Moving week

So many things to do, people!

I've been packing all day. Meredith and I have decided that some of the stuff we have shall remain in boxes for awhile, since we only plan on living in our new place for a year. Nevertheless, that's a lot of boxes. We're running out of places to put them. I've packed up all my books, CD's, and most of my closet. We just have the office and a few odds and ends left to put away. We've made pretty good time. The movers will be here either Friday or Saturday. I love how they dictate when the move will actually take place.

Anyway, I'm going to be away from blogland for what's likely to be a couple of weeks.

Until then, I want you all to be safe, be well, and write beautiful poems.

After All . . .

. . . is said and done, proper credit is due to some fabulous people and organizations who made the Kundiman 2005 retreat possible:


Sponsors

Aaron Baker
Anonymous (The Love Song Scholarship)
The Chang Family
Nick Carbo (The Carbonator Scholarship)
Melissa Nolledo-Christoffels (The Wilfrido D. Nolledo Scholarship)
Oliver de la Paz (The Carlos Bulosan Scholarship)
Rigoberto Gonzalez (The Con Tinta Faculty Scholarship)
Mary Chi Kim
Carolyn Micklem
The Peters Ruston Bequest at The University of Virginia
Jon Pineda (The Alice Selover Scholarship)
Eileen Tabios (The Galatea Scholarship)
The University of Virginia Alumni Association
C. Dale Young (The Young Ten-Loy Faculty & Student Scholarships)
The New York Foundation for the Arts


Also proper credit to the faculty for the retreat: Lawson Inada, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Patrick Rosal

To the staff: Sarah Gambito, Joseph Legaspi, and Vikas Menon

And finally, to the fellows who were the stars of this retreat.

Kundi-crew

Kundi-crew
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Front Row L to R (kneeling): Vikas Menon, Tamiko Beyer, Kelly Tsai, Yim Tan Lisa Wong.

Middle Row L to R: Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Patrick Rosal, Purvi Shah, Sarah Gambito, Chi Lam, Jennifer Fang-Chien, Phayvanh Luekhamhan, Ching-In Chen, Margaret Rhee, Melissa Roxas, Joan Dy

Back Row L to R: Oliver de la Paz, Jon Pineda, Gein Wong, R.A. Villanueva, Joseph Legaspi, Yuzun Kang, Neil Aitken, Lawson Inada, Jee Leong Koh, Marlon Esguerra.

Not pictured: Rona Jia Luo (Sorry Rona!)

Group massage!

Group massage!
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

We all needed massages after 4 rigorous days of poetry!

The lovely Sarah Gambito, Executive Director and co-founder of Kundiman

The lovely Sarah Gambito, Executive Director and co-founder of Kundiman
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Sarah Gambito, you rock!

Veronica in concert!

Veronica in concert!
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Cutie, Veronica, gives Kundiman a piano concert. She plays a MEAN piano. She also reads faster than me. She plowed through the new Harry Potter book in one day!

Lawson directs(?) Group 3

Lawson directs(?) Group 3
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Lawson Inada is just as surprised by Group 3's fabulous collaboration as we were. Kelly Tsai danced while Neil Aitken, Tamiko Beyer, Melissa Roxas, and Joan Dy read a collaborative poem.

Pat Rosal reads from "Uprock . . ."

Pat Rosal reads from "Uprock . . ."
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Pat at the faculty reading, rocking the house with his poems.

Pat gets serious in his workshop

Pat gets serious in his workshop
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Yes, we sang songs and goofed around, but let's not forget that we were all at Kundiman for the poetry workshops. Here Patrick leads his workshop group in a writing exercise.

Lawson's workshop with Group 1

Lawson's workshop with Group 1
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Cool cat, Lawson Inada leans way back in his chair as his workshop group hands out poems.

Aimee's workshop

Aimee's workshop
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Aimee Nezhukumatathil gets into a meditative state before her poetry workshop begins.

Jennifer reads off her laptop

Jennifer reads off her laptop
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Poor Jennifer had troubles with the printer all week. However, she managed to print a copy of one of her poems for the final China Buffet reading.

