An Essay in Words and Images

What We Did on Our Almost-Summer Vacation in Brooklyn

During our layover in D.C. on Friday, M and I experienced remarkably happy flyers, due largely to the spinning wheel of prizes set up by United Airlines. We won two game books and worked their crosswords in an airport brewery. People took pictures of their flying companions spinning the wheel. O the power of a wheel.


Saturday, we went to Brett’s (and Evan’s and Jane’s, etc.) new apartment for (what turned into a twelve-hour) brunch and a reading-chain of James Schuyler’s The Morning of the Poem. Much laughing (much needed).

Before heading over to Unnameable Books for the reading on Sunday, Sommer, M, and I went to Le Barricou for brunch. I wanted to eat the table. I wanted to eat the breakfast nook. I took a picture that will hopefully impart this wanting to you. What I ate instead: eggs Florentine. There’s no pictures of what M and Sommer ate, but they ate a Spanish omelet and steak + eggs, respectively.
We heard several people read for the EOAGH Launch (including Thomas Cook, Pattie McCarthy, and James Belflower), then I read, then Sommer performed, then we took a reading break and went to Beast for drinks with new and old poet friends, where an even older poet friend met us. Then back to the reading. I liked the length and casualness of the reading; it seemed like every reader had a different audience. Much leaving and claiming (and reclaiming) of chairs. After the sun went down, M read. I found a new Donna Haraway book I want but didn’t get. After M read, we got sandwiches from Hana’s Deli near Sommer’s. At the deli, I had my second encounter of the weekend with Thriller. The first encounter was when Cindy played us a YouTube video of the Lego homage to “Thriller.” The second encounter came in the form of a vegetarian club sandwich (named the Thriller)—tofurky slices, veggie bacon, pesto mayonnaise, jalapenos, Colby jack cheese, tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, pickles, and seven-grain bread, triple-stacked. I told Sommer I could eat three sandwiches a day, one a meal, and I meant it. M got a tofu Rueben that was good but not as good as my Thriller so we traded one of our halves. I had half of my half for breakfast.

At the airport, we saw Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio, which seemed like a good person for us to see to round the trip off. We came home to a basket of kittens. We came home and basked in our cats.