No Poem Is the Only Poem. No Story Is the Only Story. No Kings.
Even in late 90s Kent, gay nightclubs were secreted away as if shameful. There was no Manchester canal street where everyone was allowed to be out and proud. This nightclub was set back in some woods. Hidden from the road, you had to know it was there. Built like a large cabin, only its pink neon sign gave it away. ‘Flamingos’ a strange choice I reflected given its very English setting.
Film noir source literature can be brutal. It can be ugly. It can be racist and reflect the common prejudices and phobias of the day. But you should be kept informed about what viciousness might lie in the foundations of your beloved classics.
Since then, thirteen years have passed, and even though we hadn’t been in any contact during that period, I never completely erased Despina from my memory. Her face and body cropped up in my head during many sleepless nights and gradually she became my most precious phantasy, helping me to survive my gloomy days. I couldn’t shake off the divine reminisces of the first few weeks with her and until today, I still think of this brief time stretch as the best of my life.
April 7th, 12:10 am.
Ai Weiwei's foreman looks remarkably similar to Ai himself, so much so that when people see him (the foreman, that is) there is the kind of communal, hushed stirring that happens around a possible celebrity sighting: Is that—? No, it couldn't be…is it though? The disappointment when the truth is revealed: no, it’s not Ai Weiwei. The man in question turns out to be one of four of Ai’s employees who have traveled from China to the States on his behalf.
Walking down my street in Seattle, I’m thinking of Baltimore again. I liked my street there, the way all the brick glowed when the sun set in the summer. Kunal and I had everything we needed there: the Brewer’s Art two blocks away for a weekly cocktail date, Viccino’s around the corner for a two-dollar slice, the patch of park around the Monument for taking in fall foliage. At Dooby’s, you could watch the students and remember how it felt to end classes at noon on a Friday.