Jeff Abraxas Memorial Event

On Sunday, May 23rd, at 3pm, there will be an event to pay tribute to Jeff and his artwork. Its at Urban Spirit Coffee Shop on Long St. There will be a chance for anyone to share reflections about Jeff. Then, there will be a walking tour of his murals.

Holding My Brush as Best as I Can

The city, hell, the world has lost a fine artist.

I did not know Jeff Abraxas very well. He was a good friend to several of the poets at Writers' Block and had only recently started coming to the night. We were Facebook friends, we played Scrabble. When we talked he was incredibly supportive and positive. Then, a few weeks ago, he got sick. He called us from his hospital bed and Vernell read a poem he had just wrote. It was for us. We all cheered him and wished him a speedy recovery.

He died today.



If you've been to the Lincoln Theater or have traveled down Long Street in Columbus you've seen his murals. Colorful, historical and full of life. I understand he was always drawing, using pen, marker, pencil, whatever he had at hand. I think he was in the corner during Scott Woods' 24 hour reading, sketching the dawn.

He left a lot of empty canvases. I'd like to think he left them for us to fill in.

He's gone way too soon.

Rest in peace, Jeff. Thank you for your short time with us. You gave us much to be inspired by.

Go down Long Street. Start at Zanzibar, then head east to Urban Spirit and see the art Jeff left for us to appreciate, and the portraits we shall not forget.

A Lot of Face

Went to an art opening last night at the Kiaca Gallery. The show is called: Through the Lens - a Portrait of 12 Artists. Great large format photographs of local artists from a diverse community. Writers' Block's own Scott Woods is one of them. Check it out at 937 North High. You can see Scott staring at you, like Chairman Mao, from the street!

Here's where there should be a picture, but life is busy.

Very happy to reveal that my Scottish Wife starts work on Monday at a local institute of higher education that is not where I work.

Had dinner at Z Pizza last night before the opening, it's about three doors from the gallery. We were the only ones in the place and there was a new employee taking our order very slowly as he was unfamiliar with the register. When our order arrived my wife's was fine but they sent me a large pizza instead of a small. It seemed we also paid for a large pizza, no one (including us) seemed to be paying attention. Management offered to refund us the difference or give us a coupon for a free pizza. We took the refund. That's how you take care of a customer. Well done Z Pizza.

Things are looking up.

Behold, the power of the spoken word

The skies cleared and the weather held up for the poetry slam at the Upper Arlington Arts Festival yesterday.

It was more an exhibition than a competitive slam, there were five of us competing for the honor Gina won last year.

I got there a bit early and walked around. I saw a lot of people holding brooms and remembered that Joanna mentioned seeing them last year. Could not find where they were being sold so I asked at the info tent and was essentially told to look behind me, where a large amount of people had gathered as if they were in line for Jeni's Ice Cream. But, they were watching an Amish man and his family make brooms. I went over, checked the prices and plunked down ten bucks for a broom to the owner who smiled broadly and said thank you.

Got some lemonade and while I was doing that I overheard this snippet of life in America from the couple working the kettle korn station.

She: People really seem to like those brooms.

He: Don't know why, you can get them cheaper at Wal-Mart.

Sure, you can do that, but where is the intrinsic value of seeing the man make your broom, to interact with his family. to eliminate the middle man?

People do not get pure capitalism anymore.

Ended up going second in the slam, did Everywhere at Once and came in second for the round. In round two I did Nobody's Poet, and got another good reaction from the sparse crown under the tent.

Then it was Gina's turn.

She did Obama's Desk, which as you can guess has some political overtones. As she was reading a woman walking by suddenly stopped behind her, then her jaw dropped and the mouth breathing took over. With her gaze locked on Gina she went around the side of the tent to where she could see the poet's face then pointed and started yelling.

We really could not hear what she said, something about Obama not needing a desk because he was on vacation. She never went into the tent or seating area. I was a bit worried that she would approach Gina and try to grab the mic from her, luckily that did not happen. She kept going on incoherently while Gina shot her a look and continued with the poem. I was told the woman tried to get her father's attention while she wandered off, continuing to point at Gina all the while.

I have to say I've been part of poetry events in which people were ticked off by a poem and said something about it. However I have never been part of an event in which a poet was reading in a public setting and a person who was not a part of the audience came in and started protesting. Gina used the Great Wrench of Poetry on the wingnut and brought it to the mic. It was awesome. She pissed off a complete stranger. With a poem.

The final standings were irrelevant after that even though I won, Joanna came in second, Gina third, Rachel fourth and Beverly fifth. We got to see art cause a visceral reaction, and we got to carry on.

