Mad traffic on the 405. I hate the westside. Tried a short cut off the 90 that became a long cut and ended up at LMU.
Finally made it to Beyond Baroque in Venice Beach to see readings from Calque, a new journal of translation. This is Jen Hofer, who read beautifully in English and Spanish. She opened with a note that she would be reading in two languages and asked the audience to come along with the sounds. In my new, better world, she won't have to. Especially in L.A. where being bilingual is the norm.
It was so good to be out of the house, in an old theater in an old city hall, listening to someone read poetry. Not that it needs to be said, but it's so much better than staying home and watching TV--it makes you feel human.
On the after-reading tip, I went to the craziest sushi place in Venice ever! (btw, Venice is so not the place I remember from my college days. It is gentrification personified. What was once Dog-Town should now be called Yup-Town). Anyways, this sushi place was called Creative Sushi in Santa Monica. It's hard to describe, but it's L.A. and pastiche through and through: grass huts, Wyoming mountain range wallpaper, plastic plants, UB40 and Bob Marley, and flower trimmed booths. It's B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
Was also lucky enough to spend the evening with friend and artist Yoshua Okon, who had just swam in the Los Angeles River the day before and lived (sort of ) to tell the tale. Also got to meet Raymond Pettibon, former flyer maker for Sonic Youth and Black Flag, now do-it-all artist, and one of the funniest people I've ever met.
