Gluten is another word for fearful dining. I’ve read some people go to restaurants with cards explaining everything and hand these to waitstaff. My way relies on a canned answer to what’s it gonna be? “I cannot eat anything that has flour or wheat. Can you please alert me if I order anything with flour or wheat?”
People with gluten allergy get sick when they consume wheat, barley, rye, and US-grown oats. Rice, corn, and potatoes are fine food for most people with the gluten bug. Certain gente who eat food contaminated with wheat, their bodies start itching incredibly, maybe they throw up and get horrid stomachs. One time a restaurant served me champurrado—that’s supposed to be safe--and my throat swelled up just enough to distract my attention from the maddening itch.
Everything a chicano cooks is chicano food. When I make a baloney sandwich, for example, I slather Best Foods mayonnaise on a leaf of lettuce, lay down two slices of Oscar Mayer and a sliced tomato, slather Morehouse mustard on a second leaf of lettuce, and that’s a Gluten-free chicano baloney sandwich.
La Bloga won’t practice culinary nationalism. Note, however, among the many beauties of chicanexican cooking is its naturally gluten-free ingredients. The Gluten-Free Chicano cooks traditional preparations as well as gluten-free adaptations of fare such as chiles rellenos, soufflé, pankekis.
Los Doppelgängers Fun, Frolic, Convergence
Michael Sedano
Richard Montoya and Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Los Doppelgängers. What a bill for an evening's entertainment. Two geniuses, one certified one not. Ni modo, it is a dream bill.
A Mexicano and a Chicano, the two performers don't look alike; each is a spitting image of himself. Ricardo is not William nor is Guillermo Richard, so they're not tocayos. The one adheres to unscripted spontaneity the other a playwright, by nature dedicated to structure and plot. So what is the doppel part of this gang, and what are the two of them doing sharing the same stage at UCLA's Fowler Museum?
Richard Montoya, Guillermo Gómez-Peña
To believe the program, the collaboration offers "mana a mana" performance around border issues. The pair will perform reworked excerpts from older work. The promised result both a ‘profane’ border ritual and a ‘living archive’ that explores the rampant violence taking place in Mexico and the concurrent anti-immigration hysteria in the United States.
Guillermo Gómez-Peña, for one, explains some of the above, offering his willingness to see what would happen. Take it Montoya. Richard Montoya puts down his chain saw to flash the pages of a script for the evening then admits he has little idea what will actually take place in this space. Montoya apologizes for the placement of the massive stone fountain smack aplastada in the center of the room. It’s on loan to be returned to the Getty Villa tomorrow. He lied; I learned the fountain is permanently installed there.
The performance consumes the four corners of the enclosed courtyard. Gómez-Peña diagonal from Montoya. Musicos--Chicano Son--play kitty-corner from a dazzling spotlight. The ornate fountain holding center stage requires the audience--limited by the Fowler to an elect handful—to bunch up around the periphery or, until the last act, fountain perch and swivel to the active corner then pivot 180 degrees to watch the counterpart act.
Alternating time in the pink light, the actors let flow streams focused on language, communication, identity, politics. Gómez-Peña elects to go a la brava, extemporizing when he holds the stage. Montoya orates and spiels, reads his father’s gem, El Louie, accompanied by bluesy horn, also reads from Ricardo Flores-Magon’s “Tierra y Libertad."
The doppels work simultaneously in the evening's final segment. Montoya narrate
My new proposal is finally done and handed over to my super agent, so to celebrate, I allowed myself a giant weekend of reading for pleasure.
After having it gaze longingly at me from the to-be-read pile,
The Sweet Far Thing finally made it into my hands.
For me, if I'm going to read an 800+ page book, I need solid blocks of reading time. That's why, this book, which I purchased in hardcover when it first came out (a long while ago!) has been languishing. Also, it's the third book of a trilogy, so it's hard for me to let the series go. Maybe that accounts for the delay, too...
As I hoped, it was an awesome read and a great wrap up to Libba Bray's Gemma Doyle series. I highly recommend it.
So, I'm curious --
How many of you will wait to start a bigger book like I did? Do you save books for a big reading weekend, or do you nibble away over weeks and weeks? What is next in your stack for a pleasure reading weekend?
Hugs,
Heather
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
Wherever You Go - Harcourt November 2011
The Clearing - HMH
Never Cry Werewolf - HarperTeen
This doesn't fall into the category of Very Exciting Reading or even anything teen or YA-related, but the book I'm reading now is called The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play.
 |
| The book I'm reading. |
Basically, I was looking for a book to help me manage my time better (aka not waste so much of it) and be more productive. I already have Getting Things Done, which is great for helping me organize the stuff I have to do, but not so great at helping motivate me to actually do the stuff.
