POEM PUBLISHED AT HAGGARD AND HALLOO

Yesterday I had my third poem published on the Austin, Texas -based literary journal Haggard & Halloo. It's a silly little ditty titled "Jealous Justice."

In case you were wondering, I was in a thrift store on Mission in San Francisco, digging through a bunch of crap, disappointed the shop didn't have better stuff for sale. Upstairs I came across the book section and noticed how the stuff on the shelves was all best-sellers, celebrity cookbooks and those paperbacks with Fabio on the cover. It felt good knowing that people might buy this stuff, but they don't hold onto the works in both the literal and physical sense. This poem was my way of acknowledging that while these writers enjoy financial success, they don't make a lasting impression on many of the people who buy these books.

The posting of this poem is the quickest turnaround from writing to publication in my short poetry career. I wrote this poem in a hotel room in San Francisco in June and submitted it to H&H a few days after I returned home from my vacation. A few days later, their editor gave me a publication date and I was very excited to say the least.

In the past, I've found that having my non-journalism work published can take a very long time. Sometimes it takes months for publications to reply and by the time my work comes out, I forgot I sent the work off in the first place. So you can see why this is so exciting for me. One day this poem didn't exist and six weeks later, it's available for the entire world to see.

On another note, H&H is pretty awesome and I say that not because they are planning to re-publish my short story "Brown Eyed Girl" next month, but because of all the literary journals I read online, I actually really enjoy this one. The people running the site have similar taste in writing as I do, which I don't come across very often. It's quite an honor to have a site I like accept my work, so thanks Haggard & Halloo!

Click here to read "Jealous Justice."

SHORT STORY AND POEM PUBLISHED IN MYRIAD

Every kid from the South Bay -- especially those who don't do well in high school -- knows about El Camino College. It's a JC that is fairly popular in its surrounding area. I was a prime candidate to attend ECC, but like the rebel that I was, I chose to continue (or some say begin) my education at Los Angeles Harbor College.

Not attending El Camino meant missing out on a South Bay tradition, but I can now lay claim to some sort of connection to the University of El Camino as the school's English department -- fine folks that they are -- have recently published a short story and a poem of mine in the 2010 edition of Myriad.

I am the only contributor with more than one piece, so for that I am honored. I can finally say my connection to El Camino runs deeper than my dad attending classes there lots of years ago.

Click here to read my short story "Brown Eyed Girl" or here to read the poem "For Dotty."

DAVID SEDARIS REVIEW IN LA WEEKLY

Along with previewing David Sedaris' reading at UCLA, the LA Weekly was cool enough to let me review his performance. If you don't feel like clicking here to read all about it, let me summarize: He was awesome and I am very jealous of his talent.

JOHN FANTE SQUARE IN THE LA WEEKLY

This week I have a story in the LA Weekly regarding the unveiling of John Fante Square at the corner of 5th and Grand in downtown Los Angeles. I attended the event on what would have been the writer's 101st birthday (which is April 8) and was really excited when the fine folks at the LAW said they'd want me to cover it.

As I've mentioned before, I get a major thrill writing for the Weekly and when I write about John Fante, I always get nervous. He is by far my favorite writer and trying to convey how important he is -- along with his immense talent -- is never an easy task.

Let's hope I did an alright job.

Click here to read the story.

THE ICARUS LINE IN THE LA WEEKLY

If Los Angeles band the Icarus Line ever has its own "Behind the Music," you bet your sweet ass I'm going to be one of those talking heads who tells you what the members were like "back in the day." You see, I've known the Icarus Line before they existed, when they were a ska-punk band, then a punk-punk band called the Kanker Sores. We hung out constantly and had lots of fun together.

The band has been through a bunch of lineups and such is life, the more people come and go in the group, the less I know them. But main man Joe Cardamone and Alvin "Asian Orange" DeGuzman are still holding it down, so when the five-piece played a few blocks away from my apartment, I had to go.

That's not to say I didn't want to because I really did. Regardless of the lineup and the set list, the Icarus Line have never failed to disappoint. They're a great band, one that I would like even if I didn't know them. Having them as friends is icing on the cake. Or maybe the fact that we are friends AND I like their music is the icing on the cake. Yeah, I think that sounds better.

Anyway, it's always a pleasure to get the band some ink, which is what I did (technically it was a blog post so there was no ink involved) a while back when I reviewed their show at Alex's Bar in Long Beach for the LA Weekly.

Snoop Clicky Click here to read all that noise.
Photo taken by me. Aren't I awesome?

LIGHTBULB MOUTH COVER STORY IN THE DISTRICT

My first -- and last -- cover story for Long Beach's District Weekly is about a weekly event called the Lightbulb Mouth Radio Hour. It goes down at the Basement Lounge every Wednesday and is hosted by poets Derrick Brown and Mindy Nettifee. I'd tell you more, but why not just click here and read what I already done wrote?

JIM BEAM AND GINGER ALE IN THE DISTRICT

I'm sure I'm the last person in the blogosphere to mention this, but Long Beach lost a great publication when The District Weekly decided to close its doors. I was bummed as both a writer and reader and hope something will come along sooner than later to replace the weekly newspaper.

I was fortunate enough to be published in the District many times and I have to say, writing for TDW was always a ton of fun. Ellen the editor was great to work with and was cool enough to let me write some stuff that I'm pretty sure other editors wouldn't have let me get away with. She never chopped up my work like a few others have done and was cool enough to include me in the editing process whenever the situation arose. That is a very nice thing for an editor working on a deadline to do and I very much appreciate it.

Anyway, I had a few stories in the District before they went kaboom. Here's a little tale of me drinking Jim Beam and ginger ale in a cane at the East Village's Basement Lounge. Click here for all the pertinent info.

PS Photo by Roshelia Robles.