You'll want to strap on those dancing shoes for . . .

TAKES 3 To TANGO: A Dance Party Extravaganza!!!!


The even is co-sponsored by Cave Canem and Bloom Magazine.

TAKES 3 TO TANGO: A DanceParty Extravaganza


Ever want to dance true tango style? Rose in your teeth? Love in the air? Well, cariño, your time has arrived. Takes 3 to Tango features tango lessons, free flowing wine, glittering poetry and dancing to your favorite hip hop and funk beats! Come on out and shake your groove-thing for a fabulous cause. All proceeds will benefit programs for LGBT, African American, and Asian American writers. A portion of the proceeds will also be donated to The Red Cross Katrina Disaster Relief Fund.

• Free Tango Lessons from 8:30 – 9pm
• Open Wine Bar from 9 – 10pm
• Free Gold Roses given out (for dancin’ and romancin’ of course!)

Your Illustrious Host Committee:

Minnie Bruce Pratt, Mark Doty, Regie Cabico, Father Francis Gargani, Bishop Alfred Johnson, Walter Mosley, Vijay Seshadri, Patricia Smith & John Yau

The 411:

Saturday, September 24, 2005
The LGBT Community Center
208 West 13th Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
8:00 p.m – Midnite

$20 Advance Tickets

Here's why . . .

you should be jumping up and down: Clicky!

Congratulations to Barbara Jane Reyes!!!

More to come . . . But in the meantime, wander over to Barbara Jane's blog and give her the thumbs up and a big hug.

You'll see why soon enough.

Enjoying the last bits of summer

Fun with pet doors.

Fun with pet doors.
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

Our new house has a pet door. Yay!

Rushmore.

Rushmore.
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

This is from the third day of our trip from New York to the West Coast. We stopped off in South Dakota to look at Mt. Rushmore. It was VERY cold and rainy. Of course, on the way back, I got lost. It was by far the worst travel day.

Tennis with Mike and Sue.

Tennis with Mike and Sue.
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

I needed a break from all the packing, so I played tennis with the tennis pro, Mike, and our friend Sue.

Jake the Dork.

Jake the Dork.
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

This is our dog with a goofy expresion on his face. As you can see, the apartment is bare.

Last days in Utica.

Last days in Utica.
Originally uploaded by odelapaz.

The last few days in Utica were gorgeous. This one's after the movers had come. Basically the folding chair on the porch is the last of the furniture. Jake's by the door.

Arrivals

Meredith and I arrived safely. So did our stuff, for the most part. The furniture had dings and a few glass items were broken, but for the most part nothing was lost. I've now got all my utilities up and running. We are, however, completely broke. Moving's so gosh darn expensive! I must say, that I am glad I wasn't driving the truck. The last time I moved across the country, I drove a Ryder truck towing my own truck behind from Arizona to Pennsylvania. I'd wake up every day feeling completely stressed out. It wasn't so bad for me this time, though I think Meredith was a bit overwhelmed.

And as for the Pacific Northwest. . . it's beautiful and sunny. I can see the mountains in the distance and there's a nice cool breeze blowing through the windows.

I'll write more soon.

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.