Cyberflanerie: Bajacaliforniana

The ever-inspiring Graham Mackintosh, author of Nearer My Dog to Thee: A Summer in Baja's Sky Island, among several other Baja classics, is back. Check out his website:
San Pedro Martir 2012
Picacho May 2013
Picacho June 2013
Picacho July 2013

And more for Baja Buffs: 

>Trailer for the film-in-progress Las Misiones Jesuíticas de la Antigua California, Baja California Sur, México 

Baja California Guest-bloggers of yore here at Madam Mayo:
>Graham Mackintosh
>Jennifer Silva Redmond
>Greg Niemann

> Two Podcasts from my memoir, Miraculous Air: Journey of 1000 Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico. 

I've got sky islands on my mind because I'm now writing a book about far West Texas-- home to many sky islands. To me, the most beautiful are the Chisos.

COMMENTS

Cyberflanerie: Nonmexicans in Mexico Edition

Patrice Wynne, owner of San Miguel de Allende's Abrazos, did this fascinating podcast interview on living and doing business in Mexico. Patrice has such a beautiful and brilliant spirit. Don't miss this!

Am I the only one who always wondered what happened to Toller Cranston? I note that his San Miguel de Allende compound is up for sale. More about the exuberantly creative Mr Cranston here.

Speaking of Mexico, Good Food in Mexico City blog alerts us to Coyoacán's fabulous mega feria de tamales.

Graham Mackintosh

Ed Zieralski of the Union-Tribune San Diego reports on my amigo Graham Mackintosh's new south of the border adventure. Feliz viaje, Graham!
(P.S. Check out Graham's guest-blog for "Madam Mayo" here.)

Metaphysical Traveler blog tips us to the Mayan leprechauns, the aluxes.
(P.S. I guest-blogged for Metaphysical Traveler recently, about table tipping a la mexicana.)

This February 7 at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington DC, Edward Sullivan will give a talk entitled "Dreamscapes," about art by Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and other surrealists in Mexico. RSVP here.
(P.S. Listen to my podcast about some of these artists, with author of Villa Air-Bel, Rosemary Sullivan, here.)

Comments

The Book Works in Del Mar and the Bookworks in Albuquerque

That's me blogging--- taking a break in La Posada, Winslow Arizona, surrounded by the stunning artwork of Tina Mion (in the background is her masterwork "A New Years Party in Purgatory for Suicides"), after the book tour's swing through Southern California: Vroman's in Pasadena, Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at University of California San Diego, Book Works in Del Mar, and then the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles.

In the photo below: my amigo, the King of the Baja Buffs, Graham Mackintosh, who graced my event at Del Mar's Book Works with his always smiling presence. (If there's a joke to life, I'm sure Graham gets it. Check out his latest rollicking memoir about Isla Angel de la Guarda: Marooned with Very Little Beer.) Then, c'est moi in the
Mexican pink jacket; the sales rep for Unbridled Books' (Frank, Bless Your Heart!); and owner of the Book Works, Lisa Stefanacci. If you're anywhere within a 100 mile radius of Del Mar, do not miss this cozy bookstore famed, by the way, for its thoughtful selection on books about the brain. The photograph in the photograph? That's the carte-de-visite of the last prince of Mexico, Agustin de Iturbide y Green. I so wish this group photo included Richard Feinberg, professor of International Political Economy at UCSD, who gave the very generous introduction to my presentation--- pictured below.


This Wednesday June 3 at 7 pm I'll be reading at the Bookworks (this one spelled as one word) in Albuquerque. Click here for more information about that. More anon.

Guest-blogger Jennifer Silva Redmond's 5 Favorite Baja California Writers's Websites

Baja California is that Mexican peninsula which begins at Tijuana and ends nearly 1,000 miles south at Los Cabos. (The photo was taken by my sister, Alice, and shows the Sea of Cortez on the right, Pacific on the left.) Guest-blogging today is my amiga and fellow Baja aficionada, writer (her work is in Latinos in Lotusland, the new anthology edited by Daniel Olivas) and editor-in-chief of Sunbelt Publications, Jennifer Silva Redmond. As Jennifer is one of the world's experts on this magnificent finger of the world, it is a special honor indeed to have her guest-blogging here today. Over to you, Jennifer!

