Digging in the folders on the bookcase

Been battling vertigo again this weekend. Same damn thing I had a couple of years ago, left me out of commission yesterday. I was able to get to work today and have been slowly regaining equilibrium.

This Tuesday night, June 4th, I will be reading as part of the Wine and Poetry on High Series at Camelot Cellars, at 958 North High Street. It starts at 7PM. I'm reading for a half hour and Izetta Thomas will be my partner in poetry. It's going to be a smashing evening. I've been looking over what I'm going to read and found a few older ones that I have not read for awhile so I'm looking forward to bringing those friends back into play. I have more than a half hour's work. Easy. But I do not want to repeat the same things I did for the Writers' Block Fundraiser a couple of weeks back. Nor do I want to repeat much for my feature at Paging Columbus in August. It's a matter of mixing the so called hits with the work I want to present. They're nowhere near where I want them to be, and probably never will, but pockets are deepening. It's a pleasure to know I can pull out half an hour of poems without feeling it sucks.

We're only five days away from the Columbus Arts Festival. Trying to get fit for the long weekend. A lot of hard work by everyone went into this festival and I can't wait for the results to show for it. I'd get excited by jumping up and down but I'd get dizzy very quick.

My son's last day of school was Thursday. This Tuesday his aide for the summer beings watching him during the day. I'm nervous and excited about this all at once. Really want this to benefit everyone involved.

I am not an avian landlord

In a frenzy on Saturday, I organized my record albums for the first time in well over a decade. Mostly in alphabetical order, spread out among some wood, plastic and cardboard crates in the back room. I counted them yesterday. 473. There used to be more, but I got rid of some to goodwill, sold some others and lost quite a few in a basement flood about six years ago. I was looking for some yesterday. Where's my copy of U2's War? Where Procol Harum's Greatest Hits? What was Born to Laugh at Tornadoes by Was (Not Was)?

All gone. I do not think I had the opportunity to mourn the loss.

We all got together and met the young women who will be my son's caregiver this summer. She's a junior at OSU, a special education student who came recommended by my son's teacher. I think this is going to work out for everyone, she promised not to bite him. He was bitten, twice, last year at day camp.

Tonight I got the lawn mower back from the shop. It needed servicing, a blade sharpening and other fixes. After I wrote the check and handed it to the guy I mowed the back lawn and will finish the front tomorrow.

There may be birds living in the underside of the gutter on the back of the house. Not cool with this. They knock out the siding under the gutter and set up shop. I cleared out some nesting materials out of there earlier and sealed it up (though they keep opening it) and noticed some birds looking a bit stressed out. God, I hope there are no eggs in there.

I can't commit

Been an odd week to get back into the flow of things. Things blew up naturally and unnaturally and we're doing what we can to remain intact here.

Am I a bad person for not listening to that Brad Paisley/L.L. Cool J. duet? Or am I the only one who has not clicked on a listen to the latest from Daft Punk?

My wife is a good person, she's shopping for others on Record Store Day. Heck, I even asked if she'd pick something up for me if she came across it. Am I too old to be waiting in line with dudes with beards? My son is here this weekend. Yes, that's my excuse. Did break out the vinyl on Thursday night for awhile, and cleaned up the Back Room a little bit so it's functional.

Switching from French Press to pour over coffee, maybe I'm more of a hipster than I want to be?

Meeting with the woman who is most likely going to be my son's caretaker this summer. Neither his mother or I thought he liked day camp last year, and neither she nor I did either. This girl's a student at the university and worked with his teacher as an aide, so she comes recommended and she knows my son.



Things I did not do in Scotland this time that I want to do something about next time: attend another open mic, see a concert, Kelvingrove, back to the Horseshoe, Cathkin Park, Partick Thistle, who may be in the top league next season!