Spark Exercise on Day 1

Spark Exercise on Day 1
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Chi Lam catches a glimpse of the camera as her group studiously writes an Exquisite Corpse.

The first salon reading

The first salon reading
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

All eyes are on Rona Luo as she reads for the first Poetry Salon.

Fiction Spy and guitarist extraordinaire, Jon Wei

Fiction Spy and guitarist extraordinaire, John Wei
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Patrick's good buddy and honorary Kundiman Fiction Writer/Lead Guitarist Jon Wei tells us all that we're going to appear, in one form or another, in a story he's writing.

Kelly reads as Joan looks on

Kelly reads as Joan looks on
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Before the public got to see her on HBO, we got to see her.

Kelly reacts to her Def Jam performance

Kelly reacts to her Def Jam performance
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

And Kelly was overcome with emotion after all of us cheered as she appeared on the big screen. She, of course, rocked! There's Yuzun to her left and Neil to her right.

The crowd at Orbitz watching Kelly Tsai on Def Jam

The crowd at Orbitz watching Kelly Tsai on Def Jam
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Kundiman took over a bar in Charlottesville. Orbitz graciously allowed us to change the channel from SportsCenter to HBO's Def Comedy Jam. One of the Kundiman Fellows, Kelly Tsai, was scheduled to perform. The whole troupe of Kundiman fellows, faculty, and staff attended.

Lawson accompanied by Pat and Jon on guitar

Lawson accompanied by Pat and John on guitar
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Lawson gave the Kundi crowd a great performance at China Buffet as Jon Wei and Patrick Rosal played music to his poems.

Kundiman Co-Founder and Program Director Joseph Legaspi reads his SEXY and SIZZLING poem

Joseph reads his SEXY and SIZZLING poem
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Joseph was openly challenged by Ching-In Chen to write a poem entitled, "I'm Sexy Hot Sizzle" or something like that. Anyway, Joseph came to bat, reading his hilarious poem at China Buffet.

Dorm Room Sing-Alongs

Dorm Room Sing-Alongs
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Almost every night, we closed the evening with sing-alongs in Joseph and Sarah's room. There's R.A. Villanueva, John Wei, and Patrick Rosal entertaining us. They're DAMN good.

We all wanted to pose with the babies

We all wanted to pose with the babies
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

We were so happy to have Jon and Amy come to Charlottesville for the conference. Amy's right in the center with two kiddies on her lap.

Bald is beautiful!

Bald is beautiful!
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Marlon Esguerra, Jon Pineda, and myself pose in front of a wide-screen TV. We couldn't figure out how to turn it off. Note the right of the screen says, "Suga."

Like I said, Jon wanted to kiss everyone

Like I said, Jon wanted to kiss everyone
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Jon wanted to kiss everyone

Jon wanted to kiss everyone
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Joseph is the recipient of some lovin', courtesy of Jon Pineda who has his arm around Purvi. Jon just couldn't get enough love from everyone.

Kundiman Day 3 1/4

Quick Summary:

AMAZING day today. Jon Pineda taught the "Spark Writing" session and used Du Fu's line, "One by one the stars go out" as the prompt. The fellows went straight to work and churned out amazing poems that left many of us with our jaws on the floor.

Later in the evening, we had the Kundiman Gala retreat reading. There were lots of tears of love and lots of celebrations. It's hard to really describe it and do it justice . . . Anyway, each of the three groups had to designate a reader for the gala to read alongside the faculty. Patrick as always wowed us with his fabulous reading. Aimee was equally as spectacular. . . and Lawson offered his spot on the docket to his workshop students. Together, they performed a fantastic collaborative piece while Kelly Tsai did interpretive movements.

We loitered around for a bit after the reading and then we all headed to Sarah and Joseph's suite. Patrick, Jon Wei, Ron V., and Jon Pineda jammed on guitars while the rest of us were drinking bad whiskey. We capped off the musical celebration with the Kundiman rendition of John Cougar Mellencamp's Jack and Diane

After, we went as a whole conference to Orbitz, a bar on The Corner. They tuned the television to HBO's Def Poetry Jam and let us watch Kelly Tsai's fabulous performance.

All in all, we had a very busy day. I'm tired and again it's almost 2AM.

