Print is dead. But we're not!

It's one week away, so time to remind you again. As I believe someone we'll only refer to as "Rohin G." once quipped, "In an era marked by famine, sobriety, and tankinis, come join your friends from At-Large Magazine as we round up the poets and prose writers that have made our first six issues such smashing successes."

ALSO, SINCE THE TIME I MADE THIS TREACHEROUS FLIER, there has been an addition: the band La Marcha will join teen sensation Brett Saxon on the roster of fly-ass musical guests.

To get there, simply take the J train to Marcy Av or L train to Bedford Av + short walk. Here is a googlemap to help you navigably there. If this assaulted your eyes, go to At-LargeMagazine.com to view a more tasteful picture and recuperate.

AT-LARGE READSTRAVAGANZA

The gumshoes at At-Large Magazine have once again relied on their preternatural hunches to track down a cadre of their Pynchonesquely elusive contributors to read on Saturday, September 5th from 7-9PM.

The reading will take place at Williamsburg's DIY mecca-of-mischief Time's Up, located at 99 South Sixth Street (between Bedford and Berry). List of readers includes LOTS of notable past contributors (the COMPLETE listing will be revealed here POSTHASTE), as well as a musical guest. Perhaps important to note are these two facts: 1. the location also boasts a cash bar, and 2. loitering / hanging out after the reading is encouraged and welcomed.

So let's "negosh," and after that you can clear your "sched" and scribble the "deets" into your notepad or punch them into your personal device, and we can see you "Sat, Sept Fifth". And keep checking back for the complete list as the date draws nearer...

the lumberyard & other news

I just got word of this awesome opportunity from the Lumberyard, which if you're not familiar is a small letterpress magazine that combines poetry with graphic design. It's really beautifully made. They're doing a contest (Thanks S. for the heads-up):

The recipient of The Lumberyard Roark Prize will have a special spring 2010 issue entirely dedicated to her/his poems. The Roark Prize issue will be designed and letterpressed by Firecracker Press, in the same style you've come to expect from us (if you are not familiar with The Lumberyard and the poems we publish, we highly recommend you read the magazine before submitting), and the winner will receive $50 in prize money and ten complimentary copies of the magazine. Winner will be notified no later than Feb. 1, 2010, and results will be emailed to all entrants and available at that time on our website.

Entrants send 15-20 pages by November 15th, and might have a chance at an issue of the Lumberyard dedicated solely to their work. How freaking awesome is that? I highly recommend you check out the magazine, too -- it's one of those products that's just a pleasure to look through and to hold. As the editors say on the site, "Art is one of man's finest means of expression and communication. It defies all borders; it follows no mandates; it simply exists because we do. And life's a bitch--we need art to survive."

Also, I want to share that I'm going to scenic Buffalo with Autumn in October for an iteration of her IN SITU piece, which we'd been performing different versions of throughout the winter and spring. I will post up the more definite times as soon as I know them. Also ALSO in the works: an At-Large reading. Again, not to spill the beanses too early or whatnot, but I'm really, really excited and it's gonna rule.

my vacation, by niina, age 25

In case you were wondering about the tumbleweeds, I was on vacation last week. Things I did on vacation:

• Rode the Tri-Rail to Miami to visit my gorgeous and efficient bestie in her beautiful, clean, good-smelling apartment where we cooked an unbelievable 10th-friend-anniversary meal.
  
• Participated in a drunken spelling bee with said bestie. We came in honorably second and third after six rounds or so. I have no idea what I misspelled by the end, the objective of the game being essentially smarter = drunker. We lost to someone who bought her way into the game three rounds in. Dastardly!
• Made meatless loaf with my four-year-old sister Maija. She loves the part where we crumble the tofu and slowly mix the ingredients in by hand. "I can do that with you?" she says when she sees me gathering the ingredients.
• Attended Minna's graduation. Even though we had nosebleed seats way up in the rafters of the conference center, I recognized Minna by the way she held her head and neck and called her out from the crowd within fifteen minutes.
• Found a mystery bug in the pool at the hotel in Tallahassee. Maija and I followed it for a good 45 minutes. It noted us following and dove very deep several times, but to no avail. I splashed it out of the pool and Maija put it on a leaf and showed it to a pink-haired lady, who then kindly identified it as a skimmer.
  
• Ate lots of good food. Mom food cannot be beat.
• Karaoke'd "La Bamba".
• Wore both of my gold dresses. Not at the same time.
• Visited a friend and her new baby.
• Bought a loaf of Finnish sourdough rye.
  

There were other things too, but I'm thinking of the highlights. Yep, I'm pretty sure it was an OK holiday.