Here are my top five websites of those who write about Baja California-- its history, natural history, people, places, even cuisine... To limit it to 5, I’ve assumed you all know Madam Mayo’s wonderful Miraculous Air (mandatory for Baja-lovers), and my amigo Graham Mackintosh’s site-- he was a recent guest blogger here. My list is confined to those Baja authors whose sites yield goodies: downloads, excerpts, recipes, links, and more! (Disclosure: Yes, many of these sites do link to Sunbelt, but what can I say? We’re where people go for new and classic writing about Baja!) I’ve listed them A-Z, to avoid any hint of favoritism... Enjoy!

#1. Bruce Berger Wrote one of my all-time favorite Baja California books, Almost An Island, and won the 1990 Western States Book Award for Creative Nonfiction, for The Telling Distance, among other awards. Berger is an author and poet, journalist, activist for environmental conservation—and a concert pianist! His site would be worthwhile just for this poem and excerpt; but it also has some great links, like this one to Planeta Peninsula, co-publisher of Oasis of Stone, with stunning photos by Miguel Angel de La Cueva.

#2. Harry W. Crosby Author of the best-known and most lauded books on Baja (after Steinbeck!). Those who love Baja California may already own The Cave Paintings of Baja California and Antigua California but many don’t know his latest history (of the trek to San Diego in 1769) Gateway to Alta California. Two of the coolest links on his site are easy to miss, the UCSD photo collections gallery and text, and the outtakes and excerpts (like DVDs “extras”) from his novel, Portrait of Paloma. Also check out the Crosby Collection on the UCLA Rock Art site.

#3. Ann Hazard Her two “Baja Magic” cookbooks are synonymous with Baja California cuisine. Everyone should have a copy of the first Cooking with Baja Magic cookbook, but you may not have numero dos yet! You’ll find that and Agave Sunsets on her site, which is a veritable treasure trove of fun stuff-- new stories and articles, a few excerpts from the new cookbook and her novels, unique photo-art by Terry her talented partner, and best of all, lots of wonderful easy-to-make recipes for yummy comida y bebidas!

#4. Michael Mercer Love his books? Think he should be censored? Either way, he’s a helluva writer! I read Mexicoland, his first collection of stories back in 1998, and said his writing was “broadly comic to subtly disturbing, but always fascinating.” Nothing has changed. This story about Osama Bin Laden is from his book Bandidos (which caused quite an uproar, including being banned locally) you can read all about it on the site; also available is a talk he gave in Los Cabos in 2006 and some witty short pieces like this one about Costco.

#5. Daniel Reveles Beloved Mexican Author who made Tecate Famous (see Tecate on Wikipedia!). Señor Reveles’ whimsical tales have been compared to O’Henry, Twain, and other humorists, but his stories can bring a tear, too. His website includes an audio download of him telling the story of “Señor Frog” from his new collection of stories Guacamole Dip, excerpts from the new book and Tequila, Lemon and Salt, a downloadable reading group guide in PDF form, and even a slideshow of Tecate!

There are so many more-- publications like Baja Breeze (6 full pdf issues to download!) and Baja Traveler, authors who update their sites regularly, like Greg Niemann of Baja Legends fame, and David K’s eclectic, far-ranging, and photo-filled Viva Baja which defies description but is so addicting! A site that covers all of Mexico, but has Baja travel stories, book reviews, info, and articles in Mexico Premiere (check out their social network, called Zocalo).

---Jennifer Redmond
www.sunbeltbooks.com

--->For the archive of Madam Mayo guest-blog posts, click here.
Up next Wednesday: novelist Gayle Brandeis.

