Early promotion

On Wednesday, September 11th, I will be taking part in a reading sponsored by Streetlight Guild at Kafe Kerouac. 30 poets will be reading in 30 days in the Rhapsody and Refrain Series. I'm humbled and honored to be one of them.

It's been awhile since I've read anywhere and I've written some new poems for this event. There will be new and old poems, I'll even take requests in advance.

Here's my Instagram Page for more information.

Shameful end of the year post

This is usually the post in which I copy and paste the list of what I read for the past year. This is going to be the first year I have not done that for awhile.

Let me explain with a picture.



I subscribe to the New Yorker. The magazine on top is the one I'm working on. The rest of the pile is unread and in chronological order. The date on that issue is January 11th......2016.

So I am about a year behind in that magazine, alone. And if I'm a year behind in one magazine, imagine how many books I've read.

It's embarrassing. I do not read, what I write suffers. This year, it really has. Sure I had a couple of poems published earlier in the year. After that, zip. A few deserved rejections and here we are.

What's keeping me from writing is often the objects that are right in front of me, or in my hand, or in my pocket.

I have to do better in 2017. Have to.

Did see plenty of movies in the last year. Averaged a bit more than one a week, which is acceptable to me. I did watch 100 movies a couple of years ago, just to see if I could, and I did. Know what? All I did was watch 100 movies in a year.

So here's that list.

Brooklyn
Sleeper
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Autism In Love
The Little Fugitive
Galaxy Quest
Stagecoach
Design For Living
Peter Pan (1953)
Much Ado About Nothing (2003)
Room
The Wolfpack
A New Leaf
Cabaret
Hail Caesar!
Where to Invade Next
The Odd Couple
Dirigible
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
The Story of Temple Drake
Viva Las Vegas
Finding Vivian Maier
The Wrecking Crew
The Art of Love (1965)
Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
Captain America: Civil War
Sounder
Louis C.K. Live at the Beacon
Purple Rain
All the Light in the Sky
After the Thin Man
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Min and Bill
Simply Irresistible
Blazing Saddles
Lost in America
Ghostbusters (2016)
A Hard Days Night
Sharknado 4
Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me
Koch
A Fistful of Dollars
Ball of Fire
Golden Age of Comedy (1957)
Sons of the Desert
Under the Skin
Bananas
The Little Prince (2015)
Speedy (1928)
Rockabye (1932)
Blonde Crazy (1931)
Airplane!
Drunken Master 2
Moonlight
Where You’re Meant To Be
Meet Me in St. Louis
Shop Around the Corner (1940)
Rogue One
Krampus
After the Thin Man (yup, again)
Possession
Scrooge
The Omega Man
The World, the Flesh and the Devil

I do not go to the theater much these days. Most of what I watch is on Netflix or TCM. And I'm fine with that. So I will maintain my resolution to watch a movie a week, it's been doable. The reading though, oy.

The books I read, 2015

It's a longer list than last year, thank God. At least I averaged more than two books per month this time. Also the quality of books was better, I felt. If you see no stars, the book was finished and it was ok. Three starts means better than average. Four stars means I really, really liked it.

