Excavation: A Memoir by Wendy Ortiz
Wendy C. Ortiz was an only child and a bookish, insecure girl living with alcoholic parents in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her relationship with a charming and deeply flawed private school teacher fifteen years her senior appeared to give her the kind of power teenagers wish for, regardless of consequences. Her teacher—now a registered sex offender—continually encouraged her passion for writing while making her promise she was not leaving any written record about their dangerous sexual relationship. This conflicted relationship with her teacher may have been just five years long, but would imprint itself on her and her later relationships, queer and straight, for the rest of her life.
In Excavation: A Memoir, the black and white of the standard victim/perpetrator stereotype gives way to unsettling grays. The present-day narrator reflects on the girl she once was, as well as the teacher and parent she has become. It’s a beautifully written and powerful story of a woman reclaiming her whole heart.
http://www.wendyortiz.com/
@WendyCOrtiz
wendycortiz.tumbler.com
http://futuretensebooks.com/futuret/books.html#wendy
http://bearinheaven.com/
Bear In Heaven Upcoming Shows:
Aug 04 — Rough Trade — Brooklyn, NY
Aug 20 — Johnny Brendas — Philadelphia, PA
Aug 21 — Sinclair — Cambridge, MA
Aug 22 — Rock N Roll Hotel — Washington, DC
Aug 23 — Cats Cradle Back Room — Carrboro, NC
Aug 24 — Terminal West — Atlanta, GA
Aug 26 — Spanish Moon — Baton Rouge, LA
Aug 27 — Peacock Room at House Of Blues — Houston, TX
Aug 28 — The Parish — Austin, TX
The Helen Keller hoax possesses the toxicity of a traditional conspiracy theory even if it doesn't quite fit the definition. | read
Whether you're a metalhead or not, this NYC trio will have you wrapped up in its soothing dark thrashers. | read
Bartees Cox is a songwriter and producer who spent years playing in bands in Brooklyn before making the move to Washington, DC, where his solo project, Bartees Strange, took focus and grew - from an album of reinterpretations of The National’s music to his stunning full-length, genre-bending… | watch
The March edition of Spotlight on the City features bands and musicians from Birmingham, Alabama. | listen
Aliah Sheffield is the singer/songwriter also known as Nikkie Aliah. Her song, “Earth is Ghetto,” recently went viral and she chatted with Nikkiesha about what led her to her viral moment, her musical inspirations, and what she hopes and plans to do next… oh, and tequila. This podcast is… | listen
Ben details his experience of contracting the coronavirus back in late February/early March of 2020, before lockdowns shut NYC down. He also shares how the city and local indie rock scene he’s a part of reacted to the pandemic. | watch