Richard Blanco is tired. Sitting in the lobby of the Adrienne Arsht Center's Ziff Ballet Opera House, where he'll take the stage tomorrow in a free reading, he apologizes for his gravelly voice, strained after a long day of media appearances and interviews like this one.

"I'm starting to feel a little bit weary, doing this, doing that," he laughs. "Following my mother's example, I'm just one of those people who can't say no. So I'm starting to learn that I can't be in three places at one time, stuff I never really had to negotiate."

It's an overwhelming feeling that most poets don't get to experience, he admits. But then again, most poets don't get hand-selected by the White House. Most poets don't share their stages with Beyoncé. Most poets don't get to read their work in front of an entire nation. Richard Blanco is not most poets.

See also:
- Miami Poet Richard Blanco Chosen as the 2013 Inaugural Poet for President Obama

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Did he do it? Does anybody care?

Yesterday, TMZ reported that an ultra-rare first edition of O.J. Simpson's "hypothetical" recount of the gruesome 1994 double-murder of ex-wife Nicole Brown and her lover, Ron Goldman, had hit the metaphorical shelves of eBay.

Our first (and, really, only) question is: Who the f*ck cares?

What's next? A reprint of the Starr Report? How is this the year 2013, yet we are somehow blogging about O.J. Simpson killing people. Blogging barely even existed when he (hypothetically) did it!

Of all the psychopathic hitmen in the history of slaughter, O.J. is potentially the least interesting. He did it. He got away with it. And he continues to somehow profit from the whole grizzly affair. The end.

After the jump: Five murderous manuscripts you're more likely to find next to our toilet than If I Did It.

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Since President Obama's announcement that he was chosen as the 2013 inaugural poet, Richard Blanco has become poetry's most talked about name. But though he's scheduled to read on one of the biggest stages for poets in the nation -- the upcoming presidential inauguration -- he hasn't forgotten his roots. In fact, he's returning to them later this year.

Blanco will help close out O, Miami's 2013 run, scheduled for the entire month of April, with a reading alongside Thurston Moore. Yes, that Thurston Moore.

See also:
- Miami Poet Richard Blanco Chosen as the 2013 Inaugural Poet for President Obama
- Poetry Bombing With Agustina Woodgate for O, Miami (Video)

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via richard-blanco.com

Richard Blanco is living the dream. The American dream, that is.

An immigrant from Spain and son of Cuban exiles, Blanco began his career as a poet in Miami, the city where he was raised. Now, President Barack Obama has chosen him as the poet for his inauguration this month, putting the local-bred talent in the same category as Robert Frost. He'll be the youngest poet, and the first Latino, to read at an American inauguration.

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Doomsday preachers, sidewalk psychics, and apocalypse junkies have been predicting the end of times for hundreds of years. And yet, we're all still here, going about our daily drudgery without a hint of fire or brimstone. But what if the Mayans were actually on to something, and the end of the world is really upon us this time?

See also:
- Zombie Apocalypse Survival Guide
- South Florida Survivalists Prepare for the Apocalypse

Should such a scenario present itself, we wanted Cultist readers to be prepared. So we spoke to Rob Kutner, author of Apocalypse How: Turn the End-Times into the Best of Times! , for some useful tips. Take notes people -- Rob's wise words might be the difference between life and death when you're battling a mutant rat for that last crumb of cheese.

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Nina Johnson-Milewski in Gen H

Nina Johnson-Milewski is known locally as one of Miami's most active creatives. She's the owner of Wynwood's Gallery Diet, New Times' pick for Best Art Gallery in 2009. She's one of the founders of the Miami Rail, a sister publication to New York City's Brooklyn Rail. And as one of the founders of Women of Wynwood, she's a strong supporter of her community.

See also:
- Miami Rail Gives Miami Arts Scene a New Voice
- Hard Poems in Space at Gallery Diet

This weekend, Johnson-Milewski's artsy side is getting a little national exposure, when Discovery en Español premieres Gen H, a docu-reality production following three young Hispanic professionals in Miami.

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Photo by Bruno Bernard/Courtesy of Susan Bernard

Marilyn in White 1954

Bruno Bernard, better known as Bernard of Hollywood, was the most sought-after photographer during cinema's golden age. He's known for pin-up style photographs, particularly the ones that helped to make Marilyn Monroe a Hollywood icon. And next week, you can see those photos firsthand, when his work is celebrated in an exhibit at the World Erotic Art Museum in conjunction with his daughter, Susan Bernard's, latest book.

Marilyn: Intimate Exposures commemorates Monroe's beauty and transformation from Norma Jean to Marilyn, as told through the lens and personal relationship Bernard had with Monroe as her photographer and confidant throughout her tumultuous career and tragic demise.

Susan Bernard grew up in the realm of Hollywood, eventually pursuing a career in celebrity on and off screen. At 16, she starred in the cult classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! And in December 1966, she was Playboy's Playmate of the Month, complete with a centerfold shot by her father's own apprentice. She has starred along side cinematic legends Orson Welles and Henry Fonda, and appeared in multiple television series, including General Hospital.

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via Facebook

Tom Wolfe in Blood Lines.

Tom Wolfe's newest book, Back to Blood, is set for publication in October. But you won't have to wait for the satirist's Miami Book Fair International appearance in November to get to know the stories behind its creation.

Blood Lines, a documentary tracing Wolfe's steps as he researched the book around the city of Miami, is set to release at the same time as the new novel. The film by Miami Herald reporter Oscar Corral, doesn't just promise a deeper understanding of the characters and themes in the upcoming Back to Blood. It's also a chance to watch Wolfe shop for white suits, his trademark attire, at the Flamingo Plaza thrift mall, drink a Cuban coffee while conversing in Spanish with the women behind the counter, and ride around the bay with the wind blowing in his thinning hair -- all to a soundtrack partially created by local band Afrobeta.

The trailer alone is delightful. Watch it after the jump.

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Erica Kennedy, author of the novels Bling and Feminista and an inspiration to thousands of Twitter followers, was found dead in her Miami Beach home on June 13, according to reports. She was 42.

Kennedy's work spanned several fields: fashion publicist, journalist, blogger, novelist. But she may be best remembered for her interactive, supportive presence in social media. Twitter erupted with grief, disbelief, and condolences to Kennedy's loved ones when news of her death broke over the weekend.

The cause of death has not yet been reported.

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Sixty-four years! My gosh! Where does the time go?

Seems like the '50s were only yesterday. What an era! So golden. Oh, son. What these fins have seen. Where this blow hole has been. I was so young, hungry and filled with life. Now I'm the oldest manatee in the world, a gosh-dang celebrity, a 1,200-pound sea cow hag. Hooey!

Getting old sucks.

Beh! Things have changed, man.

I remember the Bay so clean and pristine you could spend a whole week basking in its turquoise beauty. You'd catch me gently floating along an interior river canal, sunshine glistening off my wet whiskers. Those days felt like a big band ballad, just swinging, man; beautiful and timeless.

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