Being social is hard, but rewarding.

It's a rare weekend when we're invited out for not just one, but two, social events and have the time and ability to do it.

There was an energy in the microbrewery on Friday, where we waited for a person to show up to celebrate his birthday, and to meet him in person for the first time. We had a good conversation with another friend who was waiting as well, and met the celebrant's brother and a few other people.

Over the course of the evening we also met a local dining establishment owner and a local food blogger. I was in a good mood so I did not ask the blogger if he ever had a bad meal out, ever, and if did, did he ever write about it? But that's my issue with local food critics who hyper-focus on nothing but positives and never offer any constructive critique.

So that was growth on my part, I think.

There was also a fun dinner party in which Cards of Humanity was played. My wife and I were cleaning up on the black cards but this exchange was one I happened to read.

"Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's ___________________

White privilege."

That was the first card I read, and I nearly ended it right then and there. How can that be topped?

It was good, but tiring to get out.

Plus, the Mets were playing on the west coast in the playoffs. The games ended very late, Here's my poem about last night's game.

"An open letter to Chase Utley of the Los Angeles Dodgers; after he broke the leg of New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada during an illegal slide into second base in the seventh inning of a game that was played on October 11th, 2015.

Fuck you."

And that's all that needs to be said, until Monday night.

The death of Carey Lander, the keyboardist for Camera Obscura, leaves me very very sad. Lander died of sarcoma this morning at the age of 33. Sucks when such a vital, creative person is taken from us too soon. She will be greatly missed. Condolences to her family, the band, and her friends.

Some of what I've been thinking about and doing today

Lists are very arbitrary things. To me they are designed to promote discussion, thought, or amusement. Usually I just dismiss them. There are more than a few websites that are devoted to the organization of lists. Best power trios, best left handed first basemen, best James Bond movies that had a shitty soundtrack - that sort of thing.

Yesterday a site called Flavorwire posted a list of 23 People Who Will Make You Care About Poetry in 2013. Really? The original link to the site I saw on a fellow poets Facebook page came with the caveat that 22 of the poets were white.

So I clicked on the link to see for myself, and yes, they were mostly white, and young, too.

There are days when you have to know when to fire your ammunition, when to express your displeasure about things. I moved on with my life after shaking my head at the site and made a silent vow to myself to not take the page very seriously if I came across it in the future.

Later in the day, I saw another link on a friends' Facebook page that Flavorwire issued an apology. The post thanked people for calling the oversight to their attention and that they would do better next time.

The apology seemed to piss people off more than the original post. I guess it was not enough for some.

When does the knee jerk outrage end? Why does a post from an obscure website cause so much anger, especially when a local entertainment weekly newspaper had this article on their front page on the same day?



This is the current issue of Columbus Alive. The People to Watch series is done annually. As you can see, there are a dozen people to watch, eleven of them are white.

How come people locally got in the face or posted a link with outrage as their status update about the Flavorwire site and did not register a peep about this article?

I made a couple of vague references to it then decided to send an email to the guy who wrote the article.

"I could not help but notice that out of 12 people in your People to Watch 2013 story in the current issue of Alive, 11 of them are Caucasian.

While I have no complaint about the credentials of any of the people chosen for the story, I am disappointed that, in a city of this size and diversity, you could not find any members of the Latino, Asian, Indian or other inspiring entrepreneurs of pleasure from an ethnic community to select.

You really could have done better. Next year, I hope you or the story writer looks a little deeper out of their comfort zone to choose some truly diverse citizens of the rad and awesome city of Columbus as people to watch."

Less than an hour later I got a respectful, honest and reasonable reply.

"Thanks for the note. I agree with your criticism. We could have done better. I would, however, point out that this is one of the strongest classes of PTW we’ve ever had (based on merit), and we weren’t without diversity, as nearly half of our selections were either women, of color, GLBT or a little older than our demographic (we’ve been accused of being ageist, too). I think that’s much better than we’ve done in the past, but still not as good as we could have done. I would also respectfully suggest our selections had nothing to do with our comfort zones. After looking at the dozens upon dozens of nominees we received, going over our own internal list and seeking suggestions from previous PTW winners, we simply felt this was the best possible class we could present. Frankly, that’s our chief aim.

Either way, I appreciate you reaching out to keep us honest. We need more of that."

There was no cursing, no wishing of the other to die in a fire, but a short, respectful civil dialogue carried out. Not a long series of insults on Twitter or mentions of Godwin's Law.

It's easy to just lash out on something, especially when it's at a large national level. It's easy to say the president sucks or I hate racists but when it hits close to home, why is nothing ever done when it's so much easier to try and make a difference?

