Hip, With it, into The New Yorker

Filed under: How to make conversations at parties.

 

I love The New Yorker. For reals. But, oh my god, it is anxiety provoking to see those bad boys stack up.  It’s a weekly mag and most articles take me two nights to read.  So, let’s see, there’s, like, 10 or so major articles each issue, right? By my math, it should come out once a month, but I guess that’s neither here nor there.

Either way, the magazine made me stressed so I, gasp, canceled my subscription and opted instead for the podcasts.  It’s a lame compromise because you miss a lot of the goodies (except the fiction discussions which are ahhhmazing).  However, it helps me decide if I should purchase a copy that week, or borrow it, or go to the library (See: “Getting Thrifty: Book Buyers on a Budget” post that I’ve just now decided I’ll write sometime in the near future).  The May 18^th edition was a synch: PURCHASE!

Exhibit A: Amazing Red Hen Press Board Member/ and The New Yorker staff writer extraordinaire Dana Goodyear’s excellent article on the mysteries behind the phenomenum of cheap (wait, not “cheap,” inexpensive) wines we Trader Joe’s frequenters lovingly refer to as two-buck chuck.  To read it all you gots to pay, to get a peek go here. 

 

Exhibit B: I have read this poem approximately 1,000 times since May 18^th, 2009 and am still rushing back to read it again.  In fact, I emailed it to my friends this morning saying, “I’m sure most of you have read this already because you’re hip and shit and it’s in last week’s (two weeks ago?) New Yorker. But OMFG, I’ve read it nearly 100 times and it makes my heart skip beats every time so I had to have my weekly nerd-out and share.” and got responses back like,

“I’m so not hip, but thanks for pretending. I LOVE IT” 

 “Damn”

 “Read it. Reading it again. Great reminder”

 “How did I miss that?”

 So for those of you that don’t read The New Yorker or poetry or say, “yes,” to both and somehow missed this, or are like me and are typing faster just to read it again…

Delphiniums in a Window Box

by Dean Young May 18, 2009

Every sunrise, even strangers’ eyes.

Not necessarily swans, even crows,

even the evening fusillade of bats.

That place where the creek goes underground,

how many weeks before I see you again?

Stacks of books, every page, characters’

rages and poets’ strange contraptions

of syntax and song, every song

even when there isn’t one.

Every thistle, splinter, butterfly

over the drainage ditches. Every stray.

Did you see the meteor shower?

Did it feel like something swallowed?

Every question, conversation

even with almost nothing, cricket, cloud,

because of you I’m talking to crickets, clouds,

confiding in a cat. Everyone says,

Come to your senses, and I do, of you.

Every touch electric, every taste you,

every smell, even burning sugar, every

cry and laugh. Toothpicked samples

at the farmers’ market, every melon,

plum, I come undone, undone.

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A Detective’s Pal

Working hard or......

I want to talk about my best friend. He’s my lifeblood, my driving
force. Without him, I’d be without direction or purpose. Essentially
blind, I’d be. His name is research. Show him some respect.

In my job, it is required that I become a blood hound, constantly
sniffing out any traces of potential funding for our organization out
in the world. The way I put my nose to the ground is research. Without
research, I would be quite unprepared to do my job. Let’s say my boss
comes to me and says she’s heard of a funder that we should apply to.
Well, before I get the letterhead ready and cross it off my list,
there’s still a ways to go. I have this name…..now of course you can
guess what comes next. GOOGLE IT! If this organization comes up with
an official website as the first result of the search, that’s a good
sign. If not, and there are only sites for business listings, they
probably don’t have a website, which might mean that they are so small
that only pre-selected organizations are granted funds. Okay, next
step.

Obviously enter the website. Go to town. Explore the hell out of it.
Look at their guidelines, geographic focus, types of support, what
have you. If you are still unsure about whether or not you fit in with
their priorities, look at their “Past Grantees” list (if they have
one). Do they fund in or around your area? Do they fund organizations
like yours? How about their grant amounts?

Another great resource for research that has saved my life and sanity
on countless occasions is the Foundation Center. This is a resource
site for nonprofits who are in search of funding. It has a VERY
comprehensive database that is a boon to any non profit. It does cost
money to join, but it is completely worth it. It allows you to search
for funders using a variety of criteria such as geographic focus,
areas of interest, types of support given, and it even has a box that
says Exclude grantmakers not accepting applications. (always click
this box ). There’s your dose of development. Enjoy, and happy
hunting!

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Red Hen/ Rattle Party Recap

Kate Gale and Timothy Green

Originally uploaded by mythyes

If you missed the party, you missed quite a night.

