Just some bullet points since people don't read myspace as much as they used to:

-I am engaged.  Rich (AKA Mr. Villar) put a ring on it.  We have not set a date, and I like Rich's version of the engagement story, which is complete with him getting on one knee in the post-work Friday Newark Penn Station crowd with the ring in hand.  I did not think this would happen, but I am happy it did. 

-Plans are underway for my book Arc and Hue to debut in Fall 2009.  Some great poets have offered to blurb my book, and Afaa Michael Weaver will be writing the Foreword.  An amazing Chicago artist and educator Makeba Kedem-Dubose will be contributing the cover art.  I'd like to thank everyone who has been encouraging me throughout this process, and helped me believe that there is more to come.

-One of my poems-"Jena, Louisiana"- is in the debut issue of Aunt Chloe, a literary journal put out by Spelman College and edited by Kyla Marshell.  The other publication that I'm extremely excited about is three poems in the latest issue of Black Renaissance Noire edited by Quincy Troupe.  Two of those poems, as well as "Jena, Louisiana", will be in Arc and Hue.

-Other good news, I am getting ready to enjoy my summer so I have to grade papers.   I'm also finishing the second of two short writer's residencies in the Bronx.  I love teaching these kinds of workshops. So much thanks to Ebony Golden for inviting me and sharing the amazing space she's created for the young people in her class.  Shout out to Lakim, Njejeh, Gina, Jennifer, Khadijah, Ariel (who is always smiling), Nita, Camil, Jarvis, Pedro and Day.  Please forgive me if I misspelled someone's name. 

The best news-the weather is getting nice out again.  YAY!

While everyone is inundating me with poems, I plan on watching "Quilombo"-a classic on Zumbi and the maroon community of formerly enslaved Africans that remained intact for about 100 years against the Portuguese. 

I'm also enjoying the bubble gum tune from Jazmine Sullivan.  Some of my friends are tipping toward more bohemian experimental music by Black musicians, which I love that too, but can I just like a sister discovering herself and writing about what she feels?  That's definitely a factor for Mary J. Blige's musical success, but here's the song that is speaking to me and my experiences:

If you haven't already heard the news, my first book was accepted a little more than a week ago by Aquarius Press, as part of their poetry imprint Willow Books.  Some of the poets who will be joining me on the press in Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 are Antoinette Brim, Curtis Crisler and Lita Hooper.  I almost couldn't believe it, but I have secured a stellar Chicago-based sister for the cover art and blurbs from writers I really love.  I'm also plotting on ways to promote this book that recalls my b-girl/freelance journalist days. 

Other than that, I'm finishing up my semester with my students at Rutgers.  I have readings in New York in March and April.  Click here for the info and other updates.

I'm also excited that some poems will be appearing in the upcoming issue of Black Renaissance Noire edited by Quincy Troupe, the debut issue of Mythium, Hanging Loose and Reverie.

So, I'm being a busy Betts and trying to think of topical things to share with you all soon. Lately, I've been listening to Charlie Wilson, formerly the lead singer of The Gap Band. If you don't know, find out. I was just thinking how I don't hear enough songs where the men are talking about taking care of women, not in a golddigger sort of way. Just making a sister feel all loved up. Charlie Wilson was around at the verge of my boy-crazyness tipping into grade school because The Gap Band was a staple on the jukebox at my grandparents' tavern. Now, I hear him and I know why a grown woman would love to hear him sing. He still sounds like a strong singer, unlike K-Ci and Jo-Jo of Jodeci (so sad).

So, feel free to drop a note, I'm hoping to start an official blog at some point when my semester ends, but I will update with shows, photos and musings here too.

Because today is be my own secretary day, I'm trying to rangle the random matters of my mail and household into some semblance of order.  I've been writing so things need to get typed, people ask you to email them countless things and you fall behind, then there's that 90 minutes you spent on facebook without even trying.  Time adds up more quickly than I ever imagined. 

In any case, I was thinking about what it means to "go green" in the current economy, which is sounding like a good thing for black construction contractors to get hip to.  Also, I'm thinking Pedro and Acela, the sweet couple that let me stay in their home in Cuba.  How they created classic posters, stone and wood sculptures and improvised from the land and environment around them.  There are so many ways to recycle, re-use and use less. 

I'm also thinking about the polluted environments that are often populated by people who may not be able to afford to move away.  Although I don't hear the term used as much anymore, but I do believe there is environmental racism. 