And kudos to Louise who was capable and charming as she hosted her first poetry slam.

The Day Off

Went to the USCIS downtown this morning for my wife's biometrics appointment. It was scheduled for 9AM. We were expecting to wait. I brought a book. We got there about 8:40 and there was only one other person there. My wife filled out a form and was instantly fingerprinted, photographed and sent on her way. We were there less than twenty minutes.

She's also going to need a Social Security card so we headed out to the office to see if/when she could acquire one.

We got there and the parking lot was full. There was not a seat to be had inside. We were B-122 and B-103 was called while we waited. There were also people with A and C, and maybe even D before their numbers.

Just to see what would happen, we headed out on an errand then came back to the office. About forty minutes later there were even more people and B-105 had just been called. Rather than wait until 2PM, or later, it was best to try another day, and camp out overnight to get a decent spot in line.

We headed home to escape the heat for a bit then went to Haiku for lunch. My friend Stephanie has her work on display all month and it was a good way to get some decent food. I'd never been there before, the patio is lovely, complete with a koi pond. It was a bit too hot out there today so we opted to dine in. Good food. I had a large portion of padd thai.

At the end of the day, we're still waiting for her status to change but we think another step in the right direction has been taken.

I drank the cold white wine and it was good

Frustrating morning. We took my son to swimming only to find out it had been canceled because there were no lifeguards on duty. I was a bit irritated because I was not called beforehand and had to deal with some very stupid traffic on Harrisburg Pike. I did not sign my son up for the lessons, so the phone number was his mother's. I still do not know why no one at the Y did not contact her. Then again, I'm not sure if the number she game them is a valid one. This is two weeks in a row he's missed swimming, last week his mother overslept, and left it for me to find out why he was not there.



Last night we went to an art exhibit at Wild Goose Creative. My friend Scott Woods had his first exhibit ever. His work is very contemporary and accessible. From Cthulhu's Snow Day to Hanging Art.



There's something for everyone. I was quite impressed with Hanging Art. It's a strong departure from the work of Scott's I've seen.

We brought my son out also and he did quite well in a crowd. He walked the walls a bit, then settled down front with a lollipop. He sat on the end of a couch where two other people were talking and kind of sort of stayed by a few other kids.

Felt like crap all day but still managed to take the car to have the oil changed and head up to Trader Joe's. I'm hooked on the Vinho Verde, but did not have any today.

Summer's Here and the time is right

My birthday was yesterday. I am now the age of a certain number of revolutions per minute.

My friend Stephanie was recently profiled about her wonderful artwork, which we own four pieces of, including this one of my anatomy.



Got to take the boy to a local park where he used some of the play equipment appropriately!



Emma's been working hard on her garden, and if any more squirrels get into her seedlings again, there is going to be war. This has brought some long repressed feelings back to the surface. Back when I used to have bird feeders. I say used to because those &%^$ing squirrels ATE my bird feeders. It was not enough that they'd knock the seed to the ground. No, they had to eat the plastic or metal parts to sate their lazy appetites. So, yes, there is squirrel hate.

No hate at a lovely wedding we attended in Marysville today. Got there just in time to see the vows, here's how we looked in the heat.



In potentially bad news, Ohio's libraries are under siege. Horrible budget cuts are potentially losing government support. I wrote this and sent similar letters to my state representative and Governor Strickland

"I understand that economic times are tough and that difficult choices must be made but cutting 227 million dollars from libraries in Ohio is not the right decision to make.

Is forcing libraries to close if they do not have local support, or those with the privilege of having community backing through local tax levies to cut programs and services the answer? These days libraries are more than places you can check out a book. Libraries have become the backbone of a community, providing services to the poor and helping to bridge a huge technology gap that is happening in society by offering the extensive use of computers and other forms of technology so that citizens can educate and market themselves.

Senator Miller you have to know that your constituents rely heavily on the Hilltop Library to provide their educative and entertainment needs. Many people in your district are using the library to apply for jobs, learn how to build a resume or simply to set up an email account.

Denying Ohio's and your voters the use of their public libraries is not going to bring them up to speed with the challenges in today's economy. I would like you to vote against this budget cut and wish you well in providing an alternative to balancing the state budget."

Times are tough, and I think they're going to get worse because we're too cheap to save ourselves.

Tomorrow night I'm on the radio. Internet radio, talking poetry. Starts at six at www.talktainmentradio.com

Parts you can see without fainting

My friend Stephanie put out the call for some knuckle photographs a few weeks back. Here's what she did with mine.



So cool I had to buy it. You can see the Knuckles exhibit at What the Rock through the end of May.