Guest-Blogger Graham Mackintosh's 5 Favorite Websites

The King of the Baja Buffs, the one who knows Baja California up, down, and all around--- indeed, in a death-defying feat, he actually walked around its entire coastline--- the one who has seen its almost every nook and rattle-snake-infested cranny, and especially, its loneliest and most dangerous places, and then shared his stories in a multitude of books, most recently, Marooned with Very Little Beer, about two months alone on a 42-mile long island in the Sea of Cortez... OK, I know this is a helluva run-on sentence... it's... drumroll.... Graham Mackintosh! I have, and treasure, all of his books! Truly, no bibliography on Baja California can pretend to cover the 20th and 21st centuries without including his works. And, as anyone who has read his books and/or met him can testify, he has a joyous and generous spirit. So it is for me a very special honor to have Graham Mackintosh guest-blogging today. Over to you, Graham.

When the New York Times reviewed my first book, I received the incredible accolade that “Graham Mackintosh is not much of a writer, but he makes a great traveling companion.” Ever since, I have absolutely refused to take any steps to improve my writing, and have just concentrated on making my tales as interesting and humorous as possible.

The most comprehensive single Internet source for discussion and opinions about Baja California is perhaps BajaNomad. At its best, Nomad is a wonderful resource; at its worst, it’s replete with knee-jerk negativity. Ironically, when I most need its community opinion, I tend to stay offline. I’m much more productive being “not much of a writer” when I work alone and focus on the experience that I’m trying to convey. Reading that I should be yanked from Baja, thrown in jail, and have all my worthless books trampled underfoot does not seem to help the process. There was such a heated Nomad debate about my last adventure camped on a remote island in the Sea of Cortez, that I included great chunks of the back-and-forth in my new book. It saved me writing whole chapters and was much more entertaining than anything I could have written. I’m just glad I didn’t know the half of it (the hostile half) while I was enjoying my sensitive, thin-skinned experience with the spirits and the wild life on the island.

Perhaps because of my Catholic, working class upbringing, I’ve always sought “truth” on a visual and emotional level. And probably because of my propensity for devouring comics as a kid, my deepest thoughts tend to flow as lines, images, and graphics. I have a bit of a distrust for words. Images appeal to my sense of economy. Show me a page of written instructions and I quickly feel lost, whereas one good graphic and I can often see the point instantly. I love to look at the world through Google Images. I’ve spent many happy hours zooming into remote areas of Baja, enjoying volumes of memories, recollecting faces of kindly strangers, simple meals shared on remote beaches, canyons where I camped with my donkey… and occasionally feeling myself called to some new adventure. You can get down and dirty to just about any place on earth, including your own back yard.

A good chunk of my literary education has come from Garrison Keillor’s Writer’s Almanac, though I do prefer listening rather than reading.

For a slightly different perspective on news and cultural matters, especially how my favorite soccer team is doing back in London, (very poorly by the way; looks like they are going to be relegated from the Premiership) I am fond of visiting the BBC website.

Otherwise, my web searching tends to be remarkably scattered. When I need to research a species of rattlesnake that nearly nailed me or some strange kingfisher behavior that I observed, then I’ll worm my way through Google. And before I know it, I’m having a super time delving into Greek mythology or an 1860s article in the American Journal of Medical Sciences, “On the production of cataracts in frogs by the administration of sugar.” I seem to end up everywhere except on sites that might actually help me improve my craft as a writer.

For a fifth choice that would be in any way relevant, I had to check to see what web sites were in my recent “favorite places” list. This one, http://www.mexico-herps.com, was very helpful and interesting, lots of nice maps and pictures. No, it’s not about some horrible viral disease, but rather an introduction to the wonderful range of reptiles and amphibians (snakes, lizards, frogs, etc) south of the border. Not comprehensive, but a good beginning. Enjoy.

---Graham Mackintosh

--->For the archive of Madam Mayo's guest-blog posts, click here.
Up next Wednesday: Paula Whyman.