Welcome to Issue XI, Volume II: July, 2011 of Connotation Press: An Online Artifact.
As is our custom, July is something of a slow-cruise month here at ConPress. Our staff, largely although not completely made up of academics, are all now off for the summer timed perfectly as our incoming submissions begin to slow to a somewhat more manageable rate. This is the time of year many of us get out on the highway to find that "next crazy venture beneath the skies".
In addition to the scheduling nightmares, travel, and general craziness related to the movie-making stuff I've been getting myself into of late, this month is my 29th high school reunion (Corona High - Class of '82: Go Panthers!). I've got friends on the reunion committee and they've teamed up with the Class of '81 to create a larger gathering. In and of itself, not a big deal. But here's the thing: I haven't seen most of these folks since we all went to school together, and to be perfectly honest I rarely if ever actually attended classes. At the time I had a lot of better "things" to do than attend high school, most "things" of which I'll pass on divulging as I'm not entirely sure about the statue of limitations on these types of "things".
It's enough that this reunion has sent me spiraling into a near constant mind-fissure remembering again and again the fact that I left high school 29 years ago and I am, therefore, older than dirt. But I've always been one that swore I'd never attend a reunion of any kind if at all possible because come on, Dorothy, not all of us are gung-ho to be reminded of the crazy-ass stuff we did when we were kids. However, I do have a handful of friends, our travel editor Nicholas Baker being one of them, that will be there and that I do love. You know, the kind of friends that after you had that freakin' blow-out party at your folks house when they were getting their party-on in Las Vegas, and you passed out in, not on, the living room carpet, they stayed after everyone left and cleaned up before you woke up long enough to crawl to the bathroom. You know, FRIENDS. Anyway, it looks like I'm going to have to be in So Cal on business at the time the reunion is happening anyway, SO, I'll probably end up going. Wish me luck!
Although we do like to downshift a bit in July, our editors have assembled an outstanding lineup of talented artists from a world-wide pool of contributors. All that's left is to kick this pig and see what it'll do. And awaaaaaaay we go!
Hoppenthaler's Congeries this month hits the ground running with John's preface, and then continues building steam. We have poems and an in-depth interview with Judy Jordan who is also our Featured Artist of the Month, and new poems by Carol Frost, Sam Witt, Nick Thran, Rebecca McClanahan, Julie Carr, Blas Falconer, Judith Baumel, Robert Cording, Dannye Romine Powell, Christopher Davis, and Deborah Ager. We know you'll enjoy this outstanding line up.
From Plate to Palate with Amanda McGuire focuses this month on drinking, cooking, and traveling with new pieces by Plate to Palate regulars Cal Freeman, Sarah Lenz, Karen Babine, and Arlan Hess. A wonderful collection of poems, memoir, and recipe writing served piping hot.
Travel editor Nicholas Baker's Discovered column finishes a three part Mediterranean excursion that promises to get your road-trip jones working for you. More than anything else these days, Nicholas & Freddy's adventures fire my wanderlust and inspire me to travel out of the borders of this country into places unknown by a guy like me. Thanks for a great three-part column and a grip of inspiration, Nick!
Drama editor Joshua Fardon has brought in a contributor submitted comedy titled: "Murielle's Big Date", by Ken La Salle. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did. And this month Josh will have two pieces for your enjoyment. Don't forget to come back for our mid-month post and catch a dynamic one-act by a teenager with a lot of talent. Thanks, Josh!
Speaking of our mid-month post, our featured teasers this month are from Fiction, the brilliant Michael C. Keith, and from Creative Nonfiction, a great piece by Elizabeth Enslin. Enjoy these featured artists and come back on the 15th for more talented fiction, CNF, and poetry, drama, and new book & movie reviews.
Next month is our yearly retrospective issue and the end of our second year online, and in September we'll be psyched as we launch Volume III. From all of us here at Connotation Press, thank you for your continued support and for trusting us with your art. We're having a blast!
Connotation Press: Hey, Baby, It's The Fourth of July
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This month's issue of Connotation Press: An Online Artifact is dedicated to Clarence Anicholas Clemons, Jr. For 39 years Mr. Clemons blew sax for the Boss as a member of the E Street Band, and in the process managed to interject into our lives screaming soul and a plaintive wail that will not soon be forgotten. In his loving eulogy, Bruce Springsteen says of Clemons:So, I’ll miss my friend, his sax, the force of nature his sound was, his glory, his foolishness, his accomplishments, his face, his hands, his humor, his skin, his noise, his confusion, his power, his peace. But his love and his story, the story that he gave me, that he whispered in my ear, that he allowed me to tell… and that he gave to you… is gonna carry on. I’m no mystic, but the undertow, the mystery and power of Clarence and my friendship leads me to believe we must have stood together in other, older times, along other rivers, in other cities, in other fields, doing our modest version of god’s work… work that’s still unfinished. So I won’t say goodbye to my brother, I’ll simply say, see you in the next life, further on up the road, where we will once again pick up that work, and get it done.
Rest in Peace, Big Man.