COUPLET: a poetry and music series

COUPLET loves Cheryl Strayed.

livefromthenypl:

You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself. I don’t say this as a condemnation—I need regular reminders to stop feeling sorry for myself too. I’m going to address you bluntly, but it’s a directness that rises from my compassion for you, not my judgment of you. You must separate the global injustice (why should some be shackled by student loan debt when others aren’t?) from the individual reality (I’ll be paying this damn bill forever).

As you and other long-time readers of this column may know, I’m a socialist at heart, but when it comes to the actual, individual way we live our lives, I adhere to an entirely pull-oneself-up-by-one’s-bootstraps creed. Nobody’s going to do your life for you. You have to do it yourself, whether you’re rich or poor, out of money or raking it in, the beneficiary of ridiculous fortune or terrible injustice. And you have to do it no matter what is true. No matter what is hard. No matter what unjust, sad, sucky things have befallen you. Self-pity is a dead end road. You make the choice to drive down it. It’s up to you to decide to stay parked there or to turn around and drive out.

—Dear Sugar Advice Column #91

I’m happy to announce the amazing line-up for the next COUPLET READING SERIES on October 26th (time TBA) which happens to be our 1-YEAR ANNIVERSARY.

(FB Invitation to Follow…)

• Anthony Cappo
• Gregory Crosby
• Matthew Daddona
• Michael Tyrell
• Joe Winkler

It’s an all- male line-up this time around and it’s going to kind of be like Macho-Man by the Village People, which I think my bunk did a MTV skit to back in 1993 in Sleepaway Camp, but NOT. (Actually, not at all, but wouldn’t that be fun?)

https://www.facebook.com/COUPLETREADINGSERIES