I recently discovered the Loose Leaf Tea Loft, a tea shop/cafe that hosts open mic nights and poetry readings. Bonus: it’s a stone’s throw from the studio (4229 N. Lincoln) and all their events are free. Their next event is a Poetry Cram Open Mic, Tuesday, January 13, 7:30 to 9:30 PM. Get out there and listen to some local flavor, and if you’re feeling brave get up there and share! Check out their website at http://www.looseleaftealoft.com for more upcoming events.
From all of us at StoryStudio Chicago. We wish you health and happiness and great sentences.
Cheers.
I can easily guarantee you that StoryStudio will NOT be doing any countdown lists, Best Ofs, or Year in Pictures Reviews. I hate those things. Who needs to re-watch John McCain squirming on Ellen when we have Rick Warren making us squirm for the Inaugural? And don’t even get me started on the latest Britney-Paris-Lindsay-Bradjolina-[INSERT CELEBRITY NAME HERE] debacle. Talking about the Economy makes us just want to cry. We barely lived through the past year and I for one certainly don’t want to have to relive it before I pop that bottle of Champagne to usher in the new year.
Or do I?
Really, what’s the harm in remembering the worst moments of the Campaign without End or watching a replay of the year’s worst tornadoes. Going to see the movie, Milk made me remember how these newsy tidbits can do wonders for waking me up and forcing me to take notice of the world around me. Over the Christmas holiday I was in a sort of news blackout as I was away from my daily New York Times and afternoon NPR sessions. I promised myself I would leave my computer closed unless I absolutely HAD to check out something. (I lasted almost two days.)
I won’t lie and tell you the break from the news calmed my nerves or made it easier to think. I kept worrying about what major catastrophe was happening and I was missing all the details. Kind of sick, I know. But this curiosity about the world can be construed as an important desire to be a part of that world, to not divorce myself from the difficulties we face as a society. It also means that I shouldn’t divorce myself from the achievements we make as a society.
I can tell you I get no greater joy at work than learning that one of our StoryStudio writers has gotten something published. Hell, I even want to celebrate when one of my writers tells me she’s finished a chapter. That’s big news around here, and definitely worth noting. And those who know me will attest to how much I enjoy debating, especially the personal aspects of our political realities. And if I’m all alone in a room somewhere, it’s pretty difficult to get a good argument going.
So while we won’t be spending our time looking backward, we will be craning our necks to look around the corner at 2009 because I for one want to hear a lot of news worth celebrating!
Happy New Year everyone from all of us at StoryStudio Chicago.
We’re all getting ready to celebrate the holidays in our own unique fashions. For me? I spend it with my family, who I love, very much. But for whatever reason, it’s during these trips “home” that I get the most outrageous thoughts and questions running through my brain. While the rest of the clan is playing Tripoli, I’m off in the corner, huddled with a book, a magazine and my notebook which gets lots of action.
It’s not that I’m anti-holiday or anything (although I really don’t like playing games!), it’s more that these times away from the usual routines of life open up my brain, my imagination is allowed to breathe, to relax, to do what it does best: just be.
So while we can be thankful about a lot this holiday season--and here at StoryStudio there is an awfully long list of things to be thankful for-- I will also relish this sacred time to breathe, perchance to dream.
Happy Holidays.
Come by StoryStudio tonight, December 17th, for a reading of the inaugural chapbooks published by Ice Box Press! Join us for readings by Kristiana Colon (Pieces of Shedu) and Ryan Pendell (Say To These Bones, Live!).
The reading begins at 7pm. There will be snacks and drinks, and chapbooks will be available for purchase for only $3.
StoryStudio Staffer Liz is the co-founder of Icebox Press so come offer your support and listen to some great poetry.
“Ice Box Press publishes innovative poetry, fiction, and nonfiction of emerging writers. We strive to make top quality, handmade chapbooks, which marry the art of the writing to the art of the book form.”
For more information, check out the Ice Box Press blog.
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