two a.m. thoughts

i'm at epoch drinking coffee late late and cranking out another cover letter. mia kirshner was amazing to see face to face tonight. she was beautiful and touching and refreshing. it was as if i had walked onto the L word set and half-expected to see leisha hailey around the staircase. mia's hair is long now and she was dressed in black - classic dramatic jenny-style. i tried to discreetly sneak in a photo of her, but by the time i did she had moved from the center podium and appears as a blur. nonetheless, it made me SO HAPPY to be at her reading. her book "i live here" is regarding her personal work with people affected by genocide and poverty in various foreign countries, and the failures of amnesty international to reach them. we have poverty right here in austin and right here in america. does it not make you mad that bush has allocated billions and billions of dollars to the war in iraq when that money could have been feeding millions of people around the world? mia noted that some of the people she met exuding the most joy for living were ironically the ones living in poverty, and i recognize pieces of that truth in my own experiences. the cushier my life has become, the more privileged i have been in the material world, the more alienated and discontented i have felt with my life and with what i am doing here. i think it's because spiritual fulfillment cannot be found in material wealth. not that i've ever been rolling in it. you know what i mean, right? i love having money (to spend) but new clothes offer a temporary sense of happiness. i ran into j.p. by chance, who shared a warm latte with me at the whole foods store across the street after the reading was over. it was really, really nice to spend time talking. i told her that next month, as soon as my book is released, i'm dreaming up a POETRY & DRINKING soiree. everyone brings a book of poetry they love or a book they love to a wine bar or lounge.