEx guy, the security guard
Finally a kiss good night
Then with all the lights on
We lie down and act like we’re asleep

On the death of an old friend

As some of you know, my first (and only) fulltime journalism job was with Las Vegas CityLife. After freelancing for the well-rounded alt-weekly for two years, I was hired as a staff writer in early 2000.  I spent eight years at the paper, including three as managing editor, and it proved to be an amazing and defining experience.
Sadly, CityLife  recently stopped publishing. I don’t have the time or inclination to perform a proper autopsy (I’m teaching, taking graduate courses, freelancing, etc., and, over the past several years, I lost touch with the paper), but several other people have weighed in on its demise. Here are four pieces on the subject, three of which include my thoughts or info about my time there. If you only read one of them, I highly recommend the last link (a meditative, metaphoric column by Chip Mosher that doesn’t directly mention the paper’s passing).