2015, the year in poetry

2015 was not the most public year for me and poetry. I'd like to blow this year up socially as being constantly worn out made it difficult to attend open mics in the community.

Had to cancel a feature in Pittsburgh due to weather difficulties but I did have a good reading in Dayton in May for the Gem City crew.

It was an honor to be a part of the Sign Your Art project that put poetry on the street signs all over Columbus.

Had a great co-feature with Nancy Kangas at the Kitamu Coffee for the Second Friday Fete in November.

Had some strong thoughts about how the Columbus Arts Festival gave poetry the shaft.

Still writing, albeit slowly. It's there, quiet.

Most important though, we lost Gina Blaurock and so many of us are still reeling from her death.

Coming this summer to a street corner in Columbus

I’m very honored, flattered, humbled and All Of The Things to have been asked to be a part of the Sign Your Art project in Columbus.

Sign Your Art is a street art project that will have 64 local artists work displayed across the city along with the work of residents who will be producing their work at the Columbus Arts Festival next weekend.

All of the work is on a 6x8” wood tile and there’s going to be some very diverse work. I’m kind of nervous about this because I know some of the artists involved and their work is stunning. I’m just a mere poet putting my work out there.

Can’t you feel my confidence bulging off the screen?

When I got my tile I was told to expect for my work to possibly be stolen, which is hilarious to me! In any case, it’s probably going to get wiped out by the first good rainstorm that comes through.

Yes, it’s on paper and I had quite the experience with Modge Podge. Luckily, my wife talked me off the ledge. She also helped out with the image so it’s partly her work too.

You can see the work at the Sign Your Art station at the festival, which is a bit of a delicious irony for me. I’ll post the area where it’s going to be displayed as soon as I find out so you can steal it.

Stephanie Rond and Catherine Bell Smith are the brains behind this project, and it’s going to be one of the coolest exhibits of the year.

Following up a little and some self promotion

Earlier in the week I wrote a post criticizing the Columbus Arts Festival's Word is Art committee for decreasing the amount of poetry on the stage this year.

There was some open, honest discussion on my Facebook page about what was said that I appreciated and respected. I'm still not sure if my message got to the right people though, to the anyone on the committee itself.

Two days later, the festival did blast out three posts on social media linking to the same post by the chair of the committee, one that expectedly said how great the stage is going to be this year. An interesting coincidence, eh?

I stand by my original post.

On Sunday May 24th I'm going to be reading in Dayton at the Dharma Center. Starts at 7PM. I'm honored that the Gem City Poetry Stage asked me to take part. You can read more about it here.

Nobody backs poetry in the corner

This is not a criticism of any of the artists who will be appearing on the stage during the weekend. They have all deservedly earned their place. Nor is it a call to not attend the festival.

The Columbus Arts Festival has announced its schedule for the 2015 event which includes that of the Word is Art stage.

Readers, publishing panels and storytellers have multiple readings this year.

Notice I said readers, publishing panels, storytellers and not poets.

Poetry seems to have been given seriously short shrift this year, with poets scheduled to begin during a poorly attended period when the festival starts, at noon on Friday. There do not appear to be any half hour slots for the top three poets from the juried competition, as there has been in previous years. No mention of any poets appearing on the main stage, which was an innovation introduced last year that was a success. No poets doing multiple appearances.

As an organizer/poet who was a former committee chair of the Word is Art Stage, participated in and been more than a casual observer of this festival for nearly a decade it has to be said that poetry has been locked away in the attic this year. Friday afternoon is a horrible time to gather an audience for anything, let alone poetry. People are busy on at that time, they have jobs and other commitments during the day and cannot get downtown. It is embarrassing to see that the executive committee and those running the Word is Art stage have given poets, who have brought the crowds in and kept them in previous years, wastelands of time slots.

The focus away from poetry to prose and print has happened very quickly, with the direction of programming not necessarily going in the right direction for an outdoor event. Previous committees have worked very hard curating and enhancing the role of poetry while bringing in authors and storytellers to assemble remarkable weekends of art and performance on the Word is Art Stage. Works that engaged and entertained audiences of festival goers.

I believe the accomplishments achieved by the hard work members of the Word is Art Stage committee over the past ten years have been erased by this uneven and poorly assembled schedule. Poetry gave the Word is Art Stage a well known positive reputation for Columbus poets, authors, and storytellers to perform, many for the first time. Poetry did the main work in building that esteem. Now that foundation is being dismantled.

For unknown reasons the audience gets double doses of authors, publishing panels, and storytellers, who may be fine and engaging on their own, but they’re not poets. No poet seems to have been allotted two appearances on the stage. No poet gets more than a fifteen minute time slot. It is a step backward for the Columbus poetry community who have supported, had incredible involvement and investment with the event over the past few years that the festival has taken them out of the limelight and placed them in poorly attended time slots. Times in which nothing was ever scheduled in previous years because of low crowds.

The committee once again had a number of missed opportunities in marketing the activities on the stage. I only saw one mention of applying for the stage on the festival’s social media feeds. This in contrast to numerous mentions of the 5k run and pictures of a toy shark in various places. To my knowledge there was no committee outreach to any of the open mic nights in this city to invite poets to apply for the event. I once again have to question if the executive committee is serious about poetry’s involvement in the festival.

Columbus poetry is thriving, it does not need the Columbus Arts Festival to succeed. It already is through the open mics and readings that anyone can attend nearly every night of the week. The Columbus Arts Festival and the Word is Art Stage needs Columbus poetry to further connect with its audience, not two prime time publishing panels during an outdoor festival! Perhaps next year the Arts Festival executive committee will be capable of meaningful change and reassess the role of poetry on the Word is Art Stage by bringing it back to the rightful places on the stage that it has earned.

Beyond Language

Last Sunday, the Columbus arts community lost one of its most talented members. Gina Blaurock was an artist, poet, and my friend. Her unexpected passing has left many of those who knew her gutted and in shock. She created her own jewelry and sold it in many places including Gallery Hop and Comfest. She wrote and performed poems that were insightful, wickedly funny and magnificent. Her work for the Columbus Arts Festival Word is Art Stage committee was valued and diligent. She won the poetry contest at the arts festival, twice. Last year Louise Robertson needed a last minute poet to do a lengthy set and Gina came through with a performance that was mesmerising, and did it all from memory. That was Gina, she was clutch.

Her brain contained a jukebox of songs, mostly from the eighties, she never needed a lyric sheet. During poetry slams, we went to her for the poets’ scores before using a calculator. When she and I sat together during open mics, we were bad influences on each other and giggled the whole night with snarky commentary. Steve Brightman took the only picture of us that I could find. We were rarely this serious when we sat together.



Word began to spread online about her death on Wednesday afternoon. The grief was deep. Writers’ Block had its open mic that night which quickly and rightfully turned into a poetic wake for Gina. Many of us gave sweet eulogies and reminisces about how much she touched our lives. It was a necessary thing for us to do, but it just touched the surface of our sorrow. Poets who have not been to the show in ages came out to pay tribute. When I was talking to Scott Woods and Louise after the show, we thought that she is the first of the regular and long time Writers’ Block poets to die, and why did it have to be her? We were all supposed to get old together.

Today was the service. I met her brother and mother, who were both understandably still in shock. Neither of them really knew how much Gina affected the communities she lived in. She really knew how to compartmentalize her life. Vernell Bristow has been a great help to her family and she delivered a well thought out and appropriate eulogy. I bought a red balloon and asked her brother if I could put it by the altar. One of Gina’s most endearing poems quoted 99 Luftballoons. There were a lot of poets in the room, and a couple who traveled from Chicago and Washington DC to be with us. A lot of love was in there.

I was not aware of how strongly Buddhist Gina was, neither was her brother. But he told a very touching story about how he contacted a local Buddhist temple for help and it was amazing that over a dozen of their flock came to celebrate the life of a complete stranger to them. The head explained to us what was happening then they chanted, then she sang a couple of lovely hymns in a powerful voice none of us expected to hear. It was a beautiful celebration.

I hope that somehow her writing is found, kept and preserved. She only put out one chapbook about ten years ago and there’s only one poem of hers on youtube at this point.

Here is the link to it.

It would be a profound disservice for her work to be lost and undocumented. I wonder if there is a way an executor or steward of her literary estate can be appointed to keep her poems alive? A quality book published with the proceeds going to her Niece could be a great way to honor her. I do not want her voice to disappear and I suspect there are others who feel the same. I did mention this to her brother and think after all the love her saw for his sister from people he did not know that he understands.



We’re going to miss her so much, I cannot believe she is gone.

A pair of twos comes to an end

Today was my last meeting of the Staff Advisory Council at my workplace. I'd been a member of the council for two years and my term was over. It's over.

Today I resigned my position as chair of the Word is Art Stage of the Columbus Arts Festival. The fun was gone and the legwork wore me out. It was a marvelous two year run and great success was achieved. I feel I helped set a standard for excellence in programming events for the stage and believe that it can get much better. I am leaving on an ascent.

I wandered the stacks after the meeting, looked up where the books by the new Poet Laureate were and went to their location on the 10th floor. Sat at a table looking west campus and Ohio Stadium, skimmed through the book. Found a title that inspired me to write about something I have not really written about.

Wrote.

To everyone, and those I forgot to mention

If you braved the sun, came out in the rain, enjoyed the weather, bought a Lemon Shake Up and watched poetry that stopped you in your tracks, or came to the Word is Art Stage for any reason this past weekend - THANK YOU!

This year was a great triumph. We had crowds, we had poets from all over the state, we had dedication.

None of this would have happened if not for the efforts of the Word is Art Stage Committee. Louise Robertson, Scott Woods, David Winter and Gina Blaurock were the backbone of the weekend.

The stage though, the beautiful stage was finally put in place thanks to the efforts of Festival Director Scott Huntley. It took a couple of years, and I let out a bit of a whoop when I saw it. Because I had no idea.

The sound was great, there were lights and the poets shone under them!

I also want to thank Vernell Bristow, J.G. the Jugganaut and Hannah Stevenson for stepping up and doing some fine emceeing over the weekend. Louise Robertson and David Winter did double duty, hosting their hours and emceeing!

There was some excellent work read all weekend. Amy Turn Sharp has a satchel full of poems and more in her pockets. Eoin O'Brien brought Cowboy Poetry to the stage for the first time in memory and absolutely rocked it! Searius Add (pictured above) won the slam on Saturday night, a hotly contested affair that brought the best out of the six poets who competed.

There is so much I can say. We brought so much good will for poetry to Columbus over the last three days. We had a poet named Douglas Gray read. He won the contest in 1992 when the poets read during band breaks. Now look where the stage is! Douglas told a story of how he challenged the then Mayor, Buck Rinehart to a fight, there was no fight. On Friday, Erik Slangerup noticed Mayor Coleman and his entourage walking by and loudly said, "I'd like to dedicate this next poem to the political leaders of this city." Mayor Coleman laughed, pointed at Erik and said, "You better be good!"

And he was, both nights he read.

Sunday was an early mess. The rain was coming down sideways and we had to pull a poet off the stage to be safe. After a delay we came back and every one who read on that stage wanted to be there, despite the lower crowds (but short lines at the concession stands!) and unsettled weather. The kids from Flip the Page were awesome. The highlight of the weekend for me was Steve Abbott and Connie Everett of the Poetry Forum telling stories and reading poems from influential Columbus poets. Without the pioneering work of the Poetry Forum and its readers past and present, there would be no Word is Art Stage.

The Word is Art Stage is growing in poise and popularity. For the first time, the poet who won the Poetry Audition Jury Contest, John Croake, read Friday night before a headlining act on the Bicentennial Stage.

An opportunity to build on. The stage manager was very happy with how it went and was excited about the potential of more poets there.

Took a bunch of pictures, which you can see here and here.

Finally, though. This.

A girl who watched poetry in the rain, I could not have helped make this happen without my wife Emma's constant support.

Last day

Feel like George Harrison after the band played their last show at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966 when he remarked on the plane right home, "That's it I'm not a Beatle anymore."

12 reasons the Word is Art Stage will be the place to be this weekend

1) We’re kicking off the Columbus Arts Festival old school with Actor's Theater of Columbus street performers Repartee performing snippets of theater from some guy you may have heard of - William Shakespeare. 

2) The good people at Thurber House, another Columbus literary tradition, are once again bringing over their teen docents to read from their work not once, but twice. Friday night at 5 and again Sunday at 1. They’ll be reading from their latest publication Flip the Page.

3) Scott Woods has assembled a group of poets who, for whatever reasons, did not make the cut to appear on the Saturday schedule. The Best of the Rest will be a compelling and inspiring hour of poetry. 

4) While this is going on, a first for the Word is Art Stage will be happening. John Croake, the winner of the Poetry Contest, will be reading his work on the Bicentennial Park Stage at 7PM. That’s right, we’re gently invading the big stage!

5) This year we’re honoring the past and have found four past winners who will be reading their work from then and now. The Legacy Hour will features Louise Robertson, Rose Smith, Mikelle Hickman-Romine and Douglas Gray.

6) New to the festival this year is Stand Up Poetry. Poetry is not just about your dead grandparents, it can also be fun and Andy Anderson, Izetta Thomas and Erik Slangerup will be giving out the belly laughs.

7) It’s not all poetry, we have some first rate authors doing their fiction, non-fiction and other prose works at 11 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. 

8) Starting at noon on Saturday will be eight hours of first rate poetry features from newcomers, proven poets and everyone in between. An incredible day of diverse poetry that is sure to compel and inspire all of us. 

9) Once again, Saturday night closes with a Poetry Slam. Once again, Scott Woods is the emcee and he’s bringing cats to the stage who are going to be working hard. In the past, the slam has gone the Rocky Horror route. This year though, it’s going to be deep.

10) Sunday at noon David Winter is bringing some of the best poets from The Journal of The Ohio State University. Last year a first time poet on stage read a sestina and nailed it. Cannot wait to see what these students will bring to the stage. 

11) The Poetry Forum has been doing readings for almost 30 years in Columbus. It is the longest established reading in Central Ohio. This year Steve Abbott, Connie Everett and Rose Smith have coordinated a tribute to the series and will be reading the works of David Citino and Elizabeth James, two Columbus poets who left us too soon, This is going to be the highlight of the weekend for me. 

12) Closing out the weekend will be the Storytellers of Central Ohio. This group always brings a sense of fun, wisdom and memory as they once again spread the seeds of oral tradition.

The festival starts on Friday June 6th and runs through Sunday June 8. The Word is Art Stage is located at the corner of Civic Center Drive and Town Street, right next to the Scioto River. The festival program can be viewed in its entirety here.. 

Look, and pay attention

The school nurse left a note in my son's backpack that she was worried about his BMI and suggested he see a doctor immediately. I do not understand how she did not know he has been under the care of a doctor, psychologist and nutritionist for well over a year. Where was she last year when his BMI was off the bottom of the charts instead of in the bottom percentiles?

I wish a prominent person at the Arts Festival had actually talked to me about having more storytellers at the festival instead of blurting out that he heard of a storytelling group in Columbus that was really good. Was it the one that has been performing at the festival for at least the past three years already? Or another prominent local group that had performed the last two years but respectfully declined this year?

Very cranky right now as I updated the software on my work PC this morning, which resulted in the death of my PC. I've taken the rest of the day off, was unable to move up an appointment to get my hair cut today so I have to go all the way back up to Clintonville later this afternoon. Thanks Obama.

I think a one martini lunch is in my future.

Putting it together

I do not like talking on the telephone, it's a phobia, an act I try to get done with as quick as possible or avoid it whenever necessary.

Today though, I had to use it to make 22 calls. This was the day to contact all of the poets who will be reading at the Columbus Arts Festival this year. As Chairman of the Word is Arts Committee, these are phone calls I will happily make.

Left a lot of messages, but liked delivering the happy news.

Then I got to see a bunch of poets post they got the news on Facebook. The joy spreads.

I spoke to the winning poet, who is honored to have earned the slot. This year, for the first time, the winning poet will be reading a poem on the Bicentennial Stage on Friday night. The poet is excited about this. I am thrilled that this is going to happen.

In addition to all the individual sets and the slam on Saturday, there will be plenty of exciting work read on Friday and Sunday. The weekend will inspire and impress.

Time to apply yourself

Poets, the application for the 2014 Columbus Arts Festival is now live!



You can apply here through January 24th.

Looking forward to another exciting and engaging weekend of work from everything. I'm excited!

I've lived in this city for over twenty years and there are still places to discover

Franklin Park is on the east side of the city, between olde town east and Bexley. It underwent massive renovations for the Ameriflora exhibit in 1992 and a lot of the design and garden structure from that time has remained and stayed in good condition.



I was very impressed with the small ponds that lined the northern part of the park. I've been to the conservatory several times, on the east end, but never roamed west. It's beautiful.



Very pleased to have finally found what I'm sure many have already known about. I've driven by it all thousands of times!



And it gives me ideas, for I do have some ambition left.

In other news I am once again the Chair of the Word is Art Stage Committee of the Columbus Arts Festival. Call me crazy!

This is the post where I talk about Arts Fest

If I leave you out do not be offended. This was such an amazing whirlwind of a weekend that it's impossible to thank or give mention and praise to everyone. This is going to be quite the random entry.

First off. I want to thank Gina Blaurock for being a great member of the Word is Art Committee. She went to more meetings that me for heaven's sake! She made herself available. Her insight, taking hits for the team and being a friend shows what an asset she is to the Columbus poetry community.

Speaking of community. Columbus, you stepped up. It was so great to see such a diverse section of the city come to the Arts Festival. Not only as poets, but as spectators and supporters. The crowds were great all weekend long, even on Friday night when I froze my ass off the last two hours because I forgot a sweatshirt. That was one of the two mistakes I made this weekend, the other buying a corn dog that cost six bucks.

Friday got off to a shaky start when the theater people did not show up. Then one of the member's of the Writers Guild could not make it. I have to say the kids from Flip the Page turned things around, brought a great crowd and youthful energy to the stage.

Secrets of Oshun was great. From the group piece opening they had the crowd, but when Izetta Thomas did her first solo piece, the area froze. Even the vendors stopped to pay attention. They had to, Izetta was on this weekend. All weekend long.



Then Kim Brazwell came on, told her tales of intestinal woe, killed the crowd and dropped the mic. She's incredible.

I was physically miserable during Page Meets Stage but Louise Robertson moderated a very cool poetry session between Jennifer Hambrick and Scott Woods.

Day two, Saturday, started out with more promise. The weather held up. The riverfront looked amazing. The place was packed. The beverage booths ran out of wine and margaritas. Art and food was being sold. Poetry was again heard.



Amy Dalyrmple of the Writers Guild did a reading about her special needs daughter that was quite moving and real.

There was a terrific early set by Michael Stout as I think he read all of his short poems!

If I had to pick a favorite set this weekend it was by John Gibson. I always like the man's work and as he was shuffling through his papers I suggested he read one of his nostalgia poems about Columbus, which he did, and it went over very well. A person came over to me and asked me who his name was. Yes, he was that good.

As I said at the start on Saturday. All of the poets who appeared on stage earned that spot during the auditions, and they proved their worth during their sets. Some poets have different energy levels than others. Some poems have different reactions when read to a small group of people in an enclosed room versus an open space of people strolling by while gnawing on a turkey leg.

Here is where I thank Wali Crowder for representing and hosting the show for a couple of hours in the afternoon. His energy was great and much appreciated.

T.M. Gottl gave the day a strong sense of justice and humanity with her work, which I do not get to hear enough of as she from the northeast part of Ohio.

Fred Kirchner left the mic, went to the front of the stage and brought out his yo-yo, shouting his poem the whole time. Beautiful.



Will Evans did an absolutely hilarious poem about doing repair work around the house when his infant daughter is in motion around him. Fatherhood has helped with his sense of humor and it's great to see it unfold on and off stage.

Hayden Brown brought his entire class over, it seemed, and delivered a set that had people paying attention. All weekend long it was great to watch the crowd, and see the people stop in their track to listen. Some even ended up grabbing a seat.

James Aaron Techumseh Sinclair has what may be the longest name of any poet to appear at the Columbus Arts Festival. He wore a skirt, was very secure in his delivery. He was also the second runner up. It may have been a bit cerebral for such an open space and stage, but his methods and words were quite precise. It was his first set in at least twenty years. Wonder how he was back in the grunge era?

Meg Freado is a joy to listen to. The first runner up. I'm not to familiar with her work, but her energy and words are quite moving. A poem she wrote for her father's wedding was quite impressive.