Kundiman Day 2 1/4

Last night, after the circle/salon reading (which was amazing, by the way) Patrick, Patrick's buddy Jon Wei, Ron V., and myself went looking for tennis courts. I swear I had passed them on my way to the dorms. Alas, my memory isn't as good as it used to be. I lead us straight to a lighted parking lot that had police tape draped from one lamp post to another (it looked like a lighted court with a tennis-net to me). So we ended up walking back towards the dorms to the lighted basketball court where I shot poorly. It started to rain while we were out there and we were more or less talking about what sports we were involved in during our youth. I think I was the only wrestler.

After we wrapped up on the basketball courts, we headed out to The Jabberwocky, a local college watering hole where other Kundiman folks were gathered. Patrick bought a bunch of folks some shots. Everyone was talking poetry. At this point it's close to 1:30AM, so I headed on back to the dorms.

Apparently folks were up until 3AM singing Bob Marley tunes. Again it was tough getting up this morning. Thankfully, Jon Pineda's leading the Spark Writing sessions today.

Stay tuned, more coming.

P.S. I guess you'll have to wait on Kundiman pictures until I get back. I stupidly brought the wrong adapter. Sorry!

Kundiman Day 1 1/2

The students arrived yesterday and it was good to see some familiar faces. We had a circle meeting after dinner where we introduced ourselves and it rained. Outside one of the windows, you could see the water pouring down the steps in a large stream.

In the evening, we shared one poem. All the poets were fantastic. We were even in tears for some of the readings.

I picked up Lawson Inada later that evening and he was is usual self: charming as all heck. I consider Lawson kindred of sorts because we know some of the same Japanese American families from my home town.

The next day, we did the usual orientation stuff and students broke into their respective workshop groups. I'm a bit tired at the moment, since I didn't get to bed until around 2AM and I've been up since 7AM. I'm on a break right now, so I may take a nap.

Anyway, I've been snapping away with my digital camera, so I'll post some pictures soon.

Post Fourth.

I'm cleaning out the office today. I've packed most of the book cases, now it's down to clearing out all the files I've hoarded for the past four years. The room looks much bigger without the book cases. The dog doesn't seem to notice, though.

In fact, he doesn't seem to notice much of anything. Last night I was doing a little more packing when the fireworks started to go off in the park. We live across the street from a ski slope where they launch the city's big Fourth of July Extravaganza. Anyway, the fireworks were booming above our heads. We both went to the back deck and watched a bit. Jake's ears just raised a little. He pointed his nose skyward looking at the explosions, then he sat down and demanded attention. Basically he sat in front of me obscuring my view of the festivities.

Everyone in Utica seemed to be at the ski park. Some annoying people attempted to park in someone else's back yard, citing that it was "Bob's house and Bob lets us park there." Maybe so, but the tenets who live there and pay Bob rent had no place to park. There were loads and loads of cars stacked fender to fender down all the side streets leading to the park. It's a wonder where all these people come from, since most of the time I find the place to be a little dead.

At the end of the night, around 10 or so, they fired all the fireworks. Jake didn't seem to mind that, either.

Lots of stuff goin' on

First off, I'm in the midst of packing all my books. For those of you who know me and have been to my various abodes over the years, you know that I have a lot of books. In the den, between Meredith and I, we've got four large 5-shelf bookcases plus another longer 3-shelf book case. I've also got 5 folding book cases in the office. All of these book cases are filled with books, some of which are stacked flat on their backs for more space. So far I've filled 27 file-boxes and I haven't even started on the office. A mover was here in mid-June. He took one look at all the books and said, "Well, there's your weight." Not a good thing, since they charge by the pound on these moving trucks. Luckily, I can get rid of a lot of my rhetoric and composition books, since I won't be teaching rhet-comp at Western Washington.

Also, Meredith and I settled on some movers after going through a lot of hoops in terms of scheduling site visits, negotiating prices, accounting for reimbursement with our various institutions, etc..

Finally, we found a rental house! It'll be in Lake Stevens. That's further south than I'd like to be, but it'll definitely be better for Meredith who has to commute every day. Moving day's only three weeks away!