Juan Gelman - Unthinkable Tenderness. 191 p. ***
Leroi Jones (Amiri Baraka) - Blues People: Negro Music in White America 244 p.
Graham Kelly -Terrace Heroes: the Life and Times of the 1930’s Professional Footballer. 174 p.
Alejandra Pizarnik – Diana’s Tree. 45 p. ***
Etgar Keret - The Bus Driver Who Wanted to Be God and Other Stories. 182 p. ***
Nick Hornby - Funny Girl. 452 p. ***
Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett - Good Omens 384 p. ****
Erik Larson - Dead Wake: the Last Crossing of the Lusitania. 430 p. ***
Scott Martelle - The Madman and the Assassin. 226 p. ***
Thomas Kunkel - Man in Profile: Joseph Mitchell of the New Yorker. 366 p. ****
Wade Shepard – Ghost Cities of China. 218 p.
Kim Gordon - Girl in a Band. 273 p. ****
Paula Hawkins - The Girl on the Train. 322 p. ***
Irvine Welsh - The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins. 349 p. ****
Caitlin Doughty - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes and Other Lessons From the Crematory. 254 p. ***
Jim Sweeney - North Korea Undercover: Inside the World’s Most Secret State. 306 p. ***
Matthew Sweet - Shepparton Babylon. 388 p. ***
Jay Stringer - Ways to Die in Glasgow. 277 p. ****
Steve Silberman - NeuroTribes: the Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity. 534 p. ****
Elion Paz - Dust & Grooves: Adventures in Record Collection. 440 p. ***
Chrissie Hynde - Reckless: My Life As A Pretender. 312 p. (worst book of the year)
Sophie Calle - Suite Veìnitienne (one volume unpaged)
Grace Jones - I’ll Never Write My Memoirs. 386 p. ***
Patti Smith - M Train. 253 p. ***
Kate Clifford Larson - Rosemary: the Hidden Kennedy Daughter. 320 p. ***
Elvis Costello - Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink. 674 p. ****
Denise Mina - Blood, Salt, Water. 295 p. ***
Clips Nesteroff - The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels and the History of American Comedy. 425 p. ***
Percival Everett - Half an Inch of Water. 163 p. ****

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.

Reading and repairs

The number of books that I read to my son has now increased to a rotation of four. He lines them up on the floor, and when he decides to put them away he takes them, one at a time, to the bookshelf. We've been in the house a lot because the weather has been extremely cold. There's been a lot of reading.

Last week was only a two day school week with President's Day and two days cancelled due to cold. I'm sure next week will have at least one cold day. Temperatures have been below zero in the morning.

After swimming last week I was driving home in a light snow on a side street and hit a patch of ice. I was only doing about 15-20 miles per hour and slammed into the curb tire first. I knew I knocked the car out of alignment and managed to limp the short distance home. There I saw the tire had some chunks chopped out but it was not flat, yet. Limped to a repair shop that is open on Saturdays and hoped for the best, which did not quite happen. Needed a center arm and ball joint, which they could not get that day, in addition to the alignment so we had no car last weekend.

Picked up the car Monday afternoon, after waiting for the bus downtown in some freezing cold weather and was told the rim on the tire was bent, but they moved it to the rear so the car is drivable. Had to cancel a reading in Pittsburgh after getting the bill and have to make arrangements to get a new rim next week.

Today we had about half a foot of snow, which is equivalent to two feet in just about any other northern city. Roads were a mess. The temperature did get above freezing for most of the afternoon so the heat pump activated. I had to pour water on the blades to get some of the snow off as the fans were not moving. I also noticed this.



Steam freezes into interesting shapes, eh?

Funny things are everywhere

When he's not awake after 4-5 hours of sleep at 3-4 in the morning my son is usually quite sweet. The teenage years are here even though he's 12. The fun of puberty has arrived and no one is really ready to deal with it.

At least there's Dr. Seuss to keep shit real.

Recently I began reading Green Eggs and Ham to him and I have him participating with a quiet "Sam-I-Am" at the appropriate moments. He brings me the book now, says "Book" and I try to get more out of him, like "Read" or "Read Daddy" when he's more engaged. It works, and it helps with my performance.

I've also brought out One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish for something different. It's a much longer book and I have him saying "Dr. Seuss" when I read the title page to him.

As a cataloger I have to read the title page. It's a part of my life.

There is some funny stuff in One Fish... and I enjoy reading it. The rhyming reminds me a lot like Rick from Writers Block.



There is a lot of the book that I admit to freely reading in Rick's style. He is the Essence of Poetry, after all.

Quick update on the Sleep Chronicles.

Last night he got to bed around 11, woke up just after 2AM, fell asleep less than an hour later.

It did not really matter much as school was cancelled due to the weather. We had three inches of snow here and school was called off.

Let that sink in as you realize the North East is about to get 2-3 feet of snow.

A delegation from the Democratic National Committee was here today to continue evaluating the city's worthiness for the 2016 convention. Wonder what went through their heads when they saw all the chaos three inches of snow caused. I know the convention is in the summer, but heaven help us they see a local weather forecast of hyperbole and panic when there is a chance of a thunderstorm. That's how Columbus handles a crisis.