Droves of party goers showed up at Equator books for the music stylings of DJ Wally, tasty bites from China Beach Bistro, beer, wine, books, and most importantly the Red Hen Staff (right?).

We saw many familiar faces, lots of Red Hen authors and supporters, as well as new, Venice locals and the 20-something RHP staffs’ respective entourages. Kate Gale, Managing Editor of Red Hen Press, and Timothy Green, Editor of Rattle, each read a favorite poem they’ve had the opportunity to publish and raised a glass of champagne with the crowd to toast to another amazing 15 years of publishing.

Be sure to keep tabs on upcoming Red Hen events by siging up for our mailing list on our website.

Photo credit: Richard Beban, author and photographer extraordinaire.

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The Power of Words (Or Some Other Not-Cheesy Title)

Kudos to the New York Times.

They could get kudos for a lot of things (being arguably the best newspaper in America, though I personally prefer the Los Angeles Times, despite its recent tabloid-esque redesign). But today, I applaud them for their awesome “How do you feel…?” word maps.

First tested during the 2008 presidential election, the word maps at NYTimes.com ask you to type in a word that describes how you feel at the current moment, regarding a certain event or subject; i.e., the economy, the election, the inauguration. This fancy poll/art piece/technological marvel then adds your word to the pot, displaying everyone’s word in a wonderful sans serif scrolling marquee of hope, fear, nerves, optimism—whatever the nation (or NYTimes.com readers, at least) are feeling about the state of the nation.

The Employed and Unemployed

The geniuses behind this new-fangled cross between Twitter, modern art, exit polls, and the op-ed page are the New York Times Interactive News Collaborative Staff (even their title is innovative). Aron Pilhofer, Andrew DeVigal, Steve Duenes, Matthew Ericson, and Gabriel Dance have created an incredible amalgam of sleek design, instant-gratification technology, and nationwide community that is a wonder to watch. Scrolling across the screen in ubiquitous Helvetica type (side note: you must watch the documentary Helvetica, absolutely required viewing) it gave me chills to see “determined” and “disgusted” scroll across the screen next to each other in huge letters in the “economy” word map. Assuming that the largest, blackest words are the most-selected, it is heartening to know that such a huge percentage of people feel “optimistic” about the economy, as the world scrolls across the top line, bigger than any other word, over and over.

On Election Day, it was moving to watch “scared” and “hopeful” scroll by in large letters, and on Inauguration Day, “proud” held the top spot, larger, darker, bolder than all the other words.

Election Day Emotion

The best and most telling feature of these word maps is the fact that you can choose to display words selected on certain dates— today is especially interesting, considering the announcement of the results from the bank stress tests—and by the employed or unemployed for the economy word map, by McCain supporters or Obama supporters for the election word map, and by Democrats or Republicans for the inauguration word map. Words in red, posted by the unemployed, scroll by on the economy word map: frustrated, bored, uncertain. In green, the employed are exhausted, worried, scared, wary. On the election word map, the Obama supporters posted in blue, anxious, excited; the McCain supporters in red, scared, nervous. On inauguration day, words from the Democrats scrolled by in blue, proud, excited, words from the Republicans in red, angry, scared.

But no matter the subject, no matter the position, always that one word, in all colors, the biggest and boldest: “hopeful.”

The power of this beautiful application is that it seems to be a real toe-dip in the emotional waters of the nation, apart from the exit polls and the talking heads, and, on top of that, it is beautiful. Simple, sleek, and, the best part—it lets the true power of the words shine. And that’s the most important part of any design involving type. The message should be clear, readable, and it should make you feel something.

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Half Man, Half Machine…All Hen

Me at the office

“That’s why it’s called Seward’s Folly!”

Here, in the office, I am effectively a cyborg. There are duties that appeal to my organic, intuitive nature, while others require the mechanical meticulousness of my pragmatism. I feel that out of all the jobs I could have had, this setup is quite ideal in the sense that I get to exercise two seemingly disparate aspects of myself all day long.

In the organic sense, writing grants is very much about feeling a potential donor out and seeing if they would be a good fit for your organization. What’s their mission? Who do they currently grant funds to? It requires a great deal of imagination and ingenuity to make a funder think that you have tailor-made a proposal just for them. It’s so easy to have a great text and roll with it. But I believe that what funders truly see, that is, what exemplifies organizations is an attention to the fact that development isn’t about convincing others that you are deserving of their money, it’s about if the two of you are a compatible match for a relationship. This is a lesson I’m still learning.

