Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Last night Ned Vizzini and I read to a packed house at KGB Bar in NYC. Clearly, I read from I Don't Want to Be Crazy. Ned read from It's Kind of a Funny Story, a semi-autobiographical novel about a teen boy hospitalized for depression.
http://www.nedvizzini.com/

Contrary to how it may sound (anxiety + depression = big downer) it was a really good time. Ned is hilarious. He's also a very talented writer and speaker. There was also a great crowd there--lots of friends, co-workers, and strangers. I like strangers.

A nice surprise was the appearance of Wess "Mongo" Jolley from IndieFeed Podcast Network. He created a podcast of my reading. 16 minutes of me reading from Part I of my memoir. It's all Samantha all the time! You can put me inside your little ipod and take me with you. How super is that?!

As of 8/24 you can get the podcast for FREE using the info below. I'll do my best to add it to my myspace page or something, but I'm not so savvy with these newfangled electronics.

Also, photos of the event to come soon...

To get the podcast:
Subscribe via iTunes:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=120373332&s=143441

Subscribe via an aggregator such as Juice or iPodder (paste this link into your aggregator) : http://feeds.feedburner.com/IndiefeedPerformancePoetry

Or, if you want to just download one show at a time, you can do that through our site:
http://performancepoetry.indiefeed.com/

Friday, August 18, 2006

I have been reluctant to post random happenings in my blog, but today I was struck by something so bizarre that I had to write about it.


Today I had lunch with a co-worker at a Thai restaurant in Soho. It's called Peep. Lovely atmosphere, if a little loud, and the food was delicious and well priced. I hadn't thought of the name much . . . except for making a brief connection to those marshmallow chicks . . . until I went to the bathroom.


The two bathrooms doors were flush with the back wall of the restaurant. A little weird to walk into the bathroom next to a table, but not the end of the world. When I went inside I had some trouble finding the light. I turned around to keep looking, and was BEYOND shocked to find that I had a view of the ENTIRE restaurant! I froze. What that fuck? I thought. I tried to remind myself that the exterior of the wall was mirrored, but it didn't help much. [I kept questioning if they really had been mirrored, or if I just thought they were.] I stood there for a moment, watching people eat and waiters running around. Was I seriously supposed to pee while looking at 50 strangers . . .who were eating?


Needless to say I have never peed so quickly or with so much anxiety in life.


So, that's it.
Happy Friday.

I hope you all get to pee in peace this weekend.

sam

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

I feel like it's my birthday! I just saw these two reviews and couldn't be happier!

"A young author makes a stunning debut with this poetry memoir documenting her personal battle with anxiety disorder and the incapacitating panic attacks that first struck during college. Schutz bares all but is never tedious as she documents the difficulties of finding a good doctor and the right medication while struggling to finish college and set her own course apart from her parents. Anxiety disorders affect an estimated 13 percent of the adult population of the U.S., and Schutz performs a valuable service with this firsthand account of the torment they experience."
--The Buffalo News


"[Schutz's] tale is related in an intimate poetry memoir that is compelling and informative."
--Detroit Free Press



Monday, August 14, 2006

My next reading is going to be super.

I am reading with Ned Vizzini, author of It's Kind of a Funny Story, a semi-autobiographical novel about a teen hospitalized for depression.

You might be thinking, "Anxiety and depression . . . what a downer." But I can promise there's also a healthy dose of humor in there, too.

August 22, 2006

7pm

KGB Bar: 85 East 4th Street

www.samanthaschutz.net

www.nedvizzini.com

www.kgbbar.com