I'm only a couple of chapters in, and already it's helped me figure out
why I procrastinate. (FYI, it has to do with perfectionism and temporary stress relief.) Now I just need to read the part that helps me learn how to actually
stop procrastinating.
As a side note, I downloaded the free sample of this book on my Nook and it gave me just enough pages to know that I wanted to read the whole thing (not always true for Nook samples, btw). I'm generally gun-shy of self-help-type books, so the sample chapters were definitely helpful.
What about you? Have you got any time-management, procrastination-abatement, task-motivation techniques to share? I promise I'll pay you back by writing even more books sooner!
Hugs,
TLC
teralynnchilds.com@teralynnchilds
Ugh! Sick. It’s nearly the weekend and I’m not quite done with a nosey little cold that showed up Monday afternoon. I hate being sick. I hate missing work. I hate being out of my daily routine. I hate the endless soup and crackers and tea with lemon. I haven’t had coffee in three days! Help!
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I’m planning to be better by tomorrow night. I’ve got tickets to see Galactic, this awesome band from New Orleans that blends hip-hop, jazz, rock, and funk. I’ve also got a short trip out of town planned for Saturday and Sunday. Does the cold not get that?
The only good thing to come from this cold is that I took a day off to sleep and I was able to work on my TBR pile. That was a treat. I have so many good books in my queue.
Ok, guys – seriously - what is your favorite way to get rid of a cold? I’d love to hear your best suggestions for knocking the stuffing out of a nasty bug. I've done the tea, Emergen-C and all that stuff -- what works for you?
Hugs from a distance,
Heather, the Sniffly…
www.heatherdavisbooks.com
The Clearing – April 2010 HMH
Never Cry Werewolf – Sept 2009 HarperTeen
Schools around the country will be celebrating National Young Readers Week from November 9th to the 13th. Parents, grandparents and homeschoolers can do the same. Have reading contests. Encourage your children to read aloud to the family. Make lists of your favorite books. Be creative.SIX REASONS TO READ WITH YOUR CHILDREN1. Good readers will do better in other subjects, too.2. Reading aloud to each other is comforting and creates a bond between parent and child.3. Reading encourages the imagination as your mind sees the pictures that are not on the page.4. Reading makes it possible to travel and have experiences through books that may otherwise be out of reach.5. Reading is a quiet, peaceful endeavor. There are too few of those today. You can read almost anywhere if there is enough light, even under the covers with a flashlight. ;o)6. Reading makes pleasant memories for a lifetime. I still have wonderful memories of my teacher reading The Little House Books, and White Fang to our class. **Yesterday I signed my new book, A Horse Of Course at the local bookstore. In addition to signing books and meeting and talking to people, I had an opportunity to encourage a young man who wrote a book he wants published. I told him to checkout Guardian Angel Publishing. They sometimes publish books by children. I also received a note, entirely unexpectedly, from an acquaintance I hadn't seen in quite awhile. She wanted to bring her children to the signing but was going to be out of town. She mentioned that her young daughter has decided she wants to be a writer. It was a delightful afternoon.**I was surprised to receive an envelope with two copies of The Friend magazine. The November issue has my poem, Say Something Nice, in it.**Another surprise when the children's librarian of our Josephine County Library asked me to come read my book to the children at an event this weekend. What do you like to read? How do you encourage your children to read?
Guardian Angel Publishing had its first GAP West gathering of authors and illustrators in Redmond, Oregon. Events started September 17th and continued through September 20th. Lynda S. Burch, publisher, flew to Oregon for the event. In attendance were K.C. Snider, Sue Berger, Susann Batson, Mary Jean Kelso, Bill Kirk, Shari Lyle-Soffe, Janet Collins and Janie Robinson.
K.C. Snider hosted the event and the planning and organizing was handled by her publicist, Claudia Valiquet. Food was catered by K.C.'s niece, Bonnie Ellis and lots of helpers. K.C.'s husband, Fred, was in charge of keeping all of the equipment working smoothly. There was wonderful food and entertainment, tours and shopping sprees. A great time was had by all.
The highlight to the weekend was a Guardian Angel group booksigning and reading at the Barnes and Noble in Bend Oregon where we were all treated like royalty.
What a thrill it was to finally meet so many of our friends in person and have a chance to get to know them. Hundreds of photographs were taken by Claudia's husband, Steve. Hopefully I will have some to show you soon.
So, yesterday was pretty much a fantastic day. I know there's nothing more irritating than hearing someone else is having a good time, especially if it coincides with you (or those you love) NOT having a good day, but so it goes.
