The quirky + dour James Warner, founder + host of IST
Last night, Thurs, Dec 17 09, I went to my first episode of InsideStoryTime. It was the first time I returned to Cafe Royale since squatting on Stinson Beach the very first few days of 'residing' in the Bay Area; my friend and I drove into the city in search of the internet - the beach would not work forever, you know, as we had to hide . . . it was surprisngly cold in July, too - and we landed at Cafe Royale. Because I knew nothing of the city then I did not remember Post & Leavenworth or even the neighborhood, and I hadn't been back since.
So when I walked in, I already felt like I was coming full circle. I had just left the Mission, where Rajshree and I were scouting out Elixir to make sure it's big enough for the next bout of Quiet Lightning. Turns out it isn't; the next venue - still on January 25 - will be Gestalt. So it felt strange that the last time I was in this bar, I was sleeping on the beach, and little more than six months later I was in the midst of planning my second reading series.
I was also very happy to be able to announce that I'll be writing a feature for The Chronicle on Peg Alford Pursell, who was one of the readers last night, and her new reading series Why There Are Words. As though challenging my ultimate capacity for happiness, "dour MC" and founder of IST James Warner asked me if I wanted to read; Mollena Williams had to cancel at the last minute. I was way more nervous than for Quiet Lightning, which I'd organized and for which I was (almost) prepared, especially after Townsend Walker read "The Second Coming" and "Cindy Lou," both of which I really like - especially Cindy Lou:
Mr. Warner has serious MC skills
Peg reads from "A Frisbee is Not a Toy"
I read "You Are God"
I think it went pretty well, even tho no one laughed at my squirrel joke. We had a pleasant intermission, which was nice because Cafe Royale really is very intimate. The lighting was pretty much exactly how I like it - dependent on candles - and the crowd was small but devoted. I love it when the people you see around are people you like seeing around.
After the break, Robin Ekiss, who single-handedly organized Litquake's Lit Crawl (umm, the largest pub crawl in the world, ever), read a selection of her poems. I was kind of mad at Robin, actually; she never told me she was such a poet. I also love it when your acquaintances surprise you. What you got? Robin has recently published her first book of poems, The Mansion of Happiness, with the University of Georgia Press.
I had my backup tape ready; I was going to switch tapes when Robin was done. But her readings were so good I got carried away with my applause and forgot to make the move. So, unfortunately, I missed some of the end of Skip Horack's reading. Skip read an excerpt from a novel he's working on that I definitely wanted to hear more of. Hopefully, the fact that my tape cut off will inspire you to check out his book, The Southern Cross, or to stay tuned for the novel.
As you may have deduced from the videos, there was a theme to last night's meeting: Happiness. The next InsideStoryTime will take place on January 21, also at Cafe Royale (800 Post), from 6:30-8:30. The theme that go will be Danger, with Lee Konstantinou (Pop Apocalypse), Sophie Littlefield (A Bad Day for Sorry), Paul Linde (Danger to Self), Mary Stein (The Gift of Danger), and Luke Heyerman (Euthanize my Love). I can't say I know anyone but Luke, whom I met during Tamim Ansary's San Francisco Writers Workshop and then caught at Litquake's Barely Published Authors event (where you can watch him read an excerpt) . . . but he alone is worth checking out!
This is definitely one of my favorite reading series now. It's like a scaled-down version of Quiet Lightning with more established authors (don't let the fact that I read fool you. Readers this year alone have included David Henry Sterry, Kemble Scott, Tamim, Justin Chin, Yiyun Li, and so many more). Join me on the 21st!
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