Dear Friends,
This week’s newsletter is adapted from a talk that I wrote while walking to the Pamela Trokanski Dance Workshop to celebrate the birthday of the first-ever poet laureate of Davis, Allegra Silberstein.
I knew the dozen other performers would share poems, songs, and dances, so I wanted to mix it up with a speech, much like the speaking I do as Master of Ceremonies at the poetry readings that I’ve been hosting in town for about 20 of Allegra’s 95 years.
Welcome, everyone, and thank you for inviting me to speak today on this momentous occasion.
Allegra and I live in a world where, if we don’t know what to say on a special occasion (as the speaker before me just said), we just write a sonnet.
I’ve been hosting poetry readings for almost 20 years. I’ve been hosting a poetry radio show for 25 years, and over those decades, there is no poet whom I have introduced more often as a featured performer, and especially as an open mic performer, than Allegra Silberstein. She is the heart of the poetry community of Davis, and of the Poetry Night reading series. She brings encouragement, admiration, and a patient, attentive ear—typically a cupped ear—to every event that I host.
Allegra is someone who has fused poetry and consideration. She has kept a poem in her pocket for occasions when a friend or a stranger clearly needed a poem. She has kept her seat filled in the front row of just about every poetry event in Davis and Sacramento. And she has kept us all in her huge heart. She is the Grandma Moses, the Twyla Tharp, the Joan Baez, and the Mr. Rogers of Davis.
It’s hard to sustain attentiveness to poetry in this world. I know this because every time I tell Siri that I’m excited to read a poem, she translates it as my wanting to read a “palm.” When I tell her that I have found the verse that I’m looking for, she darkly substitutes the word “worst” for “verse.” And when I start to type the letters Allegra, such as to text a friend that I am looking forward to hearing what “Allegra” will read at Poetry Night, Siri seeks to autocorrect that to the word “allegiance.”
Usually I complain to Siri; usually, in my head, I berate her for her resistance to poetry. But on this occasion, I’d say that Siri got it right. I do pledge allegiance to Allegra Silberstein, to the compassion and the artistry of which she stands, and for her fierce attention—a poet’s attention—to liberty, justice, equity, inclusion, and especially a big smile and sustaining kindness for all.
Thank you, Allegra, and Happy Birthday!
I hope you will get to hear Allegra read a poem sometime soon. She is always the last poet introduced at the open mic portion of Poetry Night, so she is celebrated every first and third Thursday of the month by her poetic fans. Our next event is January 15.
The heaters may be warming us tonight, so I hope you will join me outside. You might want to bring an extra layer or two to warm your lap. Some teams will sit inside, and who could blame them? I invite you to join the regulars and irregulars for the social event of the week featuring 31 questions on a variety of topics you should know something about. Finally I get to eat again with The Mavens! Today’s pub quiz is 880 words long, if we include the answers.
In addition to topics raised above and below, expect questions tonight on the following: runs, great presidents, dystopian authors, bards, percentages, electrified rugs, hunger, digital bullies, cuts, New York frames of mind, kettlebells, computers, unknown facts about famous people, educational frameworks, volcanoes, calendars, TikTok interests, historical dramas, young adult authors, joyful exits, first wives, famous sayings, surprising betrayals, loquacity, Disney memories, rainbows, valves, power rankings, accessibility, ethics of zen practitioners, bellies, dates, elements, hive minds, people over 7 feet tall, southeastern obsessions, acids and bases, U.S. states, geography, current events, and Shakespeare.
For more Pub Quiz fun, please subscribe via Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/yourquizmaster.
Thanks to all the new players joining us at the live quizzes and to all the patrons who have been enjoying fresh Pub Quiz content. We have over 80 Patreon members now, including the new paid subscribers Bobby, Esther, James, Damian, Jim, and Meebles! I should write a question for Bobby. Thanks also to new subscribers Prescott, Bill and Diane, Tamara, Megan, Michael, Janet, Jasmine, Joey, Carly, The X-Ennial Falcons, and The Nevergiveruppers! Every week I check the Patreon to see if there is someone new to thank. Maybe next week it will be you! I also thank The Original Vincibles, Summer Brains, Still Here for the Shakesbeer, The Outside Agitators, John Poirier’s team Quizimodo, Gena Harper, the conversationally entertaining dinner companions and bakers of marvelous and healthy treats, The Mavens, whose players or substitutes keep attending, despite their ambitious travel schedules and the cost of the aforementioned avocado. I appreciate the Mavens’ kind words to me in the newspaper. Thanks in particular to my paid subscribers on Substack. Thanks to everyone who supports the Pub Quiz on Patreon. I would love to add your name or that of your team to the list of pub quiz boosters. Also, I sometimes remember to add an extra hint on Patreon. I appreciate your backing this pub quiz project of mine!
I also want to recognize those who visit my Substack the most often, including Luna, Jean, Ron, Myrna, and Maria, to whom I send sustained compassion.
Best,
Dr. Andy
P.S. Here are three questions from last week.
- Unusual Words. What short C adjective can mean “reluctant to give details, especially about something regarded as sensitive”?
- Swiss Millionaires. Did Swiss voters approve or reject a 50% inheritance tax on multimillionaires intended to combat climate change?
- Pop Culture – Television. Originally starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell, what 1989 time travel TV show was revived with a new cast in 2022?