Family Jests, Bathroom Poetics, & the Upcoming Gigs Word from: Jake

Happy Thanksgiving to the whole extended Mima'amakim family! History books commemorate the momentous occasion when our ancestors, having arrived to the new blessed land of America, sat down to a feast, which consisted of stale kasha knishes and fried onions. We, n-generation bourgeois, may have displaced the menu & the ancestry, but the spirit of the piligrimous neurosis, good appetite, and everybody-talking-at-the-same hopefully has not changed much since the Lower East side days. I'm obviously generalizing and jesting, but only in lieu of the excuse for the following anecdote, which I would have loved to tell to many of you in person - I really miss so many you! Damn the distances and terms papers.

So, CompLit and Creative Writing departments at NYU are right next to each other. A few weeks back, I walked into the floor's restroom, and who do I see? Philip Levine! (He's nothing short of a patriachal figure in the post-Beatnik modern American poetry; Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, etc.etc.) I couldn't help exlaiming: "Oh my god, this is Philip Levine!" He turns around and says, "Yes, Philip Levine takes shits." The other day I saw him again, and all I could think about was "Philip Levine takes ..."

Speaking of New York literati, if you'd like to go see On Being (and Not Being) a Jewish-American Writer at 92nd Street Y on Dec 6th, the discount code to get in half-price is BR1. Next week on Nov 30th, my favorite Pharaohs Daughter is playing at Mo Pitkin's, a promising new joint on Ave A. Lastly, Vanessa "Hebrew Mamita" Hidary, who's appeared at our Telos vs. Tahlis, came out with a CD, and made film appearances; she's celebrating on Dec 3rd and Dec 9th.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!