So, how do we start to address this problem and clean things up?  Recycling is one answer, but we know that part of President Obama's stimulus package is compelling people to "go green" with concern for energy/fuel and retro-fitting buildings.  My advice to people is to start looking into organizations and trainings to get in on the groundfloor of this movement before it's too late. 

I'm really intrigued with the ideas in Van Jones' book after seeing him on BETJ, so I hope more people hear what this brother is talking about.  If you haven't heard of it, it's called "The Green Collar Economy". Here's some places you might want to tell your cousin, uncle, sister, associate to check out:
Boots on the Roof

Sustainablog

SCOPE in Los Angeles

BIG: Blacks In Green in Chicago

In addition to all this, I find myself thinking about how young people get in touch with a sense of compassion and how sensitive living things can be if they plant something and watch it grow. If Howard Gardner can include working with plants as one of our multiple intelligences, why can't I count planting my mother's tomatos and mulching the backyard leaves to fertilize the plot as part of my skills set? It's a soothing practice. We've got so much to do to get back in touch with the planet. I want to hear some poems about that!

All that being said, I'll leave you with a taste of Arrested Development, a group that has broken up and been re-constituted since this song, but they still make music.

take care,
Tara

I've been wanting to say more, write more, push myself to explore the boundaries of language.  I promised myself that i would start 2009 in a new notebook. Instead, I am staring at the cover of the same purple composition book that I started in late 2008. 

I used to be able to fill one of those composition books every month.  Although, I'm sure that I rambled more, and I think if anyone finds the ones that I cannot, will have to decipher the illegible at best entries.  Now, it seems like whatever I have to bring to the page should be more careful, weightier. 

I have been missing the ability to drift, to let the page be a home for the funk, the beginnings of poems and stories and a repository of thoughts.  I manage to escape the journal being a steady to-do list of things to do and those already accomplished, but I find myself wanting to look out the window at the random litter trapped in the rocks along the train tracks on my way to work.  I am in awe of the tires bobbing in the same small ponds that spike with tall grass along the NJ transit line.  Sometimes, I wonder if the poems are hiding there.

Out of all the students that I've had, I hear their stories and I wonder if they see how valuable each moment is when I've already forgotten a few of my own.  Will they burnish the stones of each memory that I only occasional spot in my own mind with a flash of surprising buoyancy. 

Is it trapped in a lovers' kiss or the blue light before dawn?  Will the poems appear in the quotes mined from the genius of another writing stunning me into silent morning contemplation while the trains keep moving forward to destinations like my own.

Just a few things to talk about today:

My excitement for vegan cookbooks, even though I highly doubt that I will ever give up dairy entirely.  Have any of you seen "The Post Punk Kitchen"?  If not check out her site or go to Brooklyn to watch her on public access tv.  She does have a cookbook.  I also ordered a sale copy of "Veganomicon" which means it's basically a doorstop cookbook of recipes.  Joy...

Speaking of eating well, I'm excited that I'm going home to Chicago for few days in February to lead a workshop at one of the places I call home, Young Chicago Authors.  If you are a student or a teacher, you should be able to get a discount, click here I am still convinced that I never ate better than when I lived in the Chi.

I also received the good news that I will be leading a youth workshop in Philadelphia for the Germantown Poetry Festival Youngblood workshop series in March. Past workshop leaders have included Doug Kearney, Ursula Rucker, and of course, the inimitable Yolanda Wisher. I think I'll be in great company. If you have any suggestions for things I have to see in Philly, let me know.

As far as the manuscript, I want to say thank you for the many kind notes and letters and encouragements that I've received. I'm realizing that I have four months left before I stop sending it out. I think I have about 10-15 places left on my list that I plan to send it to, but I'm up for suggestions. Most of the poems in the manuscript have been published. The manuscript has been re-sequenced, re-titled, reviewed by several people and even was a semi-finalist for the Phillip Levine Prize, which I did not win, but that's OK. At least that means that it's a coherent manuscript.

I also wanted a moment to thank Erica Fabri for taking the time to give me some solid advice on getting the manuscript out there, especially since I'm glad to hear that she's releasing her book "Dialect of a Skirt" on Hanging Loose Press, and I know that the cover and the poems will be fabulous and quirky.

In other news, my interview with fellow Kankakee hometown girl and novelist Kalisha Buckhanon is the cover story for Mosaic magazine. If you haven't heard of this magazine or seen some of their other interviews or cover stories, go to Mosaicmagazine.org and get a subscription. This is one accessible magazine that consistently features reviews and interviews by Black and Latina/o writers. I think it would be great to get classroom sets for high school students and up.