And our Champion, Izetta Nicole Thomas, was so wonderful and on point. Delivering a set of schoolyard sentimentality with the wisdom of a talented teacher. This was her weekend.

To close Saturday, Scott Woods hosted a slam that was as every bit hilarious as it was entertaining. I cannot say how engaging Scott was with the audience. He put together an hour that was as every bit perfect as it was irrelevant. Ethan Rivera danced, Izetta had things thrown at her, Rocky Horror style, and I got a four.



Sunday, today, was another gorgeous day on the riverfront. It got hot. But our first poet, from The (OSU) Journal was a cat who never read his poetry in public before, and he did an amazing job.

Hanif Abdurraquib took over emceeing at this point and did a great job interacting with Gumby and name checking the music that was played during breaks. We also had a great sound man all weekend. Joe was there when he had to be and did his best to keep good levels despite shouting poets and one or two vendors complaining about the noise. Sometimes poets shout, especially when they're in a wide open space, it can't be helped.

Hannah Stephenson and her poets from Paging Columbus did a fine job keeping the energy going.

I love what the Storytellers of Central Ohio do. There were six of them and they really are quite entertaining, with good humor. One of them recited Casey at the Bat, off paper. Yes, awesome!

The Docents at Thurber House were brief, but did some good work. One of the youth told a short story about war that was quite emotional and he even did some singing. Brave when your voice is wavering. It was great to have The Thurber House involved in this year's festival. I really wanted to get some kids involved in the weekend and Meg Brown has been very accommodating in getting her charges to the stage after school has let out for the summer.

The people at Wild Goose Creative finished off the year with a gentle goose. Fun stories in a speak easy session. I can't thank Andy Anderson and his crew enough for being involved again.

A few more shout outs before I close this rambling thing out.

Louise Robertson did a great job helping vet the initial entries. Her insight has been an asset to the whole committee this year and I'd be in very bad shape if she did not provide sunscreen yesterday.

Alex Fabrizio also helped with the vetting of the initial entries. She's been busy with a major move but her presence was very welcome and she did a fine job organizing her poets from The Journal.

Steph Killen lent us her music stand for the weekend. Thank you!

Beverly Wilkinson hung out with us for most of the first two days. She's dedicated and delivered a fine set of work Saturday afternoon.

My wife, Emma, has taken in a lot of venting and my stress about this for many months. She watched my son while I was out attending meetings and more. None of this could have happened without her help. And she delivered me lemon shake-ups all weekend long!

Finally I doubt I would even be in this position without Scott Woods. He was the one who recommended I join the committee last year and it spring boarded into me being committee chair this year. His expertise, advise and consult has been a great help to me this year during this process. I've never been in charge of shepherding anything like this before. So thank you, Scott.

Again, we did this.

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.

More stuff at once

Took my son to the doctor for another follow up to his G.I. issues. He's over fifty pounds for the first time. They want to do an endoscopy on him, which makes sense. There could be something physical causing some of his eating issues.

When I got home the Varmint Guard truck was waiting, with a quote. There's a family of starlings living under the house where they should not be. We talked about the work that needed to be done, the work that would be done and I signed off on it.

When I got in the house my wife had some more news for me. The refrigerator was not keeping food cold and the motor was clicking. The start relay the likely cause. No way I was capable of finding it, let alone finding the part on a Monday night so I called the number of a repairman one of my wife's coworkers recommended highly. He was there within the hour.



He pulled out the relay and it sounded like a baby's rattle. Replaced the part and the appliance came back to life. He said if we'd waited any longer the compressor would have fried out, and that would have meant we needed a new appliance. So we saved some money while spending money. He's one of those repair guys that is cash only. So I had to make a quick ATM run while my wife found out the guy's life story.

Another doctor's appointment for my son on Thursday morning. Could be news about the in-patient feeding clinic. I hope she does not try to sell us more Duo-cal.

I'm flying east on Friday morning. Coming home on Monday afternoon and headed directly to an Arts Festival right from the airport.

The swingback

It was the day reservations for a road trip in July came through, details were worked out seamlessly - I made a Facebook comment about waiting for the other shoe to drop.

A week or so later my son was in the hospital, a relative was hospitalized on the east coast and a friend's father died.

That's life, I guess. It's not doing good things for my blood pressure though.