Now, to my mechanical side. Just writing grants, eloquence, succinctness, et cetera, isn’t enough to run development at a non-profit. You need to be willing to work the A-Word. That dirty little word is ADMINISTRATION. Once a proposal goes out, its care is of the utmost importance. Is it saved? Electronically, hard copy? Both? Good. Can you pull it up at a moment’s notice in case the funder calls and has question about it? No? Get on that….now! My desk is a trove of manila file folders with protruding papers, and parasitic post-it notes everywhere. But, as they say, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” What can I say? I’m a filer, not a piler. My robot half requires that if my superior should require a piece of data, it should be accessible in two movements of my elbow. That’s the way I like it. At a place like this where there are SO many things that need fundraising (programs, books, events), it falls on me to be quite fastidious when it comes to the status of their livelihood. And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cluck Cluck

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Party party party

If you haven’t heard, which is damn near impossible, Red Hen Press and Rattle are having their third and final 15^th Anniversary Party, and this time it’s in Los Angeles! (The first two parties were in Chicago and New York).

 

The party is Thursday May 14^th, 6-8pm at Equator Books on Abbott Kinney blvd in Venice.

Equator Books is truly unique. It’s a bookstore and art gallery specializing in rare and out-of-print books. The modern wood bookshelfs and displays allow customers to peruse locally themed books on surf culture, vinyl reggae albums, photos of muscians like Bob Dylan, books on prostituion, circus freaks, folios, art books, really anything colorful, hipster, hippie, excentric, unique, and/or art related; the eclectic mix and elegant shelving makes it difficult to distinguish between art, book, music, collectable, etc.

The Red Hen throw down, happening in this very space, will be all things Equator: sexy, colorful, musical, and elite…well, Venice elite.

Show up with $5 and come on in. There will be drinks, lite bites, a live DJ, books, a raffle, and merriment.

Equator Books

1103 Abbot Kinney Blvd. (between Venice Boulevard and Main Street)
Venice, CA 90291

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Writing in the Schools Updates

The Spring semester has been a wildly successful one for the Writing in the Schools program and Red Hen Press. As of today’s date, we’ve finished two workshops, one at John F. Kennedy High School, run by Bart Edelman, and one at Crenshaw High School, run by Douglas Kearney. Both workshop sets were accompanied by positive feedback from students, staff, and the Red Hen writers and greatly pleased this Program Coordinator. The third workshop of the semester is currently in-progress at the lovely Camino Nuevo High School and is being conducted by the irrepressible and irreplaceable Brendan Constantine.

Much progress has been made on the press’s forthcoming WIS Teaching Anthology, a two-volume book composed of work donated by authors from across the US. It’s going to be a great addition to the WIS program and will be donated to each student participating in the program. We look forward to its arrival soon.

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Adaptation (or, Development 101)

Greetings from the world of Development. Victor here. Last night as I drifted off to sleep in my room (on top of the covers, fully dressed, lights on, mind you) I started to think about my job. Of course, my knee-jerk reaction to this theme invading my mind is, “Stop, go to sleep! Worry about this tomorrow when you HAVE TO!” But of course, sometimes the mind is a wandering child, and there you are, the parent without one of those creepy and unsettling leashes keeping it within your control. Anyway, as my mind went to grants, development, schedules, and the like, I suddenly drew the oddest parallel. At this point in my life, my main source of anxiety and the place where most of my pressure and stress comes from is very reminiscent of another time in my life some six years ago. This feeling is familiar….what is it? Oh wait, I know what it is….applying to college.

When I was a senior in high school, there was that very masochistic period of slaving over applications and essays, sending them out into the academic ether, and just praying for some kind of validation for all of my hard work. In 2009, I feel that way every day. Applying to grants sways to a very similar rhythm. Here I am, stretching my mind to its inventive and pragmatic limits in hopes of some benevolent leviathan of a funder will see my application and efforts sparkle through a gray and dismal sea of identical proposals. He will reach down, extend his open-palmed hand, and lift me up into the tranquility and safety of monetary support. The yes’s, fantastic and vindicating as they are, are far less frequent than their inevitable and ubiquitous alternative. Receiving a declination from a potential funder can be summed up in this way: I walk into the office, a letter on my desk. It reads: “Sorry, Victor. We’re not interested. Try again next year. Love, XYZ Potential Funder.”

Of course, once the reactionary rage subsides, my sensible side can’t really begrudge this organization. As special as each worthy nonprofit is, even with all of its philanthropic programs and endeavors, all lined up next to each other, we tend to blend and fade. It is the nature of this job to expect your failures to outnumber your successes. Then the only thing you can do is learn from your mistakes and grow (Cue sentimental background music). It’s true, folks. In this racket, I have to learn to speak a funder’s language, know their priorities, brown-nose the (pun intended) crap out of them. We development folks are chameleons. No matter how we change our stripes to fit in, our guts and goals remain the same. Word of the day kids: Adaptation.

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