A Radical Departure

Warren Tales is moving!

After six years in Boston—my favorite city, and a most beautiful home—it is time for me to move on. And so, I will be heading west and returning to my family's hometown and residence in California. 

Gaviota, California

As I make the move, I will be driving across the country—not simply in one route, to get across, but in something of an "S" through the north, mid, and south to finally see the different qualities and culture the States has within it: starting September 1st, and ending any time between Halloween and Thanksgiving. 

While the "American road trip" is typically steeped in vague, implausible, and unrealistically romantic expectations, which ultimately have a tendency of fizzling out into the form of a plane ticket, my trip (while certainly bolstering all of the same absurd/exciting hope and hype) will be completed mostly alone (with frequent, if not constant visits to old friends, and the occasional road tag-along), at a time in my life to which I have allotted significant time and budget in order to prevent issue. Contrived disclaimer aside: I have purchased a car, I have left my job, I have sold my furniture, I have relinquished my apartment, and I have shipped a six-year-accumulation-of-"stuff" home. Needless to say, I'm on my way!

Now, I ask you, reader, to lend me any advise you may have on what to do and what to see (or not) in any state you're familiar with (including Montreal and Toronto, if you feel inspired). I have three weeks until I roll out, and I would love to have as much region-research as I can before "winging" it. I will be camping, I will be visiting new cities, and I will be looking for a local perspective on what make those places great.

Finally, I will not be working on any original projects during this interim period, but my worker-bee brain is never turned off and I will post some fun highlights from the trip both here and on Facebook. I am however, participating in the 2013 Sketchbook Project with the Art House Co-op, producing a Travelogue across the States—marking major highlights creatively in sketch and paper-craft form, and including a selection of original or quoted writing. So be sure to check out the updates as I progress.

Thank you for everything, Boston, I'm entirely unsure of how I will drive away, but will find out soon enough. I leave you with poetry:

A Radical Departure 

by James Tate

Bye!

I'm going to a place so thoroughly remote

you'll never hear from me again.

No train ship plane or automobile

has ever pierced its interior

I'm not even certain it's still there

or ever was

the maps are very vague about it

some say here some say there

but most have let the matter drop

Yes of course it requires courage

I'll need two bottles of vintage champagne every day

to keep the morale high

and do you mind if I take your wife? 

Well, I guess this is it

we'll see ourselves to the door

Where are we . . . ?

Small City Chapbook Release

Warren Tales is double-dipping in creativity for the production of my new poetry chapbook!

Author Bio: Lindsey Yuriko Warriner is a shepherd of short poetry. She draws inspiration from her international upbringing, and dreams of one day writing an epic poem. She has been published by Alehouse Press, and was awarded the 2010 Evvy for Outstanding Poetry by Emerson College, where she earned her BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing.

 
Small City is a collection of short poems ranging in tone from whimsical, reflective, and socially curious. This chapbook was greatly inspired by the city of Boston and demonstrates this in a unique paper-cut depiction of the metropolitan downtown area, featured on the cover and title page.

   
The book measures 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches, and has been hand-bound with a tabbed "matchbook" saddle binding.

Each copy is numbered one through thirty out of thirty in this first edition print run.

Please see below for an example of two of the twenty-nine poems featured in the book, and contact warrentales@gmail.com with any further questions or supply inquiries. Orders will be purchased through Etsy.


Intention

If you open a bag
of potato chips
upside down,
you are in love.

There can be no other
explanation
for your distraction.


In Our Old Shipwrecked Days There Was An Hour

In the Gaviota hills, we find the final hour,
our time blown offshore by salted winds like an
old sun, waning. I was

shipwrecked in the broken underbrush. There,
days passed without a concept of days.
There, I imagined the shipwrecked

was a recital of everything old—
an exodus of memory in our
hour of expulsion. We've come, now let us in.

 

 

My book release and first reading feature took place this Monday as a part of the Stone Soup evening at the Out of the Blue Gallery in Cambridge, to a great reception—a studio packed full of friends, fellow poets, and long-time Stone Soup patrons. I read a selection of original poetry for twenty-five minutes, and not only didn't trip over my own words (or feet), but actually felt very comfortable up in front of the mic. And sold 8 copies of Small City (18 including online reservations). Take that, childhood jitters!

Thank you to Michael F. Gill for the booking, and for being a fabulous host.

An Inviting Round of Golf to Ring in Twenty-FORE!

I turned 24 this weekend, and decided to celebrate with a round of Pub Golf, if only to take advantage of the prime golf-pun potential (Twenty-Fore/Four was just too good to pass up). And of course, designing the themed invitations was half the fun!

The invitation features original artwork and lots of typography lovin', with a customized scorecard on the back, and a removable golf pencil for score keeping. The envelopes then feature a vintage golfer, raised to the touch using thermography (more nerdy joy). 

I was thrilled with the final outcome--of both the invitations and the event itself--and look forward another year of craftiness!

 

My fabulous teammates psyching up at Hole #3: