The reading last night at La Mama’s was off the hook. First off, I showed up late (I need to make a macro for that particular phrase) but todo bien as the reading went by poet time and started a bit late as well ;-)
(Note: You can have poet time and you can have CPT/latino time/etc but you should never have a combo of both)
Eliel was right by the front when I got there and hooked me up with a seat so all systems go.

How good was the reading? The AC was off almost the whole time, not a window or a fan in sight, and everybody stayed for the whole reading. Big ups to Kundiman for putting together a dope reading that was graciously MCed, well thought out and delivered the poetry in rapid fire succession.

None of this is rocket science, y’all. The formula for a successful reading event is right in your face and when you choose to stray the path— Don’t be surprised when people walk out at all the wrong time. Jus sayin.

The poets all delivered the goods with sets of newer work that cut straight to the point. Minimum commentary/Maximum poetry. Again, not rocket science.

Somewhere towards the last third of the reading, it felt like someone was cooking pies in the basement of mi abuela’s concina en Guayas. Actually, it felt like WE wuz the pies but no worries as the show kept rockin and rollin.

When the last poet did finish, I was off to the races and ready for some hydration. La Mama has a water cooler down by the entrance with free cups… I wouldn’t be surprised if all the profit they made went towards refilling the jug.

Afterwards– ¡Fiesta! I got to chill with Pat, Oliver de la Paz, Paolo Javier (who was a phenomenal host), Serena, Francis, Lara Stapelton, Jessica Nepomuceno O’Connell, Nicky Paraiso and Sarah Gambito (plus a few other folks whose names I don’t want to butcher up here). We ended up at a spot on Houston that had a full salsa band in effect (violin, trumpets, todo) there was Ginger Martinis, Mojitos and Coronas all over the place. Yours truly is saving himself for a couple of shots of Jameson for later this fall (Ding! The Hint Bell!) so I had to settle for a concoction of mango juice, seltzer, chopped mint and ginger that I dubbed the “Twist & Shout” since it looked like it packed a lot of alcohol and I have to maintain at least some illusion of machismo.

Casual Observer: What’s that?
ob: A Twist & Shout
CO: It looks strong.
ob: Ah, hell yeah! You should stick to drinking your SoCo and lime.

Good fun all around with me passing on some heckling lessons, talking to Pat & Oliver about maintaining the dome– Out there are a couple of pics of me, Pat & Oliver trying to vie for the Savalas award. Followed by dancing at Bob’s where everyone seems to have done something they regret there (meself included).

I am happy to report that my knees survived my attempts to reclaim the 80s and that Full Force’s “Aint My Type Of Hype” is, truly, the hotness.

A fun night that was almost perfect ‘cept for the absence of a certain Ms. Reyes who was sorely missed.

Love ya like West Coast Poppin’ loves Rerun!