Yesterday, I got to go out to Red Wing, Minnesota to take part in the 10th Anniversary Celebration of Minnesota Children's Book Authors & Illustrators. It's a really cool festival of sorts that takes place out at what I can only describe as an artist's compound/haven. It's got a whole bunch of old buildings and apparently writers/artists/musicians, etc. can rent these cool old houses for the day to get away from everything and just work on their art.
But, one day a year, it's like they open the floodgates and let a bunch of kids, teachers, librarians and everyone else who's interested in children's literature and illustration in. They had people walking on stilts, face painting, music, magic, books, books and more books.
I'd been asked by the people I work with at Picture Window Books months ago if I'd like to come out and read from my new book IF I WERE THE PRESIDENT. I'm no veteran to readings or school visits (having only done one each so far) but I was more than honored. The idea was, I'd come out, talk a little bit about writing, read the book and then sign some if people wanted me to.
Red Wing is about an hour away from my house and while I would have loved to bring Laura and the boys out there, we decided it was best if this was a solo trip. Jake's been a little crabby the last week, so we thought we'd spare the rest of the people at the festival his crazy antics. I was scheduled to read at 2pm and then again at 3pm.
I got there at 1pm and got to meet one of the people I'd only known through e-mail and Facebook face-to-face. I helped set up the Capstone Publishers stand (Picture Window Books is one of their imprints) and was floored by how much stuff they produce. Gotta say I was pretty giddy about seeing my four books front and center.
The interesting thing about the stand was that we had all these books there, but we weren't allowed to sell any of them. The Red Balloon Bookshop, which is probably our most famous kid's book store in the cities, had a place set up inside where they were selling all sorts of books, most of which were from the authors that were there to read and do signings. So, a bunch of people would come by to look at the cool books and want to buy them but we had to tell 'em. "Sorry. Only Red Balloon can sell book here, today." Never one to disappoint, we ended up giving some of the books away.
Good PR, I tell you. Very few people went away disappointed.
Anyway, pretty soon it was time to get to the room where I was going to read.
Now, I should say this. I was definitely the little fish in a bigger pond. Most of the other authors were bigger names for sure and got sort of 'top-billing' and big ol' autograph tables and all that fun stuff. They had me in a really cool classroom of sorts in the basement which looked like something I would decorate. Cool pictures of musicians, artists, etc...were all over the walls. There was inspirational messages, etc. Etc. The room was down in the basement, so my editor (Shelly) went around and roped people into coming and hearing me read.
I gotta admit, I was worried it was going to be a little like the scene in This Is Spinal Tap where they have a record signing event at a music store and no one shows up. Thankfully, Shelly was able to find a bunch of people and we were underway.
Before I started, a little guy walked up to me, eyes as big as saucers and nervous as all get-out. He said something I couldn't hear. I said: "I'm sorry. What did you say, buddy?" He was maybe two years old or just shy of it. He tried again and I think he was scared to death. His mom said: "He's trying to tell you his middle name is Kingsley, too."
I was floored. How awesome is that?
So, we talked about our names and where they originated from, etc. (for the record, 'Kingsley' is my great, great grandfathers last name. He had all girls, so the name died with him) Apparently, this little guy doesn't even go by his first name, just Kingsley. Very cool.
One of the things we did for each reading was have a drawing for a couple of my books. I ended up reading both IF I WERE PRESIDENT and PATRICK'S SUPER SOCKS and then giving 'em away right after. Sadly, little Kingsley didn't win one.
After the reading, I went upstairs to check out the place where The Red Balloon was selling books. I wanted to meet Lise Lunge-Larsen, who is an expert on Trolls and when writing THE TRUTH ABOUT TROLLS, I e-mailed her to clear up some questions I had. As I was looking through the books, Kingsley and his mom came by and told me they couldn't find my PRESIDENT book to buy. We were told they'd have it to sell to people and, conversely, let me sign them for anyone interested in that sort of thing.
"They said they left them back in the cities," Kingsley's mom said.
I was bummed by that, but it just so happened I had an extra copy in my laptop bag. I gave them my copy and she wanted to pay for it, yadda yadda. I told her I wouldn't hear of it. She then asked if I'd sign it and I said:
"Of course!"
I cracked open the book and wrote: "From one Kingsley to another!" and then signed my goofy signature.
Later on, I got to meet a really cool guy. He was an older dude named Ted who came by the Picture Window Books booth and was looking at all of the books laid out. Ted asked:
"You write any of these?"
I was almost a smart alec and said: "Any? Dude. I've written ALL of these." But I didn't. I smiled and pointed toward the ones at the front of the set up.
"I've written 4 of them, up there."
Ted asked if I did the illustrations and I told him what I tell a lot of people who ask me that. "Nope. I couldn't draw a picture to save my life."
