It’s a grey cloudy morning,
of the October variety.
I don’t mind,
I feel good,
my friend Pierre,
webmaster extraordinaire,
fixed the pesky problem,
with the blog,
just to be clear,
you all were never in danger,
of contamination,
it was a Google alert brought on,
by a spam,
left on the blog,
incredible amount of spam,
you gotta wonder
!!??!!
any way,
it’s fixed,
BB is back
🙂
It’s been slow and odd,
at the bookstore,
remnants of full moon,
weird Fall weather,
cold,
hot,
rainy,
grey,
everything within three days.
So, instead of obsessing on that,
or the blog,
limited success with these but, still…
I have been reading,
Ivan E. Coyote’s,
latest collection of stories,
One In Every Crowd,
Fun aside, recently when I visited the Queer Book Fair here in Montreal, Queer Between The Covers, I bought both this book and, Persistence: All Ways Butch And Femme, from Arsenal Pulp Press’ table and as we strolled the rest of the book fair, I was carrying the books and met the artist who created both book covers, Elisha Lim, she was very pleased that both books had her art:-) At the Anarchist Book Fair, I had also purchased her Zine, The Illustrated Gentleman, which is an adorable twist on GQ, Butch style. She does nice work, you should check her out, at http://elishalim.com/
Getting back to Ivan,
you all know,
I love her work,
her written work,
since I have never seen her perform,
someday, I hope.
Ivan’s writing speaks to me,
directly to,
my butch soul.
This collection is no exception.
A few of the stories,
have been published,
previously,
in other collections.
At first,
I thought,
oh, I’ve read this, too bad,
and then it felt,
like I was visiting with a good friend,
talking about the old days,
what Bruce calls ‘Glory Days”,
and,
catching up on what’s been going on,
with her,
in her life,
talking about her Grandma passing,
her quitting smoking,
her new and marvelous love,
bitching together on,
how Harper is ruining Canada,
and,
how the Christian Right,
is messing with our American cousins.
Catching up,
reminiscing,
butch to butch.
That’s what it feels like to me,
when I read Ivan,
shooting the shit,
with a pal,
a sister,
a brother.
I’ve never met Ivan,
I probably never will,
so?
doesn’t make our ‘relationship’,
any less,
‘intimate’.
That’s what great books,
give you,
connection.
Now,
I am way past the age,
of needing guidance,
from a butch who’s been around the block,
but,
I think the young LGBTQ people,
that Ivan wrote this for,
well, mostly,
will benefit,
from knowing,
that there are uncle Ivans,
out there.
Who live their lives as they wish,
who write,
and,
perform,
and earn a living,
who come from families,
that love and support them,
and,
those who don’t have families,
like that,
can find them,
make them,
that many of us,
exist.
Some of us,
are messed up,
some of us,
are well adjusted and happy,
we just are.
It’s good to know,
that High School,
even for those of us,
who do fine,
or pass,
whatever the case may be,
isn’t the end all.
I had a supportive family,
like Ivan’s,
we didn’t have to talk about this stuff,
it just was.
High School was fine.
I’ve said it before,
I’m lucky.
I’m not sure I would have needed,
Ivan’s book,
but,
it would have been,
nice to have,
just as it is now.
Be it for an example,
or a warm familiar presence,
it’s good to know,
that the Ivan’s of the world,
are there,
and writing to us,
comforting,
and,
inspiring.
A must add to your collection,
in my humble opinion,
and,
something to give to a kid you know,
who feels different,
nothing preachy or academic about this book,
a talk with your favourite uncle.
Some of them might even think,
when I grow up…
I’m gonna be like that
🙂
Later girls,
BB
***the header is an homage to what is quite possibly my favourite book, 84 Charing Cross Road**