An artful weekend

On Friday night it all started at Betty's. One of the hosts is part of an art group that participated in the Arts Festival last year. He happened to be working; as an aside I asked if he and his group would again be interested in putting together an hour of storytelling for the festival. He readily agreed. I always have programming the Arts Festival in my head these days it seems.

Then it was off to the Wexner Center for the member's preview of the Annie Leibovitz exhibit. This is a remarkable array of her work over the past 40 years. It's a portrait of artistic, political and cultural history that has many iconic images. Not to miss. I can't wait to go again, when it's less crowded.



Watched Everton beat the crap out of Swansea on Saturday morning. It was such a lovely day my wife suggested we go out and take a walk. We ended up at Big Darby Metro Park and saw the bison again. Six of them moving around by their barn.

Hit one friend's party and had some dinner before going home to watch Doctor Who. Immediately after the credits rolled we went east to another party. Ate some more, ended up leaving around midnight. Very tired after a day of fun all over the city.

This morning after grocery shopping I moved the air conditioners into the basement for winter storage then stressed out watching the Bills beat Cleveland. Did not like the Spiller injury as the offense totally fizzled once he left. Not sure if they can function well with him being out two weeks or more with a shoulder injury.

While the Bills were playing my wife was power sanding part of the back porch for future painting and cleaned the sides of the gutters. She's awesome that way.

To close I went to a book release party for my friend Paula's new book, The Sudden Seduction of Gravity. Lots of fellow poets, good food and friends celebrated the new book! I even got another juror for the Arts Festival auditions.

What a whirlwind of friends and art in Columbus. From a major art exhibit to a gatherings of friends and fellow artists. How the hell did I get involved in all these amazing happenings?

No Mean City

Got an early start today. The lawn was mowed before 10AM and I got my son's sandbox out of the shed and cleaned it off. After I set it up I realized it would be too hot out during the day for him.

The three of us went to Jeni's before grocery shopping. While we were eating she and I talked about how we must seem. We're eating our ice cream while he sits there. I offered, put some peach buttermilk on his lips. His reaction was if I threw battery acid on them. Poor guy is a tough nut to crack. It's hard. We want him to eat, express interest in some sort of food. Right now, it's not happening.

Later in the day he went out and played with the sandbox. He's towering over it now. I think he's grown about six inches in the past year. He ran his hands through the sand and watched it fly off his fingers when he shook it off. He filled the cup with sand and put it in the water, then put his hands in the mud, messing about with textures. He got himself pretty eight year old boy dirty in the process so he got a second shower today.

Later in the evening, the emergency broadcast came on about a flood warning in Perry County. He was in the back room at the time and heard it. He is terrified of the sound it makes. When I went to check on him he was quiet and still, unlike moments before. We sat in the chair until the alert was over. When he walked into the kitchen he peered around the corner, looking toward the television, to see for himself that all was clear.

Been watching Taggart, a detective show set in Glasgow. It ran for almost thirty years before being cancelled earlier this year. I'm enjoying the early episodes with Mark McManus as the star.



He was a surly man, grouchy and troubled off and on set, but it gave the show a lot of grit. A lot of location footage of Glasgow resulted in more than a few "Hey I was there!" moments. It's a bit gruesome, the last episode we watched had six murders, a shooting and a suicide. Sadly, McManus died in the mid-nineties and the show continued, writing his death within the show. I've seen at least one of the later episodes and was not impressed. Like many long running shows, there is a catch phrase.



Also been enjoying the first reboot of Doctor Who, the Christopher Eccelston season. I plan on getting the first season of David Tennant also. I think I came along in the midst of his fourth year, so I still have a bit of catching up to do.

No Wagon in the Heat

Five days off work and I got little accomplished, sure I did laundry and killed an ant colony - aside from that, not much.

It was hot, and neither I nor my son wanted to go outside. The visit to Columbus Commons on Friday left my son unhappy because I would not let him run into High Street.

On Sunday we went shopping. I let him push the cart a little. Helps me keep an eye on him since he's too big to fit in the seat. We stopped by the bread, waiting for Emma to get something in the frozen food section. He looked up at me and said, "I want car." Which meant he wanted to leave.

He is using language a bit more, but it's hard to hear him because he whispers the important words while all the loud speech is reserved for 3:30 in the morning.

Time to get him out of bed and get him ready to see his mother. Day camp starts on Monday, feeding clinic on Tuesday.



Summer is here. Temperatures in the mid nineties today. Work and the car are air conditioned.

Something Else to Do After Work

Twenty three percent of registered voters showed up yesterday and approved moving the Columbus casino from the Arena District to an abandoned plot of land on the west side of the city.

I'm not against a casino, but not in favor of a constitutional amendment granting only one company to own and operate it.

Now, instead of being five miles from me, it's only three and a half.

My Scottish Wife asked if we could bike there. I wonder if there will be bike racks.

Getting caught up, last month at Writers' Block Bill Campana featured.



Bill went on for over half an hour, always leaving the audience thinking. It's very hard to describe what he does, only that he leaves you scratching yourself with the unexpected.

Columbus loves Bill Campana, here's what the crowd threw at him.



Writers' Block treats poets it loves the way ladies in Vegas took care of Tom Jones.

Broke out the weed whacker for the first time yesterday. Spring is here. The roses are blooming.



A bit early if you ask me!

A Pile of Leaves You Can See From Space

Last Year's


This year's.


The tree most of them came from.

If I can't find a working link, it's back to bed

Son decided to fall asleep about 11 last night, then woke up around four. He decided talking to the ceiling for a couple of hours would be a great idea, and here I am.

It's half an hour from the Old Firm game and I'm not sure if I can stay awake.



Sometime today the lawn needs to be mowed, for the last time this year.

She liked her outfit

What I remember more than the sangria we drank was the arm wrestling. It got very Hemingway during the first Sangria Throw Down, and the competition was not what you would ordinarily think.



I'm not going to reveal the result, but the match went on so long, it wore out my batteries.

After the throw down, it was time to head up the avenue to the Gala opening of the Thompson Library. The special collections gallery was open, and while my Scottish Wife was introducing herself to old people, I was looking for the Nina in the Hirshfeld drawing.



We headed up to the 11th floor, which has been lovingly turned into a beautiful reading area with a fabulous view of campus.



We walked around a bit more and mingled. I found the former Library Director and said that his daughters were at the Sangria Throw Down. Ok, I did not say that, but they were there.

It was a hectic but fun Saturday, and I did not realize my favorite sangria had a bottle of cognac it it. No wonder it made me feel so shadowy.



My wife has been painting the kitchen this weekend. All I've had to do is move a few appliances. It looks great, but not as great as she did at the place that had some nasty burnt coffee.



I'm a lucky man.

Bring it!

The visa is now in her hot little hands, waiting to be opened upon entry.

Went out and bought a proper mattress for my son tonight. He's been sleeping, when he sleeps, on a box spring with a pad on top. It's something I felt guilty about, not being able to provide him with a real bed. Now he has something else to bounce on at five in the morning.

It's game seven between the Penguins and Capitals tonight. What I've seen of this series has been spectacular. I have to admit to rooting for Washington, not because of Federov, but because of OSU alumni Dave Steckel.



I hear that Ovechkin kid is a good player too, there may be a future for him in the league.

I'll watch the game and clean between periods. Most of what I need to do is downstairs now, so I'll be able to at least hear the game.

A Good Use of New Pipe

I've been out of sorts the last week. You do not appreciate a kitchen sink until you lose it. Discovered a leaky drain pipe that was sending a waterfall of liquid into the basement. So using the sink was off limits.

I'm a lousy cook, but not being able to use dishes was tough. And washing the few dishes I rationed use of in the bathroom sink was a pain. Times like these I wish I had a stream in the backyard, and I want none of you to think I'd only complain about how cold it was! Living on a diet of take out sushi, eating out and microwave pizza was not fun, and hard on the wallet.

So I had a friend come over and assess the damage last night. A cast iron pipe had corroded so a bypass was needed. We went to Lowe's and he picked out a bunch of plastic pipes and parts which he assembled in a not quite Rube Goldberg fashion. In about two and a half hours we heard water go through the pipes and saw none. It's functional. It drains properly.

Best part, it only cost about the price to get a plumber in the door! A huge relief.

Busy weekend of son, swimming, hockey, FA Cup and Old Firm ahead.