Anyway, we got to talking about stuff. Turns out Ted's an illustrator and we talked about how despite the obstacles we have this need to keep doing what we love instead of saying: Eh...I'll never make it. Guess I'll watch Seinfeld re-runs.
He then asked how long I'd been at it. I told him since I was in 2nd grade, which is pretty much accurate. I wrote a story called Stick Man's First Voyage Into the Black Hole and I've never looked back.
Somehow we got on the topic of other books and I told Ted that even though I was asked to write a ballerina book (ahem) I was also given a chance to write a firefighter book. I told him I was a firefighter/EMT celebrating my 6 year anniversary on 9/11. He sort of laughed and said:
"That's a heckuva date for anniversaries." Ted then pointed down to his left leg, which I hadn't noticed until then was fake. He went on to explain that on the day the World Trade Center fell, he was in a life-altering crash. He was driving a bus with a bunch of special needs kids and another driver going in the opposite direction jumped over the center line and took them out. A bunch of the kids didn't make it, but four did. Ted's left leg was another casualty.
We talked for a long time and Shelly ended up giving Ted a copy of PATRICK'S SUPER SOCKS and I signed it for his grandson. I asked him if he had a card because it would be cool to keep in touch with him. He said he didn't, but asked me to wait there for a moment. Since his booth was right next to ours, it wasn't a problem. I do have to admit feeling bad that he was headed back to his car, just to get a business card.
When he came back, he handed me a giant, hardboard print of some of his work. It was this really cool picture of a bunch of tropical fish that's going to look insanely cool on the wall somewhere in our house (I'm thinking Jake's room). He said he wanted me to have it and we shook hands and said it was truly great to talk to each other. And you know what? It was.
I went home a little later, listening to the newest Eels album (Hombre Lobo), hurrying home to go see Patton Oswalt (stand-up comedian) on a date with my wife and some friends.
Yeah. Not a bad day/weekend.
Hey, hey, hey...
That's supposed to be Fat Albert greeting you to another long-overdue post on the nearly defunct-ness that is my blog, Tappity Tappity. Thanks for stopping in.
Truth be told, I'm feeling like Fat Albert these days. Raising these kids is really knocking me off my working out gameplan. Really. It's sooo dang tough nowadays to get out of the house for a little bit and do that whole Gold's Gym thing. But...it's only a matter of time. Laura and I are gonna work out a gameplane that's gonna let both of us rotate and go...somehow, someway.
But enough about me, how are you?
Hey, that's great!
Well, a few things have happened as of late and I'd be a complete d-bag not to at least touch on some of 'em, so here goes.
Library Visit - Wouldn't it be funny if this was just about me going to the library and checking out a couple o' books? Well, maybe not. But, I had my first author reading/library visit a few Saturdays back. It's been in the hopper for a while, but it just never came to be. So...about a year and a month after the release of Patrick's Super Socks, I hit the ol' Woodbury library and did a good ol' fashioned reading. I had some copies of PSS to sell, along with my newest release, Mount Rushmore.
Apparently the library put an ad in the paper and everything. I'm just glad I put an event thing in Facebook. I had a bunch of peeps from my family along with friends and firefighting pals show up with their kids. It was a good thing. Otherwise, it would've been like Spinal Tap doing their record signing.
Well that's nit-picking, isn't it?Anyway, it went pretty well! I got to read the book to a bunch of little people, I sold a couple and I don't think I made a complete b-hole out of myself. The best part? My mom recorded a good chunk of the reading with her digital camera. Thinking it worked like pictures do, she turned the camera on its side so that 75% of what she recorded is sideways. Ah, technology in the hands of my mom...
The best part? That's Travis in the light blue sweater.
He's tired of Patrick and his dumb super socks.
Two TKTs for the price of...one?Big Jake - If you can believe it
, our little(st) guy is almost 2 months old. Really. To compound the craziness, he's A GIANT BABY. He was wearing a shirt that was made for 9 month olds. He clocks in (according to his check-up today) at a whopping 14 pounds. I weighed that when I was 6 months, according to the Mom Almanac. He's also 26 inches long. So, in the space of under two months, the little dude has gained 5 pounds and grew 5 inches. Ummm...is that even possible?
Our meaty little man.In other exciting author news, I'm done with my 3 newest books, which will be released with the
If I Were a Firefighter book next spring. They're the ones tenatively titled
Fairy Tale Stars and there's a
Trolls, Elves, & Dragon installment. Pretty crazy. I still find it hard to believe that I've got two books out now and that by this time next year, I'll have 8 out. Good times! They're fun to do, but a part of me is pretty stoked to have them done so I can get back to work on my other projects.
Twitter - I've joined what I used to call 'Blogging for Lazy People' (look who's calling the kettle black!) and I thought I'd give Twitter a try. Find me, uh...twitting at
www.twitter.com/tktroupe.
