Reb's Big Day at the Library of Congress

Really nice today. Went down to the Library of Congress for Grace Cavalieri to interview me for "The Poet and the Poem" Radio Series. That's right, I'm going to be on NPR, baby, sometime this Spring. Although the interview will be online in a month. Don't worry, when it's up I'll tell you all about it. The best part is this interview was professionally done, meaning they're gonna edit out all my "ums," meaning I won't sound like I just walked off the set of Hee Haw.

Richard McCann was also interviewed. I'm glad to finally meet him, we have mutual friends and its so embarrassing to have to admit one doesn't know a poet from one's own city. He barely "ummed" at all during his interview, which is good because that gives the producers ample time to focus on mine.

Grace was a truly wonderful, thoughtful interviewer -- it didn't really strike me what a generous opportunity she offered until I walked through the Library of Congress and into the big, clean studio that didn't let off a single whiff of urine. I felt rather fancy. On the monitor I briefly watched a live interview from another studio of well-known television writer and producer (I'm not trying to be coy, I'm just not sure if it's public knowledge yet). He was asked why he joined the Air Force in World War II and his response was "I wanted to drop bombs."

After the interview, I went upstairs to see the Filipina Poets exhibit. Looking at all of Eileen Tabios' thick books (and they didn't even have all of them) made me feel like a poetry slug. I couldn't find any books by one of the poets supposedly featured so I inquired to the librarian about what the fuck racket were they trying to run. They promised me this poet and she's nowhere to be found. Turns out that either her books weren't processed by the library yet or her presses never bothered to send them in because they weren't in the LOC system. It was at that moment I had another one of my many assholey epiphanies. Back in Chicago (come to think of it, the same night I was brutally bruised while sharing a bed with Jill Essbaum), Jill asked if I sent No Tell Books titles to the LOC. I was all hell no, fuck the man, they require too many forms and it's not like anyone is gonna go there to read them anyhow. Get over yourself, missy!

Ahem, I'm going to mend my ways, again, and send the books to the LOC. On the drive home I was dreading all the paperwork, but then remembered, hey I have an intern!