My son's also been bringing me Green Eggs and Ham to read. He hands me the book. Points at the words on the cover of the book and says, "Ham," when he gets to that word.

I also have him saying, "Sam-I-Am," at the appropriate moments - which he does do, but very quietly.

Now he's upstairs jumping on his bed.

What I'm going to be up do

The new year has brought some excellent reading opportunities with it, in and out of Ohio.

Coming up this Friday I will be a participant in the Haiku Deathmatch at the annual Haiku Nuku reading at First Draft Open Mic at Kafe Kerouac. It's a lot of fun being a part of an event in which I usually get knocked out in the first round. Really, my haiku is weak but it's a blast.

Weather permitting, I will be reading in the Steel City on February 28th as part of a celebration of The Uppagus Journal. The reading will be at the Classic Line bookstore at 5825 Forbes Avenue. Start time 7 p.m. Am really stoked about reading out of state!

Looking further ahead I'll be in Dayton on May 24th as part of the Gem City Poetry Stage series. Very excited to be reading again in Dayton, it's been too long.

So that's what's happening. Now to get cracking on some new haiku and poems to read in these features!

You can learn a lot from an Albanian

Last night I was invited to take part in a performance workshop led by poet and performer Gypsee Yo. I was really looking forward to this because while I had only seen her perform three poems at The Women of the World Slam here a few years back, what I saw really impressed me.

The discussion was great, her abilities as a performer and teacher really came through during the workshop. Definitely learned a few things to enhance my performance on stage with or without being in a slam.

Later, she did a feature at Writers' Block and the audience was blown away. She has a story to tell, an amazing human one. It's a great gift she possesses, and one that she is more than willing to share. If you ever get a chance to see her perform, do not miss. I've seen some great features at Writers' Block over the past seven years, if I were to rank this is one of the top two - the other being Jack McCarthy.

Neil's Page Turner

Stillness is difficult in my son. From the moment he wakes up, he is constantly in motion. It has always been hard, and rare, to be able to sit and read to him. He would always turn the pages out of my hands. When he does have a book, the pages turn quickly, as if he was thumbing through a magazine. I'm fairly certain he can read, but determining the level is difficult.



This afternoon my wife and I were lying on our bed, he was in his room and I asked him to come see us. He climbed on and played with my eyebrows for awhile, which has been one of his recent passions. He says "eyebrows" long and sinister.

After a while he went back to his room and starting repeating the same nonsensical sentence over and over. I asked him to stop, to come see me and bring a book.

He brought this book with him. I opened it up and started to read. To my surprise he let me, leaning into me as I continued.

When I finished he said, "The end," took the book from me, closed it, handed the book back to me. I asked him what he wanted, he said, "Bears." "What about the bears?" I asked. "Book," was his reply.

Read the book five more times to him, trying to prompt him to say what he wanted. Got him to say "read" and "to me." It's very hard to draw meaningful words out of him, but for a few minutes on a Saturday afternoon something clicked between us a little.

No resolutions, but must improve

Probably the worst year of reading than I can remember. The quality is there, but the quantity is missing. Could not even read a book a week in 2012. For me, that is ridiculously low. Plus, I included a number of shorter poetry books. They seem to merely pad my count, but you should all check out Jack Gilbert's work. Yes, I can do better.

There were a few books I started, then got about 25-50 pages in and gave up. Those do not get listed here. If I finished it, the book is here. Three stars is a cut above average, four stars is a very good book.