Movies and such - As I mentioned a few posts back, I'm INHALING movies and shows. It's all one can do when you've got a big ol' baby to cool out with at night. So, I won't bore you with details, but here's some crap I've been watching.
Pan's Labyrinth - Stellar! My first movie on BluRay. After seeing this I'm confident that 'The Hobbit' is going to rock the pants right off of me.
Storytelling - I like controversial movies, but this one was a turd of the highest caliber.
Quarantine - I really liked this movie. Not for the easily squeamish or people who get motion sickness. Zombies, face-biting and just plain awesomeness.
Persepolis - Eh... I think it won some awards and it was visually pretty cool, but overall it didn't do a whole heck of a lot for me.
Spellbound - A documentary about the National Spelling Bee. Well done and oddly riveting!
Zombie (also known as Zombi 2) - A crappy old zombie movie that was done in the late 70's. Absolutely hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Over-acted scenes, gratutious nudity, and people getting their faces eaten. Also, shark vs. zombie. I'm not even kidding. So, naturally, I loved it.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead - Dude. Maybe I'm a simple man who likes simple things, but I REALLY dug this flick. It's all time-twisty and awesome and also has Albert Finney in it who is the closest thing to god in my book.
Website - I think this is the year I get a website built. I sort of need to do some research and see what I want to have done, but I'm putting the feelers out there. I know a couple peeps and if I can round up a few dollars, I think something wicked cool is on the horizon. I'm hoping for a GOODHALO-esqe site, chock full of zombies and such. It'd be one part promotion, another part awesome. How can it lose?
Anyway...I'm going to do my best to be more post-er-ific. Maybe having that dumb ol' Twitter thing going will sort of give me the atomic kick in the pants I need. Plus, these long-winded 'hey everybody here's what I've been doing all month' posts are for the birds.
Thanks for shopping! See you in the emergency room.
Ha ha ha! *trip*
Olga Angelina García Echeverría has completed her first book of cuentos y poemas..
Falling Angels
Please join us for the book release
Saturday October 4, 2008 @7:30pm FREE!!!
@ Tropico de Nopal in Los Angeles
1665 Beverly Blvd.
Echo Park, Los Angeles, CA 90026
http://www.tropicodenopal.com
A celebratory noche of vino, angel debauchery and two-tongued poesia and prose
La Spinster of Ceremony:
Sandra C. Muñoz
Winged Palabra By:
Olga Garcia
Elba R. Sanchez
tatiana de la tierra
Have you heard the word
on Falling Angels?
".each of Olga's cuentos stands out in bold testimony to our flourishing
as a people in Urban América. These are puro chicano stories, tales of urban survival
drawn from its most vulnerable and visionary inhabitants." -Cherríe Moraga,
author of Loving in the War Years
".The women and men in these pages make us think, laugh, and feel proud; they
are conocidos speaking in real speak. Without a doubt, this unique collection establishes
Olga as a lengualistic code-switching queen!"
-Elba R. Sánchez, escritora and editor
About the Author Olga García Echeverría is a Los Angeles-based writer and teacher. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. This is her first book. Falling Angels: Cuentos y Poemas by Olga García EcheveríaISBN 978-0-9717035-6-8/ $14.00+s/h / Perfectbound
Flipbook (one side stories/one side poetry) / 136 pages
Cover and illustrations by Ricardo Islas.
***
KOP, Ex-KOP reading in Denver
One of the best times I had at WorldCon this summer in Denver was spent with
Kat Richardson author of
Underground, Warren Hammond and
Mario Acevedo whose latest book has just come out--
The Undead Kama Sutra, the third in his Felix Gomez vampire series (reviewed by Michael Sedano on
La Bloga on Sept. 16, last month). I only managed to partake of some Japanese cuisine and copious amounts of drinks with them, but hanging out with three published novelists whetted my appetite to be discovered.
Warren Hammond was the nicest guy, and if his writing is as good--which I can't yet attest to--you can check him out this weekend in Denver. Warren will discuss and sign his newest book,
Ex-KOP, a futuristic thriller in the noir tradition, which brings heartbreak and redemption for the flawed hero of Warren’s first book,
KOP. Copies of
KOP, in both hardcover and mass market paperback will also be available. All at 10% off cover price.
Sunday, October 5, 3:00, DENVER BOOK MALL, 32 Broadway (between 1st and Ellsworth Aves) – Contact Nina Else, at the Denver Book Mall, 303-733-3808, for any questions.
