Poetry...oh..the humanity....

ugh! Sometimes poetry is super-duper frustrating! Like having the perfect hamburger that just needs a little bit of ketchup and nothing-is-coming-out-of-the-bottle.... Bonk! Bonk! UGH!

Right now, I am trying to get a bit of handle on the various blogs and stuff I'm on. Here's a link to a recent interview, with Nia King. 
http://asusjournal.org/2013/09/17/nia-king-interview-with-ryka-aoki/

See, stuff like that. Tom Leger is helping me right now! Stay tuned! I know this is an odd post, but it's a very exciting time!

:)
Ryka

Hawaiian Mac Potato Salad

Serves: an extended family

Ingredients

3/4 pounds elbow macaroni

2 russet potatoes, peeled  

8 hard boiled eggs (fresh eggs are best, and try not to overboil)

Best Foods Mayonnaise (the only acceptable brand)

1 cup frozen peas (you can add less peas, but I like peas.)

1 can bay shrimp. Instead of bay shrimp, you can add crab meat if you want to be fancy, or Spam, if you want to be unfancy.

salt and pepper (Johnnie’s or Lawry’s can work here)

Optional

¼ cup grated (not sliced) onion. I don't add this ‘cuz my family is so-so on onions.

1 tbsp cider vinegar, if you must. I think this screws up the taste, but some people like it. I think they must be from O’ahu.

Note: Don't even think of adding Italian dressing or pickle relish.

·       Boil the macaroni. Overcook it a bit so it gets softer. Strain and rinse with cold water.

·       Rinse, boil, and dice the potatoes. It’s okay if the fall apart a little.

·       Peel and dice the eggs. Or just use an egg slicer if you're not too picky.

·       Drain and rinse the shrimp.

·       Combine everything except the salt and pepper into a big mixing bowl. Add 2 cups of  mayonnaise right away, then more until the whole thing sounds sloppy and wet. Mix gently with your hand so as not to crush the potatoes and eggs.  

·       Salt and pepper to just less than taste. As the flavors combine, the seasonings go farther.

·       Cover and put in the fridge. Tastes best if kept overnight. Some people sprinkle paprika over the top before serving. I think it’s kind of pretty that way.

It’s December 2012, and I am terrified. My mother is sick, so I am making the family Christmas dinner. Main dishes? No problem. Veggies? Fine. What is scaring me is the mac salad. Mac salad seems simple, but the way we make it in the islands is special. Get haole mac salad and local mac salad, and from the first bite, you can tell. You have to get it right, otherwise the meal isn't local. Usually one person in the family makes the mac salad.

So I am freakin’ nervous. I know the basics. Overcook the macaroni. Add shrimp. Boil fresh eggs. Use only Best Foods mayonnaise. But still I have no confidence. Then, I start, and the weirdest thing happens. I start to flash back. I see my mother peeling the potatoes. I see my grandmother mixing the mayo. And when I start mixing, I remember that my grandma knew she had added enough, not by a measuring cup, but by the sound.

I finish the salad, and the next day, I give my mother a spoon. She tastes it, looks at me, and seems surprised. I think it's a good surprised. Then she says, “Hey… This real Hawaiian mac salad!” I swear this is one of the best moments of my life. I want to jump and shout I did it! And after dinner, she tells me, “from now on, you make the mac salad for us.”

--Ryka Aoki

Publication updates! :)

Hi All! I’m feeling very blessed. I have a verbal agreement with Biyuti Publishing to publish my first complete book of poetry. I will start compiling it after He Mele a Hilo is delivered to Topside Press. Folks, it has been a tough couple of weeks, and being trans can be tough all around. I have talked to my friends and seriously, one thing so many trans folk have in common is we know a lot of people who are no longer with us. Sometimes it’s so hard just to do the normal everyday things in life. I wish things were easier. But, here we are—and for me, writing is my way of making life livable again. Thank you for reading this, and thank you for being in the world with me.

Cal State Fullerton Lavender Commencement Address

Visions (Perceptions) of Possibilities.

Lavender Graduation 2013 Keynote by Ryka Aoki

Thank you for inviting me to be part of this day. Congratulations! I am honored to be speaking in front of you, the Cal State Fullerton’s Lavender Graduating Class of 2013. I’d like to thank Cal State Fullerton’s Multicultural Leadership Center, and Dean of Students Lea Jarnagin for inviting me. But most of all, I want to thank you, for all your hard work and achievement. You did it! Look at you!

Writing and Performing

As rewarding as it was to tour with the "Fully Functional Cabaret," I will not be doing that show, or shows like it, again. :)

For me, it's time to do some work, to write, to push my voice--all the good stuff I've dreamed about doing. The Rainbow Book Fair in New York was incredibly affirming, as have been the last AWP conferences I've attended, and the fine people I've met at the Southern California Writer's Conferences. Through it all, I realize that I have everything, right here, right now, to create good work.

The Cabaret can recast my part--in fact, a rotating cast might be the best way for the show to propagate and grow. I will still perform and create pieces, but these will be more personal--not as an actor in a traveling pre-existing show. And, gosh! There are plenty of wonderful, talented, hungry actors who would benefit so much from the opportunity!

As for me--I have this story set in Los Angeles, with a family that.... :)

So... latest writing projects...

Well, my novel manuscript, He Mele a Hilo is finished, an now I am working query letter and synopsis. Wish me luck! So excited!

I have started my second novel today--it felt great to be back creating again. I love getting back to  the blank sheet of paper... This one is set in Los Angeles, at least for now. More on it later.

Also, I am working on some poems for a full manuscript due later this year and and and I will be starting soon on a performance piece to be staged in May.

Editing Tip!

My editor just told me to read my entire novel OUT LOUD and correct errors that way. Only two chapters done, but seriously--OMFG.... Totally eye-opening. I thought my manuscript was as close to perfect as I could get it--but all kinds of stuff popping out--not errors, but flow and tone flaws...places where I can tweak just a bit to make each character more distinct. Holy crud. 

Seriously, I am doing this with any major piece of writing I do from here on in. Yes, I teach this to my students for their papers, but for an entire novel--I thought my internal narration was enough. Nope. The physical act of moving air and sound through my lips, the laying of sound on the vocal chords, the gestures the words induce... Reading out loud becomes even more valuable.

I consider myself happily and gratefully reminded of a critical editing technique. Yay!