SFSU Graduation Redux

Just want to pop this pix into the record of the big day. Pictured below from the Creative Writing Dept's post grad soiree, that's Michelle Carter, Roy Conboy, Andrea Kuchlewska and Anne Galjour.
These three professors along with three not pictured (Brian Thorstenson, Truong Tran and Larry Eilenberg) are responsible for turning me, a wannabe, into a genuine artist, writer, playwright, poet.

They turned me into a turner of words into heat and light and heft; that hopefully sit in the tummies and brains and ears of others. To create something that someone remembers, recalls with delight (or, even better, revulsioin).

To challenge others to think or feel or consider an idea or scene or concept differently. They all do that and showed me ways to do it myself. And everyday I keep trying to do it.

ThankyouMichellethankyouRoythankyouLarrythankyouAnnthankyouTruong
andthankyouBrian!

And a final shot of me with my tassel -> make up and hair by J-Ha who's available for weddings and Valentine's Days!

Interlude: SFSU Graduation - bigger, better and multikulti!

Four weekends ago I graduated from San Francisco State University with my MFA in Creative Writing. That's me standing (with no grad cap on) in the sea of purple & gold Gators! ->

I had not participated in a graduation ceremony since my high school set me loose on the world back in the seventies (the ultimate age of apathy). Graduation ceremonies were hot and boring and long and grandiose. Also it didn't help that I was totally disconnected to my original undergrad and graduate school experiences way back then.

But SFSU was different - I LOVE that place. I LOVE Creative Writing and the profs and the other students and I am so sad to leave but the 'ville was yodeling for me. So I donned the Gator purple and orange, and walked the walk with my pals Andrea and Chris (both playwrights) ->
<- and Ali (a poet - the one with the "poety" kinda look) and Lindsey (a fiction writer). But before we walked the walk and shook the hand of our dean we heard some GREAT speeches that made me PROUD to be a Gator (I kid you not). I've attached the link above to all the speeches - and definietly read Joseph L. White's speech. He was honored as Alumnus of the Year and is considered the Father of Black Psychology, the precursor to Ethnic Studies. He was GREAT AND FUNNY! He used the old call and response like any great preacher would. He'd say "How long" [do we need to wait for our generation to do soemthing about "your pet ill here"] and we'd scream back "NOT LONG". It was a ruckus and of course caused all the subsequent speakers to be brief! I didn't get a snap of Johnson but here are some others: <- Corrigan is the Dean of the whole school, a jowly Saint Bernard of a guy who's also got an activist's heart. He ran that graduation like a well oiled protest march: briskly paced, with a hint that something wild and unexpected could leap out at any moment.

Isabel Allende was honored and was her perfect self: a delight to the ear and heart. Although I was only 4 rows from the dias her image projected on the big screen behind her seemed compelling.


Our commencement address was given by none other than Gavin Newsom, our famed and media darled mayor. He was treated to rock start screaming and squeals and quite enjoyed himself - his was the longest speech, the least focused (as befits his dyslexic and political states) and was the only person without cap. But he was fun and an excellent sport.

Afterwords the Creative Writing / English Departments held a little soiree in the Humanities building. I've got more snaps and commentary but right now I gotta get out of here.

Blahhgg #9: Q &A on The 'ville...What's it like?

I'm getting this question a lot and the short answer is nice...and not San Francisco.
"Duh" I'm hearing and you're right but no matter how much I nutted up for the move, there are several things I didn't expect:

1. Geography: I forgot how easy it is to live in many other places (and how cheap). The 'ville is pretty small geographically and it's not very densely populated. So almost everything is reasonably close and there's few lines for things and tons of parking which makes getting around much simpler and faster. In fact most people when queried reply "oh that's about 20 minutes from here." And it's true (unless you drive like me and then it's 10 minutes).

2. Beauty: The 'ville is located in what's called Middle Tennessee. It's verdant with rolling hills and very pretty rivers (Cumberland & Harpeth are two big ones right in the metro area). There are beautiful trees and flowers everywhere and lovely old homes (both restored and decrepit). It's the most suburban urban place I've ever lived in, even in the center of downtown: right behind the state capitol building is the farmer's market!

3. No one seems to be in a hurry. It's nice but weird. I find myself rushing off somewhere and I look around and think "What for the rush?" Makes me feel like an alien (the kind with an antenna).

3. Quantity & Quality: I think I might have mentioned this before but they really like drinking spirits, beer and wine. And all the best wine lists in town (and there are a bunch of them that are GREAT - broad and big) have a white Zinfandel by the glass up their next to their Chardonnays and white Bordeaux's. You drink it? They pour it. This attitude pervades the music scene too.

4. Christianity: The 'ville is known as "the buckle of the Bible belt" and that ain't mere braggadocio. There are churches of every stripe everywhere but I think this is actually world HQ for the Baptist Convention. They have a big hospital here and a big publishing house here for all their - stuff.

