A TRAVELER'S JOURNEY IN BABEL: Aug 11, 2007

KALI'S DAY excerpt

"Candice hears the sounds of birds. The last traces of light stain the cave’s entrance far from where she sits in full lotus covered only in the ashes of the dead. She drifts in and out, sometimes jolted from a vast emptiness by the grumbling of her stomach. So far she can silence hunger by simply focusing and re-focusing on her breath. But the stomach is a dumb animal and its indifference to “mind over matter” is becoming more apparent in the increasing volume of its complaint. It clenches itself like a fist and it’s all she can do to keep her eye closed, though she hears something scratching along the ground somewhere to her left. She’s conquered fear, never feared the dark until right before she conquered it. In another lifetime, there was a longing that she barely remembers. So it’s not fear or need that distracts her now. It’s the knowledge that, other than herself, something animate, something alive is within reach. Most likely it’s one of those large succulent beetles, thickly armored against what she is now in most danger of becoming—a predator, since she hasn’t really conquered appetite, has only concealed it, and despite having risen above the desire for even the simplest bowl of rice, is about to succumb to defeat for the taste of something that until now has been far from tempting or even remotely relevant to the satisfaction of any desire, let alone hunger—especially hunger.

She doesn’t open her eye. But she imagines it crawling heavily over the various obstacles in its way: pebbles and clumps of damp earth, a random search for whatever nourishment, dirt, dead insects, bits of excrement, it might stumble upon."

KALI'S DAY available from

Amazon U.S.:http://www.amazon.com/Kalis-Day-BonnyFinberg/dp/1570272816

UK, NZ, Australia & Europe:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kalis-Day-Bonny-Finberg/dp/1570272816

SAINT MARK’S BOOKS (signed copies) 31 3rd Avenue NY, NY

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Saturday, August 11, 2007

If you've landed here, you are on top of the Eiffel Tower, and maybe you'd rather be in Brooklyn. If so, I recommend you take one of the rides in ASTROLAND before they tear it down as this will be its last season before the raptors come and change Coney Island into another shiny corporate feedbag (the CYCLONE and the WONDER WHEEL will stay, as they are owned by New York City and have landmark status.) But they will never tear down the Eiffel Tower because it would be like tearing down the Chrysler Building which would be like tearing down the Eiffel Tower.
I was here, on the top of the E.T., for the third and hopefully last time for awhile, because my dear sister and brother-in-law were visiting and I would basically do anything to make them happy, especially on their first trip to Paris--even stand in line in the cold rain for two hours to get to the top and look around at the magnificence of this city for about 20 minutes, take pictures, and then, thankfully, go get a beer.
I am leaving my Montmartre paradise for New York Shitty in seven weeks and will be glad to see my son, sisters and ooooold friends again. The Parisians are good at complaining and there's lots to complain about everywhere, but I must admit I miss New York style kvetching. I'm sure the charm will wear off quickly, but Murray's Bagels and Hudson River here I come. Seven more weeks....I hope I find someone to stay here that loves plants. Writing is a solitary activity and sometimes the only living thing i touch for days at a time are my flowers and fragrant green friends on the balcony.

Stay tuned....