I will try to be more topical, but there's always little bits to share when we're on the run...

Tara

Because it's payday/because you just got off work/because you just got outta school/because you 'bout to see yo'baby-honey-love-sugga-sweet-thang/because you got the fly boots and the dress huggin' the good parts well/because you gettin' the car washed before you kick it/because you still gotta job but the economic security doesn't make a cocktail sound less appealing/For all the reasons above, and many mo', I pledge to uphold the honor of posting a funky throwback video every Friday.  I will be taking requests via message and please feel free to leave comments.  In the meantime, enjoy your first selection introduced by none other than Soul Train's Don Cornelius, followed by the best scene in Prince's classic "Under the Cherry Moon":

Hey All,
if you missed my reading at Art House in Jersey City, NJ,  here's a little taste.  The poem "Erasure" was published in PMS #8, edited by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers.  I'd like to thank Christine Goodman for this footage and Art House for being such a great audience.  They have featured poets such as Suheir Hammad, John "Survivor" Blake,  Kelly Zen-Yie Tsai, Rich Villar, Kay Barrett, Jessica Elizabeth Nadler and Regie Cabico among others.  There's also a friendly open mic, so if you're in Jersey City, it's worth checking out. 

take care,
Tara

Really, I have no idea what I want to write about, but I'm here.  I figured I'd visit and say a little sumthin'.  People have been asking how I've been and it seems with all the Twitter updates and facebooking that people should know what I've been up to, but what does it mean to ask somebody "how are you?" 

The older I get, the more often it seems that people don't want an honest answer to that question.  Who wants to hear if you had a bad day?  Usually, people just expect you to say everything is good, and you share the bright points of your day. 

This puts everyone at ease and they get to smile and nod politely or pretend to listen attentively when you KNOW people will be thinking about what they're going to say next or really they're thinking about something else.  Everybody does that sometimes.  I know I've done it. 

I tend to have a policy of honesty or omission which is similar to the characters in the Disney classic "Bambi".  If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."  If I don't say something nice, it's because I don't mind everybody knowing what I think.  It's simple, but not always easy to determine when to do what.  You should say what's on your mind with tact. 

Now, I haven't been going through crazy changes or anything like that, just thinking about how people put on facades and how people are often pleased with that.  In fact, I feel like I'm knitting together a life that pleases me.  In the past, I have found myself working all the time and not necessarily financially the better for it.  I feel like it's time for me to strike a balance and enjoy some of my life before I have any children, before I possibly get a Ph.D.   Nothing is wrong with that, but a new year always makes me think about how we can be better people and be kinder to ourselves, especially if we weren't before.  

So, I guess I'm saying if you ask someone, "How are you?" Don't just ask it as a shallow question.  Wait and listen for a real answer.  You'd be surprised how many people really have something on their minds, when they're not trying to be clever. 

I've been trying to debrief from the semester a little bit at a time, but I am trying to let it go. Most of my high school students in Manhattan have finished their college application essays, and I felt privileged that Willie Perdomo and his students at Urban Word allowed me to share space at their workshop. I have final portfolios that I'm giving back to students on Tuesday. New poems are traversing through the U.S. Postal system to go to publications all over, and some other projects that I've been working on.

I've been glad to hear good news from my cousin Dwayne Betts (and his upcoming book "A Question of Freedom") and my other cousin that I grew up with in good ol' Kankakee. Other books that I'm glad have found their wings include Raina Leon's "Canticle of Idols" which I have some swell pictures to share from her book party at Bowery Poetry Club during Thanksgiving weekend.
Since my last post, I've failed to discuss some historic moments that I did not think I would live to see, and I've felt the gamut of feelings about it. I just need time to process. I've thought about an open letter to our President-Elect Obama to talk about my hopes for the next four years and beyond, Proposition 8, arts funding, his interracial heritage, our sweet home Chicago and making Patricia Smith the inaugural poet.

I also thought about writing about taking the GRE and watching "Twilight" and reading the novels that have replaced my Harry Potter fix. By the way, did you all know that "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" should be out in time for Christmas so I may have to check them, especially since I fancy myself being slightly like Hermione. I also thought about writing about the "No More Love Poems" contest that I did with my students at Rutgers, but I'm just glad to be here. I wanted to say hello. Let everyone know I'm still around and about.

I'm just relaxing tonight and casually watching Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine" so I thought I'd share an animated short from the film. I hope you all enjoy it.