Jun 21 2009
Inspiration, in the form of the city
Anyone remember that episode of Sex and the City, when Carrie claims her big love affair is with New York? She spent a week visiting museums, going to old movies by herself, shopping, of course, and enjoying the charms of good ol’ NYC. Well, my Friday evening may have started horribly enough, but thanks to a great friend, who’s been spending her time getting tapped into the arts scene around KC, I had a weekend that inspired me to - gasp! here’s the shocker - write.
I know I write in this thing from time to time, but it’s not truly the same, ladies and gents. But I found my writers’ block un-stoppering, with sudden vigor this weekend and while it was an emotional weekend, I think I’d like to stop and thank the city.
You see, after awhile, you stop asking friends to join you at the ballet, or go to the museum, or the library (and forget that while immensely more enjoyable when shared with someone else, you can, indeed, go by yourself). But to cheer me up, a friend took me to an underground poetry reading Friday at midnight, in the clandestine darkness of strangers, strangers among friends, and the shuttering of windows, execution of the lights. Poetry recited in the dark, from memory, and in what is my horribly rude practice at readings, I found myself writing furiously in my head.
The next day was spent exploring the new exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, a world-class art museum, which I grew up with all my life, but discovered, when I was in Dublin writing for a visual arts magazine, that it had made international headlines, at least, that summer: in the New York Times, as an honorable mention in a list of the ten most beautiful museums, but also, all across the world, from London to Munich, it made headlines for the new Bloch addition.
I hadn’t been there in a month or so, though I volunteer there during the school year, but we explored the new American exhibit, explored the Bloch wing, and then found ourselves at Broadway cafe, chatting to an artist friend of my friends, who dabbles in writing, and was trying to put together a collaborative reading.
It dawned on me that I was woefully out of touch with what seems to be a thriving writers’ community here in Kansas City, not to mention, with the people who are interested in culture here, and hopefully, un-pretentious about it.
So, in light of this, and I’ll probably write again on Friday, here’s a few events going on around town this week that I’m excited about:
Monday (tomorrow): Open Mic Night at the Writer’s Place (www.writersplace.org), 7 pm
Friday:
Collaboration of Art, Music & Poetry @ The Neon Gallery, 7:30 pm, 1921 Truman Road (you can find more details at the Writers Place website, under calendar).
Also Friday, Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize winner, speaks at the New Writers Conference at UMKC, at 7 pm, in Pierson Auditorium.
All of these events are free and open to the public. Also, something also cool, Caddyshack’s playing at City Market Cinema, en plein air, at 9 pm.
It’s summertime, after all. Time to enjoy this city! I may be brave enough to read a (very) short story tomorrow at the Writers’ Place. If you’re at all interested, well, you just may see me there.