-- RudyG
Promote reading~Make sure the child sees you reading books, magazines and newspapers ~Teach the child to read the newspaper (you can look for the comics, the weather, or an article together) ~Read with the child every day ~Keep books in the car, the bathroom, the family room, the bedrooms and the kitchen ~Go to the library regularly for books, magazines, books on tape or C.D, music ~Tell stories before bed, at the table, in the car, and on walks ~Give books as presents ~Take the time to express to the child that you enjoy books, newspapers or magazines ~Talk about reading the way you talk about going to the park… like it’s something special ~Read a variety of books (myths, legends, nursery rhymes, rhyming stories, fiction, non-fiction, funny, serious) ~Set limits on television and video games and stick to them ~Make a book with the child (about a dog, family photos, why the child is special, a vacation, a relative) ~Buy new or used books ~Use books as a soothing time in the middle of the day ~Never use reading as a punishment ~Join or form a book club ~Be positive
Before you read
~Read the title
~Ask the child what he/she thinks the book is about
~Ask the child if it reminds him/her of another book
~Look at illustrations
~Talk about them
~Ask the child what he/she thinks the book is about based on the illustrations
~Ask the child if he/she recognizes the artist
~Read about the author and illustrator
~See if there is a connection between the author and what he/she writes about
~Look at the table of contents if there is one
~Ask the child what chapter seems interesting
While you read
~Ask questions
~What do you think is going to happen next?
~What do you think that word means?
~Show your interest by making comments:
I wonder what’s going to happen!
Wow! Look at that illustration
I love the colors in this book!
~Show your interest by showing emotion:
Laugh if it is funny
Cry if it is sad
~Share your thoughts and feelings
~Put emotion in your voice
~Let the child ask questions, touch the book, turn pages, stop you, make comments
After you read
~Talk about how you feel
That book is so funny!
I love that book!
I don’t like that book so much
This book reminds me of….
~Ask the child questions
Did that book remind you of any other books?
Did you like the story?
What is your favorite illustration?
Do you want to read another book by this author?
Should we look for more books like this?
~Let the child talk about how he/she feels
I love that picture!
That book is silly!
~Develop the concept of plot
~Talk about change that may have occurred in the story
~Talk about conflict and resolution that may have occurred in the story
~Retell the story in the dark at bedtime
~Retell the story with puppets
~Retell the story and change an event
I'm thrilled to announce that Teatro Luna has settled into their brand new home in beautiful Logan Square on the northwest side of Chicago! The teatro is housed in the St. Luke's Church of Logan Square - a fabulous place with a strong focus on the arts and community building. The upcoming offerings include:
- Monthly workshops, free and open to the community.
- Professional development series - sliding scale for actors, writers, directors, and designers looking to expand their skills and network.
- Writing and Performance Classes - sliding scale.
- A new Reading Series, featuring staged readings of new work by Latina/o playwrights. Stay turned for more information and a schedule.
Teatro Luna is located at the corner of Francisco and Altgeld, just a few blocks from the Logan Square Blue Line Stop.
St. Luke's Lutheran Church of Logan Square 2649 North Francisco Avenue · Chicago, Illinois 60647
Mailing address: P.O. Box 47256, Chicago, IL 60647.
Check out las hermanas at the Goodman Theater's Latino Theater Festival on August 13th. You can catch a preview of our fall show JARRED: A HOODOO COMEDY by Tanya Saracho JARRED is a hilarious look at what happens to a woman when she turns to santeria, brujeria, and hoodoo after a terrible break-up. She's got her boyfriend in a jar: now what?
For tickets visit http://.goodmantheatre.orgxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Goodman Theatre 170 N. Dearborn St. Chicago, Illinois 60601 Box Office: 312.443.3800 [email protected]
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MADE IN CHICAGO: WORLD CLASS JAZZ AT THE JAY PRITZKER PAVILION
Chicago Afro-Latin Jazz Ensemble
Thursday, July 31: 6:30 PM FREE!