The better news is that all of the poets in the Columbus Arts Festival have been contacted that they have, or have not, won a slot on the Word is Art Stage. I'm waiting for the Festival to officially release the names and schedule, I will tell you it's very a very talented and diverse group of poets. There are veterans, rookies and members of the slam scene who have not read at Arts Fest. I'm really excited for June to get here.

Waiting for scores and other numbers

There's been a lot of activity with and around me the past week. Some of the busy has been positive and beneficial, some has been stressful and have given me guilt.

The latter is tough to write about, I'm neither ready nor comfortable telling it here - a story that may not be over. I've said it before and I'll say it again though - distance is hard.

In three nights we took in two hockey games. The first was to see the Blue Jackets play Chicago.



The Blue Jackets have been on a roll recently. They have earned a point in ten straight games, a franchise record. The game with the Black Hawks was number nine of that streak. It was a very tense, well played and entertaining game. Both teams played well and the game was tied at one at the end of regulation. A crazy overtime in which both teams played for the extra point was a thrill to watch and it was a shame the Blue Jackets lost in a shoot out. I hate the shoot out, win or lose.

Saturday night we headed to the olde Ohio State Ice Rink to see game two of a playoff series between Ohio State and Ferris State.



It's a small barn, the ice rink. The ceiling is low and play stops when the puck hits it, which happened at least twice on Saturday night. You're right next to the game and can hear everything that happens on the ice. You can also be heard if your lungs are in good shape. I went here a lot in the late 90's, during the team's frozen four run of 1998. A lot of memories, most of them pretty good.



My wife had never seen a game here. It's tough when you're used to seat backs and video replay, but the old experience came back and I rolled with the change and had a great time watching OSU force a third game, which is happening as I write this. (3-2 OSU in the third period)



The winner of the series goes to the CCHA tournament at the Joe Louis Arena next weekend, the last games the CCHA will have.

Edit: Ohio State wins and goes to the Joe!



Saturday also had the poetry auditions for the Columbus Arts Festival. The poets were excellent and represented such a diverse element of the talent Columbus and Ohio has. Announcements of who made it will be out soon. I've been working on the math and am very excited with who is going to be on the Word is Art Stage in June. You will not want to miss this!

Maybe he'll sleep past 4AM tonight

My son's teacher emailed this afternoon to say he pooped in the toilet at school today. Might be the second time that has happened. Ever. He saved some more for me tonight, and not in the toilet. He's good at sharing.

While he was playing with my eyebrows I asked him what he saw. I prompted him by saying, "I see..."

And he said, "Sand."



If you know my eyebrows you understand how correct he is.

Five weeks from now my wife and I will be back in Scotland. I'm looking forward to getting out of here for a week, and I'm sure she is as well. She misses her sister and father, and more. It will be good to see them.



This morning tickets went on sale for the Celtic vs. Hibs match on April 6th and I scored one. My wife would have gone with me, but a friend of hers she has not seen since the wedding is coming up from Bristol so they'll have time together. This actually worked to my advantage as I was able to snag a very good single seat as two together in a non-nosebleed location would have been difficult to find. My first international match. I am excited even if it is the last game of the season and Celtic may be thirty points clear of the title.

In the meantime Arts Festival glitches are happening, and I'm doing my best to remain calm - knowing it's better that erratic stuff is happening today instead of on June 6th.

Somewhere between 50 and 75

The deadline for applying for the Columbus Arts Festival has passed. If you submitted your poems, thank you. I'm fairly certain there were a record number of applicants this year.

You know what that means, right?

Competition is going to be tough. Any poet appearing on that stage is going to earn that spot. And if that poet earns it, it should be considered a big accomplishment. In the past, sometimes it may have felt like a rubber stamp to appear at the Arts Festival. That anyone and everyone who submitted and auditioned got a slot. Not so this year, not even close. This also means that the quality of poetry on The Word is Art Stage is going to be exceptional. This was a goal, and it's going to be achieved once the auditions are completed.

I had a number of applicants in mind when I started, and got a chuckle in return so I lowered my sights and the final number came in between the original and revised numbers. I'm very pleased.

Speaking of record numbers, for some reason January 2013 has had a record number of page views here. Thanks to all of you for stopping by, wherever you are.