Sunday, January 21, 2007

The Stories Behind The Fly Girls, II.

I've got a really bad headache. The Colts are getting spanked by the Patriots, setting up a rematch of the 1985 Super Bowl that I'm going to have pretty much no interest in watching. And so, I find myself here, taking a break from the novel (*dropping hints*) to pull together the next set of liner note-type things for whoever the heck is reading this. (Note: I started this post a week ago, and I'm finishing it up now. The Colts came back, I'm actually interested in the Super Bowl, and my headache is gone.)

6. Fly Girls: Serenity -- This is the first of the Fly Girls series, and here's a quick explanation of how this all came to pass. I spoke to women, often by e-mail or IM or other virtual means, and I had them tell some things about themselves. And then I wrote about them. Man, that's an unsatisfying explanation. But that's pretty much what the Fly Girls series was all about. I don't remember exactly who "Serenity" was written for, but I do remember that everything written in quotes is directly taken from what she said to me via e-mail. It's also another haiku-based piece, from that phase when I was using the 5-7-5 form to guide me and give me structure. It's also a poem that really allowed me to work out some of my own shit through the words of others--and you don't get a lot of chances to do that in a project like this.

7. For Fallen Fathers -- My father is alive and healthy and probably playing golf or selling a house right now (knock wood). Raina came to me with a simple request--write a letter to a father that had passed away somewhat unappreciated. There probably was a bit more to the request, but that's the gist. And it was pretty damn easy to imagine the feeling. The original plan for this poem was to lay it out on the top part of two pages with a drawing of mountains and a little person screaming out to the heavens from the top of one peak. I still imagine that image anytime I read it. Go ahead and draw it into your copy. I think it helps.

8. The Elimination of... -- This is one of my favorites, mainly because of how long it took to come up with a plan for it, and then how quickly it ended up getting written. Some wise guy suggested I write about the citric acid cycle. Fair enough. Of course, I know nothing about the citric acid cycle. But I have google (no wikipedia for this one), and I find a site that gave some kind of citric acid cycle equation, and it made no sense to me. And I probably started cursing at the computer, calling it all kinds of foul and undeserved names. You can find some of those names in the poem. The juxtaposition just seemed to work.

9. Meat Locker: A Sketch -- My background in writing isn't as a poet. I'm a playwright by trade. As result, most of the poems I write are mostly focused on telling some kind of story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It just works out that way. The poems that are labeled A Sketch in this volume are exceptions to that rule. They're pieces that try to capture just a moment, just an image. They look at backstories and they look at the meanings of the image, but they don't try to draw things out and complete them. This particular poem was, I believe, suggested by Angie, who suggested a bunch of pieces in this volume. It's based on the real Fairway on 125th Street, and the real meat locker, and real live Brooklyn art students who do this kind of thing, I imagine.

10. We Could Go You Know -- I remember writing this for Trace, but I don't remember exactly what the presented topic was. And it's basic--it is what it is, as I often say about pretty much everything in life. There's always that moment in a relationship when you feel like you and whoever you're with can just take off, leave the world behind, and do better as a unit than you'd ever do apart. And it's scary. And maybe I'm cynical, but I doubt that stuff ever really works. I'd like to believe it does sometimes, but it's hard to see it. This piece, I think, stays a little optimistic about the whole process at least.

Man, this is harder than I thought. Next time, I'll talk about these:
Fly Girls: The Assassin
The Way a Drug Haze Is
Teaching, Part Two
There is a City
Fly Girls: Give Me

And man, there's a lot to say about those.

Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Stories Behind The Fly Girls, I.

I'm going to start updating this space with backstories on some of the poems published in Fly Girls and Other Poems. What does that mean to you? It means you better hurry up and order your copy so you know what the heck I'm talking about. I won't be commenting in-depth on all the poems, because (a) some of them have really boring backstories, and (b) some of them have really interesting backstories that aren't meant for public consumption. Still, there's some good stuff here.

My model for these notes will be the legendary liner notes written by ?uestlove of The Legendary Roots Crew.

1. Incantation -- The theory behind this poem was that I'd tape it over my bed, and it would be the first thing I read when I woke up in the morning. I ended up not doing that, but I still like to read this one early some mornings to give me a sense of what I sound like when I'm really motivated.

2. The First Time I Met -- I don't remember who gave me this topic, but I remember the topic clearly: "Weird"Al Yankovic playing the accordion while riding a unicycle. There's actually a great drawing by duD that goes along with this poem -- two, if I'm not mistaken. This is probably my favorite funny poem that I've written maybe ever.

3. Across The Room: A Sketch -- This was suggested to me by someone. The suggestion was something. I honestly can't even remember. I do remember that I wrote it in about fifteen seconds maybe twenty seconds after getting the topic. It flowed. I haven't edited most of the poems in this volume, but this one really wasn't edited. It was born into the world fully formed.

4. Teaching, Part One -- The "Teaching" series doesn't come out of any suggestions from anybody. All these poems (there are currently four of them) are based on true events in my teaching career. The first piece is based on a topic I've written about at least twice now--once here, and once in my ten-minute play Julio that was performed last year at Prospect Theatre. This version of the events of my first day teaching is a lot closer to what actually happened, and to me, that says a lot about what's great about poetry: being forced to be economically with your word choices brings you a lot closer to the truth.

5. Travel Hailu -- My buddy Cindy is responsible for several poems I've written, some published here and some not published anyplace. When I write for Cindy, I generally work in haiku. I'm not really sure how that came to pass. Cindy goes by the nickname Cindylu (or, in my case, CindyLuuuuuu); hence the term "hailu." The pieces that make up "Travel Hailu" are all based on personal travel experiences of mine, and they led, I believe, to Cindy's hailu challenge when she took a trip to Mexico. She wrote one haiku everyday of her trip--the results are pretty spectacular. Haiku's a great form, especially for travel, because, like I mentioned above, you're forced to be economical and crisp with your word choices.

Much like my use of the enter key, I think haiku can make anyone look and feel like a poet.

Hell, it can make anyone be a poet.

Next time, I'll explain the Fly Girls series, and I'll spell out backstories for these pieces:

Fly Girls: Serenity
For Fallen Fathers
The Elimination of...
Meat Locker: A Sketch
We Could Go You Know

Friday, January 12, 2007

Skill Positions

Quarterback.
Running Back.
Wide Receiver.

These are the skill positions.
These are the positions on a football team's offense that are most responsible for scoring points.
Most responsible for flash.
Most responsible for the big plays we see on Sportscenter.
These are the guys who celebrate in the endzone, shaking pom-poms, pulling out Sharpies, Riverdancing.

Now, here's the implication of "skill positions."
If these guys are skilled, the other guys are unskilled.
Unimportant.
The unskilled laborers of the offensive line, of the entire defense--they can't possibly be as important as the skill positions.

But yo:
You can't win without dominant unskilled laborers.
You can't succeed with the no-names making it happen.
And of course, these "unskill positions" require just as much brainpower, and technique, and yeah, skill as any other spot on the field.

And that's what we're going to be exploring.

The Unnamed Football Project might just have a name.

10,765th With A Bullet.

Fly Girls and Other Poems is moving on up the best seller list.
But steam is slowly dissipating.
So keep working.
Keep spreading the word.
Keep buying books.
And once you've gotten one, please comment on it over at lulu, here on this page, in my e-mail, on the bathroom wall, wherever.

I'll owe you one.

I will be updating this page with non-book news this weekend.
It'll be news about The Unnamed Football Project, which might just have a name now.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

19 Fly Girls Sold. 1,273 Places to Go.

So far Fly Girls and Other Poems has sold 19 copies.
That's good enough for 11,273th place on the lulu.com Best Seller List.
10,000th place would be a fine, fine achievement.
So that's our goal.
Somehow, this book is going to need to jump 1,273 places when all is said and done.

You can do your part by, well, buying the damn book.

Folks who have purchased the PDF version of the book already have their copies, and are happily reading away.
And look, they're telling me what they think:

"been reading for about five minutes. already laughed out loud once and nearly cried once. instant truth. you're a fucking don." -- Riz MC, co-star of The Road to Guantanamo and creator of the Post 9/11 Blues

Post 9/11 Blues
is genius, and I've been saying that long before Riz voiced his support of the book. Go listen to his music, go buy my book, and we'll talk more later.


Saturday, January 06, 2007

I Wrote A Book.

It's a book of poetry.
I would like you to buy it.
I think you will enjoy it.

I won't explain the background of it here.
Go to www.kristofferdiaz.com to read more details.
Go to http://www.lulu.com/content/608106 for even more details.
Click on the back cover to get the most details.

And then buy the damn thing.
$12.99 in paperback.
$6.88 for a downloadable PDF.

It's good times.

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Buy Two Copies.

It's coming.
Oh, it's coming.
Right now, I'm just settling on a name.
And a cost.
This thing isn't going to make me rich.
That's not the plan.
But finding a price point isn't easy.
And you're not here to read about price points.
You're here to read about writing.

Come back this weekend, and I'll tell you about the project.
I'll tell you how to buy it.
Then I'll tell you how I wrote it.
And I'll tell you how you can help me write the next one.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Buy A Copy.

Moderately major announcement later this week.
A dead project is about to be reborn.
And it's something you can get your hands on. Literally.

Let's hope that the process this time is easier than it was last time I tried and failed to make this happen.