Really, there are no Mummies in my Basement

The assessment on my house arrived in the mail from the county yesterday. The auditor lowered the value of my house by $22,000. I'm a bit stunned, but not completely surprised. We're not in a desirable neighborhood, but we're not in the middle of urban blight here either. This part of town has no real amenities, no coffee shops, no movie theaters and it's not walkable.



Last night at Writers' Block was the final qualifying slam for IWPS. I was prepared as it would be my final slam of the season since I will not be in the country for finals. Drew the third slot out of six poets and brought out a debut. If you were not there you missed out on "Crispus Attucks Speaks through my Oujia Board" which does little to extinguish the flames of the Race War that Scott Woods is trying to start. Must be experienced to be believed.

Went into round two in first place. Asked Gina if we could end it there, she was not able to. Read "My Thunder" and I brought it like a weak cold front as three other poets passed me and I finished fourth. Congratulations to Rose Smith for winning it all. Vernell finished in second, Megan in third.

It was a good slam season. I respected the "No Repeat" rule and adhered to it, even counted the two poems I read at Rust Belt even though I did not have to.

A couple of months off from slam and it all starts again in January. Got to improve the writing, always.

Today's Release

Today my former employer, the Columbus Metropolitan Library was forced to cut pay for its workers and reduce staff hours because of a loss in funding from the State of Ohio of over thirty percent. This move has directly impacted the lives of many of my friends, colleagues and enemies.



I worked there for six and a half years and that collage of my son was created over my desk. I hated tearing that collage down, but not as much as I came to hate working there. I may still have bitter feelings about working for CML but I am not happy with today's developments.

Thanks to a poor national economy, and an even more screwed up state economy that Ted Strickland inherited from Bob "Governor Doofus" Taft - who did his best to turn Ohio into Mississippi - the library board was given a crap sandwich to work with and, frankly, they did a better job than I thought at dealing with the budget cuts. Yet, it's very unsettling to read Facebook status updates that cheer five percent pay cuts and that people would not be losing their jobs. Yes, it's a relief, but a giant backslide that is not the fault of libraries. But is it time to be grateful that the messed up economy of this world has finally trickled down to you?

Celebrating losses of pay and services is a giant mistake. What are we going to do to prevent social lifelines and cultural enriching institutions from falling apart? Will we soon be thanking our maker that only thirty people got laid off instead of a hundred? This is not growth. This is a depression.

Are we going to continue heaving sighs of relief that things could always be worse when Ohio's libraries, which are consistently the highest rated in the country, are gutted? What's next? Food pantries? Health services? The park system? Police? Fire?

Keep breathing, when is that going to be taken away from us because of a lack of funding?

In better news on the home front the gas company has been overestimating my bill for some time. We were finally able to coordinate an actual reading last week and today's bill was a substantial credit. Might not have to pay them until November.

It's the time of the season

We're not even at mid term elections and the signs are up. Wait three months, when the economy will really be in the tank, will there be pitchforks and torches, or will the populace be so anesthetized by shiny objects and not do a thing, again?



Is he trying to communicate to us when he does these arrangements?



Or should I really just relax and realize that a block is just a block.

Really not much happening. Writers Block has been busy, thinking about a piece for next week's slam and having the gumption and skills to pull off. Agonized about another piece that went over much better than expected.



I've even been working, and have reduced those piles from three to one. The remaining ones though, are mostly original cataloging so they're going to take some time to get through.

And time's what I have right? Or is it on my side? My friend?

Pictures are stll trickling in

We got some lovely video that Tyrone took. Funny guests, saying nice things, bless them.

Found out yesterday that the place where we had the rehearsal dinner is closing in a couple of weeks is closing due to the economy. It's a shame. We did not actually go to Handke's, but Encore, their small plates bistro, which was only open for a short time.

Emma and I scoped the place out about ten days before the wedding. I called them and asked about whether or not they could accommodate large parties. They said yes and we made the reservation.

Everyone had a good time. It was not very busy. Our only critiques were that the server really would have been overwhelmed if it were busy and that the music was a bit loud. The food was good. Some people had the Handke's desserts and the check was not as large as you'd think.

I'll close with the periodic reminder that I will be a featured poet this weekend at the Columbus Arts Festival. I start at the poetry tent at six o'clock. The weather should be great. Please come!