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And from La Bloga friend, Denise Chavez
And from La Bloga friend, Denise Chavez
The Writing Women's Lives Conference in Santa Fe was a wonderful gathering of creative women. We wrote corridos with Elena Diaz Bjorkquist and Consuelo Luz set them to music. Page Lambert gave a powerful workshop on nature and place and wrote an incredible corrido about a beloved mare. Susan and Denise Abraham from El Paso also gave a talk on their young adult novels. Thank you, talented mujeres! I completed my Corrido Cat Cycle, writing El Corrido del Gato Consentido (The Corrido of the Spoiled Cat) to my cat, Kuki. I met many new writer friends and visited with Natalie Goldberg, Sally Bingham and Anne Hillerman, also dear BBF Friends, Don Usner and Adalucia Quan and her family and a friend from NMSU days, Maria Montez Skolnik. We had a party at my sister's new house and Estevan Rael-Galvez, State Historian, joined us. I'm back home now and busy with Center activites and still working on my novel!! Upcoming events to take note of: August 8 and 9: The Way Out West Book Festival in Alpine, Texas. Featured writers are Elmer Kelton, Kinky Freedman, Benjamin Alire Saenz, Sarah Bird, Bobby and Lee Byrd, Denise Chavez and others. This is the first ever Alpine festival. It is a great setting and wonderful town. Check their website at: http://www.wowtxbookfestival.com/1.html August 31: The John Barry Award for Fiction in Spanish has a deadline of August 31. They are looking for the best short story written in Spanish in the U.S. or Candada. Prize is $1,000.www.johnbarryaward.com Sept. 13 and 14: 16th of September Fiesta on the Mesilla Plaza. We will be selling books in our booth. Come and hang out as we hang out! We will need volunteers for shifts on Saturday from eight am until midnight and volunteers on Sunday from noon to 7pm with help breaking down after 7. Fiesta hours are from noon to midnight Saturday and noon to 7pm on Sunday. Take a two hour shift and listen to great music and eat as many quesadillas as you can and help us sell books! We had a great Cinco de Mayo booth and plan on having one as well for Dia de Los Muertos. September 26-26: Writing From the Creative Heart, a weekend long writing workshop with Denise Chavez. I have sent more information in another email. Reserve your place now as the workshop is limited. Call me at 575-496-2351 for more information or email me at [email protected]Cost is $90 for BBF members and $100 for non members. October 25: The Great Southwest Book Festival at the El Paso Public Library. Contact Mike Payan, Senior Librarian and Event Coordinator for booth and festival information at: [email protected] NOW: Sally Meisenhelder from Amigos de Las Mujeres has informed us that Casa Amiga in Juarez is in financial difficulty and needs help. If you know any donors or foundations that can help, please contact Amigos at: http://www.amigosdemujeres.org/ Stay tuned for a Care and Evaluation of Out of Print Book Workshop with John Randall later this fall, a reading by Jesus Tafoya and Rosario Sanmiguel in Spanish from their new books, both incredible writers from Juarez/La Frontera. Dr. Tafoya teaches at Sul Ross University and Dr. Sanmiguel at La Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, also the 4th annual Tamalada/Tamal making workshop at La Cocina Restaurant in Mesilla Park. We hope to have a celebrated food writer join us. Stay tuned! We are also working on the Pooch-athon with a reading from Cristina Garcia's new children's book, The Dog Who Loved the Moon. Other than that, we are drying out from many rains and loving this cool weather. Hang in there, chile! Best wishes, Denise Chavez
Lisa Alvarado
By: Lisa Alvarado,
on 6/19/2008
Blog:
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Your humble writer this week was blessed had the task of trying to fill the shoes of Johanny Vazquez, at this month's Palabra Pura. La Divina is in Puerto Rico where I'm sure she's enjoying family and holding court. In a bedrock venue of Chicago's Mexican community, Decima Musa, Palabra Pura offered two dynamic poets, and the pre-show conversation was a lively, full-bodied discussion on female aesthetics and female presence on stage. The evening resonated with work that puts flesh on the bone, that breathes a sense of everyday spirituality and working-class nobility into their work.
Naomi Ayala is the author of This Side of Early (Curbstone Press, 2008) and Wild Animals on the Moon (Curbstone Press, 1997). Her third collection of poems is forthcoming from Bilingual Review Press in 2009. Ayala’s work has appeared in numerous journals and has been anthologized in Seeds of Fire: Contemporary Poems from the Other USA (Smokestack Books/U.K., 2008), Boriquén to Diasporican: Puerto Rican Poetry from Aboriginal Times to the New Millennium (University of Massachusetts Press, 2007), The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry (University of Arizona Press, 2007), and Latino Boom: An Anthology of U.S. Latino Literature (Longman, 2005). Ayala works as an education consultant (with a specialty in curriculum design and development), a translator, and teacher, and is currently serving as the Director of Development for Fiesta DC.
From Consortium, about This Side of Early...These poems straddle two landscapes—contrasting the imprints of gentrification with the supernal, come by way of the woods. Ayala’s poems deconstruct the political world of man, offer hope through a compelling, lyrical spiritual intimacy, and bridge the gap between the two with words full of ecological intensity. Her deep connections with the working class combine with a love of the land to offer us lilt and dream, revelation and foretelling. Many of the "seeings" she brings us walk the edge of cultural resilience, where the illusion we see of the outside world speaks to us most when we turn within.