1) Haruki Murakami - 1Q84. 925 p. ***
2) John Doyle - The World is a Ball. 330 p.
3) Frederica Sager Maas - The Shocking Miss Pilgrim. 264 p.
4) Gil Scott-Heron - The Last Holiday: A Memoir. 321 p.
5) Jim Walsh - The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting. 304 p.
6) Annie Liebovitz - Pilgrimage. 246 p.
7) Stephen Fry - The Fry Chronicles. 438 p. ***
8) Kent Hartman - The Wrecking Crew. 292 p.
9) Susan Senator - Dirt: a story about gardening, mothering, and other messy business. 270 p.
10) David M. Wilson - The Lost Photographs of Captain Scott. 191 p. ***
11) Kate Winslet - The Golden Hat: Talking Back to Autism. 284 p. (mostly pictures)
12) Jack Gilbert - The Dance Most of All. 60 p. ***
13) Guy Delisle - Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea. 176 p.
14) Johnny Ramone - Commando. 174 p.
15) Francesca Woodman. 224 p. (mostly pictures)
16) Carole King. A Natural Woman. 489 p.
17) Mike Doughty. The Book of Drugs. 252 p. ***
18) Will Hermes. Love Goes to Buildings on Fire. 368 p. ***
19) Jack Gilbert. Refusing Heaven. 92 p. ****
20) John Irving. In One Person. 425 p. ***
21) Buzz Bissinger. Father's Day. 242 p. ****
22) Jack Gilbert. The Great Fires. 90 p. ***
23) Ken Calliat & Steven Stiefel. Making Rumours. 362 p. ***
24) Frank Langella. Dropped Names. 356 p.
25) Mark Haddon. The Red House. 264 p.
26) Gillian Flynn. Gone Girl. 419 p. **** (best fiction)
27) Christopher Coake - You Came Back. 416 p. ***
28) Ian Rankin - Black and Blue 397 p. ****
29) Dori Hadar - Mingering Mike. 192 p.
30 Joe Oestreich - Hitless Wonder. 293 p. **** (best non-fiction)
31) Natasha Trethewey - Native Guard. 64 p.
32) R.A. Dickey with Wayne Coffey - Wherever I Wind Up. 340 p. ***
33) Jay Stringer - Old Gold. 236 p. ***
34) David Davis - Showdown at Shepherd's Bush. 308 p.
35) Alexandra Scott - If I Could Be Louder. 20 p.
36) Jamaal May - God Engine 2.0. 30 p.
37) Paula J. Lambert - The Sudden Seduction of Gravity. 57 p. ***
38) Pete Townshend - Who I Am . 538 p.
39) Tadashi Ago, Shu Okimoto. The Drops of God. 423 p.
40) Christopher Hitchens. Morality. 104 p. ***
41) Susan McAllister (et al). A Bigger Boat: the Unlikely Success of the Albuquerque Poetry Slam. 327 p.
42) Jack Gilbert. Tougher than Heaven. 24 p.
43) Richard Russo. Elsewhere. 243 p. ***
44) Michael G. Ankerich. The Sound of Silence. 260 p. ***
45) Kurt Vonnegut Jr. We are what we Pretend to be. 161 p. ***
46) Soccer and Disaster: International Perspectives. 193 p.

Got that Michael Caine Look Going

It took three weeks after the exam, but my reading glasses finally arrived yesterday afternoon. They look just like this, but they're solid black.



It's a pleasant feeling not having to strain my neck looking cockeyed at the screen or putting the glasses on the tip of my nose to be able to read, anything. It's a huge relief at work because I'm dealing with smaller fonts and the numbers I need from books are small also.

I'm very happy that I'm capable of reading books at a decent pace again.



This one's been sitting on my shelf for a few weeks. I got it for my Scottish Wife, but she has not read it yet, so I took it upon myself.

It's not a literary opus, no great work of fiction or memoir, but a series of blog and journal entries Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian made in the mid 2000's. He's a funny, touching and spiritual writer. Even knowing about the Mike Piazza song I did not realize he was a baseball fan.

The strengths of the book are his descriptions of Glasgow. He's embedded in the city. It's more than love. It's his soul, weakness and inspiration. He lives in the area I stayed in during my visit and the number of landmarks he names and spends his time in was an impressive match to many of the places I'd been, and want to go back to so badly.

The is a good amount of music in the book. You get a good, fair impression of the band during the making of albums and touring. He gives fair statements about how tiring and repetitive the business can be.

It's not a memoir, but a chatty look at the life of a working musician during a set time in his life. It's worth seeking out.

Before I Forget

Tomorrow night I will be featuring at Cover Me, 745 East Long Street.



Show starts at 9PM, admission is four bucks.