Welcome to Issue IV, Volume IV: December 2012 of Connotation Press: An Online Artifact.
Recently I was going through some stuff in my file cabinet. You know, tossing out old and past-due bills, thinning the paperwork files, etc., and I found a bar-nap with some scribbles on it that I'd written in purple ink. I apparently felt the need to list some of the goals of this crazy magazine idea I had, some of the things I'd hoped to accomplish, months before we began to build the site.
On the list very near the top was, Interview Tom Waits or Die Trying. That's right, one of my early aspirations was to get Connotation Press big enough that it would lead to an audience with the King. Ha! Well, a fellow can dream can't he? And it's still my dream. However, now I've published a grip of Pulitzer Prize winners, Poets Laureate, and some of the top-shelf writers anywhere to be found. Maybe now's the time.
This morning I woke up with the following song in my head:
For the two of you out there that don't know "A Long December," by Counting Crows, here are the lyrics:
Counting Crows: A Long December
Songwriters: DURITZ, ADAM/BRYSON, DAVID/GILLINGHAM, CHARLES
A long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember the last thing that you said as you were leaving
Oh the days go by so fast
And it's one more day up in the canyons
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think that I could be forgiven
I wish you would
(Na na na, etc. yeah)
The smell of hospitals in winter
And the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters, but no pearls
All at once you look across a crowded room
To see the way that light attaches to a girl
And it's one more day up in the canyons
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think you might come to California
I think you should
(Na na na, etc. yeah)
Drove up to Hillside Manor sometime after 2 a.m.
And talked a little while about the year
I guess the winter makes you laugh a little slower
Makes you talk a little lower about the things you could not show her
And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass
And it's one more day up in the canyon
And it's one more night in Hollywood
It's been so long since I've seen the ocean
I guess I should
(Na na na, etc. yeah)
Brilliant, right? Now, stick with me here. I'm thinking, aren't we big enough yet to get an interview with Duritz? I've been a crack-head for the music of Counting Crows and specifically the writing of Adam Duritz for years. Years! The man is a genius. And he's an insomniac like me, or at least he used to be. Anyway, I've been a fan of theirs since before they worked with the incomparable T Bone Burnett on their first joint, August and Everything After.
Seriously, does anyone know Adam and can they set me up with an interview? I'd love to start working on a series featuring song writers that looks into their process and the similarities that bind what they and we do. I'll postpone my addiction and near obsessive desire to interview Tom Waits for now, just barely mind you, but only if I get to interview Duritz soon. Right. OK, who's with me?!
Until then and without further delay, as is our long-standing tradition, let's kick this pig and see what it'll do!
A Poetry Congeries starts out this month with John's tribute to Jack Gilbert. From there John launches into an interview with his featured artist, Idra Novey, who delivers two gorgeous poems. C. Dale Young, Jeffrey Harrison, Lawrence Raab, Michelle Chan Brown, Mary Biddinger, Karina Borowicz, Joseph Bathanti, and Megan Palko round out the Congeries for December creating yet another in the outstanding series of writers John is famous for gathering in our electronic pages.
"Dear Santa," writes From Plate to Palate food maven, Amanda McGuire. This month her column is a letter to the jolly old elf or whatever it is you people call the man wearing red velvet but not following through on keeping his pimp hand strong. Although From Plate to Palate is a lot of fun this month, my favorite part is the adorable pictures of Amanda as a child. Even as kid Amanda was a diva Star!
Travelogue writer extraordinaire Nicholas Baker packs his bags, grabs his Freddy, and yodels his way through hilltops and valleys as he discovers The Alps! Beautiful photos, informative and interesting writing, and the gorgeous people of Switzerland make this yet another terrific Nicholas Baker Discovered column.
The Third Form editor Erica Goss delivers the final part in her Zebra Film Festival series. Written from her notes and interviews gathered on her trip to Germany to cover the festival, this one has an especially wonderful listing of the top 10 films Erica encountered at the festival. And we've got all ten films! For you fans of video poetry, this one ranks DO NOT MISS status.
Coming off his 15th year wedding anniversary post, the one he marked as his Cristal anniversary, John dives head-first this issue into a Cabernet Sauvignon, 2003 from the good people at Far Niente in California's wine country. If you're a fan of the grape, A Drinker with a Writing Problem, by John Turi is the column we've created just for you. Enjoy!
Book Review editor Stephanie Brown is still on leave and our hearts and love go out to her and her family. We've been scrambling to keep reviews coming in her absence and this month is no exception. Creative Nonfiction editor Robert Clark Young steps up to the plate and delivers a knockout review of Savatore Pane's new novel, Last Call in the City of Bridges from the good folks at Braddock Avenue Books. If this offering is half as good as the review Robert wrote we'd all be silly not to grab a copy today.
Finally, we have two off-the-hook pieces of Creative Nonfiction & Fiction to whet your appetite in anticipation of our mid-month post on the 15th. First up, our dear friend Cindy Zelman will rock your freakin' world with her piece, Claudia Songs. Seriously, wow... just WOW! And in Fiction, we've got a series of flash pieces and another from our stellar series of interviews this time with author Kyle Hemmings. Thanks to both authors and to Creative Nonfiction editor Robert Clark Young & Fiction editor Meg Tuite for the outstanding work they do month after month, year after year. You guys rock!
And speaking of guys that rock, what's up with that Duritz interview I asked you guys to set me up with? Yes, I realize I only asked a handful of paragraphs ago, but still. Come on, kids. Don't let me down!
All best,
Connotation Press: I'm Just Sayin'