Diana Pando is a megaphone for Latinos in the arts. She has been Managing Director of Teatro Vista, Interim Managing Director for Teatro Luna, and worked with Luna Negra Dance Theatre and DeLaTorre Fine Arts. Through Teatro Vista she has been able to initiate dialogue between communities and arts groups resulting in youth outreach programs in the Back of the Yards neighborhood and increased Latino theatre in Little Village. She is one of the founding members of Proyecto Latina, a collaborative between Teatro Luna and Tianguis Bookstore and former contributing writer for Dinero Magazine. She has contributed writing to Teatro Luna's critically acclaimed show MACHOS, Lunaticas, collaborated with artist Luis DeLaTorre and maintains a blog called Art Botanas for Latinos in the arts.
She is a member of the Latina Leadership Council for the Chicago Foundation for Women. This October she will be the featured reader at Proyecto Latina hosted at RadioArte. Currently, she works with the Community Media Workshop helping nonprofits tell their stories. She is a lifelong resident of the Bridgeport neighborhood where she resides with artist Luis DeLaTorre and their dog Cometa
READING IS FUNDAMENTAL
Focus on Your Community
Support the fledgling Chicago Public Schools Literacy Program, Padres a Padres, which in turn supports the Latino community. The program serves 3 and 4 year old children who do not have other available preschool options. The program is unique in that the parents are in the classroom learning how to read books to their children to instill a love for reading and learning in their children. Twice a week, along with other activities, the teacher reads a book to the class and the children get to take a new hardcover copy of the same book home with them. The class is taught in Spanish and all books are Spanish language.
The program also includes an outing to the local library and home visits by CPS staff. This program has a wonderful parenting component and focuses on closing the book gap ('well-off' kids have hundred of children's books in their homes; 'poor' kids have only a handful). Your book donations have helped to support this program. Luz Maria Solis, the program administrator at CPS, (CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS) just reported to that nearly 25% of this year's Padres a Padres class have been accepted to the Orozco Regional Gifted Center for English-Language Learners.
If you would like to continue to support this Chicago Public Schools collaborative initiative (CPS partners with the Chicago Park District and Chicago 's museums for Padres a Padres), please consider purchasing one or more new Spanish language hardcover books.
Book Donations:
Oso Pardo and Oso Panda books - available at Amazon.com
Buenas Noches Luna - available at Amazon.com
If you are ordering the books online, please have them shipped directly to:
Luz Maria Solis
Chicago Public Schools
125 S. Clark St., 9th floor
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (773) 553-2019
... and put "Donation for the Padres a Padres Program from [your name]" in the gift message.
Feel free to call Luz Maria Solis if you prefer to make a cash donation or are interested in selecting a different book title from the Padres a Padres curriculum.
AND FROM MI NIETO, RICH VILLAR y ACENTOS
Greetings all.
Acentos is pleased to announce the inaugural issue of the ACENTOS REVIEW, a new journal of writing by Latino and Latina authors. It is online right now at http://www.acentosreview.com.
Seven poets and one visual artist grace the June 2008 issue:
Ray Gonzalez
Rachel McKibbens
Sheila Maldonado
Christina Olivares
Jose Olivarez
Mundo Rivera
Griselda Suarez
Visual: "Man With A Guitar," by Alexandra Cespedes
The poets represented here comprise a remarkable mosaic of emerging and established Latino and Latina writers from different areas of the country. The work sprawls, breathes, bites, and turns. It demands. It is not easy. These are the poems we love, and these poets make beautiful conversation. They honor us with their presence and set a high bar for subsequent projects. Acentos sends its sincerest gratitude to each of them. Deepest thanks also to our co-editors Raina Leon and Eliel Lucero, who insisted that this project was doable and then willed it into reality.
Now then, a word about subsequent projects.
We are right now accepting submissions of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, reviews, interviews, and translation for the Latino Heritage Month issue (September 2008). See the submission guidelines for further details. We look forward to reading your work!
Log onto www.acentosreview.com and check out the fuss. We are extremely excited about this project, and we welcome your comments and queries: [email protected]. See you soon!
Vaya,
Rich Villar
for the Acentos crew.
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Teatro Luna receives two Non-Equity Jeff Awards!
Teatro Luna wins two Jeffs for Machos: Best New Work and Outstanding Ensemble! These awards are extra exciting for us because they recognize what we value most about our work: creating original ensemble based shows. Machos was a huge community effort and so this award goes out to a lot of people: the 100 men who contributed stories for the show, the 20 women who collaborated on writing the show, the 45 people who transcribed hours of interviews, and of course... to the uber-talented cast of Machos, a bunch of ladies who worked hard to learn how to be men. Felicidades to our big Luna Family!
Lisa Alvarado
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Gluten-aware, you had me rolling. Love to see an article on vegan cooking.
I pulled out a notepad to write down "Human Cargo," but dropped my pen when I read that the format and typos made for difficult reading. No time for that.
Loved the haiku's. Thank you for post.