But the wide reach of this really hit home when Mike and I went to register our car. They must have 150 different kinds of license plates available with many of them financially supporting various non-profit organizations and causes. When you go to the website there are all kinds of plates but I was shocked when I came across this one:

Apparently some portion of the extra fee for this plate is "allocated to New Life Resources and shall be used exclusively for counseling and financial assistance including food, clothing, and medical assistance for pregnant women in Tennessee and will also be used to coordinate statewide awareness campaigns, a toll-free helpline and to reimburse social service providers who prepare adoptions throughout the state for services and programs targeting at-risk women and families."

I couldn't believe it. I looked up New Life Resources and it got worse: they are the "ministry materials distribution center of Campus Crusade for Christ" and right on their website is the invitation: "Darwin or Design: examine the evidence yourself". These guys manage to revolt me in two of the most key parts of my life: a woman's right to choose and the idiotic conflation of religion and science.

Oh well - at least we're not in Kansas.

Blahhgg #8: Q &A on The 'ville...le chapitre l'un

Pardon my French. It's just the -ville suffix of Nashville, Smallville, Alphaville, etc. is directly from the French for town or village; French being the language of sophistication and taste during the Enlightenment. Nashville was founded in 1779 as Fort Nashborough at a site on the Cumberland River known as French Lick. Precisely when it became Nashville I haven't sussed yet but someone obviously was under the spell of Francophilia - and rightly so. Any day is a good day for le français!

So those of you kind enough to actually read this blah, blah, blahhgg before you wrap your Second Life fish in it are asking questions about "how's life/food/your place/the town/the people..." So I'll try to answer those questions over the next several posts and if I can keep my (surprising only to me) loquaciousness down to a mere gush, you may get only a few tangential subjects thrown in as well. Here goes:

Q: How's the food?
A: I don't know if this is a testament to my physique, behavior or my true home of San Francisco - Foodie Heaven - but this is the most FAQ I've gotten so far. Here's the answer: The 'ville is known for its music.

With respect to culination the big claim to fame here is the "meat & three" phenomenon. This is a designation - used only at dinnertime - for a one-price meal that includes a meat-based entree and three sides (none of which are salads unless you count potato salad). Here's a typical meat & three plate: meatloaf with mashers & gravy, fried okra and crowder peas (more on them later).

As a way to advertise a bargain - it's marketing genius. And as a marker for the best canned vegetables one can buy under the sun, you can count it for that as well. All that snidery aside I've had some very enjoyable and even really, really good meals here. But even for Southern cuisine I wouldn't say The 'ville is distinguished. For BBQ Memphis is apparently the place and I've already expounded at great length about my currently fav fish shack: Soul Fish Cafe. But I know there are several purportedly really good fish/chicken shacks in town and local Dee's BBQ is supposed to be great too. I'll report on them after I've recovered from the inevitable food coma.

TODAY'S BLAHHGG BULLSEYE: This is an occasional item which will highlight a local establishment of any ilk - today it's one of The 'ville's "Best Diners": Rotiers.

The minute I saw this place I liked it, despite the fact they it is pronounced locally as Row-Tears.

This is an old, gorgeous diner that reminds me of places from my own upbringing. It's got that pre-"gentrification, the whole world's gotta look like Disneyland or the new Times Square" authenticity that I really love. Don'cha love the stone facing and the signage?

The other delightful thing about the palce is it's interior which I didn't have the nerver to shoot. I've linked their website to this post so you can see the booths and paneling - the effect is that warm, cozy, dog-eared feeling of the places your grandfather or uncle or father might have taken you to which none of the women in your family would approve of. They opened in 1945 and Coca Cola sent them a certificate of acknowledgement for serving Cokes there since 1945. They still serve the beverage in those little shapley glass bottles that have not been super-sized!

That said the food is righteous steam table fare: I had the 3-vegie combo selecting the fried okra, turnip greens and the crowder peas. The greens were great - obviously cooked in some porcine effluvia which made them taste fantastic even if they were almost dissolved. The fried okra was a dissapointment and I'm fairly certain that they began their life at Rotiers in a freezer bag. The crowder peas were something altogether different:

The crowder pea is not a pea at all but a true bean (legume) related to the black-eyed pea. I've attached a short description of them and their relations (generally called cowpeas or field peas) below from http://www.victoryseeds.com. Anyway the crowder peas served at Rotier's looked like those small Spanish peanuts. They were cooked soft, with a starchy texture and nutty flavor. They were absolutely yummy mixed with the greens. And of course, they were out of a can, which means that Val can make them too!

Rotier's is "famous" for it's burgers: Mike ordered one and it looked and tasted quite serviceable but overall for me, Rotier's is about the atmosphere and aesthetics of place. That way cool sixties, groovy logo says it all for me.

From Victory Seeds:

There are four types of cowpeas. They are:

• Field pea - Vigorous, vine-type plants with smaller seeds.

• Crowder pea - The seeds are crowded into the pods and starchy.

• Cream pea - Small plants with light colored peas. Examples are 'Texas Cream' and 'Zipper Cream'.

• "Black-eyed" pea - Intermediate size plants. Examples are 'Blackeye Pea' and 'Pinkeye Purple Hull BVR