The media in this city has a lot of issues involving complacency. There's no real competition in a one paper town. And the arts magazines seem to rehash the same things over and over, playing it safe instead of doing any investigating of all the culture this city has going for it. I do feel better about calling people out on their stuff directly when I had an issue with an article.

Has this been solved? Who the heck knows, but my blood pressure stayed lower while being direct with my concerns instead of putting up a snarky Tweet or posting an angry status update, or simply clicking on like.

Poetry 2012, what I remembered

I doubt that I'm going to write anything close to Howl in the next week so here's a recap of 2012, from the poetic view.

Not sure how much original work of any quality I wrote. Work was done, most of it average at best. I did finish my first sestina, not saying it's decent but I completed one.

I was published a couple of times. Once online by New Verse News about the wedding of Kim Jong Un and in Night Ballet Press' - Buzzkill: Apocalypse - An End of the World Anthology. This was good news and showed some growth. More hard work is needed though.

The film Street Poet was so horrible we gathered and took the piss out of it one afternoon at the library. It inspired my poem, Kabuki Condom, that helped me win only my second poetry slam.

A more memorable gathering of poets occurred in March on the steps of the Main Library as we celebrated a Great Day in Columbus as the snow smacked us all in the face.

I made three appearances on the show Speaking of Poetry this year talking about autism, IWPS and phoning in to give Izetta a goodbye Haiku.

Writers' Block brought on the usual shenanigans and coy racism along with new regular Erik the Viking, his height, his Mormonism and wind sex. It was also awesome to see Aaron appear in his first Grand Slam.

One of the big surprises for me was winning my second IWPS title and representing Writers Block in Fayetteville. I was a bit nervous and not as pumped as I could have been but being in the coolness of Fayetteville rejuvenated my enthusiasm. That and I was 28th after the first night! Ended up falling into 45th out of 67 but I had an absolute blast. So happy to have this experience under my belt.

The other big surprise was getting involved with the Columbus Arts Festival as a volunteer. Working with such a great group of people was inspiring. Then I was asked to be the Chair of the Poetry Committee for 2013. I'm humbled Scott Huntley and Shana Scott have so much trust in me. A good group of people are on the committee and I'm excited to be working with them. And hey poets you can apply to appear on stage right here!

Been a heck of a year, looking forward to Arts Fest and what the rest will bring.

In closing I urge you to give a listen to this. Jack McCarthy on IndieFeed.

That old hag hates my ass

A couple of weeks ago, for my birthday, Scott Woods posted this on Facebook, saying I sent this link to him every Wednesday morning to get him pumped up for Writers' Block.

Warning, it's not safe for work or for the culturally sensitive.



I've never seen this film before. Until tonight anyway. Just for kicks I decided to keep a list of every group that was slurred in the film, and keep a running count.

Black - 5
Asians (so many, and hard to categorize!) - 34
Korean - 1
Jews - 2
Irish - 2
Italian - 5
Hillbilly - 3
Polish -4
Gay - 1
Mexican - 2
Women - 10
Catholics - 1
N-word - 1

I also had a number of ethnic groups waiting for a tally. The following did not get an insult thrown at them: Japanese, Native American, Indian, Muslim, Arabs.

How to send off Black History Month

Writers' Block last night was a mix of navel gazing, marinating, and life affirming poetry. It also included this little ditty. Be sure to wait for the presentation at the end.



Could not wedge in a few chords of Daydream Believer, sadly there was no sing along.

The song was a cover, I could never write something that good. Here's the original by the great Tom Lehrer.



The next Leap Day on a Wednesday will be in 2040. Book the date.

Glazed with Hot Sauce, Beside the White Refigerator

I'm a rather plain eater. There are foods I like and foods that I do not. I'm far from a foodie, and am puzzled by free range molecular gastronomy. I like a certain taco truck's chicken and have not stepped foot in McDonald's since reading Fast Food Nation.

Moving from the east coast to Western New York then to the midwest, I've come to tolerate and even appreciate pizza that is different and that mustard comes standard on the burgers at Wendy's.

What I will not deal with is an inferior chicken wing.

Thirty years ago, when I went to college in Fredonia, New York, I had never heard of the chicken wing as being a major food group. Soon, though, I learned about ten cent wing night at B.J.'s, where a cook named Gary Kowalski manned the fryer that made the best chicken wings in existence. In later years I had the wings at Ground Zero, The Anchor Bar, and they were pretty darn good, but over priced. I was also turned on to the wings at Duff's, people think they're the best and I'm not going to argue with them.

Moving to Columbus twenty one years ago, it was hard to find a decent wing. Places that were hyped as being the best in Central Ohio were tried, and frankly they sucked. Greasy, soaking wet in slime - all loud hot sauce with little meat and less balance. Idiots did not realize they had to fry and bake!

Eventually I stopped trying. Why spend my money on food that will make my brain sad and my colon spastic?

A couple of weeks ago my nemesis, Scott Woods, started a blog about food that white and black folk can agree on, and the chicken wing was common ground, as Jesse Jackson used to say. Naturally, I have failed to bookmark that site so I cannot link it to you. Hopefully that will be corrected.

So between the coy racism and outright hatred when he and I converse, Scott recommended I try Wings Over Columbus, a wing joint just west of the Ohio State Campus. I looked over the menu, saw the potential and made a note of it to head over when the opportunity knocked.

My vegetarian Scottish Wife is out of town this week.



LOOK AT THESE MOTHERFUCKING WINGS!

I was stunned when I got home and opened the box. They're beautiful. They were also starting to smell really good just before I got home.

Ok, sure they look good, but how do they taste?

I'm going to start with their one flaw, they ain't crispy enough. Call me a wing snob, but there it is. However, they are the best damn wings I've had in Columbus in twenty one years. The meat is plentiful, the sauce (I got the cruisin' altitude) is not over whelming on the meat and just spicy enough to get that burn on your lips. These wings have balance that no other wing I've had in this city possesses. I have found, after years of searching, then giving up, a go-to chicken wing place.

Wings Over Columbus is located at 1315 W. Lane Avenue, in a strip center next to Buckeye Corner. It's mostly take out, there are only three seats in the place, so keep that in mind. Service was lightning fast.

And hardcore wing snobs. I know. I am not in Western New York. I know the wings will always be better there. But I'm not there anymore. I can't drive up to Duff's.

So Thank you Scott, for proving the chicken wing transcends racial divide, now when's that Little Palace review up?

This is the ordinary

My son was doing his thing when all of a sudden he put his hand in his mouth, handed my wife his tooth, and went back to what he was doing. There was very little blood, it was one of his baby teeth not the permanent ones I spent money on to fix. Some gift eh?



I do not know what to do with the tooth, it's on a table to my right. The Tooth Fairy is not a concept he understands, let alone money. He barely noticed we decorated the tree last night. How do you fake what is considered to be standard operating procedure?

Coming up this Friday, it's First Draft night at Writers' Block Poetry. This month is an extra special event. A face off pitting Dr. Seuss against Shel Silverstein in combat for the 2011 title for Greatest Posthumous New Work by a Beloved Children's Author! I will be reading from the Doctor's The Bippolo Seed and Other Stories. Taking on Silverstein's Everything On It will be none other than Scott Woods. It promises to be an evening of posturing, cool stories, poetry and coy racism. Starts at 8PM at Kafe Kerouac.

The download link is complete, all I have to do is get the liner notes in order and I will be posting my best songs of 2011. This will happen by the end of the weekend by gum!

I am not breaking rocks in the hot sun

Friday the eleventh was Veteran's Day, a federal holiday for some, including myself. My son had school that day so my wife and I had a rare day to ourselves.

Last year several of us went to Spoonful Records then to lunch. I asked Scott Woods if he wanted to continue this and he agreed.

After record shopping we were going to go to lunch at Dirty Franks, but it was jam packed. It's so crowded, no one goes there anymore. So we went to Little Palace, which was almost as crowded, instead.

We parked at the meters around the corner. My meter would not accept my money, seemed to be broken. Strangely, the meters were on during a federal holiday. I'm not sure how much Scott put in his meter. I also got to tell Scott the story of Elvis Costello, Bonnie Bramlett and the bar in the Town Street Holiday Inn.

When we finished lunch we came out to our cars and discovered we both had been ticketed. How does one put money in a broken meter? I filled out a form on the city's webpage, disputing my fine and called the 311 line to let them know that there was a broken parking meter.

Yesterday I received this in the mail.



Tore up the ticket and did a happy dance in the kitchen. Saved $25 by fighting City Hall, and winning. Still, owe Scott Woods a couple of lunches.

I oppressed that muffin

The Writers' Block Halloween show last night was another evening of mayhem and poetry. The was a nun, Rapunzel, Princess Leia, Nacho Libre (and steel chairs) a mad hot pirate and so much more.

The highlight for me was a pimp and a mime doing a duet to Shel Silverstein's 'Boa Constrictor'

A guy dressed like Garth from Wayne's World won the scream contest, but he was not in costume. The mime came in second.

There was the usual coy racism. Jake and my wife sparkled as hecklers. Somewhere in there was an inappropriate joke about Roger Ebert.

Maybe I will wear a costume next year.

Got the laptop back from the shop. When I brought it home I tested it. Same damn problem. Not pleased. Called the shop and questioned what kind of testing they did with the new fan. Even asked if they actually replaced it. We shall see if they make good on their work.