Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year: Now Get Your Shit Together


Hello Everyone,
Happy New Year! Hooray for the end of dark and over-packed December. Here's to a lovely 2013. If, like me, you're a fan of lists, resolutions, and ACTIONS toward GSD (Gettin' Shit Done), might I gently encourage you to consider joining me at one or both of my upcoming workshops?

The first is a one-day affair, which I am co-hosting with my yoga pal, Cindy Scovel. That happens on January 5, 2013, from 10 am til 4 pm at Soma Vida. Cost is $150 and we'll focus on setting mind/body/spirit intent for 2013. Trust me, this shit works. In 2012 I set my intent at the beginning of the year and managed to accomplish everything on my list from quitting smoking to international travel to publishing a book. We've only got a few spots left.

The second opportunity is signing up for one of my six-week writing workshops. The first six-week session starts on January 31, 2013. Cost is $250. Space is extremely limited since we have so many returning members -- really, it's that fun and smart and helpful.

To sign up  you can email me at spikegillespie@gmail.com and if you sign up for both, I will give you $75 off your six-week writing workshop.

Thanks y'all,
Spike

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The Office of Good Deeds Plan to STEAL from Portland! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!


Hello Everyone,
I hope you will join me in my not-so-evil-plan to steal from Portland, Oregon. I am fortunate enough to visit Portland just about every year, and while my heart will always belong to Austin, there are some things out there in the PNW that I do so love. My friends, for starters. The weather. The beautiful trees and other Dr. Seussian foliage. And, spotted on my last trip a few months ago: POETRY BOXES!!

Poetry boxes are like much, much, MUCH nicer versions of those real estate info boxes you see in front of homes for sale. Poetry boxes are made of wood, feature a hinged lid and a clear front, and, inside-- but of course-- poetry! Passers-by can stop and read the poetry or reach in and take a copy to go.

Great, right? And you can fill it with your own poetry or poetry that you love written by someone else. I know, I know, I'm over-explaining this concept. You get it already. So let me move on to the Big Poetry Box Building Party Invite. Which also happens to be My 49th Birthday Party! And it also happens to be The Feast of the Epiphany and National Bean Day! I so hope you'll come. Keep reading...




On Sunday, January 6, 2013, my poet pal, Deva Haney and I are co-hosting a poetry box building extravaganza. Once we get the boxes built, we'll then head over to The Snug, which is inside of Tom's Tabooley on the Drag. There, from 5 pm til 8 pm, we'll eat good food, share poetry, and listen to music by Southpaw Jones and Brian Kremer. Woo-hoo. It is going to be SO GREAT. There are all sorts of roles you can play. Following is a list of possibilities: 



We need folks to donate SUPPLIES! Do you have wood we can use? Good! We'll take it.
We need help coming up with a design-- are you a good wood-thing-designer? Let us know!
We need folks who can build! Do you have skills or are you willing to learn? Great! Email us!
We need folks willing to install poetry boxes in their front yards, particularly in well-walked areas!
We need folks to come to the party and celebrate poetry and ME ME ME! You all can do that.

So, if you are down and want to be part of this project, all you gotta do is shoot me an email. It might take me a few days to get back to you, but I will get back to you.  Thanks! Can't wait!
Love,
Spike
Email Spike

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Maine Event Has Arrived!



WOO-HOO!!! 
The book is HERE! UPS dude just dropped it off. Thank you UPS dude! I just got a small batch today. The rest get here Friday so I can start shipping KickStarter supporter copies this weekend. I'll be doing a reading at BookPeople on 12/12 with my buddy, Sandy Rankin, who is debuting her book, Pearl Street Memories. And there will be more festivities to come. This is so fun. Thanks so much to all of you who kicked in to make this happen!

Also, the website is up as of today!! Check it out: www.SpikeMaineEvent.com 
You can use the form there to order books directly from me. I'm still working out a few hiccups with the e-book version, but I do have a PDF available I can send. Also, probably by the end of the day, you'll also be able to buy it through Amazon Kindle Publishing. 

More news as it happens.
Thanks again!
Love,
Spike

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Sunday's Child: Happy Birthday Henry Mowgli!


And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay

Just about 22 years ago to the minute, I went into labor. As with tonight, it was a Saturday night. Big Red and I were watching SNL when it started. Seventeen hours, zero drugs, and much screaming later, Henry finally emerged. It was not a good start, a home birth gone awry, a panicked midwife who needed to stop for a smoke break in the midst of it all, more than a couple of nightmare moments, and a house full of paramedics and cops. He nearly didn't make it, spent the better part of a week in Cardinal Glennon's NICU in St. Louis. That was about the shittiest week of my life, and I still can't pass by the St. David's truck-- the one with the huge photo of the NICU baby on the side-- without spontaneously bursting into tears.

To everyone who helped-- to get him here, to keep him here, to bring him up right-- I say thank you. THANK YOU. What an amazing creature he is. This is the first time in 22 years that I won't be spending Henry's birthday with him. The first year in a dozen or so that I won't be making the dark chocolate cake with raspberry filling and fresh whipped cream on top. Young man has up and moved to Brooklyn, making his way in the world, doing what he needs to do. 

What an honor and a pleasure and a thrill to call you son, son. Honey, I love you! Thanks for being born. (And, as I mentioned, this year I will go ahead and have Rebound play the role of you in our beloved, traditional birthing reenactment. I'll get dad to film it for you, don't worry.)